Chapter 163: Snake Infestation
-----
RUMBLE!
The entire Demonic Castle of Beelzebub was trembling constantly, and the power of the crazed Uroboros, who couldn’t accept his defeat, continued to flow endlessly across it.
Crack, crack…!
CRACK!
Countless cracks appeared everywhere. Giant pieces of the castle started falling from the sky. At the same time as that happened, countless red snake fiends emerged, summoned by Uroboros’ last stand.
Not only did they attack anybody they found, but they also sought after sources of strong demonic energy and mana to regain some of Uroboros powers, which had been almost drained by Anna attacking his soul directly!
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
“JACK!”
Henrietta swung her golden divine sword, releasing mighty waves of Celestial Light, cutting down the snakes that came her way into pieces one after another.
All the while she glanced at Jack’s body, the giant black wolf, within a strange trance, biting the giant crimson snake while the snake bit his neck back.
There was a strange barrier around them, as both creatures were locked into not a physical battle but a battle of souls!
“What’s happening?! Snakes are coming from everywhere now!”
Kevin was desperately sticking close to his sister as he slashed and pierced the giant crimson snakes, which continued to merge into larger threats.
“Is Jack in some sort of trance?!”
Sara glanced at Jack with a puzzled expression. She didn’t know what was happening anymore. However, through her spectral powers, she could notice something was going on between the souls of these monsters.
“It seems to be the case...”
Baihe continued summoning ice and frost, freezing the monsters, and then shattering the ice into pieces. Weapons made of ice emerged out of thin air, impaling the larger creatures.
She gave a glance to the other side of the battlefield, seeing a strange distortion in space. Her eyes widened in surprise to find Anna’s unconscious body standing still, piercing the dismembered yet still-alive body of Neberius.
Similarly to Jack and Lee, she was in some sort of mental trance; a barrier made out of her own {Radiance} protected her while she imbued her very soul inside the Demon’s Soul Scape.
The distortion in space was being provoked by this very Soul Scape, which was slowly weakening and falling apart into pieces, which Uroboros used to his advantage to release more of his {Radiance} into the Demonic Castle, summoning the endless wave of crimson snake fiends.
“Make way!”
Dimitri and Hilda came rushing towards them, riding over the giant Violet as the massive bug swung his enormous scythes, cutting through waves after waves of crimson snake fiends.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Several Holy Bullets were shot, blasting through a dozen fused Crimson Snake Fiends, which were as strong as A-Rank Monsters, and weakening them enough for Hilda to leap into action.
“RAAAH!”
She crushed them with her massive hammer, releasing a huge shockwave of volcanic flames that burned everything within her surroundings.
BAAAM!!!
The snakes were killed, and her surroundings were turned ablaze. The whole group was constantly fighting to remain alive in this chaotic event.
“Everyone, come closer to me!”
Henrietta quickly gathered everyone with her as she raised her sword into the air and released a wave of holy light, sending all the snakes in their surroundings several meters away.
At the same time, her aura transformed into a barrier of its own, protecting everyone from the endless attacks of the fiends.
“Big sis, what can we even do now?!”
Kevin was growing restless; there seemed to be no way out of this situation, and the snakes were coming endlessly, without any rest.
Henrietta took a glance at both Jack and Anna, gritting her teeth.
She wanted to do something to help them, but with the endless number of friends coming from every single place, they had little choice but to defend.
“We’ll fight and defend our lives.” She said. “We’ll wait ten minutes... If they have yet to wake up, we’ll move on and slay Heisenberg and Beelzebub ourselves.”
“You’re saying we’ll leave them behind?!” Baihe panicked.
“Baihe! What else do you expect us to do now? If things get worse, the city below and everyone” Henrietta had difficulties speaking. “I don’t want to leave them behind, but I’m sure they would have wanted us to move on!”
“That’s…!” Baihe seemed to be growing restless herself as well, waving her hands and releasing more and more ice, freezing as much as she could, until the snakes were finally stopped momentarily.
