Rise of the Rejected Deity from Chaos-Chapter 79 - 78: The Duel [3]

Seiya’s grip tightened around the demon’s throat, his fingers pressing deep into its flesh. Veins bulged around the demon’s neck, straining as if they might burst at any moment.

With one hand gripping the demon’s throat, Seiya unleashed a relentless barrage of punches against his face. His skin was unnaturally tough, hardened like scales, and despite the brutal assault, the demon reveled in the pain, a twisted pleasure gleaming in his eyes.

Realizing that his repeated blows did little more than leave bruises, and not deal proper damage, Seiya paused, adjusting his stance. Every muscle coiled with tension as he drew his arm back, preparing to deliver a devastating blow. But just as his fist shot forward, the demon, who had been indulging in the assault, suddenly snapped his head up. His hand shot out, catching Seiya’s fist mid-air.

He had sensed it—if that punch had landed, it would have obliterated him instantly. Therefore, he had no choice but to cut in.

Seiya’s fist remained locked in the demon’s grasp, and the two plunged into a contest of sheer strength. Unlike before—when dominance had shifted between them—now, neither could overpower the other. Their hands trembled from the strain, veins bulging along their arms as prove of the raw force they exerted.

From both knees on the floor, the demon brought one leg up, setting his foot firmly on the ground. A slow, pleased exhale left his lips. "I knew I wasn’t wrong," he mused, his voice thick with exhilaration. "When I found you interesting….. and insisted on a duel rather than outright killing you."

Rising to his full height, he towered over Seiya, his grin widening with wicked delight. "You are, after all, interesting."

The excitement coursing through his veins was one so intense that his laughter fractured into sharp, broken cracks.

Then, without warning, he swung his hand down to strike—but Seiya intercepted the blow, stamping his foot down on the demon’s leg with brutal force. Their gaze met—one alight with twisted pleasure, the other filled with cold exasperation behind his blindfold—before they threw themselves into battle once more.

The sheer force of their clash sent shockwaves rippling through the cavern, shaking the ground beneath them, fissures splitting the stone. Dust and debris swirled around them as their strikes shattered the ground.

Then, with a devastating punch, Seiya hurled the demon backward, sending him crashing into the cavern wall. The impact dislocated the demon’s shoulder, the stone behind him splintering, cracks spiderwebbing outward.

Yet, even as he lay in the wreckage, the demon’s grin never wavered. Bloodied and battered as much as Seiya, he pushed himself up. He reached up, grasped his dislocated shoulder, and snapped it back into place with effortless ease.

Crouching low, one leg stretched behind him in a sprinter’s stance, he lunged forward. In an instant, he was before Seiya, his fingers splayed, black nails lengthening into razor-sharp claws.

He dipped low, his claws poised to tear into Seiya’s stomach. Seiya’s gaze flickered to the attack, his hands snapping up to intercept it—only for the demon to exhale a soft, mocking breath with a curling smirk.

"Just kidding."

Before Seiya could react, the demon’s free hand pressed against his chest, a medium sized dark blue orb manifesting within his palm.

The orb seared through Seiya’s skin like acid, its pressurized force driving straight into him. It pushed deeper with overwhelming force before exploding out the other side, obliterating the wall behind Seiya in a burst of destruction.

The demon leapt back, his eyes gleaming with sadistic delight as he admired the destruction he had wrought—a masterpiece of carnage in his eyes.

Seiya remained standing. His chest was hollowed by a gaping wound, a hole so vast that one could see straight through him. Blood poured freely, pooling beneath him.

Ibyu? Seiya called in his mind but there was no response.

Ibyu? He called again but this time, Ibyu’s voice rang out, full of life, as if answering a roll call.

{Yes?! Present!}

Where? Seiya asked.

{Your left thigh, hehe,} Ibyu giggled softly.

{That was so close! Had to turn liquid instantly and move away,} Ibyu exhaled in relief.

