Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

She spun, her spine popping with the abrupt movement as her thorny spear coiled around her dark armguards, bolstering her defense before the impact. She instantly shoved them up, gritting her teeth to endure the impact with the scalding blade.

Simultaneously, her armor’s magical symbols burst with light. Mana barriers began to condense in front of her, and the shell’s wooden interior slithered. Spikes grew from the walls, aimed at him in a vicious counterattack.

But it was too late. Adam’s thrust shattered the forming barriers. The Wrath’s Onslaught instantly triggered, granting him another five percent boost as his blade drilled into her armguards.

"ARGH!"

A rare scream of agony escaped Titania’s delicate lips as unbearable heat charred her perfect skin, threatening to pierce her arms, to steal her life. She trembled, retrieving her right hand before weaving for the spikes to impale the insolent.

But Adam was only beginning. He would return each wound down to the last scratch a hundredfold. And it started with her annoying armor.

He clenched his jaw, his hammer flashing a pale gold light as he swung it from below.

CLANG

It smashed into his God Slayer’s hilt, thrusting the plasma blade deeper into her left forearm. Metal melted and burned skin vaporised. Muscles began to follow, but the spikes whistled, too.

They shot at him from every direction. This time, however, Titania spread the impact timing. Each spike would strike with a delay to negate his ability to dodge by blinking in the same place. He would have to give up on this attack... Well, not really.

Plasma roiled from his figure, swirling into a blinding pillar that engulfed the spikes before stretching upward. The inferno vaporised spikes and the shell until it pierced its head and reached for the dust-coated sky like a chaotic beacon.

Meanwhile, his lips curled into a smirk. "Save energy? Your arrogance and experiences built into a fake sense of safety, little queen. You had me cornered? You saw through my plans? Don’t make me laugh."

He twisted his blade, then pulled it upward.

Watching her left forearm fly above them, she howled in agony as his voice turned icy.

"There are no plans for chaos, only adaptability, evolution, and improvements. Things your pompous mind forgot. Let me remind you, though... until Oberon understands his presence bears no pressure on me whatsoever."

Her shocked expression made him smirk, all the more when he felt a rush of pure divine energy thump through his veins. His every cell shivered, drawing and devouring it like living beasts. But not only. They converted it into his own primordial, chaotic essence, empowering him through combat—through chaos.

As if to confirm the theft, a notification rang in his ears.

[The god slayer’s Gluttony’s Maw enhancement has stolen 50 units of divine energy from Titania, the Queen of the Fairies.]

But that single, successful blow also brought about the full power of his God Slayer.

A mark representing a grinning devil, whose palms trickled gold like water, stained Titania’s perfect skin. He couldn’t feel it yet, but she surely would realise the defence she was so proud of had diminished along with her speed. She should feel distracted, too.

They were the full powers of the blade he had smelted with the wisest man’s advice. A blade to cull the divine and profane. Now that he could survive and wound gods in battles, his lips pursed in desire.

Fifty units of essence were colossal, but merely five percent of Titania’s total pool. ’A thousand! Stay hidden, Oberon. I won’t need any plan to deal with you once I convert everything.’

Stumbling back and holding her severed arm, Titania watched Adam’s expression turn predatory. She shuddered, dread’s icy finger wrapping around her heart. If she felt he considered her like a target to kill before, now... his gaze made her feel like an appetising block of meat.

Her thoughts drifted suddenly. Did she kiss Oberon before the battle? Why couldn’t she remember the taste of his lips? Ha... What a blunder.

Fortunately, the pain in her left forearm brought her mind back from the alluring distraction—just in time to see Adam’s scalding blade descend on her.

Eyes wide, she channelled her armor’s enchantments at full force. Symbols glistened on the red metal, yet the output was... lacking. The loss of her left arm was more than a physical wound. It became a breach in her enchanted defense that required an urgent fix.

But how could she find time during a battle to the death? She needed something else... Adaptation, he had said? If it were his weapon, she would steal it like he had stolen her essence. But she needed range to steady herself first.

She lunged back, plasma sizzling against her helmet. Her wings fluttered, bringing her up. Yet, when she expected to soar, only a few meters separated her from the charred wooden shell and... The hammer’s flat side already shoved angry gales down her head.

How did he become so much faster? Did she... lose?

Never! Adapt, adapt! It was the very first rule of the natural order—her domain.

The delicate patterns twirling on her wings ignited with mana. They burned, adding deeper, denser, and more primal lines that burned with power.

Instantly, the grim city turned more colorful. The scents of burning flesh, blood, but also wood, flowers, and grass magnified in her nose. Nature was her weapon, and although not as ancient as chaos, it was still a primordial force—the cradle of all life. The answer was there, she was sure of it.

In this instant, in this split second, the wind itself whispered in her ears with ancestral wisdom. ’Don’t fight the current. Like a leaf, drift with it.’

With a twist of her core, she shifted her position slightly, just enough to let the hammer strike a corner of her helmet.

’Like a leaf.’ She felt the impact the blow would have on the wind as if it were her. The trajectory was perfect. The force would shatter a protruding morsel of her helmet, but not injure her. Even better, it would propel her to safety, buying her a few precious seconds.

Yet, Adam’s gaze followed her movement... his wrist did, too. ’Why didn’t she summon her barriers?’

He frowned before amusement flashed in his eyes. ’Is she trying to copy me? Smart. Every creature is born with the instinct to feed itself, to survive. But your enlightenment came too late.’

His gaze shifted to the hulking tree towering at the center of the capital, his instinct whispering to dodge.

’The wheel continues to spin and you’re just a cog that has served its purpose in its cycle... A pity I couldn’t steal more of your energy, though.’

His figure suddenly flickered, then vanished before the hammer struck her.

Titania’s eyes widened in confusion before she felt the wind swirl around an arrow. Its silver head pierced the place where Adam’s throat had been, and she instantly understood; he was coming.

Though she failed to defend the fairy capital on her own, she begrudgingly accepted that this battle benefited her—a new path to explore and the realisation that perfection was still far. After all, nature seemed much deeper than just plants, earth, and water. Perhaps she could learn how to control the wind, too.

She turned, her helmet parting to reveal her face. Sweat drenched it, locks of green hair sticking to her forehead and cheeks. A gentle smile curved her lips, and her voice echoed warmly. "Thank you, darling."

Now that her husband had joined her, Adam’s chances of victory plummeted to zero.fɾēewebnσveℓ.com