Clash of Wills (1/2), Big Gamble, The Netherworld Royalty: Akuma (5/5)

"There's a problem," Rias took a deep breath and continued, "Principal Kadita wants to kill Ale before the Akuma takes control of his body."

Instantly, the temperature in the room dropped several degrees as Rias felt a chill crawling down her spine.

Both Enorin and Darzax were stirred.

But Darzax swiftly waved his hand as he enveloped Aleron and Enorin into a shadow sphere before sending them into the Eldertide Archipelago's door in his Shadow Pocket.

Rias saw this but she continued what she wanted to say as she gripped the sides of her dress, "I hope you find a solution or Ale wins against the Akuma. All the best."

"Thank you for informing us of this," Darzax indifferently nodded before he also vanished.

Rias saw the room empty and sighed. 'I truly wish that you survive and win, Ale.'

…

Five hours passed by in the blink of an eye, but it was an unknown amount of torturous time for Aleron.

'Why is he not screaming or shouting anymore? He should still feel this pain that cannot be blocked or get used to by one,' Apuch frowned while he continued to torture Aleron's consciousness to inflict soul pain and showed him nightmares.

Aleron's eyes barely opened again as his consciousness-body was chained and getting tortured by Apuch's torturous attacks that directly affected his soul and mind.

"What are you looking at?!" Apuch shouted upon seeing those barely opened eyes before lighting up Aleron's body in black flames again.

Aleron closed his eyes in pain again, but not a single wince or cry emerged from his soul.

The only thing on his mind was to endure and not give up.

He wanted to be happy, enjoy his life, and remove sadness from people around him while this demon wanted to use his body to spread suffering!

'I will not let you do that!'

Aleron's eyes barely opened again while being burned by the black flame.

"I…I am above you, demon!" Aleron uttered, his eyes glaringly bright and fiery. "You will never take my body!"

Apuch turned livid and started getting mad, using up more of his power and torturing Aleron.

'Damn it! Damn it!'

'This bastard! Why is he not giving up?! Doesn't he want to end his suffering?!'

'Damn it!'

Apuch calmed down after a while and checked Aleron's body before grinning ferociously. "You will not give up until you see some real stuff. Just wait. I am going to break the seal as soon as possible and fucking kill everyone you hold dear!"

But suddenly, Apuch felt a surge of soul force and was startled.

'Huh?!'

[Soul Awakened successfully.]

Aleron finally heard the voice again after an unknown amount of time he spent enduring the pain and torture.

He already lost the sense of time due to the different types of pain and torture Apuch inflicted on him.

However, the moment his soul awakened, he felt slightly eased up as some warm power felt in his control.

*Crack…*

The chains binding him broke.

Apuch's eyes turned wide. "Y-You…How the hell did you awaken your soul?! You are a fucking Epic-rank!"

Soul Awakening was the main requirement of Exceed-rank powerhouses if they wanted to break through to Primevel-rank.

As such, Apuch was indeed shocked to sense Aleron's soul awakening as Soul Force surged in his control.

Akumas had super-high resistance to magic, but not against soul force! Still, It was up to Aleron to empower his Soul Force via his willpower.

Aleron felt a strange power in his control as he looked at Apuch and grated his teeth with fiery anger in his eyes.

*Swoosh!*

The black flames torturing him vanished as a white-gold aura enveloped him.

Apuch's face twisted in pure wrath and frustration due to things not going his way.

'He awakened his soul somehow and he can use soul force to fight against me….How? How?!!!'

'He is a fucking Epic-rank. How can he awaken his soul without anyone helping him?! Does this world even have a method to awaken one's soul early?!'

Aleron glared at Apuch as he tried to use his Soul Force to attack him, shooting a white-gold ball at his face.

However, the ball hit Apuch and simply shattered.

Apuch's head twisted, "Bastard, you think you can defeat me just because you awakened your fucking soul?!"

"You think you can win, haaa?!!" Apuch shouted before he released a malefic wave of violet-black flame toward Aleron.

The moment Aleron was hit, his eyes cracked and a scream released from his mouth as he felt pain unlike anything before!

"You think you can win against me?!"

'I have to scare him before he figures out Soul Force and grinds his willpower. Damn it!'

"I WILL WIN!" Aleron shouted as he stopped screaming and a burst of soul force unleashed that doused the malefic flame.

He looked at Apuch with an indomitable expression and eyes filled with wrath. 