“Ten minutes is a lot of time, lass.” Dimitri smiled, shooting down several snakes. “Don’t worry, they’re strong; they’ll come back!”
“That’s right.” Hilda nodded. “Let’s make sure to continue fighting! They’ll come back; I know it!”
“Yeah!” Kevin nodded. “Don’t lose hope, Baihe!”
Crack, crack…!
The ice she had conjured quickly started to shatter as even larger snakes started to emerge, with multiple heads and many arms.
“SHAAAH!”
CRASH!
The ice once more shattered as Baihe gritted her teeth, her eyes glowing with blue light, and her powers seemed to develop even further.
“You’re right… Anna’s coming back; I know she will!”
She roared with all her lungs as she summoned a titanic sword made of frost by gathering her aura into it and pierced a dozen giant mutated snake fiends in a single second.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
RUMBLE!
The entire castle trembled even more; the huge frost sword exploded into hundreds of icicles, killing even more fiends while freezing the rest of the surrounding area.
Everyone was left perplexed at Baihe’s abilities. At this point, she had already absorbed many monster crystals, and her abilities were beginning to evolve.
“Baihe…” Henrietta muttered. “You truly have the potential to become an S-Rank Hunter or something even further than that.”
While they fought, they couldn’t help but wonder one thing, though:
Where were Annabelle and Scarlet?
And as if answering that question... Above them, the ceiling collapsed.
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
And a huge wave of Crimson Snakes descended, accompanied by Annabelle, Scarlet, and the two people that were sent to kill them.
“Uwaaah!”
Annabelle cried in shock as she fell from the skies, while Scarlet quickly grabbed her with her blood aura shaped into a hand and flew into Henrietta’s barrier after noticing them.
BAAAM!
“Henrietta?!”
“Scarlet?!”
The two rivals, who coveted Jack’s love, were left perplexed as they saw one another!
“Annabelle!”
“Baihe!”
And the two friends were happy to see each other again.
At the same time, Evelyn and Gustavo found themselves surrounded by countless monsters, unleashing their techniques and skills to fight against them.
“Where did these friends come from?! They have interrupted our mission!” Evelyn said it resentfully.
“These are Demonic Fiends summoned by another Demon.” Said Gustavo. “Don’t tell me, has another demon betrayed Beelzebub?!”
“No, you fool!”
However, Beelzebub’s voice echoed in their minds.
“Beelzebub?!” Evelyn and Gustavo were surprised the Demon could speak into their minds.
“These Fiends are made by Uroboros! He had infiltrated this Demonic Castle through the body of his Incarnation, that damned Lee guy! Find him and kill him, quickly! Fenrir is also responsible for that! Kill him too!”
His orders resonated through their minds, but they didn’t obey him right away.
“But what about Annabelle and Scarlet?!” Evelyn asked while slashing the fiends away with her long and sharp claws.
“It doesn’t matter anymore; prioritize the greatest threats! You can avenge your pathetic fallen comrades once this is done!”
Beelzebub wasn’t their leader, and both of them didn’t treat him like one either, yet they knew that he was their greatest benefactor.
“But!”
“Very well, if this is also an order from Heisenberg...”
“Gustavo!”
Evelyn got furious when she saw Gustavo act so obediently. She often wondered if he even had a mind of his own.
“That’s enough, Evelyn; orders are orders,” Gustavo said, his draconic powers rising. “We’ll crush Jack and Lee, killing two very dangerous potential foes in the process. This will increase our chances of surviving in the future.”
“That’s…” Evelyn gritted her teeth. “I guess you’re not wrong.”
“Let’s go,” Gustavo said, quickly rushing across endless waves of snakes, his very steps releasing shockwaves and spears made of stone that impaled and dismembered the creatures.
His path was covered in crimson blood and flesh, as Evelyn followed him from behind as quickly as she could.
The two could see in the distance a bubble of light where Henrietta and the others were fighting, while Scarlet and Annabelle were there.
