The Damned Demon

Chapter 918: There’s No Place For Hope

Asher’s words hung heavy in the chilling air, resonating with resolve and sorrow, “Even if it costs me everything, I won’t let you erase me. Because somewhere deep beneath that infinite pain and sorrow, I still see you, Aira—and I refuse to let go.”

He tightened his grip on the Void Reaver, its blade blazing violently with dark green flames. “So I am going to bring my Aira back, even if it means I have to hurt you.”

Aira’s lips slowly curved into a cruel, crazed smile, eyes blazing emptily. “You have no idea how badly you are going to regret those words… again.”

With a wave of her hand, reality trembled. The frozen surroundings suddenly burst back into motion. Rowena, Ravina, and the others gasped, disoriented and startled, stumbling slightly as if suddenly released from an unseen grip.

“A-Ash?” Rowena mumbled, eyes wide in shock as she instinctively turned around, towards where Asher’s aura was. One second she was talking to Asher but the next he was standing over there.

But then her eyes shook, locked upon the figure standing before Asher, “What’s going on…”

Naida’s blood ran cold, her heart hammering with dread. She exchanged a grim, knowing look with Layla, whose face had turned deathly pale.

“The Time Wraith,” Layla whispered in disbelief, her voice shaking slightly.

Asher lunged forward, unleashing a blazing, crescent-shaped strike with the Void Reaver. The Time Wraith raised one finger. Pure white mana surged forth, shattering Asher’s attack effortlessly.

“You are still naive, Asher,” she intoned with a tired look, “You think tricking the Damned One secures your fate? You have barely scratched the surface of what lurks beyond. You ever wondered why you are damned?”

“Knowing why doesn’t change the fact that you have to be stopped,” Asher grimaced, suddenly vanishing and reappearing behind her using his Diabolical Speed. Chains made out of ring blades manifested from thin air, entwining around her—Chain of Despair—their dark energies clawing hungrily at her power.

But she merely tilted her head, an eerie calm upon her face. “Chains?” Her eyes blazed with contempt as she flexed her fingers. Reality rippled, shattering the chains to dust. “I’ve spent eternities shackled by chains of sorrow far stronger.”

The Time Wraith’s palm glowed with radiant mana, unleashing orbs of light spiraling toward Asher. He retaliated swiftly, the flames around his wings expanding into a shield of dark green inferno. The collision sent shockwaves across the land, carving massive fissures and splitting mountains far away. But Asher managed to protect his people from the shockwaves by spreading his aura far and wide at the cost of lowering his winning chances against Aira.

The gathered Hunters were shaken and terrified by the sheer power displayed by not only the Immortal Hellbringer but also that strange, disfigured woman who they guessed must be an immortal as well to rival his strength.

Rowena shielded a confused Ravina protectively, eyes shaking in worry for Asher, especially after noticing how grave his expression was.

Isola was equally tense as she asked, “What does she want from him? Who is she?”

Naida pressed her lips tightly, glancing at Layla. “A ghost of the past who tried too hard to change fate…”

Layla nodded heavily, her eyes solemn. “She lost everything—including herself.”

“Ghost? Wow. Don’t tell it’s really that crazy bitch who tortured you to death? Is she that powerful to just jump between timelines?” Rebecca scoffed in disbelief though inwardly her heart was pounding, worried if Asher would be able to handle her.

“We should try and reach our Aira. Maybe she knows what to do,” Rachel said as she glanced between Grace, Emiko and Amelia.

But before they could dwell on their horror, space tore open violently around them. Figures stepped forth—twisted versions of themselves, decaying, corrupted with dead flesh and hollow, lifeless eyes. And following behind them were an army of such things, most of them resembling humans while few seemed to be demons.

Rowena and the others were shocked upon seeing creatures that had their faces but looked dead and decayed.

Rebecca recoiled, snarling in disgust. “What twisted joke is this?”

Naida’s expression grew even more grave as she said, “Those are all of you who never survived in the past timeline. Derek was working on turning them all into undead by researching dark magic and he did succeed in a wicked manner.”

Her undead copy smiled cruelly. “You think you’re free from suffering? Your torment never ended.”

“What the…it talks?” Rebecca gasped in shock as she pulled out her staff.

Naida clenched her jaw as she said, “The Time Wraith. She’s making them talk to try and break us. Don’t listen to them. Just take out your weapons and cut them down like you would any enemy. They are almost as strong as us even if they are dead.”

Rowena took out her whip and pulled Ravina towards her back as she stared at her doppelganger, whose decaying lips twisted into a sinister smirk, “He couldn’t save you in my timeline either. What makes you think yours will be any different?”

“Mama? She looks funny,” Ravina mumbled with a puzzled look upon looking at this strange looking thing that resembled her mother.

“Come to me, my child. Let’s stay together, even in death,” Rowena’s doppelganger extended her hand towards a curious and puzzled Ravina though Ravina tightly clutched her mother’s gown, feeling repulsed by the aura of this strange looking woman.

“Someone please take her to safety!” Rowena shouted in urgency as she tried to shield Ravina from the gaze of her doppelganger.

“Leave it to us!” Amelia and Yui stepped forward and Rowena didn’t think twice before she entrusted Ravina to them but only after gently knocking out Ravina to make sure she doesn’t do something reckless like teleporting into the middle of a battle like before.

“Oh you poor woman. There’s no saving her. There’s no saving any of them,” Rowena’s doppelganger said with a look of cold pity.

“Just shut the fuck up, bitch. Let’s see you babble once I freeze your perfect ass,” Rebecca scoffed in disdain while giving a quick side glance at Rowena to make sure she wasn’t offended.

