The impact sent the young demon flying.
He crashed into one of the fountains, and the statues around it were reduced to fragments of stone, scattered across the ground, many of his bones shattering in the process.
Zyel was still conscious despite the immense pain he was under.
The agony of his broken bones and the violent tearing of his arm surged through his nerves like wildfire.
He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs.
He wanted to give up.
He wanted the pain to stop.
But he did not give in.
He simply refused.
Gritting his teeth, he stabbed the blade of [Nihilion] into the ground and forced himself to stand.
At the same time, his left arm, the one Alisha had ripped off, began to regenerate.
Flesh, muscle, and bone reformed at a terrifying speed, while his mangled body stitched itself back together, restoring itself to its original condition within seconds.
"That is one powerful regeneration you have there… almost like the noble vampires."
Alisha chuckled sadistically, clearly amused by the sight.
The life-threatening injuries that would have killed anyone else meant nothing as his body rapidly healed itself before her eyes.
She tilted her head slightly, almost cutely, a charming smile playing on her lips as she looked at Zyel.
Zyel glared back at her with such intense hatred that, if looks alone could kill, she would have died a million times over.
"Oh? Have you given up? That's understandable. After all, you are nothing more than an ant. How could I expect anything worthwhile from you? Like I said earlier, you don't deserve my daughters. After today, you will never see them again."
Her words struck exactly where they shouldn't have.
Zyel was already boiling over.
His emotions were consumed by pure rage.
His wives were the only things that mattered to him, and Alisha kept repeating that she would take them away from him.
And he believed her.
She was their mother.
She was one of the strongest demons in existence.
If she said she would take them away, then she would do exactly that.
And there was nothing Zyel could do about it.
There was no plan, no strategy, no miracle he could rely on.
All he could think of was forcing her to accept him.
Even though he knew there was no way he could even touch a strand of her hair.
Even though he knew he would undoubtedly fail.
Even though he knew the outcome would not change.
All he could do was try.
Struggle with everything he had.
An intense fluctuation of energy began to spread across his fingers as he raised his palm, pointing it directly at Alisha.
At the same time, the gauntlets covering his arms began feeding on his demonic energy, amplifying it and converting it into something far more destructive.
A low, vibrating hum echoed from the gauntlets, like a cannon charging before release.
Thick, silvery energy gathered around his arms, condensing and growing denser with each passing second, ready to be unleashed.
In the next moment, Zyel let loose.
A massive beam of destructive energy erupted from his palm, the sheer force pushing him backward as his feet dragged across the ground. The beam tore through the air, rushing violently toward Alisha with the intent to obliterate her completely.
"So that relic can amplify and convert energy into a destructive beam, huh... how amusing."
Alisha's smile widened, as if she was beginning to find Zyel more and more interesting.
She simply stood there, watching the massive beam of energy approach her as if it were nothing.
It looked as though even if she lowered all her defenses, the attack would not leave a single scratch on her.
The beam struck Alisha head-on, exploding upon impact.
A massive surge of energy burst outward in every direction, filling the surroundings with dirt, dust, and debris.
Through the cloud of dust, Zyel moved.
His figure shot forward at high speed, closing the distance instantly.
His hand tightened around the hilt of [Nihilion], his arm already in motion as he swung the blade toward Alisha's neck with every ounce of strength he could muster.
The blade came within mere centimeters of her skin.
And then, it stopped.
The immense holy aura surrounding the sword flared violently, only to vanish in the very next moment.
A sudden gust of invisible force erupted outward, blasting away the dust and clearing the entire area.
As expected, Zyel's attack had failed.
Alisha had already caught him by the neck.
Her grip tightened, lifting him slightly off the ground and making him squirm as he struggled to breathe.
Her other hand firmly seized the arm that held [Nihilion], completely restraining him.
"That was a nice idea... clouding my vision and striking through it. It would have worked against someone with less experience, or someone weaker," Alisha stated calmly.
Her voice was calm.
Unbothered.
In the next moment, she moved.
Her leg slammed into his chest at point-blank range.
The impact felt like being struck by a high-speed projectile.
The sheer force caved in his chest and launched him several meters away.
The hand she had been gripping was torn off by the destructive force and remained in her grasp, while the rest of his body crashed into the rough ground, spiderweb-like cracks spreading beneath him.
The entire middle section of his body was destroyed, mangled beyond recognition.
