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Chapter 522 – Burning Challenger

– Several Minutes After Xuan Kai Reached the Bridges Section –

A large, bulky humanoid figure that was too tall to be human stepped into the corridor of flames, meeting the obstacle course head-on. His skin was dark purple, and outlined the robust muscles on his body that practically breathed the aura of confidence.

From his head, two long, snail-shell-shaped ivory horns grew, signaling that he was an Archdemon—a demon of noble descent, wiser than most and certainly stronger. His small eyes had no pupils and instead glared red, and two short scars ran down the center of them on his face. His ears were sharp like that of an elf's, but the skin color was more than enough to show the disparity between the two races.

Confidently and ominously, the figure stepped through the obstacle course as if the obstacles weren't there at all. Every time he took a step, the earth shook. 

The parkour? Omitted. He had two large demonic purple wings that spout out of his back, unrestrained by the magic limitations the Fire Empyrean had set in place. The flamethrowers? Useless. His body was heat-resistant, comparable to that of a dragon's. Even a god's flames could not harm him—only tickle at best. The pendulum? When it was about to strike him, he caught it with his left hand, and crushed it to bits with his claws. The gates of hell? When they came down at him, he simply caught them with his hands, and pushed them away so he could get through. And lastly, the flailing spiked metal balls of fire?

Absolutely useless.

Each time one of them came at him, he smashed it to metal smithereens with his powerful punches. The fire was—once again—useless against his heat-resistant skin, and his armor, crafted out of demonite—an ore that could only be found in Demon Territory—was the same.

The demon—this absolute monster of an entity—kept his expression the same as he flew through this corridor of death, completely not giving two shits about the rules. He was dauntless, fearless, and only had one goal in mind.

That's right—he did not care about Ignis's inheritance. He did not care about the Empyrean of Fire hating him. He came here with one purpose, and one purpose only:

To slay the boy named Xuan Kai.

Master X had ordered he and his three comrades to take the kid out. However, two had already died to this boy, contrary to what he had expected. Now, he was going to avenge his fallen brethren, and fulfill his master's order at the same time.

He knew that kid was in here somewhere. He could smell it—the stench of the blood of his former comrades, now buried god knows where. That boy—Xuan Kai—was close. And he would pay the price—the price, for slaying this demon's allies.

Of course, the demon knew. This 'boy' was no simple human. If Master X had directly ordered the Four Cardinals to take him out, he was a true threat. And on top of that, the boy had beaten both the wolfman and the old hag, both of which were respectable fighters in their own right—though they had very different styles.

The demon dared not underestimate the human named Xuan Kai—for that could very well end in his defeat, and his death. He was not scared of dying—but he was scared of failing to fulfill his master's orders. As such, he must prevail in this upcoming battle. Failure… was not an option.

The door that stood in his way despite having made it across the obstacle course? The demon was not in the mood for hindrances. Smashing the door to bits with his powerful fists, he stepped through the door—just barely fitting with his height.

On the other end, he found various bridges, all leading upwards. There was no other path to go. It would seem wherever the boy was, he was somewhere up there.

The demon, of course, did not take any bridges. He simply opened his demonic wings, the mark of his race, and soared upwards, murderous intent in mind.

On the way in here, he had encountered the boy's friends. However, he did not engage them, and merely slipped by unnoticed using his Demoncraft invisibility technology. There was no reason to include them in the fight—what was done by the boy was the boy's fault and the boy's alone, not any of his friends or lovers. Similarly, Master X had specifically ordered him not to harm any of the boy's friends—just the boy alone.

Despite feeling rage and hate towards Xuan Kai, the demon was still an honorable fighter—hence why he got along with the wolfman Alphis (real name Daiki) so well. No matter how much he wanted to win, he would never resort to dirty tactics. He would never forgive himself for winning a battle through cheap tricks, and he would also never forgive an opponent for doing so either.

As such, he intended to challenge the boy head-on. No sneak attacks, no tricks, head-on. That was the demon's code.

The demon—Nael—was on the hunt.

And Xuan Kai… was his prey.

*****

Soon, after many bridges and climbing, I was nearly at the top of this damned 'stairway to hell'. Ignis said he would meet me at the top, and quite frankly, I wasn't even climbing to meet him anymore. I was climbing so I could sack him in the face as soon as I got the chance. I thought Terrarim and Aerim's lairs were annoying—this is on a whole other level.

By some miracle, I didn't fall and was still alive even after going through countless half-broken bridges. I went from floating island to ledge, to another island, and so on, each time having to make at least one or two jumps. There were some close calls—several, actually—but I managed to get out of each, thankfully.

It would seem luck truly was on my side today. If it wasn't, I would be long gone by now. I didn't like relying on something as superficial as luck, but it's not like I really had much of a choice.

Finally, it was time for the final flights of stairs to reach the top. Unfortunately, this bridge was also the longest and most broken one yet. There appeared to be three jumps I had to make, with the last one being the biggest. Naturally, I did not like the looks of that.

Still, I was now experienced enough to make the first step without any hesitation, and slowly walk across. I made it to the first jump with no problem despite the shaking, and jumped across after some preparation just like all the other leaps I've made so far.

However, this one's landing was a bit different. When my feet hit the wooden plank, I heard a noise—the sound of something creaking as it was pulled out from someplace. I couldn't see where it was, but I did not like it.

Still, it was too late to turn back now. Rather than going back the way I came from, I might as well simply continue onwards—and soon, I arrived at the second jump.

After thorough preparation, I leaped. Once more, I landed safely, but there it was again. The creaking sound. The noise of something falling apart. The noise of impending doom.

I gulped nervously, but now there really was no turning back. The distance I had left to go was shorter than the distance I would need to travel if I turned back now. I only had one path to take—and it was forward.

Slowly, I advanced, keeping my footsteps light yet stable. Very soon, I arrived at the third and final jump. If I made this, I would practically be at the top—just a few more steps would do it. The problem was… this gap was incredibly large. I would need to jump quite hard to make it without the help of magic.

Clenching my fists as tightly as I could around the rope railings on either side of me and keeping my center of mass as low as possible to remain balanced, I prepared to jump. It was now or never. The more time I spent dwindling on this bridge, the higher the chance of it all breaking apart… along with my life.

Determined and fueled by renewed courage, I opened my eyes wide, and leaped for it.

And that's when it happened.

I heard the sound, and immediately, I knew what it was: my doom.

The wooden poles that were supposed to secure the bridge in place on that sky island I had came from tore apart, having been pulled out of the ground by the weight of my jumps. The entire bridge soon followed, completely slamming into the rock wall perpendicular to my destination. It hurt, but that was the least of my worries.

"Tch…!" I glanced down at the steaming pool of lava below, and knew if I fell, I was done for. 

There was no place to land.