Chapter 629: Dream Manipulation: Revelation

Without hesitation, Malachi formed a seal with both hands. Demonic energy surged through his body, and his skin gradually took on the color of sand. Fine cracks spread across his arms, neck, and face before his body began to disintegrate into countless particles.

Sand spread across the room, spreading through the corridor and slipping beneath the doors. Within seconds, the entire passage was filled with countless particles, each suspended in the air or scattered across the stone tiles. They drifted around the pillars, clung to the walls, and settled over the staircase, forming an invisible network that covered every corner of the battlefield.

Shin remained at the center of the corridor, his hand resting on the funeral lamp.

Zepar watched the strange phenomenon without moving. The Duke had expected the two disciples to attack him directly, perhaps hoping to overwhelm him through numbers. Instead, one had dispersed his body while the other prepared some unknown weapon.

Malachi’s choice was not without reason.

By spreading his sand throughout the corridor, he could detect disturbances whenever something made contact with the particles. Even if Zepar succeeded in deceiving his senses, the sand would still respond to the physical presence of the real body. A false image might fool his eyes, but it could not easily fool the countless particles scattered around them.

Zepar’s gaze drifted across the corridor. His expression was hidden beneath his hood, but the slight frown forming beneath the fabric was unmistakable.

Then he turned his attention toward the spot where Malachi had stood.

A fledgling demon had no bloodline ability to rely on in the first place. Most fledglings were barely capable of controlling their demonic energy. Yet this one was using the bloodline power of the Dijin race.

The Duke’s eyes narrowed.

Don’t tell me that human took in this fledgling as his disciple as well...

He clicked his tongue beneath his hood.

"Tsk... Tsk... Tsk... What a waste of resources," Duke Zepar hissed, shaking his head.

To him, the decision was absurd. A Prince who intended to become Demon Lord should have invested his resources in powerful demons, bloodline heirs, and individuals with the potential to become demigods. Training a fledgling was already a questionable investment. Giving one access to the techniques of another race was worse.

Damian’s choices continued to defy common sense.

Shin stepped forward before Zepar could say anything more. He extended his hand, and a funeral lamp materialized in his grasp. Its dark frame appeared ancient, its surface covered in strange markings that seemed to shift whenever the light touched them.

He swung it and a deafening bell rang through the corridor.

Zepar jerked backward. His gaze locked onto the funeral lamp, and for the first time, the amusement in his posture disappeared.

"The Damika clan..." he muttered. "If I had my way, your type would be eradicated from the face of the realm."

Without warning, the Duke lunged forward.

His body shot through the corridor, the hem of his cloak snapping behind him. He crossed the distance with startling speed, moving directly toward Shin as though he intended to cut him down before the funeral lamp could ring again.

Shin did not retreat. He raised the lamp, and its bell rang a second time.

Damika Clan: Soul Eater!

The corridor trembled as a massive mound of flesh surged out from the darkness, its grotesque body dragging across the floor as it rushed toward Zepar. It possessed no eyes, only a gaping mouth lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its flesh rippled with every movement, and the sound of its approach resembled a hundred wet footsteps striking the stone at once.

The Soul Eater opened its mouth and released a deafening cry.

Zepar did not slow down.

At the last moment, he twisted his body and moved upside down, slipping beneath the creature’s enormous bulk. His cloak caught against its flesh, and the sudden movement threw the fabric from his head.

For the first time, his face was exposed.

He wore crimson armor that covered his body from neck to ankle, each plate fitted tightly together and engraved with dark patterns. His helmet was the most unsettling part of his appearance. Its curved design gave him the look of someone perpetually smiling, even though no trace of amusement could be seen in the eyes behind its narrow openings.

His hand flashed and a crimson scythe materialized in his grasp, its curved blade gleaming with a sinister light.

Zepar swung once and the blade passed through the Soul Eater’s enormous body.

The creature split cleanly in two.

Its upper half slid away from its lower body, and a tremendous cry erupted from its mouth. The sound shook the corridor, rattling the windows and sending cracks racing through the nearest wall. Its severed flesh writhed against the floor before beginning to dissolve into dark spiritual energy.

Shin’s body jerked backward.

He had known Zepar was dangerous, but the ease with which the Duke had destroyed the Soul Eater was beyond his expectations.

The Duke landed lightly on the floor and turned his helmet toward Shin.

"Is that all?"

Malachi was already moving. A dark array spread him and his voice rang out from every direction.

"Demonic Array: Dark Rose!"

The floor ruptured.

Black vines erupted from the array and surged toward Zepar from every direction, filling the corridor until there was barely enough room to move.

Zepar did not hesitate. He brandished his scythe and charged.

The crimson blade flashed repeatedly as he bulldozed his way through the vines. Every swing severed dozens of tendrils, sending fragments of black vegetation flying across the corridor. Red thorns struck his armor and shattered, unable to penetrate the protective plates.

Within seconds, he had cut through the first wave.

More vines rose from the floor, attempting to bind his legs and arms, but Zepar tore through them with brutal efficiency. He twisted beneath one tendril, cleaved another in half, and used the momentum of his next swing to destroy the mass blocking his path.

His advance never slowed.

Zepar emerged from the final mass of black vines and reached Malachi in an instant. His scythe rose above his head, its crimson blade poised to descend.

Then he noticed something.

Shin was gone.

The Duke’s weapon stopped in midair. His helmet tilted slightly as he scanned the corridor. The funeral lamp was nowhere to be seen, and the spot where Shin had stood was empty.

Zepar’s eyes narrowed behind the helmet. He had been watching the boy closely enough to follow his movements.

So how had he disappeared?

His gaze shifted toward the window beside him.

