- A Familiar Figure

Neither Arissef nor Edge could describe what they saw that day except that Barazi summoned a creature that should not have existed in this world.

"How is it possible to summon something like that so fast?" Edge said as he retreated to where Arissef was.

In front of them was a hulking presence with gigantic horns, serpent-like eyes, covered in dark-red bone armor, with huge arms and a gigantic tail.

"Hahahaha! You thought you won? Do not worry. After you die, I will make good use of your bodies!" Barazi said as he continued to laugh maniacally.

Edge and Arissef were genuinely terrified as they maintained their gaze on the creature.

"Can you defeat it?" Arissef asked Edge who was now wearing a dark expression, wishing that he would hear a reassuring response.

Unfortunately, Edge shook his head. He has used up most of the death energy in the room and with the pressure the creature is giving off, he did not know if he can even make a scratch. "I'm out of tricks here."

Arissef nodded. This was not something the two of them could handle.

For a while, the creature was observing its surroundings.

"Hey!!! Heeeeeey!!!!" Barazi was screaming at the creature, wanting to get its attention.

When the creature turned its head, Barazi was excited as his bodyguard was wrapping up his wound. He raised his right hand, holding the glowing amulet for the creature to see. "I am your summoner! I order you to kill those two in front of you!"

As the creature looked at the amulet for a good while, Arissef told Edge that he had a plan. However, he needed time.

"What are you waiting for? Kill them!" Barazi was losing his patience. He lost a lot of blood and wanted things to be over and done with already.

Who would have ever expected that the creature would suddenly chuckle?

The next moment, smoke violently surged outward from the creature.

Edge put up his guard and compressed the remaining death energy he could muster while Arissef was beginning his preparations.

Tension was rising as the smoke began to clear up.

"Death energy, huh?" Edge suddenly heard a voice behind him but to his horror, he could not move or even turn his head.

Arissef, on the other hand, saw a humanoid figure standing right behind Edge curiously inspecting the energy emanating from him. Moreover, the mana that he was building up turned haywire as he began vomiting blood.

"Pitiful. Selling your soul to a weakling of a god." The figure then turned around as if he lost interest in Edge.

"You, however, are quite amusing." The figure walked a few steps around Arissef. "A mere human with no talent in magic yet you dare to use such a spell. Unfortunately, it does not affect our kind."

The two felt like they were naked ants in the eyes of the figure. Of all the creatures they have faced in their lives, none of them could hold a candle to the one that was strutting about in their midst.

"You-you... What are you waiting for??? I order you to kill them this instant!!!" Barazi, who was looking at the events being played out in the distance, held up the amulet once again.

The figure turned his gaze on Barazi and gave him a cold stare. As he did so, Barazi's soul trembled and he fell on his bottom. The bodyguard moved in front of Barazi and put on a fighting stance.

"I will let you in on a secret." The figure said as he began walking towards Barazi and his bodyguard.

"That amulet is an artifact created long ago to seal powerful beings. You did not summon me. You released me from my prison!" As he said these words, the huge room trembled violently and a suffocating pressure fell upon everyone, driving them to the ground.

As the figure arrived right in front of the kneeling bodyguard, he placed his palm on the bodyguard's head. "More importantly, that amulet is only good for one use." The next moment, the bodyguard plopped to the ground losing all signs of life.

"It... It can't be... He did not tell me that!!!" Barazi was panicking as terror overwhelmed him. "I-I RELEASED YOU! Let me serve you! Please spare my life!" He used all his might to readjust his position and kneeled in front of the figure.

At these words, the figure seemed like he was lost in thought for a moment.

"I guess you are right. I do owe you for that." The figure nodded and was contemplating on how to reward his 'savior'.

As Edge and Arissef were watching this, they were beginning to lose hope. Their lives were in their hands no longer

Suddenly, the Aura that surrounded them began to thin down as the figure pointed his finger at Barazi's head.

"Consider this... My gift to you."

A surge of Aura concentrated and plunged into Barazi's body bombarding him with a certain amount of power.

Barazi was squirming around looking to be in intense pain.

