[Very well.]
With that calm and unwavering tone, the [Angel of the Blade of Destiny] turned back to face the Hatred Demon, its golden eyes locking onto the target that Alex had chosen.
There was no hesitation, no flair of emotion, just an absolute sense of certainty.
The command had been given. The objective was clear. The target was marked.
The Hatred Demon, despite its overwhelming size and terrifying strength, was now no more than a name on a list, one destined to be erased.
The angel took a single step forward, its white robe brushing softly against the corrupted ground of the [Hatred Domain], and immediately, something changed.
The air trembled slightly.
The pressure of the angel’s presence intensified, yet it remained composed, serene, even.
Each step it took forward was impossibly fluid, like it had rehearsed this moment thousands of times before.
Nothing about it felt rushed or desperate.
It was not charging toward victory, it was simply fulfilling a purpose.
Ahead of it, the Hatred Demon roared, swinging its massive [Sword of Hatred] again and again.
Its four arms moved in a violent blur, each one powered by a force that could shatter mountains, each strike laced with the purest essence of hatred itself.
And yet, the angel raised the [Blade of Destiny] each time, meeting the savage attacks without breaking its rhythm, blocking them effortlessly like it was swatting away raindrops.
Every swing met with a calm parry. Every attack, deflected with grace.
It was like watching a storm rage against an unmovable mountain.
“You think you’re stronger than me?” the Hatred Demon bellowed, its voice distorted by madness, “You think your little tricks mean anything?! I AM HATRED ITSELF!”
[If that is what you believe, then I have nothing to correct,] the angel replied gently, its voice as soft as the wind but somehow more deafening than thunder.
The hatred demon, already unhinged from the long battle, could no longer contain itself.
The more it fought, the more its composure crumbled.
What had started as a smug, merciless predator was now looking more like a cornered beast, one that realized, all too late, that something had gone wrong.
Its instincts were screaming at it. And those instincts were right.
[Do not try to escape your fate, child,] the angel continued, its smile small but undeniable, [Death will come swiftly.]
“You’re the child!” the demon screamed back, “You speak as if you’ve already won, but you haven’t! I’m not done yet! MY SWORD, MY POWER, is STILL FAR STRONGER!”
But even as it yelled, its hands trembled slightly.
Its dozens of red eyes twitched with agitation.
That unshakable confidence it once had, it was gone.
Something deep within it was reacting to the angel’s presence.
And then, it raised the sword again.
“CHARGED…” the hatred demon howled, drawing the weapon back as far as it could.
Dark energy, pure crimson lightning and smoke, began to swirl around it like a maelstrom.
“…HATRED!”
It released everything.
The [Sword of Hatred] descended, laced with enough force to obliterate entire countries.
It was raw, unstable, destructive beyond comprehension, the ultimate expression of hatred’s fury.
And the angel? It simply exhaled.
[How futile,] it muttered, disappointed, [You seem to have anger issues, child. I shall resolve them.]
Alex, still hovering behind the angel, narrowed his eyes.
He had seen the angel in action before, but never like this.
It wasn’t just executing a command anymore, it was delivering judgment.
And so, the angel took one final step forward.
[Then I am forced to do this.]
Fwish! SLASH!
The angel brought the [Blade of Destiny] upward with one smooth motion.
It didn’t even look like an attack.
There was no extra energy wasted, no unneeded motion, just a perfect strike.
The moment the two weapons collided, reality split.
A pulse of light erupted across the battlefield, bathing everything in radiant gold.
The corrupted sky cracked, the blackened grass of the [Hatred Domain] slowly started turning green.
The very fabric of the domain was reacting to the presence of this blade.
And then…
FWOOOM!
The [Sword of Hatred] shattered.
Cleanly. Effortlessly. Without resistance.
The demon’s eyes widened, all of them.
“What…?” it gasped, disbelief clear in its voice, “How…?!”
