?Defend yourself.?
His instincts forced him to obey that strange inner voice. Without wasting even a second, he did.
“Reinforcement Magic: Total Strengthening, One Hundred Five Percent.”
He raised his arms in front of him, crossing his forearms in an X—the only shield standing between him and the Daimonas.
There was something cruelly ironic about that moment. The same devastating blow he had inflicted upon the Daimonas earlier was now being mirrored… only this time, it was the Lord Daimonas delivering it—and Alexander receiving it.
The enormous fist descended with concentrated violence and crashed into Alexander’s very existence. Fortunately, he had already raised his guard.
The fist was larger than both of his forearms combined, and the force behind it was so overwhelming that, even with his body reinforced beyond its limits, he couldn’t soften the impact.
His crossed arms were violently driven backward, slamming into his own face.
Alexander felt the full weight of it—every ounce of murderous intent packed into that strike.
It was so barbaric that what had happened to the Daimonas moments earlier now happened to him.
Only this time, he was the one sent flying.
His body was hurled deep into the forest, crashing through trees and slamming against the ground.
Spinning.
Bouncing.
Unable to stop.
Leaving behind a trail of devastation in his wake.
He tore through brush and splintered trunks once more. His face felt distant, as though it no longer belonged to him. His eyes threatened to close. His body had gone numb—aching far beyond its limits.
In another violent roll, his face buried briefly into the dirt before centrifugal force hurled him sideways into a cluster of bushes. The skin across his forehead had split open in multiple places, and vital crimson liquid flowed freely from the wounds.
Blood sprayed in every direction—not only from those gashes, but from his mouth, his nose… and even from his eyes, where it mixed with his tears.
His body was no longer built to withstand punishment of that magnitude.
It’s impossible, his mind dictated. There’s no way I can defeat it… I don’t even know if Valentina’s attack will be enough anymore… now… I just want…
To sleep.
His eyes began to close. He no longer perceived his surroundings, which had become nothing more than a black blur streaked with incomprehensible flashes of white. The world had lost all meaning—a consequence of the countless spins his body endured as he continued crashing uncontrollably through the forest.
Finally, his eyelids gave in.
The reinforcement magic dissipated the very instant unconsciousness claimed him.
His body slammed against a rock, bounced off it, and veered sideways, cutting across a narrow path where the moon rose high and majestic in the sky. Along the forest floor, fire had begun to spread with silent, voracious hunger.
? ? ?
“No one stops. Keep moving. Do not look back.”
Rachell’s orders were absolute. No one disobeyed her. No one questioned her authority. After all, she was the right hand of the Lady of Gignit, and everyone knew she truly cared for them.
“Mom, I’m scared… where’s Dad?” asked a dark-haired human boy, looking up at his mother—a rabbit-eared semihuman.
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she replied firmly, though her strength was forced. “You’ll see—Rachell will help us. Nothing bad will happen.”
“But Mommy… what about Dad? Why isn’t he with us?”
The semihuman’s eyes grew moist. She swallowed hard—along with the urge to cry. She couldn’t allow herself to break. Her son must not see her like that.
“Dad is fighting for us. Just wait a little longer and you’ll see—he’ll come back to us. Just wait… I know he will.”
She swallowed her tears again.
“I know he will.”
Rachell understood that feeling all too well. She felt the same way. After all, her husband was fighting that abomination.
And worse still… her mother was there too.
“We’re almost there!” Rachell pointed ahead. “From here on, the path will be harder—but it’s the only way to stay safe.”
Some nodded, though none truly seemed reassured. The mere knowledge that a Daimonas was nearby drained the strength from their legs.
Rachell exhaled slowly and continued forward.
For a brief moment, she glanced at Sebastián, still completely unconscious. A faint smile touched her lips when she confirmed he remained unharmed. Then her gaze lowered to Diana, asleep in her arms.
It’s better if she stays like this.
At last, she focused her attention on Christopher and on the newest member of the family, Selestia.
She smiled again, though that smile carried a shadow of sadness.
It will probably take her some time to adjust… though I understand her perfectly…
Without anyone noticing, Christopher began to move.
His small body twisted, as if he were trapped in the worst nightmare he had ever known.
The guard carrying him tried to steady him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Christopher writhed more violently, as though he were truly suffering.
“Rachell, look at Lord Christopher… what’s happening to him?”
