Chapter 365: …that’s annoying.

"Looks like we both have secrets, huh?"

Lucian grinned.

"How about this? You tell me how many hidden weapons there are in the Hearth and I’ll tell you what happened to me?"

He tried.

Neroth, however, kept staring at him with a surprised look on his face. As someone who had been inside Lucian’s consciousness and had read some of his memories, he knew exactly what he was capable of.

And it wasn’t this.

And the only way he could suddenly do something he couldn’t do before in this little time...

As Neroth thought about it, it became certain.

"You..."

Neroth’s expression hardened as he stared at the being in front of him, this time, much, much more clearly.

His aura, the pressure around him, the density of his Demonic Energy, it was all familiar, a little too familiar.

"You devoured my Heart."

He spoke out loud and the instant Lucian heard him, his grin widened.

"What can I say, I hate wasting stuff. I am an environmentalist, you s—"

"YOU!!!"

Before Lucian could even complete his words, Neroth screamed in intense anger.

Then—

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

The energy around him exploded and the ground beneath him cracked, collapsing the nearby ruins.

Neroth was angry.

Being unable to take over his consciousness was one thing, but getting devoured instead...?

That was... beyond humiliating.

And he...

He would make this bastard pay for this humiliation.

Neroth’s anger shot up again, Lucian could practically feel the air around them becoming heavier and as he sensed his intense hatred—

Lucian just grinned.

"Well, let’s get this started, shall we?"

Neroth didn’t answer, the Archdemon simply raised his hand and dark energy gathered around his palm.

BOOOOOOM

A massive wave of Energy shot towards Lucian, Lucian narrowed his eyes.

A barrier.

That was all he needed.

His Demonic Energy moved and—

VMMMMMMMM

A gigantic black-violet wall appeared in front of him.

Lucian blinked at that.

The barrier wasn’t just large, it was enormous.

It stretched dozens of meters in every direction, so thick and so dense that not even the slightest hint of light passed through it.

Then—

BOOOOOOM

Neroth’s attack slammed into it.

The resulting explosion shook the very sky and the barrier—

It didn’t move an inch, not even in the slightest.

Lucian stared at the scene with a strange look on his face.

"...too much, huh."

He used far too much Energy in the heat of the battle.

Then suddenly, his senses caught something approaching from the side, he moved immediately, or at the very least...

He tried to, but...

FWOOOOOOOOSH

"Shit—"

His body shot sideways, crossing hundreds of meters before he could even think about stopping.

Then, he used his newly created trusted technique to stop himself, telekinesis pushed his body in the opposite direction, two forces collided—

BOOOOOOM

The air exploded and Lucian’s body finally stopped.

Then, he glanced at the enemy. Neroth attacked him, now it was his turn, so without waiting, he moved towards him.

But again—

FWOOOSH

He flew past him.

BOOOOOOM

He stopped and tried it again, this time, with considerably less force—

But it didn’t work.

He moved past him again.

Neroth slowly turned his head, following him. Lucian finally stopped a few hundred meters away, then, he turned back and looked at Neroth...

Neroth looked back.

For a moment, the two remained silent.

"...this is embarrassing."

Lucian let out a small, forced chuckle.

Just then, Neroth’s expression twisted, Lucian felt something below him, he looked down but it was already too late.

BOOOOOOM

Several detonation formations inside the Hearth activated at once, the ground exploded. Only this time, Lucian wasn’t caught since he was already hovering in the air.

The explosion still tried to catch him, he immediately moved up.

The same thing happened, he shot hundreds of meters into the sky and before he realised it, he was standing right next to the barrier in the sky.

And the barrier—

BOOOOOOM

It exploded.

Lucian, seeing it happen at the very last second, barely defended himself as he moved down. The problem was still the same, now, he was falling too fast.

He used telekinesis to stop himself, that worked, but using two opposite forces to stop himself had one clear disadvantage.

Once he stopped, he was basically hovering at a single point for a slight second and someone as experienced as Neroth noticed that.

So when Lucian hovered in the middle of the air, somewhat helpless since the telekinesis force was still scattered around him, making it difficult for him to generate more without another collision—

A crimson beam shot towards him from one of the Arcelis defensive towers.

"What the hell...?"

Lucian stared at it with utter disbelief. He didn’t even know they had something like this.

What was this?

Turret wars!?

Lucian raised his hand and formed another barrier and once again—

VMMMM

It was far bigger than necessary.

BOOOOOOM

The crimson beam struck it and exploded.

Lucian, however, could barely feel anything. The attack was blocked successfully. Just that...

Because of this large wall now standing in front of him, he couldn’t see Neroth.

"...that’s annoying."

He realised how difficult that made everything, especially when he couldn’t exactly use his other senses to pinpoint the Archdemon’s location.

In the end, Lucian removed the barrier and as he did—

He noticed Neroth was standing right in front of him, with his fist covered with an endless amount of Energy of Suffering.

Neroth punched before Lucian could attack.

The Energy of Suffering directly struck him in the chest.

BOOOOOOM

Lucian’s body flew back from the impact, crashing through two buildings before slamming into the ground, stones around him exploded.

And Neroth did not stop.

He could see exactly what Lucian’s problem was, he had absolutely no control over his body. So even though he was far, far stronger than before,

He had no idea how to use that strength.

And Neroth—

He had no intention of giving him the time to learn.

So the Archdemon waved his hand and before Lucian could react—

BOOOOOOM

The ground beneath him exploded.