“Hahaha! Feeling frightened now, are you?” Soul Devourer threw back his head and let out a jagged, echoing laugh that rattled the rafters.
“Too late for regrets!” thundered, then hurled himself at Onneas, the demon light weaving around his outstretched palm swelling darker, thicker, until it felt like night itself had broken loose inside the throne room.
Aurelius, Jared, and the others surged forward in a desperate counter-charge. Streams of power, golden spiritual energy, white Power of Immortals, and a purple river of lightning, braided together and streaked across the marble floor toward Soul Devourer.
Soul Devourer sneered, “That’s the best you can muster?” A curtain of churning black mist roared from his body and swallowed their combined strike.
Boom! The blast ruptured like a cannon inside a cathedral. Waves of pressure rippled back across the hall, slamming every defender off balance. They staggered, faces bleached the color of paper.
Onneas’ chest convulsed.
Pfft! A red sheet of blood splattered across the cracked tiles as Onneas nearly collapsed. She had known Soul Devourer was powerful, but not this powerful, for all their teamwork, they were ants slamming into a mountain.
Soul Devourer’s laughter bounced from pillar to pillar. giddy and cruel. “What’s wrong, Onneas? Weren’t you the legendary prodigy? Where’s that arrogance now, can’t even raise a hand?!”
Onneas wiped mouth, teeth clamped so hard jaw creaked. Emerald spiritual energy flared from palms, and flung herself back into the fight with a ragged cry that was half courage, half defiance.
Soul Devourer growled, “Stubborn fool.”
A fresh beam of demon light, denser and hotter. erupted from his fist.
Boom! The collision detonated like a meteor. The blast caught Onneas full in the chest. She spun through the air like a puppet with its strings slashed, then crashed to the stone floor. Another torrent of blood sprayed from lips, pooling beneath cheek.
“Ms. Dusko!” Jared shouted. He lunged, but a wall of black vapor reared up, snarling, and flung back before could reach her.
Soul Devourer’s grin stretched wider. “Now, insects! Your turn!” His gaze slithered over Jared, Aurelius, and each trembling ally like a blade tasting flesh.
Terror wove through the room. All of them had tasted the hope of victory only moments before. Yet, at that moment, they felt the walls of the palace bending inward, sealing them inside a tomb of their own ambitions.
“What do we do? We’re not his match…” Aurelius’ voice quavered as the truth crushed his spine. “He’s stronger than all of us combined.”
Across the rubble-strewn floor, Artemis knelt beside the unconscious Onneas, hands trembling uselessly. She was the leader of the Herb Sect, yet every remedy knew was meaningless while Soul Devourer stood unstoppable.
Yuliana wrapped both hands around longsword. Terror glimmered in violet eyes, but swallowed it like fire. She knew this was no moment for retreat. They would fight until breath itself abandoned them.
Jared glared at Soul Devourer, anger and raw refusal blazing behind his tired eyes. He would die before letting despair write the final line of this battle.
Jared’s mind flashed back to the ruined level six-a realm once bright, now littered with shattered spires and scorched earth. He remembered the cultivators who had fallen there, the civilians who had never stood a chance, and, most of all, Rylan, whose final roar had burned itself into Jared’s bones.
Grief twisted into resolve, hot and sharp, as the memories crowded his chest.
I can’t surrender now!
He clenched the hilt of the Dragonslayer Sword until his knuckles whitened. Golden spiritual energy coiled around in concentric rings, and, deep inside, the dormant power of his dragon bloodline stirred, slow at first, then surging like a tidal wave behind cracked stone.
“Even if it kills me, I’ll drag you down with me!” Jared’s roar tore through the throne room. He lunged at Soul Devourer, blade sweeping forward with a cataclysmic force that seemed capable of splitting the heavens themselves.
Soul Devourer gave a dismissive snort. “Foolish wretch!”
With a casual flick of his wrist, loosed a ribbon of demon light that streaked toward Jared.
Boom! The impact exploded like a thunderclap inside a coffin. The black beam smashed into Jared’s chest. He flew backward, a severed kite in a storm, before crashing to the marble floor. Scarlet flooded his lips, spattering the broken tiles beneath his cheek.
The difference between their realms was nearly two full cultivation levels, an abyss no talent could leap. Even with the dragon bloodline awakening in his veins, Jared could not so much as scratch Soul Devourer.
Talent, promise, destiny, none of it mattered against that gulf.
“Jared!” Yuliana’s scream rang out as sprinted toward him, but a lash of demonic aura hurled aside, slamming against a pillar before could touch him.
