Chapter 2035: Looking For Lisette!

Elayne smiled calmly as she spoke to her Invoked Demon. "Have fun."

"I WILL."

Marphas’ grin stretched wider and wider until it became something truly demonic. In that moment Jester finally learned what true, unrelenting evil felt like. Marphas was not interested in mere flesh. What he truly craved, what made his infernal heart race with excitement, was the soul itself.

"GYAAAAAHHHH!"

Jester’s scream of pure insanity tore across the entire domain. Thousands of spheres of void and chaos erupted wildly in every direction, bombarding the battlefield in a desperate and completely frenzied counterattack. The explosions lit up the twisted landscape with violent flashes of black and purple light.

By then Mark and the rest of the group had finally caught up to Elayne.

"Elayne, what do we do now?!" Mark shouted urgently, his voice almost drowned out by the ongoing chaos.

"Help me out!" she called back without looking away from the fight. "Remember what we did before, Mark? I’ll give you my power!"

"!!!"

Mark felt a sudden, revitalizing surge of immense energy flood into every corner of his body. Mana, Nether, and Spirit Energy poured into him like a raging river, along with a potent dose of Demonic Energy that strongly amplified his innate connection to Ignias. Because the two of them were now soul-bound, the boost resonated powerfully between them and made his entire aura flare brighter than ever before.

At the same time Elayne extended the same empowerment to the rest of the group. In the end she excelled far more as a magician, healer, and supporter than as a pure frontline fighter — and above all else, she was an extraordinary summoner.

"Incredible! What is this power?!" Blank exclaimed. His ghostly form overflowed with newfound strength as a pristine white armor materialized around him piece by piece. "I can channel my White Void Myrthil Armor with such ease now!"

"I feel younger!" Granny Yaga gasped in pure delight. Her elderly appearance melted away as she transformed back into a youthful and seductive Blue Ghostly Goblin Witch. She smiled with renewed confidence, her ample figure bouncing slightly as she raised her grimoire high toward the sky. "Let’s do this, dearies!"

"I can feel it — the power is overwhelming!" Sailor laughed heartily, his skeletal frame glowing with borrowed energy.

"Me too!" Norman nodded with clear excitement.

Their auras merged and amplified one another. Norman fused completely with Sailor, granting the pair the imposing appearance of a complete skeleton knight clad in thick, formidable armor that radiated both necrotic and holy power.

Meanwhile Elayne spread her roots deep into the surrounding terrain, dividing her consciousness across the battlefield as she searched desperately for the missing boy, Lisette. The Tower of Madness stood eerily empty. He was not there. The horrifying realization struck her like a physical blow: Jester himself had kidnapped the child.

"Marphas! He has a child I want back. Help me retrieve him!"

"Huh? Fine," Marphas replied casually while still wrestling with the struggling Jester. "Since I’m enjoying myself so much here... I’m feeling rather generous today."

Marphas laughed maniacally as he continued dominating the fight with overwhelming force. Jester desperately revived and died over and over again, burning through hundreds of precious revival items at a staggering rate. Yet no matter how hard he struggled or how many times he returned, his Chaos energy could barely push Marphas back. It could not even scratch the demon’s thick, infernal skin.

"Damn it! I can’t believe the element I specialized in so heavily has such a hard counter! What the hell is this?!" Jester screamed in furious disbelief, his voice cracking with rage and fear.

"Come to me, clown," Marphas sneered with a wicked grin, slowly licking his lips in dark anticipation. "Let me have another taste of your filthy flesh and pathetic soul!"

Like a wild, feral beast driven by pure primal hunger, Marphas dropped onto all fours and charged forward with terrifying speed. He leaped over Jester in a single bound and brought both of his massive fists down in a brutal, continuous pummeling assault. Each impact slammed the clown deeper into the fractured ground and sent deep cracks spiderwebbing outward in every direction.

Jester, refusing to go down easily, summoned hundreds of floating weapons out of thin air. Each blade, spear, and dagger glowed with sacred power as he infused them with Holy Water and Holy Undead Ashes he had wisely stored in his inventory beforehand.

"Nnnggh?! What is this—?!"

Marphas roared in genuine pain for the first time as the holy weapons pierced his tough demonic skin. Thick smoke rose from the wounds, and the infernal energy inside his body recoiled violently from the sacred damage.

It worked!

"HAHAHAHAH! DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULDN’T HAVE A COUNTER FOR YOU DAMN DEMONS?!" Jester bellowed triumphantly, his manic laughter echoing across the ruined battlefield. "THINK TWICE, FUCKFACE!"

With a powerful kick he smashed his boot directly into Marphas’ face, sending the enormous demon tumbling and rolling across the ground in a cloud of dust and debris. Seizing the brief opening, Jester immediately turned tail and attempted to flee toward the nearest warped exit. He had no intention of trying to kill the demon — he already knew that was completely impossible.

But Marphas was far from finished.

The demon rose back to his feet with a deep, guttural snarl, shaking off the holy damage as if it were nothing more than a minor annoyance. He charged once again, his eyes burning with pure murderous intent.

"D-DAMN IT!" Jester clenched his teeth in nervous frustration and darted desperately toward the exit. Before he could reach it, the entire domain around him shifted and twisted violently. A colossal fist — formed from jagged mountains, compacted stone, and roaring flames — materialized out of nowhere and smashed into him with overwhelming force, punching him straight back toward the waiting Marphas.

"GAAAAHHH!"

Jester’s scream of agony was cut short as Marphas caught him mid-air like a child catching a ball. Burning chains erupted from the demon’s body and wrapped tightly around Jester’s limbs and torso, searing deeply into his flesh. At the same moment a massive flock of thousands of infernal birds manifested from swirling hellfire and descended upon the trapped clown. They tore into his body with razor-sharp beaks and claws, devouring him alive piece by piece.

"GYYAAAAAHHHHH!"

As Jester writhed and screamed in unimaginable torment, Elayne rushed toward him at full speed. Her party members were still occupied dealing with the swarm of Jester’s lingering spells and illusions, but she pushed forward without any hesitation. Reaching the struggling clown, she immediately extended her Aura deep into both his soul and physical body.

"Dreamveil + Nature Nether Spirit Soul Aura Manifestation!"

She seamlessly combined both powerful abilities, enveloping herself in flowing Dream Energy while piercing straight through Jester’s soul and mind with ethereal precision.

"KUUAAGH?! What the—?!"

Jester screamed in fresh horror as an invasive presence suddenly forced its way into his mind. Elayne wasted no time. She rapidly probed through his entire brain, memories, and thoughts with ruthless efficiency. It did not take long for her to find exactly what she was searching for.

There, buried deep within his memories, she witnessed the exact moment Jester had captured Lisette and sealed the boy inside a pocket dimension housed within a golden lamp.

-----