Chapter 122: Demon General Hosy I

Hosy carefully schooled his expression, unwilling to appear rattled before an enemy whose strength he had yet to gauge. His usual sinister smirk curled across his lips as he fixed his blood-red eyes on Zephyr, studying the human standing before him. When he finally spoke, his tone was almost nonchalant, as though the countless corpses scattered throughout the castle meant nothing to him.

Which, in truth, they did not.

They were merely servants, nothing more. Once he dealt with this human, he could always find more.

"Who are you?"

Zephyr offered no answer. Instead, he took a step forward, only to let out a cold chuckle when he sensed the Demon General instinctively stepping back. He could sense the dark mana gathering rapidly beneath the Demon General’s outward composure, coiling around his body as though he were preparing to launch a surprise attack.

Was this really the so-called all-powerful Demon General those victims had spoken of?

If so, Zephyr was really disappointed.

Still, he had no intention of granting the demon an easy death.

"It doesn’t matter who I am."

The moment the words left his mouth, Zephyr activated his Rebound Dome skill.

A barrier materialized around them, its familiar light spreading rapidly until it enclosed the entire grand hall. The sudden appearance of the dome caught Hosy off guard, and he nearly flinched. However, with Zephyr’s deep gray eyes seemingly directed straight at him, he forced himself to remain composed, unwilling to reveal how much the unexpected development had unsettled him.

What he didn’t know was that Zephyr couldn’t see him at all.

Nor did Zephyr care what expression he wore.

The only thing on Zephyr’s mind was killing him.

Meanwhile, Hosy continued gathering his power while secretly attempting to send a distress signal to the other Demon Generals. Something was terribly wrong with this human. Despite the pitifully weak aura radiating from him, the moment he activated that strange barrier, his entire presence seemed to change. An oppressive sense of dominance settled over the hall, pressing against Hosy’s instincts until, for the first time in a long while, he felt as though he were nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust standing before a far greater existence.

The only other person who had ever made him feel this insignificant was the Demon Lord!

Suppressing his unease, Hosy curled his lips into a mocking smile.

"Why did you kill my people? Are you one of those unfortunate bastards whose world I destroyed, and now you have come seeking revenge? Heh..."

He let out a derisive chuckle, apparently amused by the possibility.

"Then I must say, you have accomplished quite a lot compared to those who died crying and begging beneath my blade."

His gaze swept across the grand hall before returning to Zephyr.

"And this shield? Is this really the best you can do? You don’t seriously think it’ll be enough to protect you from me, do you?"

Zephyr had no patience for the demon’s pointless chatter.

Rather than waste another second listening to his nonsense, he clenched his fist and charged straight at him.

Hosy’s pupils contracted into narrow slits. He reacted almost instinctively, twisting his body aside as Zephyr’s fist tore through the air where his head had been a moment earlier. The sheer force behind the punch sent a violent gust sweeping past him, stirring his hair and clothes.

But Hosy was no ordinary demon. He had survived countless battles and risen to the rank of Demon General through his strength and cunning. His power was not something to be underestimated, and he had no intention of letting an unfamiliar opponent overwhelm him without a fight.

With a sharp snarl, he thrust his palm forward.

Dark mana surged from his hand, forming a series of jagged, crimson-black spears that shot toward Zephyr from several directions. At the same time, Hosy swept his other arm through the air, summoning a thick, shadowy chain that lashed toward Zephyr’s legs in an attempt to restrict his movements. The attacks came in rapid succession, leaving little room for an ordinary opponent to evade them.

Yet Zephyr moved through them with startling ease.

He tilted his head aside, shifted his weight, and slipped between the incoming spears as though he had already anticipated their trajectories. The shadowy chain snapped shut around empty air, while the crimson-black spears struck the floor and shattered, leaving deep fissures in the stone.

Hosy’s smirk faltered.

Before he could launch another attack, Zephyr was upon him again.

Hosy barely managed to conjure a shield of dark mana in front of himself. Zephyr’s fist slammed into it, sending a shockwave through the barrier. Cracks spread across its surface, and the shield shattered a moment later, forcing Hosy several steps backward. His boots scraped against the stone as he struggled to regain his balance, his expression darkening.

And then there was that power.

The eerie darkness gathered around Zephyr’s fist was unlike anything Hosy had encountered before. It was undoubtedly a form of mana, yet it bore no resemblance to the dark mana he wielded or any other power he recognized. Merely sensing it sent an inexplicable chill crawling down his spine, as though every instinct within him were screaming that he must not allow it to touch him.

For the first time, the thought of fighting this human in earnest seemed like a terrible idea.

Hosy needed more time. If he could stall Zephyr until his distress signal reached the other Demon Generals, he might still have a chance of turning the situation around.

With that in mind, Hosy forced a sneer onto his face.

"That was a rather pathetic attack."

Zephyr didn’t bother responding. He simply launched another punch, his voice cold and impatient.

"Cut the nonsense."

The fight continued. As they exchanged blow after blow, Hosy focused on avoiding the strange dark energy enveloping Zephyr’s fist, using his combat experience to anticipate each attack and evade it by the narrowest margin. He countered with swift slashes of dark mana, occasionally forming barriers to deflect Zephyr’s strikes and using sudden bursts of power to create distance between them.

Yet no matter how skillfully he fought, he couldn’t find an opening to turn the tables.

It was during one such exchange that Hosy began to notice something strange.

At first, he had assumed the human was simply too arrogant to bother following his movements with his eyes. But the longer they fought, the harder that explanation became to believe. Zephyr’s deep gray eyes never seemed to track him. Even when Hosy changed direction abruptly or attacked from an unexpected angle, Zephyr reacted with uncanny precision, as though he relied on something entirely different to perceive the world around him.

A chilling realization slowly dawned on Hosy.

This human was actually blind!

Before he could fully process the shocking discovery, Zephyr’s fist swept past him again. Hosy tried to conjure another shield, but he was a fraction of a second too slow. The dark energy surrounding Zephyr’s fist brushed against his arm.

A sharp, unbearable pain tore through Hosy’s nerves.

He staggered backward with a strangled cry, clutching his injured arm. When he looked down, his crimson eyes widened in disbelief. The flesh touched by that eerie power had simply vanished into nothingness. There was no gaping wound, no torn muscle, no bloodied flesh hanging from the edges. A portion of his arm had been erased as though it had never existed!

For the first time, genuine horror seized him.

Hosy stumbled farther back, only to find himself dangerously close to the barrier surrounding the grand hall. The realization that he had nowhere to escape sent a fresh wave of panic through him.

He stared at the impossible absence in his arm, his carefully maintained composure finally beginning to crack.

"What the hell is that dark skill?!"