A towering red figure, over five meters tall, suddenly burst out of the villa. On closer inspection, it was a massive demon with twin horns on its head and bat-like wings sprouting from its back.
The demon's face was identical to Roy's!
Everyone present—Ella, the Scout, and even Mr. R and Emera watching the footage—gasped in shock.
"He's a demon!" they exclaimed in unison.
A piercing screech cut through the air!
Roy, moving like a supersonic fighter jet at full throttle, slammed into Ash with devastating force.
Boom!
A dull explosion echoed across the battlefield, leaving everyone feeling a tightness in their chests.
By now, almost no one was left alive at the scene. Aside from the six unconscious blonde women on the Bumblebee, only Ella and the Scout remained. The clone army had been nearly wiped out, and Ella, well, she wasn't exactly a normal living person.
With a strength of 131, agility of 125, and constitution of 143, Roy's physical attributes in his demon form were downright monstrous.
Ash, facing Demon Roy's speed, couldn't keep up. Without dodging, he was stabbed by Roy's Hell Execution Blade.
The result? Ash was pushed back several meters, a deep gash across his chest oozing strange gray matter.
The shockwave from the collision caused the ground to collapse in a wide area, and the resulting gust knocked Ella and the Scout off their feet, dozens of meters away.
And that was it.
Honestly, Roy's explosive attack just now could've leveled one of the Twin Towers, but the actual damage was surprisingly limited.
It was clear that Ash's strength and constitution matched Demon Roy's, though his agility was slightly lacking. Ash's earlier charge relied purely on brute strength and constitution to break the sound barrier, unlike Roy, who could hit that speed in three seconds and still change direction mid-flight.
The chest wound caused a flicker of emotion on Ash's otherwise stoic face. His gray skin began to subtly shift, and his aura seemed to grow stronger.
Roy didn't notice these subtle changes. He was already airborne, using his bat wings to launch another supersonic assault, bombarding Ash relentlessly.
Boom!
Bang!
Crack!
Explosions reverberated through the Rocky Mountains. If you only heard the sounds, you'd think an artillery drill was underway.
But in reality, it was just two beings causing all the chaos.
Both Roy and Ash were now covered in wounds.
Roy had activated Blood Fury, his body radiating a crimson aura, boosting his strength by dozens of points. Yet even so, Ash's power still slightly overwhelmed him. The gray matter seeping from Ash's body seemed to amplify his strength, always just enough to keep Roy in check.
It felt like Ash was deliberately dragging the fight out.
Even more absurd was Ash's seemingly endless stamina!
Roy's constitution, nearing 150, was terrifying, right? But after five minutes of all-out combat, his body was starting to feel the strain. Higher constitution might mean a longer stamina bar, but the more power you use, the faster it depletes.
So here was Roy, leaning on his blade, catching his breath, while Ash stood there like nothing had happened.
Honestly, it had been a long time since Roy's stamina was outmatched like this. When he fought Kraken, his exhaustion came from oxygen deprivation. If the Norwegian Sea Monster had faced him on the surface, Roy could've gone toe-to-toe indefinitely.
Ella, the Scout, and the Bumblebee had retreated several hundred meters away. The battlefield's noise was too deafening, risking permanent hearing damage for Ella and the Scout if they stayed closer.
The Scout also realized his rocket launcher was useless against Ash. It'd probably take a missile to bring him down.
For five minutes, Roy and Ash had been locked in a brutal, no-holds-barred slugfest. Neither dodged nor defended—just pure, unrelenting offense.
"Scout, what's the situation?" Iris's voice crackled through the Scout's earpiece.
"It's bad. I saw Mr. Black turn into a demon, but he's still being overpowered by that guy!"
Hearing this, Iris issued new orders. "I'm on a helicopter heading into the mountains. Mark their position!"
"Got it!" The Scout pulled out a special telescope, aimed it at Ash, and pressed a few buttons.
The signal was sent to FEAR's helicopter, allowing the pilot to pinpoint Ash's location.
