The Demon King's First General
Chapter 188: Grim Reaper of Death

Chapter 188: Grim Reaper of Death

Blue flames burst forth, burning Cinhard’s flesh all the way to his bones. Then, eight blazing tails sprouted behind his back.

However, during his transformation, Zeno toggled Leodegario’s domain, and Chrysantheum’s black lightning descended, impairing the Demon King’s body. Spikes overflowing with sparks of electricity protruded on the battlefield.

Cinhard gritted his teeth due to the sudden pain, but the silver-haired demon wasn’t done with his attacks. Equipped with jet-black daggers on both of his hands, he dashed to where the Demon King was.

Upon seeing him charging, Cinhard conjured a curtain of flames to stop his advance while finishing his metamorphosis; however, Zeno ignored the scorching heat and passed with ease on his defense.

Afterward, the daggers on his hand vanished, and a jet-black gauntlet covered his fist all the way to his arm as soon as he came closer.

"Have you already said your prayers?" Zeno asked before slamming his fist straight to Cinhard’s face.

The Demon King crashed downward; his body created a crater several feet below ground. His head rang from the sudden impact while the upper part of his left eye got swollen.

Cinhard wiped the bloodstain from the corner of his mouth and spat a few pieces of teeth before trying to stand up. However, he lay flat on the ground once more as Zeno plunged downward, his foot stepping, crashing on his chest while the scythe’s blade rested above his neck.

"I’m afraid even the Deity of Kindness won’t be able to save you," Zeno stated, his words sharp like daggers.

Cinhard gritted his teeth; his whole body was fuming in anger. He stared at the demon; the man who had stood by his side since the beginning was now pointing his blade at him, ready to take his life at any point in time.

’Is this it?’ He pondered.

Blood dripped down from a small cut on his neck when he tried to move. With all of his hopes almost broken, shards materialized above Zeno’s head.

Then, Eimereen appeared with her right foot, aiming at the silver-haired demon’s face. Even though caught off guard for a moment, Zeno still managed to raise his arm to block the kick, but he was still pushed several meters backward.

"Stay out of this," Zeno said, glaring at the woman.

"No, as the Lord’s advisor, I can’t just watch at the sidelines while you, his very own general, is taking away his life," Eimereen replied.

Afterward, she waved her hand, and hundreds of broken fragments materialized around her.

"All demons present, protect the Lord..." She paused for a second and continued. "From the traitor."

With the exception of the black dragon, like she instructed, orcs, ghouls, vampires, and warlocks, along with a few death knights who were just watching earlier, surrounded the silver-haired demon.

However, their minds were in constant turmoil of fear, afraid to experience the general’s wrath, but with the three-horned demon’s lead, they charged towards the Manipulator of Souls.

"So, it still comes to this," Zeno uttered.

Then a name written in black capital letters appeared on his left wrist.

’EZREIL’

. . . . .

Meanwhile, Cinhard was thankful for Eimereen’s sudden intrusion. He stood up and looked at his army sprinting towards the silver-haired demon.

He wasn’t hoping for something impossible; after all, he knew how great his general was. A bunch of minions wouldn’t stand a chance, but it was enough to buy him some time to recover and think of a plan.

However, his eyes widened in surprise at the scene that transpired right before him; he expected carnage, but it turned into a silent massacre.

"What in the world is this power?" Cinhard uttered in disbelief, his hands trembling from unknown fear.

All of the demon soldiers were lifted up in the air; they lost control over their movements; some wanted to scream, but they couldn’t even open their mouths.

Then, with sharp cracking sounds, their necks snapped, twisted in an awkward direction while their bodies remained suspended above.

Like a grim reaper of death, Zeno, with the jet-black scythe in his hand, walked forward, and corpses began to fall one after the other.

. . . . .

On a certain day long past, near the open field in the Forest of Nightmares where trees without anything but dried branches stood still, there were two individuals staring into the horizon.

"Should I start now?" the man with white hair asked; his hand contained a ball of blue flames.

Without saying a single word, the other man gestured with his hand and nodded.

"Great!" Cinhard exclaimed and raised his arm.

