"Compared to him... this blood feels insignificant."
Frey slowly closed his eyes.
For a brief moment, the crimson assault reminded him of an old face, one he had long since buried beneath countless years.
A memory.
A shadow from the distant past.
"The power of Souls declines dramatically when wielded by someone other than their original bearer."
His voice was calm.
"I already knew that, but the difference is far greater than I expected."
His patience had begun to wear thin.
His opponents had failed to show him anything particularly interesting, and he had already started considering ending the battle quickly and subduing them without taking their lives.
That intention, however, changed.
For the first time since the battle had begun, the pressure surrounding him shifted.
A powerful aura suddenly began to swell.
Turning his head slightly, Frey realized that the source of the pressure lay beyond the walls of blood Izalith had created.
Those crimson barriers had never been intended as a prison.
They were merely a curtain.
A veil concealing something hidden behind them.
Feeling that growing pressure, the corners of Frey’s lips slowly rose.
His violet eyes narrowed with genuine interest.
"I can feel something demonic approaching."
After spending the entire battle defending and enduring the combined assault of both Izalith and Asmodeus, neither of them had managed to inflict the slightest injury upon Frey.
He had begun to feel genuine disappointment toward his opponents, who had yet to display anything worthy of his interest. Yet the sudden emergence of an overwhelming pressure caused him to reconsider.
His violet eyes glowed faintly.
Then, the corners of his lips slowly rose.
"So... this is what you were preparing."
With effortless ease, Frey stepped out of Asmodeus’s cloud of death and appeared before the Sixth Upper Rank as though he had simply crossed a single pace.
Asmodeus attacked immediately.
The bearer of Death Soul unleashed all the power he possessed, but the Aura of Death lost instantly against Positive Aether. The immense gray force completely overwhelmed the deadly aura.
Frey shattered the demon’s defenses.
The distance between them vanished.
Asmodeus was little more than a moving skeleton wrapped in a black, viscous cloak formed from his own death energy. Though he had rebuilt his body after his defeat against the Lord of Light, that new body had perished as well.
The power of Death Soul had reduced him once more to bone.
Against Frey, the soul appeared pitifully weak.
The Lord of the Shadow Sect delivered ten strikes.
Ten impossibly fast punches.
Their echoes resounded throughout Hellmond.
His fists could not be seen.
They flashed with violent gray light, and the moment they landed, Asmodeus fell from the sky and crashed into the ground below.
Izalith’s face darkened completely.
"Asmodeus..."
Her lips trembled.
Half the bones within the demon’s body had shattered from those ten blows alone.
They had not been random strikes.
Each punch had struck a precise location.
Frey had crippled him.
Not killed him.
Asmodeus attempted to recover.
Demons possessed extraordinary vitality and terrifying endurance, yet every attempt to summon Death Aura failed.
At first, confusion appeared upon his skeletal face.
Then realization came.
His opponent had left a terrifying amount of that gray energy inside his body.
The Aether destroyed every attempt to gather aura.
The Sixth Upper Rank could do nothing except collapse helplessly.
Izalith attacked again.
She refused to allow herself even a moment of distraction against an opponent this dangerous.
The branches of blood descended toward Frey once more.
This time, however, they did not survive even a single second.
Frey finally responded.
He advanced through the bloody storm, scattering the attacks apart with ease.
Izalith immediately manipulated her Blood Staff.
The space around her twisted.
"Do not become arrogant, Lord of the Shadow Sect."
Her crimson eyes burned.
"Did seeing me use Blood Soul make you forget that I am a witch?"
The Blood Staff shone.
The ground beneath them ignited.
The skies above trembled.
The entire area contained within the Blood Prison illuminated with countless magical circles.
"I see."
Frey nodded.
"So you were expecting my arrival. That explains the number of magical traps."
The Blood Witch had prepared this battlefield long ago.
She had expected him.
"This reminds me of that hateful witch."
Frey deliberately mentioned Beatrice.
"I suppose the two of you share some sort of connection."
The provocation failed.
Izalith remained completely focused as she activated every trap she had prepared.
It was a magnificent formation.
Vast.
Incredibly complex.
Even Frey could not hide his admiration.
"Throughout your rise... during all those long months after our king abandoned us..."
Blood vessels became visible across her pale face.
She had pushed herself beyond her limits.
"I spent all that time preparing this battlefield."
Her voice trembled.
"One million magic circles... designed specifically for you."
Trapped within the formation, Frey realized that teleportation was impossible.
Hundreds of spatial spells had sealed the surrounding space.
The formation was flawless.
A prison built from endless attacks.
"Activate!"
Izalith screamed with all her strength.
The world exploded.
A deafening detonation shook Hellmond itself as the countless magical traps activated simultaneously.
Frey vanished inside the endless sea of spells.
No one could see him anymore.
The number of enchantments was so overwhelming that the assault was destined to continue for a very long time before finally exhausting itself.
Standing atop the Blood Tree, Izalith breathed heavily before collapsing to one knee.
Blood trickled from her nose.
The exhaustion was obvious.
She slowly raised her head toward the endless storm of magic.
"Even if he stands at the same level as the king..."
Her voice trembled.
"Even if this cannot kill him... it should restrain him for a while."
The Blood Witch was not naïve.
She knew this attack was insufficient to kill the current Frey.
But she had gambled everything upon delaying him.
If she could hold him for only a few more minutes, it would be enough.
"We were fortunate that he never fought seriously."
"He showed no intention of killing us."
"It was as though he did not want any of us dead."
Her fingers clenched.
"But that is not enough."
"We need more time."
She prayed that her magical formation could restrain him.
For a brief moment, it seemed possible.
Her confidence slowly returned.
Hope was born.
Then her body suddenly collapsed.
Without warning.
Her face struck one of the branches of the Blood Tree, and the enormous tree itself trembled as if it were about to fall.
Her red hair scattered across her face.
Confusion filled her expression.
She could not understand why she had fallen.
Then realization arrived.
Her legs remained standing.
The rest of her body had already been severed.
"W-What...?"
A gasp escaped her lips.
Someone stood before her.
Frey.
"I’m sorry, but your time is already over."
He had escaped the magical prison.
He had reached her.
And she had never sensed his presence.
That alone made her understand the overwhelming difference between them.
The Void Eyes blazed brilliantly.
His body had not suffered even a single scratch.
The million spells had failed to harm him.
"I possess eyes capable of seeing the flow of aura."
His voice remained calm.
"Even an extremely complex magical spell is merely a collection of flowing energy."
He raised his hand.
"That makes attacks like this rather easy to deal with."
Aether gathered within his palm.
It struck Izalith’s back and tore through her collapsed body.
The Blood Witch groaned.
She had intended to launch a final counterattack.
Frey had already seen it.
"I know what you were attempting, Blood Witch."
He turned toward the massive walls of blood.
"And I understand that this was merely an attempt to buy time."
A faint laugh escaped him.
"For the bearer of the Demonic Soul to finish her preparations."
His eyes burned.
"I can see it very clearly."
Every word planted despair within Izalith’s heart.
She could not understand him.
"Why..."
Her voice trembled.
"Why am I still alive?"
The question was only natural.
She had believed he came to exterminate them.
Yet he had not.
"Isn’t the answer obvious?"
Frey smiled.
"I did not come here to destroy you."
"That was never my objective."
His voice remained calm.
"If I had wanted you dead, I would have ended everything with a single overwhelming attack from the very beginning."
He stepped away.
Behind him, the Blood Tree finally collapsed.
"I simply played along because I was somewhat interested in what you were trying to accomplish."
He spoke honestly.
"To be truthful, I expected to see Amon here."
His eyes slowly scanned the battlefield.
"But I cannot sense his presence."
A sigh escaped him.
"Did he abandon you as well, I wonder?"
Frey raised his head.
His aura expanded without restraint.
The Blood Prison trembled.
Cracks spread across its walls.
Then the entire crimson prison shattered.
The sky of Hellmond became visible once more.
"Well..."
His violet eyes glowed beneath the mask.
"It hardly matters now."
The pressure surrounding him rose.
"It is finally time for you to reveal your last card."
He looked toward the distant battlefield.
"Demons of Hellmond."