“So be it.”

Chaos erupted as the resurrected dead lunged at their counterparts, forcing Rowena, Isola, Naida, and the others into a battle of their own.

Meanwhile, the main battlefield had transformed into pure devastation. The Time Wraith moved through the chaos effortlessly, commanding powerful mana orbs which exploded around Asher, ripping space apart, threatening to erase him entirely.

But Asher channeled Infernal Aura, an oppressive, dark aura emanating from him, corroding and weakening her strikes, forcing reality itself to bend around him.

“Aira!” Asher shouted, desperation lacing his voice, “You think erasing me ends suffering? Pain is a part of existence—erasing it is not salvation!”

“Existence is a curse!” she shot back, unleashing another barrage of attacks. “There’s no escaping the torment it brings you. I learned it after living a million lifetimes. The greatest mercy is to never exist.”

Gritting his teeth, Asher drove the Void Reaver into the ground. Dark green roots of shadow exploded upward, entangling the Wraith—Shadow Roots—siphoning her mana and strength, trying desperately to slow her down.

But with a burst of radiant energy, she shattered even these. “Your stubbornness brings only more agony,” she said softly, almost sadly. “I don’t wish to hurt you, Asher—but you never leave me no choice.”

She flicked her wrist, and reality compressed violently around Asher. He felt himself being crushed beneath mountains, oceans, entire worlds.

Activating Devouring Form, Asher roared defiantly, his flesh briefly absorbing her crushing power, enhancing his own strength. He surged forth, appearing inches from her face, striking viciously with Resentful Slash, blade crackling with cursed flames.

She screamed—a sound reverberating across dimensions—as the flames ripped across her body. But her injuries rapidly healed, time itself reversing around her wounds.

Frustrated, Asher’s power flared once more.

*ROAARRR!!*

Rakshasa’s Roar thundered from his throat, stunning even the Wraith momentarily. Taking advantage, he unleashed Cursed Flame Breath, flooding the area with fire that turned mana itself into decay.

The Time Wraith staggered briefly, her form flickering. But with cold determination, she pierced through, grabbing Asher’s neck fiercely.

“You fight a losing battle,” she whispered. “You still believe you can overcome time and fate? Your arrogance will doom them all, again and again!”

Asher met her gaze, defiant yet pained, “I refuse to accept that my existence only brings suffering. There’s love, hope—there’s you. Even in your darkest form, Aira, I see the woman who once believed in life.”

“Foolish!” Her grip tightened, veins glowing brighter, radiating unbearable pain into Asher’s body. “There’s no place for hope here.”

Feeling his body fracturing under her power, Asher desperately unleashed his most dangerous ability—Nightmare Surge—channeling raw, uncontrollable energy into a single catastrophic wave.

The explosion was immense, splitting the skies The Time Wraith, for the first time, faltered. Her blazing eyes dimmed momentarily, stunned by his sheer resolve.

Panting heavily, Asher staggered back, pleading, “Don’t you understand? You fought endlessly to save me. How can you not see that your path leads nowhere? Things are different in this timeline. I can end this cursed cycle in this timeline itself!”

She raised her head slowly, eyes hollow yet disgruntled. “Ugh…do you know how many times I heard you say the very same lines to me? And guess what…each time you said them, everything ended up the same way. Things can unfold differently in every timeline but your fate will never change. The Damned One is not your only tormentor. There are other horrors lurking—beings so far beyond comprehension they see existence as mere entertainment. As long as you exist, they will play with your fate. Your defiance will bring only more misery.”

His heart clenched painfully, hearing the sorrowful resignation in her voice. Yet determination ignited within him again. “Then let them come. I’ll fight them too. Together, we can still—”

“No!” she snapped, suddenly furious. “Your fight never ends! It consumed me. You must disappear—for your own salvation!”

She lunged again, her orbs of mana blazing furiously, time accelerating violently around them. Asher dodged desperately, using Diabolical Speed enhanced by his immortal form, deflecting attacks with the ring blades orbiting him like moons of war.

“You want me to surrender?” he shouted, defiant. “I’ve already tasted death twice. If existence is suffering, I choose it willingly—because I know there’s meaning, love, hope beyond your despair!”

“Then you’ve learned nothing,” she whispered bitterly, energy building ominously around her, preparing for a devastating blow. “This fight ends now.”

Asher braced himself, feeling the gravity of her words and the terrifying power behind them. He met her gaze, eyes blazing fiercely.

“No. This fight ends only when I bring you back. And I won’t stop—even if it takes eternity.”

His words resonated with raw determination, clashing against her overwhelming power, a collision of two immortal wills set against each other. It looked no different than two stars clashing with each other up in the skies.

Far below and away, Rowena, Naida, and the others struggled fiercely, battling their undead counterparts amidst the apocalyptic chaos. It felt depressing and terrifying in a way to fight their undead selves from a forgotten timeline.

Seeing the state of their undead bodies, they could guess how brutal and cruel their deaths must have been.

“Don’t falter! They are not you and you are not them. Don’t hold back or we will end up like them!” Layla loudly shouted, sensing how her daughter and the other women were wavering slightly while battling their doppelganger.

She was slashing through the undead, sharing a tense glance with Naida. Both understood the magnitude of this battle—and what it meant if Asher fell.

Yet even amid desperation, they felt hope. For even facing despair incarnate, Asher stood unbroken, defiant against the greatest torment existence could offer.

For better or worse, they knew now—this battle would define the fate of all realities.

Damn :#

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