Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 88: Finishing Blow

Chapter 88: Finishing Blow

The impact knocked Xaren backwards through the air, his boots skimming the wind as he flipped once to recover. The half-angel seized the chance, dashing forward with the intent to deliver a finishing blow, but right as he got in striking range, demonic energy surged from Xaren’s outstretched hand.

In an instant, a small Gravity Sphere formed and streaked toward the half-angel’s left wing. The orb cut through the air while warping space, striking the wing dead-on before the half-angel could make any evasive or defensive manoeuvres.

Feathers scattered through the air as the left wing folded inward, throwing the half-angel off-balance mid-swing. Naturally, his finishing blow completely missed Xaren, only slicing past his side harmlessly as the force of the sphere yanked him to the left.

Right after the sound of bones and muscles tearing reached Xaren’s ears, the half-angel began to plummet. He turned in the air and tried to balance himself, but it was pointless— his body was far too heavy to remain airborne with only one functioning wing.

Xaren spun counter clockwise, his right fist cloaked in a mass of dark-red aura as he flared his wings and shot toward the plummeting half-angel, driving a punch straight at his face.

The half-angel barely managed to raise his sword in front of him to block, but the moment Xaren’s fist connected, cracks splintered across the broad blade. The impact echoed like thunder, and the half-angel’s body was hurled back to the ground, crashing down through crumbled buildings.

Without wasting a second, Xaren tossed his sword back into his right hand, then drew his arm back. His aura surged over the blade before he hurled it like a javelin, sending it rocketing straight toward the half-angel’s prone body.

Despite the fall damage he’d taken, the half-angel managed to force himself up, barely dodging the blade as it crashed into the earth beside him. The resulting shockwave blasted his body to the side, and the force was enough to shatter his already-cracked sword.

The half-angel instinctively flinched, squeezing his eyes shut to shield them from the flying shards of metal, but at that moment, Xaren closed the distance and drove a kick into his torso, launching him to the left.

Xaren charged after him, but the tumbling half-angel regained his balance, caught Xaren’s incoming fist, and grabbed his arm with his other hand, pivoting to fling the demon over his shoulder.

He meant to slam Xaren into the earth, but the grey-skinned demon activated a flame spell mid-air, engulfing his arm with black fire. The sudden burn forced the half-angel to release him on reflex, giving Xaren the space to land cleanly on his feet.

Xaren immediately jumped back, sending stones on the ground flying towards the half-angel who punched them out of the air with his aura-coated hands.

Clicking his tongue in mild annoyance at the sight, Xaren landed on his feet and muttered under his breath.

"Just die already."

As if his words struck a nerve, a burst of magic erupted from the half-angel’s body, and with a defiant roar, he shouted.

"I WILL NOT FALL!"

His wings spread wide, golden light coursing through every feather. A glowing spell circle formed in front of him, drawing the blood from his wounds into its centre.

Xaren didn’t need Danger Sense to know that whatever the half-angel was preparing would be disastrous if allowed to finish. He immediately shot forward, feet tearing off the ground as he dashed straight at him.

But anticipating Xaren’s charge, the half-angel had already conjured five magic circles around himself. Beams of light erupted from each one, arcing through the air to converge upon Xaren.

At the same time, the half-angel poured more magic power into the circle before him, his blood swirling faster into the glowing core. He was confident he’d complete the casting before Xaren could reach him.

Even if he didn’t, the resulting explosive burst of light magic alone would be enough to send Xaren flying like a leaf in a storm.

As he watched Xaren extend his hands, hurling rocks into the paths of the converging light beams to intercept them, the half-angel felt the spell circle in front of him begin to tremble—an unmistakable sign it had gathered enough magic power.

Without hesitation, he spoke the words to unleash his trump card.

"Release the true nature of my soul: True Form Re-GURGKH!!"

His chant was abruptly cut short as something pierced through his back, a jolt of excruciating pain rippling through both body and soul.

