Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 74: Crushing Grip

Chapter 74: Crushing Grip

The impact of his sword against the half-giant’s sent a tremor through his arms, but before the half-giant could press the attack, Ilya streaked past his back like a gale, the scythe-like wind blades of her Darkstorm slicing through his aura skin and cutting into the leather beneath.

The man turned slightly and unleashed a concentrated blast of aura from his palm towards Ilya, forcing her to abandon her follow-up attack and evade.

Xaren took advantage of that opening to unfurl his wings and fly out of the way, but the half-giant reached out with a burst of speed and caught Xaren’s left wing in a vice-like grip.

Faster than Xaren could attack his hand to force a release, the half-giant swung him through the air like a ragdoll and slammed him onto the ground with earth-shaking force.

Xaren barely had time to process the pain before the man’s boot came crashing down, intent on ending the fight then and there, but Ilya threw a bomb of compressed wind that detonated against his right side, causing him to stagger.

Taking advantage of that moment, Xaren used repulsion to push his body away and rolled to his feet.

The half-giant clicked his tongue as Xaren slipped away, but that didn’t stop him from flooding his sword with aura and unleashing another powerful aura slash that Xaren barely dodged.

A second slash followed immediately, then a third, the speed and frequency of the attacks forcing Xaren onto the defensive.

He tried to disrupt the rhythm by changing the weight of the half-giant’s sword mid-swing, but the man adapted quickly, shifting his grip and swinging with brute force to compensate.

But just as he shifted his grip, Ilya activated her Darkstorm Skill’s Pull Mode, dragging him towards her.

His body lurched to the right, straight into the swirling winds that tore through his aura skin, leaving deep cuts across his body.

But even as the vacuum pulled him closer, he twisted his body and swung his sword, releasing another aura slash that cut through the vortex, forcing Ilya to deactivate her skill and jump away to dodge.

He followed up with an area-wide burst of light magic, blinding both of them momentarily as a shockwave of radiant energy expanded outward, sending them skidding across the battlefield.

Even as the powerful light burned his skin, Xaren hurled a Gravity Sphere at the half-giant. The dense orb of gravitational force distorted the light wave and reached the half-giant in the centre, slamming into his left side and crushing both his aura skin and armour.

Ilya capitalized on the opportunity, dashing in and unleashing a flurry of rapid slashes, each one carving into the exposed section of his body and sending blood splattering.

Before she could press the advantage further, the half-giant roared and swung his aura-laden sword down toward her head, forcing her to back away.

He aimed his blade at her and fired concentrated blasts of aura from the tip, but she dodged everything with nimble movements. Even when he cast a light magic spell that sent beams of light piercing towards her from all directions, she dodged it all without a scratch, almost as if she had eyes behind her back.

Xaren charged in from behind, launching massive chunks of rock at the half-giant, forcing him to shift his focus. The man swung his sword, cleaving through the rubble with ease, but hidden among the debris, a blade travelling over 100m/s shot straight for his head.

He barely tilted his head in time, the blade grazing past his neck. He lunged forward right after, swinging his sword towards Xaren with the intent to decapitate him.

Although Xaren jumped back to avoid the slash, the force behind it released a shockwave that knocked his body backwards. The half-giant lunged forward without hesitation, throwing a punch with his left fist, but before it could even collide with Xaren’s Gravity Shield, a sword pierced through his aura skin from behind, shattering it.

Barely a split second later, a foot slammed into the pommel of the embedded blade, driving it through his leather armour and forcing it deep into his flesh.

The weapon was the same sword Xaren had thrown earlier, narrowly dodged by the half-giant, only for Ilya to snatch it mid-motion, infuse it with demonic energy, and hurl it at his back before kicking it in for a decisive strike.

The half-giant groaned in pain and staggered forward, giving Xaren the perfect opening to deliver a flaming slash to the side of his face, knocking him to the right. Seizing the moment, Ilya dashed in and aimed a follow-up strike at his neck.

He quickly raised his left arm, reinforcing it with a thick layer of aura to block the attack, while his right hand, still gripping his sword, unleashed an energy blast from the tip.

The sudden blast collided with Xaren’s stomach, sending him skidding backwards as pain exploded through his torso.

The half-giant pulled his sword back and swung at Ilya, but she dodged the attack. Without pause, he fired an energy blast from his left hand, and this time, she was a second too slow.

The blast struck her side, sending her crashing to the ground, however, he couldn’t follow up as Xaren’s flaming sword came from behind, forcing him to spin around to block the slash.

Blades clashed repeatedly as Xaren parried and redirected the force behind the half-giant’s heavy swings, keeping him engaged just long enough for Ilya to recover and hurl a bomb of compressed wind at the back of his head.

Though the impact made him stagger, his aura skin didn’t break, and he continued attacking—his right hand swinging his sword at Xaren while his left, fired concentrated bursts of light magic toward Ilya.

Just as he pulled back his sword after deflecting Xaren’s strike to his midsection, the grey demon amplified the weapon’s weight, forcing the half-giant to stagger as the sword dipped dangerously toward his face.

The half-giant quickly exerted more strength to counteract the sudden heaviness, but Xaren abruptly lightened the sword’s weight, causing the excess force to throw his balance off as his swing veered forward uncontrollably.

At that moment, Ilya dashed in from the left, her blade shooting toward the inner part of his wrist, its tip brimming with concentrated demonic energy.

His left hand moved to intercept, but before he could grasp her sword, she detonated the demonic energy in a powerful burst of compressed wind, sending his weapon flying from his right hand.

The half-giant’s left hand closed in around Ilya’s wrist, just shy of locking it in a crushing grip, when Xaren launched forward and delivered a high kick to his chest, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling backwards.

The impact propelled Xaren backwards into the air as well, but he quickly unfurled his wings, steadying himself in mid-air.

Without hesitation, he used gravitational repulsion on the half-giant, exploiting the moment his feet left the ground to hurl him even higher into the air. Then, before the man could regain control and use magic, Xaren pulled his hand downward, amplifying gravity’s pull and sending him plummeting toward the earth with meteoric force.

The half-giant’s body crashed with a thunderous impact that sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. The force carved a deep crater into the earth, jagged cracks spiderwebbing outward as dust and debris shot into the air.

Ilya leapt into the sky and descended toward him, her sword poised to strike, while Xaren amplified her gravity, adding force to her attack.

She drove her blade straight for the half-giant’s chest, but he reacted just in time, crossing his arms and conjuring an aura barrier to block the strike. But the hastily formed defence shattered on impact, and her sword pierced through, cutting into his flesh beneath.

Before he could retaliate, Ilya activated her Darkstorm skill.

The air howled with fury as her blades of wind tore through the space around them, carving deep gashes into his body—one even slashing horizontally across his left eye.

"GAAAAAH!!!"

Roaring in rage and agony, he opened his palm and tried to fire a point-blank energy blast.

"Ilya!"

At Xaren’s warning, the demoness sprang off the half-giant’s body just as a spherical gravitational field formed around his open left palm—the same one gathering energy for the blast.

The gravity sphere rapidly compressed, crushing his hand and the energy within it, triggering an explosion that obliterated his entire palm in a violent detonation.

As the half-giant howled in pain, blood spurting from his severed wrist, Ilya flapped her wings and dove toward him once more, bringing her sword down on the exposed stump and slicing clean through the centre.

The half-giant’s rage boiled over.

His right fist shot out faster than Ilya could pull back, slamming into her side and launching her through the air.

Rising to his feet, he snapped his head toward Xaren, mouth opening wide to unleash an energy beam at the grey demon, who had been moving in to attack from his left—his blind spot.

Xaren reacted instantly, conjuring a Gravity Shield, but the impact of the blast still sent him hurtling backwards.

He managed to land on his feet—only for a looming shadow to fall over him.

He barely had time to raise his sword before the half-giant’s massive blade came crashing down, the impact rattling his bones and driving his feet into the ground.

He barely held on, using his gravity powers to lighten the half-giant’s blade while increasing the weight of his own. Fortunately, Ilya’s timely intervention relieved the pressure just in time.

"Pull Mode!"