Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 743 Pride

While Kaizen had his right hand around Azrakthar's neck, an aura of psychic mastery entwined around them much more intensely than before. Looking closer, it was possible to see that Kaizen's hand wasn't touching Azrakthar's skin, but a small projection of his hand, as if there was a wall separating the two.

Still suspended in the ethereal fabric of psychic energy, Azrakthar's flaming eyes were burning with anger and the way Kaizen looked at him conveyed a clear message: contempt.

However, although the mastery of power had become clear in those last moments after the battle, Azrakthar was a demon so proud of his own power that he was almost blind.

In response to the demon's resistance, the shadows around them began to move and as if coming to life, they began to move, literally coming out of the pile of rubble and forming a large shadow underneath the demon. Suddenly, the shadows around Azrakthar took shape, transforming into writhing ethereal tentacles.

Despite this, from Azrakthar's expression as his neck was squeezed, even he didn't seem to be aware of what he was doing.

'He's controlling the shadows and doesn't know how he's doing it...? And from the reactions of the others, I seem to be the only one who's seeing it.

Suddenly, these tentacles of shadows rising from the ground began to entwine Kaizen's psychic hold on Kaizen and, like hands, began to open the fingers of Kaizen's non-physical hand. Surprised by the turnaround, Kaizen changed his approach, intensifying the concentration of his aura. With one hand raised, he summoned a psychic barrier to repel the dark tentacles.

Azrakthar, still resisting with everything he had, unconsciously shaped the shadows around him into a second figure, literally a shadow of him, a black copy of himself. This shadowy duplicate advanced silently towards Kaizen, while the real demon, suspended in the air, held on.

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The shadow demon grabbed Kaizen's shoulders and began to push him backwards, trying to get him as far away from the original Azrakthar as possible.

Kaizen then accepted and let the monster push him, at the same time undoing his grip on the original. Finally, Azrakthar fell to the ground, coughing heavily and short of breath. Almost instantly, the shadow tentacles and the copy fell apart.

"Looks like I got my analysis wrong..." Kaizen said as he took the King's Sword from a golden square in the air, his inventory. "You have the potential to be even stronger, so I'm going to have to kill you right now, without giving you any chance to continue fighting."

Azrakthar stood up, still holding his left hand, as if checking that there was nothing else holding him down. "You bastard, what are you talking about? You could have killed me right now. Are you kidding me?"

"As I imagined, you didn't realize... But, in the end, it doesn't matter, it doesn't change what I have to do."

Kaizen then looked over his shoulder at Og'tharoz. "Hey, OG. I know I can't ask for much more after you saved me, but it looks like we're in trouble at the Front. Go ahead, I'll be there in two minutes."

The demon Og'tharoz, with his disheveled hair and sleepy eyes, nodded and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Azrakthar could barely stand. The physical pain was evident in his expression, yet his speech didn't change.

"You're a fool to think you can defeat me so easily, Psyker. I am a force beyond your comprehension," growled Azrakthar, spitting blood onto the ground.

Kaizen, for his part, kept his composure, his piercing gaze fixed on the demon. "Your arrogance only hastens your own downfall, Azrakthar. If you considered yourself weak, you'd have even more scope to become stronger."

"That's what we're going to see!"

The demon reached forward, launching a huge, bluish fireball in Kaizen's direction. The player, instead of thinking about dodging or blocking the attack, advanced towards the fireball and when he got close enough to feel the heat, he swung the sword in his hands, thus cutting the magic precisely in half.

Azrakthar was surprised and took a step back, but then changed his mind and tried to start a physical fight. However, this moment of hesitation was crucial, because before he could even form a fighting pose, Kaizen was already at his side, swinging her sword in his direction.

The King's Sword hit Azrakthar in the side and embedded itself in his left rib. Kaizen then kicked Azrakthar in the chest, sliding his sword through the demon's stomach and drawing a roar of pain.

Azrakthar tried to retreat again, to give himself time to regenerate this wound, but Kaizen stopped him before he did, pulling him close with <Psychokinesis>. To defend himself, the demon formed an X with both arms and created a magical barrier. However, a simple shield like that obviously wouldn't be enough to stop someone like Kaizen, who only reversed the direction of <Psychokinesis> so that, instead of pulling, he could push. In this way, all the pressure created by Kaizen's ability broke the barrier in an instant.

The demon was shocked, and its surprised expression didn't change for a moment when Kaizen suddenly appeared in front of it.

Kaizen slapped the monster across the face with the back of his left hand, and the slap sounded like a gunshot, echoing everywhere. Azrakthar fell hard to the ground from the blow, causing a thud.

Azrakthar's mind immediately became clouded, but deep down, the self-imposed doctrine that he was immortal, his will to stay alive, was strong, so he got up roaring, even though his jaw was completely out of place because of Kaizen's slap. However, he wasn't lucky, the power Kaizen had obtained after becoming an Evolved was too great.

Without mercy, Kaizen brandished the King's Sword once more, breaking the demon in half, and the last thing Azrakthar saw was Kaizen's look of pity, which finally put him in his place.

"Am I... weak?" Azrakthar muttered as his body turned to ash.

"Yes," Kaizen replied. "But you have the proudest heart I've ever seen."