“So there they are! They joined back with their "friends," those weaklings that brainwashed them!” Evelyn said. “Gustavo, are you sure we should let them off the hook like this?!”
“Evelyn, enough arguing,” Gustavo said. “Move.”
“Tch!” Evelyn was growing more furious with each second.
Although she was one of the most loyal allies of Heisenberg, she also had her own mind and opinions.
And she disliked Beelzebub the most, a demon with many intentions, and none of them were to help them.
He simply sought a group of humans that could do as he pleased so he could grow stronger and bring destruction and calamity to Earth.
And then terraform it into his own Demon World.
That wasn’t something that they discussed with Heisenberg, and it filled Evelyn with utter frustration!
“Why are we obeying that damn bastard?!” Evelyn muttered in anger. “Heisenberg, where the hell are you?! Everything’s a mess now! None of your damned plans are going accordingly.”
As she screamed, on another side of the castle, Heisenberg and Shade were confronting Beelzebub, asking what his true intentions were.
“Beelzebub, your plans are not going accordingly! Not only that, but you lured another demon here that is destroying everything I built!” Heisenberg grew a sharp, bony sword out of his arm. “What the hell is going on?!”
“Everything you built?!” Beelzebub was already at his limits. “You insolent mortal! I did all of this! You’ve barely done anything while receiving all of the rewards for my efforts! Shut up and obey me! Now go and kill that damned girl down there! If all three of these guys die, we’ll be able to absorb enough souls and...
“And what?!” Shade asked. “You plan to betray my master after that, don’t you? This entire scheme is for you to ascend into some sort of Demon King or whatever, so you can become stronger, but what about us?!”
“You insolent mortals...” Beelzebub muttered. “Don’t try your luck.”
His Demonic Presence grew larger and darker; his giant bug-like eyes shone with crimson light, while his shadow-like ethereal body resembled an endless swarm of flies buzzing aggressively.
“You will do as I say, or I will take away all the power I’ve bestowed upon you!”
He extended a gigantic insectoid claw towards the two, and the Demonic Stigmas in their hands started to burn, suddenly sapping away their power.
“What?! UGH…!”
“You bastard…!”
Beelzebub simply clicked his jaws as he laughed.
“Do you see now? You’re within my control; trying to go against me at this point is futile!” The bug smiled. “Now go kill the girl and secure me the throne of an Archdemon, NOW!”
As he gave his orders, Beelzebub waved his claws again, and an enormous wave of Demonic Fiends of his own was summoned.
BBBZZZTTT!
The buzzing sound of billions of giant flies resonated across the battlefield right below them as giant, over-five-meter flies started attacking the crimson snakes. Both armies of Fiends started tearing apart one another, allowing Heisenberg and Shade to enter the chaotic mess going on below them.
“I’ve lost too many things because of that damned girl; kill her no matter what, even if you have to give up your own lives in the process!” Beelzebub roared angrily; his hunger for power knew no bounds.
“Y-You dare force my lord to do as you please?!” Shade confronted Beelzebub again.
However, Heisenberg, who had been rather calm even after Beelzebub revealed his true intentions, stopped him.
“Shade, don’t waste your time.” He said it calmly, strangely calmly. “We were already planning on killing her, right? She stole Annabelle from us. I’ll tear her soul apart while it is exposed.”
“That’s…” Shade muttered, but then nodded. “Very well…”
FLASH! FLASH!
Both disappeared from the scene, as Beelzebub felt joyous!
“Heheh… KEHAHAHA!” He laughed. “My ascension back to the throne of the Archdemon of Gluttony is closer than ever before!”
As he laughed, he glanced at the two powerful souls from Hector and Hecker that he had managed to absorb. Blessed by constellations, they held immense power.
“And you two are part of such a plan!”
He mercilessly grabbed both souls as he opened his gigantic, gross-looking insectoid jaws. The two souls struggled pointlessly in horror as they were devoured agonizingly.
-----