The battle between the two titans resumed with an earth-shaking violence that dwarfed all other conflicts in the valley. Khaos, a grin of pure predatory joy on his face, moved first. He flowed forward, not with the explosive speed of a charge, but with the inevitable, terrifying grace of a stalking tiger. His two massive scythes remained floating behind him, unused, a clear and arrogant statement that he did not yet consider Malek worthy of his blades.
"You are a disappointment," Khaos stated, his voice a calm, conversational tone that was somehow more insulting than a shout. He dodged a wild, desperate swing from Malek, the demon's claws carving deep gouges in the rock where Khaos had been a millisecond before. "I was promised a demon, a being of profound power. Instead, I find a failed cultivator wrapped in a borrowed, ugly shell. You are an affront to both humans and whatever pathetic creature you're trying to imitate."
"Silence!" Malek roared, his rage fueling his demonic power. His entire body became wreathed in a sickly green-red flame. "Abyssal Blightflame!" He unleashed a torrent of this demonic flame, a wave of corrupting energy that did not just burn, but actively dissolved everything it touched.
The very rock of the crater floor hissed and melted into a black sludge as the fire washed over it. It was a powerful technique, designed to melt a Core Formation expert to the bone in seconds.
Khaos did not retreat. He did not erect a barrier. He simply walked into the torrent of fire. The demonic flames, filled with a corrupting, flesh-eating power, washed over him. They did not part. They burned. His simple, dark upper robes were instantly incinerated, turning to ash and revealing the physique beneath.
It was a body sculpted for pure power, every muscle defined, his skin flawless and unharmed by the hellfire. He walked through the Abyssal Blightflame as if it were a warm bath, the flames licking harmlessly at his divine muscles.
Malek stared in disbelief, his demonic mind unable to process what he was seeing. This attack should have been devastating. Instead, it had served only to reveal how much more physically imposing his opponent was.
It was in this moment of shock that Khaos emerged from the fire, completely unscathed, and struck. He dropped his hand and moved, a blur of motion. He delivered a single, brutal kick to Malek's knee. The sound was like a great tree snapping in a hurricane. Malek roared in agony as his massive leg buckled, the bone shattered despite its demonic reinforcement.
As the demon stumbled, Khaos continued his verbal assault, his voice dripping with disdain. "Your power is chaotic, unfocused. A child swinging a greatsword. You have no finesse, no true control. You merely borrow strength you do not understand, and you wear it on a truly hideous frame. Look at yourself. Was it worth it to become so ugly just to be this weak?" He punctuated his sentence with a swift punch to Malek's ribs, the impact producing another sickening crunch.
While the battle raged, Li Yu was a whirlwind of focused, efficient action on the valley floor. He had quickly realized his initial decision to simply open the cages was a mistake. The prisoners, weak from malnutrition and terror, were far too slow. They stumbled out, confused, only to be caught in the crossfire of the raging battles or some would be cut down by roving Hegemony cultists. He had to change his tactics.
He flew to a massive, multi-tiered stack of cages, each one filled with people. Ignoring the sounds of battle around him, he planted his feet, took a deep breath, and slammed his hands against the lowest cage.
With a great roar, drawing on the immense physical strength granted by his powerful body and soul, he lifted. The massive structure groaned and protested. The Hegemony cultists who saw him paused in their fighting, their minds unable to comprehend the sight.
A nearby battle between a Radiant Dawn disciple and a Hegemony member stopped for a split second as both combatants stared at feat of strength before they were forced to re-engage.
With a final shout, Li Yu tore the entire stack of cages from its foundations. He flew upwards, carrying the immense weight with a staggering display of raw power and cultivation, the terrified screams of the people inside echoing in the cavern.
He flew them over the battlefield, a safe distance away to a secluded, protected corner of the valley near the main entrance tunnel. He set the massive structure down gently, the impact a soft thud compared to the violence of its liftoff. He then returned to the fray, repeating the process, becoming a one-man evacuation force.
He realized he could be even more efficient. As he flew back for another load, he saw a team of Radiant Dawn disciples pinned down by a Hegemony captain and his squad. They were fighting bravely, but were outnumbered and outmatched. Without a word, Li Yu altered his course. He descended upon the Hegemony squad like a hawk.
