Chapitre 22: Play Time
'According to some old intel, Amethyst possessed a strange Space-element domain. On top of that, she has many lethal battle techniques as well. I must be extremely careful when combating her. Focus and focus, Dalgorath… Come!' Dalgorath encouraged his own self inwardly.
He did not want to underestimate this woman in front of him.
Even though the Amethyst Queen belongs to a gender that was oftenly perceived as weak by the extremely misogynistic devils, this purple robed woman was completely different. Her fearsome reputation was well-known within Heavenly Tower's 1st layer, particularly among the devils.
Two Devil Lord-class rankers have fallen before her might, including Dalgorath's personal friend, Asmodes the Incubus, who also happens to be the previous ruler of Purple Sky Castle.
She can be said the most powerful opponent Dalgorath has ever faced. In fact, they still haven't exchanged a single blow yet, but he already felt an overwhelming pressure from the bottom of his heart.
Never before Dalgorath's confidence was shaken just like now. She was the only opponent that can make him felt inadequate like this so far.
"<<Infernal Flames Domain>>!" Shouted Dalgorath as he deployed the only domain in his arsenal.
Walls of black raging flames with various and constantly changing sizes appeared and spreading out for miles away. The nearby atmosphere became very dark and somewhat ominous. The temperature also raised intensely by a few thousand degrees.
For Helena who was at the epicenter, it feels like standing on the surface of the sun, scorchingly hot.
Even the sea below her has begun to evaporate, creating a huge burst of steam that rising upward to the sky.
Helena gently waved her left hand, then a violet light flashed for a brief on her body. This was done to normalize the temperature around her back to the normal degree by partially sealing off the space.
'Hmm… Let's play around with this devil for a bit.' She decided on something… mischievous.
"Ah… It's the infamous Fire-based domain in which power derived from the inextinguishable flame of the Nether World. I've heard it has the ability to burn and consume an entire world. Seeing it directly myself. I'm marveled by its grand might… You sure are powerful to comprehend such a domain." Said Helena with a flat tone.
"It's nothing exaggerated like that. But I did burn the so-called holy empire in some random world to cinders once. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any effects on you, huh? What a fearsome woman, indeed." Dalgorath replied while adding some compliments in it.
After a while, he lightly sighing.
The strongest combat method that has burned and destroyed uncountable numbers of victims was proven useless against the Amethyst Queen as she's looking very unperturbed while being surrounded by walls of black flames.
But then again, she was already been trapped within the domain. Even though it doesn't affect her at all, the domain was still a "sphere of influence" under the mercy of its user. It'll be extremely hard for her to escape.
And since she was a combatant without affinity with water or any elements that were capable of defeating fire-element, Dalgorath, a pure fire-element ranker himself, believes he should have an absolute advantage over her. Besides, the domain also boosted his strength by nearly two-fold. Thus, in here, he was the invincible god who controls everything.
Somehow, he had a suspicion of why the Amethyst Queen does not make any effort to prevent him from deploying the domain. She just stood still and doing absolutely nothing at that time. Truly baffling.
However, the thought of his martial essence's reserve gradually drained from maintaining the domain stopped him from thinking about it any further.
'If the <<Infernal Flames Domain>> cannot harm her in the slightest, I wonder if physical attacks would work…' Dalgorath wondered as he took a stance with his large morning-star.
He prepared to strike the opponent through utilizing a direct mean.
An overwhelming dark aura surging out from his body.
Whoosh!
Dalgorath immediately charging forward! Leaving behind an afterimage. Black flames also started to converge and coiling around his upper-torso like a snake that possessed its own mind.
The sight of Dalgorath rushing in while the inextinguishable Infernal Flames burning all over his body appears like the ideal image of a mighty, powerful and frightening devil in all of his glory. It will no doubt shatters all of his opponent's hearts if they witness this scene directly with their very own eyes.
But for Helena, her clear eyes were still calm without even a single ripple across its surfaces, and her face was devoid of any emotion. Total indifference was her only impression of the sight.
As the Infernal Devil Lord approaching closer, Helena reached out her left hand…
Snap!
With one snap of her finger, thunderous violet lightning strikes descent from the sky.
Duar!
Duar!
It then penetrated the domain's boundary and forcibly entered the interior, which was supposed to be an impossible thing to happen.
Afterward, it begins raining down upon Dalgorath, who was visibly surprised and shocked by seeing the spectacle that just broke a common sense.
He reacted quickly by sending a huge stream of black flames sporadically to the front.
BOOOM!!!
Helena's lightning strikes clashed with Dalgorath's black flames in midair!
The resulting blast was so powerful to the point it caused the nearby space to be distorted as if there were layers of ripples. It also produced an ear-splitting explosion sound that could be heard even from tens of kilometers away.
Unexpectedly to Dalgorath, the Amethyst Queen's lightning strikes survived the encounter and continue to accelerate toward him, seemingly unstoppable.
