Chapter 26: The Demons’ Secret

Chris and Azreon arrived above the enormous crater in the middle of the forest, moving quickly through the air. Looking down, Chris could see the demon leader still sitting in the center of the clearing, seemingly unaware that the two of them had already arrived.

He tightened his grip around his sword and glanced at the dragon beneath him.

"Let’s give it our all, buddy."

*ROAR!*

Azreon immediately folded his wings and dived toward the ground at incredible speed, opening his mouth as a massive stream of flames erupted toward the demon leader.

The demon raised its head, and the moment it saw the incoming attack, it jumped to the side with astonishing speed. The flames struck the ground where it had been sitting, creating a large explosion that sent rocks and dirt flying in every direction.

The demon landed several meters away and slowly raised its head.

Its bloodshot eyes met Chris’s.

*ROOOOOAR!*

A deafening roar escaped its mouth, and dark energy began gathering around its body, twisting and condensing as though preparing for a violent battle.

Chris didn’t hesitate. Jumping from Azreon’s back, he pointed his sword toward the demon’s chest and dived straight at it.

His speed had increased tremendously after evolving at Level 40 and further reaching Level 44, and he was confident that the demon wouldn’t be able to avoid all his attacks anymore.

However, just as his sword was about to reach its target, the demon jumped aside once again.

*BOOM!*

Chris struck the ground, creating a small crater beneath his feet. Without wasting a moment, he pushed himself forward and charged after the demon, swinging his sword toward its neck.

The demon leaned backward, narrowly avoiding the blade, but Chris immediately followed with another slash aimed at its ribs.

*Slash!*

The sword cut through the demon’s dark armor and left a deep wound across its side.

Before the demon could retaliate, Chris fired a fireball directly at its face. The explosion forced it to retreat, giving him enough time to close the distance and launch another series of attacks.

His sword moved rapidly, leaving cuts across the demon’s arms, chest, and legs. Although the demon managed to dodge most of the deeper strikes, it could no longer avoid every attack, and the number of wounds on its body continued to increase.

Azreon circled above them, repeatedly releasing streams of fire toward the battlefield. The flames were too slow to hit the demon directly, but they restricted its movements, forcing it to dodge toward the directions Chris wanted.

The combination worked surprisingly well.

Whenever the demon avoided the dragon’s flames, Chris was already waiting to attack from the direction it moved toward. When it tried to counterattack, he used his enhanced Agility to evade its strikes and immediately continued his assault.

The demon suddenly gathered dark energy around its back, forming another pair of arms.

The new limbs swung toward Chris from opposite directions, attempting to catch him between their attacks, but he twisted his body and slipped through the narrow opening between them before slashing at the demon’s shoulder.

*Slash!*

Another wound appeared.

Chris landed a short distance away before immediately charging again, refusing to give his opponent enough time to recover.

’This is going better than I expected. Just a little more...’

He had initially expected the demon leader to be much harder to deal with, especially considering how easily it had avoided Azreon’s attacks before. However, after distributing so many attribute points toward Agility, Chris was now fast enough to keep up with it.

He still couldn’t land a decisive blow, but the demon was gradually accumulating injuries while Chris had barely been touched.

If things continued this way, he might actually win without taking any serious damage.

Seeing another opening, Chris immediately accelerated, his sword pointed directly toward the demon’s chest.

The demon had just avoided one of Azreon’s fire streams, leaving its side exposed, and Chris intended to take advantage of the opportunity before it could move again.

His sword was only inches away from piercing its body when the demon suddenly opened its mouth.

*ROOOOOAR!*

A powerful pressure erupted from its entire body.

Chris’s eyes widened as the invisible force struck him, sending him flying backward before he could complete his attack.

He managed to twist his body in midair and land on his feet, but the force still pushed him several meters across the ground.

He raised his head, staring at the demon with a wary expression.

The demon stood upright, its body covered in wounds, while the dark energy around it continued to swirl.

Then, to Chris’s surprise, it began speaking.

"Filthy human! How dare you interfere with the demon race? Even if you kill me today, you and your entire human race will be erased from existence!"

Chris froze for a moment.

’It can speak my language?’

The fact that this one demon could communicate so clearly was unexpected.

"What do you mean?"

The demon let out an evil laugh, its bloodshot eyes fixed on Chris.

"Hehehehe! You don’t think this dungeon is the only place where demons remain, do you? Our race has been imprisoned within countless dungeons for hundreds of years, waiting for the day when our restraints finally weaken. Now, that day has come. Soon, we will break free from our prisons, and the demon race will dominate the world once again!"

Chris’s expression turned grim.

He had already suspected that the demons were attempting to escape through the space crack, but he hadn’t expected their existence to extend across many dungeons.

If even a fraction of them managed to escape, humanity could face a disaster unlike anything it had experienced in centuries.

"Then why are you telling me this?"

The demon laughed again, apparently amused by the question.

"What does it matter? Even if I die here today, I will bring you down with me! And once our king is released and recovers his strength, I will be reborn again!"

As soon as it finished speaking, the demon reached into its clothing and pulled out a dark pill.

Chris immediately felt something was wrong.

"Stop!"

The demon ignored him and swallowed the pill.

An ominous sensation spread through the crater, and the dark energy surrounding the demon suddenly surged.

Its body began to deform.

