Sora found himself hoping, 'Maybe he'll stop this madness?'
However, the words Sora heard next sent a chill down his spine.
"I can't do that... We've formed an alliance to deal with the main human threats. We can't break the alliance over these people. They are not worth it."
His gaze moved to Sarsha, who was struggling weakly in her father's grasp, her face twisted in fury.
Then he saw Abbott move.
The Demon King raised his hand, preparing to unleash devastation upon the powerless refugees. His fingers curled slightly, and the air trembled. Mana was being sucked dry from the surroundings.
Sora's breath caught in his throat as he thought about Norj's words.
'We can't break the alliance over these people.'
'They are not worth it.'
Sora's vision turned red. A blinding rage tore through his chest, drowning out every other thought. His body moved on instinct, reappearing in front of Salim's people.
Unable to use his own voice because of his poor state, he used mana to communicate. His voice rang through the battlefield.
"Touch them, and I'll make sure your soul never finds peace. Not in this life, nor the next."
Silence fell.
Abbott paused mid-motion, his golden eyes narrowing as he turned toward Sora, giving him his full attention. A slow smile crept onto his lips. But there was no amusement behind it. Only cold, raw malice.
"Why are you still alive?" Abbott muttered, sounding more annoyed than confused. His gaze flicked to Norj.
"And why," he continued, "hasn't this been dealt with yet?"
Norj, still restraining his daughter, didn't even glance at the demon. His eyes remained locked on Sora.
But Sora barely processed their exchange. The fire that had pushed him forward was fading, reality crashing down on him. The burning of his Blood Essence had ended. And the price of its power was now consuming him.
His blood vessels were shredded. His mana circulation was in shambles. Every attempt to draw power felt impossible. His energy simply wouldn't respond. Even breathing felt difficult.
His body had nothing left to give. He was spent. Only his will kept him standing.
Abbott looked down on him. "You think we don't know about your little trick?" He asked.
"Your [Prestige] makes you hard to find and kill. But it is not impossible. Every month you'll disappear, you'll keep your World defenseless and come back to find it torn apart."
A pulse of energy rippled from Abbott, his aura swelling once more.
"Every time you return, we'll be waiting." His tone was almost bored, but the threat was absolute. "The moment you revive, we will kill you again. Over and over. Until there's nothing left of your race."
Sora forced himself to meet Abbott's gaze.
His entire body screamed for relief. His lungs burned, his legs trembled, and his vision blurred. But none of it mattered. He engraved this moment into his soul.
'Abbott Nel. Norj. I will come back for you.'
An overwhelming surge of energy descended upon him, so vast that for a moment, even his own pain was forgotten. His mind braced for the inevitable.
'This is it...'
He waited for the notification of his death.
But it never came.
Instead, silence followed. His eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurred, shapes melting together in his distorted vision. His body refused to move properly, dizziness clouding his mind, but he could make out one thing—
A large figure stood before him.
Tall. Vastly larger than himself.
Its stance was protective, its hand raised as if it had just deflected something.
Sora squinted, trying to focus. The figure had broad shoulders, a towering frame, and horns.
'A demon?'
Before he could react, a hand grabbed his arm. A voice, feminine, spoke to him.
"Are you alright?"
He tried to turn toward the speaker, but his body was sluggish and uncooperative. "Who are you... Who's that?" His voice barely came out as he hinted at the figure in front of them.
The woman answered casually. "I'm Kate."
Then, pointing toward the massive figure in front of them, she added, "And that's our new boss. The youngest Demon King."
Sora's thoughts struggled to keep up. 'Youngest Demon King?'
Before he could fully process the information, another voice rang out across the battlefield.
"Didn't you say you'd stay out of these operations, Nate?"
Sora's mind jolted.
'That name…'
A different voice responded. "I decided to join in the fun. Do you have a problem with that?"
The voice was low and rough, unlike anything he had ever heard.
'It's not my brother's voice...'
Abbott's voice turned sharp. "Then why did you stop me? If you insist on getting in my way, I'll kill you as well, you fake demon."
The answer was immediate. "Try me."
