As the battle continued to unfold, the last fly was defeated, and Beelzebub was the only one left…
"Kukuku… I've been waiting for this moment! Now come forth, the souls of my servants!"
FLAAASH!
What the hell is he doing now?
With a dramatic wave of his staff, multiple magic circles emerged in midair. Using the momentum from his massive domain, he managed to force my father and his companions back temporarily just enough to stall them.
"What is he doing?" Nepheline asked, eyes narrowing.
"Necromancy? Is he going to revive them? Let's kill him before he finishes!" Shade barked, readying his blades.
"No… this isn't just necromancy. This aura… it's a fragment of the Demon King?!" Father muttered, stunned.
Seriously?! Just how much more complicated can this get?
"Kuhahahaha! Behold!" Beelzebub cackled. "A fragment of my King's soul bestowed upon me as the chosen successor! With the souls of my loyal underlings, I shall rise! Devouring them from the grave to evolve into a Pseudo-Demon King!"
FLAAASH!
Dark, grotesque energy poured from his form as the souls of his defeated comrades spiraled into his body. The air itself turned heavy as malevolent mana twisted through the sky. The pressure was immense.
His figure shimmered in eerie purple light, and dark fire erupted from his flesh as his body began to shift and reshape… but
…
He was still the same size. Barely over a meter.
"Kuahahaha! Just wait! The transformation is almost—"
…
"…"
"…"
…
"Eh?"
"Was he bluffing?" Father asked, tilting his head.
"Let's squash this roach already," Nepheline sighed, lifting her hammer.
"I agree," Shade said dryly.
"W-Wait! I was supposed to ascend! My power it's incomplete! The souls… they were missing vital energy! My ritual failed! Did you somehow disrupt it?!" Beelzebub shrieked.
Missing soul energy? Hold up…
Was that… my fault?
All the EXP I absorbed earlier when those giant flies died did it come from their souls? And if so… did I steal the energy he was trying to harvest?
Oh no… I actually helped?!
Unintentionally, by just watching the battle and receiving that EXP, I weakened the ritual. The System must've absorbed it like a vacuum, preventing him from evolving.
Heh… you're welcome, Dad. Totally intentional, I swear.
Beelzebub's would-be evolution was stopped halfway. What remained was just a slightly stronger giant fly still very punchable.
My father and his allies weren't wasting any more time.
"T-This can't be happening—!"
SLAAAAASSSSH!
Dad flew in like a comet, wings of blazing fire bursting from his back. His body surged with mana as he delivered a devastating slash right across Beelzebub's torso.
CLAAASSH!
"NGAAGGH—!"
The shriek echoed across the forest as Beelzebub's thick exoskeleton cracked. Flames clung to his flesh, devouring him.
And then
"RAAA!"
Nepheline dropped in from above. Her enchanted hammer collided with Beelzebub's head, crushing one of his bulging compound eyes in an explosion of ooze.
CLAAASH!
The grotesque bug was flung backwards, slamming into Mom's golden barrier like a literal fly crashing into glass.
He tried to stand. His aura flared. But I could sense his strength had waned drastically. Their attacks weren't just physical they left behind an aftershock, like spiritual scarring, preventing quick recovery.
"Y-You bastards…!"
Beelzebub's voice gurgled as his aura exploded outward. Swarms of lesser flies materialized from the darkness, surrounding my father and the others.
Dad's fire burned many down instantly, but they kept coming.
And Shade?
He vanished.
Where did he go ?
FLASH!
There!
Appearing behind Beelzebub, completely undetected, he struck with precision bare fists piercing through the fly's chitin armor. He grabbed something inside…
"GRRAAAHH!"
CLASH!
In one fluid motion, Shade ripped out a massive black crystal similar to the ones dropped by the other demons.
"A Demon General Magic Crystal… sells for a fortune," he said coldly.
Beelzebub convulsed violently, spewing greenish blood from his jaws before collapsing. Dead.
"Demon King…" he murmured with his last breath.
"That's the end of him," Dad sighed.
"No… look," Nepheline pointed at the corpse.
A strange aura… spectral and malevolent, was rising from within.
"So the Demon King was embedded in him… I thought he was purified by Faylen's magic years ago. Did he leave fragments behind?"
"Let's not take chances," Shade muttered.
"Faylen!" Father called.
"On it."
Mom's familiar hovered above the grotesque corpse. Its divine eye flashed as beams of radiant light pierced the air. The phantasmal energy howled briefly then dissipated, cleansed.
And right then…
BOOM—!
Another surge of EXP hit me square in the chest.
But… this one felt different.
Weirder.
Off.
Was this… tainted somehow?
---