CHAPTER 478: BREAKING THE RED MIST PT. 3

Roland knew there was only one path to victory: kill this demon general who called himself Kazurel, all while fending off the swarm of demons piling around them and avoiding his mana being drained.

It was going to be hard, but there was no turning back. At least he had what he wanted: a true battlefield with countless demons, a general in his sights, and more than enough mana to spare. On top of that, Norelli and Elios were working with him. With those two at his side, this fight could be won. All he had to do was play his part.

He began with pure melee. Kazurel did not look as overwhelmingly strong as the generals before him. Yes, this brute could drain his mana, but compared to Arnak, who had towered over Roland with raw strength, this one seemed more manageable.

Rolling to the side, Roland narrowly avoided the downward sweep of Kazurel’s massive axe. In the same motion, his dual blades flashed, cleaving through several demons’ necks in a single strike. His new strength as an Eclipse Paladin surged through every movement, letting him cut through armored foes as though his blades were slicing through butter.

He felt different now, stronger, heavier, yet faster. His body had stretched into a lean, towering form, easily one hundred eighty-eight centimeters or more, broad and solid without sacrificing speed. Every strike carried lethal precision.

Roland had long since stopped counting the dead. His only satisfaction came from watching Kazurel himself grow wearier as time passed.

"Did I hear wrong?" Roland called out, his voice sharp over the clash of steel. "Did you not say this was going to be easy? That I was nothing? Then why do you let me slaughter your troops? Is this the mark of a demon general?"

His words cut deeper than his blades.

Roland knew that provoking his enemy’s pride was the best way to make them falter. But even as he taunted Kazurel, his focus never wavered from the bigger picture. Two vampire nobles circled nearby, and Velistra, the other demon general, was watching closely, calculating her next move.

"Kazurel, stop playing and get back, we need to work together here!"

The demon who spoke had skin tinted a faint purple, her appearance closer to a succubus than the blue-skinned demons Roland had seen before. Her wings sat lower on her back than those of a vampire, yet it was clear she was something different altogether.

"What, are you going to listen to your wife and stop playing with me, trash?" Roland shot back.

He was doing his best to get on their nerves, trying to edge both demons at the same time. He noticed the female demon falter, her composure slipping for a heartbeat as if his jab had landed. She even tried to step forward, clearly tempted to enter the fray herself.

The two vampires, however, stood apart. Their expressions showed only disdain, as though the entire clash was beneath them. Still, Roland knew better. They were planning something. He could already imagine them turning the nearby demons into fledgling vampires to strengthen their side.

He was tired of Kazurel’s endless axe swings. The general might have a way to drain his mana, but Roland had no intention of wasting more time.

He wanted at least one of the others dead.

They did not know his secret, that he could not summon wings. Even if running was slower, he hoped it would be enough to catch one of the vampires off guard.

Which one to strike first, though, was the question.

The male vampire looked far deadlier than anyone else present, his gaze calculating as if he was playing chess.

Roland could tell he had lived countless years, maybe thousands, possibly.

His partner, though, carried an allure that was dangerously distracting. Yet Roland’s instincts screamed at him. Beneath her charm lay something venomous, like a serpent coiled to strike or a spider weaving a trap. He could not shake the warning that stepping too close to her would cost him dearly.

As for the other demon, she looked weaker.

The succubus had the beauty of her kind, but Roland could sense the magical aura around her.

Attacking her might have been the best option, yet it carried its own risks.

By now, the demons had ways to wield magic, even if not directly through the spirits, and this one seemed prepared with something hidden for anyone reckless enough to strike at her.

Roland sighed, already knowing the choice would hurt. Instead, he set his sights on the vampire woman.

At least twenty demons and fledgling vampires stood between them. To reach her, he would have to carve a path first.

He slashed to the side, cutting through claws and blades, his movements swift enough to keep Kazurel’s axe from connecting.

Every step forward had to remain subtle.

The demons could not realize his plan. Everything unfolded within seconds, and he had no room to hesitate.

Then he acted.

Roland hurled his sword, wreathed in darkness, straight at the succubus general. The sudden strike drew every eye. Kazurel, Velistra, and the vampires all reacted at once.

It was exactly what Roland wanted.

The succubus had captured at least part of her two companions’ attention, but more importantly, the male vampire’s sharp gaze flicked her way before he began to move.

This was the opportunity Roland had been waiting for. As the others moved to protect the succubus, he shifted his focus, drawing on the second blade in his grasp and flooding it with light.

With a burst of strength, he leaped high into the air, ignoring the swarm of demons clawing up at him, and flew straight toward the vampire called Dravienne. Her pale skin and silvery-white hair framed a beauty that might have enchanted others, but not Roland. He already had Stella, and to him she outshone any false allure. As she rose to her place as a Seraphic Warden, there was no way he would ever let a vampire tempt him.

Dravienne raised her bone-carved staff, her lips curving into a sinister smile. But her spellcraft meant nothing against Roland’s blade, blazing with light. His strike sheared through the staff as though it were rotten wood, then cleaved through her body in a single arc.

The three generals, who had rushed to shield Velistra from his thrown darkness blade, could only turn in time to see one of their own split apart within seconds.

Roland landed, eyes cold. He had expected more resistance from one who had lived so long, but Elios’s guidance and his newly ascended form gave him every advantage.

"Sorry," Roland muttered with a smirk. "That makes three of you who fell for that. Don’t worry, you’ll meet the same end."

He prepared to launch himself toward the next foe when a sudden burst of noxious gas exploded beside him.

The stench burned his throat, and shadows writhed in its fumes.

Roland reacted instantly, conjuring a barrier around himself before the miasma could pierce his lungs. As the smoke thinned, his gaze snapped back to where Dravienne’s corpse had fallen.

What he saw made his grip tighten on his swords. The vampire’s bisected body writhed and warped, flesh knitting into grotesque shapes, her form already beginning to reform.

"Damn it, guess it wasn’t enough!" Roland snarled. He refused to let this abomination reform.

Channeling his mana, he raised his blade and cast Eclipse Edge.

The weapon flared with both darkness and light, coiling together in perfect balance.

He brought it down in a decisive strike against the writhing vampire. Dravienne shrieked as the blade tore through her unstable form, her body convulsing in a sickening attempt to cling to life.

The three generals, realizing his trick, surged toward him with a furious, murderous intent.

Roland had no time to waste. He slashed three times in rapid succession, each cut driving Eclipse Edge deeper, until the vampire’s form dissolved into nothingness, leaving no chance for her to return.

But there was no room to celebrate. He twisted aside just as the generals closed in, rolling out of their combined assault.

Roland knew what came next. This battle would no longer be one against a single foe. It was now him against all three generals at once.

He sprinted toward where his other blade had fallen, his mind racing. With one hand he raised his weapon high, the air around him trembling as he invoked his deadliest technique.

"Twilight Maelstrom!"

The dual elements spiraled into his sword, creating a chaotic storm of power. As he dodged a few spells and blows, the energy from his skill roared outward, cutting a swath through the demons barring his path, every strike of the maelstrom pushing him closer to reclaiming his second blade.

He reached it and bent to reclaim the weapon, only to feel a brutal impact crash into his back. The blow shoved him forward, pain lancing through his shoulder.

Kazurel’s axe.

The demon general had finally learned. Instead of swinging the massive weapon, he had hurled it like Roland had done earlier. The spinning edge tore through part of Roland’s armor, the blade biting deep into his shoulder before clattering to the ground beside him.

Roland grimaced, tightening his grip on both swords. He had no time to falter. With a quick surge of magic, he forced healing light into the wound, sealing torn flesh and staunching the bleeding.

Around him, Twilight Maelstrom continued to rage unchecked. The storm ripped through demon ranks and lashed out even at the three generals, forcing them back under the relentless waves of light and shadow.