A/N: Just wanted to clarify here. I'm not a self-centered person who cannot take criticism. But some of you are just straight up rude.
And from today onwards, instead of responding to you rude people, I'm just going to block you honestly. So tread carefully.
Also the reason the MC hasn't killed Shogo is because he's not a God damn murderer đ. At this point of the story, Shogo, Kirara and the other guy have not committed the crimes they did, so killing them just because of stuff they did in the novel is straight up dumb.
Unless you want the MC to be a freaken killing lord, killing everyone he comes across. I'm not saying he's a pacifist. He will kill, but only if those people prove to be truly evil.
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Razen stared at Loki as if he were looking at something fundamentally wrong with the world.
"âŠWhat are you angry about?" he asked, genuine confusion threading through his voice. "Since when do demons have compassion?"
For a brief moment, Loki froze.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly. Not madly.
Just a soft, almost self-mocking chuckle that carried no humor at all.
"You're right," Loki said, rubbing his face with one hand. "I really am pathetic for a demon, aren't I?"
He lowered his hand.
The smile vanished.
What replaced it was cold. Absolute. The kind of stillness that preceded annihilation.
"Forgive me Razen," Loki continued quietly. "I'll turn into a real demon,just for you okay."
The air tightened.
Razen felt it immediately. The shift wasn't explosive, nor did it come with a surge of visible magic. It was subtler than that, like the world itself had leaned back, bracing.
Razen let out a light chuckle, adjusting his posture as if unimpressed.
"Well, it doesn't really matter," he said. "You're just a Greater Demon."
His gaze flicked briefly toward the immobilized Shogo and Kirara trapped within the distant barrier.
"Having been defeated this easily only proves one thing," Razen continued. "These children are still far too weak to be of use to the kingdom."
He turned his attention back to Loki, eyes narrowing.
"That saidâŠ"
Razen's tone sharpened.
"To think you shattered the Master Lock. I must admit, that surprised me."
A faint, dangerous curiosity crept into his voice.
"What kind of trick did you use?"
Loki tilted his head, eyes gleaming with unmistakable amusement.
Then he smiled.
A smug, infuriating smile.
"Well," Loki said casually, "it's simple, isn't it, Razen?"
He spread his arms slightly, as if presenting an obvious truth.
"I'm stronger than you."
The words landed without force, yet they struck like a hammer.
"So destroying a curse placed by you," Loki continued, "shouldn't be an issue whatsoever."
Silence.
For a heartbeat, Razen didn't respond.
Then he scoffed.
"âŠHah."
He shook his head, lips curling upward into a thin smile.
"It's fine," Razen said. "You don't have to tell me."
His expression hardened as his stance shifted, feet planting firmly against the ground. Magic began to stir around him.
"What I do know," Razen continued calmly, "is that at this moment, you and I are enemies."
The air thickened further.
Razen raised one hand, fingers spreading as ancient formulas aligned themselves in his mind.
"Right here," he declared, "right nowâ"
His eyes locked onto Loki.
"I shall exorcise you, demon."
Loki's response was immediate.
A wide grin split his face, sharp and feral, eyes burning with anticipation.
"That's it, Razen," he said, voice brimming with excitement. "That bloodlust."
His presence surged inward, like a beast finally allowed to stretch its limbs.
"It's going to make it all worthwhile," Loki continued softly, "when I show youâ"
His smile widened further.
"True despair."
---
The air between them warped.
It wasn't pressure, nor was it raw magic density. It was something far more primitive, an instinctive rejection, as though the world itself had realized that one of the two beings standing there did not belong on the same scale as the other.
Razen felt it crawl up his spine.
But he did not retreat.
Instead, he raised his staff and spoke, voice sharp and practiced.
"Holy FormulaâPurification Array."
Light erupted beneath Loki's feet. Intricate magic circles layered themselves in rapid succession, radiant symbols designed specifically to target demonic existence. The ground glowed white-hot as sanctified power surged upward, chains of light snapping closed like the jaws of a trap.
Any ordinary demon would have screamed.
Loki simply looked down.
"Mm," he hummed, lifting one foot and stepping forward.
The magic circles shattered.
Like fragile glass struck by an invisible hammer. The holy chains snapped apart, dissolving into motes of light that faded before they could even touch him.
Loki glanced back up at Razen.
"Opening with anti-demon purification was the correct choice," he said calmly. "Your fundamentals are solid."
Razen's eyes narrowed.
"âŠSo you can resist holy-class magic."
"Resist?" Loki echoed, tilting his head. "No."
He took another step forward.
"I ignored it."
Razen clicked his tongue and immediately transitioned, staff slamming into the ground.
"Then let's see how you handle this, Holy Severance!"
Blades of condensed light screamed through the air, intersecting from multiple angles, cutting off every possible route of evasion. Each carried purification attributes layered atop raw destructive force, designed to erase a demon's body and soul simultaneously.
Loki sighed.
He raised one hand.
The blades hit him.
