In the dim night sky, the hazy purple glow of the moon draped over the earth like a thin veil. Above the volcanic mountain range, Aliquin and Lirmos hovered face-to-face, each gripping their weapons. Below them, Lin Lei, Dilia, and the golden kitten all gazed upward.
"Lin Lei, who do you think will win?" Dilia whispered.
Lin Lei stared up at the two figures in midair. "Hard to say. I have a feeling Aliquin might be a little stronger. But regardless, Lirmos's attacks are truly terrifying." His eyes remained fixed, afraid to miss even a moment.
The golden kitten, Pusiro, hovered nearby, lazily flicking its tail, its small head tilted up to watch.
"I, Lirmos, have fought eighteen six-star demons over countless years and won every single battle! This is my first time challenging a seven-star demon." Lirmos's voice rang out as he hung in the air. In ordinary times, Lirmos was cold and indifferent to everything around him.
But now, his eyes crackled like lightning and his battle spirit burned fierce.
Aliquin's own fighting intent was stoked in kind.
"Hmph. All you've beaten are six-star demons. Today… I'll show you the gap between a six-star demon and a seven-star demon!" Aliquin's black robe snapped in the wind, and the black whip in his hand undulated like a living serpent.
Seven-star missions were the hardest tasks the Demon Castle offered!
From one star to two, two to three, all the way up from five to six — the increase in difficulty was never dramatic. But breaking through to seven-star missions was the most grueling of all, which was why seven-star demons remained vanishingly rare in Hell even after countless millennia.
Even having defeated eighteen six-star demons, Lirmos had no certainty he could beat Aliquin. But it was precisely that uncertainty that made the challenge all the more thrilling!
"Hahaha~~~" Lirmos laughed aloud.
"Hssss~~" Terrifying gray sword energy erupted from Lirmos's body. In the next instant, a colossal illusory sword over a hundred meters tall materialized out of thin air. Lirmos himself stood at its very core, and the swirling sword qi was already causing the surrounding space to shudder.
"Destruction Laws — truly refined to an extraordinary realm," Aliquin remarked with calm admiration, though not a trace of concern showed on his face.
"Bzzz~~" The space within a hundred meters around Aliquin instantly plunged into absolute pitch, devoid of a single sliver of light. At the same time, the entire region began to twist and spiral. Even the moonlight was completely devoured — everything within a hundred meters of Aliquin was swallowed by darkness.
Only Aliquin himself remained clearly visible.
"Hmph. Go ahead and show me whatever impressive moves you have. If you die without using them, there won't be another chance," Aliquin said flatly.
Lirmos scoffed. "Then first, take my thirteen swords!"
In a flash, he drew his blade—
Sword shadows flickered and danced, and thirteen black sword silhouettes appeared in an instant. Like thirteen dragons tearing across the sky, they carved cracks through the air, sweeping along different arcs before converging simultaneously toward Aliquin.
The thirteen sword shadows were devastatingly sharp, like a ravenous beast trying to shred Aliquin to pieces.
"Hmph." Facing the thirteen fierce sword shadows, Aliquin merely let out a faint snort. With a casual flick of his hand, the black whip lashed outward. What had appeared slender transformed as it swung — morphing into the form of a massive black serpent.
And this "black serpent" trailed ribbons of dark, mist-like energy.
"Hssssss~~~"
The "black serpent" coiled into a circular shield, while the ribbon-like bands of dark mist reached out with remarkable resilience to ensnare the incoming thirteen sword shadows.
"BANG!" "BANG!" Many of the dark ribbons binding the sword energy shattered, dissolving into black mist — only to instantly recongeal.
There were simply too many of them, and the ones that broke simply reformed.
Meanwhile, the "black serpent" stubbornly withstood the assault of all thirteen sword shadows. Moments later, the swords dissipated entirely.
Softness overcoming hardness — no matter how fierce the thirteen sword shadows were, they had been ground down to nothing.
"That's all you've got," Aliquin said calmly.
"Good!" Lirmos's eyes lit up. "That move alone contains at least three different profound mysteries of the Dark Laws! Aliquin, of the six profound mysteries of the Dark Laws, how many have you fused?" Lirmos was a master in his own right — he could immediately identify the laws embedded in his opponent's defense.
Aliquin let out a derisive laugh. "Why should I tell you? That was only the opening act. Your little attack doesn't warrant my trump card!"
Watching silently from below, Lin Lei had already discerned the profound mysteries in Aliquin's move. "Hmm? Lirmos said that technique held three profound mysteries. Besides the 'Dark Element' and 'Wickedness' mysteries, what's the third?" From the surface, Lin Lei had only identified those two.
Then it dawned on him. "Right — Lirmos's attacks carry soul-based power as well. Since Aliquin could neutralize them, his technique must also contain a soul mystery."
A single casual move, yet it contained three profound mysteries. That meant Aliquin had fused at least three.
"I've only fused two so far. It looks like I still have a long way to go," Lin Lei thought to himself.
"Hmm?" Lin Lei's eyes suddenly lit up.
In midair, Lirmos let out an excited roar. "Hahaha~~~" Still laughing, his entire body suddenly burst into motion, splitting into countless afterimages that closed in around Aliquin from every direction. Each afterimage carried a sword shadow.
"Racing me on speed? How absurd." Aliquin was not about to fear something like this.
With a flicker of his form, hundreds of afterimages materialized around him — the Shadow Clone Technique. Aliquin could appear at any one of these hundreds of phantoms at will, an utterly eerie ability. His laughter boomed out: "Haha — you'll never lay a finger on me!"
"I'm not racing you on speed!" Lirmos's voice rang out, and the afterimages generated by his movement simultaneously dispersed. Lirmos himself shot backward. However—
Countless sword shadows surged into the sky.
"Hssss~~"