“What?” Rachell murmured, turning toward the guard. “What do you mean?”
“He won’t stop moving. It looks like something is hurting him… badly.”
Rachell stepped closer at once and confirmed the guard was right. Christopher was writhing, caught in invisible agony, as though enduring a torment no one else could see.
“Here—hold Diana for a moment and give me Christopher,” she ordered as they exchanged the children. “Christopher… Christopher! Please, wake up!”
Desperation tightened her chest as she saw her little brother in that state.
“Talk to me, please!”
Suddenly, Christopher stopped.
His body ceased trembling and convulsing, but his closed eyelids began to move rapidly, as though he were witnessing something behind them.
“Christopher… what’s happening to you?”
His eyes flew open.
“DAD! DON’T GIVE UP!”
His pupils shone.
For a fleeting instant, an overwhelming aura of magical energy burst from his small body. Immediately after, an invisible wave—like a dome—expanded outward in every direction.
“Christopher! Tell me, what’s wrong?”
But there was no answer.
The little Lord of Gignit sank back into unconsciousness.
? ? ?
Alexander hurtled toward a tree, moments away from crashing straight into it.
But something changed.
A strange yet comforting sensation coursed through his body.
His lungs decompressed, allowing a deep surge of oxygen to flood them.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The sickening sound of bones fracturing echoed once more—but this time it was not destruction.
It was reconstruction.
His bones snapped back into place and fused together with unnatural force.
His nostrils, clogged with blood, began to clear, allowing air to flow freely into his lungs.
Only one thing was still missing.
His consciousness.
Then his mind showed him the most important person in his life. He saw himself embracing his wife… and his newborn, beloved daughter.
“DAD! DON’T GIVE UP!”
His eyes flew open at the sound of his son’s voice.
His entire body awakened.
His will ignited with renewed intensity.
And upon his face was drawn the purest manifestation of unfathomable fury.
“Air Elemental Magic: Air Control.”
With his strength restored and without wasting even a fraction of a second, Alexander cast his magic and prepared to rejoin the battle.
He closed his eyes as he felt his body lose momentum, entering a powerful yet controlled current of wind designed not to harm him.
Still spinning through the air, he regained control of his trajectory—and realized his path would end against a tree covered in sharp thorns protruding from its trunk.
But that would not stop him.
“Water Elemental Magic: Water Bubble.”
This time he used water magic, and a massive sphere of water formed directly in his path. He shut his eyes tightly.
SPLASH.
He crashed into the bubble, but the impact was not painful—thanks in part to his control over the wind.
Regaining full command of his body, he spun several times as he passed through the liquid mass. He was expelled from it straight toward the thorn-covered trunk. He planted both feet against the bark and, suspended horizontally with his face hardened by fury, cast once more:
“Reinforcement Magic: Total Strengthening, One Hundred Percent.”
His muscles swelled again; veins bulged sharply beneath his skin, especially in his legs, now dense and taut like living steel.
The trunk began to crack beneath the pressure of his feet. In less than a second, he launched forward at tremendous speed, shattering the tree behind him.
“Air Elemental Magic: Air Jump.”
Midair, a massive ring formed beneath his feet—the result of his steps striking compressed air. He repeated the motion again and again, accelerating with each jump, moving at extreme speed toward the Daimonas.
There stood the enemy, waiting for him with a calm that was unbearable.
“Reinforcement Magic: Total Strengthening, One Hundred Six Percent.”
Alexander pushed beyond the limit his body could endure. That additional one percent crossed the boundary of what was survivable. He could collapse before even landing a single blow.
But he did not care.
With blood pouring from his nose, crimson tears sliding from his eyes, and the metallic taste flooding his mouth, he kept advancing. He drew back his right knee, feeling his joints crack and the elasticity of his muscles stretch to the brink.
And when he reached the Lord Daimonas, he unleashed a monstrous knee strike.
PUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMM.
The impact was savage. The echo of bone against skull resounded like distant thunder.
“It’s time for our final confrontation to begin,” Alexander declared. “And in this one, you will vanish from Kosmos.”
The Lord Daimonas staggered back several steps. Its red lights dimmed slightly—the closest that creature could come to blinking.
When they flared open again, all it saw was Alexander’s left knee crashing into its face once more.
