Chapter 318: Not A Sickly Cat! But a Tiger!
The moment Asmodeus finished speaking, the cat-man dashed forward. His steps caused slight tremors in the ground while his spear twirled and thrust forward at Asmodeus. The tip almost penetrated his throat in the blink of an eye.
'What?!'
'Damn... he just had to be an agility type...'
CLANG—!
A flicker of steel and a loud clash echoed.
The power of both men caused the ground to crack, a small crater forming beneath their feet. Asmodeus used his left fist to throw a punch at the cat's face.
"Bastard, don't move around!"
Baku twirled in a circle, avoiding his fist, before sweeping at Asmodeus, trying to trip him. The demon king growled, letting several mana barriers form, blocking the spear with a loud smash.
A sound like glass shattering.
Despite his seven layers of shields, the tiger's blow still partially broke through, and in retaliation, Asmodeus chopped at the tiger with his axe.
"Tsk... young one, why are you so crafty!"
"Old man don't act innocent!"
Woosh!
Asmodeus swung his axe, tearing apart the hidden wind blades. Baku tried to attack him sneakily while speaking.
The two met and stood facing each other with a slight smirk on their lips. It felt good—Asmodeus felt a sense of nostalgia like when fighting his mother, and Baku wondered if this was what having a grandchild growing up would feel like.
"I'm coming to get you Baku!"
"Gyahahah! Come boy!"
Asmodeus lifted his hand and gathered a large amount of blood mana at his fingertip while Baku's mouth sucked in the surrounding wind mana.
A swirling ball rapidly grew and compacted as Asmodeus showed a twisted smile; the old tiger also seemed to have a distorted grin while sucking a raging sphere of mana into his throat.
They threw their spells at the same moment before a red beam of light fired towards Baku and a massive ball of wind flung towards Asmodeus.
"Howl of the Tiger God!"
'This dumb old man calling out the name of his technique!'
Both attacks clashed, and a shockwave exploded. Baku leapt into the sky in a hurry to avoid the blood beam cutting through his spell and absorbing the mana inside.
However, Asmodeus slowly lifted the beam, cutting through the sky and clouds, which created a loud explosion in the distance. One of the small mountains split in half.
"YOU DAMN CHEATER!" Baku shouted, looking at the beam slicing off some of his whiskers. He turned towards Asmodeus, who was suddenly upon him, axe in tow.
"You dumb tiger! What are you doing!"
Asmodeus slammed the axe on the spear, sparks flew. He felt irritated that the old man held back and seemed to have underestimated him. Thus, with his left hand, he touched the face of the tiger while their weapons locked together.
"Blood NOVA!"
"Wha!?"
BANG——!
A blood-red explosion filled the sky.
Then, a loud flash followed, creating an immense force driving both bodies apart. After the attack, the old tiger fell to the ground with his face and upper body burned from the explosion.
However, the demon king didn't come unscathed, for the power he wielded also struck him. His hand became a burnt mess while the tiger's counterattack sent him flying, destroying multiple trees that got in his path.
"Guh...."
"Ah... My face, my beautiful face..."
They stood up, blood dripping and tears falling from the cat's face.
"God damn, this old geezer!"
'How? What did he do?!'
"You fucking brat! I'll crush you!"
The demon king felt a sense of confusion about how his magic damaged himself. The counter destroyed the exoskeleton, protecting his left arm and burning him with a throbbing pain travelling down it.
Yet before he could react, the tiger's claw sliced through the air and ripped open his chest. He discovered the old man's eyes had changed and now seemed to be serious.
Then, he followed up with a brutal kick into the stomach of Asmodeus, sending him shooting into the air.
"This time, you won't dodge! HOWL OF THE TIGER GOD!"
Asmodeus felt disorientated while the tiger finished creating an orb of wind magic and spat it towards him like a deadly bomb.
The old cat couldn't move any longer after this attack. Baku's fur stood on its end, watching as the bomb collided with the figure and detonated in the air.
KABOOM—!
It looked like an atomic bomb exploded with an eye in the centre. The howling roar and raging wind blew around the orb as a powerful gravitational pull dragged all the surrounding air into it.
Then, a secondary explosion created a force blowing away the cloud and revealing the wounded demon king...
"Haa... you fucking cat... I am going to neuter you and make shave your damn fur!"
He roared towards Baku with his eyes glowing a hellish red, looking more and more like a Demon. Asmodeus looked horrible; his exoskeleton cracked, blood oozing from the gaps, and with tattered wings caused by the wind blades and atomic pressure.
'That was amazing...'
Despite his foul mouth, the moment of death made Asmodeus become excited, his hand numb, yet it endured that powerful magic explosion!
"This young bastard..."
Baku's eyes held admiration—that spell would have killed any other creature below the SSS-Rank. Yet the demon king's body rapidly began healing as if it had never hit him.
However, there was one change: the demon had entered his Berserker Mode. The damage had pushed him into his most comfortable stage, a form Asmodeus barely controlled.
At the moment, it seemed like his rational mind remained, yet his anger and lust for battle overwhelmed him.
"Brace yourself, do not lower your guard, do not look away, prepare your old soul. I am going to end your life." Asmodeus spoke with a low, gritty voice before he vanished.
A flash...
His eyes met Baku, whose eyes widened for a moment.
'Danger!'
His intuition rang out to him. Quickly, the old tiger's spear flashed, slicing off a pair of black wings. It then pierced the demon, causing a spray of blood to come spewing out of his shoulder.
