Chapter 429 - Confrontation
Chapter 429 - Confrontation
"D— Demon lord…" He quaked, taking another unconscious step back.
"Did I stutter? Lord of humans…"
Finally, she revealed her face. On the outside, she looked merely like any other school girl. Her smile was wide yet innocent. She was rather attractive, her features looked completely human, and the outfit she wore perfectly matched that of any ordinary girl. Yet, the feeling he received from her was anything but ordinary…
She had no horns, no fangs, no wings, and her aura was none existent beyond a slight glint in her purple gaze. However, from his shaking eyes, those things came to existence.
Feelings that had remained dormant for his entire life had suddenly resurfaced in full…
Primal fear…
Intimidation…
Inferiority…
He once thought of himself as a dragon ruling over a hoard of puny drakes, but now he felt as meagre as a rodent.
His imagination played tricks on him, making a reality of his internal fear. With every step she took forward, he unknowingly took one back.
Step by step, quickly yet so so slowly… Until suddenly, he ran into a wall, and his weak legs could move no more.
That sudden impact jittered and ruptured his entire body, like a slap to the face returning him back to his supreme senses.
'What the hell am I doing!!' He inwardly screamed. 'I, the supreme general, am running away from this little girl! Heh heh… I truly have sunk so low, haven't I… All due to that Moby Kane…'
Abruptly, his expression displaying primal fear was changed. He gripped his fists tight, his bent knees soared back up, and subtle laughter exited his mouth.
"Demon Lord huh? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!! LITTLE GIRL! YOU DARE TRESPASS ONTO MY PRIVATE LIVING QUARTERS AND TRY TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME!? I DON'T CARE HOW YOU LITTLE SLUT MANAGED TO GET IN HERE!! YOU WON'T FUCKING SURVIVE!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'VE GOT YOURSELF INTO!! IN THIS WORLD! I AM GOD!! AND YOU WILL OBEY!! YOU WILL SOON SEE THAT!!" He shook himself off, smiling with his teeth openly gritted, and his eyes monstrously beating red.
Dark aura exited his body, covering the entire room in dense mana. The ground shook beneath his feet, and the previously organized room began to crumble, like a hellish tornado had suddenly spawned.
"NOW!! WHAT DO YOU—" And at that moment, his sights dilated, and his heart lurched, sunken down once again.
He peered ahead… through the cyclone of murky madness, there she was, the self-proclaimed demon lord standing there like she was feeling the morning breeze of a summer day. Her eyes glimmered through the darkness like stars, and with her casual strut forward through the dark blizzard, those stars became larger and brighter, accompanied by that same smile of domination.
Once again, he lost control of his body, no matter how much he wanted to move, all he could do was wait and watch from the outside. And before he even knew it, she had already arrived in front of him, her hands slowly extending towards his eyes until his feet could no longer feel the ground.
His aura dispersed as though it had never even existed. Her hands were clasped around his mouth, raising him high up in the sky. He heard cracks, his skull was slowly crushing and collapsing onto itself.
"God of this world!?" She burst out in hysteria as the supreme general tried desperately to escape her iron grasp. "I've fought and killed so many gods in my life, you don't even cut it for a servant boy! Are you sure you don't care who I am!!" Her aura of royal purple intensified, compared to what the supreme general displayed, it was not on the same plane of existence.
He inwardly screamed. His eyes were locked onto hers even still, and upon seeing her smile further, he panicked. Like a worm, he tried to wiggle himself out. Human nature kicked in. He frantically tried to escape, he bit her fingers, yet all that led to was broken teeth, like attempting to gnaw at diamond, and when he tried to kick her with his dangling legs, it rattled him to the core, like he was trying to kick open the gates of hell.
"So! This is the supreme general of the military!? Doing such petty tactics! Quite pathetic don't you think?"
She crushed his face further, and his world was narrowed and slowly consumed by darkness…
Despite his fake, virtual body, the pain was insurmountable. It would not stop even as all went dark…
Had he died? Was he in some purgatory? No, that couldn't have been… He still felt that tight squeeze sucking him dry, and death was impossible in such a world.
His panic continued, until suddenly, he was dropped, and he found himself crushed on the ground barely able to breathe from his deformed, almost alien-like face.
"Kh—" He coughed with no restraints, scanning all around him.
There was nothing… The room he once stood in was no more, and all that remained was a vast space of empty darkness…
When he looked down, he managed to see the faint figure of his old body, shaking uncontrollably to the point that the most advanced vibrators would pale in comparison.
