Austronesia Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Mindanao.
2000, 3, 1st Week, January
BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Multiple movements that eyes couldn't even detect occurred simultaneously. In one moment, Demon Lord Andromalius and one of the highest-ranking angels known as the Seraph Empyrean were high in the sky. The next, they were on a lifeless field filled with countless craters.
This field had once been a vast forest, but the battle had only raged for less than a minute.
After avoiding another world-ending slash, Andromalius clenched his right hand into a tight fist. The space around his fist twisted with strong gravitational force, and he punched out.
The Seraph Empyrean was several kilometers away from him, but the punch arrived instantly, almost as if by teleportation.
Despite such speed, her body flickered, and she ducked to the side, letting the punch smash on a large mountain behind her instead.
"Dear Lord."
Looking through the binoculars one of the Black Armor soldiers' eyes popped out from the resulting impact of the punch.
Instead of exploding, the mountain vanished! It was like the fist from the Demon Lord was a black hole, devouring the entire structure and leaving no trace of its existence.
BOOOOOM!
At the very same instant, the vanished mountain erupted from the impact of Andromalius's fist, breaking into the form of pieces that raged through the air like meteors and smashed into the ground, sending a mass of dirt up.
Andromalius was using his spatial attribute, one of his domains, the gravity domain, a power that allowed him to skillfully manipulate gravity more skillfully than even Conquest. He moved those broken pieces to attack the Angel.
But his punch missed, and the Seraph's greatsword sliced through the air from behind, aiming for his waist.
Sensing the attack, Andromalius somersaulted. His wings swept under his somersaulting body, and in mid-somersault, he waved his hand towards his opponent.
Whoosh~!
Multiple flashes of light mix of black and crimson emerged from his palm and condensed into energy spears. With a shrill shriek, they tore through the air and heavily slammed into the Seraph's chest, giving her no time to dodge.
BANG!
She was sent crashing down, creating a massive crater and decimating everything within it entirely.
Andromalius smiled as he saw the Angel coughing golden blood.
"I have a question. Why didn't your creator even intervene in any of the worlds we've invaded?" Andromalius asked with a devilish grin, "But now, as a result, those worlds were filled with pulsing hearts of these living creatures... and their screams... the sound of their demise... is like music to my ears."
Ignoring his question, the injured figure of his enemy disappeared, and she reappeared in front of him.
The Seraph flew out a roar and punched his chest with her slender fist covered in divine energy. This energy tore through his defenses, then blew open like cobwebs and ripped through his internals, trying to claw their way out of the other side of his body.
Swoosh~!
A dazzling golden glow erupted out of her body and overpowered the violent energy inside Andromalius' body. Recovering in a second from the time he crashed, the Demon Lord rose and shot straight at the Seraph.
BOOM!
The two collided with each other, creating a powerful boom. The resulting shockwaves recklessly washed over the remaining portions of the buildings surrounding them, reducing them into dust.
The Seraph Empyrean gathered more magical energy under her fist and tried to smash it into Andromalius' chest, but he dodged before summoning his weapon, a giant sword twice his size. Gravity increased, forcibly pulling the Angel closer, but she lifted her arm and swung. Under everyone's astonishing eyes, Andromalius' gravity simply vanished.
"What?" Andronalius was shocked. He hastily put some distance between him and the Angel. "This won't be enough!" he declared, raising his sword, "No matter the slaughter of billions, no matter the destruction of a thousand worlds, I will never stop until I satisfy my father!"
The sword produced a deep, demonic noise, and shook with pure power. Upon seeing this, the Seraph seized her sword with both hands and prepared to defend against his attack.
Whoosh~!
Blasts of wind gusted at the Angel, so strong they could uproot an entire small town. Her silver hair floated, and her clothes fluttered. She stood there unmoving and decided to unleash her own power.
"[Divine Truth]"
The sword was surrounded by golden flames, becoming a living sun. The Seraph Empyrean raised it and roared.
The sword tip disappeared and reappeared before Andromalius, who, shockingly, blocked with her weapon before unleashing the skill of his Broadsword, which caused the world to turn darker than the night itself.
"[Primordial Evil]"
KABOOOOOOOOOOMMM!
