Demon Lord Lirien laughed sardonically at Joseph's futile effort. With a casual flick of her wrist, she manipulated the very fabric of matter, transforming the sword in his hand into a cascade of sand, its radiant glow extinguished in an instant.

"Hey! That was Yoshi's favorite sword," Joseph retorted, his defiance short-lived as a mere wave from Lirien's hand turned him into an explosion of blood and viscera, painting the battlefield with his remains.

Lyra, regaining consciousness amidst the carnage, gasped at the brutal scene. Her eyes darted around in desperation, but there was no trace of Yoshi or Joseph. Their presences, once vibrant, were now utterly gone. Her breath hitched as her gaze locked onto Lirien, who loomed with a wicked grin.

Something within Lyra snapped. Fury surged through her like an unrelenting tide. Her mismatched eyes—one a fiery red, the other an electric blue—began to blaze with otherworldly energy. The very air around her shifted violently, thick with her rage, as storm clouds churned and lightning streaked across the sky.

Lirien's smirk deepened, a gleeful glint in her eyes. "Yes! That’s it, Aryl. Show me that raging power of yours. Prove that you’re still the daughter of an ancient demon supreme—one whose might could rival even the monarchs!"

Her maniacal laughter echoed as Lyra succumbed to her true nature. Her human guise began to unravel, giving way to the fearsome form of an archdemon. Black flames and crackling lightning erupted around her, shifting hues in a mesmerizing, terrifying display—purple flames and lightning gave way to red, then white, then brown, indigo, violet, and finally back to a blazing black inferno.

Her transformation was grotesquely beautiful. Her soft human skin hardened into thick, impenetrable scales adorned with gills that pulsed with life. Razor-sharp claws extended from her fingers, and her teeth elongated into lethal fangs that gleamed with malice. From her forehead and temples, imposing horns twisted upward, crowning her demonic visage. Her once-delicate ears sharpened to knife-like points, and her pallid complexion radiated an eerie, otherworldly glow.

Golden flames burst from her back, shaping themselves into colossal wings. Their once ethereal appearance quickly solidified, becoming razor-edged and formidable. Dozens of eyes sprouted across their surfaces, darting in every direction as if alive, and their edges gleamed with a deadly sharpness that could cleave through anything. Yet even without them, Lyra could hover effortlessly, defying gravity with her sheer power.

Her tail unfurled behind her—a massive, retractable appendage brimming with venom. Each swing was a fiery assault capable of piercing not just flesh but the very essence of her victims, condemning their souls to eternal torment.

As her transformation neared completion, Lyra stood tall, fully embracing her demon name: Aryl. Her aura pulsed with an overwhelming presence, black flames and lightning coursing around her like a living storm. In her left hand, a trident materialized from the darkness—an obsidian weapon engulfed in crackling energy. It solidified with a reverberating hum, ready to channel her unbridled wrath.

Standing before Lirien now was not Lyra, the fragile human, but Aryl—the archdemon, a force of cataclysmic destruction.

The trident she wielded was known as the Trident of Infinite (Inevitable) Death, Power, and Absolute Chaos, a weapon steeped in legend and unrivaled in potency. This ancient artifact, brimming with infinite magic, could only be summoned and wielded by Aryl herself. Forged in the primordial times, the trident had once served as a bridge between opposing forces: light and darkness, heaven and hell, astral planes, limbo, the void, chaos, and the expanse of infinite creation. It had twice stood as the foundation and pillar of the multiverse before being replaced, measuring the unfathomable distance between infinity and eternity across twelve universes.

Its weight alone was beyond comprehension—so immense that even beings of hyperversal strength struggled to lift it, sustaining only minimal effects from its immense energy. Only those ranked at or above outerversal could lift the trident at will and harness its power without dire consequences. Any unworthy attempt to wield it would result in immediate retaliation from the weapon itself, including paralysis, death, life force absorption, or even amputation of the offending limb.

The trident possessed its own defensive and offensive mechanisms, acting autonomously to protect its wielder. Encased in an aura of cosmic and magical defenses, it resisted all attempts at manipulation. Being the daughter of the deceased ancient demon supreme, Aryl had full access to its extraordinary capabilities.

Unique Features of the Trident:

Defense and Resistance:

Cancels and resists melee, natural elemental, and magical attacks.

Cancel and resist ailments, soul attack, unique and ultimate skills.

cancel and resist unique and Ultimate skills. "Highly effective against Hyperversal attacks, users and below, but only minimally effective against Outerversal attacks, users and above."

Cancels and resists spiritual, dark, chaos, and blood magic attacks.