His instinct blaring intensely of the incoming danger. Dalgorath was stupefied for a second but was able to recollect his mind in an instant.
He decided to change his course to avoid the lightning strikes using all of his power.
Unfortunately, his reaction was too slow…
"Shit!!!" He cursed just as he was about to get hit.
Boom!
"Guaghkkhkkhk!!!" Screaming out loudly, Dalgorath was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
And when he finally gained control of his body back, he found that the damages he had suffered were tremendously devastating.
Extreme pain can be felt in every part of his body. Underneath the already broken armor, charred burn scars that couldn't be even more horrifying decorating the surface of his skin thoroughly. Even most of his scales were torn off.
Mixed feelings of anger, shocked, confusion, awe, fear, and many more filled both of his mind and heart to the fullness.
How can his black flames be defeated by the Amethyst Queen's lightning strikes? That question echoing within his mind continuously.
His black flame was the true incarnation of Infernal Flame, the inextinguishable flame said to have given birth to the Nether World. An eternal flame in which fire has the ability to consume everything, including gods and immortals according to legend.
Dalgorath was already exasperated when the flame wasn't able to touch the Amethyst Queen, but still kind of accepted it since there's a possibility she possessed an incredible magic artifact that can negate the flame's effect.
However, he was driven mad by the fact that the so-called eternal flame was rendered useless and powerless by some ordinary thunder-based lightning attacks.
This was unacceptable!
'Were those lightning strikes a sort of secret technique?' Such thought ringing on Dalgorath's head.
What he didn't know was those lightning attacks did not actually come from ordinary thunder-based technique. If it were, there would be impossible for it to defeat the Infernal Flame.
Each of those lightning strikes was a smaller form of Heavenly Lightning, divine lightning that would only come down alongside the Heavenly Tribulation.
Helena's <<Heavenly Punishment Domain>> has the ability to call upon these lightning strikes for her own disposal. Its prowess and destructive nature were many times higher than the Infernal Flame. So the outcome of the clash between the two powers was not surprising at all.
Dalgorath misunderstood those lightning as an ordinary thunder-based technique because he did not see Helena use her domain. After all, there was no grand spectacle, that usually happens when a domain being utilized, appeared other than due to the deployment of Dalgorath's own domain.
At her current level, Helena already mastered the <<Heavenly Punishment Domain>> to the extent she was able to utilize it in a very simple albeit efficient way. She could make it big and complex if necessary or small and simple if she wants.
Dalgorath fiercely glared at the Amethyst Queen while clenching his fists, trying to resist the pain from the wounds he had received.
He saw his opponent's expression does not change for a bit, remained the same as ever, cold and indifferent like ice. And her gaze behind that faceless mask… he understood that she does not look down on him, but more like disregarded him completely.
Just one strike she has damaged him until he became a mess like this.
Was the gap between their strengths really that enormous?
Both of them were at the peak stage Diamond-class, they should be comparable and equal more or less.
But how can he unable to reach her at all?
He, Dalgorath, famously known as the Infernal Devil Lord, a noble devil who has managed to put his own name among the top 5 strongest Devil Lords in all of the Nether World. And a protege to the Crimson Dusk Emperor, Zullmoth, one of the six Great Devil Emperors.
He was someone whose power, influence, and status were at the apex, exalted and untouchable by ordinary common devils.
However, he was beaten down by a woman, a human woman nonetheless. How could it be possible?
He acknowledged that the Amethyst Queen was strong, thus he initially believed that the duel between them would be a close one. But he still held great confidence in his odds. That's why he had decided to challenge her directly.
But instead of victory after an equal, glorious battle, what he got was a one-sided trampling.
As of now, Dalgorath felt that even though he could rise up and battling again, his condition has been negatively reduced by several degrees. He won't be able to exert a power comparable to his peak performance. It's certainly useless against the Amethyst Queen who was still unscathed even now.
All in all, he was already defeated in this engagement.
But suddenly, he noticed the Amethyst Queen tilted her head slightly and was peering intensely into the island.
"…Finally arrived, huh…"
Soft murmurs escaped from her mouth, but he can only pick up a bit of it.
��What is she up to now?' Dalgorath grumbly asked to himself inwardly.
***
Meanwhile, at the invaders' fort in the heart of Eerie Island.
The teleportation device which had been activated for a while now has begun to show a sign of stabilizing. The surrounding space has returned to normal, all the tears and distortions from before have vanished completely.
On its arch, a glowing translucent light was forming slowly yet steady from the top to downward.
Dozens of personnel also started to permeate the area around it. Standing by to guard the device and waiting for the "gate" completion.
"Keep your eyes open, everyone! Watch out for any attacks aiming for the device. We need to protect it at all costs, even with our lives." A Platinum-class devil yelled out with an intent to warn his nearby comrades.
Zing!