The glass had been shattered!

Zepar’s eyes twitched. Before he could turn fully toward the opening, a crash erupted from the opposite side of the corridor.

KRASH!

A distant window shattered.

Shin shot through the opening and into the room beyond, his body twisting in midair as he landed. Kaiku was already unsheathed in his hand, its blade engulfed in white flames tainted with crimson blood. The fire coiled around the weapon, burning with an eerie intensity that made the surrounding shadows recoil.

Shin’s voice thundered through the room.

"TAINTED SAMSARA!" He stabbed forward.

A violent torrent of tainted Samsara flames erupted from Kaiku, sweeping across the room in a roaring wave. The white fire carried the purifying force of Samsara, while the crimson taint twisted its nature into something far more vicious. The flames surged toward Zepar with enough force to consume the remaining vines and scorch the walls.

Zepar immediately spun around.

His scythe whirled in his grasp, moving so quickly that the crimson blade became a spinning wheel. Demonic energy enveloped the weapon, forming a circular barrier around him.

The tainted Samsara struck and the flames split apart.

Instead of overwhelming Zepar, the torrent was diverted in several directions by the spinning scythe. Streams of white and crimson fire crashed into the walls, tore across the ceiling, and burned through the remaining vegetation. The room filled with scorching light as the redirected flames spread around the Duke.

But Shin’s attack had never been intended to finish him. It was meant to occupy his attention.

Malachi’s immediately moved with Weeping Tom in his hand, its narrow blade aimed at the gap beneath the Duke’s armpit.

Zepar sensed the movement and glanced over his shoulder. But it was already too late, Malachi had already crossed the distance.

The dagger slipped between two plates of crimson armor and cut into the exposed flesh beneath them.

"BRAT!"

Zepar roared and a tremendous shockwave erupted from his body.

The force swept through the room, blowing away the tainted Samsara flames and tearing the remaining vines from the walls. Malachi was struck squarely by the blast and hurled backward. His body crashed into the opposite wall hard enough to crack the stone before he slid to the floor.

Shin was thrown sideways, his body tumbling through the air as the force of the shockwave carried him away from the Duke. The flames around Kaiku flickered violently before dispersing into scattered embers.

For several seconds, the room was filled with dust and drifting smoke.

Zepar stood at its center, his scythe clenched tightly in his hand. His breathing had grown heavier, and his eyes burned with murderous rage behind the helmet.

"I’m going to tear you apart!" He roared

Malachi coughed as he pushed himself upright. Pain spread through his back, but he ignored it. Instead, he lowered his gaze toward Weeping Tom, which he still held in his hand.

A thin string of blood clung to the tip of the dagger and a small smile appeared on his face.

That was enough.

Weeping Tom did not need to inflict a deep wound. It only needed to scratch its target. Once the blade drew blood, its haunting effect would begin to take hold, invading the victim’s mind and subjecting them to a torment that could be far more devastating than any physical injury.

The Duke’s expression abruptly changed. He staggered backward, his free hand flying to his head. A sharp pain pierced his skull, so sudden and intense that his grip on the scythe faltered.

"What...?"

His body grew warm.

At first, the sensation was mild, like standing too close to a fire. Then the warmth intensified, spreading through his chest and limbs until it became unbearable. Heat crawled beneath his armor, and the air around him seemed to thicken.

Then came the screams.

Voices filled his head, overlapping and multiplying until he could no longer distinguish one from another. Men and women cried out in agony. Children screamed for help. The sounds came from every direction, yet none of the people making them were visible.

Images followed.

Figures stood before him, their bodies engulfed in white flames. Their skin burned away as they reached toward him, their faces twisted in terror. Some clawed at their own bodies while others staggered blindly through the fire, screaming until their voices broke.

Zepar recoiled. He tried to turn away, but the images followed him. Wherever he looked, more victims appeared, their burning bodies crowding his vision. Their screams grew louder, filling his skull until the pain became unbearable.

He clutched his head with both hands.

"Get away from me!"

The fire seemed to spread beneath his skin.

He tore at the plates of his armor, ripping them from his shoulders and chest as though removing them would free him from the burning torment. His movements became frantic, his scythe slipping from its defensive position as he staggered across the room.

The crimson armor struck the floor with a series of heavy clanks.

"Stop! Stop it!"

Malachi forced himself to stand. His smile disappeared as he saw Zepar’s condition, replaced by the grim focus of someone who knew the opportunity would not last forever.

"End it!" he roared.

Shin responded immediately. He crossed the distance in mere seconds, Kaiku burning in his grasp. The Duke was still clawing at his own armor when Shin reached him.

His blade flashed and Zepar’s head spun into the air.

Terror and disbelief remained frozen in his eyes as the severed head rose above his body. For an instant, the scene seemed almost unreal. The Duke of the Night, a demon whose reputation had inspired fear across the Underworld, had fallen to the coordinated attacks of two young disciples.

Then time stopped.

The falling head hung motionless in the air. The embers drifting around the room froze in place, and the dust suspended above the shattered floor became still.

A thin fracture appeared across the room.

It spread through the walls, the floor, and the suspended fragments of armor. More cracks followed, branching across the scene like fractures in a sheet of glass.

In the next instant, everything shattered.

The burning room, the severed head, the scattered armor, and the blood staining the floor dissolved into countless fragments before vanishing altogether.

Shin found himself standing in the original corridor. Kaiku remained in his hand, its blade still sheathed in its scabbard.

Malachi stood beside him, his body intact, while the sand particles continued drifting through the air.

Across from them, Duke Zepar stood beneath his hood. Not a single scratch marked his body and the crimson scythe was nowhere to be seen.

It felt like the exchange never happened in the first place!