The moment the King of the Sky appeared, it coordinated with the King of the Land to attack Ryougi Raku! Wielding the King of the Sky's sharp proboscis and the King of the Land's massive claws as weapons, they launched a fierce assault on Ryougi Raku with flawless coordination and extreme speed!
This time, however, Ryougi Raku remained unshaken. Using his will, he manipulated the Source of Suffering, and the purple monster extended two gigantic hands, blocking the combined attack of the Kings of Sky and Land! Although the Source of Suffering was forced back a considerable distance, it managed to barely hold its ground!
Constant defense was not Ryougi Raku's style. The Source of Suffering opened its mouth, and its two eyes, burning with a faint purple glow, fixed on Merem. A spiraling stream of purple flames shot straight out!
These flames had no temperature; they even made one feel cold. They did not burn any material substance but instead attacked the spirits of living beings, plunging them into deep nightmares where all they could feel was pain!
Merem had not expected the Source of Suffering to possess such a long-range attack method. He was struck by the flames unexpectedly, and the next moment, a concept known as 'pain' descended upon him. Just as he was about to scream, his consciousness blurred as if his entire soul had sunk into a void, making him forget everything about himself, as if he were reliving the deepest, most terrifying period of his life!
In that brief instant, Merem Solomon seemed to relive the most painful scenes of his life, an endless cycle of reincarnation, recurring over and over!
Again and again, his limbs were severed by the villagers. Again and again, he was tormented by unbearable pain, his wails seeming to echo throughout his entire soul!
It wasn't until a tremor in the core of his soul that Merem Solomon awoke from this ethereal nightmare. Though only an instant had passed externally, Merem felt as if he had experienced centuries. As one of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, he broke out in a cold sweat, while simultaneously feeling a deep, bone-piercing pain throughout his body!
At the same time, he was filled with lingering fear. If the demons of his left and right feet did not possess their own consciousness and would continue to exist even if he died, thus blocking the attacks of the Source of Suffering and Ryougi Raku when Merem was lost in fear, otherwise, even if he lost consciousness for what seemed like mere seconds externally, in a battle of this level, he would have been severely wounded, if not killed!
The frightened Merem carefully observed the demonic beast, surprised that it possessed such an ability. No wonder Ryougi Raku called it the Source of Suffering. However, when Merem's gaze met the demon's flickering purple eyes, his consciousness wavered again. He quickly shook his head and averted his eyes.
It was then that he finally realized: the eerie purple flames emitted by the Source of Suffering only brought physical pain, while the nightmare that dragged one into the depths of consciousness originated from the demon's eyes!
Simultaneously, he also discovered that while the Source of Suffering possessed peculiar abilities, its close-range physical strength was not much greater than that of his King of the Sky and King of the Land. Blocking his two demonic beasts was still very difficult for the Source of Suffering!
Continuing to command his two demonic beasts to attack, Merem knew that as long as he was careful of the monster's abilities, if things continued this way, he would ultimately be the victor!
Ryougi Raku saw that Merem had not changed his tactics and continued to command his two demonic beasts to attack. He secretly frowned. His opponent was no fool, and he hadn't expected that those two demonic beasts weren't actually controlled by Merem's consciousness. His original intention was to use the Source of Suffering's ability to catch him off guard, a surprise move to secure victory, but the result was... 'It seems I'll have to try another method...' Ryougi Raku thought to himself.
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The sky gradually darkened, lightning streaked through the dark clouds, and a mournful gale began to blow, mixed with ice shards and snow.
This chaotic convergence of weather phenomena indicated its unusual nature. And indeed, these weather patterns were created by Merem's King of the Sky. As the King of the Sky, manipulating the weather was its inherent instinct. The weather conditions were very similar to Arcueid's Reality Marble from before, though in terms of level and scope, this ability was still far inferior to a Reality Marble.
