Chapter 76: Despair

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[The [Ancient Tenth Apostle of Death: Astaroth, the King of Brutality] has discarded his {Dragon Form} shell and undergone a {Demonic Evolution}!]

[The {Demonic Evolution} has transformed him into his {Ultimate Demon Manifestation} Form!]

[All Defensive Stats have decreased by -90%, however, all other Stats have increased by +300%!]

[An {Aura of Overwhelming Brutality} spreads around his surroundings. All foes will receive a penalty of -50% to All Stats.]

[Those that are too weak to withstand such a malefic aura will faint instantly…]

Anna glanced at the System Notifications that her Eye of Truth could tell about what was happening. Astaroth, a massive pain in the ass, couldn't get any more annoying now. The bastard not only had a second Health Bar at this point but had transformed.

Discarding 90% of all his defenses, he had boosted all other stats by +300%, and to make things worse, surrounding foes received a penalty of -50% to all stats! Anna was already sensing the Aura taking effect on her and her allies, as her body and theirs became weakened and heavier, as if they couldn't hold themselves together anymore.

Losing all of their total strength was indeed terrible. Astaroth sacrificed his defenses, but with such an overwhelming superiority above everyone else, did that even matter?

"I have to recognize your might, humans." He smiled. "We demons once fought just as relentlessly against the invasion of the Heavenly Realm… Such war taught me one thing: that the strong make the rules and the weak perish and disappear from history. And now, we Demons have become the strongest ones here, and you humans shall perish and disappear, just as my kin did."

Astaroth appeared right in front of Anna at incredible speed; she couldn't even detect him moving if it wasn't for her Eye of Truth, and even then, she only noticed a black blur, nothing more.

"This is nothing personal, human. But this is just how this universe works. The laws of the cosmos." He smiled, his eyes overflowing with demonic energy. "And of course, I'll crush you first, so you won't use that petty sword anymore!"

Anna gritted her teeth, imbuing all the energy and power she had left and swinging her blade against Astaroth, taking the opportunity of him being right in front of her!

SLAAASH!

A gigantic slash of pure light surged from Gram, impacting a nearby building and slicing it into two halves. However, Astaroth had disappeared from her front in a second.

And he appeared right behind her!

His claws rapidly moved towards her back, about to pierce her torso and grasp her heart!

Anna was already sending mental commands to the accessory of Abraham Lincoln's Monocle to reset the cooldown of Anubis Judgement, but she didn't have time.

"I can't do it in time!" Was her last thought before her chest was pierced.

CRASH!

"NOOO!"

Baihe screamed in horror as Anna's chest was pierced from behind by Astaroth's claws, blood and guts splattering everywhere. The claws of Astaroth held her beating heart.

"Pitiful, lowly creature, rest in peace. You fought well." Astaroth smiled, crushing Anna's heart.

SPLAT!

"U-Ugh…" Anna vomited a mouthful of blood, and her eyes looked to be in utter agony.

A wave of frost reached her and Astaroth at the same time from Baihe, as Violet and Snow attacked Astaroth too.

RUMBLE!

However, a powerful shockwave of pure demonic power surged from within Astaroth's body, throwing them away in an instant! Baihe, Violet, and Snow were thrown away, rolling over the floor hopelessly. However, Anna's body was frozen, falling over the floor like an ice cube.

"You froze her?" Wondered Astaroth. "Fool, did you think that by freezing her, she would be able to not die yet? Oh? This magic… It is more troublesome than I thought."

Having already crushed her heart, Astaroth couldn't care less about Anna.

"Fine, let's leave her be. I'll be unlike those merciless angels, and let you cling to hope for a bit longer." Astaroth laughed, glancing at Baihe and Anna's wounded familiars.

"A-Anna…" Baihe muttered, her eyes constantly crying tears of horror and sorrow. "N-No…" She couldn't feel her life's essence at all.

She was perhaps too slow to freeze her, and to make things worse, her heart was crushed.

It was over for her.

"Well, don't worry, I'll make this just as quick as with her. You won't even know what happened before realizing you're dead." Astaroth smiled, acting as if he were a merciful being. Despite smiling deviously, he was very much enjoying this.

However, three shadows suddenly appeared around Astaroth! It was Hector, Henrietta, and Sara, the three A+ Rank Guild Masters!

"YOU BASTARD!" Henrietta screamed in fury and sorrow, tears flowing from her furious eyes. Her Divine Sword shone brightly and moved with incredible swiftness!

"DIEEEE!" Hector roared, his entire body surging with a tremendous quantity of lightning power!

"RAAAHH!" Sara lost herself as well, her entire body overflowing with darkness as her two daggers shone with bloodlust.

CRASH!

All three of their strongest blows reached Astaroth! However, they only hit the ground below them; Astaroth wasn't even there when their attacks hit!

"Wonderful. I wouldn't have gone this far if you humans weren't incredible enough." Astaroth smiled, appearing right behind all three of them.

