The wind raged with countless ice and snow shards, but the old man at the center of it all was unaffected. An invisible force field surrounded him, keeping the ground at his feet completely dry.
"The soul of a demon is forged from greed and desire, but when facing a true strongman, he gives them respect—unlike some of the world's hypocrites," the old man said, looking calmly at the golden armor on Leon's body. He was both puzzled and wary. He placed his round hat back on his head and tapped the ground lightly with his cane.
Instantly, the entire surface of the cliff cracked open. Red flames erupted from the fissures, melting the frost that covered the ground. The two opposing forces of ice and fire collided violently.
"Your greed can't be hidden from me, demon," Leon declared. Without a moment's hesitation, he unleashed the terrifying power of his Microcosm with a punch. Countless bright ice shards bloomed from his fist and shot toward the old man.
The old man's face suddenly changed. He held his cane in front of him, and a terrifying, dark power erupted from his body.
The ground shook, and the entire mountain range trembled violently. The cliff was instantly shattered into pieces. Ice shards and dark energy intertwined and clashed in the air, creating a massive shockwave that swept out in all directions. Towering trees were snapped in half and tossed away like matchsticks.
A golden figure tore through the air like a beam of light, breaking through every obstacle and launching a punch at the old man. The force of the blow was so powerful that a demon of the old man's caliber barely had time to react. Fortunately, he had already placed multiple layers of defensive barriers around himself when the battle began.
But Leon's devastating punch still shattered every layer of his defense. The explosive force sent the old man flying backward like a cannonball, smashing through countless trees and mountains before finally sliding to a halt thousands of meters away on the ground.
The old man, once as elegant as a gentleman, now had tattered clothes and his body was covered in cracks like broken glass, with black and red energy seeping from them. His face was grim. He hadn't expected the young man to be so decisive. Before he could think, his expression shifted, and his figure blurred instantly.
The next second, a golden figure descended on his original location like a meteorite, hitting the ground with immense force. The powerful impact created a huge crater a hundred meters in diameter. Dense cracks spread out from the center, sending gravel and dust flying in every direction.
Leon floated above the deep pit. He turned his head to look at the old man, who had reappeared a few hundred meters to his left. Leon's black pupils were now tinged with a faint blue glow, and his light blue cloak billowed in the strong wind.
The old man frowned, his expression solemn. The entire battle had lasted less than five seconds. The fierce attack, the destructive power, the speed, and the strength of the fist made even a demon of his level tremble. He felt as though his soul projection had almost been completely shattered by the first blow.
"This is not a power a human should possess. Whose plan is this?" he muttered. The power, the fighting style, and the sacred aura of the golden armor were utterly terrifying. The old man had lived for countless years, yet he had never seen or heard of anything like it.
"We will meet again, child," the old man's aged voice echoed. His form began to break apart, and he finally dissipated completely, a look of greed still visible in his eyes.
Leon did not try to stop him. He knew that what he had just fought was only a soul projection. By decisively shattering it, he had dealt some damage to the demon's real body, but for a demon, that was a minor setback that would only take some time to recover from.
"Mephisto..."
Leon spoke the name that made all of hell tremble, his expression calm. He had just defeated a soul projection of Mephisto, the demon lord who ruled hell, a powerful, cunning, and insidious old foe who had lived for countless years. Leon had no fear.
He didn't need to be afraid. The Sorcerer Supreme, who had protected Earth for centuries, had forced Mephisto to sign a contract, preventing his true body from ever coming to Earth. Unwilling to give up, Mephisto could only use soul projections to cause trouble and, after countless years of plotting, he hoped to break the contract and return one day.
But the contract wasn't the real problem; the Sorcerer Supreme was the true limiter. Mephisto was simply waiting for the Sorcerer Supreme's life to end, which was still more than a decade or two away. For a demon, that was a mere yawn. But for Leon, it was enough time to grow.
When he broke through to the Seventh Sense, he would not wait for Mephisto to come to him; he would go to hell himself and end him. Leon was not a forgiving person, and he wouldn't tolerate an ancient foe constantly coveting his power and plotting against him. He simply didn't have the patience or the good nature for that.
As he thought, he sensed something, frowned, and instantly turned into a golden beam of light, flying toward the sky and disappearing into the clouds.
A moment later, a portal with sparks appeared in the air, and several figures in coarse robes emerged, holding what looked like magical weapons. The leader was a man with a slightly weathered but indifferent face. As they appeared, they immediately took a defensive stance, their hands covered in a golden magical shield.
When they saw the devastation around them, they were shocked: a massive crater, broken trees scattered by a shockwave, long gashes in the ground that stretched for thousands of meters, and a vast frozen area. A battle of unimaginable power had taken place here.
The leader, a man named Kaecilius, looked around before walking to the edge of the hundred-meter crater. He looked down, then glanced in the other direction, his eyes narrowing. Several men and women came up behind him.
"Kaecilius, what did you find?"
"The aura of a powerful demon," he said softly. The dozen or so magicians behind him looked at each other. One of them asked, "A powerful demon? Was it a battle between two demons?"
"No, there was only one demon. I don't know who the other person was, but they possessed a sacred, pure, and immensely destructive power. The demon was defeated." Kaecilius said, deep in thought.
He then looked toward the town. "Perhaps we should go to that town and see what we can find out."
(End of Chapter)
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