Gale-force winds, torrential rain, ice shards, lightning, and earthquakes—the Kings of the Sky and Land swept forth with this power rivaling nature itself. If their range hadn't been limited to this battlefield, these two demonic beasts would have been like gods!
This power, comparable to nature, slammed into the Source of Suffering, scattering countless purple sparks. Ryougi Raku, protected by the Source of Suffering, was pushed back repeatedly, but for a short time, he was not in immediate danger.
Stretching out its hands with a silent roar, the Source of Suffering grabbed the King of the Land—the King of the Sky floated in the air, its agility simply too high.
Simultaneously, the giant claws gripping the King of the Land also ignited with the same flames previously used against Merem. The King of the Land's wails were earth-shattering; the mere sound waves caused nearby hills to tremble.
The Holy Church personnel watching the battle from a distance were dumbfounded. This battle truly exceeded all expectations. Any one of the three demonic beasts could destroy a city!
"Have you still not found the information?" the leading clergyman said anxiously.
"N-Not yet. It seems there's no record of this demon in the archives!" A young man beside him, sweating profusely, stammered. He was from the archives department, responsible for managing such information.
"Don't say 'it seems.' Is there or isn't there?" the middle-aged man demanded in a deep voice.
"N-No!" the young man shouted.
"If not, then record the appearance of this monster. Regardless of who wins this battle, report the information to the Church. If Merem Solomon wins, send a message for the Church to dispatch qualified personnel to inquire!" the leader said quickly.
"Yes!" The young man responded loudly and quickly got to work.
Merem Solomon watched the battle with a serious expression, contemplating whether to use all his means. After a moment of hesitation, he decided against it.
The Source of Suffering, materialized by Ryougi Raku's power, was different from Merem's demonic beasts. It had no consciousness of its own and required Ryougi Raku to dedicate a portion of his mind to control it. This was nothing to Ryougi Raku, but its advantages and disadvantages were also very clear: if the main body encountered problems, the Source of Suffering would be completely useless. However, because it was controlled by his own mind, it could be commanded as easily as an arm, making it more flexible to use than Merem's demonic beasts.
Ryougi Raku had known this as soon as he materialized the demonic beast. Therefore, his first thought was to create a method to split off a portion of his mind and consciousness. In such a dualistic situation, the Source of Suffering's weaknesses would disappear. However, a method couldn't be conceived instantly, and being in the midst of battle, Ryougi Raku didn't have the energy to ponder it deeply, so he could only leave it as a problem for later. The main objective now was this battle.
Merem remained unmoved, continuing to command the King of the Sky to attack. The natural weather transformed into the most powerful weapon, bombarding the Source of Suffering. The flames surrounding the Source of Suffering gradually dimmed, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.
Ryougi Raku looked up at the King of the Sky, flaunting its power in the sky. If the Source of Suffering were destroyed, it would take some time to re-condense it, as perfectly fusing his power with the Evil of the World was not a simple matter.
After glancing at the captured King of the Land and the observing Merem, Ryougi Raku made up his mind.
The Source of Suffering suddenly faced the King of the Land, spewing powerful flames from its mouth that carried endless pain towards it. At the same time, its eyes fixed on the King of the Land, actually causing the demonic beast to fall into a nightmare!
Ryougi Raku, who had been protected inside the Source of Suffering's body, now actively rushed out, attacking Merem at top speed. Simultaneously, multitasking, he had the Source of Suffering severely wound the King of the Land. Then, its entire massive body shattered with a crash, transforming in a strange way into a concept. Specks of purple fire scattered, and the core of the Source of Suffering injected itself into the King of the Sky's body in a manner undetectable to ordinary people.
This was the Source of Suffering's final killing move: sacrificing itself and sharing the damage of its self-destruction with the enemy!
The King of the Sky's massive body immediately began to tremble violently. Then, as if unable to control itself, its entire form plummeted from the sky. The moment it touched the ground, its body vanished like burnt dust. Its concept was flight; when flight came into contact with the earth, that concept would be annihilated.
