Arthur's silence was apparently all the confirmation Malphas needed. The blood demon's aura erupted, and the entire crater filled with a sea of blood-red mist. The mist was not ordinary vapor, it carried soul pressure, plague-like properties, and countless tiny blood threads designed to invade the body through skin, breath, and spiritual channels.
Chen Yuze immediately formed a defensive domain around himself, his spear spinning as formation patterns appeared beneath his feet. Arthur felt the mist crawl across the Godbuster Armor, searching for gaps, but the armor sealed itself perfectly while he used Energy Absorption to devour the weaker energy threads. Still, the soul pressure pressed against his mind like a hammer.
Malphas lunged through the mist with terrifying speed, appearing before Arthur almost instantly. His fist slammed into Arthur's chest, and the impact launched him backward like a cannon shell. He crashed through several floating chunks of broken land before stabilizing with his wings. The armor remained undamaged, but he felt the force ripple through him. The impact absorption had prevented heavy injury, yet the sheer power behind the blow was still insane.
Chen Yuze attacked from above with his spear descending like a silver comet. Malphas turned and caught the spearhead with one hand, blood spraying from his palm as the weapon pierced halfway through. He grinned through the pain and used his other hand to grab Chen's wrist. Chen's expression changed as his blood flow was seized again, this time more violently.
His movements stiffened for a fraction of a second. Malphas opened his mouth, gathering a sphere of condensed blood energy directly in front of Chen's face. Before he could release it, Arthur teleported beside them and drove the Holy Light Sword through Malphas's shoulder.
"Arrrgggg!"
The blade burned straight through flesh and bone, forcing the demon to release Chen with a scream. Chen instantly retreated, coughing once as he forcefully stabilized his internal blood flow. "That ability is troublesome," he sent telepathically.
Arthur pulled the sword free, teleported back and answered, "He needs concentration to control someone strong, I'll keep interrupting him." Chen's eyes sharpened. "Then I'll bind him."
Chen Yuze raised his spear high, and the formation marks along the weapon ignited. Dozens of golden chains made from immortal energy erupted from the air around Malphas, wrapping around his arms, legs, neck, and torso.
The chains tightened immediately, each one covered in sealing runes. Malphas roared and flexed, shattering several chains through brute strength, but Chen poured more energy into the technique and replaced them instantly.
"Now!" Chen shouted through their telepathic link. Arthur's wings folded, then exploded outward as he accelerated beyond sight. Purple Aether circuits blazed across the Godbuster Armor, and the Holy Light Sword grew brighter as he compressed more power into it.
He appeared in front of Malphas and stabbed the blade directly into the demon's abdomen. Holy light and Origin flame erupted from the wound, burning inward. Malphas screamed so loudly that the collapsing space above them cracked further.
"I will rip your soul out!" he roared, thrashing against Chen's bindings. Arthur twisted the sword before pulling it out and slashing across Malphas's neck which he blocked with his hand, then his side and ribs, each strike leaving wounds that refused to heal.
For several minutes, the battle became a brutal rhythm of Chen suppressing Malphas and Arthur finding opportunities to attack him. Chen Yuze held Malphas back with spear techniques and binding formations whenever possible, while Arthur used every opening to land shallow but meaningful cuts with the Holy Light Sword.
Malphas was stronger than both of them individually, and whenever he broke free, they suffered for it. He smashed Chen through the air with a blood hammer large enough to crush an elephant, only for him to recover and return with a spear thrust that split the mist apart that made a path for him.
He tried to trap Arthur in a storm of blood blades that struck the Godbuster Armor thousands of times in seconds, but the armor remained flawless, absorbing impact after impact like it was built specifically to withstand heavy impacts.
Arthur used Spatial Manipulation to teleport constantly, Telekinesis to disturb Malphas's balance, Energy Absorption to weaken incoming blood attacks, and Lightning Manipulation to disrupt the demon's movements for fractions of a second. Those fractions mattered, as against someone like Malphas, a fraction of a second was the difference between life and death for Chen.