Before Hector could react, Astaroth's legs reached his chest and kicked his entire body with tremendous force, sending him straight through a faraway building and making the entire thing crumble down!

"Hector- Agh!" Sara barely evaded a kick coming from behind as she quickly gritted her teeth. "{Death Succumbing Knives}!"

Her knives shone with the divinity of her sponsor, Hel, the daughter of Loki and queen of Norse Mythology's underworld, Helheim.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Countless slashing attacks reached Astaroth, and his entire body looked to be cut down to pieces!

"I did it?!" Sara thought for a split second, only to see that what she saw was merely the afterimage of Astaroth as she cut it down to pieces!

"You're not half bad."

Astaroth's voice echoed from above, and Sara's head was pushed down onto the floor as his two draconic legs crushed her down. Her skull was already gaining several cracks as Astaroth smiled maliciously.

"Die crushed like a bug-"

"RAAAHH!"

The furious war cry of Henrietta echoed from behind him, and as her Divine Sword slashed against Astaroth several times at once, a huge explosion of divine power reached him! However, once more, Astaroth evaded it swiftly, appearing right behind Henrietta as she was in midair!

"Oi Gabriel, your incarnation is struggling here. Why don't you come to help her out?" A smile surged on his jaws as his claws punched Henrietta's back several times in a split second, and then a kick threw her down, right over Sara!

Astaroth's power and speed were at a completely different level than any foe Henrietta had ever fought. Not even the incarnation of Leviathan was this powerful before! The Manifestations of Apostles of Death were almost as strong as the real deals when they fully manifested, fairly surpassing in power an incarnation that was possessed or transformed by the power of an Archdemon or Constellation.

"Unngh…! I-I can't even move…!" Henrietta muttered.

She had already used the Incarnation power from Gabriel, and it had a cooldown of 24 hours. She couldn't use it again, even if she wanted to.

To make things worse, the energy emanating from Astaroth was weakening her so much that she felt pain in every inch of her body as she tried to move.

And all the fear in her heart was affecting her as well; seeing Anna die so horribly completely broke her mind.

"Amusing." Astaroth lifted Henrietta and Sara off the ground with his claws, glancing at the two of them. "It seems neither the incarnation of Gabriel nor Hel can do a single thing now. See, Constellations? Your games are useless, your stupid hopes are useless, and you're useless. And we demons will eventually rise once more. We'll come after you, and we won't have mercy. This is just the beginning." Astaroth glanced into the skies as he tightened the grip of his two claws.

Crack, crack…!

"Ungh…! S-Stop-"

CRASH!

"Ah…!"

Henrietta's face was filled with horror as she saw Sara's head explode into pieces by the claws of Astaroth, her headless body falling to the floor helplessly.

"N-No… SARA!"

FLASH!

Henrietta's entire body overflowed with the last bits of Mana she held, her Divine Power surging constantly as a shockwave emerged from her body, hitting Astaroth with all her strength as her Divine sword managed to damage him, cutting the arm that was holding her! A kick in the chest sent the carefree Astaroth into the ground, and Henrietta did not stop, grasping her sword again and rushing towards Astaroth while he had his guard lowered!

"Y-YOU!"

Astaroth grew furious, while in midair, his jaws opened, and right in front of Henrietta, he fired a deadly beam of pure demonic energy! The beam pierced across Henrietta's stomach as she vomited blood, falling before she could even reach him.

BOOOM!

"A-AAGGH…!" Henrietta groaned in agony, and the demonic energy entering the wound slowly started to dissolve her insides.

"You almost got me there." Astaroth smiled, grabbing his own arm and putting it back where it was seconds ago. "I shouldn't have lowered my guard in front of the incarnation of that bastard… You know what? I'll make you suffer slowly before killing you; that'll make him scream in anger, won't it? So endure for a bit more, human."

Astaroth smiled, slowly stepping towards her with a menacing smile.

…

Above the tall buildings of the Stronghold city, a man shrouded in shadows could be seen jumping from one rooftop to another in a hurry.

"Fenrir! I can't sense Anna's life force anymore! I told you to protect her!"

The head of a wolf surged from his shoulder, made completely out of shadows.

"She forced me to put those kids into safety! And later, I wasn't able to locate her at all!"

"You useless dog!"

"Why are you blaming it all on me, you damn brat?! You were the one that took so long to complete your Third Trial!"

"Why do you even make such unnecessary trials to begin with?!"

"It is necessary so you can adapt to my strength and develop it! The System I designed is made up of the Fragments of-"

TRUUM…!

However, their hasty conversation was quickly brought to a stop as the young man sensed the utterly powerful and terrifying presence of an Ancient Apostle of Death.

"What is this presence?!"

"Hurry! You have to get there and beat that thing before it is too late!"

"Right! Dammit! Anna… please, please be safe!"

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