Hearing these from the accounts of Edge and Arissef, Zex felt it was painfully familiar but it was only when Edge explained the event that confirmed it for him.

Arissef was vomiting nonstop from the mana that he was sensing that he could not spare having a look at what was happening.

Edge, however, observed the whole process as the dismembered body parts scattered within the room levitated towards Barazi. Then he finally turned his head when he saw Barazi who could barely be called human anymore, was ravenously devouring them.

Demonic Reconstruction!

Zex was having a very bad feeling as he was listening to Edge's account through Drago's ears. This feeling was biting deep at his soul.

However, he reserved his thoughts and continued listening to Edge's account.

After a while, Barazi stopped his meal, his transformation complete.

"How do you feel?" The figure asked the same question that Zex was asked when he transformed, himself.

"Powerful! I feel powerful!!!" Barazi, who has now turned into a demon, answered as he checked his condition.

To this, the figure put on a bored look as he began walking towards the exit.

"Consider us even." The figure said as he vanished to the shadows.

Barazi was stunned at the figure's sudden disappearance that he could not say anything more.

As the figure left, Edge and Arissef regained control of their bodies. "Are you alright?" Edge asked.

Arissef already stopped vomiting blood as the two began drinking potions. "Yeah... But we might have a problem."

Edge nodded. "What do we do now?" He asked as he turned to look at the demonized Barazi.

"Despite how it looks, he might not have full control and understanding of his body just yet. We can make use of that. I will prepare something but I need you to protect me." Arissef explained.

"I might need all the buffs you can give me." Edge said, obviously unconfident that he could stand his ground, alone.

Barazi was still basking at his newfound power when a sudden dagger strike grazed his neck.

'What a tough skin!!!' Edge delivered a heavy blow only to have such a small effect. Fortunately, he was able to dodge the counterattacks Barazi gave him.

Edge was using his advantage in combat experience together with the boost to his capabilities thanks to the power the god of death gave him.

However, with the low amount of death energy he could muster, he could not perform as well as he did earlier.

Moreover, Barazi was slowly starting to get accustomed to his strength, gradually closing the gap between them.

The exchange went on for a while as Barazi was starting to inflict heavy injuries on Edge with his claws while he easily tanked a lot of Edge's attacks.

When Arissef's buffs started wearing off one after another, Barazi was able to slip in a lot of attacks on Edge, injuring him heavily.

Edge was panting heavily as he lost strength in his left arm and was bleeding everywhere. With the amount of blood he lost, he was starting to get lightheaded.

Just when Barazi was charging at Edge to continue his attacks, blinding light and a crackling sound shot from his side and blasted him off straight to the wall.

Arissef threw another healing potion towards Edge, who caught it with his only functioning hand which was forced to drop the dagger it was previously holding.

Edge glared at him as he downed the potion.

"Sorry. I can't think properly in this state." Arissef's eyes were emanating a violet aura as his arms were filled with magic circles of the same color. Snakes of lightning were running all over his body that made Zex imagine Arissef in a Violet Super Saiyan form. [1]

[1] Super Saiyan Form is a transformation in the Dragon Ball Series wherein those with Saiyan (An alien race) blood can undergo after special requirements are met. Across the series, there have been many variations of colors for the transformation, sometimes denoting different power levels, while others denoting a different path or method that the Saiyan-blood took or practiced to reach it.

---Author's Note: I have just received my first dose of the Vaccine yesterday and was thinking of releasing 3 chapters per week starting Monday to take it easy and have some rest in between writing. Don't worry as I will post the conclusion of this battle tomorrow. Of course, if I feel like it, I might go for a mass release in the future as compensation.

As I am currently the only one doing all the writing, editing, and proofreading of this novel, I might overlook errors in future chapters. For that, I apologize as I will be constantly fixing them in my spare time. Thank you for reading and supporting Epitome of Evil. Please keep in mind that this is just book 1 of a trilogy. The published chapters have just barely touched the foot of Mt. Tai. The general direction of the story and how the trilogy would play out is already complete. I will appreciate it if you continue to read and support my first ever novel. ---