Chapter 149: Bael’s Rematch 1
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BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound of gunshots resonated across the endless corridors of the Demon Castle. A man dressed like a cowboy from the Wild West was constantly running, carrying an unconscious child on his shoulders, while shooting at a gigantic beast desperately.
One of his arms was missing, and the wound was dripping with blood as he had barely pressed it with his poncho to stop the blood loss from being too dramatic.
His sharp eyes looked exhausted, his white skin looked even paler than before, his magic handgun was already running low on magic bullets, and his mana was already reaching its limits.
To make things worse, his constellation was a rather weak one; it couldn’t help him too much because it lacked resources itself.
“COME BACK HERE, COWARD!”
A four-meter-tall black knight chased after him, riding a huge, four-legged, aberrant lizard-like demon covered with purple scales and spikes.
Despite the incredible movement speed of the gunslinger, he was catching up to him rather quickly, holding in his hands a huge black spear overflowing with demonic energy.
“{Demonic Javelin}!”
Imbuing it with his powers, he fired it at the hunter, running away at lightning speed, the javelin leaving behind black thunder as it flew across the skies.
“Shit…!”
CLASH!
Only a second before the spear was to impale him, he jumped to the sides and broke through one of the endless rooms’ walls, the spear piercing the floor and shattering everything beneath in a huge explosion of darkness.
“Hahhh… Ugh…!”
However, he was too tired. He fell to his knees as the pain of his missing arm was constantly pestering him, the demonic energy left behind on the wound making it even worse.
“Damn kid, can’t you wake up already?!” Dimitri muttered; the blonde boy he was carrying was still unconscious. “Fuck…!”
He couldn’t even have a break as the giant black knight reached him, his ride opening its gigantic jaws, about to bite off his head!
“ROOOAARR!”
CRASH!
Dimitri slid through the floor and then shot several frost bullets against the beast’s legs, slowing it down and managing to escape in time to another subsequent room.
“{Elemental Bullet: Frost Charge}!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“GRYARGH!”
“You useless lizard!”
The black knight, a mighty Demonic Death Apostle, kicked his ride and then rushed towards Dimitri, spear at hand. His eyes glowed bright red beneath his black knight helmet, his entire body overflowing with tremendous bloodlust.
“You’re such an annoying rat!” Roared the Death Apostle. “In all my life, I have only been sullied once against that damned and annoying girl! But it will go differently now! I’ve been given a much stronger body! I am Bael, the King of Wickedness! {Death Spear Abyss}!”
His spear returned to his hands as he imbued it with Demonic Energy. In that second, darkness emerged everywhere, filling the surroundings with an endless abyss!
“Urgh! What the fuck?!”
Dimitri couldn’t even understand what was happening as darkness seeped everywhere—the walls, ceiling, everything! And above all, it moved and attacked.
The Abyssal Darkness reached him; their tentacles were constantly trying to catch him! Bael was a different kind of Death Apostle compared to Aim or Astaroth; he was well versed in both weapon mastery and magic and didn’t rely on his brute force for everything.
“The darkness shall catch you, little rabbit.”
Bael kept walking towards Dimitri, drawing closer as the gunslinger evaded spears of darkness emerging from the abyss as he leaped up and down, sliding through corridors.
The darkness felt like a cancerous growth, endlessly expanding across the floors and chasing him. Dimitri’s mana was going down rapidly as he shot down bullets of light.
“Fuck off!” He screamed, his magic handgun shooting rapidly.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The bullets of light were rather effective; each explosion of light consumed the darkness and weakened it while forcing Bael to step back; he wasn’t good against it either.
And his last battle against a certain someone had left him with a slight fear of light, much more than demons should have.
“This damned Spear is not even close to as incredible as Gram!” He complained. “Dammit! Just eat the fucker already! What is taking you so long?!”
He felt frustrated that his new Demonic Weapon wasn’t working as effectively as his previous one, which was stolen from his hands upon his vessel’s death by a certain someone.
“HURRY!”
He forced his weapon to unleash its powers further, imbuing it with more and more demonic power. The darkness started resisting Dimitri’s bullets, all while he ran with a child on his shoulders.
“Kevin! Wake up!”
He kept calling the teen brat, but there was no response. Kevin had been struck down by Bael and had not woken up since then.
The gunslinger could still remember what happened in fine detail. How they were dragged together somewhere else, and how the reckless brat jumped to fight Bael with his light magic and his divine spear.
He was a good matchup against the Death Apostle, in fact. However, Bael had many more spells and powers than he could remember.
The two clashed weapons while Dimitri fired his bullets. For a while, it felt like they were on equal footing.
Until.
“You’re sickening me out with your damn light! Fuck off!” Bael roared, catching Kevin’s spear before the young man could move, and then touching his face with his fingers. “{Abyssal Mind Pollution}!”
“URGH?! AAAGGHHH…!”
Kevin had no defenses against mental attacks; his mind was immediately consumed by Bael’s darkness, falling into a deep slumber while his soul fought endlessly against the Death Apostle.
If he were to lose his dream, he would also die in real life. However, the fact that he was still alive but unconscious meant he was still fighting. His willpower was incredible.
However, Bael kicked him away the moment he fell asleep. It was miraculous that the boy only ended with one of his legs broken. Dimitri caught him right there and began to run.
While shooting with both of his arms, Dimitri was caught off-guard as Bael summoned his ride. A quick slice with his spear was all it took to slice one of Dimitri’s arms.
And since then, he has been running in circles, trying his best to survive.
It hadn’t even been ten minutes since then, and it seemed like he was already reaching a dead end.
