Chapter Fifty

PING!

Devalgar's lips curled into a smirk as he watched the demon hurtle through the jagged rocks like a discarded puppet. His left arm, once a mangled stump, now bubbled and seethed—muscles, sinew, and tendons writhing grotesquely as they knitted back together. The fresh limb emerged from the mess of flesh, whole and flawless once again. It flexed with unnatural ease, a perfect symbol of his ability to defy the limitations of mortality.

As the power coursed through him, a shiver of twisted familiarity rolled down his spine. His eyes flickered, noticing a faint crimson sheen spreading across the desolate, blackened land. The blood came first in mere trickles, seeping from cracks in the earth, then pooling like raindrops caught in a storm. Slowly, the flow thickened, transforming into streams that fed a growing river of red. The ground convulsed as though some hidden artery had burst, and the trickle became a deluge—a crimson ocean swallowing the land in a relentless tide.

Devalgar's laughter echoed through the air, sharp and cruel. Hovering above the torrent, he reveled in the chaos below. The sea of blood called to him, its intoxicating warmth pulling at his very core. He dipped his fingers into the liquid, trailing them through it with a lover's touch. It was alive. Pulsing. Power incarnate.

"Yes..." The word was barely a whisper, lost in the cacophony of destruction. "This is how it should be."

The sky seemed to split open, unleashing sheets of blood that poured like rain, thick and unyielding. It drenched his clothes, his skin, soaking him to the bone, but Devalgar welcomed it. Each drop carried power—dark, twisted power—feeding the dark hunger that churned within him. He stretched his arms wide, laughing as the blood infused him, bolstering the strength that radiated from his very soul.

Around him, the lesser demons shrieked in pain. The blood scorched them like molten fire, eating through their flesh, reducing them to ash and bone. Their agonized howls filled the sky, but Devalgar barely noticed. They were insects, swept away by a force far beyond their comprehension, nothing more than a backdrop to his ascendancy.

Amidst the carnage, however, one demon remained. Larger than the others, it stood firm, its hulking form radiating power. Unperturbed by the crimson tides, it bared its jagged teeth and sucked in a deep breath, flames flickering along its maw. With a roar that split the heavens, it unleashed a torrent of fire toward Devalgar, the heat so intense it turned the falling blood to steam in midair.

Devalgar's expression remained unchanged. The flames hurtled toward him, searing the very air, yet he did not flinch. The inferno engulfed him, a raging storm of heat and destruction, but when the fire died down, Devalgar stood untouched. Not a single hair on his head had been singed, his eyes gleaming with amusement. A slow, predatory grin crept across his face.

"Is that the best you've got?" His voice cut through the air like a sharpened blade, dripping with mockery.

With an almost lazy motion, he flexed his fingers, testing the strength of his newly formed arm. Then, with a single commanding gesture, he clenched his fist.

"Let me show you the true meaning of power."

The sea of blood roared in response. Waves surged up from the depths, spiraling into a massive wall of crimson, towering over the defiant demon. Without hesitation, Devalgar sent the wave crashing down with the force of a mountain, his chuckle deep and menacing as it obliterated his foe.

|| Atrocity ||

-CRACK-

Something in the air shifted, and Devalgar's body tensed, every nerve in his being suddenly alert. Beneath the chaos, under the ever-growing sea of blood, he felt it—a presence, vile and ancient, thrumming with a hatred so potent it left a bitter taste in his mouth. This was no ordinary foe. It was something primal, something that existed long before even him.

-CRACK-

Again, the sound reverberated through the blood-soaked landscape, louder this time, sharper. Devalgar's gaze shot skyward just as the heavens themselves began to splinter. The crimson sky, once whole, was now riddled with cracks, spreading outward like a web of shattered glass. The breaks widened, and through the fractures, the sky began to crumble away, revealing something far more terrifying—an abyss of swirling purple, dark and infinite.

His domain was breaking apart.

For a fleeting moment, a cold dread gripped him. His domain—the place where his will reigned supreme—was unraveling. The power here was his, forged through blood and violence, yet something was tearing it asunder. He reached out with his mind, desperate to reassert his control, but the moment he did, a wave of malevolence crashed into him. It was a hatred unlike anything he had ever encountered, raw and overwhelming.

"Her..." he growled, his voice tinged with anger and the faintest trace of fear. The demoness.

The landscape shuddered beneath him. From the sea of blood, the ground heaved, lifting unnervingly into the air. Massive peaks rose from the depths, towering and sharp, forming jagged mountains. They were unnatural in their symmetry, each one rising in a deliberate line. The rivers of blood cascaded down the sides, turning into crimson waterfalls as they climbed higher.

Devalgar's eyes widened. His mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing. More peaks burst from the ground, mirroring the first, their formation deliberate and precise.

Then, the realization hit him like a hammer to the chest.

"Those aren't mountains," he muttered, his voice barely audible over the chaos. "They're fingers."

The landscape around him was shifting, not of its own accord but in response to something far larger than himself. The ground buckled, and the peaks—fingers—curled inward, casting a shadow over the blood-soaked land.