Malphas grew more enraged with every exchange. His body was covered in glowing Holy Light wounds now, none of them fatal alone, but each one slowed his regeneration and weakened his control over his blood energy.
His expression twisted with disbelief and humiliation. "A mere insect… a creature not even at my level… dares to wound me!?" His blood surged violently, forming a gigantic crimson avatar behind him with horns, claws, and blood red eyes.
The avatar and Malphas together attacked Arthur and Chen at once. Chen Yuze planted his spear into the air, creating a layered defensive formation, while Arthur crossed his arms and reinforced the Godbuster Armor with Aether.
The avatar's strike landed like a meteor towards Arthur, the entire crater sank deeper. While Malphas attacked Chen, his formation started to crack under the pressure of his attack. The avatar forced Arthur down several meters, but neither of them fell.
Arthur looked up through the storm of blood energy while parrying the avatar and spoke telepathically. "He's burning through his reserves."
Chen replied with gritted teeth, "So are we."
Arthur's mouth curved slightly beneath the helmet. "Yeah, but it looks like he's clearly not trying to hold back."
Chen almost laughed despite the situation, he slowly withdrew energy from the defensive formation and said. "I'll create one larger opening, make it count."
Arthur's grip tightened around the sword. "Understood."
Chen Yuze's aura suddenly became sharper and more refined. He pulled his spear back, and all the formation marks around him collapsed into the weapon's tip. For a brief moment, the world seemed to go still, then he thrust forward.
The spear did not simply pierce forward, a massive formation unfolded around Malphas in the shape of a rotating celestial diagram, locking his body in place from multiple directions. Malphas roared and tried to tear free, he even recalled his avatar as he could sense a decisive attack coming, but it was too late and the formation held for one precious moment.
Arthur moved instantly, he poured Holy and Light energy into the sword until the blade became almost blinding, then reinforced Behemoth to the utmost he was capable of. The strain on his body spiked violently, but due to Adaptive Evolution it only strengthened him gradually due to the pressure. He appeared before Malphas and drove the sword diagonally across the demon's chest, from shoulder to waist while ignoring the avatar that was now moving towards him.
The slash carved deep, Holy light erupted from the wound like the first ray of light during sunrise. Malphas's roar turned into a scream of pure hatred and pain as the wound burned through his hastily put up defences and refused to close.
The crimson avatar behind him shattered, Chen's formation also collapsed a second later, and Malphas lashed out wildly, striking both of them with a shockwave of blood energy. Chen was thrown backward, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
Arthur was also blasted away, but the Godbuster Armor absorbed most of the impact, though he was confident even without the godbuster armor he could have survived the blast with the amount of strength he now possessed.
He stabilized in the air and looked toward Malphas. The blood demon hovered unsteadily now, one claw pressed against the glowing wound across his chest. His eyes burned with madness. "I will remember your soul signature," Malphas hissed. "I will find you and kill you later."
Arthur raised the Holy Light Sword again, purple wings spreading behind him as the secret realm continued collapsing overhead. "Get in line," he said calmly. "A lot of people want to kill me, you're not even in the threat list unlike the others."
Chen Yuze reappeared beside him, breathing slightly heavier but still battle-ready, spear raised and aura burning. The two stood side by side, facing the wounded Infernal as spatial cracks spread wider across the sky and chunks of the secret realm began breaking apart in the distance.
Malphas was injured, furious, and no longer regenerating properly from Arthur's wounds, but he was far from defeated. If anything, the look in his eyes indicated he had become desperate and unpredictable. The blood mist around him thickened again, darker than before, and the wounds across his body pulsed as he gathered every remaining ounce of power he could force out of his weakened state.
Arthur felt the Origin Flame watching silently from within his Sea of Consciousness like a sleeping disaster waiting for permission. He did not call upon its full power yet, not unless there was no other choice as the fight was helping him grow stronger. For now, he tightened his grip on the sword of Holy Light and prepared to cut the demon down.
***
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