Sora blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. The words barely registered through the ringing in his ears. 'Why did Abbott call him a fake demon?'
Forcing himself to look up, he strained to see the name hovering above the massive figure's head.
[Nate - Level 180]
His breath caught. He knew this face. The same demon he had seen in his Astral form during the update. 'So this is the new Demon King they talked about in the news…?'
'The one I saw with Eloj...'
Before he could make sense of it all, Abbott's voice cut through the chaos once again, now filled with rage.
"Norj. You deal with that human. I'll handle the traitors of my race."
Kate turned to Sora and commanded, "If you want to live, hand me a [Diplomatic Pass] immediately! It is the fastest way to enter a safe area."
Even disoriented, Sora understood her words. But unaware of all the implications of such action, he did not want to risk it.
'As if I'd hand the pass to enter one of the rare safe places on Earth to a demon I've just encountered...'
He spoke with difficulty, "I can't do that..."
Kate let out a short sigh, her expression unreadable. "Fine, then just stay put."
Without waiting for a response, she raised her hand, and a dome of energy enveloped Sora and the humans behind him.
'A protective barrier. And it's not bad...' Sora thought, as he tried to understand the events around him.
Abbott didn't hesitate.
The Demon King shot forward, his body heading toward Nate. But before he could reach his opponent, several figures appeared around him.
Each of these demons were beyond level 230 and could be considered powerhouses anywhere.
As they stabbed, slashed and swung their weapons, Abbott barely flinched.
Just as he tried to speak, a female demon had appeared when he expected it the least.
He raised his hand and stopped the fourth strike aimed at him. Abbott stared at the dagger that was aimed at his heart and that was stabbed in his palm.
He closed his palm to grab the demon's hand.
The female demon instantly cut her hand and disappeared once more.
Abbott sneered, his golden eyes gleaming with amusement as he looked down at the demons.
"You think you can harm me before I refine my bloodline?" His voice dripped with condescension. "Did you forget that you joined World 69 at the same time as me? To think mere Archdemons have the audacity to attack a Demon King..."
Abbott's gaze swept across Nate's forces. "You've all thrown away your pride to follow a fake demon..." He locked eyes with one of Nate's lieutenants.
"You'll die first, Raymo."
Before he could make a move, a shadow covered him. A force unlike any before struck him from above.
The moment Abbott had spoken, Demon King Nate had vanished. And now, like a force of nature, he crashed down on Abbott, his fist colliding with the Demon King's body.
The force of the impact was monstrous.
Abbott's body shot downward like a cannonball, the air itself splitting as he tore through the battlefield. He struck the ground with earth-shattering force, sending a shockwave that flattened everything within a thousand meters.
Dust exploded outward, obscuring the impact zone. High above, Nate hovered, lowering his fist.
"Let me show you my fake power."
The ground beneath them trembled as Abbott rose from the crater, wiping a streak of blood from his lip. His smile had disappeared as he looked angrier.
"You hit harder than your lackeys," he admitted.
Nate did not waste his breathe on Abbott and darted in his direction.
Without another word, the two clashed.
Their battle turned into a blur. Abbott's overwhelming energy against Nate's brutality. Every blow sent shockwaves through the battlefield, reducing the surroundings to dust.
Sora watched in awe, but he barely had time to process the fight.
A cold sensation spread through his chest. His body stiffened.
He glanced down, only to see the tip of a blade piercing through him from behind.
'They got me…'
A voice whispered against his ear.
"You shouldn't have tried to save your friends... Sometimes, it's better to just run for your life." Norj muttered, before pulling the blade free.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Sora staggered forward, the world spinning around him as he fell to his knees.
He felt someone grabbing him—Kate. She was speaking, but her words were lost, drowned beneath the noise filling his mind.
His [Adaptive Regeneration] flared to life, trying to mend the wound—
[You can not recover from your injury.]
Norj was already gone, vanishing like a phantom after cutting him.
Sora struggled to breathe. His body was already broken from burning his Blood Essence and this wound was the final nail in the coffin.
He collapsed.
[You have died.]
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