CHAPTER 230: DEMON LORDS AGAINST HIGH GODS

Morrigan surged forward at tremendous speed, closing the distance between herself and the two high gods in seconds.

As she flew, the halo of red spikes that floated behind her back suddenly shifted and positioned itself before her outstretched right palm.

The circular formation of spikes extended outward rapidly, stretching and connecting until they formed a long whip.

Without hesitation, Morrigan swung her arm in a wide arc and the whip lashed forward through space toward the approaching gods.

The first god, Solren, reacted instantly. A massive sword with golden highlights at the center, materialized in his right hand.

He swung the blade forward to meet the incoming whip.

The two weapons collided mid-air with tremendous force, and shockwave erupted outward from the point of impact, rippling through the void in every direction.

Meanwhile, the second god, Vethis, attempted to fly past Morrigan, clearly intending to reach the demon lords still attacking the sphere behind her.

Morrigan’s eyes tracked his movement immediately and she would not allow it.

She stretched her left hand toward him without turning her head, and a large concentrated beam of darkish purple energy erupted from her palm.

The beam traveled at blinding speed aiming at Vethis.

Vethis stopped abruptly mid-flight and raised his hand toward the incoming attack.

A circular barrier formed instantly before him, glowing with bright blue light, and the purple beam slammed into it.

The barrier held, absorbing the impact before Vethis dissipated it.

Morrigan floated backward immediately, putting distance between herself and both gods while ensuring she kept them both within her line of sight.

She raised her left hand high above her head and a darkish purple magic circle appeared in the air above her, spinning slowly as energy began gathering at its center.

Within seconds, a massive sphere of concentrated demonic energy formed.

It was so enormous, and brimmed with so much power that streaks of purple lightning ran through its surface every few seconds, crackling and arcing across the mass.

"Demon Magic Art: Death Predation," Morrigan said.

She thrust her hand forward and the sphere shot toward both gods.

The sheer size of the attack was overwhelming, it covered the entire distance between Solren and Vethis, who were positioned wide apart from each other, leaving no room for either of them to evade without abandoning their position.

Both gods’ eyes widened slightly as they took in the size and power behind the incoming mass of energy.

Solren extended one hand immediately toward the sphere. "Divine Magic: Rupture Canon!"

A large magic circle appeared before his palm and released a concentrated beam of yellowish energy that shot forward like a lance of pure light.

Vethis raised his own hand at the same time and called out, "Divine Magic: Radiant Obliteration!"

A massive orb of bright white energy formed before him and launched forward alongside Solren’s attack.

Both divine techniques traveled toward the enormous sphere and collided with it simultaneously in an explosion so large it lit up the that area of space for several seconds.

When the light finally faded, Morrigan hovered calmly in place with her expression unchanged, though her eyes remained fixed on both gods.

Solren glared at her with fury written across his face. "How could you creatures from the pit possess such power?" he demanded.

The pit he referred to was the gaping hole in Dellheim that led into the demon realm, and it was how most gods dismissively referred to demons, creatures of the pit.

Morrigan tilted her head slightly. "I’ve never faced a god before now," she said. "And all I can say is that I’m terribly disappointed if this is all you can muster."

Vethis who had been looking over towards the other demon lords still attacking the sphere turned his head quickly toward Solren and called out urgently, "We are going to put an end to this now!"

Solren nodded without hesitation.

Both gods floated backward simultaneously, putting more distance between themselves and Morrigan as they prepared their next move.

Each took a different hand seal formation.

Solren brought his fingers together, while Vethis stretched both arms out to either side of his body, palms open.

In that moment, they both activated the power of their Laws.

Solren spoke first, his voice resonating with much authority: "All that is unblessed must labor against itself."

The effect was immediate and devastating.

Every being he did not deem blessed, Vethis alone excluded, instantly felt a crushing weight descend upon them as their energy expenditure increased exponentially.

The demon lords who had been casting their magic against the sphere to break Lilith’s prison instantly began expending over ten times their normal energy consumption just to maintain the same level of power they’d been using moments before.

Breaking the sphere already required enormous amounts of magical power from each of them individually, but now they were forced to burn through their reserves at an unsustainable rate just to keep their spells active.

The strain became visible almost immediately.

The demon Malachar gritted her teeth so hard that bsweat rolled down her face as she fought to maintain her output.

The others had different varying reactions as well.

However, Astaroth still wore a wide grin on her face as if she found the whole situation amusing rather than concerning.

Asmodai remained unfazed, with his expression calm and composed as though nothing had changed at all.

Morrigan felt the dawning weight press down on her, but she kept her composure intact without showing any outward sign of struggle.

Then Vethis activated his own Law: "All beings are consumed by absolute self-contempt and strike at one another in futile conflict."

The demon lords who were already struggling with their rapidly draining energy reserves suddenly felt an overwhelming compulsion rise within them.

Slowly, beneath a desperate internal struggle to resist, their magic circles began redirecting away from the sphere and toward each other instead.

Their magic powers clashed violently against each other.

The compulsion was overwhelming, and it took every ounce of willpower they possessed just to slow the inevitable redirection of their attacks.

However, Asmodai seemed entirely unaffected by this second Law as well.

Though there was something different about him now; a fiery-like aura seeped outward from his body.

He was actively countering the effect of both Laws.

Astaroth turned her head slightly toward him with that same grin still plastered across her face despite the demonic energy aura circling around her own body as she fought to resist the effects of these laws.

"I cannot deny this, brother," she said playfully. "I do want to fight you."

Her magic circle shifted slightly toward Asmodai as if she were genuinely considering redirecting her attack toward him just for fun.

"Perhaps I should try," she added with amusement in her words as her circle inched closer toward him.

Asmodai’s eyes glowed suddenly with a terrifying intensity, and his voice spoke pit: "Restrain yourself, you stupid girl!"

The weight behind his words made even Astaroth flinch, and she immediately turned her attention back toward the sphere with a pout on her lips.

"How boring," she muttered under her breath, though she redirected her magic circle back into position without further resistance.

To be fair, Astaroth had actually been doing her best to counter the effect of Vethis’s Law upon herself all along; it was simply difficult when dealing with two powerful Laws simultaneously pressing down on her at once.

The joke had been her slipping just a bit under that pressure until Asmodai snapped her back into focus.

Vethis believed that all things harbored a hidden hatred for themselves, and now that ideology had taken form as a Law. It didn’t stop at living beings either; its influence spread into everything around him, even lifeless matter.

In the distance beyond where they fought, several massive asteroids that drifted through space began crashing into one another violently, for no reason other than the self-destructive compulsion forced upon them by Vethis’s Law.