Chapter 43

Asmodeus could feel many intense emotions rushing through her body; frustration, pain, restlessness, satisfaction, happiness…Lust.

She smacked her whip across the ground, creating a large gap within the golden floor, Mammon was still clueless as to what she'd just done but he knew that something was clearly wrong with her.

"Come at me, Greed!" Asmodeus shouted in a shaky voice, the corner of her lips curled up into an arrogant smirk. "You want vengeance? Let's see if you're worthy!"

Mammon took a deep breath and held out his claws in an offensive form, before suddenly he dashed towards her at high speeds with a single beat of his dragon wings.

The claws only reached the ground, creating a large explosion upon contact. Despite her wound, Asmodeus was somehow moving at a faster speed than before.

Greed turned and was about to charge at Lust again when he suddenly felt that something was wrong, Asmodeus was smirking at him and standing completely still, exposing herself completely to attacks.

'I guess she couldn't hold out anymore.' Mammon thought just as a wave of pain surged through his body. He let out a surprise scream before he collapsed onto the ground.

"What…What the f*ck!?" Greed glared at Asmodeus, who'd just managed to hit him with her whip; it moved so fast that even he couldn't see it.

Another surge of pain hit him just as the whip moved again, Mammon couldn't hold his cries as completely fell onto his belly, tears stung his eyes as he frowned intensely, looking up at Asmodeus who had a crazy glint in her eyes.

"You…You f*cking psychopath…"

"Oh? Did you just realize that?" Asmodeus laughed, though Mammon didn't find it funny at all, his confident attitude earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by something he never thought he would ever feel again: fear.

"What was that…? What did you do…?"

"I don't really want to use it, trust me~" Asmodeus sang. "Cus it's really…REALLY…Hard to stop once I get going…"

Mammon had never acknowledged Asmodeus as a great demon king, she didn't have any attacking spells after all, while her whip was her only form of dealing damage. She'd somehow gotten to second place and Mammon never knew the reason why, he just thought that she'd gotten lucky.

But now he knew just how terrifying the Demon King of Lust could be.

Asmodeus raised her whip and struck down towards Mammon again, he couldn't even finish his first set of cries when she continued to whip him until the domain began to disappear due to lack of concentration.

Mammon was trying to hold onto his last ounce of arrogance, wanting to break free from whatever sort of skill Asmodeus had used and counterattack, but that thought would completely disappear in mere seconds and was replaced by nothing more but his wish for the pain to stop.

"Stop!!! Please!!!" His pointless begging didn't even cause the crazed Asmodeus to flinch, she continued to hit him despite his words while laughing maniacally, it was as if she'd lost her mind.

'I can't take it anymore.' Mammon mustered his last ounce of strength and sat up, forcing his way through the fury of whips, though he didn't even think of lashing at Asmodeus and instead he aimed his own claws at his chest, digging out his heart and crushing it in his palms.

It was then that Asmodeus finally stopped, her expression turned neutral as she watched Mammon's body fall to the ground, lifeless while a pool of blood gathered around him, though in no time, his body would begin to disintegrate into small balls of light.

'...Ah, I got a bit carried away.' She smiled, looking up at the sky to see the notification up above announcing that she'd killed Greed, it was relieving to know that the Hall of Sins still recognized suicide induced by someone else as a kill, she would've been devastated if it didn't.

[Sadomasochist.]

Asmodeus could see her most powerful skill, every demon king would awaken this sort of thing when they were first registered at the Hall of Sins, it was something that was meant to be used against Heaven, though even now it was a tool for more war and violence.

Her skill can inflict the pain she was currently feeling onto others while hers would lessen the more she hurt someone, in this case, the holy sword's effects were strong enough to make even a demon king wish they were dead.

'Mammon held out for quite long…He deserves at least third place, alas, Theodore is now in the picture so it's not going to be easy~'

Asmodeus turned towards one of the other banners in the distance, deciding to go check it out to see if Theodore might be there, while her skill had negated most of the pain from her wound, the stinging was still there and she was starting to feel light headed from all the blood lost.

'Hm, I'll go that way then!' Thinking to herself cheerfully, she chose a random direction and began walking.

.

.

.

As the banner in the sky began to fade away, Theodore turned towards Belphegor. "Alright…Change of plan, since there's only two of them left it would be best if we stay still."

Theodore wanted to add something else, but he didn't get the chance to because both he and Belphegor saw some movement within the bushes. Sloth instantly readied his pistols, pointing their muzzles towards whoever was lurking behind the woods.

At first, Theodore expected it to be Asmodeus, he really hoped that it was just her so they could take on Wrath together, that would be the best case scenario.

However, it looks like his luck had truly run out.

Samuel's blood red eyes gleamed coldly as he slowly took his steps out of the bushes, his hands secured inside his trousers' pockets. "Oh? It seemed that I guessed correctly."

Judging from Wrath's words, he must have followed the notification banner to get to them.

Theodore stood on his guard, although he didn't cast anything just yet. "...Are you going to fight us?"

"Of course." Wrath replied with no hesitation inside his dull tone. "I might not seem like it, but I'm a pretty competitive man, I'll rest only if I know I reached top two."

As soon as Wrath finished speaking, two gunshots sounded out, Belphegor deciding to act the moment he'd confirmed that the man in front of them was an enemy.

Two bullets were about to reach their intended targets, it looked to be a sure-hit, one aimed right at the head while the other at the chest. However, the bullets would instead continue to travel along the empty air before eventually hitting a tree.

Wrath was suddenly standing next to Belphegor, and before the boy could react, a kick was aimed straight into his stomach and sent him flying, hitting Theodore in the process and knocking both of them down.

Theodore was slightly surprised but otherwise unharmed, he couldn't say the same for Belphegor though, his guns were knocked out of his hands the moment that kick connected, they laid on the ground while their owner was coughing up blood.

"Belphegor!" Theo properly laid Sloth down on the floor and inspected his condition, his stomach had a large tear in it while more blood oozed from the wound, it wasn't hard to tell that Sloth didn't have very long to live.

"The-o…" Belphegor croaked through his stuffed throat, forcing himself to turn towards Theodore. "Care..ful…Wrath can—"

Before Sloth can finish his words, a long spike-covered tendril shot from Wrath's direction and impaled him directly in the heart, causing his body to begin disintegrating.

A notification banner appeared right above them, showing a lion and a crossed out bear.

Theodore turned his attention towards Wrath as he stood up, feeling something bubbling up inside of him. "...Did you bully Sloth too?"

"Hm?" Wrath tilted his head, though it was hard to tell whether he was truly confused or if he was being sarcastic. "Sloth is weak, that's the simple truth, he couldn't even take a mere kick."

"That's not the answer that I'm looking for," Theodore frowned, subconsciously gritting his teeth. He heard the System's notification ring out but he didn't bother to look at it. "You know…I really hate people who abuse their power."

"Theodore!" Asmodeus suddenly emerged from behind him, her eyes were wide with distress as she tightened the grip around her whip. "Get a grip! Don't let him—"

"Yeah," Wrath suddenly spoke, catching Theodore's attention, the next words that he spoke instantly caused something inside his mind to snap. "I was the mastermind, breaking Sloth was simply a part of the equation, are you happy with that answer?"

Theodore glared at Wrath as he released his demonic aura, the Demon Arts became mixed with Frozen Disaster, giving the intense power an eerie cold feeling to the touch.

"Theodore!" Asmodeus called his name once again, causing his head to snap towards her.

Though she would soon realize that gaining his attention was a mistake. Her body tensed up the moment she noticed that Theodore's usual green eyes had now become blood-red and filled with rage.

[Warning! You are now being overcomed by 'Bottomless Rage'!]

[Notice! If you get consumed by Wrath's status condition, you will—]

"SHUT UP!" Theodore shouted as he covered his ears, since no one else could hear the System, the demon kings simply thought that he'd gone insane from the status condition.

[...The Unique Spell 'Reverse Scales' has been forcefully activated.]

[You will now hunt and consume everything within your sight.]

"Damn it! I was too late! I'm sorry Theodore!" Asmodeus readied her whip as she summoned her holy blade before dragging it into her already-wide wound.

[Sadomasochist.]