The demon swayed his head with a smirk, his gaze dripping with mockery. "I didn’t intend to damage you this severely, but…" He shrugged, his tone laced with contempt.

"Well, you’re not so broken that I can’t claim your soul. I just have to—"

But as his eyes locked onto Seiya, his words froze.

A massive gaping hole—especially one straight through the heart—should have meant instant death. The demon had expected Seiya to crumple lifelessly to the floor, yet he remained standing, unfazed, as if oblivious to the devastation carved into his body.

Shock flashed across the demon’s face. Confusion knotted his thoughts. Was there another ability at play, some unseen force keeping Seiya from succumbing?

Seiya adjusted his posture, straightening despite the blood steadily dripping from his wound. As he exhaled, cold air passed through the gaping hole in his chest, as if he was nothing more than a hollow vessel.

"Take my soul, you say?" His voice was steady, clam.

"Not a chance."

In an instant, he vanished—reappearing behind the demon. His hands clamped down on the demon’s shoulders, wrenching them back with brutal force, forcing the demon’s chest to jut forward.

Then, without hesitation, Seiya drove his knee into the demon’s spine. He pulled harder, his grip tightening, the motion threatening to snap the demon’s back.

The demon let out a strained breath, his arm stretching backward, fingers grasping Seiya’s shoulder as he muttered a single phrase—

"Cinders Brand."

At those words, Seiya reacted instantly. He kicked the demon forward and leapt back, bracing for whatever attack would come next.

The demon staggered forward, his hand scraping against the ground before he steadied himself. Straightening up, he turned his palm over, his gaze fixated on the spot where he had pressed against Seiya.

"Oh?" A curious sound escaped him as his head tilted slightly. A slow grin crept onto his lips. "Looks like you’ve already been branded by someone else."

Seiya and Hayne’s brows furrowed at his words.

"Anyway," the demon stepped forward with deliberate ease. "Time to end this."

Shifting his stance so that his body angled sideways, he extended his left arm across to the right, then swept it outward in a slow, deliberate motion over Seiya. His voice dropped into a whisper.

"Sear of Hell."

At once, golden feathers materialized in the air, encircling Seiya. They glowed with an ethereal radiance, their delicate forms fluttering softly before stilling—suspended mid-air.

Seiya and Hayne watched in wary silence, bracing for whatever malevolence the demon had unleashed. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen—until thin wisps of steam began to rise from the ground beneath Seiya. Then, all at once, unbearable heat engulfed Seiya, his skin burning as if set ablaze.

The demon let out a low, satisfied chuckle.

"You should burn."

Seiya moved to step forward—but found himself unable to. His feet refused to lift, his body locked in place.

The demon’s grin widened at Seiya’s futile struggle.

"The space around you," he drawled, his tone dripping with amusement, "the very area those feathers have encircled—you cannot leave it." His eyes gleamed with wicked delight. "It is a barrier, and stepping beyond it is impossible. Unless you break through it—which again, is impossible."

The temperature rose mercilessly, waves of heat rolling over Seiya as sweat poured from his skin, darkening the floor beneath him. He exhaled sharply, the raw heat searing his open wounds, agony sinking deep into his bones.

Hayne trembled where he lay, helplessness tightening his chest as he watched Seiya suffer.

The demon let out a mocking hum. "Normally, I use this ability to torture demons back home, but…" He lifted his hand forward, and the still, golden feathers around Seiya stirred, drifting lazily in the superheated air.

His finger extended, casually pointing at the feathers as if choosing a particular one. Then, with a sharp flick of his finger downward, the feather shot downward and landed softly on Seiya’s shoulder.

The moment it made contact, glowing cracks spread across Seiya’s skin like fissures in molten rock. The glow pulsed, intensifying with each passing second—until, without warning, his shoulder detonated in a burst of searing embers, fragments of flesh scattering like smoldering coals.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.