From the depths of his collapsing domain, something unfathomable was awakening.

Beneath him, the red sea churned violently, swirling into a massive crimson whirlpool. The ground heaved, cracking apart as something black and monstrous began to rise from the depths. To Devalgar, it was as if the earth itself was ascending toward the sky, defying all sense and logic.

RAAAAAAARGH!!!

A primal roar shattered the air, tearing reality asunder. The very fabric of the world trembled as if recoiling from the chaotic power behind the voice. The sky, already fracturing, split wider under the force, revealing nothing but an endless abyss.

With a sweeping gesture, Devalgar summoned the blood to him. The raging sea of crimson moved as one, flooding toward the ancient vampire in a torrent of unimaginable power. The blood tore into his pale skin, surging into his veins with a violent intensity. It was no ordinary blood—it was the essence of gods and mortals alike, the lifeblood of his fallen enemies. As it filled him, Devalgar's body pulsed with raw, unfiltered power.

His transformation was grotesque yet beautiful—his skin rippled as the blood infused him, causing veins to bulge in brilliant red against his alabaster flesh. Steam hissed from his body, rising in thick clouds as his power stabilized, a moment of calm before the impending storm.

Devalgar exhaled sharply, the breath escaping his lips in a plume of steam. His senses sharpened, ready for the confrontation ahead. But something was wrong. The darkness... it was unnatural, far beyond the creeping shadows of his domain.

His gaze snapped upward, and what he saw left even him—a being of near-limitless power—momentarily speechless.

A mountain—no, something far larger—rose before him, casting a suffocating shadow over nearly his entire realm. Around the monstrous figure was an aura so black and thick it seemed to solidify, oozing malice from every inch of its towering form. Atop this colossal shadow, six dark red suns blazed, burning parallel in the void. The demoness' eyes.

Devalgar clenched his fists, jaw tightening as her massive left arm rose. Before he could react, the demoness brought down her claws with devastating force. The very sky screamed as her attack tore through it, the impact creating a sonic boom that reverberated through the entire realm.

To an observer, the demoness' strike would appear slow, but Devalgar knew better—time itself seemed to bend around her size. With blinding speed, he barely managed to dodge the claws. His heart raced as the ground beneath where he'd just stood exploded into molten rock and glass, ignited by the sheer velocity of her attack.

His domain... the once untouchable landscape was aflame, ravaged by a single blow.

Devalgar's fury flared. "If I can't save my domain, then I'll obliterate you!" he snarled, severing his connection to the land. 

The power he had been using to maintain his domain now surged into his own form, fueling a monstrous transformation. His body contorted and grew, bones snapping and reshaping until he stood as a gigantic, nightmarish bat—a creature of darkness and blood.

Even in this massive form, Devalgar was dwarfed by the demoness. Next to her, he was no more than a child challenging a god.

With a deafening screech, Devalgar dove toward the demoness, his wings beating furiously, kicking up violent whirlwinds of dust and debris. The demoness responded with another strike, her claw swiping through the air in a blur. Devalgar twisted his body in midair, narrowly avoiding the lethal blow. In retaliation, he unleashed a wave of blood-infused energy, the crimson blast crashing into the demoness with force—but it merely washed over her like water, doing little more than earning a momentary pause.

Devalgar seized that brief window. He dove, claws outstretched, aiming for the demoness' eyes. She moved, but not quickly enough—his talons raked across her face, leaving pale scars on her obsidian skin. The demoness snarled in response, her fury palpable.

She lashed out again, forcing Devalgar to veer sharply to the right. In a bold move, he lunged forward, sinking his fangs into her arm. But instead of tearing through flesh, his teeth shattered against her impenetrable skin. 

"Oh, come on!" Devalgar howled in frustration, spitting out broken fangs as he retreated.

The two circled each other, locked in a deadly dance of power. Devalgar's mind raced, searching for any weakness, any vulnerability he could exploit. But before he could find an opening, the demoness froze. Her massive head turned skyward, her gaze fixed on something beyond the world—beyond reality itself.

Devalgar followed her gaze and felt a cold dread settle in his gut. Something was coming. A presence that dwarfed even the demoness.

-CRACK-

The sound was faint at first, but it grew louder, more ominous, as if the very fabric of existence was splintering.

-CRACK-

Devalgar's breath caught. The void between realms, the Interrealm Void, was opening. The gap between dimensions, dangerous even to gods and demons, was being torn apart.

-CRACK-

From the swirling purple abyss, something stirred.

-CRA…

A massive, grey hand burst through the sky, ichor dripping like thick rain from its colorless skin.

-SHATTER-

The sky ripped wide open, and from the abyss, a face peered through—ancient, cold, and monstrous. Devalgar's entire body froze in terror. His massive bat form trembled, instinctively recoiling from the creature before him.

A Chthonian had arrived.

The very air around it seemed to warp, reality bending and twisting in its presence. These were beings of the Interrealm, born in the abyss between dimensions, where even the most powerful entities dared not tread.

Devalgar, for the first time in eons, felt the creeping sensation of fear.