Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Adam couldn’t hear Oberon’s words, but the blaze coming from the arrow sent shivers down his spine.

’Dodge. No, parry... No... Not enough.’

No matter what he thought about, his instincts roared that there was no escape from this one and it... added to his rage. From cold and calculated, it turned blazing and defiant, crossing over the line of rationality.

He didn’t need rationality now, only to let loose his bottled-up frustration. The gods’ unfairness, their taunts when he was left for dead in the corrupted abyss, the demon kings’ enticements, and how they all regarded mortals as puppets, whose strings they could manipulate for their enjoyment while calling their sufferings ’fate.’ Everything crashed against his mind like a river finally free of the dam suppressing its raging flow.

A guttural growl escaped through his clenched teeth as his eyes burned with pure wrath. The dark flames coating him exploded, shifting to an infernal scarlet—the color of his wrath.

He drew his arm back—a million, then ten million explosions gathering on his fist. The flurry of blades didn’t stop. They sliced him, filling him with an agony that only served to fuel his howl.

"Bring it on. You, Zeus, Odin, or Marduk, I’ll vaporise your bodies and dance on your ashes. Witness it! Witness a mortal rise above and look down on you!"

His words hung in the air as Oberon let loose his arrow with a snort. Look down? If circumstances were different, he could have appointed this amusing fool as his court’s jester. But Titania came first, and this battle was over.

Though the arrow had just left his bowstring, he could already see Adam’s abdomen part into a gaping hole. The wound was already there, and his soul would crumble into dust. That was how inverse causality worked; that was why no one could survive his imagination in his own domain. The world was his, and every rule answered to his will except those that escaped reality.

However, against his wildest expectations, Adam ignored his parting stomach. Instead, his eyes blazed with hatred as he swung.

Volatile plasma spiralled around his clenched fist, expanding into a star of gaseous energy. Primal powers roared inside in the form of scalding tornadoes and storms. Fiery arcs burst out, snaking like solar flares as his fist vaporised the air in its track.

"RAH!"

With his roar, the ball exploded into a devastating conflagration. Flames spread like clouds, devouring the sky, the dust, and the blades slicing at him. They turned red before melting under his wrathful essence.

"Impossible, not perfect replicas of Fragarach." A shudder ran down Oberon’s spine before he shrugged. "I must admit it: I’m surprised your flames affect even Lugh’s blade. But that’s about it. I’m immune to fire, and your soul is already crumbling."

A smirk split his face, his eyes curving into mocking slits. He clapped, watching his arrow disappear into the conflagration as the wound widened on Adam’s abdomen. "It was short, but a barely decent entertainment. Now, disappear, rebellious ant."

He opened his arms wide, his unpierceable armor dripping melted stones and metal instantly. Yet, the flames bathed his skin like mere water—an ultimate humiliation to Adam’s vain war.

Now, Titania’s rescue and locking Mab in the depths of the tree of life were all that remained to end this day. A day that had seen many deaths among his population. But though it infuriated him, they also matter much less than this victory. So, he raised his fist, smiling as he watched Adam’s fist tremble and the flames fade.

However, a subtle rustle drew his attention. Where did it come from?

Just as the thought formed in his mind, the wind thundered, and Adam’s figure blurred. How? Not even gods could move when their souls collapsed. They would need decades, if not centuries, to recover. A newly ascended one was in an even worse spot. He might as well be erased altogether without enough worshipers, and that’s what he had expected to see. So, once again, how and why could he hear his voice behind him?

"I told you." Adam gripped the hole in his stomach with one hand, coughing out blood. But his other hand swung his hammer down. "You lack imagination."

The sharp beak crackled with lightning as it crashed on Oberon’s shoulder, drilling a bloody hole and shattering the bones with sickening crunches.

"ARGH!"

The Fairy King howled in agony. Disbelief distorting his features, he tried to move. But it was too late.

Adam’s energy ran out. His Scorch of Genesis dissolved—exactly as he wanted. Flesh and bone reformed his body, agony multiplying as blood poured from the gaping wound. But his tail returned and lashed like a whip at Oberon’s neck. freēnovelkiss.com

The sharp spikes dug into his skin as it coiled around his neck, squeezing to prevent him from breathing... and talking.

"Try to alter reality again." His eyes sparkled with dark glee. "The mark of an amateur. One of the most terrifying authorities wielded by a fool who revealed everything I needed to know in seconds. You can’t modify the same thing twice. That’s why you tweaked your command when you tried to erase my flames—that’s why your body is immune to energy while your armor couldn’t be pierced."

He swung his hammer, the flat side cracking against Oberon’s forehead. The skull cracked, and blood squirted from his golden eyes and nose as he gripped the tail. Clawing beneath, he tried to untie it—a futile endeavour.

"You forgot where I came from." His voice darkened. "What I’ve endured. For ten years, I’ve wandered the soul-corrupting abyss, devoured its inhabitants, and adapted. It hurts, but I have a great idea. Why don’t we see if your body is as durable as my soul?"

The hammer’s beak flashed, plunging into Oberon’s abdomen.

As the fairy let out a silent roar of agony, reality rippled. And with it, all the alterations vanished.

Adam instantly switched his hammer for his God Slayer. The dark plasma blade roared to life before he plunged it into Oberson’s torn stomach, now that he wasn’t immune anymore.

"What was it? Oh, a barely decent entertainment? Did you know? Every performance deserves to be paid for. And my prices aren’t cheap." A sneer escaped his lips. "All your essence first, then your life."