Chapter 145: The Prophecy
"The remaining Hell Reapers in the capital have all been eliminated." Momon's voice came from beneath the helmet.
"His Highness the First Prince insisted he could handle things here alone," Momon continued, his gaze moving from behind the full-face helmet across the wreckage of the battlefield, "but we decided to follow anyway and see if there was anything we could do."
Narberal stood at his side and gave a slight nod, confirming what he said.
She looked around, as though still searching for something.
"Where is His Highness the First Prince?"
Gazef was kneeling in the rubble. His voice was rough.
"His Highness the First Prince... has been killed by the Demon Lord Rashaelle."
Gazef lowered his head in shame, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Brain stood beside him. Without saying anything, he reached out and set a hand on Gazef's shoulder.
The air around Momon shifted. Something in his bearing changed, and the atmosphere in the surrounding space seemed to thicken.
He raised his hand. The jet-black greatsword still planted in the ground came free in a single-handed pull, and the tip leveled at the Wrath Demon General at the center of the open ground.
"Wicked Demon Lord."
Momon let the appropriate fury show — a natural shift in his presence, the kind that spoke to genuine skill at this particular craft.
"Because of you, I failed to protect my employer."
He stepped forward.
"Today, I will have your head for His Highness the First Prince."
The moment the words were out, Momon's figure vanished from where he stood.
The next instant, he was in front of the Wrath Demon General. The jet-black greatsword came down from above with a tearing shriek through the air.
Gazef's pupils contracted sharply. He opened his mouth on instinct to call out a warning.
"Watch yourself! His strength is far beyond anything we could handle — the only way we had any chance was working together—"
He didn't finish.
Because what happened next locked his voice in his throat.
The Wrath Demon General raised that enormous palm to meet the falling sword.
Blade met palm. A deafening crash rang out, and the shockwave spread outward from the point of impact in all directions, throwing up a scorching wall of air.
The result of the collision: the Wrath Demon General's body went flying.
That massive frame rolled through the air, cleared most of the open ground, punched through several buildings, and disappeared in the billowing dust.
The force was several times greater than when he had launched Brain earlier.
Brain stared, eyes wide.
His mouth was open. He was looking at Momon's black armor, which hadn't moved an inch.
"...That's something."
He murmured it — then caught himself.
But that vampire is still stronger. Brain held that conviction firmly.
Momon didn't stop.
His figure vanished again, moving toward where the Wrath Demon General had landed.
From within the dust came the sound of increasingly violent impacts — the Wrath Demon General's deep roar mixed with the tearing sound of Momon's sword strokes through the air.
The ground was shaking.
Lakyus felt the tremors coming up through the soles of her feet.
"What level of fighting is this..."
Gagaran's rough face was written over with shock. That powerful, solid body of hers felt, just now, thoroughly insignificant.
Evileye hovered in the air, the eyes behind her mask fixed on the dust-filled area.
"A clash this intense..." her voice was quiet, "even among the Thirteen Heroes, something like this would be extremely rare."
Gazef stood up, his gaze pressing through the dust, trying to make out anything inside.
He could see nothing.
Only the occasional burst of flame, and the impacts growing closer together.
Gradually, the dust began to settle.
Two figures came back into view at the center of the open ground.
Momon stood in the wreckage. His black full-body plate armor had taken visible damage — a significant portion of the chest plate had melted away, and his blood-red cape had been burned down to half its length, only a scorched remnant hanging behind him.
His breathing was slightly more labored than before. But the hand holding the sword hadn't moved.
The Wrath Demon General was in considerably worse shape.
Deep intersecting slash marks covered his black-red scales. One of the horns at his brow had been cut halfway through. His membrane wings had been torn open in several places.
That fanged face swept its gaze across everyone present.
Gazef was back on his feet. Brain stood at his side with his sword in hand, the fighting spirit in his eyes undiminished.
Lakyus and the rest of Blue Roses were slowly closing in. The wounds they had been bleeding from earlier had been largely healed by Lakyus's magic.
The Wrath Demon General's gaze moved across the humans one by one, and finally settled on Momon.
A silence.
"Wait for it, humans."
His voice was thick with grinding, barely contained hatred.
"The Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth will avenge me — and Honyopenyoko!"
The flames on the Wrath Demon General's body began to destabilize, flickering irregularly — as though something were about to erupt from inside him.
Momon reacted in an instant, his voice sharp and urgent.
"Run!"
"He's going to self-destruct!"
Lakyus reacted immediately.
"Fall back!"
She shouted it on pure instinct, grabbed the teammate beside her, and ran.
Evileye activated her flight magic and shot upward.
Gazef and Brain turned at almost the same moment and sprinted toward the far end of the street.
Behind them, the Wrath Demon General's flames burned brighter and brighter.
A wall of heat surged after them, scorching their backs.
Then the explosion came.
Everything in the field of vision was consumed by white light. Sound ceased entirely for that moment.
Lakyus felt her body shoved hard from behind by something invisible and enormous. She left the ground and came down hard.
She rolled several times before she stopped.
Her ears were ringing. She couldn't hear anything.
The white light gradually faded, replaced by a grey haze of drifting dust.
She coughed several times and pushed herself upright.
"Lakyus!" Gagaran's voice came through the dust — rough, but carrying obvious concern.
"I'm fine." Lakyus called back. Her voice came out somewhat hoarse.
She looked around.
Tina and Tia were peering out from behind a pile of rubble. The ninja twins had dust smeared across their faces but didn't look seriously hurt.
Evileye descended slowly from the air. Her robes had a few scorched holes burned through them, but her movements were steady.
Gazef and Brain came from nearby, leaning on each other slightly. One of Brain's sleeves had been burned away, exposing a smoke-blackened arm underneath — but his expression was easy enough.
"That was... a close one." He muttered.
Momon stood behind everyone.
His armor was in worse shape than before — barely recognizable as its original form. But he still had the strength to stand, and the jet-black greatsword was still in his hand.
"Is everyone all right?" Momon asked.
"Thanks to you." Lakyus gave a slight nod. "Thank you for the warning, Momon."
Momon shook his head slightly. He didn't say anything more.
The dust continued to settle.
At the center of the explosion, only a massive crater remained.
The Wrath Demon General's body was gone entirely — as though he had simply vaporized in the blast.