The Damned Demon

Serkan's gaze was locked onto Ceti. Her defiance infuriated him, her strength surprising him, "Do you really think you can stall me? Even if you can…he is dead either way," he growled, his gaze darkening as he wiped the blood that was trickling down his maw.

Ceti didn't respond verbally. Instead, she let her actions speak for her. The ground beneath her trembled and ruptured, causing Serkan to stagger.

She used this moment to launch a flurry of darkness and earth energy towards Serkan. The darkness swallowed the light around them, and the debris became deadly projectiles in her hands.

Serkan had no choice but to defend himself. The shadows around him thickened, acting as a shield.

Simultaneously, he summoned a wind that sliced through the storm of debris like invisible blades.

The gust blew away the dark cloud around him and headed straight for Ceti, but she had anticipated it.

Shifting into a form made of pure darkness, she became untouchable, allowing Serkan's attack to pass harmlessly through her.

However, as she reformed, she could feel her strength waning. The toll of her sustained damage was beginning to show, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. But she had to hold on, to buy Asher more time.

The earthen cavern trembled as the two once again clashed in a fierce battle.

A maelstrom of destructive power erupted around them, the air thick with swirling shadows, poisonous winds, and a raw, primal fury. Each blow they exchanged echoed thunderously, resounding through the cavern's depths.

Ceti, her strength amplified by her injuries, engaged Serkan with an unyielding resolve. She allowed herself to get hit purposefully, each wound fueling her power.

Her once earthen armor was now supplemented by a shroud of darkness, dampening the intensity of Serkan's attacks.

"Uarghh!"

With a sudden burst of strength, she shattered one of Serkan's arms, causing him to roar in surprise and pain.

The satisfaction of landing a powerful blow on him coursed through her veins, stoking the flames of her determination.

But she exhausted too much mana and stamina and was struggling to even take a breath.

The sight of his mangled arm inflamed Serkan's fury. His eyes glowed a poisonous green, mirroring his lethal intent. His free hand was sheathed in a dark green glow, the deadly poison seeping from his claws, "You will regret that!" he hissed, lunging at her.

Ceti braced herself for his attack. She didn't have the time or enough energy to dodge before Serkan's poisonous claws struck.

*Crachkk!*

His attack was ferocious and unyielding, the poison-laden claws piercing her earthen shield, tearing through her skin.

"AHH!"

She let out a guttural cry of pain as her body flew back and brutally smashed against the walls before falling down, her body trembling with the effort to withstand the pain. Her earthen armor began to crumble as she struggled to raise her body.

Serkan decided not to risk it and simply finish her off right away since he was also heavily injured and exhausted.

But just as he was about to walk over to her, his eyes narrowed, and he quickly took a step back as a ring blade, blazing with eerie emerald flames, whizzed past him before returning to a skeletal figure enveloped in the same flames.

"You…" Serkan glowered at Asher, raw hatred flaring in his eyes, and was surprised he was still here instead of running away.

But what made him frown was that Asher had again transformed into his undead form, which took a great lot of effort to make him come out of it earlier.

This made him feel wary since he himself was not in a very good state, and he didn't know if he had the energy left to keep killing Asher again and again, even if Asher himself was weak. Never before had he ever had to feel wary of a mere Soul Hunter despite being a powerful peak Soul Purger.

Suddenly, Asher raised his skeletal hand and snapped his fingers, an action so casual it still made Serkan's nerves jitter. A shudder ran through the air, an unnatural ripple that made Serkan be on his guard.

But contrary to his expectations, something else was happening before him.

The air twisted and shook beside Asher as four hellish figures manifested.

Each entity was a horrific representation of a wolf, but not any ordinary beast of the wild.

Its form was reminiscent of a wolf, but it was constructed from a dark green substance that was unmistakably akin to molten magma. The rocky texture of its skin glowed eerily, lava oozing out of its paws and mouth.

Each one had a charred skull for a head, dark green lights flickering in the hollow eye sockets as it let out spine chilling growls.

Serkan froze, shocked at the sight of the nightmare-inducing apparitions.

These beasts, hellish and terrifying, were of no species he recognized.

And what baffled him even more was how Asher managed to pull out 4 beasts when he couldn't possibly have more than a single beast companion.

He could tell they were weaker than Asher, but the fact they bore the same undead aura was unsettling. Wouldn't this mean they might be hard to kill like their Master?

Asher's voice cut through the eerie silence, sounding like a bone being scraped against stone. "Are you afraid of death, Serkan?"

