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713. His Enemies

“Haec!”

I called out to my companion as he nodded at me, standing on the cliff in the distance. Next to him, Aliq and Ultis looked into the smoldering crater where Jofis had been standing. I flew up to them as I heard Aliq whisper through gritted teeth.

“He’s not dead.”

Aliq clenched a fist, and Ultis blinked at him with round eyes.

“But that was a direct hit! How did he survive your Grand Skill just like that?”

She shook her head in disbelief. I snorted as I landed right next to them.

“Jofis has survived a lot more Grand Skills than just Aliq’s. He’s almost impossible to kill.”

I glanced back down into clearing smoke. In Aliq’s defense, his Grand Skill had quite the firepower. It was definitely more explosive than any single explosion-related Skill I had, even with my Divine Essence empowering me.

But it was not enough to kill Jofis. Not even close.

I watched as the Winged Horror slowly stepped his way out of smoke. His body was completely charred now. No longer was he healing, and chunks of his flesh had been ripped off his body. His right wing had been torn completely off, and a massive hole bore through his right shoulder.

However, the bits and pieces of his body that had been destroyed began to flit around him, distorting and discoloring into the corruption.

I clicked my tongue when I saw that. The closer he got to death, the more corrupted he became.

“What happened to him?”

Haec asked as he furrowed his brows at this sight. I scratched the back of my head.

“Um, I may have fucked up a little bit by corrupting him. He’s stronger now in some ways, but he’s weaker too! So… yay?”

I shrugged back at Haec. And he shook his head.

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I…”

My companion hesitated, and Jofis let out a chittering screech. The crazed and corrupted Winged Horror spread his one remaining wing behind his back, ready to charge at us. I braced myself as Haec, Ultis, and Aliq tensed.

And the side of a mountain came crashing down into Jofis, cutting him off. I glanced to the side as Hartia flew past us, cursing.

“Stop standing there and staring— do something, you idiots!”

The Fairy rained down more debris at where Jofis had been, distracting the Winged Horror for a moment longer. I nodded to myself, before glancing at Haec.

“Haec, are your Grand Skills ready yet?”

My companion pursed his lips, watching Jofis tear his way through the mountain that had been hurled down onto him, only for even more boulders to rain down at him.

“Unfortunately, [I Shall Bear Your Burdens] is not ready just yet. But I can use both [The Right Hand Of The Demon King] and…”

“And?”

I blinked back at Haec. Meanwhile, as the both of us continued to converse, Aliq began to conjure up fiery blue spheres, before sending them raining down at Jofis. Ultis drew her twin sickles and sliced the air, sending blades of wind cutting through the air at the Winged Horror as well. However, most of their attacks were caught and stopped by the layer of corruption that was covering his body.

So despite the barrage of attacks, Jofis was barely even slowing in his movements.

I frowned at Haec, and he sighed.

“I can use [Demonic Essence Manifestation Mastery] as well. And it’s telling me that Jofis is… leaking his essence.”

“That sounds gross.”

I wrinkled my nose at my companion. But he didn’t get what I meant, since he didn’t know anything about how Humans needed to urinate and excrete waste.

“What I’m saying is that I feel like I can… draw his Demonic Essence into myself. Use it to boost my Stats.”

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“Huh.”

I placed a hand on my chin, looking back down at Jofis. He shot up into the air and shattered a small hill that was thrown at him. He zipped straight up at Hartia, who narrowly dodged the attack.

“Haec, I am sorry, but I don’t think that you will be able to do much against Jofis even with a Stat boost. Maybe if you use it in addition to [I Shall Bear Your Burdens]...”

Especially considering this time around, Haec would be drawing the power of over a million Demons. He would have been able to help turn the tide against Jofis with that. Unfortunately, since it was his most powerful Grand Skill, its cooldown period hadn’t passed yet.

However, I had an idea.

I met Haec’s frustrated gaze.

“But can you give my Stats boost with your [Demonic Essence Manifestation Mastery]?”

I asked, raising a brow at Haec. And he paused.

“That’s—”

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Jofis no longer knew where he was. His mind could barely process his surroundings. The world around him was a blur. He saw figures moving around him. But he couldn’t see their faces. All he knew was they were his enemy.

All he knew was that he needed to kill them all.

Just like Regnorex.

He had taken everything away from Jofis. Everything. But it was not just Regnorex who was responsible. After all, Regnorex could never have defeated Jofis alone.

He was responsible too.

He had been the one to destroy Jofis’s kingdom.

He had been the one to cause it all to collapse.

He was who Jofis had to kill above all.