Chris stared in disbelief as its muscles expanded, its torso grew larger, and its limbs twisted into increasingly grotesque shapes. More arms emerged from its back, each one covered in dark energy, until the demon looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

Its body had nearly doubled in size, and the pressure radiating from it was far stronger than before.

Chris immediately activated the System.

[Demon - A-Rank - Level 53.]

The panel remained unchanged, but Chris could tell that the demon’s strength had increased dramatically.

Before he could consider what had happened, the demon lunged toward him.

Its speed was terrifying.

"Not good!"

Chris dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the first pair of arms, but several more immediately followed. One swung toward his head while another aimed for his stomach, forcing him to twist his body and retreat before he could even think about counterattacking.

The demon continued attacking without giving him a moment to breathe.

Chris tried to find an opening, but every time he approached, another pair of arms came swinging toward him. He could avoid the attacks thanks to his Agility, yet he couldn’t get close enough to land a strike.

Azreon attempted to support him from above, releasing repeated streams of fire, but the demon was now fast enough to dodge most of them without interrupting its assault.

The situation quickly became dangerous.

Chris continued dodging, occasionally launching a fireball or swinging his sword whenever an opening appeared, but none of his attacks could reach the demon before another arm forced him back.

After several more exchanges, Chris finally made his decision. He couldn’t keep fighting this way.

"Enough!"

Black scales spread across his body, covering his arms, chest, legs, and face as Dragon Scales activated at full strength.

The mana consumption was enormous, but Chris no longer intended to conserve it.

"Azreon! Attack with your claws!"

*ROOOAR!*

The dragon immediately changed direction and dived toward the demon.

Chris charged at the same time, moving at full speed with his sword held firmly in both hands. Neither of them attempted to evade the incoming attacks anymore. They intended to overwhelm the demon before it could wear them down.

The demon swung several arms toward Chris, striking his shoulders, chest, and sides.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

The attacks landed with tremendous force, but the dragon scales covering his body deflected their sharp claws, preventing them from tearing into his flesh.

Even so, the impact sent waves of pain through his entire body.

Chris gritted his teeth as deep scratches appeared across the scales, each strike feeling as though a heavy hammer had slammed into him.

’Just a little longer!’

He pushed forward, refusing to retreat despite the pain, and thrust his sword toward the demon’s abdomen.

The blade pierced its flesh.

At almost the same moment, Azreon descended from above and seized several of the demon’s arms with his claws.

*ROOOAR!*

The dragon tightened his grip and began tearing them away from the demon’s body.

The demon struggled violently, swinging its remaining arms toward Azreon, but the dragon’s powerful claws held it in place.

Chris pulled his sword free and stabbed again, this time aiming for the demon’s chest.

The demon roared and released another burst of air pressure, trying to force them away.

Chris felt the force slam into him, but he refused to let go of his sword, keeping his grip firm even as his feet slid across the ground. Azreon also held on, digging his claws deeper into the demon’s body.

"Die already!"

Chris pulled the sword out and stabbed again.

And again.

Every strike drained more of his strength, but he continued attacking while Azreon tore into the demon from above.

The demon’s movements became increasingly frantic as it struggled to free itself, yet neither Chris nor Azreon gave it the opportunity.

"Impossible!"

The demon roared, desperately trying to separate them with another burst of dark energy, but its injured body could no longer generate enough force to break their hold.

Chris raised his sword one final time and drove it into the demon’s chest.

The blade pierced deep, reaching its heart.

For a moment, the demon stopped moving.

Its bloodshot eyes stared directly at Chris, and the fury in them slowly gave way to disbelief.

"I... underestimated you, filthy human."

Its voice had become weaker, and dark energy began fading from its body.

"But I will return, and when I find you... I WILL..."

It never finished the sentence.

Azreon opened his enormous jaws and bit down on the demon’s head.

*RIIIP!*

With a violent pull, he tore the demon’s head from its shoulders.

The body finally went limp.

Chris withdrew his sword and staggered backward before dropping to one knee, panting heavily as the Dragon Scales covering his body began to disappear.

His entire body ached, and his breathing was ragged as he struggled to recover.

’That was close...’

He had been forced to keep Dragon Scales active for far too long, and the constant attacks had consumed much of his remaining strength. Although the scales had prevented the demon’s claws from penetrating his body, they hadn’t stopped the force of its blows from causing pain.

If the battle had continued for even a few more seconds, he might not have been able to maintain the skill any longer.

Fortunately, they had managed to kill the demon just in time.

Chris took several deep breaths before slowly standing up, his gaze moving toward the center of the crater.

The space crack was gone.

In its place, a portal had appeared, hovering above the ground exactly where the crack had stood only moments earlier.

Chris stared at it, still trying to catch his breath. He was stunned.

He hadn’t received any System message announcing that the dungeon had been cleared, nor had he received any rewards. Normally, defeating a dungeon boss would trigger the completion notification and grant the corresponding rewards, but this time, nothing had happened except the appearance of the portal.

’What’s going on?’

Chris slowly stood up and approached the demon’s severed head, wondering whether it might contain a Dungeon Boss Core.

Raising his sword, he struck the head and split it open, carefully inspecting what remained inside.

However, there was nothing.

The demon didn’t have a beast core like the other demons, nor could he find a Dungeon Boss Core anywhere inside its head.

Chris stared at the remains, his expression turning strange.

"What the..."