The Demon King's First General
Chapter 165: Trickster of The Underworld

Chapter 165: Trickster of The Underworld

"The ritual summoning is a success, like what he expected," said a man with long black hair while levitating up above the clouds with two others.

Then he lifted his hand, and the second he opened up his palm, a black hourglass materialized in front of him.

"Though, that’s too short of a time. Don’t you think?" The woman beside him stated; her hair had a denim color, and one of her eyes was obstructed by its strands.

Afterward, she looked at it a little closer. The grains of sand were pouring down in unimaginable speed.

"More or less, three minutes and he would be gone," she commented, concerning her worry.

"We just need a diversion for humanity’s hero; that’s more than enough. Let’s move," the old man beside them said while stepping forward.

"That man destroyed Aragorn in a short span of time and reduced our force up to this much," he added. Then he took a glance at the woman and smiled before continuing his words. "Even with all your pets around, you’ll have a hard time against him."

His statement made the woman surprised, but it only lasted for a second.

"You’re way too harsh on me, Professor," she replied, pouting.

Upon seeing her expression, the old man laughed in joy, and he descended downward while the man in the middle waved his hand, making the hourglass vanish away. His silver eyes glanced at Djaleryse for a second before he followed the old man’s trail.

Left alone in the endless darkness, looking at the destruction underneath her, Djaleryse’s lips curled upward.

"Well, you might be right, but still..." she uttered, and her smile turned into a menacing grin.

’Once the pages flip forward, even Him will kneel before me,’ she claimed inside her thoughts.

. . . . .

The fighting momentarily came to a halt as both of the opposing forces watched the scene unfold. Though the moment Ren fell down, the knights lost their morale, and the demons didn’t waste a single second. They became more aggressive, destroying the knight’s momentum.

The unknown man’s appearance shifted the tide of the battle once more. Augustus and the others tried their best to stand and resist, but the intimidating force coming from the man was a troublesome burden for them. Their bodies felt heavy, and they couldn’t even bring themselves to look at the demon who defeated Ren.

They were like a bunch of livestock waiting to be slaughtered. But despite the current situation, Augustus, the emperor, rejected the idea of his empire’s demise.

"Even if I burned all of my strength, I’ll save my people; I’ll protect this land!" He shouted with extreme determination, igniting the embers of purple flame around him.

He stood up; circlets of flame appeared on his wrists and on both of his ankles. Then his whole body was engulfed in flames. He charged towards the parade of demons, turning everyone he touched into ashes.

Several tornadoes of flames were created by his swift movements, scorching everything in its path. He turned the whole place into a raging sea of purple flames.

However, at the very next second, a cold wind blew away, and the blazing flames were extinguished in a one-felt swoop.

Even the flickering embers around Augustus died down. He was astounded to the point that words failed to escape his mouth. He couldn’t fathom what happened.

All that he knew was that the man standing far away from him was the one responsible for putting out the flame.

"W-What did you do?" Augustus asked while stuttering in fear.

He even made a step back without averting his eyes from the demon.

"I merely sneezed, and your flames dissipated," the man replied, mocking the old emperor.

Then the man lifted his hand, and different embers of flame appeared on the ends of his fingers.

Each of them had different colors, which made Augustus widen in surprise. White, black, yellow-gold, and green—it was the first time that he saw such things. However, it was the fifth color that made him drop his jaw.

"B-blue flame?" He said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Your purple flames are not even worth collecting," the demon stated.

Then he flicked his little finger towards the emperor. The green ember hit Augustus, and the flame began to crawl and eat his body. Despite being immune to flame, he began to cough up blood and felt excruciating pain on his chest.

"The colors of flames signifies their rank and destruction power. That green flame is not that hot, but its poison is lethal," the demon said.

And he flicked one of his fingers once more. This time it was the ring finger.

For the second time around, Augustus was hit on the head, and the golden flames toppled the green one. The pain started to depreciate, and a relieving sensation enveloped him.

’What kind of fire is this?’ He thought.

"That one is called the divine flame; it burns, but it doesn’t destroy; instead, it heals and helps in recovering some portion of energy," the man disclosed and flicked his middle finger afterwards.

The blue flame ignited, but Augustus felt nothing like before, and his brows knitted as he watched himself engulfed in blue flames.

"That one is considered the hottest flame for some time, though I bet you wouldn’t feel it because of your Legacy," the man explained, and then he released the black flame from his index finger.

Having his strength regained, unlike before, Augustus moved sideward to evade the incoming flame. It landed in the corpse behind him. Augustus looked at it, wondering what its effect was.

But contrary to his expectations, the flame just died down.

"That one had a very grand name, the undying flames. It only consumes living beings; it feasts on energy, and it won’t die until its target loses all of its energy..." The man paused and rotated his hand.

His thumb was now facing the ground.

The next second, the white flame fell down and moved across the field at an abnormal speed; it went in the emperor’s direction.

But Augustus didn’t stand still; he leaped upward to dodge the flames trajectory; however, to his surprise, it chased him upward, and his foot was caught in fire.

For the first time in his life, he screamed in agony; fear was written on the outline of his face; the pain of being burned alive sent shivers down his spine.

He released his purple flame with the thought of countering the white flame, but upon contact with it, his flame was eaten and his whole body was set ablaze.

He fell onto the ground, rolling, screaming at the top of his lungs; the more he resisted, the more the flame grew bigger.

"How does it feel to be burned alive? This is known as the strongest, the flame that could only be seen on hell—the one that burns for eternity, the flame that is even capable of incinerating souls," the man said as he made several steps closer to the emperor.

At the same time, Augustus looked at the demon right in front of him, his teeth gritting in pain, but despite this fact, he didn’t succumb to death right away; he fought for his life; however, the flames kept on burning nonstop. Then, he began to see illussions; memories started to flash in front of his eyes.

"Uoiea," he uttered with his lips so dry upon seeing the image of his daughter.

The time continued to pass, and the area was filled with the emperor’s suffering. Several seconds later, his howl came to a stop, and his body lied on the ground, still burning with his eyes wide open. However, the spark of life from them was no longer present; the emperor of humanity had fallen.

. . . . .

Silence enveloped the area, and the knights trembled in fear. With Ren still unconscious and Augustus being killed, they closed their eyes in surrender.

’It’s the end for us.’ They all thought, grieving.

However, for some unknown reason, the demon stood still; he didn’t come for their lives; he just raised his head and looked up at the sky. Then a smile blossomed from his face.

"At long last!" He exclaimed with excitement.

And his sinister laughter echoed across the horizon.

Afterward, the roll of the thunder was heard. It was followed by a black lightning that struck downward towards the demon position.

A heavy explosion occurred where small particles of rubble flew up on the open ground. Behind this curtain of dust, a man with black hair came into view.

On his right hand was a jet-black scythe pointing at the side of the demon’s neck.

"That’s one hell of a greeting," the man said.

He didn’t even bother himself to look at the cold weapon aimed at him. And upon seeing that the newly arrived individual had not a single reaction, the grin on his face vanished, and his eyes started to open.

"It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Eighth Sovereign, or should I call you Trickster of the Underworld?" He asked, his unusual eyes glaring at Zeno with contempt.

. . . . .