“Jared…” Yuliana’s voice cracked with fear. Her feet refused to retreat even as the palace trembled beneath the clashing titans.
“That isn’t Jared right now,” Flaxseed muttered, yanking arm with unexpected strength. “If you rush in, you’ll only trip up. Run while the path is open. He’ll carve his own escape.”
Aurelius, Infinides, Artemis, and the others read the unspoken urgency and pivoted toward the shattered gates. Together they bolted from the palace, hearts pounding in unison, each praying that the demon wearing their friend’s skin would somehow survive the storm had summoned.
“None of you are getting out of here alive!” Soul Devourer’s guttural snarl rumbled through Harmony Hall, thick with promise and malice.
A thousand echoes chased the words across the vaulted ceiling, as though the palace itself understood the threat.
He surged forward to give chase. Yet, Jared slid in front of him, Dragonslayer Sword raised, cutting off that pursuit with a clang so loud it felt like a bell forged in the underworld.
Vermilion Demon Lord now rode Jared’s body like a living chariot. Black mist coiled around Jared’s limbs, and crimson light drowned his eyes. Each breath exuded an ancient cruelty, the weight of massacres long forgotten. That pressure eclipsed even the demonic aura wreathing Soul Devourer, hollowing the air until every torch guttered.
“Vermilion, do you have a death wish?!” Soul Devourer barked, the bravado in his tone stretched thin.
A grave look flashed across Soul Devourer’s countenance as gazed at Jared, who stood before him. He had not forgotten the legends. Vermilion Demon Lord once rampaged on level nine as a supreme Demonic Cultivator. Despite being stripped to a single wisp of soul now, was still far too dangerous to dismiss.
“A death wish?” Jared let a low laugh drag over the marble. “Soul Devourer, we never settled our old account. Tonight feels perfect, doesn’t it?”
He vanished, a smear of darkness and gold. In the next heartbeat, was behind Soul Devourer, Dragonslayer Sword shrieking through the void toward Soul Devourer’s spine.
Black demonic aura intertwined with Jared’s golden spiritual energy, forging a bizarre, churning spear of light and shadow.
Soul Devourer’s expression faltered. He didn’t expect Vermilion Demon Lord to move with such speed. Soul Devourer hastily turned around and released a powerful demonic aura that wrapped around his body, forming a black shield to deflect Jared’s attack.
Clang!
Aloud sound echoed as Dragonslayer Sword struck the black shield, producing an ear-splitting ring. The black shield shuddered as cracks appeared on its surface. Nevertheless, it successfully stopped Jared’s assault.
Knocked back several paces, Soul Devourer hissed, “Even reduced to a remnant, you still carry far too much strength.”
“Did you think I idled inside this youngster?” Vermilion’s voice rasped through Jared’s throat. “I’ve mended more power than you can fathom, and borrowed a few novel tricks from his mortal flesh!”
The duel erupted anew. Black demonic aura slashed against gold spiritual energy, weaving lethal ribbons that scorched pillars and shattered mosaics. Every collision boomed like thunder trapped indoors. Stone trembled, chandeliers swung madly. The palace seemed one breath from collapsing.
Meanwhile, Aurelius and the others sprinted toward the shattered gates. Jared’s stand was their only lifeline, and they would not waste it.
“Move!” Onneas shouted, blood streaking chin as fresh azure energy flared around boots, urging the fugitives onward.
She thrust palm forward. “Golden Armor Guards! Cut us a road! Quartet Celestial Guards! Hold the rear!”
The palace courtyard blazed with orderly formations as order thundered into the night.
“Yes!” The three hundred Golden Armor Guards answered in unison and lifted their spears in perfect unison, polished gold catching what little light slipped through the smoke-choked sky.
From every spearhead burst a tide of molten radiance that ripped a glowing corridor straight through the knot of shrieking demonic souls.
“Think you can flee? Not that easily!” the nearest demon general roared.
Shadow-black steel whistled as hurtled forward, his warped blade screaming with an eerie demonic aura on a direct path for Onneas.
“Die, monster!” The left-flank Celestial Guard blurred into motion. His spear darted like a viper and punched clean through the demon general’s chest, halting the latter mid-charge in a spray of ashen blood.
“Move! Don’t get dragged into a slog!” Onneas shouted, voice raw from command.
Aurelius hooked an arm beneath the wounded Artemis and half-carried across the rubble-strewn street. Yuliana kept pace. Just behind, while Flaxseed lingered at the rear, hurling sparks of charms to mask their retreat.
Above and around them, the Golden Armored Guards folded into a protective wedge and drove toward the city gate.
“Block their escape!” Demon Cultivators poured in from every shattered archway, crackling clouds of pitch-black energy rolling ahead of them like a storm front.