Afterward, the small sphere of fire turned bigger in size. The temperature began to rise, and the nearby trees started to burn; it became a giant vortex, enough to engulf the whole place in flames.

However, as if the man was still not contented with its enormous size, he still continued to channel his energy onto it. During the process, five tails sprouted from his back, and the ball of flames above him trembled to the point that he started losing control of it bit by bit.

"Throw it! You, idiot!" The silver-haired man beside him exclaimed.

Though his voice had a tinge of anger, the look on his face was quite the opposite. From all angles possible, excitement was plastered on his expression.

"Not yet! I can still increase its output," Cinhard uttered.

"Dimwit! We’re not doing this to see how large a fireball you can conjure; we’re here for you to master your Legacy!" Arthur replied, shaking his head.

Then he averted his eyes from the demon fox and looked at the giant sphere of fire.

"Throw it!" He repeated once again.

And this time, Cinhard did what he was told. He tossed the vortex into the open field, and before it touched the ground, he activated his Legacy.

The absolute darkness spread in the surroundings, erasing all the specks of light available. Then, Cinhard focused his entire attention on the giant ball of flames.

"Now, bend it to your will, imagine a cage, make it a prison, strong enough to house the explosion," Arthur instructed.

With all of his willpower present, Cinhard concentrated on controlling the darkness; he clenched his fist and tried to make a rectangular shape out of it, but it resulted in failure.

The darkness bent, but the prison never took shape; thus, the vortex of flame caused a massive explosion that obliterated everything in a certain radius.

"It’s hard... Is that even possible?" Cinhard stated while staring at the giant crater.

"Everything that you can imagine is real," the silver-haired demon answered.

Upon hearing his remark, Cinhard glanced at him and snorted. "Cut it off."

Arthur’s lips curled into an upward smirk, and his annoying laughter echoed all over the area. Meanwhile, Cinhard conjured another ball of fire, but this time, he made it a little bit smaller.

As soon as he summoned his Legacy, he forced it to create a circular shape around the fireball, wrapping it from all sides.

"I did it!" Cinhard exclaimed in satisfaction, and a proud smile blossomed from his lips.

However, the moment he rejoiced, the darkness crumbled, and another outburst exploded in the area.

"Don’t get too excited; take your time!" The silver-haired demon gave out some advice.

Cinhard clicked his tongue in annoyance and summoned another ball of fire, but like the first one, the darkness failed to take shape. However, he tried once again, clearing his thoughts and focusing the entirety of his attention on bending his darkness, but it still resulted in a failure.

Frustration began to corrode Cinhard’s mind, but he still continued. He tried and tried until he fell on his knees, tired from countless failures.

While busy catching his breath, the silver-haired demon walked towards him and extended his hand.

"Recover your energy and try again; you’re making progress," he stated.

Cinhard stared at his hand for a moment and spoke after grabbing it.

"Why do I need to know how to maximize my Legacy when I’m invincible with it as my domain?" He asked.

Arthur shook his head and laughed at his question. Then he pulled him up, and as soon as Cinhard stood up, he looked into the field with uncountable craters before speaking.

"Just in case you find an opponent you can’t defeat, you can imprison him inside your darkness, and besides, aren’t you bored playing with flames all the time?" He said and gave the demon fox a glance.

"Your Legacy is so powerful that even without your flames, you’ll be untouchable once you learn how to maximize its efficiency," he added.

"Does that mean you want my soul?" Cinhard asked without hesitation, ignoring the demon’s wholesome remark.

His sudden question led to the edges of Arthur’s lips curling upward.

"Why? Will you give it to me?" He retorted with a teasing smile.

"Not a chance," Cinhard replied, and both of their laughter reverberated across the horizon.

A few days passed since then, but Cinhard still couldn’t grasp how to make his darkness form a prison like Arthur had suggested. Despite giving all his attention to commanding his Legacy, it always resulted in failure.

Annoyed by this fact, he talked to the silver-haired demon about dismissing the idea.

"It’s your choice, anyway," Arthur stated, shrugging off his shoulders.

Thus, Cinhard buried the thought of it in the back of his mind and didn’t attempt to try it even once any further.

. . . . .