Chapter 30

Our battle was taking place inside an underground arena. It was spacious and could fit hundreds of warriors in the arena. However, the place was so old that the pillars supporting the ceiling were almost worn out and there was moss everywhere on the walls and floors.

In the middle of the underground arena, me and the Ruler of the Sun, Luminous, were exchanging blows to one another nonstop. This fight has been going on for the past ten minutes, and none of us were willing to back down unless we kill each other.

With each strike I unleash, I put all my entire strength behind my punches and kicks, obliterating Luminous and pushing him back. Luminous, on the other hand, dodges my attacks while parrying them with his hands.

It hurts so badly… My damn forearms. I could see it was getting infected already, but I didn't stop my attacks. Despite the pain that I was experiencing, I kept pushing myself to the limit with only one goal in my mind: to kill Luminous and break free from the chains.

"I know it hurts, princess." Luminous spoke while dodging my attacks. "I can see from your face the pain you are experiencing right now." He smiled. A bright sword appeared on his hand and swung his blade against me, but I barely dodged it, leaving a cut on my skin.

I kept my composure, not listening to his provocation. I rather focus on killing him immediately or else my wounds will kill me first. I couldn't push forward at all because he kept swinging his sword at me, forcing me to fall back. I watched his attacks, but that didn't work because his attacks were random.

With no other choice left, I ran circles around him, watching for any signs of weakness or opening while carefully learning how his blade works. His body isn't tough, unlike the Rulers I had fought. Rather, he focuses more on offense instead of defense. What's more, he was fast. Faster than anyone I have ever fought.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance of how weak I was, but I didn't get that to my head. Instead of complaining or giving up, I rather keep on fighting instead. To make things worse, however, is that he has regeneration. Let me break it down then…

First, he focuses more on offense. Despite not shielding his body from attacks with mana, he won't get damaged that easily because he is faster. Even if he gets damaged, he will heal instantly. Second, his speed is terrifying. His offense is also his defense. But what if I make him focus on defending instead? What would happen? Because the last Ruler I fought, I forced him to focus on chasing me down… So what if I do the opposite? With no more options left, I had to do it!

Without hesitation, I charged forward. He swung his blade against me, but I swiftly dodged his attack and focused on attacking him. I kicked his sword away from his hand, and relentlessly unleashed a barrage of attacks. First, I will force him to keep healing. Second, I will prevent him from being on offense, but keep him on defense. Then if I find an opening, go for it and do not stop!

So I kept pounding him with martial arts, forcing him to heal whenever my strike goes through and keeping his toes on defense instead. I didn't waste a single energy nor time to give a slight opening against him. I kept on pushing him back, forcing him to defend himself instead of attacking. Suddenly, he jumped up. He swung his sword downward, smashing the ground with force. Before the sword could hit me, I dodged immediately.

Clearly, that didn't work. So I ran around him in circles. This time, he started chasing me. He unleashed a barrage of magic attacks on my way, making me dodge the incoming attacks that were hurling at me. At the same time, Luminous charged with speed, reaching me within a blink of an eye. He swung his sword at me, but I barely dodged his attack, leaving a huge cut on my skin. He unleashed more magic attacks while simultaneously following up with close range attacks. It's like I was facing two opponents instead of one. I had to deal with his sword and magic at the same time.

"If this is how you wanna play, I'll play your damn game." I said and clashed against Luminous. Despite all the wounds that he had made to me, I kept on going with my attack, not stopping unless he died. More magic attacks came at me, but I used my forearms to block them. The attack made an impact on my infected forearms, causing me to shriek in pain.

Shit! I let my guard down. I turned around and found Luminous already in my blind spot. His sword was ready to lunge at me. Before his blade could reach me, I dropped my back on the ground. He missed his chance of killing me. Before I could get up and follow up with an upward kick, more magic attacks were coming towards me. I got hit and it exploded on me, causing me to fly away and plummet on one of the broken pillars.

I was losing too much blood. My vision was getting blurry. My body was weak. Before I could even process what happened, Luminous appeared in front of me.

"That was a good fight, Ashe. Too bad this is the end. But since you have earned my respect, I will give you a quick death." He said. He pierced his sword at me, but the blade broke in half. "What?"

Out of nowhere, Luminous trembled in fear. His eyes widened like he just saw a ghost before him. "'H-how are you… What?" Before my mind could respond, my body responded first. I took his sword and pierced it in his heart. His body soon became limp.

Then, the chains broke.

I felt a huge amount of mana surging at my whole body, healing all my wounds and restoring my strength and energy to its fullest. I roared loudly like a dragon, causing a huge earthquake combined with a shockwave of mana that made everyone froze.

I looked at Luminous and smiled. "You have my respect." But my mind was still on that scene earlier. Why did he freeze in fear? What happened? What did he see that I didn't even see? More questions piled up in my head, but I shook those away and focused on getting my vengeance.

I slowly floated upwards, reaching the surface. Everyone froze and stared at me with fear and awe as if they just saw a monster in front of them. A demon in front of their eyes.

I released a huge amount of mana, forcing both sides to kneel on the ground. Kalgaron and Vivian must've felt it. In the corner of my eyes, I see them both staring at me as well, halting their fight.

But even a greater threat appeared.

The underground that I was once in collapsed when a giant demon creature appeared. It's body's muscular, with a skin color of crimson. It had two sharp horns that were facing upwards and a black wing that looked broken. Its teeth were sharp and it bared its fangs at me.

But the mana is familiar.

Luminous.

"Thanks to you, you have forced me to release my true identity." He growled. "I am one of the Generals of the Demon Army, the Demon Luminous!" He roared, causing the entire Heavenly Realm to shake.

Now that I could feel mana, I sensed millions of unknown creatures heading from beneath. I looked down and saw thousands of red portals opening. Millions of demon creatures appeared from the portal.

"Now, tremble and kneel before me, you pest that lives in the Heavenly Realm!" He roared even louder.

Kalgaron appeared beside me.

"What is happening? Why is one of the Rulers transformed into a demon?" I asked.

"I don't know either. But that is not something we should be worried about." He said. There was worry behind his tone. 

"The demons… No, the entire Demon Realm is invading the Heavenly Realm."