Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 165

The Great War of Humans and Demons (3)

Clang!
As twelve light swords struck, cracks appeared on the enlarged purple shield, and it shattered in half with the thirteenth strike.
Twenty beams of sword light still remained. The Demon Lord, his face pale, roared as dark red flames flared violently.
His crimson claws deflected eighteen of the shining trajectories, but a golden straight line finally pierced through his shoulder.
Roar!
Enraged, the Demon Lord spread his arms wide. Bulging, mucus-like substances rose over his muscular body, covering him like armor.
In the meantime, Sword Emperor retrieved his sword lights and scattered the 32 swords once more. The Demon Lord, having regained his stance, deployed a dark red shroud, but when four swords struck a single point simultaneously, a long crack appeared, shattering the shroud like thin glass with the fifth sword light.
“Hyaap!”
With a shout, dark lightning surged into the Demon Lord’s grasp. As he hurled the black lightning at the incoming sword lights, the crackling electricity incinerated 27 of them in an instant.
Crackle!
“Now that I’ve brought out the Dark Thunder, you’ll need to give it your all.”
“Spare me your unnecessary comments.”
“Heh heh! It’s rare to face a pure swordsman like you. Please, don’t die too easily.”
Crackle—
Boom!
The Demon Lord was enveloped in dark lightning. In the blink of an eye, he flew right up to Sword Emperor, wielding the lightning like a greatsword and swinging it horizontally.
Startled, Sword Emperor deflected the force of the dark lightning with the first form of the Harmony Heart Sword, Pressing Sword to Ward Off Evil.
The Demon Lord’s eyes, previously full of confidence, now showed a hint of surprise.
“That technique again? Then, how about you take this one as well!”
Crackle!
In each of the Demon Lord’s hands, a dark thunderball condensed. When he merged the two thunderballs, a colossal thunder sword, spanning dozens of meters, surged forth.
“This is my true name artifact, the Dark Heaven Thunder Sword, forged from thunder-attribute demonic energy.”
“A true name artifact. Do all beings outside the inner world possess such treasures?”
“It’s a long story. If you join our Northern Demons, I might tell you. How about it? I could find you a good position. You might even rise to a rank like mine in no time.”
“I’d rather bite my tongue and die than betray my principles.”
“Heh, I was just making conversation. But enough talk, my thunder is cooling. Try to survive within the Dark Heaven Thunder.”
Buzz—
Crackle!
The elongated dark lightning split the sky. The jagged, irregular lightning bolts extended like spikes from a club, tearing through space.
Sword Emperor’s face darkened at the sight of the black lightning’s power. Suddenly, he relaxed his arms, then slowly raised his sword and flicked it as if wielding a whip.
Harmony Heart Sword
Sixth Form
Unity of Heaven and Earth
Rumble!
A blue diagonal line clashed with the thunder sword. The thunder sword unleashed countless bolts of lightning at the blue line, but the blue line twisted and turned, competing fiercely with the thunder.
A massive explosion erupted in the sky, shaking both heaven and earth.
Boom!
The tremendous impact struck the three-layered protective barrier. The S-rank heroes, who had been watching the duel from the front lines, quickly retreated inside the barrier.
Meanwhile, a Lord-class centipede demon, blinded by hunger and too close to the two titans, was caught in the explosion, losing its physical body and leaving only its core essence behind.
As the shockwave subsided, Sword Emperor and the Demon Lord reappeared, both greatly exhausted and breathing heavily.
“Hoo, you are impressive. Despite relying on various treasures, you matched me evenly. Since our life-and-death duel ended in a draw, I will retreat for now. In the next battle, I hope to meet the 6-star spiritual being you revere as an irregular.”
The Demon Lord flew to the other side of the East Sea with his elite Lord-class troops. Sword Emperor, who had kept his eyes fixed on them until they became mere dots, finally relaxed his stance.
As he returned inside the protective barrier, Fox Spirit and Poker Boy hurriedly greeted him.
“Grandpa! Are you okay?”
“Sword Emperor Grandpa! You have to live long. Without you, we’re all doomed! And I won’t be able to gamble anymore!”
Even though Sword Emperor held off the Emperor-class Demon Lord, if the 100 elite Lord-class demons had tried to break through the protective barrier, the four S-rank heroes would have been helplessly overwhelmed.
After a grueling day, Sword Emperor returned to the command room and immediately began circulating his energy to restore his tangled magical circuits and depleted internal energy.
Despite the lack of significant casualties, the heroes and soldiers were demoralized by the overwhelming might of the demonic army, casting a pall over the atmosphere.
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A day passed, and the entire world was engulfed in war. The demonic army simultaneously struck neighboring countries like Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan.
In addition, millions of demonic troops swarmed distant countries like Canada and the United States, initiating a chilling long-range reconnaissance battle.
World leaders hastily advanced the scheduled year-end World Congress for an emergency meeting, declaring the establishment of a provisional world government and a global hero association, prioritizing the annihilation of the demonic army as humanity’s top objective.
