Black flames rose in a pillar as the air rapidly heated. Ice clashed with the flames, and a devastating expulsion consumed the battlefield, reaping lives from the sheer carnage.

Amon was pushed back by the clash, while Damon was sent flying, rolling on the dirt as he struggled to regain his footing. His face was slightly scraped from the attack, his breath heavy.

This was how his attacks felt to other people…

Damon charged forward, swinging his sword in a crisscrossing arc. Slashes flew through the air as flames roared to life around him, wrapping Damon in immolating heat that spread with a soul-chilling coldness.

But Amon didn't move. He just stood there in his ravenous form as the flames consumed him.

The black fire rose to the heavens in a cyclone of destruction that wiped out everything around it.

At the edge of the devastation, lying among charred corpses, a man with half his legs blown away by the aftermath of the battle watched in horror. Fear filled his eyes, his mouth hanging agape.

"Are… they even still in the third class? How can these monsters be in the same rank as us?"

It was as if the entire concept of rank no longer applied. Their power had already surpassed what their classifications suggested.

A third class was powerful, but this devastation was already bordering on the fourth class, the power to level cities and crush mountains.

Watching the flames consume Amon, tears spilled from the wounded man's eyes as hope renewed in his heart.

The unstoppable demon Amon had finally met his match. His body would be burned to ash…

Or so he hoped, until he heard a calm voice echo from within the flames.

"Dominate."

The black fire that had burned all around him rolled and coiled into Amon's palms. Then, those very flames were hurled toward Damon in a massive, one-sided explosion.

"Still using the same tricks, I see… You rely on power stolen from others."

Damon frowned as the magical orbs broadcasting the fight zoomed in on his face, an expression caught between shock and dread.

He subconsciously stepped back, the world watching as even in the heat of combat, Damon faltered.

"Yo…u… no, it can't be. It couldn't be… I… I destroyed you!"

Amon stood amidst the ashes, laughing with a low rumble.

"I cannot be destroyed by mere mortals."

Damon's teeth clenched, his eyes widening. "Damn you, Ashcroft…"

"Hahahahahahaha!" Amon's laughter thundered, his hand rising as everyone who heard that voice went pale with fear.

Amon was terrifying enough already but he had been unknown until now. Ashcroft, however, was a name all too familiar. The greatest of all demon lords… the invincible one.

Outside in the arena, Paimon stood, her eyes trembling with shock.

"The Demon Lord of Domination… so that's why I was brought here…"

The emperor, Kronos, ground his teeth in a mixture of fear and rage.

"Ashcroft… he really did return…"

In the Ravenscroft Pavilion, the old grand duke, Godwin Corbin Ravenscroft, rose sharply to his feet.

"We have to break open the arena and stop this! Ashcroft will kill them all!"

The crowd erupted in disbelief and dread.

"Ashcroft is a myth! I can't believe he's real!"

"It's over for the goddess races! He'll enslave and kill us all!"

"The goddess will destroy him again!"

"Father Dantalion save us."

Mixed voices of panic and denial filled the air until the Grand Duke Brightwater spoke.

"Ashcroft has returned, that much is true. However, you have nothing to fear. His last return ended in defeat at the hands of a young warrior of the goddess races."

He chuckled, suppressing the unease in his voice.

"The great Ashcroft was defeated by a mere child. He's a legend past his time, watch him fall again."

All eyes turned toward the projection as the Grand Duke silently prayed to the goddess.

"Ahahahaha… You damaged my main soul, and so I was forced into slumber. But that is not enough to stop me…"

Damon gritted his teeth, raising his sword.

"I see… I understand now. Even if I kill you here, you won't die, unless your main soul is found and destroyed."

Amon's lips curved slightly. Damon almost couldn't stop the faint smile on his own face. He had just increased the perceived danger of his opponent while also clarifying the mystery of Amon.

"I can't have them digging in the wrong direction."

This way, the value of his shadow clone Amon wouldn't matter. Even if they killed it, they would believe it only delayed the real Ashcroft.

"No pointing, hunting and killing a mere projection."

Damon wanted them to go on a wild goose chase… chasing a ghost that didn't exist.

Now it was time for Damon to start losing until he found a reason to "believe in himself," or some other heroic nonsense.

Sure enough. Amon, his shadow clone, rushed forward before Damon could react. His sword pierced Damon's chest, though Damon tried to shadow-stride as it passed through.

Amon grabbed his head and slammed a knee into Damon's nose. Blood gushed as the world spun from the blow.

Damon felt dizzy, maybe even concussed but he couldn't stop. He had to sell the act.

Flames roared to life as Amon burned him in a smoldering sphere of destruction.

Damon struggled to resist, to parry but Amon was the better fighter. Their battle raged across the field, killing both friend and foe in its wake.

Abellona gritted her teeth as she and the others fought through the demons only she made it past..Reaching the priestess.

Her eyes gleamed as she saw Damon bleeding, one eye shut from blood, his body bruised as Amon smashed, burned, and froze him.

She gritted her teeth harder. Her job was to kill the priestess. She had to believe Damon would survive.

Amon laughed darkly.

"How does it feel to face me without a timer counting down to my demise? This may be a weak projection of my power, but…"

He grabbed Damon by the nape, slamming his head against a boulder.

"It's more than enough for the likes of you."

"Now… you die."

Damon struggled weakly as despair filled the eyes of all who watched.

Ahh… it was beautiful. Seeing his own face covered in blood. Now all that was left was for Renata to follow the script, say something inspiring to motivate him.

Then he'd win and finish off Amon.

Silence fell as Amon tossed him to the ground.

"Your legend ends here as one of countless stepping stones."

Amon conjured a sword of ice, raising it to finish Damon—

—when a stone struck him.

He easily tanked it, surprised. This wasn't part of the script.

Amon turned to find Waton, covered in blood, a rock in his trembling hands. Tears streamed down his face.

He roared with all he had, voice cracking under fear and rage.

"Let go of my friend, you demon bastard!"

Waton was terrified, utterly terrified but still, he stood there alone before Amon, the avatar of Ashcroft the Dominator.

One man, facing what could only be called the strongest. All for a friend he barely knew.

From the ground, Damon stared at him.

This… was not part of his plan.

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