“Δεν εχει σημασια ποσο πολεμα?· το πεπρωμενο σου εχει ηδη σφραγιστει. Μονο σου μενει να το αποδεχθει? και να προσφερει? τη σαρκα σου στον Κακο.”
The Lord Daimonas attempted to counterattack, but Alexander was already descending beyond the reach of that massive fist.
“I don’t understand—and I don’t care—what you’re saying. Just know this: you will die.”
He threw a powerful left hook into the skull, managing to twist its head slightly.
My strength is enough to move its head… good.
He prepared to strike again.
But then—
A third hand burst forth from the Lord Daimonas’ putrid entrails, intercepting his fist and gripping it violently, suspending him nearly three meters above the ground.
“Τα πληγματα σου δεν ειναι παρα το τσιμπημα εκεινων που αποκαλειτε απλα εντομα… Οχι, εσυ δεν εισαι τιποτε αλλο παρα ενα αξιοθρηνητο εντομο.”
With its other two free hands, the Lord Daimonas unleashed a relentless barrage of punches upon Alexander. Fists crashed from left and right, striking without mercy against the Lord of Gignit’s body.
He felt the blows penetrate to the bone. They did not merely bruise him—it was as if each strike fractured him from within.
Alexander spat blood. The punches were too powerful, the fists grotesquely massive. When one struck his face, it engulfed it entirely; when another slammed into his abdomen, it felt as though his organs were being crushed in a single impact.
He kept his eyes shut, enduring the brutal assault.
It’s too strong… and its blows are even stronger.
Then he felt something tugging at his legs—slowly at first—climbing toward his hips. The initial pull was faint, almost subtle. Within seconds, it became violent.
Grinding his teeth, he seized both of the Lord Daimonas’ punching fists, forcing them apart and buying himself a brief instant of reprieve—just enough to glance downward at what was dragging him.
His face went pale.
“Damn it… damn it, damn it!”
Small, thin arms with elongated hands and unnaturally long fingers were emerging from the Lord Daimonas’ open stomach. Dozens of them. They latched onto him, pulling him toward that abominable cavity.
Inside—fighting back nausea—he glimpsed another face.
Even more grotesque.
A mouth filled with blade-like teeth, layered and overlapping, waiting for one thing only: to devour him.
“Δεν αξιζει πια να πολεμα?. Αυτο θα ειναι το τελο? τη? ζωη? σου και με αυτο θα πλησιασουμε ενα βημα ακομη προ? την ελευση του Κακου.”
More arms spilled outward, accompanied by a nauseating, mephitic stench that assaulted Alexander’s senses. But more than disgust, what he felt was death itself brushing against his face.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Damn you, disgusting abomination!”
A familiar aura wrapped around him—the vibrating force of sound magic.
“I am not dying here!”
“Sound Magic: Sound Explosion.”
BOOOOOOM.
The spell detonated mere centimeters from both of them. The blast tore them apart violently, hurling them in opposite directions.
The Lord Daimonas barely staggered a few steps.
Alexander, on the other hand, was sent flying, nearly slamming into a tree before twisting midair and landing in a rough skid across the forest floor.
He lifted his gaze.
The Lord Daimonas was already advancing toward him—with an insulting calm, as if nothing of consequence had occurred.
That was the final straw.
He clenched his fists. His eyes burned with fury.
“Damn it… just die already!”
His magical aura surged skyward, rippling with an intensity never before seen.
“Air Elemental Magic: Tornado Destroyer.”
He thrust his hand forward, and a violent tornado erupted from his very existence, spiraling horizontally toward the Lord Daimonas with devastating force.
For the first time, something different flickered within the Daimonas’ eyes.
Danger.
It failed to evade in time.
The tornado swallowed it whole.
Alexander continued pouring magic into the attack, amplifying its ferocity. The whirlwind tore through everything in its path.
Entire trees were ripped from the earth and hurled into the vortex alongside the Lord Daimonas’ body. The ground split apart; dust, rocks, and stone were thrown in every direction as the storm advanced without mercy.
The Lord Daimonas slammed against debris again and again—but this time, the rotations were far more savage.
The world became an unintelligible blur of earth, splintered wood, and shrieking wind.
Across the torn terrain, a black liquid remained behind—putrid in scent, corrosive to the soil itself.
Alexander’s face reflected unfathomable rage.
He stopped advancing and observed the path of devastation he had carved. Vegetation and stone alike had been ripped from the place they had occupied for years, reduced to wreckage in seconds.
