The Evolution Of A Goblin To The Peak

Chapter 1138: The Demon: Battling Demons

Demon’s Land — Heavenly Demon Palace.

A demon sat motionless upon a grand obsidian throne, his eyes closed in deep thought. His long silver hair cascaded over his shoulders, and two sharp black horns curved outward from the sides of his head.

He was the ruler of the Heavenly Demon Palace, the Great Demon Emperor Lucifer.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and cast a sharp gaze toward his kneeling subordinates.

”Finally... my daughter has revealed her true form,” he said, his voice low and commanding. ”And this time, without any interference.”

In the past, whenever his daughter had used her true form, Lucifer had been unable to locate her. Some unknown force had always obstructed his perception. He had suspected she was hiding within a special place, something powerful enough to cloak her from even his senses.

But now...

She had unleashed her power freely. There were no obstructions this time.

Someone must have forced her hand.

”Find her,” he commanded. ”Bring her to me. I want her standing before this throne, soon.”

Lucifer leaned his chin on his palm and closed his eyes once again. His thoughts drifted to the world beyond.

It was unraveling.

Piece by piece, chaos was spreading.

And he welcomed it.

His army was only a part of the growing chaos.

There were many others—beings hiding in the shadows, silently scheming, waiting for the perfect moment to act.

And now... there were even traces of the Sea King near the borders of Demon’s Land.

”Monster Lord...” Lucifer muttered, a dark smile forming on his lips. ”Let’s see how this all plays out.”

...

Astley Planet.

The entire planet was in a state of emergency.

Panic had gripped the population. Soldiers did their best to maintain order, but their efforts were overwhelmed by the fear spreading among the people.

Jamine had declared a total evacuation from all territories under the Astros Empire.

Many gathered in the streets, shouting in frustration and confusion. Some claimed the empire had failed, that its collapse was inevitable. But Jamine gave no further details. She simply insisted that everyone must evacuate immediately.

Across the planet, various ships were being prepared for launch.

Amid the chaos, Alice stood quietly on the deck of the Guardian Fortress, overlooking the city below.

Her expression was calm, but her golden eyes held a storm of thoughts.

She knew it was her fault.

By unleashing her true power, she had exposed her presence—allowing her father to sense her location. Now, it was only a matter of time before the demons arrived on Astley Planet.

But what choice did she have?

She couldn’t stand by and watch Amanda and Lydia die right in front of her. She was certain Souta wouldn’t blame her... yet she couldn’t stop blaming herself.

”It’s my fault...” Alice murmured, her voice heavy with regret.

”No, it’s not,” a voice responded from behind.

Alice turned.

It was Torkez.

”You did what you had to do,” he said calmly. Then, after a brief pause, he added, ”All I know is that you were there. And if Amanda, Lydia, or anyone, had died because you held back, that’s what Souta wouldn’t have forgiven.”

”You know how he is.”

Alice didn’t respond. She simply turned her gaze back toward the city below, watching the frightened crowds and the scrambling soldiers. The weight in her chest remained.

Torkez stepped beside her and gently patted her back. ”Everything’s ready. The Guardian Fortress will depart soon. We’ll take as many as we can.”

They were abandoning the Astros Empire.

Not because of the Council of High Worlds, but because of something far more powerful—an overwhelming force known as the Heavenly Demon Palace.

Everything here... would soon be wiped out.

Not even the Council could stop it.

...

On the Battlefield

A distant planet collapsed.

It detonated in a violent explosion, sending massive fragments of land hurtling into the void.

Boom!!

Shockwaves rippled across space, followed by bursts of violent energy erupting with each passing second.

At the center of the chaos, a thick cloud of white smoke enveloped the battlefield.

A dreamscape.

Within it, Kessa stood in her released form, towering at five hundred meters tall. Her body was sheathed in gleaming, jet-black scales that oozed thick black smoke, corrosive enough to melt anything it touched. Intermixed with that darkness was a mist of white dream-smoke, a clear sign that she had invoked her dream power.

She wasn’t holding back.

Against a group of demons, she had no reason to.

ROAR!!!

Her deafening roar shook the battlefield as six Seventh Shackle Realm demons surrounded her, supported by a swarm of lower-ranked forces. They launched relentless attacks, blasts of cursed energy, beams of compressed force, slashes of demonic power, all aimed at her massive form.

But Kessa stood firm.

She was a nightmare given form, and this was only the beginning.

Meanwhile, Souta was high above the battlefield, locked in a brutal clash with two Seventh Shackle Realm demons.

He wasn’t as powerful as Kessa, holding off two of them was already pushing his limits. Any more, and he knew he’d be overwhelmed.

His white figure darted through the air, repeatedly colliding with the two demons. Souta was in his released form, layered atop the [Blood Armor: Divine Retribution]. Without it, he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with their speed and power.

Boom!! Boom!!

Blood-colored lightning rained down from the sky with every strike he made.

The two demons weaved through the air, narrowly avoiding the lightning bolts. In that moment, Souta surged forward, slashing both weapons in his hands with deadly precision.

[Crimson Moon]!!

A crescent-shaped blade of condensed energy tore through the air. One of the demons raised his weapon to block it, sparks flying from the collision.

The other demon capitalized on the opening, darting to Souta’s flank and delivering a heavy blow to the side of his head.

Bang!!

Souta was sent flying. His body spun through the air, but with a flick of his sword, a pool of blood manifested midair, cushioning his fall and catching him before he hit the ground.

”Demons... I haven’t even participated in the war yet,” Souta said with a twisted grin, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. ”Well, this seems like the perfect time to start killing.”

The pool of blood around him churned violently, then, in an instant, it erupted into countless blood bullets, each one razor-sharp and deadly.

With a simple flick of his hand, Souta launched the barrage toward the two demons.

At the same time, the ocean of blood below surged upward, unleashing a storm of blood spears that shot into the sky like crimson missiles.

Whoosh!!

The number of blood spears was overwhelming, so vast that they blanketed the entire battlefield. Even Kessa and the demons she was fighting were caught in the chaotic torrent.

From the heavens, blood-colored lightning continued to strike down in violent bursts.

From the earth below to the skies above, everything was blood.

This was Souta’s dreamscape.

[Dream of the Twilight Blood].

The lower-realm demons, unable to withstand the immense pressure and overwhelming power of the domain, were torn apart instantly, shredded into pieces with no time to scream.

Their bodies dissolved into the sea of blood, becoming fuel for the nightmare.

Souta’s area-of-effect onslaught, amplified by [Serpent Dominance], tore through the battlefield, obliterating all weaker demons in its path.

The enemy had never faced anything like this before.

The Seventh Shackle Realm demons, once confident in their overwhelming strength, now found themselves pressured, not just by Souta’s relentless storm of blood and lightning, but also by the terrifying, unrestrained might of Kessa.

Kessa lunged forward, her massive claws crashing down like meteors while simultaneously unleashing another devastating [Bestrou] from her maw. The beam of destructive energy cut through the sky, forcing the demons to scatter in a panic.

Some of them attempted to strike at Souta, but Kessa’s towering form and aggressive presence made it nearly impossible to reach him directly.

Despite the chaos, Souta and Kessa moved in perfect unison.

They fought side by side, flowing like two parts of the same force. Souta timed his strikes to align with Kessa’s rampage, amplifying the impact and further disrupting their enemies’ rhythm.

His movements were precise, calculated, every swing, every strike, and every burst of power delivered with absolute control.

This wasn’t just a battle.

It was a massacre.

Whoosh!!

Souta and the two demons clashed mid-air, spinning and crashing hard into Kessa’s massive body. Explosions of power erupted as they exchanged a barrage of violent attacks, each one shaking the very air around them.

Skills like [Black Hole] and countless others were unleashed in rapid succession, flashes of destruction tearing through the battlefield.

In a blur of motion, Souta grabbed one of the demons by the leg, swung him around, and slammed him into Kessa’s armored scales.

Bang!!

The impact echoed like thunder, but Kessa didn’t even flinch.

Though she felt the battle crashing against her body, she chose to ignore it. Her full attention remained fixed on the six Seventh Shackle Realm demons circling her like frenzied insects.

They darted through the air, narrowly avoiding the deadly energy rays she fired from her heads.

”Our attacks can barely harm this monster!” one of the demons growled, frustration in his voice.

”We have to keep pressing... Wear it down! That’s the only chance we’ve got!”

”Tch... More like we’ll be the ones exhausted first.”

They knew the bitter truth—the Nine-Headed Hydra before them was a force of pure carnage. Their combined strikes weren’t enough to inflict serious damage in a single blow. It would take time, pressure, and stamina.

And they were running out of all three.

Moreover, the hydra in front of them possessed a terrifying regenerative ability, making it even more troublesome. Every wound they inflicted vanished in seconds, as if the damage had never occurred.

”An Eighth Shackle Realm fighter... That’s what it’ll take,” one of the demons muttered grimly.

Bang!! Bang!!

Beside the towering Kessa, Souta’s battle against the two Seventh Shackle demons raged on.

He exhaled slowly, then absorbed the souls of the fallen demons into his body. In response, his artifacts floated around him, each one pulsing with a faint, ominous glow.

Without hesitation, he charged forward, slamming into both of his opponents with sudden force. One by one, the equipment skills of his artifacts activated in a cascade of power.

[Soul Blood Mode]!

[Yin Yang Unification]!

He unleashed every enhancement he could muster, stacking buffs, amplifying power, and pushing his body beyond its limits.

His strength skyrocketed. The blood in his veins surged with newfound might as his [Slayer] title triggered, feeding off the death of weaker demons and bolstering his combat ability even further.

Souta became a crimson blur, a storm of violence moving in sync with the battlefield’s chaos.

Both demons felt the crushing pressure radiating from him.

”He’s getting stronger... and faster!!” one of them exclaimed through gritted teeth.

They moved in sync, attacking with precision and high-level coordination. But it wasn’t enough.

Souta was a raging storm of power—his strength and speed had leapt into an entirely new realm, pushing far beyond what they could comfortably handle.

Boom!! Boom!!

In mere seconds, Souta unleashed a blistering barrage of attacks, slashing and striking from every direction. Deep wounds began to accumulate across the demons’ bodies, their defenses barely holding together under the onslaught.

Their counterattacks landed, but it wasn’t enough. Souta’s regenerative ability devoured their efforts, mending injuries faster than they could be inflicted.

”We’re not even wearing him down!”

”This monster... he’s regenerating like it’s nothing!”

The tide was turning, and Souta was the eye of the storm.

Of course, he didn’t heal all of his wounds.

There was only one reason Souta had kept some of his injuries.

[Draw Blood]!

A trait that amplified his strength in proportion to the injuries he had.

[Archetype]!!

[Great Blood of the End]!!

Boom!!

The heavens trembled. Thunder rumbled through the clouds as Souta’s energy surged to its peak, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.

The two demons froze, their eyes widening as they looked up.

”What... is this feeling...?”

Their instincts screamed, this wasn’t ordinary power. This was death.

Souta’s voice was cold and calm, yet brimming with menace.

”All the damage I endured... will now fuel my wrath.”

The two demons exchanged a glance, no words were needed. In the next instant, they darted in opposite directions, trying to escape the incoming catastrophe.

[First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!!