Cancels and resists holy and divine attacks, only affected by higher forms of divine powers such as RUACH and SHEKHINAH.

Cancels and resists reality, time, cosmic manipulations, and multidimensional barriers.

Cancels and resists magic and aura nullification, absorption, mimicry, and devourer effects.

Resists hyperversal detection and interdimensional or extradimensional manipulations.

Offense and Amplification:

Boosts Aryl’s powers to an outerversal level, rivaling the might of her father.

Cancels her opponent’s powers and abilities if they fall within the trident's scope.

Grants the ability to create or destroy life, cosmic entities, astral planes, and entire realities.

The trident’s power made Aryl a near-uncontrollable force, and its use came at great personal risk. When combined with her transformation, Aryl became increasingly aggressive and unreasoning, often unable to distinguish friend from foe. Her aura, boosted significantly by the trident, surged to the outerversal level, unleashing cataclysmic destruction around her.

While she fought to maintain control over her transformation and the trident’s influence, there were times when her willpower faltered. In such moments, external intervention was crucial. Assistance could come from the royal family of Kazuhiro of the Fujimori Wisteria Forest Kingdom, the Monarch’s lineage, or other beings whose power equaled or exceeded her own.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

This volatile yet awe-inspiring combination of Aryl and the Trident underscored her duality: an unstoppable warrior bound by the fragile thread of her humanity.

"Ah! Yes! Now I see you have become serious, Aryl," Demon Lord Lirien sneered, her voice dripping with mocking satisfaction. "I’ve truly sparked the ignition of rage within your dark soul. For you to summon your father’s trident in this battle—my king’s trident—it means the stakes have risen."

She bared her teeth in a sinister grin. "Now, it is time to prove our worth in this battle once and for all."

With that, both combatants surged toward each other, their movements a blur of speed and raw power. The shockwave generated by their clash leveled the surrounding landscape, leaving craters where once stood solid ground.

Amidst their devastating battle, the protective spell that Lyra had cast over the people of Yokosuka during Joseph’s destructive blast against the possessed Masanori was still active. However, its power was fading slowly, weakened by the ongoing clash between Lirien and Aryl.

The instant Lirien and Aryl’s forearms collided, the heavens themselves seemed to tremble. The shockwave of their collision opened a rift in the sky, casting rays of sunlight down upon them, illuminating their fierce struggle. The very air seemed to vibrate with their power as they locked eyes, each struggling to overpower the other.

"You abandoned your kind for this imperfect material world," Lirien spat, her voice laced with venom. "You could have been our queen, the ruler of the underworld, and I would have been your overseer. Your father should have never treated you like a human. Your mother—a whore for a witch—should have known better."

The words stung, but Aryl’s rage only grew in response. Her right eye flared with an infernal red light as she bared her teeth. "For that, Lirien... you shall die a horrible death!" she roared, her voice like the combined fury of a thousand demons, a deep, thunderous growl that resonated across dimensions.

"Not if you die first!" Lirien retorted, her fury equal to Aryl's. They broke free from their clash with a force that sent shockwaves across the land, their bodies momentarily skimming the ground as they launched back into the fray.

The battle intensified as they traded blows, magic, and summoned creatures in a deadly exchange of power. Their movements were a blur—too fast for the eye to track. Energy flashes illuminated the skies, lightning crackling in all directions as they fought at a speed far beyond mortal comprehension.

Aryl, in her full demonic form, summoned her colossal wings, their surface adorned with dozens of unblinking eyes that shifted and glowed with deadly intent. She wrapped her wings around herself like a protective barrier, momentarily blinding Lirien with the overwhelming light of the eyes before striking back. A devastating blast shot from Aryl’s trident, stunning Lirien momentarily and allowing her to land a powerful blow that sent the Demon Lord careening into a higher dark dimension.

There, Lirien found herself in a realm where a higher-ranking devilette, a creature of terrifying visage and immense power, retaliated with a fierce blast of raw energy from her four eyes. The devilette’s children, enraged by Lirien’s intrusion, lashed out with a violent attack, sending Lirien flying back through the rift and back to her original location.

Bruised but not broken, Lirien began to recover from the agonizing blast, her hatred for Aryl growing with every passing second. Aryl, however, did not relent, immediately resuming her assault. Their battle raged between dimensions and astral planes, each strike causing further destruction to weaker realms and the very fabric of reality. Their fight was so intense that it threatened to obliterate entire layers of existence, shattering them with the force of their power before the two combatants tore their way back to the present plane.