25,000,000
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50,000,000
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75,000,000
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90,000,000
In mere seconds, Andromalius became more powerful, scaring even the Angel as she retreated and stared at the Demon Lord's new transformation.
Now he had six pairs of wings, making a total of twelve wings. His aura of crimson energy has now been replaced with a sinister shade of purple, making his appearance even more intimidating.
This was the infamous skill of Andromalius' sword possessed, a power that increased his strength significantly by the sins of the world. As long as sins existed, he gained power, and the more sins there were, the more power he required.
With the innumerable sinners in this world, his level had increased instantly from a Duke to a Prince.
The Demon Lord, or rather, the Demon Prince moved. His speed far outmatched hers, and his wings rapidly closed in each other, trapping the Seraph in the center. But to her surprise, as the wings approached, they split into dark glowing feathers.
The Seraph didn't have to wait to find out what he planned. The glowing feathers rapidly spun around her, caging her.
Whoosh~!
Thousands of feathers clashed into her body simultaneously.
BOOM!
...And was swallowed entirely.
As the vortex of feathers, numbering in the thousands, continued to swirl fiercely, only Andromalius' expression remained the same as ever, cold and detached. He made a squeezing motion, and in response, the glowing vortex brutally shrank inward, growing smaller and smaller, attempting to crush the Angel to death.
Just then, everyone thought it would be the end for the Angel when an ear-piercing crackling sound erupted from the vortex. Dazzling, twisting colorful golden light followed, scattering through the layers of feathers. As the feathers spread apart, the colorful light shot straight into the sky, turning it into psychedelic.
The expressions of the onlookers drastically changed, staring at the collapsing vortex in utter disbelief.
Among the swirling feathers, the Seraph Empyrean stood, her eyes underneath her blindfold shut and body torn and riddled with wounds. However, soon enough, she was healed as if everything that happened before was a mere illusion.
Andromalius silently cursed. Thinking a one-on-one fight might be a bit boring for him, thus he decided to spice things up a little.
"[Eye of Terror]."
He murmured, and the world changed. His body transformed into something more sinister, with three horns, and his bat-like wings vanished which were replaced with something that resembled an angel's.
Suddenly, Andromalius' eyes opened up violently, glowing with warping, colorful patterns.
RIIPP!
The psychedelic sky split apart, and an aperture burst into existence, forming a gateway to another dimension filled with depthless, twisting, colorful stripes.
These stripes shot down and spread around like a curtain.
Swoosh~!
They covered everything, from the ground to the sky, making Seraph Empyrean feel like she was thrust into a kaleidoscope.
Not only did the Angel feel it, but so did Rasera, the four Archdemons, General Francisco, his Black Armor Army, and the entirety of the Austronesia Empire. The unholy cold descended over them as the power from the Inmaterium poured into reality. The temperature descended and the atmosphere itself felt corrupted.
Ooohhhhhhhh!!!!
Vengeful cries and shrieking howls rang out as colorful shadows emerged from the stripes, resembling ghosts.
Then, like thunder, something poured into reality.
Something sinister and unnatural, impossible to exist.
Beings anathema to reality.
Everyone within hundreds of miles watched as the veil was ripped, and Demons violating real space with their presence.
A legion of Demons in Spiritual Form, all and each one of them exuded raw and terrific power.
Thousands, maybe millions, of these beings warped the entire sky, breaking reality and blending space into disarray.
"W-What the hell is that?!" a Black Armor soldier cried out, his eyes dramatically bulging in terror. The power emanating from the Demons was so dreadful and menacing that his very soul trembled, feeling as if it were being refined and punished simultaneously.
The other soldiers seemed to agree with his feelings as they scrambled backward and their faces pale in fear. Just seeing the shadows made them feel as if they were in the presence of almighty beings that carried the power of judgment, murder, and mercilessness. Something that shouldn't exist in this world, they felt weak, their knees buckling under the weight of the otherworldly presence.
The unluckiest even fainted with foam coming out of their mouths as their bodies uncontrollably twitched nonstop.
The Elven Goddess of the Holy Light, Rasera, meanwhile, casted for her own eyes with a certain skill, and now she understood why the Archdemons she fought were so wary of the Demons emerging from the space rift in the sky. Each and every one of them was a being of incredible power. She saw auras of glimmering colors, each half as powerful as those of the Archdemons.
