Chapter 757 Dawn
The storm, which had been roaring furiously before, began to subside as Og'tharoz calmed down. The ground beneath them finally stabilized, and the air heavy with tension gave way to a silence charged with emotion.
Kaizen stood next to Og'tharoz, his hand still resting on his friend's shoulder, a silent gesture of support.
Og'tharoz nodded slowly, accepting Kaizen's words. The emotional storm that had raged on the battlefield was beginning to calm down.
However, Belial, the cunning demon who had unleashed the storm of hatred, was not happy with this outcome. He wanted to see what Og'tharoz was capable of at his peak, so that he could shout to the whole world that he is the most powerful demon that ever lived. His burning eyes fixed on the two of them and, for a moment, his confidence wavered, but he soon recovered.
Belial, sensing the change in the air, stepped back with a weak, ironic smile. "What's that, Og'tharoz? So predictable. You've always been too weak to face the truth, but are you really going to ignore the pain your beloved has suffered?" Belial teased, trying to unleash the flames of anger in the demon's heart once again.
However, this time, unlike Og'tharoz, it was Kaizen who glared at Belial, causing his entire body to tremble instantly.
Og'tharoz stepped in front of Kaizen and looked at Belial with pity, his mind now cleared by Kaizen's words. He looked straight into Belial's burning eyes, a resolute determination replacing his earlier fury. "You're wrong, Belial. I'm not ignoring anything. I just don't want to be like you."
Belial growled in displeasure. "You don't want to be like me?! Everyone does, I'm the strongest!!!"
Og'tharoz stood firm in the face of Belial's provocation, his unwavering stance revealing a new inner strength that had emerged from Kaizen's words. As Belial snarled, Kaizen took the lead, his piercing gaze fixed on the demon's flaming eyes.
"Belial, your tricks no longer have any power over us. You think you're strong, but in reality you're weak, hence your manipulation," Kaizen declared, his voice echoing with a quiet confidence.
Belial tried to resist, but something about Kaizen's presence began to make him uncomfortable. He felt an aura coming from Kaizen that was unparalleled, and since he couldn't sense the presence of the demons a little further on, he knew that someone had killed them. Without meaning to, the demon began to tremble, not out of fear, because demons didn't know what fear was, but out of pure instinct.
"What... what is that?!" Belial growled, fighting the feeling of oppression that was intensifying by the second. "You can't defeat me! I am Belial, the next lord of hell!"
Kaizen didn't reply with words. Instead, he continued walking towards Og'tharoz. The ground around Belial began to shake, darkness consumed his vision, but not like before. The demon's vision became tunneled, unable to see anything around him other than Kaizen. He had never felt this way in his entire life, in fact, except for once, when he threatened to disobey an order from Surtr.
'Does he have the same strength as his master...? No! That should be impossible! No human can reach that level!
Og'tharoz watched the scene with a mixture of amazement and relief. His friend, Kaizen, was challenging a powerful demon with nothing more than the power of his mind. The demon, which had once roared with confidence, now retreated in the face of Kaizen's psychic power. It was surprising for Og'tharoz to see the level of power Kaizen had reached.
The storm, which had been calmed by Og'tharoz's change of heart, began to dissipate completely.
The wind softened, and the dark clouds that obscured the sky began to break up, revealing a faint light.
Belial, still trying to resist Kaizen's influence, uttered bitter words. "You can't win, Kaizen. You are nothing compared to the darkness that inhabits hell and..."
And as Belial spoke, a golden light began to penetrate the remaining clouds, gradually illuminating the battlefield.
"... Your time is up."
Kaizen's eyes widened in surprise as the light of dawn touched his face. Dawn meant that the time of the contract had been completed.
"That's it...?That's it!" Belial celebrated, opening his arms to be embraced by the sun.
The morning sun shone with increasing intensity, reaching the faces of everyone in the city.
Belial stepped back, feeling his influence fading in the face of the imminent arrival of dawn. His roar of fury echoed, but was drowned out by the crackle of light that emerged, illuminating the entire Kingdom of Mibothen.
In the southern district, Ravastine was still fighting off a wave of undead that a demon had summoned against her forehead, and when the sun rose, she allowed herself to feel its warmth for a few seconds.
For his part, Taznaar, standing over the body of a dead giant demon, looked up at the sun and muttered:
"Looks like time's up..."
Korgrak blocked out the sun's glare with one hand, looked at Salles, who was standing next to him on top of a building, and asked:
"Do we have any information from the vanguard? Isn't Jeewok back yet?"
"No, not yet. The tremors earlier knocked down some buildings that must have blocked the passage," replied Salles.
Korgrak looked at the horizon, in the direction of the city center. 'That light from earlier, I'm sure Kaizen became Evolved and yet we lost?'
In the center of the city, underneath several wrecks, stood Zylok, with his gray hair and calm expression, as if he had already accepted defeat, and just as the sun was about to touch him, someone stepped in front of him, keeping the cool shade on his face.
"Hey, are you alive, old man?" A female voice asked, and when Zylok opened his eyes he saw that it was Xisrith, contrasted by the brightness of the sun, so he smiled with the corner of his mouth.
"Time's up," muttered Zylok.
"What are you talking about?" Xisrith asked. "The demons haven't been teleported yet, that means something, doesn't it?" She said.
In fact, the moment the contract ended and all the conditions were met, all the remaining demons in the city were supposed to be pulled back into the interdimensional portal and it closed, but that didn't happen. The great red portal was still there in the sky, as intact as when it was night.
Belial's smile gradually wilted as he noticed that it hadn't been pulled open immediately after the contract's completion condition.
"What...? What's going on? I didn't..."
Kaizen smiled and began to stretch his shoulders. "Looks like we're in for an overtime, Belial. Bloody Lily must have bought us some more time."
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