“Nicholas? What the hell is that? I’ve never heard of this guy before!”
Xize didn’t take Nicholas seriously at all.
Although this big fellow looked somewhat powerful, wanting to become the new Demon King? Had he asked for Xize’s permission?
He had coveted the position of Demon King for a long time, but various reasons had prevented him from finding the right opportunity.
He couldn’t let this chance slip away.
“Even the ancient families can’t just pull some stray dog off the street and expect him to sit on our heads!!”
“That’s right!!”
The demonkin, stirred up by Xize’s words, grew increasingly agitated.
“Nicholas, if you’ve got the guts, prove your strength!”
Xize arrogantly jumped onto the red carpet and stood directly opposite Nicholas.
Nicholas narrowed his eyes, releasing a wave of killing intent.
He had received Sali’s command. Locking his gaze on Xize, he walked forward step by step, then grabbed the robe covering his body and tore it apart, revealing muscles as hard as steel.
“Interesting.”
Xize pulled the large blade from his back and gripped it in his hand.
Immediately after, abyssal aura surged from his body. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, it transformed into Abyssal Force and poured into the blade.
The massive blade was embedded with several gems. After receiving the Abyssal Force, they all glowed with brilliant light, causing the weapon to change and expand further as it entered an awakened state.
“That’s Xize’s Demon Blade!” Luca exclaimed. “That weapon allows him to wield multiple different attributes at once!”
“Flame Storm!”
Xize activated the fire-attribute and wind-attribute gems on his Demon Blade. Amplified by Abyssal Force, he summoned scorching flames that intertwined with fierce winds, forming a flame storm that swept in all directions.
Many demonkin, seeing this, scrambled backward in panic, afraid of being caught in the flames and burned to ash.
As the leader of the Black Sun Mercenary Group, Xize had once used this Flame Storm to easily annihilate the private armed forces of several hundred people from a family.
“If you don’t want to die, then use everything you’ve got!” Xize taunted Nicholas. “Of course, you can also accept your own weakness right now and kneel down to beg for mercy. I might be generous enough to spare your life!”
Even after hearing Xize’s provocation, Nicholas remained expressionless and continued walking forward, as if he didn’t take the flame storm seriously at all.
This arrogant attitude infuriated Xize.
“Courting death!”
Xize swung his Demon Blade, driving the flame storm forward like a rampaging beast as it pounced toward Nicholas. In the blink of an eye, Nicholas was completely swallowed by the flame storm.
“Become the stepping stone on my path to becoming the Demon King! Hahaha!” Xize’s laughter echoed across the sky above Starlight Palace.
…Could it be that Xize was really going to become the new Demon King?
Luca looked around. It seemed there was no one here stronger than Xize.
In recent years, many had indeed speculated that Xize might become the next Demon King. The only reason he hadn’t was because he was on bad terms with the ancient families, so he hadn’t received their support and couldn’t establish his own royal court.
“Once I become the Demon King, the first thing I’ll do is deal with all those old bastards who looked down on me—”
Xize turned his gaze toward Sali, who was watching from afar. The Demon Blade in his hand was itching to slice these stubborn old fools apart.
However, just as he was fantasizing about the future, a sturdy figure emerged from within the flame storm.
“Hah!!!”
Nicholas let out a thunderous roar. He swung his fist forward, unleashing a world-shaking impact. Using only his physical body, he forcibly shattered the flame storm.
“This… how is that possible?” Luca’s expression twisted in shock.
Even Xize found it hard to accept the scene before him. His proudest attack hadn’t left a single scratch on his opponent? And Nicholas hadn’t used any armament at all!
“What did you just use?”
Nicholas acted as if nothing had happened. He grabbed the Demon Blade and stared straight at Xize with his hollow eyes, as if suppressing his very soul.
“Xize, if you still have any other tricks, you’d better use them quickly,” Sali said with a cold smile. “Are you putting on a pathetic farce for us?”
“Damn old bastard, I’ll deal with you in a moment!”
Xize cursed through gritted teeth. He continued pouring Abyssal Force into the Demon Blade, causing the water-attribute and lightning-attribute gems to light up as well.
The air instantly became humid as he summoned crashing waves that slammed into Nicholas.
Blinding lightning coiled around the Demon Blade, greatly enhancing its power once more.
“Lightning Blade!!”
Xize charged forward. He stomped on the ground and shot ahead like a speeding arrow, spinning in mid-air as he brought down lightning upon Nicholas.
Boom!
The lightning exploded across Nicholas’s body, shattering the ground beneath him.
“You should be dead now!”
However, the next second, Xize looked up and saw an unbelievable sight.
Nicholas had grabbed the Demon Blade and was staring at him with those empty eyes.
Crack!
The Demon Blade that Xize took such pride in was crushed to pieces in Nicholas’s grip.
The next instant, a fist smashed into his abdomen.
The leader of the Black Sun Mercenary Group lost his balance and was sent flying, crashing hard onto the ground.
“Cough… cough cough…”
Xize lay on the ground, coughing up blood.
He had lost his weapon, and that last strike had heavily wounded him, stripping away any chance of continuing the fight. The outcome was already decided.
“This is… way too strong,” Luca muttered in awe, eyes wide.
Everyone present was stunned by Nicholas’s overwhelming power.
Hmph.
Nicholas continued walking toward Xize.
“I… surrender.”
Although unwilling, Xize still admitted defeat.
The gap in strength between them was simply too vast.
However, something no one expected happened. Nicholas walked up to Xize, and without showing any mercy to the fellow demonkin who had already lowered his head, he raised his hand like a blade and swung down, severing Xize’s head.
The demonkin watching the scene felt their minds go blank.
Before anyone could react, Nicholas grabbed the shattered fragments of the blade and hurled them into the crowd, killing over a dozen demonkin instantly.
“W-what are you doing!? Don’t kill me!!”
“Stop!”
Facing the panicked cries, Nicholas acted as if he couldn’t hear them. He leaped into the crowd, and with every strike, he took multiple lives.
Panic spread rapidly among the demonkin. They couldn’t understand why Nicholas, after winning the fight, not only refused to spare Xize but had begun a massacre.
Blood dyed the square red.
“Oh dear, this is truly…”
Hels looked at the tragic scene and shook his head helplessly.
He finally understood. Sali really was ruthless, using this method to establish the new Demon King’s authority.
So that was what the earlier order meant. No wonder they had invited so many demonkin here.
“Kill them. Demonkin are a bunch of fools who respect power but not virtue. You have to kill until they’re terrified.”
Sali was very satisfied with the current situation and allowed Nicholas’s slaughter to continue.
He had thought the plan would proceed exactly as he anticipated.
However, a variable appeared.
The first to notice the anomaly was Hels.
“Mr. Sali, above us!”
“What?”
“Look at the sky! Someone’s coming!!”
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