Seeing these otherworldly abominations, her senses screamed in alarm. Most of their level of power would be equivalent to a weaker Archdemon (Earl-Rank), while a hundred among them were almost as powerful as Death (Marquis-Rank).
For a Goddess like her, with all the specialities she had mastered, she could surpass many lesser gods. However, seeing these demons with auras so similar to those gods made her realize the need for extreme caution. Right now, she had been in a similar situation when those four Archdemons she currently fought had tried to overwhelm her, yet she had barely managed to defeat them.
This time, she felt there were too many for her to pull off a similar feat.
So, her only hope now lay with the Angel she had summoned.
"Surprised?" Called Andromalius to the Angel. "The children of Lucifer are countless, and all of them wield marvelous powers!"
Seeing such an immeasurable amount of pure confusion and incomprehensible things anyone could describe what they had witnessed, the Seraph frowned and rapidly reigned in the rage threatening to swallow her consciousness.
Now at the Magicule Level over 100,000,000, the Demon Lord was now a lot stronger than her, but this fight didn't change anything. Any mishap could lead to defeat, and who said defeat meant certain death.
As their energies clashed, the world trembled as if an apocalypse was happening.
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"So this is the power of a Transcendent?"
Standing a hundred miles from the battle, General Trese mumbled as she stared at the distant conflict. Her expression, along with the Major General, seemed calm, but deep inside, she was frightened yet excited to witness such a fight on a whole different level in this new world.
Being a full patriot for her country and its military, she had to admit that even the current power of their nuclear arsenal could not compare to this.
She had indeed underestimated this world's power.
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Anger in her eyes, the Seraph Empyrean vowed to kill this demon. She rose and walked towards the enemy, elevating her arms and called forth her most powerful summoning.
"[Salvation]"
Millions of angels were formed as the Seraph Empyrean had called upon all her armies from Heaven. Each of those angels were powerful beings capable of conquering entire worlds by themselves.
Even with the number of their armies matched, Andromalius still smiled with confidence.
In a plain surrounded by few mountains, two armies stood opposite each other. There was a heavy silence between them, but this lasted only for a moment because, in the next moment, their leader disappeared, clashing midair, and as if this was some kind of signal, the two armies clashed.
Similar to sea smashing against the sand.
Demons vs Angels.
A demon tried to slay an angel, just to end up burned from the inside by holy flames. A giant angel with a massive hammer smashed a demon, but simultaneously bathed itself in hellfire, which turned it to dust. Alpha Hellhounds were turned to ice as they tried to tear through some angels.
BOOM! BOOM!
Here and there, more sound of countless explosions could be heard everywhere, mixed with the sounds of weapons clashing against weapons. No word was uttered, and the two armies simply clashed, leaving only destruction in their wake.
Meanwhile, the Demon Prince and Warrior of Heaven resumed their fight.
The Seraph Empyrean, who had remained silent since the Demon Lord's transformation, finally acted. She lifted her arms as the vague shadows flew towards her. Her body and clothing began to glow with a Holy light. Suddenly, a ring of a thousand glowing sabres, crafted from pure divine power, materialized around her before launching outward.
These sabres were not only extremely sharp and imbued with the ability to penetrate anything, but also shouldered the weight of thousands of tons, strong enough to crush everything in their path.
Such frightening sabres made the surrounding space tremble.
RIIIP!
They tore through the air at a speed that left behind hundreds of afterimages, making it impossible for others even to notice their movements.
Space trembled again, the air whooshed ominously, and piercing winds spread around.
A ghost howled as a glowing saber impaled it.
BANG!
The frightening being shattered like a brittle mirror, fading into the air. Even as the demonic spirit disappeared, more sabres were launched at the Demon Lord.
Seeing the overwhelming number of sabres stabbing forward, Andromalius was calm as he simply pulled a colorful stripe and snapped it. Spiritual beings of unimaginable horror flew out and devoured the sabres as though they're food to them.
As soon as they consumed all of the swords, countless of them moved toward the Angel and prepared to devour her as well.
BOOM!