His staff of Condensed Sea Iron Ore was a black blur, a sweeping arc of unstoppable force that sent the lesser cultists flying, their bones shattered. The captain, a peak Foundation Establishment expert, turned in shock, but was met with a single, perfectly aimed Abyssal Javelin that pierced his chest before he could even raise his weapon.
The Radiant Dawn disciples stared in awe as the terrifying threat that had been about to overwhelm them was annihilated in seconds. Their leader, a young woman with a determined face, stepped forward. "Thank you," she said, her voice filled with gratitude and shock. "Who… who are you?"
"I am a disciple of the one fighting over there," Li Yu stated, gesturing with his head towards the cataclysmic battle between Khaos and Malek. "Now,help me get these people to safety. Organize the ones I've already moved. Get them into the tunnel. Go!"
The young woman's eyes widened in understanding. She looked at Khaos, then back at Li Yu, and a look of profound reverence entered her gaze. She bowed deeply. "Yes!" She turned to her squad. "You heard him! Let's move!"
With Li Yu now clearing a path, freeing up more and more members of the Radiant Dawn, the evacuation effort began in earnest. The newly freed disciples, emboldened by Li Yu's power and Khaos's presence, began to help him move cages, or to form protective cordons around the fleeing prisoners, their fighting spirit reignited.
Across the valley, Grand Elder Theron watched all of this unfold. He had managed to get to his feet, his ancient body protesting with every movement. He saw Khaos's absolute dominance over the demon, a sight that filled him with a mixture of awe and profound unease. He saw Li Yu's incredible strength and decisive actions, and was stunned that a mere 'disciple' could possess such power.
He then moved, his steps slow but steady, towards the crater where his commander lay. He knelt beside the unconscious Lysander, retrieving a small, jade bottle from his robes. He opened it, and a fragrant, life-filled aroma filled the air.
He carefully placed a single, glowing green pill into Lysander's mouth, a high-grade recovery medicine that would stabilize his life-threatening injuries, though it could do nothing to regrow his severed arm.
His duty to his commander seen to, Theron once again took up a protective stance. He could not rejoin the main fight, but he could protect the evacuation. He stood as a silent, unmoving guardian, his own powerful aura creating a safe zone, ready to intercept any stray attacks that came towards the fleeing prisoners or his embattled disciples. His gaze, however, remained fixed on the battle between the two kings, a battle that would decide the fate of them all.
The main battle had become a one-sided, brutal beating, but Malek was still holding his own. Malek, his leg shattered, was now a lumbering, wounded beast. He tried to unleash his demonic arts, firing blasts of corrosive energy, summoning claws of shadow from the ground, but Khaos moved through it all with an infuriating, contemptuous ease. He was intentionally drawing the fight out, not to kill Malek, but to test the limits of his own physical form.
A desperate, wild gambit formed in Malek's mind. He saw a flicker of an opening. Khaos, in his arrogance, had left his chest exposed for a fraction of a second after delivering a punch. Pouring all of his remaining power into his one good leg and his right arm, Malek lunged, his claws glowing with a necrotic, green-red light.
"Abyssal Rend!" He struck Khaos square in the chest. The blow connected with a high-pitched, grating SCREEEEEE, like a diamond blade scraping across an impenetrable shield.
Malek's eyes widened in a moment of wild, ecstatic hope. He had landed a solid hit! But his hope turned to ash in an instant once he actually made contact. Khaos hadn't even flinched. He looked down at his chest.
There were no gashes. There was no blood. There were only five, faint white marks, like someone had tried to cut a sheet of metal with a common knife. The attack had barely scratched him. The marks were already fading.
Khaos looked down at the tiny marks, then looked back at Malek. His smile was gone, replaced by a look of profound disappointment. He had intentionally let the attack hit him, to see what it would feel like, to test his body's durability. And the result was… pathetic.
"Is that it?" Khaos asked, his voice flat and devoid of its earlier amusement. "Is that the full extent of your so-called demonic power? I let you hit me, and this is all you can do, you hideous creature? How am I supposed to test myself if you are so utterly, hopelessly weak? I have seen mortals fight with more spirit than this."
Malek began to panic. A true, soul-deep terror now replaced his rage. Nothing he did worked. His strength was inferior. His techniques were useless. Even a direct hit with his strongest attack had done nothing.
All the while, Khaos's insults rained down on him, each word a hammer blow to his pride. "Faster! Stronger! More precise! Is this truly the best the Abyss has to offer? What a disappointment. Your face is an offense, and your power is an even greater one."