CHAPTER 460: DEMON OF RAGE

Lucy chuckled and stretched her arms. Lilith glanced in her direction while her form changed from the grotesque monster to her usual robed form.

"Thanks for the assist. I couldn’t have killed this Stellar on my own... By the way, I thought you couldn’t fly. But you’re clearly floating, how’re you doing that?"

Lilith’s face revealed no emotion other than a small, meaningless smile.

"I can’t fly. This isn’t my actual body, just an apparition I dreamed up. My physical form is currently travelling atop Alyrine with Adam protecting me."

A light laugh echoed from Lucy’s lips as she gazed into the ever-strengthening storm.

"I wonder how everybody else’s doing!"

Just as these words left the Reaper’s mouth, a gigantic explosion cleared the storm clouds in the area.

Both Lucy and Lilith gazed into its epicenter with wide eyes, as something truly unimaginable happened...

"Looks like we weren’t the only Transcended to kill a Stellar..."

...

—Half an hour ago, in a different part of the storm—

Blood ran down Leslie’s arm as the hold on his halberd became stronger. A low growl escaped his clenched jaw as his black eyes with red irises stared at his opponent.

A massive whitish-blue bird floated a hundred meters away. Each wingbeat caused the surrounding rain to freeze and conjoin into long spikes.

Leslie’s anger grew as he glanced down at himself. Through large gashes along his scaly black armor, the wounds given by his enemy welled with blood.

However, the bird wasn’t his only problem...

Leslie glanced at the festering wound on his back, where a large part of his armor, skin and muscles melted from another creature’s acid.

A long, bright green serpent with a pair of white bird-like wings flew a hundred meters behind his back.

These two Transcended caused Leslie serious headaches in the last few minutes. They double-teamed him with ease, using their powers in perfect tandem.

The more time passed, the more annoyed and angry Leslie got. For now, only that deep rage kept him alive.

He raised his black halberd and summoned dozens of glowing, bright-red flame orbs. His weapon also caught on fire, and with an intensifying growl, he flew towards the ice bird.

The bird aimed his ice spears right at Leslie, and while the Demon closed the distance, each one shot out, trying to impale him. However, the fiery orbs intercepted the spears, exploding them into melted fragments of ice.

Leslie’s growl turned into a loud shout of anger as he slashed at the ice bird with his halberd. Tendrils of flames danced around its dark metal surface, melting the pathetic ice shield the Transcended raised.

From this close, Leslie could see the fear in the bird’s large light blue eyes. They reflected the world they saw, and through the reflection, Leslie spotted something moving towards his back.

He halted the attack, his bat-like wings beating rapidly to increase his altitude... He wasn’t fast enough...

A gasp of pain echoed inside his helmet as the spit of acid melted his left foot. His gasp, however, soon turned into a hateful growl.

The red in his irises turned brighter and began glowing. His helmet disappeared, revealing the enraged expression of a true demon.

His long horns began glowing red, the same as his tail and wings. The fire on his halberd became brighter. The breastplate, arms, shoulders and lower leg armor also disappeared with the helmet.

The muscular body beneath the armor healed quickly. Even his left foot grew back, like the acid never burned it away.

The Demon’s glowing eyes turned towards the bird and the flying snake. His thoughts stayed clear, but a haze of red appeared in his vision, and he couldn’t help imagining tearing those Transcended apart.

With a loud roar, Leslie’s wings beat the air, propelling him towards the Transcended. The air exploded from his sudden speed, and his wings sent tongues of flames dancing through the air.

He held his halberd to the side, its blade burning brighter with every moment. The bird and flying snake attacked, shooting ice spears and acid at Leslie, but there was nothing left in the wake of his rage.

Another loud roar sent a shockwave that disturbed the incoming projectile. Afterward, the Demon breathed crimson fire, which burned away the acid and evaporated the ice.

Both Transcended looked shocked as all their attacks failed against the Demon. His rage propelled him through any danger until he reached his prey.

Leslie stopped a dozen meters before the Asians and slashed with his halberd. The fire condensed onto the blade’s tip and sent forward a giant explosion, killing both Transcended.

His flamethrower turned halberd continued to spew fire until nothing but ashes remained of both Asians. Their remnants soon fell into the dark abyss below.

The wind and rain disappeared for a few seconds, as the Demon’s shockwave and the crimson fire’s heat banished their existence.

The Demon growled with delight at his dead enemies. Sadly, he had little time to celebrate. His next opponent soon stepped out of a dense storm cloud.

A young girl, not even an adult, holding giant, human-sized scissors. She had no wings or appeared to use any abilities. She simply walked on the air.

A light chuckle echoed from her lips as she walked. Her long, flowing, light yellow dress barely reacted to the heavy winds of the storm. Same as her bright blonde hair, which she kept in pigtails.

From her looks, age and demeanor, nobody would’ve guessed how dangerous that little girl was. But when her void-black eyes landed on Leslie, he felt suffocated by their aura.

The girl was a powerful Stellar, capable of killing most Transcended with just one look.

Leslie’s entire body stopped responding to his commands. His airflow also stopped, as if someone had bound a rope tightly around his neck.

Strangely, he stayed floating in the air, without his wings moving at all. However, this only made the suffocation worse, since it felt like being hanged by the neck.

The Stellar’s chuckle increased as Leslie tried to control his body, but nothing seemed to work. His vision began darkening as he came close to losing consciousness.

Before losing consciousness, his last thoughts were... ’Will I really let a little girl kill me with just one look? Am I really that pathetic?’

Leslie blinked once and when he opened them again, nothing humane or particularly sane was left inside. The red irises burned brighter than ever.

The deep crimson color flowed through from his eyes, horns, tail and wings. His veins began glowing too, as his rage rose higher than ever before.

The Demon’s mouth opened, and a loud roar echoed through the storm. His hands grabbed something invisible tied around his neck, and pulled as hard as he could.

His muscles grew more enhanced and bulged from the heavy exertion. The glow deep within his eyes turned more prominent, which further empowered his body.

"Well, that’s unexpected. I put enough pressure on your neck to break it immediately. It seems I underestimated your power, since the rope will break in 3... 2... 1... Now."

The girl’s voice reached Leslie’s ear even through the heavy winds and constant sound of his blood pumping through his veins. However, he didn’t care for her words, and just when she said ’Now’ the invisible restraint broke.

He didn’t waste any time. The moment his body could move again, flames spread from his hands until the black, burning halberd reappeared.

Another loud roar echoed from his enraged face. His glowing crimson-red wings propelled him towards the young girl standing on air.

She grinned and chuckled at the Demon’s mad approach. Her small hands grasped the handles of her massive scissor and she aimed them at Leslie. The blades opened, and she cut the empty air once.

Leslie felt a shiver run down his spine just before the scissor blades snapped closed. Instinctively, he ducked away, abandoning the attack. He also raised the halberd between himself and the Stellar.

The scissors closed, their loud snap echoing through the storm. Leslie felt the danger approaching, and the next moment, his halberd’s metal shaft snapped in two.

The weapon dissolved soon after, leaving the Demon defenseless and confused. The young girl hadn’t moved, but her attack somehow reached Leslie, even after changing directions.

The Stellar’s grin widened as she opened the scissor’s blades again. After another light chuckle, her whitish-gold eyes focused on Leslie as she spoke.

"I didn’t expect you to survive that one either. How unfortunate, but it seems you’ve lost your weapon... What will defend you this time, I wonder?"

Before the Demon could’ve reacted, the Stellar snapped her scissors in quick succession. As their sound echoed, an incredibly powerful wave of pain washed over Leslie’s body.

With wide eyes, he watched as both his arms separated from his body and fell towards the darkness below.

Blood poured from his shoulders, and through the pain, his rage grew, until he couldn’t hear anything but screams... His own screams of fury!

His eyes glowed even brighter until they eventually burst into crimson flames. The dark red fire moved through his veins, igniting his tail, horns and wings aflame too.

From the empty sockets of his shoulders, tendrils of flames grew out towards his falling arms. They caught up with ease and pulled both appendages back into their place.

The flesh mended itself, and soon his arms became functional once more.

The rage continued pumping through the Demon’s veins. His burning eyes focused on his new prey, and staring into them, a small shiver went down the Stellar’s spine.