But he was far from finished.
He enveloped himself in the energy of earth elemental magic. Spreading his legs for stability, he raised both arms to shoulder height as power swelled around him.
The earthen aura intensified.
Tiny particles—like pebbles—began gathering around his body.
At first small.
Then larger.
And larger still.
Until the air itself seemed heavy with rock and compressed fury.
At last, he unleashed another devastating spell.
“Earth Elemental Magic: Destructive Stone Bullets.”
An endless torrent of stone projectiles formed around Alexander and shot forward at blinding speed toward the Lord Daimonas.
Each bullet tore through the remains of the tornado’s wake, piercing, shattering, pulverizing everything in their path.
And perhaps—
Just perhaps—
Enough to kill it once and for all.
PUUUM. PUUUM. PUUUM.
FUSH. FUSH. FUSH.
They were not explosions in the traditional sense.
It was the sheer velocity of impact.
Each projectile, the instant it collided with anything, unleashed catastrophic destruction.
The entire terrain through which the Lord Daimonas had passed began to collapse. A colossal, suffocating cloud of dust surged upward, as though it sought to swallow the moon itself.
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Alexander’s aura continued to expand, further amplifying the speed and force of the relentless barrage.
PUUUM. PUUUUM. PUUUUM. PUUUUUUUM.
The trees that still stood were shredded before they could even finish falling. The stone bullets were obliterating everything in their path. If this continued, that entire section of the forest would be reduced to a lifeless wasteland.
And though it might have seemed that Alexander had been consumed by fury, the truth was different.
He was not out of control.
His mind remained sharp.
But he had no alternative.
Waiting for Valentina was no longer an option. At that moment, the absolute priority was to eliminate the Lord Daimonas as quickly as possible.
And if that meant destroying the forest… he would do it.
I have to kill it as soon as possible, he thought, continuing to channel energy. If I give it even a single second to breathe, something catastrophic could happen.
His features tightened. His teeth ground together. Veins throbbed across his forehead and cheeks.
“I will exterminate you!”
Now the stone bullets no longer emerged solely from around him—they began raining down from the sky, transforming into a truly lethal storm.
That section of the forest was turning into barren land, stripped of all life.
The devastation was undeniable.
Then Alexander spread his arms wide, forming a cross. His already immense magical aura expanded once more.
Above him, a gigantic spear of stone began to take shape.
First one meter.
Then two.
Four.
Eight.
Ten.
The energy surrounding the colossal stone formation started to swirl with mounting violence.
“You’re going to die, you damned—!”
Fissss.
“What…?”
He felt something slice across his left cheek.
A thin wound opened, and from it seeped vapor darker than the night itself.
Miasma.
“What just happened?”
The accumulated energy dissipated abruptly, along with the enormous stone spear.
Alexander twisted his torso and fixed his gaze on a sharp object embedded in the ground just behind him.
“But… what is that? Where did it—?”
His eyes widened, overtaken by shock. His mouth fell open, desperately seeking air, struggling to draw oxygen into lungs that seemed to have forgotten how to function.
What he saw froze the blood in his veins.
The tree into which that thing had embedded itself began to fade and disintegrate instantly, leaving behind a cloud of dark miasma that dissolved into the breeze of Kosmos.
Alexander understood.
He knew exactly what it was.
The shock struck immediately. It took a tremendous effort for him to force his gaze forward again.
In the distance, three black points tore into his field of vision—growing rapidly larger.
“What…?”
His instincts took over, forcing him to duck at once, narrowly avoiding what would undoubtedly have been a death sentence.
With one knee pressed to the ground, he turned his head and saw three new pointed shapes embedded in nearby trees. Within seconds, they began to disintegrate, consumed by Daimonic miasma.
“This can’t be possible…” he muttered, unable to accept what he was witnessing. “This… makes no sense… It’s impossible. I’ve never read any record of something like this.”
He dodged more projectiles as they pierced the ground and tree trunks alike, reducing them to nothing on contact.
He sidestepped, retreated, advanced—until he had no choice but to run as countless blackened spears tore through and annihilated every trace of vegetation in their path.
And then…
The attacks stopped.
It was no coincidence.
It was as if whoever had launched them wanted Alexander to understand.
To connect the dots.
To reach the most horrifying conclusion.
