Rise of the Rejected Deity from Chaos-Chapter 138 - 137: The 10th Demon | Kiriza [1]

The house was encircled by glowing lanterns, their brilliant light spilling beyond the walls and bathing the night in a golden radiance.

The demon fixed his gaze on Seiya, his presence exuding an unsettling calm. As he parted his lips, a rancid breath escaped, washing over Seiya's face. Seiya's expression twisted in immediate disgust, though he quickly schooled it into impassivity.

"Tell me," the demon began, his voice strikingly deep, at odds with the elegance of his features. His downturned eyes not making any effort to move up. "What is the real reason you are here?"

Seiya stood firm, his posture rigid as he resisted the urge to recoil from the foul stench wafting toward him.

"As things stand," the demon continued, "it is evident you did not come to save the villagers. Had that been your intent, you would have taken them away the moment you restored their life forces. But instead, you fight your way in—bold, relentless—even without sufficient reinforcements." His voice remained eerily steady. "It seems to me that your purpose is not to save but battle itself."

His gaze bore into Seiya. "Now, why is that? Is it pride? Do you revel in your strength, eager to flaunt it against us demons? Or perhaps… am I mistaken?"

Seiya gave no reply. Without hesitation, he propelled his staff skyward, catching it at shoulder height before launching it with deadly precision at the female demon cowering behind the male.

The weapon cleaved through the air with a sharp whistle. The male demon instinctively raised his palm to intercept it, but the staff shattered through his flesh and bone, continuing its merciless trajectory until it struck the female demon, obliterating her on impact.

Seiya's voice rang clear, unwavering. "Let's dispense with the useless chatter and get straight to it."

His staff swerved sharply mid-air and raced back to Seiya who repeated the same motion of shaking off blood from the staff before letting rest beside him.

The demon's eyes lazily rested on his mending palm that the staff had shattered through for a while before he sluggishly turned to glance at the obliterated demon, eyes lingering on her remains for a moment before turning back to Seiya.

"I see," he said softly. "Your staff must be one of a kind."

Seiya's gaze shifted down to the demon's chest, listening intently to his heart beats since he couldn't see properly.

Three hearts, Seiya thought to himself, tightening his grip around his staff.

{Yeah,} Ibyu replied from within. {He must be easier to deal with than the rest.}

The demon straightened from his slouched position, drawing himself upright with his knees propped up. He leaned forward, resting his hands loosely on them, his wrists hanging freely with an air of nonchalance. His hair spilled forward with the motion, casting an even deeper shadow over his face.

His downturned eyes remained half-lidded, and level, his expression calm and detached—neither bothered by Seiya's presence nor the events that had unfolded thus far. He radiated confidence.

"Your staff," he started in a low voice. "what else can it do?" He asked, gaze remaining level. "Has it been the one carving your path through here? Is that where your confidence lies?"

"As I've said," Seiya lunged at the demon, appearing behind him on the bloodstained veranda—staff poised to strike. The demon's eyes shifted sideways to have a peek at Seiya behind him, his posture not changing as he remained unbothered and calm.

"Stop the chatter and get down to it. You stink," Seiya struck down on the demon, slamming his staff brutally against the side of his head but—

The strike couldn't land. The moment Seiya had struc with the staff, aiming to take off his head with it, the staff halted just mere inches away from connecting—like an unseen force was repelling it.

The demon tilted his head fully to gaze at Seiya, sighing lazily. "So impatient," he remarked, his tone laced with mild amusement. "People like you—so eager to strike first—make it difficult for the rest of us to enjoy the game."

Seiya, still reeling from the shock of his staff failing to inflict even the slightest damage—not so much as a ripple from the force he had put behind it—could not muster a response. Before he could react, the demon's hand extended effortlessly, reaching high before closing around the back of his head, broad fingers pressing firm and unyielding.

In one forceful pull, the demon wrenched Seiya forward, then down, crashing his face into the ground in front of him. Seiya's face buried into the ground, the impact sending jolts through his body.

"That is why you should have been patient and waited," the demon murmured sluggishly. He raised a foot to crush Seiya's head but his eyes fell on the staff still in Seiya's grasp, causing him to hesitate.

His eyes lingered on the staff for a while before retracting his foot. By the back collar of Seiya's tattered shirt, he pulled Seiya up, raising him on his knees.

Seiya's head fell back, swaying softly as blood trailed down his face. Thick smears of blood clung to Seiya's face, his features broken, his breath coming out rasped. The impact had been one so severe it did a big number on him.

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From within, Ibyu palpitated unsteadily, pounding hard against Seiya's chest, scared for Seiya and itself. Ibyu was puzzled at the situation. They had clearly heard only three hearts pulsating within the demon. And according to Kaeliyus, a demon, the lesser the hearts they possessed, the weaker they should be.

Seiya had managed to easily take down the demons with lesser hearts since the fight started, only struggling with the demons that possessed a good amount of hearts.

The demon before them clearly possessed three hearts, and Ibyu was sure of this because even as it continued to listen, it could still only hear three heartbeats. So why? Why had the situation turned on them? Why is it Seiya groveling before a mere demon with three hearts when he had so easily conquered them before?