Chapter 528: Cost Of Victory

To Live Forever One Must Be Willing To Die...

Buzz!

Damian gazed at the colossal gray eye above him as it continued surging madly with gray light, the immense pressure radiating from it causing the darkness of Realm Zero itself to tremble.

The eye had stopped merely observing him. It was gathering everything Dantalion had left into a single attack, and Damian could feel the terrifying concentration of power even from where he stood.

His fingers tightened around his hand fan as exhaustion weighed heavily upon his body, every wound reminding him that he had already pushed himself far beyond what his current physical condition should have allowed.

Yet he did not retreat. There was nowhere left to retreat to.

The Abyss’s voice suddenly echoed inside his mind. ’How much are you willing to give up for victory?’

Damian’s expression changed slightly before his gaze lowered toward the colossal crimson eye floating beneath him. The Abyss was watching him, its enormous pupil glowing brighter than ever, almost as though it too was preparing something.

Damian stared at it for several seconds before understanding finally settled into his mind. This was the final exchange. There would be no second chance after this. Either Dantalion fell, or he did.

His face became cold as he looked back toward the colossal gray eye. ’Anything!’ he answered decisively.

The massive crimson eye shifted slightly, almost as though it were nodding at his response. ’I will be sacrificing your ten soul fragments you handed over to me to permanently awaken an ability that can help you win.’

Damian’s expression immediately darkened. He had willingly given the Abyss ten fragments of his soul before, but hearing that they would be sacrificed permanently made him instinctively resist.

’Why are we sacrificing nearly half of my soul?’ he quickly argued, his voice carrying genuine concern despite his determination.

The Abyss remained strangely calm. ’Would you be willing to give up another ten soul fragments to me and let me completely take over your body?’ it asked.

Damian’s eyes widened.

’I am only giving you this option because I have grown quite... attached to you, and I’m curious to see what the future holds in store for you and what kinds of choices you would make...’

Damian stared at the crimson eye in stunned silence. He had expected manipulation, temptation or perhaps another demand, but not this strange admission of attachment. For the first time, the Abyss sounded less like an ancient entity patiently waiting to consume him and more like something genuinely curious about the person Damian would eventually become.

’What happens if I lose my soul fragments?’ Damian asked after a moment, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

The Abyss answered with almost insulting casualness. ’Your soul is permanently damaged. Your life force leaks constantly, meaning you are no longer immortal. Your physicality is greatly reduced, as you will be frail and weak. You will also live in constant pain and agony, and every time you use your abilities, it will most likely feel like torture. But apart from those, you will be fine.’

Damian’s eyelid twitched violently. He stared at the crimson eye with an expression of disbelief before letting out a tired breath.

’You have a way of breaking bad news to someone. Just do what you must. I’ll handle the rest!’

The Abyss released a light chuckle, the sound reverberating through the darkness. ’As a man who has always been given little to no options since becoming a prince, you are quite accustomed to taking the only option right in front of you without complaint. Maybe the only reason I have grown attached to you is because I find your struggles intriguing.’

Damian rolled his eyes. If the Abyss had not been his only realistic means of surviving the battle, he would have cursed it out without hesitation. Instead, he simply tightened his grip on the fan.

"Just do what has to be done and stop pulling my legs." Damian growled, only for the Abyss’s laughter to grow louder.

"Hold him off for a minute and I will grant you victory!" The Abyss suddenly declared, its voice exploding throughout Realm Zero with such authority that the entire realm shook violently.

At that moment, the Abyss controlled Dark Knight raised its massive blade. Its body was already beginning to deteriorate, cracks of darkness spreading across its armor as the energy sustaining it was withdrawn and redirected toward Damian.

The Dark Knight suddenly spun, swinging its blade in a complete 360 degree motion. A gigantic circular arc of darkness erupted from the weapon, sweeping across the battlefield with overwhelming force.

Every tendril caught within its path was instantly eradicated, severed and reduced to nothing before the fragments could even regenerate.

The Dark Knight continued spinning until the last tendril surrounding the Abyss was destroyed, and then its body began breaking apart into countless particles of black dust.

Those particles flowed through the darkness and surged directly into Damian’s body, sinking into his flesh and soul. Damian’s eyes widened as violet light erupted from his pupils, his entire body radiating a frightening pressure as he regained fifty percent of his power which his clone carried.

Swish!

Damian slowly raised his hand fan and opened it. Tongues of fire of several different colours immediately appeared above the ribs of the fan, each flame carrying a different aura and intensity.

Purple, azure, crimson, white, black and several other colours twisted together as the flames grew increasingly violent.

Damian stared toward the colossal gray eye before abruptly slamming the hand fan shut. The flames were compressed together with such force that they fused into a single enormous rainbow tongue of fire.