“It’s identical to the magic attack I used…!”
He froze. His attention shifted toward the dust cloud slowly dissipating beneath the wind.
“No… no… this can’t be. His evolution shouldn’t have allowed that. It’s not that he can’t do it… it’s that we didn’t know…”
The dust finally cleared.
The Lord Daimonas emerged, walking forward at a slow, deliberate pace, radiating sacrilegious confidence. His body had changed.
Drastically.
He no longer stood three meters tall. Now he was closer to two—still taller than Alexander, but far more compact. Muscular.
The bones that had once protruded chaotically from his putrid flesh had reorganized, forming a kind of natural armor—reinforced knuckles, hardened knees, bony spurs along the elbows, and a macabre breastplate.
His head was no longer a deformed skull. Now it was flesh… covered by a mask of bone.
Eight pairs of eyes were arranged across his face—four on each side—divided by a vertical line that split his mouth cleanly in two.
His legs no longer resembled grotesque trunks. They were firm now, ending in feet tipped with long, razor-sharp claws.
His body remained covered in eyes and mouths, but now there was a disturbing symmetry to their placement.
And the dark halo burned brighter than ever.
Alexander felt the air abandon his lungs. For a moment, breathing in the presence of that new form was impossible.
But he clenched his teeth.
Swallowed hard.
And steadied himself.
“That damned monster… has evolved again… and because of that, it can now use magic…”
Then he felt it.
Magic… dying.
He could sense the energy warping and collapsing around the Lord Daimonas. For the first time in his life, he was witnessing something almost no one had ever seen.
Daimonic Magic.
The Lord Daimonas stopped.
They stood roughly ten meters apart.
Silence.
The Lord Daimonas remained motionless, almost catatonic, every one of his eyes fixed upon the Lord of Gignit.
Alexander, meanwhile, struggled for breath, forcing each inhale into his lungs.
They studied one another.
Human against Sin.
Lord versus Lord.
“So now you’re capable of using magic,” Alexander said, never taking his eyes off him. “I have to admit, you certainly know how to drive your opponents into despair.”
“Ολα αυτα ειναι εξαιτια? σου, ανθρωπε. Εξαιτια? σου η ιεροσυλη υπαρξη μου καταφερε επιτελου? να κατανοησει αυτο που ονομαζετε μαγεια. Μπορεσα να τη διαφθειρω, να τη φονευσω και να τη μαθω.”
The Daimonas’ voice resounded like a sentence being pronounced.
Alexander closed his eyes for a moment and turned his face aside, forcing himself to endure that blasphemous vibration… before fixing his gaze once more upon his enemy.
“Και εξαιτια? μια? νεα? ευλογια? του Κακου εχω τωρα ατελειοποιηθει. Ειμαι ικανο? να αισθανθω το σκοτεινο αγκαλιασμα του κυριου μου· αισθανομαι πω? οι ολεθριε? ευλογιε? του με κατακλυζουν… Δια τουτο, εγω, θα του δωσω τη σαρκα ολων σα? ω? προσφορα… Μονον ετσι θα του αποδειξω την αγαπη και την ευγνωμοσυνη μου.”
To Alexander’s eyes, the Lord Daimonas appeared euphoric.
He raised his hands toward the sky. His eyes widened until they nearly bulged from their foul sockets. The vertical slit dividing his face opened and closed as he uttered incomprehensible words.
But the Lord of Gignit merely sighed.
“You know, I truly have no idea what you’re saying… and I don’t care to,” he said, as the Daimonas’ halo burned more fiercely. “Your words are filth. Harmful to the ears of the living… and perhaps even to the dead.”
He did not look away.
“And whatever you say, everything that comes out of your mouth is corruption. No one deserves to hear you. No one deserves the misfortune of beholding your wretched existence.”
Alexander exhaled slowly and began to surround himself with magical energy.
“Συ εισαι απλω? ενα ον ανικανο να ιδει? το μεγαλειο και την ταπεινοτητα του Κακου, ο οποιο? βρισκεται στο υψιστο και στο εσχατο των παντων. Στη ανεξελικτη διανοια σου λειπει να υπερβει? προ? την ατελειοτητα που μα? αγκαλιαζει.”
The Lord Daimonas pointed at him. The slit in his face spread wider, revealing endless rows of putrid teeth.