That was why Jofis refused to die. Because he had to kill him. Because he had to kill—

“̶̧͖̎͒F̸̨̤͑̄͠Ǫ̵̤̂Ĉ̷̩͚Ḁ̸̂̈́̋L̷̺̭̱̈́O̶̲̘͋͝Ỏ̸̯̩O̷͖͠Ǫ̵̲͌͠O̷͕̗͌͘O̴̥̅̔̈́O̶͍͎͎̊O̵̺̮̿O̶̧͐O̸̲͗̔O̴͚̟͖̿͒Ȯ̶̲͕̺̇̇Ơ̶̼͕͈O̴̡͇̝̓͐̅O̵̱̽̌O̸͎͍̬͒Ö̷͜͝O̶̳͖͖̽̽O̴̦̅̈̕R̸̼̭̉̍͑ͅ!̵̭͂”̶͓͓̙̄̊

The Winged Horror let out a roar, despite the onslaught of attacks that came his way. He felt a rock strike his shoulder, getting through the distortion surrounding him. He looked in the direction of an annoying figure zipping around him.

And Jofis swiped out with his right claw.

He hadn’t thought much about how he was going to reach his target, despite the distance between them. But somehow, his arm disconnected from his body, shooting out straight at the annoying flying figure.

His arm moved faster than the figure, catching it out of the air. A thick distortion of light connected his arm to his body, letting his arm quickly shoot back to his body.

Jofis grinned. Or he thought he grinned. He didn’t know for sure, his entire being was numb at the moment. He held the figure up, squeezing it as it squealed and screamed. All around him, a continuous hail of blasts crashed down at him. However, most of them were caught by the distortion, and those that passed through barely even phased him.

He continued to squeeze as he cackled. But right as he was certain the figure was about to pop, he felt a sharp and searing slash strike his back.

Jofis let go of the figure as he stumbled forward. Immediately, the figure flew away before the Winged Horror could react. Glancing back, he saw another annoying figure that he needed to kill standing there and laughing at him.

“̸̤̮̚I̴͎͋̈́ ̴̩͋͜͝W̷͖͚̳̾̚I̶̛̼̖͋͜L̴̦͔̪̀̈́̕L̴̡̢̽ ̵̜̎̚K̴̩̟̀̊ͅI̴̪̪̜͑̆L̶̨̘̹͆͛̚L̴̗͓̾̋ ̴̗̋̓͝Ỳ̸̮̼͍Ȏ̸̺͙͂̿U̵̻̭̗̾̿̉!̵̤̻̽͊”̶͚͂͂̕

The Winged Horror screamed as he swiped back at the second annoying figure. But she flew back, before his arm extended the same way it did before, reaching out for her. However, despite the agility and the speed of his arm, she easily avoided his grasps.

Jofis was certain she was somehow moving faster than before. But how?

He didn’t understand. All he knew was that he needed to kill her. He drew his arm back as she slowed. She waved her scythe at him, and Jofis roared. He planted both his feet firmly into the ground, spreading his one wing behind his back.

And he shot up into the air as his legs practically exploded into the distortion.

Jofis moved faster than he ever did, reaching the second annoying figure in an instant. He grinned, knowing that he got her. But right as he reached out with his claw, she suddenly moved deftly.

And she avoided his grasps, circling behind him.

“W̴̨͕̃̔̃h̶̬̦́̃a̸̠͂t̷̝͉͓͐͘.̶̝̯̪̆̎͘.̵̨̲̩̃̐̏.̴̘̔͆̋?̵͕̒͒̀”

She placed a hand on his back as she grinned.

“I got you—”

Jofis tried to spin around, reaching for her head. But then his entire body convulsed as the distortion that covered his body began to spike in all directions.

“[Worldbreak]!”

She yelled, before disengaging from him. Flying back, she called out to the other figures.

“Now, Haec!”

Jofis barely understood her words. However, he recognized this attack. It had nearly ripped him apart earlier, before he could escape. So all he could focus on was breaking free. But unlike earlier, this time it was like he was held in stasis. His body began to rip apart even more, the distortion no longer under his control. He screamed as he tried to move. But he couldn’t.

He was held in place as his body was shredded. However, he wasn’t dying. He was hurting, but he knew he could survive this attack.

At least, until he saw a third annoying figure leaping up at him. Jofis blinked, seeing the figure raise a right arm that shifted.

And for a moment, Jofis thought he saw Regnorex falling upon him. The Winged Horror’s eyes flickered, remembering his defeat by the Demon King.

Then he heard a voice shout as the third annoying figure struck him.

“[The Right Hand Of The Demon King]!”

And the impact blew a hole through Jofis’s chest.