When both touched the ground, the demon's gaze locked onto Lumian, drilling into his chest with unhidden hatred and rage.
Lumian faked a smile with his eyes, raising his hand in a mocking salute. The demon had only one eye left, since the second had been lost at some point during its battle.
"Be careful, even if it's injured and exhausted, it's still a demon," Asael said.
"I know," Lumian replied. Both walked in different directions, forcing the demon to split its attention between two enemies.
The combat strategy was simple: whoever killed the demon would keep its cores.
The demon, now standing again but wavering due to its broken limbs, focused on Lumian since he was the one who had started the entire current situation.
After a brief glance, Lumian and Asael instantly launched themselves at the demon. The demon moved as well, ready to tear them apart.
Lumian ran at the demon, his sword wrapped in lightning, swinging it in an arc against the demon's scythe-like limb, which moved to deflect the attack.
Lumian was pushed back. The demon lunged at him immediately, not waiting for him to recover, but Asael attacked from the other side, forcing the demon to use its pincer to block the strike.
Lumian used lightning to reinforce his body and ran toward the demon's legs.
Jumping, Lumian brought his sword down with all his strength, striking directly at the exposed joint.
His blade slid through skin and muscle, cutting it cleanly.
The demon lost its balance for a second. Asael jumped at the demon, delivering a powerful kick that forced the creature to stagger backwards.
The Shell Demon was intelligent; it compensated for the loss of a leg by shifting its body weight to another to remain stable.
Asael summoned his Echo.
The Centurion joined the battle, slamming its enormous body into the demon and sending it stumbling backwards.
Immediately, the Echo lunged into the attack along with Asael and Lumian.
Under the assault from three fronts, the demon was forced onto the defensive.
Using its pincer, it blocked the centurion's attacks, while its scythe struck at Asael, leaving Lumian free.
Lumian ran beneath the awakened demon, and, using the darkness, activated his other attribute.
A long tendril of darkness rose from the awakened demon's shadow, piercing one of its legs at the joint.
Lumian then finished cutting another damaged leg.
The demon, now missing two legs, was distracted by the pain and loss of balance. Asael and his Echo took advantage of this.
The Echo slammed into the monster while Asael managed to cut off the demon's pincer with his lightning-infused sword.
Lumian dismissed his sword and instead summoned the blood spear.
A large spear materialized in his hand, which he gripped tightly. He infused it with his lightning attribute, making the spear sharper and deadlier.
The Shell Demon struggled to reorient itself, but this was difficult due to missing several legs, one of its eyes, and three of its arms.
Somehow the Demon managed to orient itself, but it was already too late.
Lumian bent a leg and then, using all his Sleeper strength, threw the lightning-infused spear.
The spear crossed the distance in a blur of speed.
Lumian faked a smile as he saw the spear stab right into the area where its heart was located, where the armor was weakest and still had a wound that hadn't yet healed.
The spear sank deeply, piercing the awakened demon from side to side. Lightning surged through its internal organs, giving it a terrible electric shock.
The demon began making spasmodic movements for a few seconds until it collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.
"He's dead," Lumian thought, satisfied to have delivered the final blow.
Lumian dismissed the helmet of the Stellar Legion armor.
Soon, the voice of the spell manifested in his mind.
[You have killed an Awakened Demon. Shell Demon]
[Your core strengthens]
[You have received an Echo]
Lumian frowned.
'I was supposed to obtain the Midnight Sword upon the demon's death,' Lumian thought.
'Is fate trying to stop me from altering this?' he wondered, incredulous. His defect kept Lumian in a thoughtful mood.
Both he and Asael had killed an awakened demon—and, above all, received no injuries, which was already a great feat.
Lumian was sure that upon returning as an awakened one to the real world, he would be classified with double SS potential.
In the end, Lumian sighed, then looked at the soul tree, now without its guardian.
Lumian wasn't worried—his defect crushed the tree's attempts to brainwash him—but he didn't know if the same applied to Asael.
At most, they would have a few hours. Lumian would have to find the egg of the vile bird he had left behind to see if he could obtain Weaver's blood weave. He really wanted to confirm whether he could alter the destiny that said the protagonist would find it.
If he obtained it, he could confirm that he could alter destiny; if not, it would be harder.
Lumian left his thoughts and looked at Asael.
"Congratulations, you killed the demon," Asael said with a twitching eyebrow.
"Hey, no hard feelings. Besides, you can keep its cores. I got an Echo," Lumian said, pretending a mocking smile as the Echo of the Shell Demon manifested beside him, silent and awaiting his orders.
"Asael," he said, making the blond look at him.
"I need you to get away from this tree. It can alter your mind to keep you as a slave to protect it," Lumian said.
Asael looked at the tree.
"I don't think so. Just look at it—it looks like a normal tree," he replied.
Lumian approached and struck Asael; the blow made the blond fall to the ground in pain.
"Why was that?"
"You're starting to fall for its charm."
Asael blinked, realizing.
"Call your Echo and drag the corpse away from here. I'm immune to its brainwashing, but you're not."
"Alright," Asael said, rubbing his still-aching cheek.
Ordering the Echo to take the demon's corpse, he began walking away from the mound.
Lumian watched as Asael moved until he left the boundaries of the hill; although he wasn't entirely safe from the tree's influence, it would be weaker.