Miasma coiled around him again—but this time it was different. It was not merely miasma, and Alexander felt it immediately.
He can use magical energy… but it doesn’t feel like magic. It’s different… It’s as if it isn’t corrupted… but dead.
The realization ran through him like ice.
Around that thing… magic does not exist.
Alexander responded by surrounding himself with the energy of the fire element.
Flames began to dance around him.
That aura looks far too similar to elemental fire… Now he can replicate it. Miasma plus Dead Magic… If even one of his attacks hits me… I don’t know what might happen.
“Και εμει?, τα τεκνα τη? αληθινη? σκοτεινοτητα?, οι αναβληθεντε? εκ του αβυσσου τη? πρωτογονη? κακια?, θα σα? δειξουμε, τεκνα του φωτο?, οτι θα γινετε μερο?… αυτου.”
And then they both began to run.
They advanced along the path devastated by Alexander’s earlier attacks, maintaining a constant distance of ten meters.
“Fire Elemental Magic: Fire Arrows.”
Alexander’s attack shot toward the Daimonas.
The Daimonas’ attack shot toward Alexander.
The blazing arrows passed mere centimeters from the Lord Daimonas’ body, while his own—fire blackened by miasma—whistled past the Lord of Gignit.
Behind the Daimonas, pockets of wildfire erupted.
Behind Alexander, everything disintegrated.
An inferno of flame.
An inferno of nonexistence.
That monster never gets tired!
Alexander clenched his teeth as he continued unleashing projectile after projectile.
Suddenly, they halted—just for an instant.
Then they lunged at each other.
They closed the distance and began circling, never taking their eyes off one another.
Five meters now separated them.
“Earth Elemental Magic: Descent of Stone Fists.”
Alexander unleashed stone fists that materialized from the very air itself.
The Lord Daimonas answered with grotesque equivalents—dark fists forged from solidified miasma.
They collided.
Alexander’s shattered on impact.
The Lord Daimonas’ were driven back… only to surge forward again.
He can replicate earth magic too…
Alexander’s thoughts spiraled.
What else is he capable of? How did he learn it? When?
Pum. Pum. Pum. Pum.
The impacts thundered as they continued circling, neither yet committing to a decisive strike.
The Lord Daimonas evaded another stone fist that sought to crush his face, then retaliated by hurling one of his own at Alexander. He had to leap forward, roll across the ground, and regain his footing to avoid it.
But directly before him, another miasma fist was already descending—ready to smash into his face.
For a brief instant, panic seized Alexander. He had no idea what would happen if that thing touched him… and he had no intention of finding out.
“Air Elemental Magic: Air Jump.”
He invoked air magic at once, launching himself with all his strength toward the vegetation that had not yet burned or dissolved into drifting particles of miasma.
His expression twisted as he glanced sideways.
There—far too close—the Lord Daimonas pursued him without losing speed, propelled by his own grotesque imitation of air magic.
He can use air magic too! Alexander felt his heart slam violently against his ribs. This goes beyond everything we knew about Daimonas.
The distance between them shrank to three meters.
Visible rings rippled outward each time they “stepped” on the air, splitting it apart as they propelled themselves faster and faster toward the dark, dense vegetation ahead.
They tore through the first line of shrubs marking the boundary between the barren wasteland and the forest.
Trees toppled. Bushes were shredded. Even small magical beasts were driven from their homes as both accelerated without restraint.
I was trying to lose him… but he followed me using the same kind of magic! Alexander thought, never taking his eyes off the Lord Daimonas. How is he able to—?
In that precise instant, the gears in his mind began to turn.
But there was no time to stop and think.
The battle intensified when the Lord Daimonas abruptly altered his trajectory, charging straight at Alexander in an attempt to envelop him in a dark embrace.
Alexander sensed the danger. He twisted mid-motion, planted one foot against the trunk of a tree, launched himself toward another, and from there hurled himself at his enemy—driving a flying kick into that blasphemous, terrifying face and forcing it to snap sideways.
But those eight eyes stared at him.
Unblinking.
Still suspended for a heartbeat, Alexander drew back his free left leg and brought his heel crashing down onto the Lord Daimonas’ forehead, forcing it to stagger back several steps.
The strength I gain at one hundred six percent isn’t enough.
For a brief instant, a sharp stab of pain pierced his left side; he clenched his teeth and endured it.
