Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 92: Soul Event Horizon

Chapter 92: Soul Event Horizon

Xaren’s soul suddenly unleashed an unimaginable suction force, and like a star drawn too close to the event horizon of a black hole, it seized the angel’s soul’s light and dragged it inward with an irresistible pull, consuming it until nothing remained.

It was a spectacular yet violent process, unseen to those around him but felt in every fibre of his being.

When it was over, silence descended within him, and the burning agony dulled to a lingering ache as the source of the light had been...dealt with.

Still, Xaren remained frozen where he knelt, wide-eyed, stunned by the unstoppable force his soul had just displayed.

He barely had time to comprehend it before something else happened.

A tremor ran down his spine as a flood of energy burst from his soul and rushed into his body. The magic power within the angel’s soul had been completely extracted, and the excess that was left after his soul had claimed what it needed to grow stronger, was expelled, pouring into his body instead.

A portion of that energy strengthened his physical body, while the rest shot straight into his energy core, expanding it beyond its previous limits.

Had Xaren possessed the Full Appraisal skill, he would have seen his energy stat level rise by 50 in one go.

Magic power erupted from Xaren’s body, sending a shockwave rippling outward and shattering the ground around him, forming a small crater that burst out from where he knelt.

The blast struck Ilya, who was beside him, knocking her back several feet and nearly sending her tumbling.

She barely managed to steady herself when the sound of beating wings and furious shouts echoed around them.

From all around, angels poured in, their faces twisted in fury. The first of them pointed a shining spear straight at Xaren and conjured a magic circle at the tip while shouting.

"DIE, DEMON!!"

Seeing this, Ilya unhesitatingly drew her sword and swung it, releasing a crescent-shaped wave of aura that cut through the air. The slash cleaved the light magic circle apart and slammed into the leading angel with a violent impact, knocking him back like a ragdoll and slamming him into the second one behind him.

Both crashed hard into the ground, groaning, but more angels were already flooding in from behind them.

At the same time, demons rushed in from all over, most of them wild-eyed and shouting frantically.

"Where’s that soul?!"

"Where’s that angel’s soul?! Where is it?!"

Their desperate cries filled the air as their gazes swept across the area, eventually spotting Xaren, still kneeling on the ground, not yet fully recovered.

Some demons began rushing toward him, eyes gleaming with greed, but before they could reach him, more angels swooped into the area, shouting battle cries.

"Don’t let the demons get that soul!"

"Stop the demons!"

"Find that soul!"

Without hesitation, the angels threw themselves at the demons, and the battlefield quickly descended into even greater chaos—this time, a bloodbath erupting in the mix.

Amidst the turmoil, Xaren finally regained full mobility. He rose to his feet, using gravity magic to pull his sword back into his hand.

But just as his fingers closed around the hilt, an angel charged at him, gathering light into a focused beam and firing it with a roar.

Xaren immediately let the gravity magic flow into his sword as he swung it in a wide arc, deflecting the energy blast. His sword blocked the brunt of the attack, but stray sparks of light that crumbled off from the impact still managed to slip past and strike his exposed skin.

Surprisingly, they did nothing, even though Xaren’s body wasn’t protected by an aura skin at the moment.

The light energy that would have caused tiny burns on his skin just minutes ago now simply slid off him harmlessly, unnoticed in the heat of battle.

Without missing a beat, Xaren charged at the angel who had attacked him, closing the distance almost instantly and bringing his sword down on their head faster than they could put up defences.

The angel died without so much as a scream, and Xaren didn’t spare them a glance, his eyes already locking onto his next target.

But before he could move, a suffocating wave of demonic energy suddenly crashed down from above.

The ground cracked under the immense pressure as the angels were slammed to the dirt like broken dolls, while the demons were forced down to their knees.

From above, a Mid-Ranked demon descended, his oppressive aura pressing down on everyone as his cold gaze swept the area.