Wrath stood with his hands still inside his pockets, he was smiling while his eyes gave off a sinister gleam, as if he was pleased with how things were unfolding. "Great…Get rid of Asmodeus for me, once you're weakened, you'll be easier to kill…"

"Wrath, you coward!" Asmodeus screamed angrily as she willed the sword in her hand to disappear, though she would soon need to snap her focus back to Theodore immediately since he'd initiated an attack.

But it wasn't a long-range spell like she'd expected, instead, Theodore simply rushed towards her while two green magic circles appeared on his palms.

'...It's that weird magic again' Asmodeus thought it would just be the same as always, though she would immediately realize that she was wrong.

The dragon claws appeared from the magic circles and covered Theodore's hands, as soon as he was within attacking range, he furiously let out a series of slashed while Asmodeus could only defend, barely managing to stand her ground properly as she felt her wrist ache from having to constantly feel the force behind those powerful strikes. "Damn it! You're a snake so why are you so good with your hands!"

Theodore didn't answer, he couldn't answer, the rage inside his chest simply grew as time passed and more notifications rang inside his head, further adding onto his frustrations.

[Warning! The Status Condition 'Rage' is about to turn into 'Insanity'!]

['Lightbringer' is begging you to get a hold of yourself!]

[Theodore Varon!] Ouroboros' voice rang out, sounding desperate. [If you lose yourself now—]

[The Fragment of the Original is trying to reject the use of 'Embodiment of Chaos'!]

[Warning! Using 'Embodiment of Chaos' in this state can cause harm to your body!]

[It is advice—]

"SHUT. UP…! LET ME USE MY GODDAMN SKILLS!" Theodore screamed again as he brought his claws down onto the exhausted Asmodeus, forcing her to retreat, she dashed to the side and avoided the initial strike, however the shockwave that was created from the claws shattering the ground managed to knock her off of her feet.

Lust could feel that Theodore's aura was changing, something far more sinister than a demon king's majesty was mixing in with the rest of the magic, the cold entangled with the warm and the holy danced with the demonic. 'What is that? What is he?'

Asmodeus had thought that Theodore must've been a very great human that a god would be interested enough to give him a second life. But she never expected him to be this powerful.

'Is this why they revived him? Reborn into a monster so he could truly become a monster…?'

[You have forcefully activated 'Embodiment of Chaos'.]

['Super Regeneration' has been activated.]

['Coldest Death' and 'Flaming Life' are synchronized with each other.]

[As a Skill Origin, the Bloodline Skill 'First Fallen' has recognized your strength.]

[It will temporarily increase the Unique Magic 'Demon Arts' by one (1) level.]

[...'Lightbringer' says it will also assist you.]

A massive burst in power was prominent the moment the Lightbringer had decided to lend a hand, the aura of a demon and an archangel twisted themselves together and created something entirely new. Asmodeus struggled to get up and eventually she was on her feet, one hand casting her magic while the other held onto her whip.

Though she would be surprised once again that Theodore didn't do as she expected him to, suddenly she was met with the fangs of a large dragon-like serpent and was forced to step back once again. Her heart almost beat out of her chest when Theodore in his snake form had lunged at her. '...I can't fight him thinking that he's still himself, that thing is not him…'

Theodore let out an earth-shaking roar, his red eyes stared down at Asmodeus with a look filled with pure arrogance. [Fool…To provoke a great serpent such as I.]

"Theodore! You're too old for your emo phase, just snap the hell out of it!"

Samuel let out a booming laughter. "Ha! So this is the Serpent of Old, it seems I have awakened Lucifer himself!"

"Lucifer?" Asmodeus stared at the snake, she thought that it was impossible, she couldn't feel the presence of a familiar demonic soul in there, it was only Theodore and his terrifying aura.

[...That is not my name.] The serpent spoke, his voice filled with confusion. Asmodeus could see the look in his eyes changed for a moment and it gave her hope.

"Theodore! That's your name!"

[Theo…dore? Who am I…]

Wrath frowned, it looked to be that he wasn't expecting this sort of outcome at all, he concentrated and tried to tighten his mental grip around Theodore, who physically began to thrash as if feeling that he was once again losing control. 'I thought he had no mental defenses…Is he fighting back with just his will?'

Asmodeus didn't waste this opportunity, she changed her target and instantly crossed the distance between her and Wrath, drawing her whip back before striking forward with as much force as she could muster, not wanting to waste the Sadomasochist's effects.

