-----While the Heavenly Empress and her son struggled, the Fifth Demon King and Anna’s Demons continued battling Lucifer—or desperately trying to reach him—while fending off the endless Demonic Beasts.
“Lucifer! Is this truly who you are? A damned maniac?!” Astaroth snarled, swinging his draconic claws and ripping apart a three-headed, tiger-like demonic beast.
“Why are you pushing yourself this far?!” Aim roared, unleashing a devastating storm of lightning against the giant chimera-type beasts.
“This is ridiculous! There’s no need for this. You’re only going to exhaust yourself!” Bael roared, slicing through several bat-like demonic beasts with his swords.
“You’ve gone mad with power!” Agares shouted, rushing forward and impaling a blazing lion-like beast with his blade.
Neberius cried, shredding multiple demonic beasts at once with his razor-sharp feathers.
The other Demons agreed, Lucifer had gone too far, consumed by revenge and the shattering of his superiority.
Every time he forced himself this far, he humiliated himself, shedding all grace and resembling nothing more than a mindless monster.
This was not the appearance of a King worthy of the Demons’ worship.
Lucifer laughed maniacally as the Demonic Beasts attacked the Demons with savage fury, jaws snapping, breath attacks roaring, and fangs tearing into their flesh. The Demons fought on, drenched in blood, refusing to fall.
The immense power they had gained from defeating and absorbing Beelzebub had elevated them to a new realm. Yet now, it was beginning to feel insufficient.
As Astaroth drove his claws through the chest of another monster, he saw the wolf-like demonic beast… cry. Tears streamed from its eyes as it groaned in pain.
“H-Huh?!”
Astaroth’s eyes widened. He sensed a demon’s presence inside the beast.
No…
It couldn’t be…
He roared in rage and horror, realizing these savage, mindless beasts were actually demons—living people.
The other Demons stared at Astaroth in disbelief, though some had already begun to suspect something deeply wrong about the beasts’ strange behavior.
Lucifer’s many monstrous heads laughed wildly as the Demons glared at him with unprecedented fury.
Lucifer’s laughter boomed so loudly that his cursed words made the Demons’ ears bleed. The beasts approached him, licking his body with twisted affection.
“True love my ass, you fucking retard! You’re batshit insane! I’m going to tear your ass apart with my bloody claws!”
Astaroth exploded with fury. His body swelled to its maximum size, mirroring the monstrous form he had taken when invading Stronghold City.
He charged toward Lucifer, kicking and clawing through the demonic beasts, trying not to kill them—though his blind rage likely did so anyway.
“Wait, Astaroth, don’t be reckless!” Agares roared, trying to stop him.
Lucifer laughed, his jaws snapping open and clamping down on Astaroth’s back.
Astaroth vomited blood, stunned by Lucifer’s terrifying speed. He quickly opened his own jaws and unleashed a deadly breath attack.
“Pathetic.”
Lucifer shrugged off the blast and began pummeling Astaroth’s face and body with his massive, muscular arms.
“See now?!”
“This is why you shouldn’t oppose your KING!”
“Do you understand, Astaroth?!”
The relentless punches crushed Astaroth’s head and face. Blood poured from his mouth and eyes as they swelled shut. Over half his teeth were shattered, and breathing grew agonizingly difficult.
More punches hammered down, cracking scales and sending fangs flying. As the dragon screamed in agony, his comrades fought desperately to reach him, only to be blocked by wave after wave of Demonic Beasts.
Aim screamed, his closest friend.
“Let him go, you fucking bastard, CRAH!” Neberius roared.
“I told you not to charge in recklessly!” Agares shouted, carving through dozens of beasts.
“T-This is hopeless…” Bael muttered, his eyes dimming with growing despair.
“Now, tell me, Astaroth…”
Lucifer stared down at him with a mocking smile spread across his many faces.
“Will you be a good pet and kneel before me?”
“…”
Astaroth could barely lift his gaze, yet he still managed to spit on one of Lucifer’s faces.
“Fuck off… I would rather die than serve a fucking nutjob like you. You don’t even see demons as people… If you can’t care about us… how do you think you can rule us?!”
Lucifer’s jaws opened wide, ready to devour and tear Astaroth apart. Anna’s skill would fail if his soul was shredded along with his body.
Aim fought frantically, lightning exploding around him as he pushed forward with everything he had.
He moved as fast as he could.
And yet…
He couldn’t reach him in time.
Astaroth looked at Aim with his swollen, bloodied face and smiled weakly as Lucifer’s jaws closed around him.
One second from being torn apart…
Aim’s eyes blazed with light.
Memories of his friendship with Astaroth flooded his mind.
He could still see that desolate landscape.
Flames everywhere beneath a dark sky.
The corpses of countless demons scattered across the ground.
Aim sniffed the air with his leopard nose. The battlefield had become an early grave for hundreds of demon soldiers.
As he walked through the carnage, he sensed a presence.
His eyes widened.
An overwhelming, enormous presence.
The one who had likely slaughtered this entire Demonic Legion alone.
A giant dragon.
“…”
The dragon turned, his sharp crimson eyes gleaming.
“…?”
Aim’s brows furrowed. Something felt off about this monster.
This demon—or dragon, whatever he was—his voice carried no pride. No satisfaction.
Only deep sadness.
“…”
Sparks of lightning crackled across Aim’s body as he prepared for battle.
“…”
Aim felt strangely unsettled by this demon.
The dragon gazed across the sea of blood, eyes filled with despair.
Silence hung heavy in the air.
Aim couldn’t understand why this demon wanted death.
As the dragon wept, Aim remained silent, studying him.
He was judging the demon’s character, his spirit.
The dragon glared at him, furious.
Aim turned and walked away. The dragon stood in stunned silence.
-----
Chapter 454: The Demons’ Past
5 min read