The half-angel’s eyes went wide with shock. He looked down, and there, sticking out of his chest, was the blade of Xaren’s sword.

Blood gushed from his mouth, his spell collapsing as magic was violently dispersed. He dropped to his knees—just a moment before Xaren’s fist slammed into his face with a sickening crunch.

The impact launched him downward, his body slamming into the ground with a thud, the embedded sword driving even deeper into his back from the force.

Xaren’s foot came crashing down on the half-angel’s stomach, forcing another mouthful of blood from his lips.

With his dark red aura coating his right arm, Xaren looked down at him and asked.

"Did you not find it weird how I didn’t bother picking up my sword, even when I was standing right next to it?"

He gave a small shrug.

"Guess not. You wouldn’t be lying here if you did."

With that, Xaren’s fist descended on the half-angel’s face and crushed his skull with earth-shaking force.

Xaren took a deep breath and turned the corpse over, retrieving his sword from the half-angel’s back. He wiped the blood from the blade using the dead man’s clothes before sheathing it at his waist.

No sooner had he done that than the half-angel’s soul manifested, hovering above the corpse. Without hesitation, Xaren reached out and snatched it with a hand coated in demonic energy.

The soul writhed in his grip, glowing white at first—then, under the influence of his aura, it blackened in an instant, corrupted beyond recognition.

As his fingers closed around it, the soul writhed in his grasp, quickly succumbing to his demonic energy, turning from glowing white to pitch black in the blink of an eye.

Unbothered by the transformation, Xaren brought it to his lips and devoured it, feeling the rush of power surge through him almost instantly.

Following it was a strange sensation, like tiny needles were pickling his bones. He could also feel his muscles squirming beneath his skin, tightening and expanding.

"Well... I kind of expected this," he muttered.

Thanks to the half-angel’s giant bloodline, his physical strength received a noticeable boost. The angelic side, in turn, granted him a significant increase in energy capacity.

If he had an appraisal skill, he would’ve been able to see both Stat Levels rising by 10.

After the sensation faded, Xaren spread his magic power outward and sensed no living presence within a hundred meters.

As the wind swept the smoke past him and the distant sounds of battle reached his ears, Xaren turned toward another part of Zlego, planning to head there in search of more enemies to kill and grow even stronger.

But just as he took a step forward, Danger Sense activated, and without hesitation, Xaren leapt backwards at full force, lightening his body with gravity.

A split second later, something crashed down from the sky at supersonic speed, slamming into the ground a dozen meters ahead in a massive explosion of energy.

The shockwave erupted outward in all directions. Xaren immediately threw up a gravity shield to protect himself, but even then, the blast hurled him back several dozen meters, before he hit the ground hard, skidding to a halt.

He groaned, then pushed himself to his feet, eyes narrowing as he looked toward the source of the explosion.

Amidst the swirling dust and fading smoke, two figures came into view.

One of them was clearly a demon—horns, wings, the usual markers. He had no idea who they were, though.

The other, however, was someone Xaren recognized: one of the Archmages from Zlego Magic City.

And that was a problem.

Xaren didn’t want to be anywhere near this. That Archmage was at least as strong as Captain Vollm—and just like in the dark-elven forest, Xaren had no desire to get caught in the crossfire of battles between people at that level.

But in the brief moment he considered running, his mind clicked through a few realizations.

First, the Archmage appeared to have the upper hand in their battle. Both fighters were clearly injured and worn down, but the demon clutched a damaged arm against his body, while the Archmage still had full mobility.

Second: if the Archmage managed to kill the demon... there was a very real chance he’d turn his attention to Xaren.

The Archmage had definitely sensed his presence. The only reason he hadn’t so much as glanced at Xaren was because, in his eyes, Xaren was just a low-ranking demon—not even worth dealing with in the middle of a fight.

But if the battle ended, and Xaren hadn’t gotten far enough away, the risk of being killed was all too real.