Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 62: Wrath

Chapter 62: Wrath

Xaren didn’t dare unfurl his wings, knowing that the rocks tumbling around him would cause far more damage if they struck.

With his grip tight around Ralguth’s neck, he drove a punch into the demon’s face mid-air, then twisted his body with the momentum.

Though disoriented from the sudden blow to his nose, Ralguth quickly realized Xaren’s intent—he was trying to use him as a crash pad to break his fall.

Ralguth struggled, his wings snapping open as he tried to use their spiked edges to stab Xaren. But before he could, a falling rock and a spear of light magic fired by the angels above tore through them, dealing severe damage.

The sudden impact sent both of them careening off-course, and Xaren used the momentum to spin again, forcing Ralguth to take the brunt of the impact against the ravine wall.

His back slammed hard into the jagged rock, and the force of the collision sent his body bouncing off it. Xaren turned mid-air, repositioning himself so that Ralguth was facing downward just as they completed their fall.

Ralguth hit the ground first, crashing onto his back with his wings splayed out beneath him. The impact snapped them due to the awkward angle in which they landed, and before he could even register the pain, Xaren punched him again. Twice.

Ralguth wasn’t dead.

A fall like that wasn’t enough to kill a level 100+ demon, especially not one as sturdy as him. But the combination of the magic that had struck him mid-air, the repeated attacks, and the brutal collision against the ravine wall had inflicted significant damage.

Also, even though Xaren had used Ralguth as a cushion to break his fall, physics still existed.

The shock of the landing transferred right through Ralguth’s battered body and into Xaren’s own, sending a jarring shock through him as he landed.

Just then, more spears of light rained down from above, and Xaren immediately conjured a gravity shield.

He glanced toward the other side of the ravine, and despite the tremors running through his bones, he sprinted forward.

His goal was to reach Zlego’s side of the ravine, a position where the angels and humans on the cliff wouldn’t be able to see him unless they leaned over the edge, exposing their vulnerable backs to the demons.

He had to cross the river at the centre of the ravine, and in his urgency, he failed to notice how as his gravity shield remained active, the incoming light magic attacks subtly bent off course before even making contact with the shield.

Just as he was about to cross the river, his Danger Sense blared a violent alarm in his mind. His other senses also picked up an immense surge of magic power within the water.

Up until now, the river had been disturbed only by the countless demons and rocks that had fallen into it, sending up waves and splashes along the shores, but this was something else entirely.

Without hesitation, Xaren turned on his heel and sprinted back toward his original landing point, dragging Ralguth along with him. The other demon’s body bounced roughly across the uneven ground as Xaren ran, but he didn’t spare him a thought.

The moment he retreated, the river erupted violently. The surge sent those who had fallen inside hurtling into the air, their bodies flung skyward as though the river itself had spat them out.

The entire flow twisted and convulsed unnaturally, defying gravity as it shot upward in towering streams.

Before Xaren could even process the sight, the water began to heat rapidly. It instantly transformed into a massive cloud of thick, scalding vapour, with a temperature several times the boiling point of water.

The burning steam spread outward in a suffocating wave, consuming everything in its path. His vision was immediately clouded, the entire ravine swallowed by a dense, blinding cloud of white.

The abrupt temperature rise made the air unbearably heavy, and Xaren instinctively gritted his teeth as the heat washed over him.

Xaren immediately poured his demonic energy outward, forming a protective shield around himself to block the searing heat wave rolling through the ravine.

While wary of any follow-up attacks, he turned eastward, heading further down the ravine to avoid the area around Zlego entirely. If there was going to be another strike, it would most likely come from that direction.

Still dragging Ralguth behind him, Xaren made no effort to ease the other demon’s suffering. Instead, he deliberately slammed him against the ravine walls and then back onto the jagged ground, each impact drawing a pained grunt from Ralguth.

The already-wounded demon took further damage, his body growing weaker as the suffocating heat continued to sap his strength.

Minutes passed, and his Danger Sense remained silent.

The once-blistering steam began to cool, its scalding heat dissipating as the river’s flow carried cooler water into the area. With the influx of cool water, condensation occurred, transforming the hot steam into a thick, vision-obscuring fog.

This left Xaren confused.

Why would they just blanket the area in fog instead of pressing their advantage? Did the demons manage to stop them somehow? Had something disrupted their spellcasting?

Whatever the reason was, it didn’t change the outcome.

They hadn’t followed up, and that was all that mattered right now.

Finally, Xaren stopped moving, spreading his magic power outward to scan for nearby presences.

He detected several heavily wounded monsters along with a few weakened demons scattered throughout the area. He also sensed the presences of non-demonic lifeforms—most likely humans or elves who had fallen into the ravine as well.

"But they’re all a considerable distance from me..."

That meant he had time to deal with his first issue.

His cold gaze turned toward the battered demon he had been dragging along. Ralguth.

Xaren could not even begin to describe the sheer rage he felt toward him. It was because of this idiot’s childish antics that he had ended up down here in the first place.

’Just because of this brat who I didn’t want to play king of the hill with...!’

Clenching his fist, he punched Ralguth’s face with four times the force of gravity, four times.

Before continuing, he tore off Ralguth’s uniform and shoved it into his mouth, muffling the agonized screams that followed.

With that taken care of, he proceeded to unleash a barrage of punches. A dozen more hits landed before he finally flipped Ralguth onto his stomach, seized his broken wing, and tore the entire appendage off.

Xaren’s eyes glowed a deep, dark red as he continued pummelling Ralguth, venting his anger with every strike.

But no matter how much he muffled the demon’s screams, some sound still carried through the air.

And those close enough to hear them were not demons or elves, but monsters.

The creatures of Maplespine Forest. The ones the elves had tamed.

Three boar-like monsters nearly three-fourths of Xaren’s height closed in with low growls. But when Xaren turned to face them with his glowing red eyes, they froze in instinctive fear.

Seeing them, an idea suddenly crossed his mind—something he would never have considered under normal circumstances.

Pointing at the bloodied Ralguth lying on the ground, he spoke to the three boar-like creatures in a commanding tone.

"Eat."

Silence followed.

Ralguth, barely conscious, couldn’t fully process what Xaren had just said, but that didn’t matter to Xaren.

Xaren’s focus remained entirely on the Level 100+ monsters before him, knowing they were intelligent enough to understand his words.

"I said... EAT."