The Force of Ji-ho's Group, Part 2
That said, the volume of demonic energy radiating from Rayana's body was greater than that of any Demon King who had ever ruled, excluding Jae-hyun himself. Even compared to her power when she had been the Demon King, it surpassed hers by tens of times.
Compared to the immense holy power held by the Saintess Lucrezia, it seemed slightly lacking, but from Rayana's perspective it was not a difference that mattered much. Of course, if the holy power of the Great Archangel Gabriel was rated at 100, Lucrezia's would have been around 2100, while Rayana's demonic energy measured about 1700.
Although less than Lucrezia's, it was still far short of even the combined total of the four Great Archangels' holy power, just as with Lucrezia's case.
"The Shadow Realm, the World of the Tenebrosa."
Demonic energy gushed from Rayana and enveloped the surrounding area at the scale of an entire city. It was already deep in the night, so the surroundings were dark, but even the moon and stars that had been shining earlier vanished into the darkness.
However, it was not just the surroundings that grew dark. Everyone gathered here could see ahead as clearly as in broad daylight, even inside the darkness, so the dimness itself was no problem.
The real issue was the power concentrated in this region.
Those wielding sacred weapons and the Great Archangels who controlled holy power here could not use their abilities properly.
"Crap! Invalid! Invalidity!"
"Damn it! Invalid! Invalidity!"
"Shit! Invalid! Invalidity!"
"Invalid! Invalidity!"
"Disappear! Invalid! Invalidity!"
"Disappear! Invalid! Invalidity!"
"Disappear already! Invalid! Invalidity!"
Seven of them—Yu Ji-ho, Griffith, Jason, Dragon Lord, Uriel, Kim Da-gyeom, and Silvia—had activated the 10th Circle nullifying magic Invalidity in an attempt to dispel the wide shadow region Rayana had created.
Yet no matter how they poured 10th Circle magic into the spell, the darkness showed no sign of disappearing.
"Useless. Since this region was created, it cannot be dispelled no matter how much 10th Circle magic power is used. To break this region, you would have to bring me down, but you will all fall here, so that won't happen."
Kugugung-
On Rayana's back, where she had drawn up both demonic and dark mana at the same time, a translucent black giant demon wing materialized. Only two wings, yet they were not ordinary demon wings.
They were the wings symbolizing a Demon—a true Archdemon possessing power that surpassed all past Demon Kings except Jae-hyun himself.
One of the two Archdemons, along with Irene, the former Demon King Rayana was finally revealing her demonic form and beginning the real fight.
"Damn it!"
Yu Ji-ho spat out a curse. He had clearly underestimated Rayana's strength.
Similar to Lucrezia's level? No, rather, Rayana was far stronger than Lucrezia!
Right now, the power of this region weakened the forces of light and strengthened those of darkness. Of course, only Rayana herself was among the fighters in this region, but because the area was so vast, even the Dragons and Angels waiting far behind were dragged into it.
Of course, if it had been the Saintess Lucrezia with the Wings of the Goddess, she could have shattered this region.
But Yu Ji-ho had only one way to break it, and that was to use the ultimate technique he had been saving for the very end—to bring down Rayana and defeat her in order to defeat Jae-hyun.
Inside this region, not only his own strength but the power of the sacred weapons he carried also weakened, while Rayana's strength grew. From the perspective of Yu Ji-ho's group, the power of the former Demon King Rayana was bound to be stronger than that of Saintess Lucrezia.
'I never imagined she possessed this level of magical power!'
Despite Rayana's warrior-like demeanor, Yu Ji-ho had thought she would be skilled in magic as a Demon King, though not as outstanding as her martial arts. But she had been the Demon King, and unbeknownst to him, Demon Kings could inherit the knowledge of all past Demon Kings. Naturally, that included magical knowledge. Over the ten years since her death, Rayana had not merely sorted her martial insights but had also refined her magical knowledge to pass the time.
Furthermore, when the previous Demon King had passed all her knowledge to the new Demon King Jae-hyun ten years ago, Jae-hyun had interpreted it rapidly and reached a level that completely surpassed Rayana.
Then, when he revived her, Jae-hyun had transmitted a significant portion of the insights he had gained to her through magic. As a result, the magic talent that had been blocked in Rayana had undergone explosive growth.
The World of the Tenebrosa, the black magic Rayana had just unleashed, was also a spell she had created through those insights. Even Jae-hyun had praised it as extraordinary.
In truth, Rayana's magical level was not inferior to her martial arts—it was simply more restrained. What was truly terrifying was that the combination of magic and martial arts amplified their power several times over.
Just as the power Kim Da-gyeom and Silvia had summoned to assist Rachel and Ruina in launching a powerful strike at Rayana had been revealed moments ago, the answer became clear. And if magic could assist martial arts, then martial arts could likewise assist magic.
Rayana's sword began swinging at an even faster pace. It looked like an eight-year-old blonde girl dancing with a sword in the air, but unlike her weakened strength inside the region, Rayana now felt the speed she could barely follow.
And just as quickly as it had begun, Rayana's sword dance ended. Her blade swung into a downward strike. At the same time, 10th Circle black magic activated.
"World's Destruction, Apocalypse!"
The 10th Circle black magic Apocalypse activated, and the powerful demonic energy surging from Rayana's sword was absorbed into the spell, amplifying its power.
"Egis!"
Yu Ji-ho, who had immediately pushed his wives and Gabriel to safety, poured all his strength into the sacred weapon Egis, the Holy Shield of the Holy God.
Ignoring every additional effect and focusing solely on defense, he committed everything to protection.
"Uwaaaah!"
And the enormous shadow power changed into pure destruction, sweeping over Yu Ji-ho's group. The sacred shield Egis gathered every ounce of its power even inside the shadow region to defend.
"Absolute Barrier!"
"Absolute Barrier!"
Moreover, all the mages cast defensive spells, while the warriors created aura barriers and put in every effort to protect their bodies.
But after a short while, once the destructive shadow had calmed, Yu Ji-ho's group and the numerous Angels and Dragons behind them had mostly collapsed to the ground in pain.
"Cruuu..."
At this moment, only Yu Ji-ho stood on two legs. The power of the sacred shield Egis had blocked most of the destructive shadow's force, yet it had still exceeded the limit of what Egis could withstand.
Of course, Egis had also been weakened inside the shadow region, but it was a fact that even its full power had not been able to completely block the attack.
"Damn it..."
Yu Ji-ho spat thickly. A bloody spit fell to the ground as he glared at Rayana.
Because he could not use his full strength inside this shadowed region, his chances of defeating Rayana had now fallen to rock bottom.
Without using that method...
"From now on, inside this region, your victory rate will fall infinitely. What are you going to do now?"
Rayana raised her chin arrogantly and looked down at Yu Ji-ho with eyes full of disdain.
"Ugh..."
And the fallen members of Yu Ji-ho's group staggered to their feet one by one. Thanks to Egis's power, there had been no casualties from the previous attack.
"Everyone, I'm sorry. It seems I have no choice but to use that method now."
Yu Ji-ho hesitated as he watched his staggering companions, especially his wives and Gabriel. This was not the time to think about the future.
If he could not defeat the former Demon King Rayana right in front of him, everyone would be wiped out before they even fought a true Demon King.
"There was no other way."
Already aware of the plan in advance, Gabriel smiled bitterly. She had thought the Heavenly Realm's strength had grown through their training, but the Demon Realm's power had become absurdly strong.
Particularly after the former Demon King Rayana had been revived and pushed into this situation.
"Huu~ So you were finally going to show me what you've prepared."
Rayana smiled as an eight-year-old blonde girl, clearly showing anticipation. The ancient hero Yu Ji-ho—how she looked forward to learning what technique he had prepared to defeat the Demon King Jae-hyun.
Yet at the same time, she gathered maximum demonic and dark mana to receive the attack and prepared her strongest strike. Although she also used magic, her ultimate technique was still swordsmanship.
She combined the power of sword and magic to create her ultimate strike.
Kugugugung!
The region of darkness amplified the power of Rayana's ultimate strike. Sensing the overwhelming force wrapped around the blade held by the little girl, Yu Ji-ho immediately realized it was far stronger than the Apocalypse from moments ago.
But the face of the little girl, truly showing an innocent, expectant expression like a child's, meant she had not escaped the limits of a warrior who loved combat. It was not just an attack; out of pride, she was deliberately waiting for Yu Ji-ho's strongest strike.
"I see you are expecting it. Well, you will die soon, so expect to your heart's content!"
Yu Ji-ho raised the Great Archangel's sword and unleashed the ultimate technique he had been saving to defeat the Demon King Kim Jae-hyun.
Kung—kung—kung—
Enormous powers converged, creating waves around them, and the ultimate strikes of Rayana and Yu Ji-ho collided.
Kwaaaaaang!
******
"......"
Jae-hyun sat Estia on his knees facing him, inserted his penis into her, pulled her into his arms, and looked down at the fallen blonde child before him—the former Demon King Rayana, bloodied and collapsed.
"Cough...cough..."
Rayana kept spitting blood. The sight of an eight-year-old girl, cute and adorable even among girls, with radiant beauty, coughing up blood made anyone watching feel sympathy, yet Jae-hyun only looked at her coldly.
"A pathetic defeat. Rayana."
"Cough... I have no face before the Demon King... But... the opponent... was strong... The opponents... were strong. I lost because I was weak."
Just as when she had been defeated by Jae-hyun, Rayana once again accepted her defeat cleanly. Ji-ho could not defeat her, but Ji-ho's group had managed to bring her down.
If Jae-hyun had not forcibly brought her here and taken her away, she would have died again.
Observing Rayana calmly accept her defeat, thinking that despite being stronger than the ancient hero Yu Ji-ho, she had been weaker than his group, Jae-hyun simply smirked without a word and drew his sword.
Shuuwuuu!
From the sword, a massive darkness poured out and began rapidly healing Rayana's body. A short while later, she had completely recovered from her injuries.
And despite seeing the power of Ji-ho's group, the Demon King showed no tension. He simply held Estia in his arms and smiled quietly.