Ronin could not speak, as his tongue felt numb and heavy due to the poison. So he could not use his One-Word Command to defend himself.
Luckily, the reason why he was not yet immobilized like Maellan was his Flame Regeneration. The nerve cells being frayed and damaged were fighting back.
He shakily bit his own hand to draw blood and summon his Daemonic Hounds. But before he could, Volken aimed a kick to his face too.
This caused him to lose several teeth, and he just used that blood to draw on his palm. Not screaming from the pain at all.
But Pavone struck him with another needle before he could complete drawing the rune!
"Urk!" Ronin felt the screaming of his nerves go louder, his whole senses nearly failing.
It was the same as having a stroke, and his body would not stop convulsing. No matter how strong his will was, his body would not follow his commands.
He shifted skills and picked Magmatic Rage instead. Hoping that the bulking of his muscles will pop off the needles sticking out his back.
It was easier to draw the symbol for 'eruption' on his palm too, compared to 'hound'. He managed to draw a triangle—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Rabuka shouted at him again, until he hit and splat towards another building, once the Spire of Scholars.
CRASH!
All the debris fell on top of Ronin, adding to his injuries. The more injuries he received, the more Flame he had to spend for Flame Regeneration.
If he used it too much, he might become lower than Level 90 and lose that skill, needing more Flame to get it back.
And the same would happen if he dodged with Illusive Shift a lot. He'd go back to lower than Level 70, losing his Whip of Runes with it.
Three skills could be lost, while the other three could not be used unless he could move or speak.
He had to avoid getting injured until he came up with a better plan. Until then, he could only hide in this pile of rubble above him while he tried to think.
But it was even getting harder and harder to think as his body battled itself.
He had many skills and resources, but he was still not undefeatable. His body was still mortal, he could still very much die.
The three Daemons walked over to him, laughing loudly as they prepared to really kill him for good…..
"There's the traitors. Will you all just sit there and watch?"
The cold, childish voice of Kai rang out to everyone, even Ronin whose senses were being muffled by his immobility.
The other Daemons, though having less power than this three, went to shout.
"Why are you attacking our King!?"
"Maellan would not stand for this!"
"After them!"
They grouped together to attack Pavone, Rabuka and Volken, providing some distraction as Kai walked calmly toward the pile of rubble…..
And unearthed Ronin, taking out one of the needles.
"You owe me this one." Kai said.
Ronin felt an immense sense of relief once that needle left his body. Kai also pulled on the other one, but it was struck deeper inside his spinal column that he couldn't really pull it out all the way.
But it was enough to provide Ronin some mobility. He was close to losing his Flame Regeneration, slowly going back to Level 89. He had to make the most of this.
"I have no choice….. I need to wake him." Ronin said.
"Wake him? Why? " Kai asked.
"Those little Daemons would not be able to win at all…. Not without Maellan's help, kuh!" Ronin coughed.
Rabuka was shouting endlessly like a loud siren, the alarming one and not the seductive one. It was too loud. Even if Ronin used his One-Word Command, people need to hear him.
Blinding Darkness would not be as effective too, as even with Volken who uses a weapon can make that weapon move on its own.
So Ronin instead summoned a Communication Crystal before he could lose his Flame Regeneration and be fully immobilized.
The Crystal then showed Cermin's sleeping face, and Ronin rasped….
"Wake."
Cermin opened his eyes, and Ronin finally collapsed with his hand still holding the purple diamond communication device.
Cermin woke to the sight of Daemons having a civil war just outside his window. He was so confused, as people with Obsidian markings in their bodies fought each other.
Then, he saw the Communication Crystal in front of him, and looked terrified.
Ronin was completely unmoving, and he didn't seem to even breathe. Buried in a pile of rubble and bleeding everywhere.
He immediately assumed the worst, and immediately bursted into an explosion of light, like a supernova.
"RONINNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!"
This burst of light had blinded everyone for 5 minutes straight. Their vision completely red, as their eyes bled.
"Ahhh!!!!" The Daemons yelled in fear.