He scanned the gathered demons, his eyes narrowing as he demanded in a cold voice.

"Which one of you took that soul? Bring it now!"

He stepped forward after he spoke, his heavy footsteps cracking the stone beneath him.

Though he hadn’t been close enough to clearly see who had taken the soul, his gaze soon landed on Xaren, noting the faint, half-healed burn marks still visible on his skin.

Just as he took another step toward him, a voice echoed in his head.

[What are you doing?]

The Mid-Rank demon froze where he stood, colour draining from his face as he bowed his head instinctively.

"Sir, I just wanted to—"

[What are you doing?]

The voice cut him off before he could even finish, leaving an oppressive silence hanging in the air.

At this, the demon swallowed hard and quickly corrected himself.

"Eliminating the angels, sir."

[Good.]

Without another word, the Mid-Rank demon raised his hand and made a sweeping gesture, unleashing a torrent of demonic energy upon the immobilized bodies of the nearby angels.

Their screams were cut short as their bodies were torn apart nearly instantly.

Once this was done, the demon clicked his tongue in irritation, then turned and launched himself into the air, wings spread wide, without so much as a backward glance.

As the area fell into stunned silence, Xaren and Ilya suddenly heard a familiar voice speak directly into their minds.

[The both of you. After this battle, report to the Cinder Outpost’s main administrative building. Inform them you are the Area 1 recruits. Is that clear?]

""Yes, sir.""

Both of them nodded in response, and the presence vanished from their heads, leaving only the sounds of the groaning demons still recovering from being forced to the ground moments ago.

◇　◇　◇

High above the battlefield that was Zlego and its surrounding lands, aboard one of the demon airships, two demons sat in the main bridge, their eyes locked on the various floating screens in front of them that displayed different parts of the ongoing battle below.

One of them, a towering demon over seven feet tall, leaned against the side of his seat, shooting the other a very particular look.

It was none other than Floch, the flame-bearded fire demon who had brought Xaren out of the Newborn Zone earlier in the year.

He was giving the other demon the kind of look someone would receive when they say one thing, then proceed to do the exact opposite barely seconds later.

Naturally, the recipient of that look, Naephas, noticed and turned toward him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

The fire demon gave a lopsided grin. "Well, I believe you were saying something about me not interfering?"

Naephas simply snorted and looked away as he responded.

"That was before. This is now.

They’re pretty much Lord Xynax’s students in all but name. This doesn’t count as interference."

Folding his arms, he shifted his attention to the screen displaying the section of Zlego where Xaren and Ilya were and continued speaking.

"Besides, there was nothing that Mid-Rank could’ve done. The boy had already completely devoured the soul. Even if he killed him, he wouldn’t have been able to retrieve it.

And that Mid-Rank isn’t stupid enough to kill him without justification. Not while knowing I’m right here."

Floch could only nod in agreement at his second point.

There really wasn’t anything that demon could have done to reclaim the soul. Also, killing a lower-ranked soldier, even with a higher Hierarchal Rank, wasn’t something that could be done without proper justification, like desertion or treason.

Especially not during a battle that was being personally overseen by a General.

Floch leaned back a little, his gaze drifting up toward the ceiling as he muttered,

"Still, that little guy’s pretty gutsy. Stuffing the soul of a Higher Angel down his throat without a second thought."

Naephas nodded slightly in agreement. He too had been caught off guard when he saw Xaren suddenly consume the soul.

"It was only a tiny fragment, so he would’ve been fine either way. Still..." he trailed off, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair.

"For his first time, he absorbed it quite easily."

"True," Floch agreed. "He did absorb it pretty damn easily. I’m sure he’s gained some resistance now. Probably won’t try something that reckless again after the painful lesson this one gave him, though."

He paused for a moment, his gaze shifting to a screen showing a platoon of angels moving in formation, before adding,

"Anyway, Sir Naephas. An angel soul fragment inside a human body, on a backwater planet like this..."