'He is already powering up…Arghhhhh!!! Why? Why?!!'

Apuch's head twisted and warped before his aura suddenly surged powerfully.

Aleron was waiting for Apuch to attack him because he found out that if he endured Apuch's torture and stood strong against him, his soul force would increase in intensity.

'I have to get more powerful if I want to defeat him.'

However, Apuch's aura suddenly died down as he didn't do anything and just looked at Aleron with his twisted expression filled with anger.

"Trash," Aleron spat, his eyes disdainful. "No matter what you do, you will not defeat me."

Apuch's expression worsened, but he still didn't do anything.

It was the first time he experienced this predicament. He had possessed bodies many times, but this was the first time he felt this much resistance.

'But I want this body…this precious body,' Apuch's eyes whirled with madness. 'It's for me. That's why I encountered him.'

Aleron didn't know what Apuch was thinking, but he was ready to fight and stack his everything to win.

'I will win against this Akuma no matter what!' Aleron thought with burning resolve. 'If I lose against this evil who actively wants to spread suffering, then may my soul receive eternal damnation!'

'Gamble!'

[Ding! Gamble Accepted.]

[Gamble Quest]

-Task: Initiate the clash of willpower against Apuch and win.

-Reward: 100,000 Gacha Points.

-Penalty: Erasure of your soul, your existence.

Aleron looked at Apuch, his eyes fierily burning as he wielded his soul force and attacked Apuch.

"So be it!" Apuch roared as his aura surged, not wanting to think anything other than to give his all to acquire this treasure of a body!

…

Outside, Aleron's body started trembling as Apuch and Aleron clashed against each other in the mindscape.

The Nether aura oozing out of Aleron caused Enorin to frown.

"What's going on?" Darzax asked in worry.

"The Akuma is going all out…this…" Enorin put her hand on Aleron's head and was startled. "Master has awakened his soul!"

But her expression soon turned somber, "They've started battling and the Akuma is going all out. Master needs to endure and constantly get powerful by grinding his willpower and sticking to his ideal state of mind no matter what until he overpowers the Akuma."

"He will win!" Darzax clenched his fist and kept his faith. 

"Mhm," Enorin nodded and looked at Darzax, "We have to prepare. Since the Akuma is going all out, my seal will be broken soon, and even while fighting with Master, the Akuma can use his body to unleash uncontrolled attacks."

"To weaken master's will and raise his chance of winning, he will do anything," Enorin's eyes turned cold. "Like killing us all, and against his attacks, we won't survive."

"Can you increase the duration of the seal? And tell me if I can help in any way."

"I can empower the seal if I can recover my Bloodline Essence, but…" Enorin sighed.

"Bloodline Essence is hard to recover once used, but…"Darzax frowned but his eyes soon glinted, "We are in a Secret Realm."

"There should be resources here that can increase your recovery."

Darzax looked at Enorin with determination, "Tell me the attributes of your Bloodline and its grade, I'll go and search for resources."

"I need Primeval-grade resources of Light-attribute, Holy-attribute, and Lightning-attribute."

Darzax nodded, his dark green eyes filled with resolve, "You focus on recovery while I go and search for it."

"You have two hours at most," Enorin somberly said, "After one hour and forty minutes, I will use the rest of my Bloodline Essence and squeeze every drop of it to empower the seal."

Darzax's eyes trembled as he understood what her words entailed—she would sacrifice her life to empower the seal.

He didn't say anything and just vanished from the room.

'This island doesn't have Primeval-grade resources. I have to search in other islands.'

Suddenly, he got a telepathic message from Riki.

[Riki: I'm done with my breakthrough to Exceed-rank.]

Darzax's eyes lit up.

[Darzax: Trail my presence and meet up as soon as possible. The situation is dire. Lord Aleron's life is in danger.]

[Riki: Huh?! What happened to Boss?]

Darzax continued moving while answering Riki.

[Darzax: You remember about the Akuma we encountered? Lord Aleron is possessed by one, but not completely. He is in battle, but until he wins, we have to protect the things he holds dear.]

[Riki: What the fuck?! Arghh, alright. I am catching up as fast as possible.]

Darzax continued flying, his eyes resolved. 'We need to find resources and prevent Enorin from dying.'

'If she died, then Lord would be sad and burdened given his nature, giving advantage to the Akuma. Even if he wins, he would still feel sorrowful that Enorin gave her life…'

'No! This must not happen. Sorrow is something that wouldn't suit on my lord's face at all!'