His ribs were shattered, his lungs ruptured, even his heart looked torn apart like paper.
His spine was bent and broken in an unnatural way. He looked dead.
Yet his heart was still beating.
It throbbed stubbornly, as if it were forged from steel, as powerful as a warship engine.
It refused to stop, even under such overwhelming damage, continuing to pound with relentless defiance.
Swish!
Alisha appeared right in front of him.
She looked down at his shattered body, the result of her attack.
By all logic, he should have been dead. And yet, she could feel it clearly.
He was still alive.
Not just alive, his life force was as strong as ever.
In fact, beneath all that damage, it was growing stronger.
"...You didn't die from that? You're still holding on? I suppose that's thanks to your immense life force and regeneration."
She tilted her head slightly, her expression shifting into mild disappointment.
"Oh well. This is the end. You can forget about being with my daughters."
She turned away, completely losing interest, leaving him broken within the crater.
Zyel heard her.
Every word.
Every trace of disdain.
Every hint of disappointment.
Even through the unbearable pain, his mind processed it all.
And something inside him broke.
Or perhaps, something awakened.
His weak heartbeat suddenly surged, pounding faster and faster. His demonic blood roared through his veins like a raging current.
Energy burst from his body, wild and uncontrollable, forming an amber aura that flared around him.
His hand pushed into the ground as he stood.
His wounds began to regenerate rapidly, far faster than ever before.
His spine, which had been bent and shattered, slowly forced itself back into place, painfully realigning.
His torn-off arm regenerated.
His broken ribs reformed.
His peeled and torn skin stitched itself back together.
He stood anew within moments.
Alisha, who had been walking away with her back turned to him, suddenly stopped.
A sly smile spread across her face, as if what she had been waiting to see was finally unfolding.
"That's it... show it to me..."
She turned around.
There, standing within the webbed crater, was a true demon.
A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes as she stared at Zyel, who had now completely given himself over to his demonic nature.
His eyes glowed with a thick, radiant purple light, casting an eerie hue across his face.
Just above his forehead, a pair of sharp, blood-red demonic horns emerged, curving backward with a jagged, rough texture.
From his back, a pair of membranous wings unfurled.
They were formed of stretched skin, supported by finger-like bones that extended outward, giving them a segmented, ribbed structure.
The edges of the wings were jagged and clawed, each joint ending in sharp, hooked tips.
Each wing stretched nearly three meters in length.
Strange tattoo-like markings appeared across his chest, neck, back, and beneath his ears, forming as if inked into his skin by an unseen force.
His already pale complexion grew even paler.
"There it is... almost there..."
Alisha's smile widened, turning almost maniacal as she watched the transformation unfold exactly as she had anticipated.
Suddenly, the temperature around him began to rise.
Hotter and hotter.
Smoke started to seep from his skin.
Then, in an instant, radiant purple flames erupted from his body, engulfing him entirely.
The flames burned wildly, almost uncontrollably, as if reacting to his emotions.
The surrounding area began to warp under the intense heat.
Leaves, plants, and even the ground itself started to scorch and burn away.
Yet Zyel stood unharmed.
The flames danced across his body, but they did not hurt him.
If anything, they seemed to comfort him, as though he had returned home.
"Just as I thought... just as I sensed... he carries my bloodline..."
Alisha's eyes flickered with a storm of emotions, surprise, shock, astonishment, curiosity, and above all, a deep and growing intrigue.
The purple flames, the true hellish flames, began to swirl around him.
Their intensity and size increased, growing larger and more violent, as if they had gained a will of their own.
As if their only purpose was to burn everything they could reach.
"...Looks like I pushed him a little too far. He has completely lost control..."
Alisha's figure blurred.
In an instant, she appeared right in front of him.
The raging purple flames did nothing to her, as though they were insignificant.
With a single precise strike to his neck, she sent a sharp shock through his nervous system.
In the next moment, Zyel lost consciousness.
As he fell, the swirling flames dissipated into the air, fading into glowing particles before vanishing completely.
His wings and horns retracted.
The tattoo-like markings disappeared.
All the abilities he had activated shut down.
[Nihilion] and [Kratheon] dissolved into particles of light and sank back into his chest.
Before his body could hit the ground, Alisha caught him, wrapping her arm beneath his neck.
"...Fine."
She exhaled softly.
"I acknowledge you."
Her expression softened, just slightly.
"I will allow you to be with my daughters."