[You aren’t strong enough, child,] the angel answered, almost mockingly.
The Hatred Demon stumbled back for the first time.
It was nearly five hundred times larger than the angel. Its body towered like a monstrous colossus. It had survived [World Cleaver] once.
It had shrugged off cataclysmic strikes. It was supposed to be invincible.
But in that moment, it looked small. Because deep down, it understood.
No matter how much it hated, no matter how hard it fought, it could not win.
[Goodbye, child,] the angel whispered, raising its blade one final time, [For you will never wake up again. My master will take care of the rest.]
Alex’s eyes sharpened.
His four wings spread out behind him, burning with power.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
The angel was his strongest card, the final ace in the deck.
The Hatred Demon had weathered everything else, his strongest spells, his undead armies, even the Crown of Calamity.
But it couldn’t stop this.
The angel had broken through the demon’s ultimate defense.
And now… It was time.
Fwish! Slash!
The angel swung once more, and the [Blade of Destiny] didn’t just cut, it erased.
A single golden line appeared across the demon’s neck.
No dramatic buildup. No delay.
SLASH!
The hatred demon’s head fell.
Blood poured out in massive waves, the ground shaking under the weight of the impact as its enormous skull crashed into the earth.
The angel turned.
[It is done, master. Please finish the rest safely.]
Then, just as calmly as it had arrived, it vanished, dissolving into soft golden particles that drifted upward and disappeared.
Alex didn’t waste a moment, ‘Don’t have to tell me twice.’
He surged forward, wings blazing with energy, moving alongside the demon’s collapsing body.
He knew better than to celebrate early.
The hatred demon had survived things it absolutely shouldn’t have.
Even with its head severed, Alex understood it wasn’t over yet.
Fwish!
He reached the demon’s chest just as the rest of its body began to fall.
Time was running out.
Alex’s claws lashed forward, SLASH! CLANG!, but they scraped uselessly against its skin.
Its body was still too resilient.
‘Crown of Calamity,’ Alex called out sharply.
[On it,] the voice responded immediately.
Dozens of black and crimson tendrils erupted from behind Alex, forming a massive clawed hand of pure energy.
FWISH! SLASH!
It stabbed forward, piercing through the unbreakable flesh.
‘Good, keep going! Don’t stop!’
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
The tendrils ripped through the muscle and bone with fury, tearing a massive hole into the demon’s chest.
And there, within that monstrous body, Alex saw it.
Badump! Badump! Badump!
The huge heart, pulsing with corrupted power.
Beating like a war drum, even without a head to guide it.
Alex didn’t hesitate.
He shot forward, claws gleaming with energy.
“It’s over.” He swung.
But then…
RAAAAAAAWRRR!
There was a sudden, earth-shaking roar, not from the demon’s mouth… but from the heart itself.
Alex’s eyes widened.
“What the fu—”
BOOM!
The roar wasn’t just noise.
It carried force, shockwave energy so powerful that it stunned him for just a moment.
But that moment, was all it needed.
FWISH!
Dozens, hundreds, of crimson tendrils exploded out from the heart itself, twisting and moving unnaturally as they slammed toward Alex.
“What the fuck?!”
Some of them wrapped around his limbs, others around his torso.
The crushing pressure started to increase by the second, and bones creaked.
Air was forced from his lungs.
‘I won’t… lose… here…’ Alex gritted his teeth as the tendrils pulled tighter.
This wasn’t going to end with him crushed by some final trick.
‘I’m going to destroy these things,’ he hissed under his breath, the pressure increasing, blood dripping from his mouth, ‘I’m not fighting anymore. This is gonna end. NOW.’
And with that final resolve burning in his chest, his body lit up, his spirit rising once more, higher than before.
There was one more step left. Just one.
And he would take it. No matter what.
…
A/N
Next chapter is the last one for this fight, I think this fight might have looked like a novel final boss type battle, but there are a few things left to go through.