The newly formed world government, comprising key figures from various nations, confirmed that the demons’ stronghold was an unknown island at latitude 57.0°N and longitude 145.0°E in the Sea of Okhotsk. This location’s proximity to powerful nations like China, Japan, and South Korea naturally formed the front lines in East Asia.
Fortunately, relatively weaker Asian countries, South America, and Europe were shielded from the demons’ one-sided slaughter.
However, due to the parasitic invasion, China lost more than a dozen S-rank heroes, including Wu Huajin, the spiritual leader and supreme commander, and the awakened Tian Muying Wang. Within just three days, a quarter of China’s mainland was devastated. Russia, lacking awakened beings, faced similar devastation.
They sought assistance from Japan, South Korea, and the United States, but those nations were also fully committed to defending their own territories.
Flash!
The blue flash over Seoul occurred on the fourth day of the demonic invasion, early in the morning.
As the bright light faded, a young man riding a black tiger descended onto a building rooftop. The young man was none other than Hero Isaac.
“So, it’s come to this already,” Isaac muttered bitterly after confirming the overall situation of the demonic invasion through AI Noah.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he sent a lengthy message to the new association president, the Mechanical Commander, and Sword Emperor. Then, he immediately summoned the Nexus Jet and headed north.
Thanks to advanced magitech and the presence of the awakened Sword Emperor, South Korea could hold its ground against the demonic army. However, the situation was different for China and Russia.
With each passing day of training, Isaac felt an increasing responsibility to protect not just South Korea but the entire world.
Ignoring the sacrifices of foreigners would weigh heavily on his conscience, hindering his breakthrough to the next level.
Having returned to Earth later than expected due to being consumed by inner demons during his training, Isaac wanted to eliminate any potential sources of future inner turmoil.
Roar!
Screams echoed as Beijing’s front lines had already fallen to the demonic army, with the city ablaze and skyscrapers collapsing.
Lower-ranked demonic soldiers with wings were slaughtering thousands of citizens, extracting their blood to produce tiny blue granules.
Boom!
Activating his Final Finish, Isaac unleashed his spiritual power over a vast area spanning hundreds of kilometers, empowering the martial artists and instantly massacring hundreds of thousands of common and rare demonic soldiers.
Since the release of spiritual power wasn’t a direct attack in the system, Isaac used spatial leaps to cover great distances in an instant, releasing his energy three more times within a minute.
This constant influx of point acquisition messages cluttered his view, prompting him to irritably disable the message alert function.
Of course, this feat was possible because the Final Finish’s enhancement allowed him to use his late 6-star spiritual power for 1 minute and 13 seconds without any depletion.
“What… what is this…?”
“What just happened?”
The martial artists and soldiers fighting on the ground were bewildered as the demonic soldiers they had been struggling against suddenly collapsed en masse.
Surveying the ground with his spiritual sense, Isaac summoned the Nexus Jet and flew eastward.
After flying for 20 minutes, he detected a large demonic force near Jinzhou City.
‘One Emperor-class demon and about twenty Lord-class demons.’
Despite the considerable force, Isaac didn’t hesitate. He reverse-summoned the Nexus Jet and mounted his celestial steed. Then, with a chilling voice imbued with 5-star spiritual power, he spoke.
“Emperor-class demon, come before me immediately.”
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In the temporary forward base, Black Demon Castle, meticulously constructed by lower-ranked demons, a rough-looking man sitting on the throne frowned.
In his hands were the waists of beautiful human women, their eyes tainted with dark red corruption, who fawned over him, caressing his body.
“Just when I was having fun, what is this commotion? Fukyeong, go and bring me the head of that foolish human. Tsk, how did a mere 5-star manage to get here?”
“At your command.”
A masked figure, who had appeared like a shadow, knelt before the man, then vanished like a mirage.
The man continued to enjoy the women’s company, paying no mind to the outside disturbance.
“Heh, even if you are tainted by demonic energy, your bodies and faces will remain intact. My abilities are exceptional even among the Demon Lords, so consider yourselves fortunate.”
The women giggled and flattered him, but within minutes, unbelievable news arrived.
“Demon Lord! The Black Reaper you sent has perished. We dispatched other Lord-class generals, but they were no match.”
“Hmph. So there was a commotion outside. Are you telling me they couldn’t subdue a mere 5-star spiritual being? Did Fukyeong truly lose his life?”
“Strangely enough… yes, it’s true.”
“Haha. Well, other Demon Lords are struggling against awakened beings. This country’s defenses were laughably weak. Since a 5-star has come right to us, I’ll personally harvest his spiritual energy.”
The middle-aged man’s bare body shimmered before being clad in ornate armor.
Laughing heartily at the women pleading for his quick return, he transformed into black smoke and swiftly exited the fortress, descending into the half-ruined city where he sensed the 5-star spiritual energy.
There stood a blue-eyed young man, flanked by a black tiger and a phoenix ablaze with blue flames.
“So, it’s you. The fool who dared to summon me, the Northern Heaven Demon Lord?”