And stopped.
They trembled in midair, pressed against an invisible boundary no thicker than a thought. Loki flicked his wrist.
The blades scattered like mist.
"Overlapping attributes is smart," Loki continued conversationally, as if they were discussing theory instead of fighting. "But you're overfeeding the spell. You're compensating for fear."
Razen's teeth clenched.
Fear?
No, this was analysis. Tactical assessment.
Still, his heart was beating faster.
"Fine," Razen muttered. "So you've evolved."
Mana surged violently as he stopped holding back.
"You might have reached Archdemon," he admitted. "I don't know how you did it in such a short time, but that's fine."
The air thickened as layers of magic stacked around him.
"An Archdemon is still within the realm of what I can handle."
He thrust his staff forward.
"Exorcism ArtâHeavenfall Pillar!"
A massive column of divine light descended from the sky, roaring as it slammed down toward Loki with the force of a judgment from above. The ground screamed as it caved inward, shockwaves rippling across the training grounds.
Dust and light swallowed everything.
Shogo and Kirara stared, frozen, hearts pounding.
Rain didn't move.
The dust cleared.
Loki stood there.
Unburned. Unmoved.
The pillar had split around him, the light bending as if unwilling to touch him directly.
Loki brushed imaginary dust from his shoulder.
"This is where your problem lies, Razen," he said mildly. "You're still thinking in terms of categories."
Razen stared.
"âŠWhat?"
"Greater Demon. Archdemon. Demon Lord," Loki continued. "You think climbing those labels automatically bridges the gap."
He lifted his gaze, eyes boring into Razen.
"But power isn't a ladder."
The space around Loki distorted for a split second, just enough.
"It's a wall."
Razen's instincts screamed.
He leapt back as sigils flared, instantly summoning a massive construct from the earth beneath him.
"Superior Earth SpiritâGuardian Colossus!"
The ground ruptured as a towering stone golem emerged, veins of mana pulsing through its body. This wasn't a simple summon, it was a contracted spirit, bound and reinforced with layered enchantments. Defensive, regenerative, anti-demonic.
The colossus roared and swung its massive fist down toward Loki.
Loki's eyes lit up.
"Ah."
He smiled.
"Now that was intelligent."
Razen's breath hitched.
Praise?
"Summoning a spirit instead of relying solely on spells," Loki said, stepping forward. "Reducing the effectiveness of my resistances by changing the vector of attack."
The fist descended.
Loki moved.
Fast.
Precise.
He slipped inside the swing and placed one hand against the golem's chest.
"Your thinking, howeverâŠ"
He tapped once.
"âŠis too narrow."
The sound was soft.
But the result was not.
A shockwave pulsed inward, bypassing the outer shell entirely. Cracks spiderwebbed from the core outward as the spirit let out a soundless scream.
The golem froze.
Then collapsed, imploding as its core shattered into dust.
The spirit was annihilated.
During his three years training under Noir. Noir had talk him all about spirits and their weaknesses and in general ways to defeat a Spirit.
Silence followed.
Razen's world tilted.
"âŠWhat?," he whispered.
Loki withdrew his hand.
"You protected the exterior," he explained calmly. "I attacked the concept sustaining it."
Razen staggered back.
That shouldn't have been possible.
That wasn't brute force.
That was understanding.
"You're adapting," Loki noted. "Good."
Razen snapped out of it, desperation creeping in.
"BarrierâSacred Bastion!"
"BindingâDemon Lock!"
"Sanctified Flameâ"
Each spell came faster than the last, layered, refined, desperate. Light, fire, binding curses, anti-demon formula, all of it poured out.
And Loki?
He walked.
Each spell bent, slid, or dispersed around him. Flames parted. Chains failed to close. Barriers cracked before forming completely.
"Too rigid," Loki said. "You rely on doctrine."
A barrier shattered.
"Too predictable."
A curse unraveled.
"Too afraid to improvise."
Razen's breathing grew ragged.
Then it hit him.
The way Loki hadn't touched him.
The way none of this felt like a fight.
This wasn't combat.
"âŠNo," Razen muttered. "âŠthat's impossible."
His eyes widened as memory crashed into him.
Decades ago.
A weak demon.
One he had defeated.
"âŠYouâŠ"
Loki stopped walking.
Razen's voice trembled.
"âŠYou're not Archdemon."
Tears welled up.
"âŠThat's why you were angry."
Loki's smile faded.
"âŠWhen I said you were Guy Crimson's subordinate."
Realization crushed him.
"âŠYou'reâ"
"Careful," Loki said softly.
Razen's knees buckled.
"âŠA Primordial."
The word shattered him.
"âŠBut, how?" Razen whispered. "I defeated you."
Loki looked at him with something close to pity.
"You did indeed defeat me."
Razen broke.
Tears streamed freely as terror overtook him.
"âŠMonsterâŠ"
Loki's eyes were cold.
"Now you understand," he said quietly. "Why this was never a fight."
Razen stood trembling.
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