The Damned Demon

Just a few minutes ago,

Serkan's focused pursuit of Asher was a dance of death and defiance.

Each time Serkan thought he had succeeded in maiming Asher, the blazing charred skeleton would stand up, a brilliant emerald glow enveloping him as he bounced back, an eerie resilience in his eyes.

It wasn't just resilience; with each rise, Asher's aura seemed to pulsate stronger, his power increasing in leaps and bounds.

Serkan's dark green eyes mirrored a growing storm of confusion, uneasiness, and frustration. The relentless power Asher exhibited was an enigma he couldn't decipher, an anomaly that didn't align with the man he'd initially perceived as weak.

Despite the huge power gap between them, how can he not feel uneasy about something he can't understand?

In the midst of their cat and mouse chase, Asher suddenly halted and retreated. The abrupt retreat elicited a cruel, triumphant grin from Serkan, "Finally fearing for your life?" he growled, his voice resonating with mockery. He guessed that whatever trick Asher was using to come back, again and again, couldn't be used again.

Asher's response was a smirk, his gaze shifting to the side, "I'd be more worried about your friends if I were you."

Confusion flashed across Serkan's face, prompting him to turn and scan the tunnel more than 100 meters away.

His eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Lyra and Raza struggling against Ceti, their coordinated attack seemingly faltering under her relentless offense.

This was not what he'd anticipated, and the shock of the revelation left him momentarily stunned.

Serkan was on the brink of shifting his attention, ready to leap towards his comrades, when a sudden, sharp pain seared through his body.

A chain of blazing emerald rings had lashed at him, their eerie glow reflecting off his crimson fur. The impact was more than physical; he felt as if a small portion of his strength had been drained, replaced with an unfamiliar burn.

"Youurghh!"

His growl of anger echoed through the field, his eyes shooting back to Asher, who was now holding a chain of ring blades, encased in the same eerie emerald flames as his skeletal body.

The flames flickered like damned souls in torment, the eerie glow illuminating the tunnel with an ominous light.

Stunned, and now enraged, Serkan bared his fangs at Asher. His fur bristled, singed by the unexpected attack, bruises forming beneath the crimson. He never expected a weakling like him would manage to make him feel pain.

As the ember-like glow in Asher's eyes continued to mock him, a primitive instinct took hold of Serkan. He had to eliminate this unpredictable man, and he had to do it now.

With an ear-splitting roar, Serkan charged toward Asher. Like a lightning bolt, he lunged, disregarding the emerald chains of Asher's Chain of Despair that whipped at him.

Each lash that hit him was like a bite of fire on his crimson fur, leaving scorch marks that glowed against the darkness.

Yet, he bore it all with a slight grimace, relentless in his pursuit. In a terrifyingly swift motion, he clamped his claws around Asher's skeletal neck, a snarl etched on his beastly face.

His grip tightened, and with a savage yank, he severed Asher's skull from his spine.

But the moment of triumph was short-lived. The second Serkan released his grip, Asher's skull started to reform, bones knitting themselves back together at a breakneck pace.

The skeletal figure straightened, an eerie laughter echoing from its hollow structure, "How pathetic," Asher taunted, his voice echoing off the cavern walls, "You can't kill someone far weaker than you?"

"You!!" Serkan's snarl resonated through the cavern, his wrath growing with each passing moment. He had to put an end to this farce, and with this thought, he summoned a powerful gust in the shape of a giant claw, his signature ability – Venomous Slash.

The gust wasn't just wind; it was laced with countless imperceptible poison particles, a deadly concoction of his clan's poisonous lineage. The gale whirled around him, swirling in a fierce dance of venomous wind before he thrust it towards Asher.

Asher's skeletal form was violently thrown back, the gale pushing him dozens of meters away while shattering his bones before his skeletal frame struck the cavern walls with a sickening crunch.

Serkan watched Asher's bones shattering with a grim wish, hoping his poison would slowly eat away at Asher, disorienting him and gradually leeching his life away.

If brute force couldn't take him down, the toxin coursing through his veins would definitely do the trick.

Serkan had never come upon any beast or man with Metamagic abilities to transform themselves into an undead form without really dying.

So even if Asher's current form didn't seem to have any veins or blood, Serkan was banking on the fact that Asher was still a living being. The poison has to get to him somehow.

But as Asher's skeletal form began to reassemble itself again from the pieces scattered across the cavern floor, Serkan felt a cold dread creeping up his spine.

The realization of his miscalculation gripped him.

His powerful attack had only temporarily incapacitated his foe, nothing more. He wasted his mana for nothing.

There was a mocking twinkle in Asher's eyes as he rose, and the hint of derision on his skeletal face was palpable.

However, before Serkan could even register the change, the air behind him seemed to ripple, the calm before the storm.

His instincts screamed danger, and he spun around just in time to shockingly see Asher's blazing chain coming right at him.

With a swift reflex, Serkan raised his forearm to deflect the strike, but the chains bit into his skin, leaving behind a series of bloody cuts.

The injuries were far from severe but the pain was unexpected. And what actually shook him was that each cut felt as though a part of his strength and defenses had been stolen, leaving him stunned.

The chains suddenly dissolved, but the impact of Asher's attack remained, further fueling his rage.

Incensed by this unforeseen turn of events, Serkan summoned another attack. It was a deadly technique, and with a howl, he let the wind loose.

The wind materialized into invisible blades and shot out in an instantaneous gust, moving towards Asher with a speed that left no room for escape.

The winds sliced through Asher's skeletal form, breaking apart his bones and sending him spiraling backward. Asher crashed into a cavern wall, the impact causing an echo throughout the cave.

In the next instant, his skeleton began to flicker, the eerie emerald flame that once roared now a mere whisper.

Flesh began to reconstitute itself rapidly on his frame, as Asher reverted to his original night-elf form.

He was paler than before, the 50% sacrifice of his HP upon using the Chain of Despair was evident on his face.

But even in his weakened state and after exhausting his entire MP, there was a distinct satisfaction in his eyes, his lips curled into a smile as he looked at Serkan trying to catch his breath in an exhausted state.

There were bruises here and there on his beastly body, and his state was definitely a far cry from his confident, intimidating self not too long ago.

Asher was sure Serkan was no longer as strong as a peak Soul Purger…temporarily, at least.

While Asher looked on, clearly at the edge of his endurance, Serkan felt a rush of relief.

It seemed that the strange power that Asher had been using was finally exhausted. His pale countenance was proof of it. The vicious smile that had once taunted Serkan was now reduced to a weak semblance of defiance.

Driven by a lethal intent, Serkan lunged at Asher, growling at him, "You merely delayed your death!" He was certain Asher would surely die this time with just a single attack from him.

"I delayed anything but my death," Asher's response was a mere scoff.

But before Serkan could retort or even reach Asher, he felt a powerful impact against his face.

*Krssshk!*

"Urgh!"

The sudden force came from an unexpected direction, and he barely had time to comprehend what had happened.

His body was thrown back, smashing brutally against the cavern wall as blood spewed from his mouth. His vision blurred momentarily, the unexpected attack sending him reeling. It was only when he managed to refocus his gaze, did he see the true assailant.

Ceti, her fist encased in an armor of jagged earth, stood at the spot he had previously occupied.

Her chest heaved with the exertion of the punch and the injuries that weighed on her, a look of determination etched on her face.

She took a quick glance at Asher, her eyes glowing with shock and disbelief. The fact that a peak Soul Hunter like him managed to exhaust and stay alive this long against a peak Soul Purger was something she had trouble comprehending.

But she didn't waste any time dwelling on it and said with urgency, "Your Highness, please run! I will buy time for you!" Despite being bruised and battered, with a resolute expression, she launched herself at Serkan, determined to hold him back long enough.

Since things had already reached this point, she can't let down the people who put their faith in her including this pervy consort. Never before in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would be doing this for his sake as well.

Serkan could hardly believe it. More than a hundred meters away, he could see the gory corpses of his pack members, making his eyes shake as nerves stuck out on his face and neck.

He had never expected what should have been an easy battle to turn into one of loss and humiliation for him.

"CETI!!" With a wild, resentful growl, Serkan lunged forward, his glowing dark green eyes brimming with rage and killing intent, intending to tear these two down in the most painful way possible.

As this unfolded, despite what Ceti said, Asher looked at his ring blade before quickly downing two health potions one after the other, even though he knew it wasn't good to gulp down two at the same time.

He grimaced and grunted as he clutched his ring blade that was glowing with an eerie emerald light as dark green veins shone beneath his skin.

And with a shaky yet determined gaze, he looked in the direction where an earth-shaking battle was taking place.