Free Web NovelChapter 742: Showdown Devil VS Demon (part 14)
As if he could read Marcus’s mind, Daimon casually said.
"That’s what happens when you treat those loyal to you as disposable pawns", the lioness actually had the spirit to truly follow Marcus, whether to repay him for having freed her from the cycle of the blood prison realm or because he is strong and has many "miraculous" means.
However, the very first thing she saw was Marcus sacrificing his subordinates to strengthen his favorites among which there were some who weren’t as strong as the one they were sacrificed for, so she hesitated to reveal her full capacities, she wasn’t dumb after all, still kept working for him dutifully.
It was only until her fight with Dana that she realized that despite the loyalty and efficiency she has shown, she was nothing but a backup for the snake in Marcus’s mind from the very beginning.
"Nonsense, I was the one who granted her power, her life should belong to me and she should be grateful to use it for my sake!", retorted Marcus to which Daimon snorted in response.
"Well, it’s not like I expected much from a piece of trash on Adam’s level, let’s see where does that lead you to".
Back to the fight, having shot down the snake from the sky, the lioness whose body had gathered that black energy with white spots, finally revealed the real identity of her original affinity.
"Black Sky, Firmament Wings", the symbol on the fourth segment of the scorpion tail shone in the energy of the lioness, first and formal wings sprouted on her own body’s back, like previously stated Daimon only helped her condense the tail of the manifestation, the wings were added by the lioness herself.
Speaking of which, the wings of the manticore’s manifestation which were originally composed of Ariana’s energy, dyed black but it only lasted for a second before countless small white spots illuminated them, they looked exactly the same as the ones that sprouted out of the lioness’s back, this was her original self’s affinity, star mana, well it is star energy as of current.
’No wonder she obtained shadow affinity temporarily, it’s also a variation of darkness and it’s related to space, she probably lost her light affinity upon becoming a blood specter and had that missing spot filled with more space affinity which gave result to shadow’, thought Daimon as he saw the beautiful wings of the lioness.
"Well, that explains why the expression of her energy are wings and why you couldn’t bring out her true potential, she is not someone who can grow in captivity, freedom is a requirement for her growth", added Daimon.
Also, he now confirmed why the little tiger girl and the lioness clicked so well, leaving personal feelings aside, the ancestor that differentiated Dana’s family branch from the main Jolbaris’s family, was a Star Lioness according to Leena.
The lioness’s original self wasn’t a Star Lioness, because if that was the case, her wings and fur would have been bright white and dark yellow colored, but she was probably a Black Firmament Lioness, which is a sister race of the Star Lioness race, similar to the case of the dolphin sisters Anette and Mellie with Lyn, their races had an ancestor of origin in common.
Amusingly enough, the star lioness race has a tamer personality when compared to the firmament lioness race, however Dana has also storm tiger blood which makes her rather fierce, resulting in the little tiger girl being closer to the lioness, personality wise.
The moment those wings appeared on the lioness’s back, the snake felt a huge sensation of dread invade him.
"Black Devil Ice Mountain Seal!", with a loud shout the black water sea and the rock seabed surged with devil mana, encasing the snake into a giant black ice block which was then reinforced with rocks.
The wings of the lioness shone in a combination of black light and the wings of the manifestation did the same, darkness shaped like wings covered everything within five hundred meters around the lioness before dozens of white energy projectiles emerged from the lioness’s wings descending upon the snake.
"Boooom!", a white blinding light engulfed the battlefield for a second, it was only a single round of attacks and that wasn’t a spell, it was just an attack derived from the energy that had gathered on the lioness’s wings.
"Cough!", the dust settled a second later revealing the sight of the snake whose defensive spell was mostly destroyed, there was blood coming from the mouth of the snake, he had managed to block the attack but was still hurt.
’H-Had I not used a defensive spell that attack would have blasted holes all over my body!’, screamed the snake in his heart.
Looking down upon the snake from above, the lioness had a fierce glint flash through her eyes, black energy with bright white spots radiated out of her body, making the snake turn to see Marcus who was in the middle of clashing with Daimon.
"Master!", clearly, he knew that if he was hit by a proper technique from the lioness, he would lose half of his life, in his current state.
"Damn it!", angered, Marcus made the domain surge with shadow mana creating a veil to block Daimon, while he pointed his right hand towards the lioness’s battlefield.
"Let me show you what you missed for daring to hide things from...", Marcus who was in the middle of his speech stopped midway as he saw the manticore’s tail pierce through the remaining defensive spell of the snake, directly blasting a hole in its body.
"I wanted to tell you since the moment we met, you talk too much", said the lioness to Marcus as she then used a motion return to make the manticore’s tail rip the body of the snake in half.
"Aghhh!", naturally having his body split in half made the snake scream due to pain, he didn’t die though, as to why the lioness didn’t aim for the head nor go for the kill, that’s because she could tell that the snake had a life-saving mean in his body, so her attack would have been nullified if it was a lethal one.
"Page 14, Black Devil Contract, Forbidden Bloodline Temple Hell!", though burning with hatred on the inside, Marcus didn’t dare to waste even a single second afraid that the lioness would attack the snake again, though the snake wouldn’t die so easily, it would cost him more mana to patch him up the more damaged he was.
With Marcus’s words, a black blood ancient looking building with countless snake stone engravings on its walls raised behind the snake, the stone snake engravings had a red blood viscous liquid flood out of their mouths and eyes, forming a two-hundred-meter sized sea of blood which was absorbed by the snake the next second.
One could smell the scent of blood in the air and see the resentment on the expressions of the stone engravings, lots of snake type magic beasts had been caught and slaughtered to condense this hellscape in particular all for the sake of the snake.
"Clang!", the lioness naturally didn’t silently wait for the enemy to power up, she used the tail of the manticore’s manifestation to attack the snake but her attack was stopped by a red blood barrier produced by the forbidden bloodline temple hell, it was a barrier like the ones from the altar spells, specialized in preventing the enemy from interrupting important processes.
Apparently this hellscape didn’t have a proxy, it was created by Marcus exclusively to support the snake, which is understandable as he treated the snake as his ultimate helper, to the point that he considered the lioness as a shadow for him, if the snake was to be in danger she was to sacrifice herself to help him, of course this was done in secret and the lioness only learned it during her fight with Dana.
This was the hellscape created with the sacrifices from the guys that fought Arianna by the way, the two guys who used the altars to return to their origin as magic beast descendants in a try to gain power enough to rival the werewolf girl’s giant wolf manifestation.
"Humph!", the lioness coldly snorted, black mana with bright white spots radiated out of her body and was absorbed by her wings freēwebnovel.com
"Hissss!", with a loud hiss, the snake which still had some slight trauma from having its body ripped in half by the lioness, accelerated the process, the two halves of the snake joined back together, blood dripped out of his scales which then fell off and new way sturdier looking ones grew onto its body.
But that wasn’t the most important change, contrary to before the snake shrank up to 75 meters so it was now on equal standing with the manticore manifestation that enveloped the lioness, but at the same time his body suffered two important changes.
First the sturdier looking scales which formed a dark brown, black and dark blue pattern, then the second major change is that he now had horns and a pair of arms on his upper body, only a pair though so its hind body was still the tail of a snake.
’Damn it, I had my subordinates capture dozens of thousands of snake race magic beast but it was still not enough to push him to the next level, whatever, he still recovered his original race so that should be enough’, thought Marcus, only for his expression to turn unsightly the next second.
"Boooom!", the domain who was stalling Daimon was suddenly sent flying by a giant lightning clad fist.
"A failed dragon you want a half-baked product to suppress that lioness, are you out of your mind?", mockingly said Daimon.
Dragons are indeed among the strongest magic beasts, what’s more they are one of the most mysterious races because unlike most, there are many races that can evolve into dragons, worms, centipedes, snakes, even some fish races are said to be able to turn into dragons if they reach a certain point in terms of bloodline purity.
So, they are both one of the noblest races among magic beast and at the same time one of the most "accessible" ones, however there is a trick here, becoming a real member of the dragon race is incredibly hard, in fact it would be easier for a magic beast to reach the realm that the megalodon general had reached than becoming a true dragon.
Most end up burning all their potential just to reach a half-baked state like the one the snake is in, meaning that in their lives they won’t be able to advance ever again, not to mention that due to changing races they lose all the inheritance that is codified in their bloodline, left behind by their ancestors.
So, only two types of magic beasts attempt this kind of transformation, those that have no other option due to a variety of reasons and those who descend from real dragon races and are simply returning to their origin.
Of course, exceptions do exist, after all in countless years there are geniuses bound to appear within magic beast races, so there are some who ascend to become real dragons from normal magic beasts without burning their potential, but we are talking about really rare cases.
And that snake having only two arms each with only three claws on each is obviously not one of said cases, a member of the dragon race must have four limbs and five claws to be considered a real dragon and even then, there are levels among them and more traits to be obtained, but let’s not go too deep into that.
How does Daimon know all this you might wonder, it’s simple, he has a dragon-related lineage, the Dracolevia lineage to be more accurate, though he doesn’t know what level of dragon it is because to the date he hasn’t seen its real appearance, back at Draim where he could manifest it, it presented itself as a black water tsunami from which a pair of eyes could been only, after all.
However, he isn’t too obsessed with it, dragons are indeed strong but they aren’t let alone the strongest but there is actually no strongest magic beast race.
Take the empress for example, as a descendant from a snake race herself, she could take the path of transforming her race into a dragon, however she chose not to do so, she is proud of her ascendence though she isn’t exactly fond of Thalia who is technically half her ancestor.
Contrary to what one would believe, for the real strong people the owner is more important than the lineage, take the lioness for example, even without her original lineage she was able to bring the little tiger girl to the limit.
Speaking of the lioness, the moment the snake took that half-transformed shape, the fierceness in the lioness eyes shot through the roof, it took her a second but a memory came to her mind.
"I remember you, you were the worm that sold us out to those damn bastards", she said with burning hatred in her voice, for a change the lioness actually lost her temper for a second.
This surprised not only the snake but even Daimon, the lioness in front of him was created through the sacrifice made by Reyna, in other words she was created with the flesh body that she had obtained after she stopped being a blood specter, which is why she returned to an incorporeal state after joining Dana, though she wasn’t a blood specter anymore, she was free.
It was a similar situation to what the Lords faced, their empty husks developed a new consciousness and became independent from their original selves, that being said this lioness didn’t have Reyna’s memories, otherwise she would have betrayed Marcus way before she did due to Reyna’s relationship with Dana, instead of being convinced because Daimon freed her after Marcus had discarded her like a broken pawn.
’Her original self must have loathed the original snake so much that her hatred seeped into her lineage and was passed down just by the memories stored in her body, she really didn’t want to forget this betrayal’, thought Daimon.
He was right, Reyna lost many things upon being killed and resurrected as a blood specter through the years, including her own name and race, all so that she wouldn’t forget two things, her personality and the object of her hatred, namely the Lords and the snake that caused the magic beast races to fall and become cannon fodder for them.
"W-Worm, how dare you, if it wasn’t for the limited resources and the constant fights between magic beasts, I would have become a real dragon!", shouted the snake, the lioness words had hit a sore spot.
"A magic beast without a backbone is nothing but a disgrace, a coward who sold himself and the races he was supposed to watch over just to save his hide, it’s no wonder that you failed your transformation, but even if that wouldn’t have been the case so what, you and a hundred of those corrupted guys were no match for me back then", said the lioness with a majestic voice.
It’s obvious that the lioness had survived the final battle, otherwise she wouldn’t have become a blood specter.
"What did you say!", Marcus who was listening to this for the first time, nearly lost it on the spot, the snake hadn’t told him about this, otherwise would he have chosen him over the lioness, hell, no, in fact for a change he would have chosen to actually nurture a subordinate for the long run rather than just using it.
She was probably the strongest magic beast among the natives of this area where the northern sea and the nethereals had their ultimate battle, after all, many ants can bite off an elephant to death, this was seen in the four galaxies where many peak Arch ranks besieged the magus emperor ultimately killing him.
Yet, the lioness facing an opponent likely at the same realm as her, which Daimon assumed to be the Stellar realm, coupled with a hundred nether corroded peak Arch rank magic beasts, couldn’t kill her, she was a really fierce lioness.
You must know that the further one goes in the path of power, the harder the requirements to win a battle against multiple enemies, of course there are conditions, even if dozens of thousands of Stellar ranks were to fight someone like the megalodon general at his prime, they wouldn’t last even a second, however when there is just one or even two realms of difference, numbers are still able to change the tide.
That’s why beings like the so called "Arcanist" who alone is said to have pushed the whole nethereal kingdom to despair while being at the same realm as their upper echelon powerhouses, are so frightening because that is not a feat that normal people can achieve.
"Black Sky, Star Fall", with burning fighting spirit, the lioness’s wings exploded in black mana with white bright spots, which was then shot upwards to then descend in the form of multiple pillars of light.
"Black Devil Dragon Ascension!", the snake, or well dragon as of current, also radiated tri-colored light, his body was clad in black, blue and brown mana as he soared upwards, meeting the descending pillars of light shot by the lioness.
The reasoning behind the previous was simple, the snake was shot down from the sky and dragons all can fly, therefore he couldn’t stand having to look at his enemy from below while sliding on the ground... like a snake.
"Booooom!", both attacks met midway and a giant explosion followed by an energy cloud engulfing everything in the vicinity was the result, unfortunately Marcus had no time to look at who had come out ahead of the first clash between the snake and the lioness, because Daimon had charged towards him.
"I believe it’s time we get serious, you only have one hellscape left after all, Storm Breaking Palm", said Daimon as he pointed his right hand at Marcus who felt danger invade his mind.
"Black Devil Hell Palm!", with urgency in his voice, Marcus answered with his own spell, creating a black burning mana hand that tried to stop Daimon’s lightning clad mana hand which seemed like the one he has used before.
Unfortunately, the result was completely different than before, Marcus’s spell was instantly destroyed upon contact and Daimon’s attack reached the devil ruler system user the next second.
"Black Devil Shadow Barrier!", the domain which had returned after being flung away by Daimon, casted a defensive spell on Marcus while also opening the entrance to the shadow realm.
"Crack!", the barrier exploded almost on the spot, however the impact and the resulting energy explosion was indeed nullified, which saved Marcus from being turned into a charred crisp.
"You got stronger again you fucking bastard, why, you aren’t using a new energy!", screamed Marcus, he misjudged the previous attack thinking he could cancel it with his own like he did with the lightning suppressing palm, but his spell was obliterated and the domain’s defense coupled with its ability to send attacks to the shadow realm was barely enough to save him from losing at least an arm.
"You can only blame yourself for being too good at pissing people off", jokingly said Daimon, he had just met the conditions for a new type of energy, which was different than the ones he had gained previously, this one could only be used internally and its function was both strong and simple, it could multiply the strength of his attacks.