An incredibly fierce aura exploded from the Angel's body. Her power amplified, and the spiritual monsters approaching her were instantly reduced to nothingness.
At the same time, Andromalius charged at her, wielding multiple stripes. At an equally impossible speed, the Seraph summoned several floating golden sabres, facing the oncoming monsters before her and slashing them diagonally.
BOOOOOM!
The stripes and wings collided, creating a dazzling explosion. Shockwaves swept out, wreaking havoc in all directions as everything in their range was instantly reduced to dust.
The earth sank further and further, and even before the direct collision ended, Andromalius summoned another ability.
"[Domain of the Divine]"
As the terrifying pull of gravity emerged, the Angel's body bulged downward, and her hands trembled. Despite the overbearing force of gravity enough to crush cities, she neither kneeled nor showed any expression. She bore with the pain before channeling a significant amount of her power into her greatsword before swinging it downward and sliced through the intangible cage of gravity.
SCREECH~!
The powerful gravitational force shattered with a loud screeching sound. The intangible shards of gravity scattered around, bursting past the Seraph and Andromalius.
"That's how a battle should be! This is what I'm looking for!" Andromalius bellowed, not forgetting to taunt his opponent. "For a dog, you are holding your ground even as I have heightened my strength to the highest degree. That's not bad. I'm proud of you."
But the Angel remained silent.
Ignoring the attacks of the vengeful spirits assailing her from many directions, her figure was coated in golden light. In an instant, she appeared before the Demon Lord and smashed her fist into his chest. It was fast, and he couldn't dodge it.
"Agk!" Andronalius coughed up a mouthful of blood. His chest and hands ripped open, and hot blood splashed out. Despite the pain, he grinned as the impact sent him flying. Planting his feet forcefully on the ground, he managed to stop himself from being dragged back any further.
"This is so much fun!" Andromalius exclaimed as black blood trickled down his lips and his body began to regenerate. "But now it's time to bring this show to an end!" he declared, lifting his bloody hand toward the sky before abruptly bringing it down.
"!"
The Angel's body tensed up as a sense of danger lifted her, so she immediately crushed the ghosts and demons around her.
More colorful stripes shot down, but unlike anything before, they transformed into gray chains, which they soon pierced through space and swung directly at her!
The Seraph's eyes constricted, and she jumped up. As she jumped, more chains followed, trying to coil around her.
In mid-air, she spread her arms, and the ring of sabres around her moved in circular motions. The air churned, and wind currents swirled together to transform into multiple vortexes!
BOOM!
The vortexes smashed onto a giant mountain behind. Terrifying fluctuations rippled out, and multiple chains scattered into nothingness.
Meanwhile, Andronalius lifted an arm, and a chain made out of dark matter flashed in his hand. He commanded the dark matter chains to attack the Angel, who was having trouble dodging it, but just as the chain was about to pierce her body, she disappeared.
BOOM! BANG!
Somehow she reappeared behind Andromalius and sent him flying, and she followed him, ignoring the blood falling from her mouth.
Andromalius hastily summoned more spiritual monsters and chains to attack the Angel. However, she only swung all of her sabres simultaneously.
GRRRR!
The sabres sliced through the vengeful spirits like a sword beam as the resulting shockwaves cut through the surrounding ghosts.
BANG
The demons died instantly. However, Andromalius had used this opportunity to put distance between them. He stretched his hand, and the moment his giant demonic sword manifested in his hand, he spun and swung downard with all his might. Time seemed to stop, and the world appeared to have been sliced apart.
"!"
Her instincts and senses screamed at her, and the Seraph instantly crossed her arms. At the same, more magical sabres materialized around her, and the ring of sabres soon formed a perfect spherical shield around her body. Adding to the table, she even summoned two additional shields made of holy element and lightning, respectively.
Even so, she could not completely block the strike as all of her sabres were completely destroyed in an instant, and her body was wrecked. One of her arms was reduced to a stump at the elbow. Even with her exceptional regenerative ability, she could not make it in time, not amidst such an intense fight.
Cough!
Her heart sank further as a chain managed to sneak past her defense to pierce her back and then shoot back into the void beyond the door. Both ends of the chains were in limbo, trapping her in between.