“Hahahaha! Trying to wake up the little fucker?” Laughed Bale, his spear was going berserk as the Abyssal Darkness spread everywhere, endlessly regenerating as the bullets of light did little to slow it down! “He’s constantly fighting me in his dreams! My Darkness Magic has been enhanced with the powers of my Title as the King of Wickedness! Although I cannot compare to our Leader, Baal, the King of Nightmares, I have learned many of his techniques myself! That girl was the only one capable of resisting them, but all of you… can’t do shit!”
FLASH!
Bael reached Dimitri in a split second as the Abyssal Energies of his spear wrapped his huge and armored body; his fists, covered by his black gauntlets, clashed against the area where Dimitri was just a second ago!
BAAAM!!
“Come here, you little cockroach!”
Bael kept leaping and charging towards Dimitri. The nimble man was now praying to every Constellation for a chance, but even his own sponsor had little he could do!
[The Heroic Cosmic Throne {Youthful Gunfighter of the Wild West} is looking everywhere for something to give you and help you.]
[However, he confesses he had given you most of what he could offer already.]
[He is praying for you to be reincarnated into a better life!]
“Motherfucker!” Dimitri screamed to the heavens. “Already giving me for dead! I should have never chosen a bastard like Billy the Kid as my damn sponsor! ARGH!”
“RAAAAH!”
Bael suddenly appeared right above Dimitri; the young gunslinger's eyes flashed with all the mana he could muster, glowing with a sapphire-colored hue.
“{Bullet Time}!”
Dimitri gritted his teeth; he conjured his Special and strongest Ability, and his eyes flashed with almighty magical energy as he felt like time was going slow around him! His gun overflowed with Mana and even a hint of his sponsor’s divinity, shooting down a barrage of magically enchanted bullets imbued with light towards Bael’s openings between his helmet and his chest armor, as well as within the joints of his shoulders.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Urgh…?! You insect!”
Bael roared furiously, ignoring the damage he was taking as his spear descended towards Dimitri’s chest, soon to impale him!
“{Ricochet}!!!”
However, Dimitri’s gun glowed with blazing red energy as the accumulated pressure of his gun every time he shot down bullets came out—an explosion of fire covering the entire face of Bael!
BOOOM!
“GUARGH…! WHAT THE…?!”
Bael started to burn with magical flames as Dimitri ran away once more, only to stumble down into the ground; his legs could no longer move. He quickly noticed his entire body was covered with purple-colored marks.
“Hahhh… Is this the demonic energy’s toxicity?!”
His wound was already festering and rooting; the rest of his body would soon die as his attempts to survive seemed to all be completely for nothing.
“You…”
Bael kept drawing closer, his spear gaining more darkness and the surroundings becoming pitch black. His crimson eyes glowed brightly.
“You were a good game... I’ll pridefully display your head in my castle.”
A wicked smile surged on his demonic lips, his spear reaching down into Dimitri’s throat.
“Is this how I’ll die…?!”
CRASH!!!
However, as Dimitri awaited his death, he only felt the spear piercing the ground right to his left, his eyes opening wide, indicating that the demon had somehow missed him.
“Huh?”
“What…?” Bael was taken aback; he was sure his attack would have been precise. “Just die!”
He continued attacking Dimitri, his spear going down towards him once more.
CLASH!
However, the same phenomenon happened: the movement of his spear deviated, shifting to the right side, and not hitting Dimitri.
“The hell?!”
Bael was now realizing this wasn’t just a coincidence.
And his eyes quickly concentrated on something several meters away from him: a small imp-like demon with eyes filled with frustration.
“Jeremias?! Why are you interfering with my hunt?!” Bael roared furiously. “Stop shifting space! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
“I-I can’t stop! I have been enslaved by a wicked woman!” Cried the small Imp. “I-I’m sorry, Lord Bael!”
“What the FUCK are you talking about?!”
Bael leaped towards Jeremias to slash him down, only for an invisible shifting force to push him several meters away!
BAAAM!
Bael rolled over the ground, crashing through several dozens of rooms at the same time. His crimson eyes glanced in disbelief as a group of people suddenly appeared, teleported right there by Jeremias!
“Huh?! W-What- Ah! YOU!”
The Death Apostle quickly stood back up, filled with utter disbelief, dread, anger, fear, and fury!
The girl who slain his vessel beforehand, the one that had already become a deep-seated trauma in the back of his mind, the human who utterly humiliated him!
“Oh, Bael?” Anna smiled as Shiro healed Dimitri and purified him from the demonic energy poisoning his body. “It’s nice to see you again! This is a perfect opportunity! You’re joining my crew!”
“WHAT?!What the fuck are you-”
Bael’s eyes opened wide and split a second after Anna said those words. She turned into pure lightning and reached him.
Her sword, the very one she had stolen from him, overflowed with both Demonic Energy and Celestial Energy, Lightning boosting both energies and combining them to make them even deadlier.
“She’s so fast! What in the world?!” He thought. “That lightning! Is she being backed by goddamn Thor?! Or Zeus?!”
Bael turned half of his body into pure darkness, evading Anna’s deadly barrage of slashing attacks imbued with lightning. His body reappeared behind her as his spear attempted to splatter her brains out.
“DIE!”
FLASH!
However, Anna quickly disappeared from there, Jeremias teleporting her above him, her sword unleashing a single powerful slash, combining several slashes into one!
“{Thousand Blades}: {Sunlit Arc}”
Her entire body gracefully spun in midair as she used her wings to hasten her movement speed. With her sword in both hands, she resembled a descending spiral of pure Celestial Light.
Bael wasn’t even able to evade that.
“Wait… Is that my sword?”
SLASH!!!
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