I have to push it further… but this is my limit!
The Lord Daimonas recovered immediately and leapt, descending upon Alexander like a hawk upon its prey. A right kick slammed into Alexander’s raised forearm, and as it retracted, its left heel crashed down onto the other arm that served as a shield.
It’s the same thing I did! Alexander screamed inwardly as he shoved it away. He can copy everything I do!
He had no time to breathe. The Lord Daimonas repeated the assault, and this time it was enough—the flying kick struck squarely into the Lord of Gignit’s abdomen, forcing blood from his mouth before hurling him away, smashing him through at least two trees as he was sent flying.
As he tore through the second trunk, Alexander forced himself to recover, twisting midair and driving his feet hard into the ground upon landing.
He raised his guard at once. There was no time to dwell on pain. He swallowed it all and dropped low just as the Lord Daimonas attempted to repeat the same attack.
It didn’t connect.
But this time, the Lord Daimonas felt something clamp around its grotesquely extended leg.
A hand.
Alexander’s hand.
And the world became a blackened blur.
Gripping what resembled an ankle, Alexander spun and, channeling every ounce of his strength, hurled the creature with savage force against the massive trunk of a towering sequoia.
Then he unleashed a brutal succession of strikes—fists, elbows, knees, shins. The Lord Daimonas’ body was battered beneath that relentless punishment.
Alexander was employing techniques characteristic of an extremely aggressive and forceful martial art.
A style devastatingly effective in standing combat.
One that demanded the body be pushed to its absolute limit.
It was Muay Thai—also known as the Art of Eight Limbs.
A discipline designed to inflict crushing, merciless damage upon an opponent.
Alexander did not slow. He did not hesitate. He drove fists, elbows, kicks, and knees into the Lord Daimonas, its body jerking violently beneath the brutal rhythm of impacts against its sacrilegious flesh.
But Alexander noticed something that, for reasons he could not explain, sent a razor-thin chill through him—a tremor that lasted less than a heartbeat:
The Lord Daimonas was still watching him.
Unblinking.
Even so, despite that suffocating sensation, Alexander continued the assault without pause.
The Lord Daimonas’ head snapped violently to one side as an elbow struck cleanly. All its eyes rolled skyward when a knee smashed beneath its chin. Cracks splintered through the sequoia’s thick bark as Alexander drove a right hook into the creature’s putrid abdomen.
The trunk gave way, splitting apart. The Lord Daimonas burst through it—and Alexander followed, pressing the attack, throwing every strike his battered body could still produce.
Don’t stop, don’t stop! the Lord of Gignit roared inwardly as each blow connected and forced the Daimonas backward, smashing it through more towering trees.
Hit it! Don’t let up! Inflict as much damage as possible!
The Lord Daimonas’ head crashed into another trunk. Alexander seized it by the back of the skull and yanked it toward him.
“Earth Elemental Magic: Earth Wall.”
He drove its face into the wall of earth he had just conjured, with the sole intent of breaking it as thoroughly as possible.
But he did not stop.
He conjured another wall.
And another.
And against each one, he drove it headfirst with savage force. Alexander was truly trying to kill it. He was pushing himself beyond everything he had left.
It took monstrous strength simply to hold and manipulate that two-meter-tall body.
The ground filled with rubble and shattered earth as he continued punishing it without mercy.
And then—
Desperation began to seep into him.
The Lord Daimonas was not taking the damage Alexander had expected.
“What the hell is happening? Why aren’t you taking any damage?!”
At first, he shouted in fury.
Then his right cheek burned as if it had been set ablaze. His field of vision lurched from the enemy before him… to the sky above.
“What…?”
He muttered it under his breath before forcing his body to respond. He thrust out a hand, pushed off the ground, and regained his footing—only to be met with another punch.
The Lord Daimonas drove a powerful right hook into him. Then it attempted to mirror one of the elbows Alexander had used earlier, finishing with a knee strike that narrowly missed.
“Now… not now… this makes no sense anymore… how is it possible that you know Muay Thai now?”
The Lord Daimonas attacked again, and this time Alexander truly felt desperation.
Not only because of what was happening—
But because he could feel his body beginning to fail.
He wouldn’t stop spitting blood. Breathing had become a labor of agony. Every movement sent sharp lances of pain through him.
And worst of all…
The Lord Daimonas was now fighting like him.
With the same martial art.