Not long, the translucent light's formation was completed, and from its mosaic surface, emerged one-by-one tens of figures consisting of devils, vampires, minotaurs, trolls, and even humans.
Each and every one of these figures was extremely imposing and absolutely formidable.
Among them, one was particularly eye-catching.
It was a male vampire who was leading the others.
He had long, flowing dark raven hair, his pale skin was uncannily abnormal, looking very sickly in fact, his extremely handsome face was shrouded by a cold emotion, the red pupils in his eyes were really bright and feels mysterious.
Covering his slender but tall body was a complete set of exquisite silver armor, and written across its surface were several runes of unknown characters which were faintly glowing with golden light. Donned on his back was a cape with red blood color, fluttering grandly as the wind blows.
Among the new arrivals, this vampire had the most impressive presence. His raging pressures radiates mightily from his body, making the surrounding personnel be shivering and their hearts shook.
One devil steeled his mind and walks closer carefully.
"Welcome to Gaia, Your Excellency, Vampire King Lycidas." He greets in reverent while kneeling on the ground.
The Vampire King Lycidas did not reply, he instead sweeps his eyes around.
He saw the destructions that have been dealt to the fort and couldn't help but frown.
The damage around the fort could be said truly devastating as if a great battle had just been fought right here. He had received a report from Dalgorath mentioning the natives had mobilized a strong force to storm the island.
But Lycidas believed there would be no problem for the incursion force to repel it, even with his absence. After all, this incursion wasn't their side's first rodeo. They have done this kind of incursion more than a hundred times in the past, and in each incursion, the local people will always be annihilated at the end.
So he thought the natives of Gaia would not be so different from those they have conquered.
However, looking at the fort's condition and the casualties that were gathered nearby, it seems the natives' resistance was rather fierce.
A moment later, he finally shifted his attention to the kneeling devil.
"Where's Dalgorath and the rest?" He asked. His voice, while clear, emanating a commanding feeling that must be complied at once.
"Reporting, Your Excellency! The five lords are currently engaging the natives."
Hearing that, Lycidas hurriedly deployed his Martial Sense.
And he narrowed his eyes once he saw the situation in Dalgorath's position.
***
"Time's up, no more playing." Said Helena flatly, after sensing the invaders' reinforcement has arrived.
Since the person she had targeted has shown himself, she doesn't intend to sit around anymore.
"Playing around" with Dalgorath was actually just an unnecessary method to spent some empty time while she awaits the arrival of the enemy's Star-class ranker.
She had her own purpose to confront that particular ranker and defeat him so that it would give the invaders a heavy blow. Furthermore, she also intends to send a warning to the real mastermind behind the enemies by doing that action. Gaia was not a weak world where aliens can do everything as they please.
Besides, Helena wished to know the extent of her new Star-class cultivation. And in order to fully test it, she needs an opponent with comparable strength as her. Thus, the newly arrived Star-class ranker from the Vampire race has become her main target to practice.
Because of these reasons, she didn't try to destroy the teleportation device. She actually could have done it by herself, no need for an army or the like. But she refrained from doing it after she learned that a Star-class being was helming the incursion.
Instantly, using her fastest speed.
Helena appeared right in front of Dalgorath, who's showing a stupefied expression from seeing her suddenly emerged really close to him in a blink of an eye.
Without uttering a single word, she swung the Battle-Axe on her right hand…
Puchi!
And Dalgorath was decapitated cleanly!
Both his severed head and humongous body fell into the sea below.
With this, the Infernal Devil Lord no longer exists. He died by the hands of his opponent.
As a result of his death, the <<Infernal Flames Domain>> was deactivated, walls of black flames that were ragingly burning across the sky also disappeared without a trace.
Then, Helena shifted her attention back to the island, no longer care about her earlier "game."
'He's not alone… there are fifteen other rankers with him. Those people came from different races as well, even humans among them. They're truly an alliance, huh? And their overall strength… four Diamond-class while the rest are Titanium-class… This is interesting.' Spoke Helena inside her mind as she's assessing the enemy reinforcements.
She bit her lip in a playful manner and thought, 'Why don't I surprise them with a welcoming gift…'
Next, the dark clouds up in the sky grew even more thick and darker as Helena raised her Battle-Axe.
DUARRRR!!!
A massive purplish lightning descent once again, but the scale was incomparable to the ones she had summoned earlier. This time it was bigger and even more intimidating.
The heavenly lightning fell into Helena, shrouding her entirely under its fearsome radiance.
She no longer hides her power, unleashing it entirely for the whole world to witness.
Like a thunder goddess, Helena's appearance was truly divine, formidable, and spectacular! Everyone, whether the natives or the invaders, couldn't help themselves but marvel at the sight.
Once she feels the lightning already converges enough…
BOOM!!!
She immediately unleashed it with a swing of her Battle-Axe!
With inconceivable might and prowess, the heavenly lightning accelerates toward the island.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone