Ares lunged toward Intaris, raising his sword high into the sky for a sharp, vertical strike.
But Intaris stopped it effortlessly—with his bare hand—without even bothering to draw his own blade.
Then he counterattacked, his massive fist surging forward at blinding speed.
BOOM!!
The ground shuddered under the impact.
Ares was hurled away as the sound of cracking bones thundered through the air, followed by a muffled scream torn from his chest.
Yet his body recovered instantly—thanks to the Millennium Pill, the Ashura Domain, and the Blessing of the Angels, which sealed his injuries in a heartbeat.
Ares did not retreat.
He drove his feet deep into the ground, hot blood spilling from his lips, then shot forward once more like a blazing bullet toward Intaris.
The battle intensified relentlessly.
Every clash between sword and fist unleashed colossal waves of aura and destructive wind, sweeping the battlefield like a raging storm and filling the horizon with dust and smoke.
The air reeked of scorched iron and vaporized blood, while the winds screamed like a demonic choir, tearing at the ears.
Within a two-kilometer radius of the battlefield, everything was annihilated.
Those who did not die were crushed into grotesque masses of flesh; those who survived were left permanently shattered or paralyzed.
Yet neither Ares nor Intaris paid any attention. Their entire focus was on the embodiment of life and death before them.
The battlefield continued to expand.
Crimson and black stained the sky, and every collision warped the land and split the heavens.
Ares grew stronger as the fight dragged on, empowered by the Ashura Domain, which absorbed blood, corpses, souls, auras, and magical energy from everything around him.
This domain—something Ares had spent twelve years developing—seemed simple at first glance, yet was far more complex than it appeared.
Everything it absorbed flowed directly into him.
But its greatest flaw remained unresolved…
Madness.
The longer the domain was used, the deeper Ares sank into insanity, his lust for battle escalating until he risked losing himself entirely.
As for the Millennium Pill, forged over nearly a thousand years, it had absorbed the energy of heaven and earth to become a legendary artifact.
Yet it also placed unbearable strain on his body—this was not the correct way to wield it.
Even so, Ares had yet to reach Intaris's level.
Intaris fought with eerie calm, as though he had not even begun to use his true power.
The battle raged on, and Ares knew time was not on his side.
He glanced at his watch.
Fifty-five minutes remained.
But Intaris could fight indefinitely.
Ares could not. Every second added to the burden crushing his body.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The clash grew fiercer.
Ares's wounds tore open and sealed themselves instantly, yet his armor—crafted by the greatest blacksmith and said to be legendary, capable of withstanding the mightiest beings—was nothing more than thin paper before Intaris.
BOOM!
With a single strike, the earth convulsed violently.
Ares was flung high into the air as his armor shattered, his flesh ripped apart, and his bones pulverized.
He crashed into a deep crater, blood pouring from his wounds, mouth, and nose.
Panting… gasping…
His breathing was heavy.
His vision blurred.
He felt his internal organs being kneaded like dough.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
His heartbeat thundered like broken war drums.
Heavy footsteps approached, each one shaking the ground.
Intaris stood before him—towering like a dark mountain.
"Is that all you've got?"
"Listening to your boasts, one would think you possessed tremendous power… tsk, tsk."
"In the end, you humans are nothing more than creatures who know how to talk."
Ares heard the words through ringing ears, distorted and distant, yet he grasped the mockery within them.
Intaris raised his fist, ready to crush his skull.
Slowly… Ares closed his eyes.
Suddenly, a voice erupted inside his head:
"Kill… kill… kill… kill… destruction… everything!"
A massive dark aura exploded outward, gathering around Ares like a raging cyclone.
The air froze.
The ground cracked.
The sky trembled.
Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, Intaris had already reached him—
—but Ares vanished.
He reappeared behind Intaris like a ghost and delivered a brutal kick that sent the Demon King crashing into an enormous crater, its size expanding violently from the impact.
Black dust surged skyward, blotting out the heavens.
The sudden reversal stunned every observer.
High in the sky, Raphael hovered with her pure white wings, holy light surrounding her. Her small mouth fell open in shock—only for her to suddenly sense several terrifying auras approaching.
In the blink of an eye, figures materialized around her, each radiating overwhelming power:
The Dragon King.
The Thousand Queen.
The Dwarven King.
The Beast King (Half-Human).
The Sword Saint.
The King of Magic.
The High Priest of the Temple of Light.
They were the strongest figures of the Light faction, staring down at the battlefield below.
Their eyes shimmered with a strange mix of fear, helplessness… and hope.
They had been unable to fight Intaris themselves, so they had wagered everything on the heroes, pouring endless resources into them.
But the heroes had failed.
And now—
They were witnessing the impossible.
The Demon King Intaris… had been kicked away by someone they had dismissed as a mere shadow.
On the battlefield, Ares stood, staring down at Intaris in the crater.
But Ares was no longer the same.
His gray hair had turned blood-red.
His eyes were drenched in darkness, glinting with savage violet light.
He had entered the First Stage of Blood Madness.
He raised his sword and swung it toward Intaris as the Demon King leapt forward.
A crescent of black destructive energy tore through the air.
For the first time since the battle began—
Intaris drew his sword.
He cleaved Ares's attack apart and continued charging forward.
"Hahahaha… finally, you're showing something!"
His voice boomed like thunder across the horizon.
Ares answered with dead silence.
Madness danced in his eyes as he lunged, dragging his blade.
Steel clashed.
The air screamed.
BOOM! BOOM!
Their speed soared to terrifying heights.
Their power surged until they stood as equals.
Their bodies were riddled with wounds—yet those wounds healed unnaturally fast before the stunned observers.
Ares's madness deepened by the second.
Despite his struggle to suppress it, he failed—and blood poured endlessly from his body.
They leapt back, each preparing a decisive strike.
Ares pointed his sword at Intaris, raising his other hand parallel to the blade. He bent his right leg slightly, shifting his weight, while stepping forward with the other.
Intaris did nothing—save for coating his sword in pure destruction.
His eyes remained calm.
After all… he had yet to release even a single seal of his power.
Releasing one would mean the annihilation of this world.
All seals at once?
That would be a battle against kings.
Behind Ares, the manifestation of Ashura grew increasingly tangible.
Despite the madness consuming him, he struggled to retain control.
"The First Sword: Zero Point!"
Ares erupted with overwhelming energy and launched forward at impossible speed.
Intaris surged toward him as well, blade raised to sever Ares's neck.
Ares formed a shield of aura with his hand—it barely held before shattering completely, his arm torn apart.
He ignored the pain.
Ignored the fear.
He drove his attack straight into Intaris's chest.
BOOM!!
Both figures were blasted into the air amid storms of dust and flame, black blood raining down like a cursed deluge.
Ares's arm bled profusely; the bleeding was halted—but regeneration failed.
The energy of destruction had burned his very existence.
Intaris fared no better.
His armor shattered.
His chest exploded in blood.
Yet he stood.
Unyielding.
A monster that knew no death.
Ares collapsed to one knee, his sword embedded in the ground like a crutch.
He gasped violently, his lungs burning.
Sweat mixed with blood streamed down his face.
His shattered body trembled, on the verge of collapse.
Though his wounds closed, the pain did not fade—it transformed into a deep wound gnawing at his soul.
Intaris watched him silently, his burning eyes glinting with chilling composure.
"You've reached your limit, Ares…"
"But you succeeded. You accomplished what those insects never could."
He raised his head, blood dripping from his grinning mouth, and shouted toward the heavens where countless entities watched:
"It will be an honor for you to witness a fragment of this king's power!"
His voice echoed across the entire continent.
All beings—weak and strong alike—trembled, overwhelmed by a despair they had never known.
Yet none dared to intervene.
At Intaris's chest, glowing runes appeared—black serpents slithering across his skin before dissolving into the air.
His aura surged like a black hurricane.
His scorched flesh began to restore itself.
Then—
His back writhed.
With a thunderous roar, four massive black wings burst forth, etched with crimson markings. Sulfurous smoke poured from them, stinging the air.
Ares watched, a mad glint flashing in his eyes—a mixture of despair and resolve.
He knew Intaris's only weakness.
That single, fleeting second…
The instant a seal was released.
A moment no one could exploit.
No one—
Except him.
Ares's eyes ignited in black-violet light.
His aura surged like a dark vortex, as though the sky itself groaned beneath it.
He burned his entire life force.
If I must die… then I'll die fighting to the end.
"Complete Fusion!"
A colossal battle spirit fused with his body.
Three demonic faces emerged behind him.
Six arms wielding different weapons radiated lethal darkness.
His own face twisted into a terrifying Ashura visage.
"The Forbidden Art: Black Star!"
Black runes burst from his body, racing across the land to form a massive star-shaped sigil.
From its center, five dark chains erupted, coiling around Intaris's limbs and neck.
They did not merely bind him—
They drained his power.
The air grew unbearably heavy.
The stench of blood and iron suffocated the battlefield.
The earth itself cracked under the pressure.
With a death-howl, Ares shot forward like a blazing arrow of darkness.
"ASHURA… KING OF HELL!!"
His blade moved faster than any mortal eye could follow.
Intaris could not move—the chains held him fast. He tried to unleash his power.
Too late.
Ares severed his left arm.
Black blood sprayed like a flood.
The chains forced him to his knees.
The right arm followed.
His legs were slammed into the earth.
Ares raised his sword with everything he had left—
But Intaris opened his mouth.
From the depths of his throat erupted pure destruction.
A black beam incinerated Ares's left arm entirely and tore through half his chest.
The stench of burning flesh filled the air.
The pain was indescribable.
Yet—
Ares did not retreat.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
One final strike—
—and Intaris's head fell.
The king's body collapsed, dragged into the blood-soaked earth by the dark chains.
Ares had won.
He did not kill Intaris.
He sealed him.
The Demon King was immortal.
As long as his concept existed, he would be reborn.
Perhaps in ten thousand years.
Ares barely stood, planting his sword into the ground as support.
With a hoarse, blood-soaked voice, he completed the incantation:
"With blood… with souls… with bodies…
I feed the Black Star…
and seal the Demon King… Intaris!"
Black light erupted.
The stench of death spread.
Blood and souls were drawn in, screaming as they strengthened the seal.
When the ritual ended—
Ares collapsed.
Raphael appeared before him, her radiant body glowing with angelic light, her cold eyes fixed on him.
"Truly, Ares… you exceeded my expectations."
"You succeeded. You took that fool's place."
She stepped closer, incense of holy fragrance surrounding her.
"But unfortunately… no one must know that the hero died without defeating the Demon King."
"So you will help me."
"I will descend as the one who defeated him… and claim the reward of the Well of Worlds."
Ares lowered his head, her words meaningless noise.
He remembered his rebirth.
The fear.
His journey's beginning.
His friendship with the hero.
Their rise together.
The betrayals.
His lover's infidelity.
His companions' exploitation.
How he became nothing more than a tool for their ascent.
He whispered faintly:
"In another life… I wish to live for myself."
"To find true friends… and true love…"
Raphael raised her hand.
Guilt flickered in her eyes.
But she was bound by the kings' commands.
Ares smiled bitterly, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Heh… damn you… all of you."
BOOM!
His body exploded.
A black inferno consumed everything, erasing the battlefield.
At the same moment, far above, the golden Well of Worlds unleashed a heavenly beam that pierced the sky—
Announcing the dawn of a new era.
_____
"If you enjoyed the chapter, please support the story with your Power Stones! Let's help Ares reach the top."