The Primeval Era-Chapter 123: Demon! V

Damian called out for them to run, his voice carrying across the skies to where Serala and Masamuk hovered! The word was simple. An acknowledgment that this enemy was beyond what they could face.

The Kishi Demon laughed.

Its dual voices echoed across the sky, warm and cruel merging into something that made the air itself feel corrupted. Those four eyes fixed on Damian with intensity that went beyond simple hunger, studying him with curiosity.

"Now who are you?"

The handsome face leaned closer, perfect features twisted by interest that bordered on obsession.

"How can you resist someone as mighty as I?"

The hyena face snarled behind.

"Come on now..."

The creature’s body tensed.

"Come on now!"

BOOM!

Evil crimson light erupted from the demon’s form.

The explosion pushed everything back, waves of corruption spreading outward and slamming into Damian’s flames with force that sent him tumbling through the air. The vessel beneath them cracked and began to fall, its structure unable to withstand the pressure of demonic power being unleashed.

And above, in the skies, something began to form.

A crimson illusory inverted mountain materialized from nothing, its shape solidifying from the corrupted Mana that poured from the Kishi’s body. The peak rumbled and buzzed with contained fury, dark stone flickering with veins of molten power that pulsed like the heartbeat of something ancient and terrible.

Lava-like crimson flames began spouting from that peak as it pointed towards them!

They gushed upward before curving down toward the Lands of Stone below, rivers of destruction preparing to paint over and scorch everything they touched. The heat was immense even from this distance, promising annihilation to anything that failed to flee!

The demon’s callous voice boomed across the heavens.

"Oh, we shall have so much fun..."

Its handsome face smiled with warmth that promised only suffering.

"So much fun!"

Its hyena face howled with savage anticipation.

"I have yet to even taste your flesh and blood, so..."

The illusory mountain blazed brighter.

"Come!"

The lava began to fall.

"The fuck!"

The demon spread its arms wide.

"ON!"

BOOM!

...!

Even after Damian told Serala and Masamuk to run, they stayed.

They came beside him.

Serala’s radiant wings blazed with defiant light as she positioned herself at his right, her spear gripped in hands that refused to tremble. Masamuk floated to his left, obsidian body still damaged but pulsing with determination.

"We came here together."

Serala’s voice cut through the demonic pressure bearing down on them.

"We leave here together!"

Her wing-shaped pupils locked onto his with intensity that brooked no argument.

"Besides, you don’t know much about demons. I do!"

Damian wanted to argue.

He wanted to tell them that it was actually very hard for him to die. He wanted to order them away, to use whatever authority his actions had granted him to force them to flee.

But the air and surroundings themselves began to shake.

He looked above.

The illusory crimson mountain had reached even more critical mass, its peak splitting open as rivers of corrupted lava continued to cascade down upon everything below. The heat was already scorching, already unbearable, already promising death to anything caught in its path!

"If you won’t run away, then at least let’s move from here!"

Damian roared out the words.

BOOM!

They flew.

All three of them exploded outward from their position, blue flames and radiant wings and obsidian Mana carrying them away from the epicenter of destruction. The demon’s laughter echoed behind them, that dual voice ringing with amusement at their desperate evasion.

The mountain fully erupted.

Crimson lava poured from the illusory peak in torrents that defied natural law, curving down toward the Lands of Stone with terrible inevitability. The streams were massive, each one wide enough to swallow villages whole, each one burning with corruption that went beyond simple heat.

They watched the eruption reach the lands below.

The skies turned red.

Not the red of sunset or firelight. This was the red of blood and corruption, a color that seemed to stain the very fabric of reality. Clouds that had been white moments ago now churned with crimson energy, their shapes twisting into forms that suggested screaming faces and grasping hands.

The vessel of Imperator Vienna melted.

That massive platform of stone and metal, the war machine that had carried dozens of Organ Sanctification Warriors, simply ceased to exist. It didn’t break apart or crumble. It liquefied, running down through the air like wax before a flame, joining the rivers of corruption that painted the landscape below.

The land itself transformed.

Where the lava touched, stone blackened and cracked. Trees burst into flames that burned with crimson light rather than orange. Grass withered and died and then seemed to rise again as something else, twisted vegetation that pulsed with energies utterly opposed to natural life.

The whole region was becoming a toxic domain.

Unstable chaotic energies swirled through the corrupted zone. The Land itself seemed to bend within that space, distances becoming uncertain and directions losing their meaning.

Oh!

It was terrifying.

Serala floated beside Damian as they watched the transformation complete.

Her wing-shaped pupils held the reflection of that crimson destruction, but her voice was steady when she spoke. The Holy Daughter had studied texts that most would never see. She had knowledge that might make a difference.

"The sacred archives of the Hallowed Voice contain records from the ancient wars against demonkind."

Her eyes never left the corrupted zone ahead.

"Those who fought them and survived documented what worked and what failed. The methodology was specific."

She turned to look at Damian.

"First, purity of Mana. Demons are corruption given form. They feed on impurities, on the flaws and weaknesses within cultivation. Warriors with highly refined Mana, those who had purified their essence through decades of dedicated practice, could resist demonic influence longer than others. Vessel Completion...are those holding some effectiveness."

Her wings flickered slightly.

"Second, Mana Armaments. Weapons saturated with pure energy rather than simple physical materials. The ancient smiths learned to forge blades and spears and tools that could wound demonic flesh where ordinary weapons bounced away."

She gestured toward the crimson zone.

"Third, and most important, Land and Sky Physiques."

Her voice grew heavier.

"Those born with Physiques tap into the primal energies of the Lands of Stone itself. They draw power from sources older than demons, from the very foundations upon which reality was built. Warriors with powerful Physiques could stand longer against demonic assault. Some could even triumph."

...!