Chapter 568: Lazarus’ Crimes

Lazarus’ chest heaved up and down as he stood amid the ruins of what had once been the capital of Velmora. Debris covered the streets, broken towers leaned against one another and entire sections of the city had been reduced to rubble, yet despite destroying nearly everything within his reach, Damian was nowhere to be found.

The silence only aggravated him further. He slowly turned his head, searching through the ruins while his golden eyes continued scanning for even the slightest trace of movement.

"Coward... I should have known a coward like you would hide in the dirt just to stay alive," Lazarus hissed, his voice carrying across the ruined city.

Somewhere deep beneath the earth, Damian’s eyes suddenly snapped open, blazing with purple light.

Haaaaa!

He inhaled deeply before forcing his palms against the earth above him. Bang! The ground exploded as Damian shot out from beneath the ruins, sending chunks of dirt and broken stone flying through the air.

He landed casually, brushed some dirt from his shoulders and rolled his neck before looking toward Lazarus.

"Fighting like a coward is actually fun. It takes the stress off your shoulders. You should try it in your next life," Damian said while rolling his shoulders.

"Bastard!" Lazarus growled as he immediately shot forward. His golden body crossed the distance between them in an instant, but before his fist could reach Damian, black flames suddenly erupted from Damian’s body.

"Abyssal Fire!"

Brrrr!

Lazarus’ eyes dilated as the sudden burst of black flames forced him backward. His body was pushed several miles through the air before he finally stabilized himself, his surprised gaze fixed upon Damian.

Black flames continued circling Damian’s body, moving unnaturally as though they were alive. Their darkness seemed to absorb the surrounding light rather than merely block it, and even Lazarus could sense the terrifying difference between these flames and the ordinary demonic abilities Damian had used throughout the battle.

"What is this..." Lazarus muttered, his mind racing as he tried to understand what he was seeing, but Damian gave him no time to think.

"You are curious to know why I have survived this long and won the battles I did... Now you have your answer. This is my secret." Damian chuckled.

Black smoke suddenly gathered beside him as Abel emerged from the darkness and gently settled onto Damian’s shoulder, his small pitch black body contrasting against the flames while his crimson eyes burned with frightening intensity.

Buzz!

Lazarus’ expression changed as several memories suddenly connected in his mind.

"Lin Qui, that snake, did Majin in... That bastard, Majin considered him a brother and a confidant!" Lazarus blurted out, his voice filled with realization rather than anger.

Damian frowned and casually wiped his ear with his pinky finger. "Can you stop screaming? I’m not the one who killed that Majin dude."

Lazarus ignored him completely. His gaze became unfocused as his mind worked through everything Damain has achieved up till now. Then his eyes widened.

"It finally makes sense... Yes... It finally makes sense." Lazarus nodded slowly. "You were never extraordinary... You just had an extraordinary inheritance on you!"

Rin floated beside Damian and immediately frowned. "I think he’s insulting you."

Damian rolled his eyes and looked away. "Bitch, I’m not deaf."

His cold gaze returned to Lazarus as Damian slowly stretched one hand forward. He released a long breath, steam pouring from his nose as the purple irises within his eyes gradually turned crimson. The surrounding darkness seemed to respond to his presence as the black flames around his body grew increasingly violent.

"Realm Zero!"

Buzz!

Lazarus’ eyes widened as the space around him suddenly changed. Darkness began creeping across the borders of the Realm of Dreams, spreading upward toward the heavens like an enormous wall.

The boundary of the False Territory was being swallowed by absolute darkness, cutting the battlefield away from everything beyond it.

Lazarus immediately recognized the danger.

"If you had this all along, why now? Why didn’t you spring this up from the very beginning?" he demanded, glaring at Damian.

Damian slowly shook his head. "Even in war there is an order to things. I have come to learn that from this fight. Truly, our conflict has taught me a lot, and I sincerely thank you for that."

There was genuine sincerity behind his words. Before this battle, Damian had relied heavily on overwhelming force and brute direction, believing that if he possessed enough power, he could simply crush whatever stood in his path. Lazarus had forced him to understand something far more important. Strength alone did not determine the outcome of a battle. With enough preparation, deception and strategy, even Gods could be cornered.

Lazarus’ face twisted with rage as the realization finally settled within him. "I understand everything now. All the tricks were just to force me to wear myself out so that you could finally overwhelm me."

Damian nodded calmly as he extended his hand. Black smoke erupted around his arm, twisting into chains that wrapped tightly around his forearm before connecting to a black lantern hanging beside him. Calm black flames burned inside the lantern, completely unlike the violent fire surrounding Damian earlier.

"You have been on the offensive all this while..." Damian said dryly as he raised the lantern. "It’s finally my turn."

"Lazarus..." The Abyss’ voice suddenly echoed from the darkness below, deep and ancient as the enormous crimson eye emerged beneath the battlefield.

Lazarus slowly looked downward, and his golden eyes widened at the sight of the boundless crimson eye staring directly at him.

"You have successfully maintained your status as Prince of Gildreach Vault not through your strength, but through your wealth, which had others do your dirty work for you. You have never been considered powerful amongst the Seven Sins. Your mistake was not knowing your own strength."

The Abyss’ voice faded into the darkness, only for Abel to continue. "It was your greed to claim what you believed should be yours that made you keep a worthless fox by your side for so long, showering him with wealth in hopes that through him you would gain what belonged to another. Now the fox is dead, and you will follow suit. In the end, your greatest strength became your greatest weakness."

Rin’s expression hardened as he added, "Even if you defeated Damian, did you think those three wayward witches would have satiated the hunger in your heart? You abandoned your spouse and lusted after other women knowing well that, as a deity, you can only have one partner of the demigod level and above. Were you going to kill your spouse to make space for the new ones? Even if Damian didn’t kill you, you would have died at the hands of another Prince. This outcome was predestined to happen!"

Buzz!

Lazarus’ face twisted unnaturally as rage consumed his features. His golden eyes burned with fury as he glared at the three beings surrounding Damian. "Who the hell are all of you to judge me? What do you know about me to deem my desires excessive?!"

"BIRON!"

BRRRRR!

Golden light exploded around Lazarus as an enormous golden furred bull emerged beneath him. Its burning golden eyes glared toward Damian while its massive horns were plated in golden armor, and a spiked golden ball hung from the end of its tail. The beast’s arrival caused the golden ground beneath Lazarus to tremble as its divine pressure spread through the Realm of Dreams.

"If I’m taking you all with me, even if it means burning out every last drop of power my soul has to offer... THERE WILL BE NO VICTORS IN THIS WAR!" Lazarus roared, his voice shaking the surrounding darkness.

"Hmph!" Damian snorted disdainfully.

Abel and Rin transformed at the same time. A gigantic dragon head emerged from the darkness on Damian’s right, Abel’s crimson eyes blazing as his jaws opened, while a massive nine tailed fox head manifested on Damian’s left, Rin’s eyes burning with murderous intent.

The two spirit beasts flanked Damian as the black lantern hanging from his arm continued burning calmly.

"This battle has already been won. You are just too stubborn to see it..." Damian hissed as his purple and crimson eyes fixed upon Lazarus.

He paused briefly before a devilish smile appeared on his face. "Oh, and don’t worry about your woman. I will give her all the love and care you failed to give her after you are gone."

"DAMIANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!"

Lazarus’ roar shook the entire Realm of Zero as golden energy erupted from his body once again.