- Death of a Demon

Zex fell to the ground as strength was leaving him at a rapid pace. His form was reverting to his normal demon form. The wings on his back turned to ashes and so did a bulk of his horns. His tail followed suit and his body shrank back down.

With his primary attributes being reduced by 70% due to the backlash after using [True Name Liberation], he had no chance to defend himself, much less deal any damage.

Seeing this, Drago, who was already groggy from the recent exchanges, breathed a sigh of relief.

He lasted longer.

During Zex's reversion, Drago had already regenerated around 1,200 HP, recovering back to a total of 2,200 HP. Most of the Dragon Scales covering his skin have vanished. If not for some draconic features remaining on small parts of his body and the great strength he could still feel coursing within it, he would mistake himself to be back to his original state.

While he still had such strength, he decided to end it all here. Drago walked towards Zex who was on all fours, wheezing and with shaking arms trying to support his weight.

Despite the weakness that his opponent was showing him, he did not think of holding back his attack. He knew his opponent was a demon. Even in such a weakened state, anything but a full-force attack might fail to secure the kill.

Drago raised Avegar and quickly struck Zex down.

*SLASH!*

However, when he completed the strike, an ominous feeling wrapped around him. The scene in front of his eyes turned as the one he struck down suffered no damage and the next second, immense pain washed over him as if he was the one sliced in two, instead.

This damage was the final straw that broke the camel's back as Drago's strength left him and his stats drastically lowered down. He barely managed to stay up by stabbing his greatsword to the ground and leaning against it.

"What… *huff*... What did you do?" Drago was panting heavily as he struggled to stand back up. There was no injury to his body as the damage was not physical in a sense but rather mystical. Nevertheless, the damage was real.

The next second, a fog of darkness appeared behind Drago and Zex pushed him into it.

For 3 seconds, the two were isolated from the world.

Inside the castle, Alzeius was still watching the battle. He thought of intervening at the last second but he could not see through the fog. However, he was already preparing himself to jump in when they reappeared.

Before the 3 seconds were up, the soul contract he had with Zex suddenly flickered, and he had a bad feeling.

When the fog dissipated, Zex was lying on the floor face down, and Drago was holding onto his greatsword which was plunged onto Zex's chest from behind.

Not even a second after they reappeared, Alzeius appeared next to Drago.

"Zex?" Alzeius asked Drago who was panting heavily, falling to the ground.

"It's… It's me." Drago replied while breathing heavily.

"Why? Why are you in that body?" Alzeius asked.

It was precisely Zex who was inside Drago's body.

From the moment that Drago's body purged his black flames and felt the bloodline suppression from him, he decided that he would use [Soul Swap]. Although his demon body had very high base stats, he felt it better to have a body with the blood of a dragon.

However, he could not use it while they were both in their enhanced forms since if he did, he would be reduced to level 0, and would not be able to kill his original body even though it would have lost all of its mana and stamina.

Therefore, he had to force Drago out of his enhanced form right after he lost his own just in case Drago's [Draconian Manifestation] had a hidden passive against spirit attacks like he had with Critical damage and Magical damage.

He also had another reason why he did not use [Soul Swap] at a prior time.

Zex was paying attention to the changes in Drago's body and stats. Carefully, he fixed the battle to lower both of their health just before both of them reverted to normal. Then when Drago was about to finish him off, he used [Unholy Offering] to transfer any damage he would receive for 3 seconds to Drago. This was also a risk on his part since it could have killed Drago. Fortunately for him, it did not. Either way, he would still have won.

Finally, he cast [Hall of Darkness] and pushed Drago inside in hopes that he could mask his next actions. He did not wish for Alzeius to discover the effects and requirements of [Soul Swap].

Since he was in contact with Drago when they entered the [Hall of Darkness], they could see each other when they were inside it.

The moment they entered, Zex used [Soul Swap]. Afterward, he kicked the confused Drago who was now inside his original body to fall to the ground. Then before the fog dissipated, he plunged Avegar on his original body's chest from behind.

Of course, this was not how he explained the current situation to Alzeius.

"If you are killed, your soul will replace the soul of the one who killed you?" The demon lord was having doubts about the explanation given to him by the man who was still lying on the ground.

Zex closed his eyes, unable to move a muscle. "I believe so."

Alzeius raised a brow and then asked: "If I kill you, your soul would replace mine. Is that what you are saying?"

Having already thought of a lot of scenarios and responses beforehand, Zex was able to remain calm and answer: "I doubt it, my lord. The soul contract binds my soul. The act of replacing your lordship's soul would be deemed as a betrayal. Therefore, I think I would just die instantly in such a case. Also, this shouldn't be something that occurs each time I die. I do not wish to test this unless necessary."

Alzeius thought about it for a while and nodded. He then looked at the body stabbed by a great sword.

"What are your plans?" He asked.

Zex acted as if he was thinking about it. However, he already formulated his path to understanding this world and his power the fastest while still serving Alzeius in the process.

"I will go to Grimley, infiltrate their ranks, and learn as much information about them and the world. My lord, I shall build your army from within theirs." Zex declared his ambition.

This caused excitement to envelop the demon lord, making him look forward to such an event.

"How long do you need?" Alzeius grinned and asked the man lying on the ground who wore a serious look.

"5 years. The kingdom will be yours in 5 years." Zex made a bold declaration. Of course, he had reason to believe so. With the skills he gathered and his learning ability, this body which holds dragon blood, and the kingdom's resources at his disposal, even 2 years would be enough. However, who would believe that? Therefore he gave a more believable deadline.

"Granted." Alzeius agreed.

Suddenly, a powerful magical bolt was rapidly flying towards Alzeius' back. The demon lord shifted and raised his hand in the direction of the bolt.

The next second, the bolt, and everything above the ground within a cone 250 meters in width at its end and 500 meters in length, was obliterated. Only Hevan and Caylin remained untouched even though they were only hiding behind a bush that was also obliterated.

The intense magic power that washed over them was immeasurable, they could not even move an inch. It wasn't even a spell of some sort. It was pure uncontained mana. With the two of them completely unharmed despite the destruction around them, they realized deep within their souls how easy it was for such a being to decimate them.

"Take this man back to your kingdom, and tell your king that in honor of this man's prowess, I will give you 5 years of peace. After that, your kingdom will fall into my hands." Alzeius said as he raised his other hand, removing Avegar from Zex's original body and disappearing with it into the castle.