Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 728 Azrakthar

'I know I told OG to take care of Delgron, but this one seems even more problematic. I certainly can't beat him. Kaizen thought, staring at Azrakthar.

The feeling Azrakthar gave off was completely different from Delgron or Og'tharoz. He had a cynical look on his face and looked at Kaizen as if he were just a more fearless ant than the others. No wonder, when he got up from Kaizen's blow, his skin superficially cut by the King's Sword, he smiled.

"Interesting... Kaizen, what is your relationship with TaTiBahSirBenetNiiuq?" Azrakthar asked, repeating the same sound Og'tharoz had said when introducing himself to Delgron.

Wisely, Kaizen assumed that this strange sound was Og'tharoz's real name, and as he needed time, he decided to play along with the demon.

"Our relationship? Well, you wouldn't understand the friendship that can be created just by sharing the same roof with someone." Kaizen smiled back at Azrakthar, trying to look confident. He knew that the demon was just trying to provoke him, but he wasn't going to fall for it, so he also decided to hit back. "Oh, Azrakthar, I forgot that you probably don't even know what friendship means. You probably only know how to destroy and devour everything in sight. You have no feelings, no compassion and no respect for others. You're just a monster." Kaizen said, looking into the demon's eyes.

Azrakthar frowned, as if irritated by Kaizen's words. "How dare you insult me like that? You don't know who you're dealing with. I am one of the lords of hell, the master of the deepest circle. No one can challenge me, least of all an insignificant human like you."

"The question is: are you really who you say you are? Empty promises coming from a being with such a simple appearance, you don't look like much." Kaizen said.

Og'tharoz and Xisrith heard Kaizen's words and felt a pang of pride in their hearts, because this time it was Kaizen who was controlling the battlefield with words.

"Insolent human! Kneel before my power!" Azrakthar shouted, extending his hand forward.

At that moment, a tornado of fire erupted from his fingertips and was hurled towards Kaizen, and he obviously couldn't dodge it, not without injury at least, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to defend himself.

The fire hurled by Azrakthar roared towards Kaizen, a wave of heat spreading through the air as the flaming tornado rapidly approached. Instinctively, Kaizen raised both hands and used <Psychokinesis>, creating a paranormal shield, which flickered with a bluish light as the tornado of fire crashed into it. An explosion of heat and flames engulfed the battlefield, but the shield held, protecting Kaizen from the impending impact.

"Is that heat reaching here?" One of the mages, more than two hundred meters from Azrakthar and Kaizen, felt the heat of the fire as he hid behind a large piece of debris.

The magical pressure of Azrakthar's attack pushed Kaizen backwards, causing him to slip a few meters on the uneven ground.

"You're skillful for a human..." said Azrakthar, admiring Kaizen's paranormal shield. His eyes sparkled with a mixture of surprise and fascination. "But defending a blow from me is the bare minimum expected of a Psyker."

Kaizen took a deep breath, still feeling the impact of the pain coursing through his body. He wouldn't be able to fend off many more blows from Azrakthar like that, and Azrakthar seemed to understand, because when his eyes caught sight of Kaizen's hands and saw them shaking a little, he gave a broad smile.

"Let's see how tough you can be..." Azrakthar said, extending his right hand forward.

However, before Azrakthar could act again, Xisrith finally acted, materializing in the shadows behind the demon. She used the debris and Kaizen's striking presence to move without even the demon noticing. Seeing the back of the demon's head, her eyes shone with intensity and she used the skill <Death Chains>, thus creating a series of shadows that coiled around Azrakthar from his own shadow.

The demon roared in frustration, trying to free himself from the shadows that enveloped him, but Xisrith had trained this skill hard and for a long time, in order to stop people much stronger than her. The power of the shadows was her ally, and they kept her opponent momentarily contained.

Kaizen, taking advantage of the distraction caused by Xisrith, advanced towards Azrakthar and shouted:

"You underestimated not only my strength, but the strength of everyone here. And I bet you're not invulnerable!" Kaizen proclaimed, enveloping his sword in a unique aura. 'It's been a while since I've used this skill... <Touch of Death>!'

The King's Sword, usually shrouded in an aura of elven light, which drew on Kaizen's mana to increase the blade's power, first dimmed and then pulsed with a golden aura.

[Skill: Touch of Death

Death is the essence of life and life the essence of death. If you can control this kind of power, you can reach unimaginable places. When you use this skill, you will apply accumulated damage equivalent to all the creatures you have killed.

(Note: the stored damage count will reset each time you die and when you use the skill).

Acquisition Difficulty: A.]

When Azrakthar finally managed to break through the darkness that gripped him and turned fully around to hit Xisrith, he felt an extremely dangerous aura coming from behind him, which was able to make him turn around almost immediately, but even so, his inconsequence was costly, because the Psyker's shadow over him was already so large that it completely blocked out the moonlight.

And then the King's Sword, pulsing with a golden aura that seemed to feed on the souls Kaizen had harvested throughout his battles, sliced through the air with deadly elegance. The sharp sound of metal cutting through space was accompanied by an eerie echo, as if the surrounding shadows themselves yearned to take part in this lethal dance.

Azrakthar, even in his demonic form, felt a shiver run down his spine as he witnessed the raw power contained in this sword. The unique aura seemed to have transcended the limits of ordinary magic, plunging into the depths of an unknown. Even for an Evolved level being, there weren't many opportunities to see such a blow in person. The moment the blade touched the demon's flesh, an explosive reaction occurred.

The essence of death, accumulated over the course of Kaizen's many battles, now manifested itself tangibly. The golden aura on the King's Sword not only represented the blade's new level of power, but also the very life force of the fallen creatures Kaizen had defeated, including dozens and dozens of vampires.

A spectrum of shadows and souls seemed to dance around the blade, making it even more frightening.

Azrakthar, surprised by the intensity of this power, felt the impact even before it hit not only his body, but also his soul.

The <Touch of Death> revealed itself as an inexorable force, a sinister mixture of occult powers and the life energy that Kaizen had drained from his adversaries. An explosion of darkness accompanied the blow, causing the very ground to shake. Azrakthar's demonic flesh was torn like paper. A dark fissure opened in his body, releasing a dark smoke that writhed like black serpents. The demon roared, a symphony of pain and rage that echoed across the desolate landscape.

The golden aura of the King's Sword intensified with the demon's scream, as if it were feeding off it, radiating a blinding brilliance that contrasted with the darkness emanating from Azrakthar's wound. The energy of death spread rapidly, eating away at the demonic flesh.

Kaizen, despite the effort expended in this attack, maintained a firm stance. His body trembled under the weight of exhaustion from using this skill, but his eyes shone with unwavering determination and a wide smile. He knew that this blow was not just physical, but an affront to the very core of Azrakthar, so he had to keep it up.

Finally, when all the energy had dissipated, the demon was on his knees.

"Damn... C-coof, cof!!!" He coughed up blood. "Where did you get so much power from? Why didn't you use it before?"

Kaizen, also on his knees from using too much mana and getting fatigued, continued smiling. "I've been waiting to use it on Zylok all this time or for a more urgent situation, but I don't think there's anyone stronger than you on this battlefield right now."

Azrakthar then smiled. "So, that other bastard didn't tell you about... Hell's first commander, the protector of Surtr's trophy room, Belial. He is the strongest demon."

…

Edited by: Dr Hitsuji

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