'Am— Am I dead?' He thought once more— An illogical thought, yet somehow the most logical thing he could think of…
But that was when in this darkness, he heard a sound… And heart began to thud like an engine attempting to blow out of his hurting chest.
And out of pure reflex, he turned his head, only to gaze upon the figure of that same demonic school girl as before.
Was this some sort of hell? Punishment for all the sins he had committed? Perhaps divine retribution? He knew not the answer, but his body most certainly did… It was a pure living nightmare.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" He attempted to flee, yet no matter where he crawled, there she was, smiling eagerly at him with the same amused expression, omnipresent in her step.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen… I do commend you though, you lasted much longer than most people, and far exceeded my expectations. I can't imagine an ego so big that even for a second, you believed you could defeat me…" She giggled.
"AHH— Who the hell are you!! This is my VR space! I'm in control here! What have you done!! Where is this place!! I can't even escape back into the real world!"
"Huh? Did you not hear me? I don't usually repeat myself, but just because I'm in such a good mood, I'll humour you. I am Avilia Graymore, the first demon lord! Do you really think that your puny existence, even as a cheating entity, can handle my soul? Don't make me laugh! This world is mine to control! I can do whatever I want! Try all you might, but there is no escape!"
"YOU CAN'T BE!! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!! I—" His words were cut off short by pure pain…
"AHHH—"
Purple energy engulfed him, and he began to burn. Yet it was no mere burn, it lacked heat, and more than made up for it in pure pain. It was unlike anything he even knew could have been possible.
Had any other form of torture been offered to him, be it slowly peeling his skin off with a rusty scalpel inside and out or bathing in the hottest magma from across the universe, he would have absolutely chosen that alternative.
However, despite such agony, all he could focus on was her gaze beyond the flames, piercing into his very soul like peering into the depths of hell. That shook him more than anything, yet it was her otherworldly voice that set in, etched, scarring his heart.
"I made the exception to repeat myself twice… But no man, in my thousands of years of existence, has ever lived to hear me repeat myself thrice… When I speak... When I move... When I breathe... you listen and understand… My word is law… You will not escape... No one will hear your agony no matter how loud your screen or call for help... Your pathetic existence is in your hands... Understood?"
And with those words, the pain disappeared, leaving him to his own devices once more.
"Understood…" He murmured, catching his breath. "Demon lord… What business do you have with me of all people? What have I done to deserve this?"
"Oh! So we're finally getting to business, are we! Smart man!" She smiled.
"I've come here to ask you a few questions… Care to answer them? Oh! You too! You can answer as well!" She snapped her finger, and like tugging a spirit out of his mouth, something escaped into this new existence…
It was a dark, ominous figure. Toothy with bright red eyes, very similar to Nago, the spirit possessed by Adam Walker.
"You… Howwww did you pulllll meeeee outtt… How is that possssible?" He hissed, clearly stunned out of his mind.
"I have my methods," She retorted.
The supreme general watched in pain and horror as his very own spirit was forcefully ripped out of his body, yet he could not remain on the hurt for too long, lest he dare make her repeat herself.
"You need questions answered? I'd be honoured to help! Ask me anything! Kath would as well answer, I'm certain of it!" He looked over towards his spirit.
"Thisss being… I… Yes… I shall answerrr… I am at your will..."
"Excellent!" She smirked. "Let us commence with something relatively simple… Did you cheat in order to rig this tournament in your grandson's favour?"
Out of all the questions and possibilities that sprung up in his mind, that question had not even been on the radar. It was an easy question to answer, yet he thought deeply for several seconds, gulping with a shaky smile.
"No! Of course not! I am a man of honou— AHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
That stinging pain that had yet to leave his skin for long suddenly returned, only this time it was somehow even more painful to him and his spirit summon.
"You dare lie to me? Who do you think I am? You got burned twice as hard for two lies. Not only are you a cheating man, but you lack all honour… I am well aware of that right fist of yours… Whenever it was clenched, you made it so it would greatly raise your grandson's attack power to your will. That was the only reason he 'defeated.' Kai Fatebringer."
*Cough* *Cough* He barely managed to recover. "YES!! YES!! I admit it! I did! But I never intended to! It was a last resort I never dreamed of even using! It was obscene that Kai Fatebringer was that powerful! He must have also been cheating! I'm certain of it!!"