Even as this happened, the other dark matter chains fused with the one inside her, enhancing its durability. She knew it would be impossible to destroy it right now. There was another problem she was facing, such as her vitality seemed to be getting sucked away. At this rate, she would not last a minute before being reduced into nothingness or disappearing into this unknown dimension behind her.
Andromalius bombarded her with attacks from afar, only getting closer when he saw she was extremely weakened and nearing death.
He decided to grant one last good favor to his opponent. After all, he was a merciful king, as his followers called him.
"Say your prayers..." He declared as his claw, coated in chaotic energy, penetrated the Seraph's chest and aimed straight for her soul.
But before he could destroy her soul, something unexpected happened.
BRRRRR!
The body of the Angel began to glow brighter and brighter, and the sensation from the light caused Andromalius to instinctively retreat.
Before long, he sensed the space around him suddenly separated from real space, and it didn't take long for the Demon Lord to figure out what was happening, as he had encountered similar phenomena before.
"A reality-isolation field? You try to trap me and isolate me from the Physical Realm with some pitiful skill like that?" Andromalius taunted.
The glowing body of the Angel shook her head. "Wrong. This isn't just a spell meant to trap things from reality. It is something else..."
"Hm..?"
A giant magic circle, resembling the hands of a clock, appeared, encircling the entire barrier surrounding them.
"If I can't overwhelm you with divine power, then I will simply seal in you in time!" The Seraph Empyrean roared, now in her new form.
"Prince Andromalius Morningstar, 72nd Demon Lord of the Netherrealms and 72nd Child of Demon King Lucifer Morningstar, be forever trapped in this moment!"
The Seraph Empyrean raised her sword, which now became a staff with an hourglass on top, in the air where the clock was, and the entire world brightened.
As a result, the hourglass on the staff flipped.
"This... will be my all."
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"[Suspended World]"
Upon using this skill, the Seraph Empyrean had just fed the hourglass the rest of her power into it.
As a result, she will be weakened significantly to the point of having the strength of a standard angel.
'This is a small price to pay, and I will trap this Demon Prince till the end of time. This isn't the first time we, Seraphims, did something similar as we sent his other siblings to the same fate.' she thought with a small smile forming on her face.
The green magic circle spun around the area as foreign scriptures started appearing around the reality-isolating barrier. The letters glowed brightly, bright enough to make one shield their eyes.
If someone were to look at this from an outside viewpoint, it would appear as if a star had fallen at that very spot.
"...It's...done.."
The "star" grew dimmer, and all movement within that barrier had stopped.
Within the barrier, some might mistake it for a Transcendent tier 2 Temporal Manipulation Spell known as [Time Stop].
However, it is more than that.
Because [Suspended World] is technically a much superior version of the spell.
Most individuals at Transcendent Tier 3 can freely move in a place devoid of time, meaning they have transcended time itself, which is considered the 4th dimension. Even though they have transcended time, they cannot move in the [Suspended World] because there is a dimensional barrier separating it, making [Suspended World] a 5th-dimensional realm.
And the proud Angel had poured her every bring into that spell. In mere moments, she would turn to a mere normal angel, but she did not care.
She has won, the Demon Lord has successfully been incapacitated.
Now, she could live it all up to the future.
She could rest now...
"Bwahahahahahaa!!"
Before the Seraph Empyrean...
"Oh you poor little Angel, such power is wasted on the likes of you."
A reality that should not have just occurred.
"Impossible..."
To her horror, the Demon Lord before her seemed unaffected within the barrier.
"All this time you have been using your magic to undo mine, so I suppose this is the first time you have used it directly on me huh..?"
The Seraph Empyrean could do nothing but stare in silent defeat.
"I admit that the skill you use could work on the strongest demons. However, you forget that those type of skills doesn't work on a demon with the blood connection of the Demon King himself, who transcends beyond little things such as a mere 5th dimension," he laughed at the weakened Angel, like a boy bullying a little girl, "Of all of the angels, I thought you would know that."
"Shut up! What do you know?!" The Seraph shouted back, "You know what, forget it. You can't even escape the barrier! I had used all of my power on strengthening it that even your level couldn't easily penetrate! And in fact, not only does the barrier isolate you from reality, it also prevents anyone from using their skills twice, making it a one-time use. Therefore, most of the skills you used can no longer be used again."