However, Asmodeus didn't seem affected. He grasped the spear in his chest. Then his hand grasped the face of the tiger before a massive amount of blood mana exploded, forming blood nova after blood nova.
Baku's body trembled after seven blasts, and the old man's body trembled while dangling off the ground.
"Gyaaaa!"
"Oh? You didn't die... amusing."
The tiger's fur melted, his face bloody, while Asmodeus lifted the axe with a smirk on his face. His arms trembled from the strain of the magical power, but he still held it aloft. The moment he swung the axe toward the head of Baku...
"Enough!"
Baku's spear blocked the axe, but Asura began to rotate. Each strike drove Baku a step back, breaking his stance as the axe began to carve his chest with a heavy, dull series of chops.
*CRASH! CLANG!*
A force slammed against Asmodeus. His entire body shot up, crashing into the wall and flipping on his back before bouncing onto the ground. The tiger coughed up blood on the floor. It wasn't enough power to knock the demon king unconscious.
'This kid... he's too dangerous... but why, does he make this old heart race with glee?'
"Brace yourself, Kid!"
"Hah! Old man, don't have a stroke!"
A sudden blast caused them to leap from one another. The force was so strong the old man's eyes rolled into the back of his head for a moment.
'He's skilled with physical abilities and magic... he must have received a divine gift like my late wife!'
"Ugh...!"
Baku's body fell from the sky, while his left claw tore the last wings of Asmodeus, forcing him to fall, too. A huge grin on the tiger's lips, while Asmodeus used magic to adjust his fall, aiming the sharp end of his axe towards them falling together.
"Hahahaha!"
'A relentless man like a true demon king!'
CLANG! CLANG!
Their bodies met again, causing the sky to tremble while the surrounding land shattered into pieces. The clash was so intense that the grass burnt and disintegrated, and their blood-red mana collided against the light blue mana. However, they couldn't be more happy about it.
Each other's weapons impaled them while embedded in the ground.
"I am Baku! A true descendant of the Divine Tiger Byakuya!"
"Hmm... is this the traditional way your clan battles?"
"YES! But I only do this for the worthy!"
Asmodeus chuckled.
"Then let's fight!"
***
A loud series of explosions filled Baku's secret world. The mountains and grass were now a burned mess, cracked and destroyed, and nothing remained the same.
BOOM! CRASH—!
"Oof! UGH!"
"ARGH! HAAAAAAA!"
"Gyahahaha! Come on, young blood!"
They fought for nearly three hours straight. Neither remained in perfect condition. Asmodeus now had one horn missing and destroyed, while half of Baku was bald, with his right arm missing.
Their eyes burned with fire and the delight of battle.
"Haa....haa...ha....haa..."
Baku felt this monster was too terrifying. He didn't seem tired after fighting with magic or physical fights. There was a sense that with each exchange, the damn kid learned more of his techniques and weaknesses. It was a feeling of dread for an ageing tiger.
"You monster... how can you keep growing..."
'Baku, if we lose this fight without going all out... then what was it all for?' Asmodeus asked himself in his head, but his mind didn't stop moving.
He analysed everything he could of Baku during their battle, learning what type of individual he was.
This ability was the main advantage Asmodeus gained over time—his intelligence and instinct grew to new heights during battles. Only improved by his Bloodline. He felt he could see a bit more with each moment longer they fought each other.
"One more... one more clash..."
Baku's words were desperate; he didn't have the endless vitality of his younger self, and Asmodeus could sense it... that was something he wanted, too. The spirit beast, maybe it would have won in the distant past...
'I was born too late.'
'One more clash... Then I won't hold back!'
The two were breathing hard, and it looked like they would die, for they didn't stop... no... the battle could only end by both their deaths.
Baku grinned, and so did Asmodeus; their bodies swirled with the last of their mana.
Asmodeus pushed both hands together and cupped them towards Baku while the tiger squatted and began to suck in the surrounding mana.
An intense vortex of magic began to swirl around the pair. It seemed their clash wouldn't end until one of them killed the other.
A deadly sphere of mana filled his hands. At the same time, a raging storm swirled within Baku's body.
"This will be our..."
"Final Strike!"
Their voices echoed at the same moment.
The crackle of bloody energy filled the air while a storm rumbled.
A bright flash and immense pressure spread from their bodies as they slammed their magic against one another.
'As the True Heir of Byakuya's power, this magic, our last resort and divine punishment for enemies who cross the children of Byakuya.'
—WHITE LIGHTNING!
Lightning flashed, hitting the sphere in the sky above Asmodeus, who was looking at his hand. Baku seemed to have passed out while standing, a hole in the tiger's stomach.
However, his spell continued, striking down on Asmodeus like a divine hammer! Baku didn't even care to watch, knowing his end was near, and even without a head, his spell would kill his enemy!
BZZT—!
An enormous crackle rang through the air as lightning from his sphere in the sky shot down, but Asmodeus didn't seem to care... the lightning connected, striking the demon king. The explosion shook the land, creating a blinding flash.
The last clash ended with two bodies falling slowly... smoke billowing up while their eyes faded from the light of life. But the moment the tiger hit the ground... Asmodeus stuck out his leg and remained standing while breathing hard!
"Fuck... that was fun.... old man...."
The next moment he collapsed and closed his eyes, reverting to his half-demon form.
[Congratulations!]
[Demon King - Level 65 -> 70]
[Fallen Angel - Level 80 -> 90]
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