His eyes blacked out again. Eugene crashed into his shield once more as blood spilled from his mouth.
Too much. He had taken too much damage.
With his surprise not hidden, Eugene looked up.
"Just kidding," Balam said. He crushed the cuffs and threw the chains away. "These don't work on beings with too much energy."
Eugene tried to get up, but his mind was spinning. His ears rang desperately as he neared his limit.
"Well, there go your weapons."
The demon approached, slow and steady.
Balam's hand soared. "Good try, now, I'll show you how to punch."
Eugene tried to move away, but his feet lost balance. Blood poured out from his ears as well from the piled-up injuries.
The demon swung.
Eugene groaned... but the hit never came.
"What the! What is this!?"
Eugene smacked his head and forced his eyes to focus. Wrapped around the demon's arms were chains of pure black. Chains that moved on their own.
"Catene!" Eugene screamed. His chains that had been taken away by the demons returned. Tied to its back was a small cloth with words written in blood etched over it.
'Don't fall,' they said. It was the empire's language.
Taking in a sharp breath, Eugene turned away from the demon struggling with the chains and moved his shield away. His body slumped on his shields as he hurriedly increased the distance.
He reached into his spatial dimension and pulled out the strongest remaining potion he had left. In a go, Eugene downed the potion, the effects almost immediately decreased the pressure on his mind and his vision grew clearer.
Balam turned to the escaping Eugene.
"CATENE! RETURN!"
The chains with a mind of their own smacked the demon king in the face and dashed away.
Balam followed the escaping Eugene with an attack of his own. Gusts of black energy spread from his palms and rushed after Eugene.
"Modo Difesa," he muttered as the chains turned into a cloak and wrapped around Eugene. All the attacks of the demon crashed against the chain.
"[Smoke]"
A cloud of smoke rose from the point of impact.
Visibility was covered and the presence of many attacks took away the feeling of his energy.
The demon king hastened.
As he came closer to the cloud of smoke and reached out, his hand was scratched.
"Modo Attacio."
The chain turned into a black sword. Gripping it with both his hands, Eugene approached the Demon King again.
A flurry of swings emerged as Eugene swung his sword at the Demon King. As if finding it fun, the demon king bellowed at every hit.
The sword strikes were countered by punches and blocked by demonic energy. Eugene shot arrows and spears of magic, but all of those met with their match.
He slashed downward, and immediately switched to his side as Balam disappeared.
Cuts and scratches appeared on Balam's body. His wings were bloodied and his chest was carved.
The battle grew longer, but the outcome didn't change.
Balam kept countering and changing his movements at every spot, crushing Eugene with his blows all over again.
Blood continued to spill from his mouth as Eugene parried a strike, his movements were growing weaker.
A black spear struck.
Eugene who had countered all of them with his magic fell short.
The spear lodged itself into his shoulders.
"So, you got a weapon, you learned my ability, did you think you would win?" Balam said. "Accept defeat. Biding for time is useless."
Eugene's eyes grew hazy. The cloth tied to the chain stuck in its sword form.
Don't fall.
"This is your fate. That human girl is going to become my meal."
Don't fall.
"And you are going to be stuck with me for all eternity."
He didn't need a fucking reminder from someone else. Not him.
Don't fall?
Balam approached.
"Your eyes are still rebellious."
He raised his hands above Eugene.
Don't fall? Fucking who do you think will fall?
"This won't kill you, so go sleep."
"GAH!" A scream left Eugene. A fist was smashed into his chest.
He flew backward and smacked against his shield. The shield was pushed back. Balam punched again. And again. Over and over.
The shield cracked.
Eugene groaned.
A crash rang, and the shield broke apart.
"HAH!" Balam kicked Eugene, and he went crashing into the ground.
Limp, Eugene was unable to move as he went deep inside the ground. Strength left his body as he arched forward.
A crater, hundreds of meters long was formed all around him with the limp Eugene at the center.
Balam descended from the sky.
His gaze landed on Eugene, and he sighed.
Shaking his head, the demon king turned away. It had been a long time since he was injured this much.
Tap, his feet rang out.
"Now, to take care of those ants.'
Tap.
Balam closed his eyes and slowly made his way toward his castle.
"Ah... I really didn't want to do this."
An eerie feeling climbed up the Demon King's back.
Something was standing up. Something was behind him.
"It kinda kills me from inside, but well..."
Balam stopped.
"Don't fall, huh?"
Ki? Mana? What was it? What was surging up? Demonic energy? Holy energy? No. This feeling didn't belong to any of them. It was something far more dangerous, far more cursed.
"Who is falling?"
It was the signal of the end.
Balam hurriedly opened his eyes and turned back.
It was gone.
The red sky of hell.
The eternal red sky that reminded them of their place, had disappeared.
Instead, there was darkness.
Absolute, unending darkness.
"[WORLD'S]"
The voice boomed.
Hell had gone quiet as the sky had changed. Even air didn't dare make a sound as his voice spread.
Balam's heart trembled. Fear.
He was feeling fear.
Who should have been destroyed beyond repair, was standing in front of him.
His white hair had turned black as dark veins spread all over his body.
He stood there.
The reaper.
Death.
No.
He was beyond them. He was above them. Not even death could escape him.
His purple eyes opened.
"[END]"
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