The Upper First expanded his aura and spread the Red World across the widest range possible.
His senses rose to their absolute peak.
Every muscle within his body sharpened to its limit.
There were simply too many enemies.
So many that it was terrifying.
Even his eyes struggled to keep track of all of them, while a violent headache assaulted his mind as he tried to think of a path to victory from this hopeless situation.
Every blow crashing down upon him carried monstrous power.
Not a single one of his opponents was weak.
Midir possessed the greatest physical strength of them all, making close combat against him akin to suicide.
Meanwhile, Orsted’s Light attacks inflicted devastating damage that would have slowed Crimson tremendously were it not for Blood Armor.
Then there was the Great One of Krat, attacking through countless World-breaking abilities.
Fortunately, Crimson could still deal with most of them after winning the clash of domains earlier.
His Red World could nullify all ranged attacks—
even World-breaking abilities.
That alone rendered the witch Rhaenys almost useless against him.
Unlike her, however, the golem Zahara caused him immense trouble after copying King’s Presence and obtaining an aura equal to his own.
Despite the siege, Crimson fought ferociously, inflicting terrible damage upon his enemies.
And in return—
he suffered horrifying injuries himself.
Even in such a condition, he remained capable of retaliating.
But his situation grew even more desperate when golden power suddenly spread across his enemies, causing most of their injuries to heal automatically.
"Sacred Power..."
Crimson recognized it immediately.
It was the purest form of Sacred Power, wielded by one of the strongest Bearers of Light.
A mature woman stood in the distance, golden hair cascading behind her while dozens of golden symbols covered her pale skin.
She was one of the strongest vessels among the Light Bearers.
Supporting Orsted and the others—
healing their wounds continuously.
Crimson burst into loud laughter as he received another punch from Midir that forced him backward once again.
He was surrounded by four enemies at the same time.
Sometimes he swung Kingslayer to defend.
Sometimes to wound them.
And more often than not—
he received damage from their attacks.
He bled endlessly.
Dark blood covered his face and seeped through the cracks of his great armor that protected him.
The Upper First had never faced a situation like this in his life—
a battle where death stood this close to him.
With a single swing of Kingslayer, Midir’s arm was severed and sent flying.
Yet the Dragon Lord’s remaining fist crashed directly into the demon’s chest, shattering it violently.
Crimson followed with a kick that sent the Lord of Dragons away—
only for Orsted’s sword to stab him immediately afterward.
The Upper First turned and attacked the Lord of Light—
but Zahara’s punch smashed into him from behind.
Crimson struck Orsted away, crushing his face before spinning around and unleashing a terrifying horizontal slash with all his power, splitting Zahara cleanly in half.
At the exact same moment, however, the Great One of Krat’s fist landed against his side.
The Great One’s power exploded inside Crimson’s body, causing him to vomit a horrifying amount of blood.
The Great One instantly retreated.
Then the mouth of a gigantic dragon appeared before Crimson as Midir unleashed a black flame beam tinged with violet directly into his face.
The Upper First blocked it using the Red World.
But it had only been a distraction.
Orsted’s sword pierced him once more, injecting burning Light power into his body and worsening the damage he had already suffered.
Midir charged again.
The Dragon Lord and the Upper First crashed together violently, grinding across the earth.
Midir grabbed Crimson by the face and pummeled him mercilessly.
Blood Armor cracked further, and the Upper First bled more and more.
Crimson quickly regained himself.
He slammed his forehead into Midir’s before cutting him with Kingslayer, leaving a massive bloody wound across the dragon’s chest.
A wound that healed instantly thanks to the golden power of the Light Bearer.
Crimson was not even granted a proper moment to breathe.
The golem descended from the sky, crushing the earth beneath him before bombarding the Upper First with rapid strikes that made him feel as though every bone in his body had shattered.
Still—
the Upper First endured.
He endured blows from four directions at once while his mind slowly grew numb.
’Damn it... my consciousness is starting to drift...’
No matter where he swung Kingslayer...
No matter where he attacked...
He would strike one enemy—
only to receive three blows in return.
Every time he injured one of the four, the remaining three struck him back immediately.
And the healing support from the Light Bearers made everything far worse.
’I could use the Red World to eliminate one or two of them... but if I do that, I’ll lose my strongest defense.’
The Upper First reviewed his options.
The Red World was one possibility.
But dismissing it meant exposing himself directly to attacks from enemies like the witch Rhaenys, who would become deadly under such circumstances.
No matter how he thought about it—
dealing with all of them together seemed impossible.
And even the Duke of Hell, Gael, was still lurking nearby.
The Great One of Krat had been right.
’You have too many enemies...’
’Yes... I do.’
The Upper First laughed.
A broken, bloody smile spread across his face.
’This is what it means... to stand beside the monster that devours everything.’
His laughter only grew louder, like the laughter of a madman who had learned to enjoy pain itself.
He roared as he exchanged blows to the death against all of them.
"Did it truly take all of this... just to face me alone?!"
"It took every single one of you united together... just to make me bleed like this... just to kill me..."
"For the sake of a single demon... the giants of every race joined forces!"
Crimson laughed even louder.
There was no fear in him.
No regret.
"My goal remains unchanged."
"Even if I die here, so be it!"
"At the very least... I’ll drag two of you down into hell with me!!"
The First Demon had gone mad.
He began fighting with savage brutality, completely abandoning defense.
He shattered and was shattered in return.
Destroyed and was destroyed.
He wounded them, and they wounded him back.
Yet through it all, he fought with ferocity—
a smile spread across his face.
Because he had realized something.
They would never defeat Agaroth.
His only regret was that he would not live long enough to witness his goal fulfilled after dying here.
But he did not fear death in the slightest.
He believed in the philosophy of strength.
And if he were to lose here—
then it simply meant he had not been strong enough.
The power of the Upper First was overwhelming.
Every enemy attacking him understood clearly that he had to die.