Hearing this, Andromalius smirked ominously, "Oh, but I do still have one."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, in an unprecedented gust of energy, the impossible was birthed.
A spatial phenomenon that defied expectations.
Before the Demon Lord appeared a small black sphere that seemed to absorb light itself.
A Black Hole.
However, since it consumed a vast amount of Mana and was an uncontrollable force that would only stop when the Mana of its caster ran out or successfully absorbed its intended target, it was categorized as a transcendent Tier 2 spell.
With Absolute Spatial Magic, it was possible to create Black Holes beyond ordinary Spatial Skills.
However, they were just as unstable and impractical as them.
There were simply more efficient ways to use Spatial Magic, even for destruction, other than a Black Hole.
But...
An exception could be said to exist.
An unstable Black Hole with the immense control of Spatial Magic, combined with the effects of the [Primordial Evil] Ultimate skill and his bloodline connection to the Demon King.
That could birth something new.
An-all consuming void that could be perfectly manipulated to achieve the desired effects while effectively managing the Mana supply and absorption rate.
A perfect Black Hole.
Which is called...
"[Singularity Point]"
The next moment, a dark void manifested before his hand, deep and hollow. Everything around it was swallowed, and Andromalius directed it toward one thing.
The reality-isolating barrier.
VWUUUUUM!
The void ascended, humming with intensity, as it clashed with the barrier that separates real space and the parallel dimension.
It was no competition at all.
The Seraph Empyrean's eyes widened in horror as the black sphere grew, absorbing the light and energy around it at a force far stronger than a normal [Black Hole]. Space and time seemed to crumble and everything within the barrier meant to trap Andromalius in time began to warp and distort under the immense force of the spell.
She knew she had no more tricks left, no more power to call upon. She had given everything to trap this demon, but it wasn't enough. This world-eating Black Hole continued to expand, its gravitational force tearing this whole dimension within the reality-isolation field apart piece by piece.
Desperation filled her as she watched space crumble. She had to do something, anything, to stop this monstrosity.
But before she could act, Andromalius raised his hand, and the Black Hole surged forward, enveloping the remnants of the small world and the Seraph herself.
"Farewell, little Angel," he said, his voice dripping with malevolence. "Your efforts were commendable, but futile and meaningless at the end."
In mere seconds, the entire dimension within the reality-isolating field, including the Seraph Empyrean herself, was consumed by the darkness that the Demon Lord created, completely vanishing them all from existence and leaving nothing behind but a void of darkness.
Andromalius stood alone, the remnants of the battle fading into nothingness as the Black Hole finally devoured all it could.
And once that was done, Andromalius closed his palm to form a fist.
The result was expected.
FUUUUUU!
The Black Hole imploded, consuming itself until it turned into nothingness.
Once it was done, there was nothing but sparkles of blackness and purple radiating about.
The Demon Lord looked around at the empty space where the barrier and the Seraph had once been.
"Now that is done," he muttered to himself with a satisfied grin spreading across his face.
And with that, Andromalius had stood victorious as the Seraph's sacrifice rendered meaningless in the face of his overwhelming power.
Looking at the horizon, Andromalius noticed a glimmer of light from the sun rising in the distance.
Dawn was approaching.
Andromalius smiled. With the beginning of the third day of being in this world, it is time to continue expanding his army into this world and claiming it as his own.
But just as he was about to step forward...
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
BOOOOOMMM!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
He was met with multiple massive balls of flames, expanding miles upon miles and incinerating everything in their path, even in the area where the Demon Lord stood.
However, despite the power of a dozen nuclear bombs detonating, Andromalius doesn't seem to be bothered by the intense heat and the destructive force of the blasts.
"It seems the humans decided to launch these weapons of theirs again. Desperate and foolish, yet it is typically the weak's instincts to survive," he chuckled amusingly, "Still, how did this happen without any of my subordinates warning?"
To find the answer, we need to rewind to the moment during the intense battle between the Demon Lord and the Seraph Empyrean.
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A/n: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote! And what are your thoughts about this chapter? Be honest with me!