Cermin burst out of the window, and with the Sword of Solaire in hand, landed to slice a Daemon completely in half!
All his skills were activated at once. His Sight of the Orbit made him look like a biblical angel, the unfathomable ones that have thousands of eyes orbiting around in several rings.
He did not need to move at all as he used his Shadow Seeker to drew the Daemons in. And he moved his sword in fast motions with the Slashing Ray to erase them from existence in just one slash!
Pavone, Rabuka and Volken worked together to not be drawn in his black hole that kills Daemons, all holding on close to each other with Volken's Rapier Lunis struck to the ground.
Kai cursed. "He's killing your pawns instead of the real enemies."
Ronin could not respond. He can barely even look up. As he did...
All he could see was a star shining bright. Swallowing everything and glowing brighter the more it consumes.
In his muddled brain, he can't help but have the single thought of:
'What a beautiful star.'
The star yelled, as Cermin increased further the power of his skills.
"Erase his powers, Pavone!" Rabuka yelled.
"I'm trying!" Pavone said.
Volken gritted his teeth. He was the one carrying the most weight, gripping his rapier tightly while Rabuka clung to his legs, and Pavone clung to Rabuka.
"This won't do! One of us needs to strike him with those needles!" He yelled.
Pavone argued. "You just want to sacrifice one of us! You know that the one who lets go will get killed immediately!"
"So you want us all to die instead???? Because if that's what you want, I could easily let go!" Volken yelled back.
Rabuka, who's stuck in between, tried to snap them out of it. "You idiots, why are you fighting among yourselves!?"
"We all work together here to incapacitate him! I will shout, Pavone will strike him with the needle, and you need to use your rapier to knock out that blinding sword of his!"
It was a really sound plan. So eventually, Volken said.
"Alright. One the count of three, I will let go and we all do that! One, two, three!"
He let go, and used his powers to aimed the Rapier Lunis against the Sword of Solaire. The moon versus the sun.
The moon was no match to the sun, but it was only a distraction. So did Rabuka's loud shouts of Cordial Surge.
Using the gravity-defying skill of Cermin, Pavone aimed to fly straight towards him and strike him with the needle on the neck.
"Ack!" Cermin tried to pull it out, but Pavone twisted it deeper.
His powers were slowly vanishing as Pavone exerted all his force to use Erasure on him. Cermin was slowly being incapacitated, and Volken's rapier was now aiming to decapitate his head—
CRASHHHH!
A spear clashed with the rapier, knocking it out. The spear then exploded in burst of electricity, electrocuting Volken.
"Argh!" The Silver Daemon cursed.
Rabuka stopped shouting from the surprise, and Pavone was also distracted as someone descended from the top floor.
"No….. That's not possible….." Rabuka said. "Even the Lord of Darkness could not free himself from the poison—"
Maellan was expressionless, his face dark. Another face was glaring along with him, the face of the woman he loved.
Then, he picked up his spear, and knocked down Pavone with it.
"Ahh! Maellan! Don't you see!? You managed to survive something Ronin could not!!" Pavone looked crazed and excited again. "You really are our True King—"
"I was freed because some child pulled out the needle from me. It's not because I was stronger than Ronin at all."
Kai pursed its lips from being called a child, when it played a major role in this fight.
Pavone shook his head. "That doesn't change the fact that you're here, and he's not! He even need the help of this Celestus prince just to survive—"
Maellan did not hestitate to strike his gut with the tip of the spear.
"URKKKK!!!"
"I am a doctor, not a murderer. But you are a disease, Pavone."
Pavone was crying real tears this time, disbelieving that the one he admired really would be the one to kill him.
"No….. Please, Maellan….."
"I need to get rid of you for our society to be healed, you have already caused too much damage to the collective Body of Darkness."
And so, that was how the Daemon Pavone met his End. With the one who created him, who brought him back to glory, who once took him in his arms when he was almost dying of hunger….
All he could see were stars as electricity charged his entire body.....
And he exploded.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel