The rune of light loosened its encirclement and started dissolving into a sea of light. Soth looked at the results of his work with satisfaction. Though it had taken a lot of effort, he was finally able to unlock the seal.
As the rune dissipated, the giant bat-like wings moved a little before suddenly spreading open and shattering the remnants of the rune. The first demon god slowly opened his eyes, which were nearly black but tinged with a deep purple color and blazing with anger. Meeting the gaze of those eyes made a person feel short of breath, speechless, and overcome with dread.
“A god of the human race?” Bael’s voice was heavy and rumbling like thunder. “Where’s Bright?”1
Bright is the real name of the god of light. Only the first demon god dares to call the name of the god of light. Soth lifted the long wooden rod, the top of the crystal projected an image of the god of light fighting the war god and the demon gods. The projection was then enlarged to include Xiu and Soth said to Bael: “The god of light is fighting your offspring.”
Bael stared at the image of Xiu who looked very familiar.2 His eyes were very troubled. Then he turned to Soth and said: “You released me because you want me to defeat the god of light?”
Soth was secretly startled, the demon god Bael is too smart. He was able to ascertain Soth’s intention from just the few words he had spoken. He could not fathom the demon’s mind from looking at the expression on the demon god’s face. Soth nodded and flattered the demon god: “I think you are the one who is best suited to be the head of the gods.”
Bael looked meaningfully at Soth and stepped out from the sea of light elements.
“Your wish, I have received it. I will find Bright because he and I have unfinished business,”3 Bael said.
Soth’s smile did not have time to change before it was stained with blood. He looked down to see that Bael’s hand had pierced his chest. Bael pulled the godhead from his body. Looking at at the face of the confused god who was unwilling to die, he sighed: “I will grant your wish. For this task, I need your godhead.”
Those were the last words that Soth ever heard.
The first demon god glanced at the dead Soth then fanned his wings and left the place. A black hole appeared and devoured the corpse of the human god before vanishing, content.
***
“Clang-”
The war god gasped and retracted his weapon, avoiding the god of light’s attack. He could not count the number of times he hacked at the god of light’s body, but whenever the attack hit the god of light, even when his whole body was destroyed the god of light was reborn in the next moment, unscarred.
The most powerful ability of the angels is not the destructive power of their attack but their healing and rebirth.
The damage the gods were doing to the god of light’s body was much less than the speed of his regeneration. The god of light sneered before once again using his divine technique. His attacks weren’t many, but by virtue of his rebirth power and the ball of light attack, he was still able to consume the demon god Phenex even though he was being besieged by the gods.
The dawn’s light illuminated the figure of the god of light who looked down at the tired gods with both pity and resentment: “Don’t ever think of killing me!”4
Seeing the huge ball of light that covered the sky, Belial pressed on the wound on her arm and gritted her teeth. Glancing at Xiu who looked similar to Bael, she threw the demon sisters from the chariot. The beautiful demon god drove her chariot of fire and crashed like a meteor into the ball of light.
“Lord Belial!” Violet screamed and Alice covered her mouth in dismay. The meteor and the sun collided and the resulting wind and dazzling explosion of light forced people to use their arms to cover their eyes. Afterwards the figure of Belial disappeared and the third demon god fell after Phenex.
The two beautiful demon sisters burst into tears while the god of light looked down disdainfully. He stared at Xiu and once more prepared to cast light magic.
“Let’s see who can stop me this time!”
The war god turned and fled. Dan did not know where to hide. Xiu took a deep breath. He had used all his power during the previous battle and he could already feel the aftereffects of his transformation. Even so, Xiu still took out Qian Bian and transformed it into the Burning Desire sword; his smile towards the god of light was both provocative and disdainful.
Seeing that strange and familiar smile, the god of light almost lost control – long ago, every time he was defiant to Bael, the demon god’s contemptuous manner was exactly the same.
The hand that was about to release the divine technique was suddenly caught. The light elements gradually dissipated. Unexpectedly there was still a person who could do this. The god of light turned his head to look disbelievingly at the newcomer.
“… Bael?”
The god of light was shocked; his voice reached the ears of everyone present. Du Ze looked up at the demon god who was a mature version of the Xiu’s demon form. Whether it was the flapping bat-like wings or the curved horns, he looked the same as the Moe Lord.
The god of light was shocked and angry: “How could you break the seal? Who released you?”
The demon god Bael did not answer the god of light’s question. He looked down at Xiu, his eyes full of indescribable emotions. Xiu raised his head. The two demons looked at each other silently and neither of them opened their mouths to speak. When the god of light was about to break out of his controlling grasp, Bael withdrew his gaze and stretched out his hands to hold the god of light hostage.
“Bright, you and I need to settle our dispute once and for all.”5
More and more power fluctuations came from Bael as he called on his power. Black-gold arcs of electricity jumped between the two of them. Every time an arc jumped, it tore into the void – the power of destruction was strong enough to destroy even the laws of space. Though he was the first demon god, this terrible energy is not something even Bael can afford to use; he must be planning to destroy both of them at the same time.
The god of light was aware of Bael’s intentions and desperately struggled: “Bael, you …!”
“I will kill you and finally accompany Iluri.” Bael’s voice was full of exhaustion. “Bright, you shouldn’t have killed Iluri.”
“Don’t talk about that disgraceful angel!” The god of light roared angrily: “An angel and a demon together! And you even produced such a filthy half-breed!”
Bael did not reply and continued to catalyze the destructive energy. The god of light struggled with all of his might but was unable to break free from Bael. Seeing the violent energy about to collapse, the god of light’s voice began to tremble.
“I’m not willing to … Why do you all try to save that heretic …”
Bael was silent for a moment then said softly: “The future does not belong to us, Bright.”
“!”
There was no sound as the black light engulfed both the the god of light and Bael. The light formed into a black sphere which then started shrinking. When it was the size of a human head, a black hole appeared and swallowed the black ball. The black hole then disappeared.
Xiu never stopped staring at Bael. When Bael and the god of light vanished, he closed his eyes and fell down.
“Xiu!”