They clashed head-on, trading blows without mercy.
Right hooks, elbows, knees, and kicks collided in relentless succession.
At first, Alexander managed to evade several strikes, while the Lord Daimonas absorbed every impact.
Until it stopped.
It began to dodge.
One.
Then another.
And another.
For a moment, it stood equal to Alexander.
Then it surpassed him.
Now Alexander was the one forced to evade and defend.
The Lord of Gignit retreated as the Lord Daimonas advanced in a true avalanche of strikes.
I can’t understand it! How is this happening? How is he copying me? What is he doing—and how is he doing it?
And in that instant, Alexander felt as though his mind flickered out, his body pitching forward as a devastating right hook closed in.
NO!
He roared inwardly, spreading his legs and slipping forward, breaking through the Lord Daimonas’ guard and driving a left hook into that sacrilegious face.
And finally—
He understood.
He realized what was happening—how the Lord Daimonas was capable of replicating everything he did.
The world slowed.
Heavier.
And then he saw it.
All eight eyes were fixed on him, observing every movement with sickening precision.
Four tracked his limbs, dissecting the choreography of each strike.
The other four studied his muscles—the tension, the elasticity, the angle of motion, even which fibers engaged to execute a single blow.
Pum.
His left fist cracked against the Lord Daimonas’ cheek.
Pum.
A hook smashed into its chin.
But Alexander was so shaken by what he had just uncovered that he barely registered his own strikes. He simply reset his stance and repeated the sequence.
The left hook.
The uppercut.
He’ll dodge it this time.
And his prediction proved true.
The Lord Daimonas blocked the left hook by raising its right forearm, and when the uppercut followed, it simply stepped back.
Alexander mirrored the movement, breathing heavily.
He had finally understood.
“You… you’re not copying my attacks or my fighting style…” Alexander pointed at it accusingly. “You’re learning. Your eyes… you use them to analyze everything I do, and that’s how you… learn. And it’s all because of… me.”
His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at his own trembling hands, shaking with fury.
“It’s my fault,” he murmured. “You’ve been analyzing me this entire time. As the fight progressed, you kept learning from me. Every magical attack… even my combat style. Your eyes aren’t just for seeing… you study with them in seconds. You learn instantly. Everything… you learned it from me…”
He lowered his gaze.
“It’s true. Every time you attacked me, it was after I struck first. You never initiated. I was always the one who launched the spell or began the physical exchange.”
He looked up again.
“Now I understand! It makes sense! You’ve been learning since you were that filthy Daimonas. The first time we fought, we cut your head off without effort… but in the second encounter, you were already protecting it.”
His eyes widened even further.
“You… wretched monster… you keep evolving—and you’re trying to evolve again.”
“Αγαλλιασου, ανθρωπε. Εσυ εχει? γινει μετοχο? του επομενου βηματο? τη? σκοτεινη? υπαρξεω? μου… Ο Κακο? ειναι ικανοποιημενο?· τωρα οφειλω να σε προσφερω σε αυτον.”
“Just shut up already, you damned monster…”
Alexander nearly struck his own mouth to force himself into silence. He even tried to regulate his breathing, making it as quiet as possible.
Because of me, he learned to use magic… he learned to fight… and if I keep talking… he’ll probably learn our language too… and I don’t know what might happen.
The evolution of the Lord Daimonas was the most terrifying thing Alexander had ever witnessed.
What am I supposed to do? I can’t keep fighting, because he’ll just keep learning… but if I don’t fight… he’ll kill me… and then he’ll attack Gignit.
“Ηλθε η ωρα να τελειωσει αυτο.”
The Lord Daimonas released that strange, nauseating energy. Corrupted magic coiled around it like a dark embrace, enveloping its body and saturating it with power.
Then it brought each hand to the opposite shoulder.
It drove its long claws into its own flesh.
And seemed to seize something from within.
Slowly—deliberately—from the region of its shoulders, it drew out two elongated bones reinforced with hardened joints. Their edges were jagged—yet razor-sharp. They looked capable of cleaving through anything.
Alexander’s eyes widened in shock.
Is that… a sword?
The macabre bone weapons became shrouded in Daimonic magical energy.
“Ετοιμασου να πεθανει?, ανθρωπε.”
Kosmos: War for Existence a chance. Your patience, your time, and your support mean more to me than you can imagine.