The multicoloured flame twisted around the closed fan like a living creature, its brilliance illuminating Damian’s battered face as he slowly extended his arm and pointed the weapon directly toward the colossal gray eye above.

"FOOL... YOU TRUST THE WORD OF THE ABYSS?!" Duke Dantalion laughed, his voice reverberating across Realm Zero as his enormous gray eye burned brighter.

"Worry about yourself Duke... This will be your final moments alive." Damian returned with a cold gleam in his eyes.

Dantalion’s laughter grew louder. "HAHAHAHAHAHA... TODAY THE WORLD WILL BEAR WITNESS TO EITHER THE RISE OF THE ORDER OF DEMONS AND FALL OF THIS HUMAN PRINCE OF VELMORA..." Duke Dantalion roared, his voice carrying enough force to make the surrounding darkness tremble.

"OR THE FINAL DEMISE OF THE ORDER OF DEMONS AND THE BIRTH OF A NEW POWERHOUSE OF THE UNDERWORLD... REGARDLESS THIS REALM CANNOT CONTAIN THE TWO OF US!" Damian cut him off, his expression becoming utterly devoid of fear.

The massive gray eye tightened at those words, its pupil contracting as unimaginable energy condensed within it.

"I AGREE!" the Duke hissed.

BOOOOOOM!

A colossal gray beam erupted from the massive eye, descending from above like the judgment of a God. The beam was so enormous that it completely covered the sky of Realm Zero, its gray light swallowing everything beneath it as the surrounding darkness buckled under its overwhelming power.

Damian merely snorted disdainfully and tightened his grip around the hand fan. The weapon trembled violently in his hand as he forced more of his demonic force into it, and then he unleashed the accumulated energy toward the heavens.

A massive rainbow coloured beam erupted from the fan and shot upward to meet Dantalion’s attack. Yet the difference in scale was immediately apparent.

Damian’s beam was enormous by any ordinary standard, but compared to Dantalion’s gray beam it looked like a pole being placed against a colossal pillar. The gray light descended with unstoppable momentum while Damian’s rainbow beam pushed against it with everything he possessed.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The entire realm cried out beneath the violent collision. The darkness distorted around the two beams, countless waves of energy spreading across Realm Zero.

His right arm shook violently under the pressure, and he immediately brought his left hand beneath it to support the limb. The sensation was horrifying. It felt as though an entire mountain had been dropped directly onto his body, crushing down on his muscles, bones and soul simultaneously.

His Demonic Armament strained beneath the pressure, while the hand fan trembled so violently that Damian feared it would shatter in his grasp. His teeth clenched as blood began flowing from the corner of his mouth.

"Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Damian roared at the top of his voice, refusing to allow his arm to collapse.

Every muscle in his body screamed for him to stop, but he continued pouring everything he had into the beam.

Meanwhile, outside Realm Zero, the war around Velmora continued with little awareness of what was occurring inside the isolated domain.

Amid the chaos, a small group of soldiers quietly moved through the city’s streets, keeping their bodies low as they slipped between damaged buildings and abandoned alleys.

They moved carefully, avoiding the larger streets where soldiers were still clashing, until they finally reached the edge of one damaged building. One soldier slowly leaned forward and looked past the corner toward the city walls.

Hundreds of soldiers were still fighting across the battlements, their weapons clashing against the Order forces while magical attacks illuminated the battlefield.

Several corpses had already fallen from the walls and lay scattered across the roads below, while wounded soldiers crawled toward whatever shelter they could find.

The sight made the soldier swallow nervously, but then his gaze slowly lowered toward the battlement beneath him and his entire face turned pale.

Atop a massive pile of headless corpses sat a small seven tailed fox. Rin appeared almost completely untouched by the carnage surrounding him, casually lifting one paw and licking it with quiet amusement as though the battle around it was nothing more than entertainment.

The soldier immediately pulled his head back and turned toward his companions, his face drained of colour.

"So?" another soldier whispered impatiently, clearly expecting some indication that the path ahead was clear.

The first soldier simply covered his mouth and shook his head.

"What are you doing? Just say something!" another soldier behind him snapped, growing irritated by the silence.

Before the first soldier could respond, a strange pressure suddenly descended upon the alley.

Buzz!

Every soldier fell silent, their bodies stiffening as their gazes slowly rose above the head of the soldier who had first looked outside. Rin was standing there, his tiny body balanced effortlessly upon the man’s head, all seven tails swaying behind him as a sinister grin spread across his face.

"Wouldn’t it be better if you all had died fighting to open the gates like the others rather than in the alley like some cowards?" Rin grinned devilishly.