Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Titania’s spear left her hand, the coiling thorns forming it separating into a replica, then two. They multiplied until eight identical divine spears hovered around her.

Surprisingly, she gripped one of them and assumed a battle stance with almost no exploitable openings.

Simultaneously, her sleeveless dress and long gloves turned into silvery liquids that squirmed on her skin, reshaping themselves, then condensing into a tight red armor and dark bracers covered in pulsing magical symbols. Finally, her crown morphed into an integral helmet from which only her green mana filtered through the line of the visor.

She beckoned with her finger, taunting Garduck to attack. And he obliged.

From the ground, Adam waved his hand toward his general’s falling figure.

Space roiled beneath Garduck, folding as he passed through it and reappeared above Titania, his infernal broadsword chopping down like a burning axe.

However, she reacted instantly, her hands moving with deceptive delicacy.

BAM

Their weapons collided, the shockwave blasting Garduck’s white hair back. He pushed with all his Hecatonchires’ horrifying strength.

Yet, Titania’s arms didn’t bend. In fact, they didn’t even tremble—only an inconspicuous line of magical symbols brightened on her armguards, then dimmed almost instantly. Even worse, the nine hovering spears shifted, their barbed thorns glinting with lethal intent on the demon’s face.

Like bolts let loose, they pierced the wind, aiming for the eyes, neck, heart, arms, and legs, forcing even the most skilled warriors to choose between protecting their vitals at the cost of debilitating wounds or trying to deflect the eight simultaneous strikes.

Surely a painful choice. Not to Adam, though.

With a wave of his hand, he sent a chunk of folded space at Garduck, forcefully teleporting him back—just as the spears bit into his arms.

Groaning, Garduck rolled his eyes at him, silently asking why he had waited until two bloody streams flowed down his biceps. To which he raised his palms and shrugged.

He was testing the waters, so witnessing her weapons’ penetration capabilities was crucial. And honestly? He was glad he did. Even Uru, the divine metal smelted into Mjolnir, Gungnir, and many divine weapons, couldn’t compare to the toughness of Garduck’s skin.

Obviously, they couldn’t let the weapon touch them. But something else drew his attention. Why wasn’t Titania attacking?

His eyes narrowed the next second as the ground beneath his feet shifted silently. But his instincts were anything but. They roared a blaring alarm in his mind. Death was approaching!

Without hesitation, he lunged to the right, a split second before a sharp spike impaled him from the rear all the way to the throat. It was a swift, invisible, and insidious attack... One that made him scrunch his nose in pure disgust.

’There are places you shouldn’t target!’

His thoughts froze for a second, his instincts blaring in alarm again. He leapt into a backflip, his eyes locked on an array of thorny vines that had ripped his previous position in a heartbeat.

From what he had gleaned, Titania’s battle style was eerily simple but no less lethal. She had absolute confidence in her defense, then would rely on swift, unparryable counterattacks to overwhelm her foes. If they refused the melee fight, she would harass them from her spot with insidious spells, proving she wasn’t titled the new queen of magic without reason.

He heard Garduck hiss across him and spared him a glance.

The demonic general grappled with the thorns that tried to devour him. Holes riddled his armor, and another horrible spike protruded beside his torn left thigh. Even worse, between the zoning spells and her flight, Garduck wasn’t equipped to reach her without his help, making him quite useless in this first phase of the combat.

And here he wanted to save on essence to deal with Oberon once he deigned to join the fray...

He clicked his tongue, his essence rumbling in his veins and dark plasma wafting from his scarlet and blue eyes.

Titania snapped her head toward him, mana gushing from her visor with more vigor in a direct challenge: try to reach me.

To which he chuckled as his body flickered.

Then, the chuckles died down. The analysis faded. Even the plan they had drafted for a long year to ensure success vanished from his thoughts. Now, as he reappeared behind her, only the controlled rage of combat burned through his muscles, through his mind. One of them would die. It wouldn’t be him—that’s all he knew.

His god slayer roared, the plasma blade drawing a dark downward slash. Air sizzled into a crackling howl, threatening to cleave her head. But Titania reacted instantly.

Her spear spun with grace, meeting his blade in a deafening collision. Winds howled around them, Adam’s kimono flapping as her icy voice echoed from her helmet. "What a disgusting expression. Truly befitting a spawn of chaos—befitting your demonic origins."

His biting retort, however, never came. Instead, the eight other spears shot at him like darts of doom, each more threatening than Gae Bolg. He was ready.

His hammer flashed pale gold almost before the projectiles shot. They clanged against each other, his left arm throbbing under the pressure.

A guttural growl escaped his gritted teeth as his essence ignited behind the hammer. Photons condensed into a dark beam that propelled his weapon with a grating ’ZAP’.

The stalemate instantly broke as he flung the spears powerlessly into the chaotic air currents. Although Titania controlled them to return, her hands were busy blocking his god slayer, while his hammer was now free, and so was his mouth.

"Fancy coming from someone who schemed to overthrow her husband’s mother. You’re much more demonic and chaotic than I’ll ever be."

His hammer whistled, lightning crackling on the orichalcum beak as it shot at her armored chest.

"Fool." She sneered, her mana erupting into a verdant barrier in a heartbeat.

BAM

The impact reverberated through Adam’s hands, travelling into his left shoulder. Bones groaned in displeasure, and his jaw clenched to suppress the pain. There was no time to even consider it. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

He flickered again, reappearing on the ground—a split second before the eight flying spears impaled him.

Biting his lip, he clenched and unclenched his trembling hand, a steely glint flashing in his eyes.

Oberon could go to hell. He would obliterate Titania before his very eyes. He had to. Because the core of her fighting style appeared as clear as her armor.

This insidious fairy slowly drained his essence without sustaining real injuries. She wanted another war of attrition, one that disadvantaged him as a newly ascended divinity.