Meanwhile, Joseph’s disintegrated form, left in a pool of blood, began to slowly regenerate. His body, a tangle of reformed flesh and bone, reassembled piece by piece. As he regained his consciousness, he saw Lyra—now fully transformed into Aryl—fighting Lirien with unimaginable ferocity. He was completely naked, his clothes disintegrated during the regeneration process, and he realized he had to act fast to aid her in any way possible.

His body finally completed its regeneration, and his senses came alive with the burning need to protect and support Lyra. He knew that if he didn’t intervene, Aryl’s struggle would only grow more dangerous, and the consequences for both their worlds could be catastrophic. With resolve, Joseph prepared himself to join the battle, determined to help his ally, and friend in any way he could.

***

Yoshi's struggle in the endless, dark dimensions was relentless. As he plummeted uncontrollably through the abyss of demonic realms, he faced countless obstacles. Some realms neutralized his aura and magic, rendering him vulnerable. Others were filled with hostile entities and traps, testing his physical and mental endurance. Desperation and determination drove him as he searched for an exit, fighting against the oppressive forces of the realms that sought to consume him.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the intensity between Aryl (Lyra) and Lirien only escalated. As their battle raged on, Lirien took a moment to strike at Aryl’s psyche. “You could have saved your human sister,” Lirien hissed, her voice dripping with venom. “If only you had allowed me to possess her when she was dying. Instead, you chose to let her fade away.”

Aryl’s eyes flickered with rage and pain, but Lirien continued, her tone shifting to a mockery of fondness. “Remember the good times we had as children? The fun we shared, both in Hell and on Earth?”

Aryl clenched her fists, her fiery gaze unwavering, but the memories began to flood her mind. Despite Lirien’s claims, Aryl knew the truth—those moments had been a lie. Lirien, far older than Aryl, had disguised herself as a child to bond with her, gaining her trust and manipulating her emotions. Lirien's ultimate goal had always been selfish: to secure her evolution to a higher demonic rank by aiding Aryl as her partner, ruling Hell and the other realms.

But Aryl had rejected her heritage, choosing humanity over her demonic lineage, a decision that drove Lirien into madness. Loyalty to Lyra’s late father was replaced by jealousy and resentment, and Lirien’s hatred for Aryl’s attachment to the human world festered into a violent obsession.

Their brutal battle reached a fever pitch. Lirien's tail lashed out, striking Aryl repeatedly with such force that blood sprayed across the shattered battlefield. With maniacal laughter, Lirien struck a devastating blow, piercing Aryl through the heart. Aryl gasped in agony as Lirien lifted her into the air with her tail, holding her like a broken doll. The trident fell from Aryl’s hands, landing with a heavy thud on the ground.

“You’re weak, Aryl,” Lirien snarled, her tone triumphant. “Your love for humans has made you soft. And now, you’ll die for it.”

As Aryl's body dangled limply, struggling between life and death, Lirien prepared for the final blow. However, before she could deliver it, the trident—Aryl’s ultimate weapon—sprang to life. Its ethereal energy surged, moving with a will of its own, and launched a barrage of attacks on Lirien.

Caught off guard, Lirien staggered under the relentless assault. The trident’s strikes, infused with divine and demonic energy, bypassed her defenses, forcing her onto the back foot. Desperately, Lirien unleashed a thunderous clap of energy, creating a massive shockwave that momentarily stunned the trident, forcing it into hibernation.

As Aryl’s body began to heal from her grave injuries, Lirien approached the trident, her eyes gleaming with malevolence. “Let’s see how your precious weapon fares in my hands,” she sneered. But when she reached out to pick it up, the trident did not yield.

Instead, a horrifying force surged through Lirien. The weight of the weapon was immeasurable, pressing down on her with the force of entire dimensions. Her life force began to siphon away rapidly, her aura and magic nullified. The strain caused her fingers to peel away, her hands blistering and tearing as the trident drained her vitality. Her arms threatened to tear apart under the relic’s power.

Realizing the danger, Lirien released the trident just before her arms were completely destroyed. She staggered back, her body trembling from the strain. Only the relic of enhancement she had absorbed—the power of two hyperversal beings—allowed her to recover. Its energy kept her alive, though barely, as she reeled from the encounter.

Aryl, fully regenerated and now more determined than ever, rose to her feet. Her eyes burned with fury and purpose. “You’ve underestimated me, Lirien,” she said, her voice echoing with the power of countless dimensions. “And now, it’s your turn to face the consequences.”

The trident hovered, glowing brighter than before, as Aryl extended her hand. The weapon returned to her grasp, its energy surging in synchronization with her own. The battle was far from over, and both combatants prepared to push beyond their limits for ultimate supremacy.