Serkan's eyes flickered momentarily, but he quickly masked it with an indignant snarl. "Not even ten of you can make me," he growled defiantly, glaring at the skeletal figure of Asher.

Asher's reaction was a slow, chilling shake of his head, "You should be."

"Go!" At his command, the four monstrous apparitions surged forward, leaping with snarls and glowing maws open wide.

Serkan had no time to respond. With a savage roar, he smashed his fist into the head of the closest beast, pulverizing its skull into an unrecognizable pulp.

As the others latched onto his skin with searing hot teeth and claws, Serkan swiped at them using his only usable arm, ripping and tearing them apart.

Yet, to his growing horror, they regenerated, their forms solidifying again and again with an even greater ferocity each time, just like he feared.

In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Asher. He was merely observing, his arms crossed as he watched the scene unfold with a maddening nonchalance that only infuriated Serkan.

But a spark of realization hit him. His eyes widened briefly, and then his gaze hardened. Tearing away from the relentless beasts, he dashed towards Asher, his single-minded focus on reaching and killing the one controlling these relentless abominations.

After all, he reasoned, a master's death should also spell the end for his minions.

Asher remained a statue, standing unmoving as the feral Serkan came barreling towards him.

The dark air around them seemed to tremble with anticipation, echoing with the guttural snarls of the relentless beasts that trailed behind Serkan, gnashing their molten teeth.

Serkan let them cling onto him and bite down on his skin as a growl resounded in the eerie silence, "I told you there was no point in delaying your death!"

Serkan guessed that Asher's mana reserves must be so low, and just one more attack should kill him for good. And for this he didn't mind if he had to endure this stinging sensation of all four beasts trying to bite into his skin and distracting him.

Asher merely continued to watch, his hollow eyes reflecting the desperate figure charging towards him as he let out a cold scoff, "I delayed enough to cause yours."

Serkan's eyes narrowed as his words gripped his heart.

But just when the distance between Serkan and Asher had shortened to a hairbreadth, a terrifyingly strong force struck Serkan from his blind side.

"AARGH!"

With an agonizing roar, Serkan's other arm shattered, the remnants of his bones jutting out grotesquely.

Serkan's knees buckled, and fell on his knees onto the cold, hard ground.

His eyes, wide and disbelieving, could only register shock as a familiar figure towered over him.

A figure he had thought was finished.

Ceti stood there, her body bruised and her shoulder bloodied, but her aura was fiercer than ever. Trails of crimson flowed from her lips, dripping onto Serkan's shocked face. Her hand shot out, gripping his throat with a strength that made his remaining fur stand on end.

"No more..." she growled, her voice barely more than a whisper, yet it held a terrifying intensity.

Before Serkan could even process the situation, a gut-wrenching crack echoed throughout the space.

His neck had been twisted, broken, ending his reign of terror. The light in his eyes dimmed and then disappeared altogether as his massive body slumped to the ground, lifeless.

The eerie emerald flames that cloaked Asher fizzled out, and he returned to his original form, though his face was quite pale with veins showing under his skin.

His eyes held a deep relief as he looked at Serkan's corpse. A Peak Soul Purger lay dead before them, and they were alive.

He was unsure all this time whether they could even take down Serkan.

He used his Cursed Summoner talent to summon four Ragroths to buy some time and to make Serkan feel wary.

Even if the Damned souls he summoned only have 20% of their original stats, this ability consumed no mana at all, and the Damned souls had their own HP and MP, allowing them to get stronger without dwindling his own MP.

And with whatever little MP he had left, he couldn't see any other way since he also wanted to avoid fighting himself.

And astonishingly, their same plan of him being the distraction and Ceti being the executioner worked.

But his moment of relief was short-lived as Ceti coughed, a splatter of crimson marring her lips.

Her knees buckled, and she started to fall, but Asher was quick to react, catching her in his arms before she could hit the ground.

"Easy there," he said, his voice gentle yet firm. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small vial filled with a luminescent liquid – a health potion.

Ceti, in her weakened state, tried to push his hand away, "You…need to run…," she managed to gasp out, "The others... they'll be here soon," Ceti was still reeling from disbelief that he stayed, and helped her kill Serkan when she totally expected him to run and have a chance of surviving.

So why did he stay behind?

However, shook his head, his gaze hardening, "Don't be foolish, Ceti," he retorted, pressing the vial closer to her lips.

"N-No..." Ceti pressed her lips together firmly, thinking there was no point.

But Asher's eyes met hers, brimming with firm determination, "Either we both make it out of here, or we don't. There's no in-between. Now drink the potion, or I will force it into your mouth with mine. You prefer the latter?"