About a week later.

Shirei stood at the top of a hill, his black hair blowing wildly in the mid-November wind. Below him lay a valley infested with enemies, a tide of monsters ready to rain the blood of any demigod who crossed their path.

His violet eyes glowed with a sinister light as he tightened his grip on the Blade of Discord, the infernal weapon throbbing in his hands like a dark heart.

With a simple silent breath, Shirei launched himself from the ledge and disappeared mid-air into the darkness. He reappeared, landing among the enemies like a bolt of lightning from the ground, and the ground shook under the impact. The Blade of Discord moved like an extension of his body, cutting the air with metallic whistles. The first opponents, some orcs, collapsed to the ground, cut like ears of wheat under the scythe.

One of them, of gigantic size, came forward, brandishing a terrifying club. Shirei stared at him for a moment, then shrouded himself in the darkness of the spectral travel, disappearing into the shadows. He reappeared behind the monster and, in one fluid motion, tore open the ogre's neck, decapitating him. The body fell with a dull thud and blood sprayed in a crimson arc.

Cragar's son did not wait, and as the creature's body began to rapidly disappear, it moved again. The monsters advanced on him, turning the battlefield into a whirlwind of chaos, but Shirei seemed to dance among the enemies with deadly grace.

Every move was calculated, every strike quick and lethal.

There were too many enemies, yet the demigod didn't seem to be worried about it. Before two goblins could ambush him from behind, he raised his free hand, calling upon the tenebrae. Ten ghostly harpies appeared around him, creatures of shadow and terror, their empty eyes burning like embers. They launched themselves at their opponents, cawing in a blood-curdling way, clawing and tearing flesh and armor.

A group of enemy witches targeted him, beginning an evil chant that condensed bulbs of luminous energy.

Shirei noticed them out of the corner of her eye, remembering the leafed pages of Marina's books.

Strolleche*, he realized.

The witches screamed and threw the mana spheres in his direction. Shirei ducked to sprint, but another goblin attacked him with a rusty cleaver. The demigod closed his eyes and activated his new technique.

During that mission he had tried to master it as best he could and, finally, he had decided to opt for the name ‘Etheric Pulse’.

A whitish light passed through him, making him incorporeal for an instant. The cleaver passed through him and Shirei was able to sink his blade into the monster's body. He returned to his body and, with a leap, prepared to reach the archers.

Seeing the sea of monsters still around him, he couldn't help but wonder where Ada and Havel were.

That second of distraction seemed to cost him dearly. A rush of pain suddenly shot through him, a sign that one of his tenebrae had just been defeated.

Shirei took a breath and looked up, only to see a glowing orb hurled at him. In amazement, he acted on first instinct and activated the etheric pulse. His figure became incorporeal and the boy calmed down, at least until the attack hit him.

Shirei felt his skin on fire and was thrown backwards. He fell into a line of goblins, but quickly disappeared into the Interworld to catch his breath.

The etheric pulse doesn't make me invulnerable to magical attacks... he thought, touching his chest.

He hadn't suffered major damage, but his sweatshirt had been torn to shreds. He should have been more careful.

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Shirei reappeared behind the witches as an assassin. The Blade of Discord described a deadly arc, cutting them down one after another before they could react.

Another rush of pain. Shirei knew his magical reserves were depleting quickly, but he couldn't afford to slow down. He kept moving, a whirlwind of death and destruction, as his harpies protected the blind spots, resurrecting from each blow with even greater fury and distracting the monsters.

The demigod was an unstoppable and lethal calamity,

The enemies began to retreat, overwhelmed by his speed, but the demigod would show no mercy. With every shot, every single attack, he went deeper and deeper into the heart of the enemy lines, determined to definitively break their advance.

The battle had just begun, but the field was already tinged with the purple blood of the enemies, and Shirei was at the center of that pandemonium, indomitable bringer of discord and death.

Shirei advanced unstoppably, his blade cutting through air and bodies with equal ease. Without realizing it, he let himself sink into that very familiar sensation.

Nothing existed anymore. Suddenly he was alone again, like when he first woke up in the Underworld.

He couldn't hear anything, no one was there.

He spent whole hours thinking about what to do, what was the purpose that forced him to stay alive.

Now he had one: kill all the enemies.

Every step was an assault, every breath an explosion of strength. Enemies dropped like flies, even though their numbers seemed infinite. The demigod was not deterred. His face was a calm mask, his violet eyes scanning the space without the slightest concern.

His lips unconsciously curved upward.

Suddenly, a group of armored monsters emerged from the fray, barreling towards him with spears lowered. Shirei didn't bother to find out what monstrous race they were, probably orcs. He ordered the dark creatures to fall upon them, but the well-trained creatures struck with precision, causing the harpies to vanish in clouds of dark smoke.

Shirei felt the drain on his energy increase, but he didn't hesitate. He concentrated and activated spectral travel again, reappearing directly above the leader of the orc knights. He fell on him like a meteor, plunging the blade into the crack between his helmet and armor. The monster fell, and his companions staggered for an instant.

It was all Shirei needed.

With a sequence of quick and precise movements, he took down two more knights before the rest could react. The tenebrae, meanwhile, healed themselves and attacked the nearby goblins, creating even more chaos in the opposing ranks.

A screeching sound filled the air as an enemy leader, a hooded wizard, began to chant an incantation at him. A mist spread upward. From it, crackling lightning poured down on Shirei. The demigod began to run, activated the etheric pulse and became intangible for a moment, passing through the bodies of his enemies as if he was a ghost.

He returned to normal a few steps away from the magician, who barely had time to widen his eyes. Shirei, in the midst of his murderous calm, met the wizard's gaze and, before the blade of discord penetrated his chest, he deflected its direction by piercing his shoulder. He lost concentration for a moment and looked at the boy on the ground, before a charge from the orcs forced him to move. Shirei swung his weapon in an attempt to keep the monsters away, but the latter continued their march, trampling the wounded demigod.

Cragar's son heard him cry out in pain for a short while, then his life was extinguished with the speed of a flash of light.

Shirei ignored the thoughts and prevented himself from stopping to think about the scene. He had to keep fighting if he wanted to earn that chance.

The surviving opponents retreated, but Shirei did not slow down. He felt the tension, but the adrenaline of the battle and his calm determination pushed him beyond the limits. His blade continued to tear at his enemies, wiping them away blow after blow and helping to create an aura of fear around Shirei.

A new group of orcs advanced with shields raised, forming a tortoise to try to overwhelm him with numerical superiority.

Shirei smiled coldly.

With surprising speed, he once again shrouded himself in darkness and reappeared behind the formation. His blade cut through the ranks like a deadly wind, and the tenebrae swept through the shields, tearing, clawing, and striking terror into the hearts of the monstrous creatures.

Shirei continued to fight as a demon incarnate, a being that others would have struggled to call a mere demigod.

He was unstoppable.

The screams of enemies, the clang of weapons, and footsteps on the ground filled the air, a war symphony orchestrated by the son of the god of the dead that none could escape.

At least that was what Shirei believed, but the reality was a little different.

Ada immobilized a chronomorph by causing it to be shrouded in shadows, like a newborn baby bound by blankets. Certain that he had the target within range, Havel pounced on him and cut him down with his two axes. A few seconds passed, in which the creature remained motionless, after which a series of glitches and noises made it move spasmodically. Eventually, the chronomorph's body became rigid and began to crumble, until it was dust to be swept away.

The two demigods exchanged a nod of understanding and proceeded to deal the final blow to the monsters that escaped Shirei's murderous calm.