Rise of the Rejected Deity from Chaos-Chapter 143 - 142: The 10th Demon | Kiriza [5]

Extending his hand forward, he tensed his fingers, ready to dig them into Seiya's eyes.

"Should I?" He asked again as if Seiya's approval meant a lot. But Seiya offered no response, leaving the demon's hand hanging over his eyes. After a moment, the demon withdrew his hand, resting it back on his other knee—cheek still propped against the other hand.

"You are truly something else," he remarked in an intrigued voice. "I have yet to hear a single scream from you, despite the torment I've inflicted. You must be quite extraordinary."

He paused, his gaze never leaving Seiya as he spoke with a casual air. "So, are you ready to enlighten me on how to own the staff?" His eyes pierced into Seiya, searching for any sign of a reaction. But Seiya remained still, offering neither movement nor response.

With a frustrated sigh, the demon stood, his tone turning cold. "Perhaps I should just cast you into my dimension, where you'll be lost forever—trapped with no escape."

This made Seiya's breath hitch. Because, with no way to escape the dimension, he would rot there. And if he cannot defeat the demon, his staff will be lost forever.

"Though that would mean I only get one of the two things I wanted, the heart," the demon continued. "But sacrifices are inevitable, so I guess I can give up on one."

From where Ibyu had been cast after its sealing, a heavy, resounding pulse echoed in perfect harmony with the heat swelling inside Seiya. It felt as if a newfound resolve and hope were rising within him, a force he could not ignore. He could not afford to lose; he had to win—he should always win.

The demon advanced toward Seiya, trapping him between his legs, hunching forward with his hand outstretched, ready to unleash his ability. But before the demon could, Seiya curved, driving his knee upward with precision, and landing a brutal blow to the demon's groin.

Pain, deep and searing, shot through the demon's body, forcing him to stagger back. But Seiya was relentless. In a fluid motion, he coiled his legs around the demon's neck, twisting sharply and slamming him face-first into the ground.

In the same breath, without wasting even a millisecond, Seiya swiftly sat up. He wrapped a leg around one of his broken hands, using it to twist the bone back into place with low, sharp cracks.

Though using his leg limited his precision compared to using his hand, Seiya couldn't perfectly realign the bones. However, it was enough for him to use that same hand to adjust the other broken one, ensuring it was perfectly positioned before revisiting the imperfect one to make a final adjustment.

With new found strength surging through Seiya, he rose and leapt away, putting distance between himself and the demon, to crack and massage his pummeled joints.

The demon rose from the ground, his face broken and dripping blood, but mending as he got up. "That body of yours is too hard," he remarked, rubbing a hand over his nose.

Without a moment's hesitation, the demon lunged at Seiya. In response, Seiya met him head-on, launching himself forward to intercept the approaching threat.

Seiya reached the demon mid-flight, pinned him down in place with a firm, secured grip on his shoulder. With a deadly precision, he coiled his muscles, arm taut with power, veins bulging along his arm as he readied a destructive punch.

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One hand pinned the demon in place by the shoulder, while the other drew back for the strike, leaving Seiya exposed to any counterattack. Seiya did this, not because he could withstand any more attack from the demon, but because he was confident that his strike would land before any of the demon's attacks would come through.

With legs planted firmly on the ground, stance balanced, Seiya drove a destructive punch into the demon's chest, halting the incoming punch the demon had prepared to counter with.

The impact caused a ripple of wind to rush through them, fluttering the demon's hair violently as his chest exploded, shattering his flesh and bones into pieces—including his three hearts.

The wound left behind was a gaping chasm, stretching from the collar of his neck to the base of his belly. His remains were held together only by his shoulders and the fragile strips of flesh at either side of his torso, stretching and still faintly tethering his upper and lower halves. Blood poured relentlessly from the wound, pooling in a vast, dark pool on the ground.

From his mouth, he also spilled blood as he remained held in place by Seiya.

"You really are unlike any I've encountered," the demon whispered, his words choked by a wet cough that spilled blood immediately after.

Seiya released the demon from his tight hold, expecting to hear the thud of his fall. However, no sound came through, because the demon remained standing.

Having crushed the demon's hearts, the very source through which he had heard and calculated the demon's exact position, and with his own blindness leaving him vulnerable, Seiya stood helpless.

Like before when he had been trapped in one of the previous demon's temple ability, he could hear nothing except the whistling breeze. And he could see nothing except the endless darkness.

Seiya resolved to rely on his sharp instincts and acute sense of hearing, but the demon made no sound. Was he dead, or still standing?

The demon remained upright, his gaping wound slowly closing. New bones, fibers, muscles, and flesh began to regenerate, knitting together rapidly, restoring his body with unsettling perfection.

He whipped his head toward Seiya, his hair sweeping gracefully in the cool breeze. The motion produced a faint whipping sound, one so subtle but didn't escape Seiya's keen ears.

Seiya's brow wrinkled together, squeezing blood to the inner corners of his eyes as he puzzled within him.

Why was the demon still standing? Or was he just being paranoid? Had the demon already fallen and he had only missed the moment?

Seiya shook off that possibility because had the demon fallen down, his head would be pressed against the ground. Therefore, his hair wouldn't whip in the breeze like that.

There was no mistaking it, the demon was still standing, Seiya concluded.

Wordlessly, the demon lunged at Seiya but Seiya's ear didn't miss this. However, with no heart inside the demon to listen to and track his movements, Seiya was disoriented and unable to react in time.

A crushing blow struck Seiya's side, slamming him into the house behind him. The impact shattered the wall where he had collided. Wasting no time, the demon followed, dragging Seiya along the veranda before forcing him onto his knees.

With focused precision, the demon drove a powerful kick into Seiya's side, sending him sprawling outside and crashing hard to the ground.

"What was with that puzzled look earlier? Standing there, unable to react—are you so stunned that I'm still standing after crushing my hearts?" he taunted, stepping forward and descending the veranda.

He stopped a short distance from where Seiya had fallen, his hair billowing in the cold night breeze.

Since he had no idea about Seiya's ability to hear the pulsation of hearts, he was naturally unaware of Seiya's situation.

"It is as I have told you," he said, his voice brimming with proud confidence. "I am simply too powerful to be defeated by a mere….." He paused, uncertain how to address Seiya.

"Wait, are you human?"

"I am."

"I am just too powerful to be taken down by a mere human like you," he declared.

Seiya kept silent, his mind racing to piece things together. Why? Why was the demon still standing? With his ability, Seiya could hear no single heartbeat coming from the demon—so, it was no delusion that he had indeed crushed his three hearts.

Then? Did the demon keep his heart elsewhere like Seiya himself sometimes does with Ibyu? Where? Inside his dimensions?

"I bet you felt relieved, thinking victory was already yours since you must have killed the other demons by destroying their hearts," he taunted, taking very slow steps forward like a child learning to walk for the first time.

Was he savoring Seiya's suffering, stretching the disappointment that even the destruction of his hearts hadn't been enough to kill him? Or was it simply the mood?

"I see now," Seiya murmured, pushing himself to his feet. The demon halted, seeing Seiya rise. A smile crept across his lips, eyes gleaming.

Without another word, Seiya lunged forward at an intense speed, the demon's grin widening as he eagerly waited for Seiya to reach him.

Mere inches from reaching the demon, Seiya slammed his foot into the ground, pivoted sharply, and took off in the other direction.

The demon's smile vanished in an instant, his eyes widening with mounting disbelief. "It can't be," he breathed, following suit.