Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 512: Sealing the demons

Chapter 512: Sealing the demons

While Alonz and the military force were guiding a ruined city toward the era of the Xaos Civilization, hundreds of kilometers to the west, a drastically different scene was unfolding. There, the Xaos Kingdom’s forces were engaged in a grueling battle that left no doubt about their overwhelming might. Instead of shepherding a population into prosperity, they were subduing and annihilating a horde of demons, driving the monstrous creatures into the ground and draining the hope from their eyes.

A swirl of dust clouded the battlefield as Freya charged into the chaos. Her usually bright eyes had hardened to icy slits, revealing the unyielding resolve that burned within her. She surged forward with a burst of speed and drove a crushing punch into the closest demon’s chest. Bones shattered in a terrible crack, and the demon collapsed, dead before it hit the ground.

Freya’s lips curved into a grimace. She had hoped merely to incapacitate the creature, not kill it. Yet her power, amplified by extraordinary cultivation and refined techniques, made it difficult to moderate her blows.

She was talented, and her battle awareness was top-tier, rivaling even that of Vlad. However, Vlad had the A.I. Chip, which allowed him to calculate the precise force required for each attack, guaranteeing efficient neutralization without needless fatalities. Freya had no such guidance. In the heat of battle, mistakes were inevitable.

She wasted no time lamenting the miscalculation. With a pivot, she slammed her elbow into another demon’s side. Its spine snapped, and a keening shriek escaped the creature’s twisted maw, yet it clung to life, writhing on the blood-soaked ground. These demons, whose twisted horns and barbed claws had terrorized countless human survivors, now faced the sheer power of a warrior they could not hope to match.

Freya was not alone. Grand Marshal Angius led thirty-five thousand Xaos Kingdom soldiers in formation. He had set aside his famed explosive halberd, opting instead for two colossal hammers with uniquely crafted heads. Each time he brought them down on a knot of demons, they were sent hurtling through the air, screaming in pain. The brutal impact shattered their bones and left them immobilized but alive.

Angius and his soldiers had clearly come prepared to subdue their opponents, carrying special blunt weapons designed for maximum disabling power rather than outright killing.

Despite facing nearly seven hundred thousand demons—a monstrous horde that dwarfed their numbers more than twentyfold—the Xaos forces showed no sign of fear or hesitation. Having once battled Leviathans—towering, fearsome creatures that were impervious to terror and often outnumbered their opposition a hundred to one—this demonic horde was a child’s game. With practiced efficiency, they advanced, weathering the demons’ screams and retaliations in calm, disciplined waves.

At the very back of the horde stood a colossal Abyssal demon that dwarfed all his kin. Nearly fifteen meters tall, his hide glistened with a sickly red-and-black sheen. His name was Belin.

Upon arriving on Terra, Belin believed he would conquer humankind with ease. Countless forces had broken against his might, convincing him that no adversary could ever challenge him. But all that changed the moment he witnessed the cold precision and unshakable confidence of the Xaos Kingdom’s army.

"Where did these monsters come from!?" was the one coherent thought that flashed through Belin’s mind just before Freya appeared in front of him in a blinding corona of light.

The disparity in their sizes was overwhelming—Belin loomed like a titan, while Freya was comparatively small. Yet the Viking Princess radiated an aura that banished any notion of weakness. Panic flared in Belin’s eyes, but his demonic instincts took hold, driving him to attack.

"DIE!" Roaring, the Abyssal brought his massive fist down in a blow intended to smash Freya into the earth. No explosion sounded as Freya halted his fist with her left hand before it touched the ground.

"Hmph," she hissed, her voice dripping with contempt. Her slender fingers tightened around Belin’s hand. A muffled snap reverberated as every bone in his enormous hand shattered.

"AHHHHH!" Belin’s howl of agony shook the battlefield. He attempted to lurch away, but Freya followed with a volley of rapid punches into his chest. The colossal demon crashed onto his back, ribs caved in, and his lungs shredded. Belin’s demonic constitution kept him from immediate death—but he was in no condition to continue fighting.

Maintaining her composure, Freya studied the fallen Abyssal demon. The rest of the horde still clashed with Xaos forces, but she had no intention of letting Belin slip away. Reaching into her space ring, Freya withdrew a parchment inscribed with mystical sigils. Her aura flared like an ethereal shield, warning lesser demons not to interfere as she activated the parchment.

The runes on the parchment began to glow, dark tendrils coiling over the demon’s body, working their way inside his very essence. Belin, too injured even to beg, writhed in silent torment as his soul was forcibly extracted.

The seal completed with a final, glimmering pulse. Freya lifted the parchment and sensed the demon’s energy contained within. A small smile tugged at her lips.

"A Level 15 Abyssal demon soul," she thought, weighing the parchment in her hand. "This could enhance the strength of a Guardian-Tier lifeform."

As that realization settled in, pride and admiration flickered across Freya’s gaze. She found herself thinking of the young man who had engineered the Xaos Kingdom’s groundbreaking Demon Soul Master Strength System. But she allowed herself only a heartbeat of reflection before tucking the parchment away and rejoining the fray. Her fists, elbows, and swift kicks left demons crumpling in her wake as she carefully ensured her blows would incapacitate rather than kill—at least most of the time.

The skirmish dragged on for several more hours, turning a once-verdant plain into a broken wasteland scorched by demonic blood. By the end, no demon remained standing. Countless fiends had been deliberately crippled, while a few perished under the relentless assault.

It was an absolute victory, yet the Xaos soldiers did not pause to celebrate. Though bone-weary and drenched in sweat, they began sealing away the demons’ souls, one by one, using the same sort of parchments Freya had employed. They understood, as did every warrior of the Xaos Kingdom, that each new sealed demon soul would one day be fused with a Demon Soul Hunter, expanding the mighty ranks of the kingdom’s defenders.