At the same time, Ryougi Raku arrived before Merem, sneering as he swung the sword in his hand!
"Secret Sword: Nine-Headed Dragon Flash!" A nine-strike attack causing multi-dimensional refraction. Merem was utterly unable to dodge. His entire body was split into five sections, blood gushing out. But Ryougi Raku didn't stop, moving away from his original spot the next moment... Sure enough, although the King of the Land was wounded, it wasn't fatal. Seeing Merem attacked, its first target became Ryougi Raku.
Dodging the King of the Land's attack, Ryougi Raku stood still in the distance. Although Merem was torn apart, the Dead Apostle's vitality meant he wouldn't die so easily. Resurrection was only a matter of time. At that point, facing both Merem and the King of the Land, Ryougi Raku would still be at a disadvantage. If Merem continued to summon other demons, Ryougi Raku would have an even harder time!
'This is...' Ryougi Raku's perception was incredibly strong; even though he was already some distance from the ruined town, he still felt an object approaching at high speed.
Upon closer inspection, he found that the ghouls in that town were almost completely dead or wounded. Therefore, the identity of the person rushing over was obvious—Arcueid!
Glancing at the regenerating Merem, Ryougi Raku formulated a plan.
Meanwhile, in the town, Alicia's corpse had a large hole in her chest. Considering the vampire's attack method, it was evident that her chest had been pierced by Arcueid's claw, killing her.
Sensing that Roa's soul had perished, Arcueid quickly left. Because of this, she didn't see that the hole in Alicia's chest was gradually healing, and her entire body slowly regained vitality... "Hiss... that hurts!" Merem, now fully recovered, stretched his limbs and winced in pain.
Looking up and seeing Ryougi Raku's calm and composed demeanor, he immediately flew into a rage. Without thinking, he commanded the King of the Land to continue attacking. Among all the demonic beasts, the King of the Land, perhaps due to its canine characteristics, was the most obedient to Merem's commands. This was also one of the weaknesses of Merem's demonic beasts: because they had their own consciousness, they could sometimes be difficult to direct and disobedient.
The King of the Land, dragging its weary and pained body, still roared and launched an attack. The earth shook again, but Merem was surprised to find that Ryougi Raku neither defended nor dodged, and was easily struck by the King of the Land.
"Merem, what are you doing?" A delicate cry came, clear and pleasant, but Merem felt a surge of fear.
'Damn it! I was so focused on that guy, I didn't notice Princess-sama arriving!' Merem fumed, and also understood why Ryougi Raku hadn't defended or dodged earlier. He must have known Princess-sama was coming, so he pretended to be vulnerable to gain sympathy. Thinking this, Merem grew even more furious with Ryougi Raku.
Arcueid, who had rushed over, her eyes turning golden, used her Reality Marble again, altering the atmospheric pressure. The King of the Land, already severely wounded, could no longer resist the attack of a True Ancestor. Under immense pressure, its body disintegrated into dust!
"Oh, oh, Raku, are you alright?" Arcueid exclaimed, quickly using her slender arms to clear the pile of rubble on the ground and pull out Ryougi Raku, who had just been hit by the King of the Land.
Ryougi Raku, apart from some torn clothes, had no major injuries on his body, and Arcueid breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know that being hit by such a massive monster was like a human body colliding with a train; Ryougi Raku's body had already been injured, but although the injuries were not light, he had recovered in such a short time... Merem, who had expected Ryougi Raku to at least lose half his life, was speechless when he saw that Ryougi Raku was perfectly fine.
"Merem! Raku is my friend, why did you hurt him?" Arcueid glared indignantly at Merem Solomon.
Merem stood awkwardly, his lips twitching a few times. He really wanted to say that the kid hadn't been hurt at all, but he didn't. Regardless, what Arcueid saw was his demonic beast attacking Ryougi Raku... "This, that..." Merem was actually a very shy person, not very good at socializing. Faced with the princess's questioning, he didn't know how to answer or explain.