Wrath put one arm up to block the attack, but the pain that came with it caused him to wince and dashed back as he lost concentration on Theodore for just a brief moment.

But that was enough for everything to come tumbling down.

Theodore frantically shook his head, the color of his eyes returning to normal as he quickly took back control over all of his skills, not wanting Embodiment of Chaos to go around destroying his body again. His attention turned towards Wrath and he shouted angrily. "F*ck! What did you make me say!? That was the cringiest sh*t that had ever come out of my mouth!"

Samuel stared at Theodore with a look of disbelief. "...You shook off Bottomless Rage because of that?"

"F*ck you! Die!" A blue magic circle appeared on the ground beneath him and a burst of cold air emanated from its perimeter, everywhere this icy aura touched, frost and snow would begin to form until the entire area was covered in ice.

As if responding to his frustrations, a blizzard began to brew all around him, the wind howled fiercely and the temperature dropped to sub-zero.

[Serpent Bearer's Domain: Devouring Winter.]

Theodore followed up the spell with another in an instant, forming a golden magic circle in front of him and an energy beam shot towards Wrath at high speed.

[Frozen Disaster: Silent Judgment.]

Samuel wasn't the number one strongest demon king for no reason though, he swiftly dodged to the side and narrowly avoided the death beam. He glanced towards where the attack had landed and swallowed nervously at a large hole created where he once stood. '...Did I think too lowly of this serpent? How many forms of magic does he have?'

[Asclepius' Secrets.]

Wrath's thoughts were interrupted when he was forced to dodge Asmodeus' incoming whip, her body was glowing a soft green while she held the holy blade in her free hand, her expression filled with euphoria as she giggled madly. "Come! Let us fight until we drop dead!"

Wrath glanced at Theodore and spoke through his gritted teeth. "Is that healing magic?"

Theodore didn't reply and casted another spell, though this time, two magic circles appeared and overlapped each other, one was light blue while the other was fiery red.

[The Skill '13th's Knowledge' is assisting you!]

[You have successfully combined two Unique Magics!]

['Frozen Disaster' and 'Immortal Flames' are now in perfect sync due to 'Coldest Death'​ and 'Flaming Life'!]

[The Bloodline Skill 'Embodiment of Chaos' is responding to your call!]

[A new Unique Spell has been created!]

[Immortal Flames: Fiery Glacier.]

Two magic circles were now combined into one, causing them to turn deep purple in color as darkness spreaded throughout the arcane, like paint being poured onto a canvas as Chaos empowered the spell.

The purple circle flashed once before a large violet serpent-like structure emerged from within the circle, it let out a high-pitched screech as it flew towards Wrath, opening its jaw and revealing bluish flames that gave off both heat and cold.

['Fiery Glacier' can inflict the Status Condition 'Freeze Dry', which will slowly erode the skin away while also having the chance to inflict 'Burn' and 'Frost' every few seconds.]

Samuel was unfazed by the large-scale spell; instead, he closed his eyes and let a terrifying amount of demonic energy engulf his entire body.

[Warning! The Demon King of Wrath is unleashing his Unique Spell!]

"Theo! Careful!" Asmodeus quickly backed away.

Theodore was of course wary of what Samuel was trying to do, at first he thought that it might be the demon king's second phase, but the notifications were different than last time.

'SHING!'

He would soon find out what Wrath had been hiding this entire time, as the Fiery Glacier got close to its target, it would suddenly stop, frozen in mid-air as the sound of a sword being pulled out of its scabbard could be heard before the snake's body began to crack, in only a second, a large vertical slash cut its way through the snake's head and was coming straight towards Theodore.

He quickly weaved his body to the side, ducking his head down so he could slither quicker. When he looked up, the fiery snake had shattered like glass, and as the shards were falling down, he could see Wrath's figure behind them.

A dark smoke-like substance formed into a pair of wings, his arms were covered in the same smog as a whip-like tail rested on the ground beside his feet. In his grip was a pure black longsword that was covered in a deep crimson magical energy.

Wrath narrowed his gaze, staring at Theodore, the calmness on his face earlier had completely disappeared and was now replaced with pure anger.

[The Demon King of Wrath is using 'Unstoppable Malice'.]

"I told you, I'm a competitive man."