Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 243: More Demon Soul Masters (I)

Chapter 243: More Demon Soul Masters (I)

Vlad’s eyes then focused on Grand Marshal Anglius, and the golden giant understood that there were no more words left to say to the troops and civilians. He raised his massive fist before opening the palm.

It was a simple gesture, but as soon as the forces of the Canvas Stronghold saw it, they immediately turned around and marched back to the stronghold. Through Overlord’s regiment training and Grand Marshal Anglius’s guidance, the battalion’s minds and instincts had been finely tuned to react to those signs and commands.

Once all the soldiers had marched back to Canvas Stronghold, Grand Marshal Anglius walked forward and performed a deep bow as he saluted the young man and the small yellow cat. "Xaos King, Lord Jormungandr."

Vlad showed an awakened smile as, even after bowing, Grand Marshal Anglius stood towering above him. Of course, he did not really care about it and signaled the man to straighten up and follow him.

The young man and the golden giant walked for a few minutes until they reached a high slope that allowed a good view of Canvas City’s landscape.

There was a sharp light in Vlad’s eyes as he turned to the golden giant. "According to Overlord’s analysis, you have cleansed roughly 30 percent of the city, focusing on the area dominated by warlords."

"Yes, my King. We have focused our efforts in those places as they are the ones with the highest chances of finding a large number of refugees." Grand Marshal Anglius said before a pensive light appeared in his eyes as he carried on, "There are several demonic hordes, big and small, ahead, but they occupied unpopulated areas, so we have just been keeping an eye on them, but had yet to engage."

Vlad nodded as Anglius’s battle actions and moves were according to the goal of his battalion, but soon a sharp light appeared in his eyes since things had changed. "Gather all your soldiers at the Champion Level."

Questions arose in Grand Marshal Anglius’s mind, but he did not open his mouth. A superior officer had given a command and he did not hesitate or delay. Using the communication gem in his glove, he soon contacted all the men and women in his battalion who had risen above Level 5.

Communicator gems were already very common among the forces of the Xaos Kingdom, and thousands of them had emerged from the Rune Factory, so all the soldiers received the command directly, and soon they marched back out, silently heading toward where Xaos King and Grand Marshal Anglius stood.

Vlad glanced at the soldiers and nodded in approval, feeling their power and solid foundation. "The path of power that I mentioned before, that would make us actively hunt down demons, is known as the Demon Soul Master Strength System."

A meaningful light appeared in the eyes of Grand Marshal Anglius and the rest of the soldiers as they heard the name of the new Strength System, all of them wondering just what it actually entailed and how to use it.

Luckily for them, Vlad did not leave them waiting as he proceeded to explain in a very calm voice, "The essence of the Demon Soul Master Strength System is very straightforward. We capture the souls of defeated demons and then cage them in a runic formation built around our hearts. The demon soul will nurture our bodies and souls and grant us abilities and summoning skills."

Solemn expressions appeared on the faces of the soldiers as they heard the details of the Demon Soul Master Strength System since the idea of sealing a demonic soul inside them was not something they felt comfortable with.

Vlad noticed those gazes and understood the reluctance. He knew that if he commanded it, they would all do it, but that was not the right path. Luckily, he had a way to calm their minds and hearts. "I have already visited Trigun City and granted this power to the 19 Bloodline Soldiers’ battalions. Dozens of them are Demon Soul Masters, and the rest have marched into Santana City to hunt for more demon souls."

The tension and dread toward the Demon Soul Master Strength System in the hearts of the soldiers diminished immensely as they heard those words. Another battalion had already performed the demonic soul sealing, and they were fine, so there should be nothing to worry about.

A small smile arose on Vlad’s face as he saw the determination in the soldiers. "Let’s go to where the hordes reside. I will engrave the runic formations needed to become a Demon Soul Master, while Jormungandr will help you with the hordes and demon Champions."

Without further delay, Vlad summoned the dark crow and jumped onto it with Jormungandr before flying toward the location of the closest demonic horde, while Grand Marshal Anglius and the rest of the soldiers followed him from the ground.

The forces inside the Canvas Stronghold saw the strongest warriors leaving, but they did not panic. There were hundreds of soldiers inside the base, all of them highly trained, and more than capable of facing any threat and keeping order. They would simply wait.

After almost five hours of flight, Vlad and Jormungandr finally caught a glimpse of a demonic horde. It was very large, with roughly three thousand demons in it, and four demonic Champions, which could pose a threat to Grand Marshal Anglius and the 36 Champions. While the humans would definitely win, losses might arise.

Vlad just watched from the sky and kept working on his runes, but Jormungandr’s energy arose, lightning-infused flames rising from his body and generating a myriad of sparrows. The demonic horde only saw dozens of small fiery orbs covering the sky that the next second fell with overwhelming power, and as soon as they made contact, a fiery hell arose.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"

Explosions arose across the entire horde, busting to pieces all the demons that were close to the blast. And that was not all since the explosion carried a burst of lightning that paralyzed all the demons in a radius of twenty meters.

That was the signal that Grand Marshal Anglius and the rest of the soldiers were waiting for as they marched forward with all their power, advancing in small squads and taking advantage of the mayhem to butcher the demons.

Jormungandr did not wait for the burst of Origin Force from the demons to flow toward him, as he jumped from the sky, landing in front of the four demon Champions. Each of those monsters was immense with bodies that weighed tons, yet they could not help but show fear and apprehension as they felt the immense power held inside that small yellow cat.

The sound of flesh tearing apart and explosions echoed but not for long and in less than thirty minutes silence returned. Vlad was still in the sky working on his runes, and he looked down as he saw that the battle was over.

Jormungandr was intact, as the four demon Champions were not able to even touch him. As for Grand Marshal Anglius and the others, while they were tired, none of them had any significant injuries, proving their battle power.

The dark crow descended and Vlad jumped toward the paralyzed demon Champion. Without delay, he took out soul-sealing parchments and placed them in front of the demon Champions.

Grand Marshal Anglius and the rest of the Champions were regulating their breath as they noticed the parchment and soon saw black thin tendrils emerging, piercing into the bodies of the demons and causing them immense agony.

It did not take long for the tendrils to extract the demons’ essence, killing them, and granting bursts of Origin Force toward Jormungandr. Just as the soldiers were wondering what would happen next, Vlad turned toward Grand Marshal Anglius.

Anglius’s eyes were sharp and did not hesitate before walking forward and standing in front of Vlad. There was resolution and determination on his face as he was ready, taking off his upper armor, exposing his chest, and adopting a meditative position so Vlad could reach.

Vlad did not waste time and under the attentive gaze of all the soldiers, he engraved the Demon Cage Runic Formation in Grand Marshal Anglius’s chest. He had already performed the same rune more than two hundred times, so in less than fifteen minutes, he had finished it.

Once that was completed, Vlad chose one of the parchments with a Champion demon’s soul and sent his energy. Soon tendrils carrying a great amount of soul force emerged from the parchment and went into Grand Marshal Anglius’s Demon Cage Runic Formation.

Anglius’s eyes widened as he felt immense pain as if fire was being injected into his body, but he made sure to keep a stoic expression, showing nothing, and only relaxed once the sealing was completed.

The next second, awe and shock appeared on Grand Marshal Anglius as he felt the power running through his body, nurturing his flesh and spirit, and as he focused on the Demon Cage Runic Formation, he managed to trigger the demon ability.