At that moment, Roy, after five minutes of relentless attacks, needed a breather. But Ash wasn't giving him the chance.
No choice—Roy had to push through and keep fighting.
Two screeches rang out from the distance. Roy spotted two missiles streaking toward them, realizing Iris had arrived.
After barely parrying Ash's attack, Roy shifted from demon to Nephilim form. The smaller size let him dodge Ash's strikes with ease.
Ash clearly hadn't expected Roy to change size so fluidly, leaving him unable to react as Roy flapped his wings and soared into the sky.
If Ash had any weakness, it was that he couldn't fly—or even jump far. With his immense strength and constitution, he should have been able to leap and attack Roy, but he just stood there, watching Roy ascend.
Could it be… he can't leave the ground?
This reminded Roy of a Greek myth—Antaeus, the giant son of Gaia and Poseidon, invincible as long as he touched the earth. Hercules defeated him by lifting him off the ground, cutting off his power source, and strangling him.
If that was the case…
No time to think. The two missiles hit Ash, triggering a massive explosion.
The blast pushed Roy even higher into the air.
These weren't ordinary missiles—they released a wide cloud of vapor. Holy water missiles, imbued with Iris's blessing, designed to target dark creatures.
Clearly, after the Silent Hill incident, Iris had leaned harder into human technology. Even an archangel had limits in the mortal world unless they fully unleashed their power, like a demon lord descending. But as an angel, Uriel couldn't make that choice, so she collaborated with FEAR to develop weapons like these holy water missiles, highly effective against most dark creatures.
Unfortunately, Ash wasn't a dark creature. The missiles' initial blast caused some damage, but the holy water vapor had no effect.
Still, the impact forced Ash to one knee, and more gray matter oozed from him, his body growing larger. Originally around 1.8 to 1.9 meters tall, he now swelled to 2.5 meters, his skin darkening further, trending toward red. Steam began rising from him, as if he were being cooked.
Then, as if his ability to speak had returned, Ash let out a terrifying roar in Roy's direction. The shockwave pushed Roy back even farther.
Good grief, was this guy Zhang Fei now?
Ash grabbed the double-barreled shotgun he'd never used before.
Boom! Boom!
Two deafening shots fired gray explosive rounds, unleashing a torrent of gray energy toward Roy.
A double-barreled shotgun with that kind of range? Even C4 doesn't have that kind of blast radius!
Roy quickly conjured a wall of chaos energy, but it crumpled like paper against the shotgun's gray energy.
Luckily, the chaos wall bought enough time for Roy to pull up and escape the attack range.
That damage… did Ash just get stronger?
From a distance, Iris saw the situation, leapt from the helicopter, and flew over with her wings spread.
"Black, be careful! This guy wields the power of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! His strength grows the longer the battle goes on!"
The Four Horsemen?
Roy knew the concept, thanks to the widespread influence of movies and games. Even non-Christians were familiar with it. The Four Horsemen came from Revelation 6 in the New Testament—when they gather, the Day of Judgment is near.
Iris's words explained why Ash's power kept surpassing Roy's. The War Horseman was known for terrifying strength, fueled endlessly by combat.
But then Roy had another thought. Could the Death Horseman be one of them too? Why else would the Eye of Death on his neck keep flashing like Ultraman's chest light?
"So how do we beat him?" Roy asked.
Iris stared at Ash, her eyes seeming to pierce through time itself.
"He's from a future parallel timeline, where he gained the War Horseman's power in an apocalyptic world and brought it here. To defeat him… get him off the ground. That'll cut off his power source!"
Just like Antaeus! Hercules did it!
Problem was, Hercules was a demigod with unmatched strength, able to lift Antaeus. Roy's strength, however, was now inferior to Ash's. Lifting him would be impossible.
"Watch out!" Roy started to voice his concerns when he saw Ash reload and fire at Iris.
He must've remembered the holy water missiles from her helicopter, laced with her blessed aura.
Roy sprang into action. In Nephilim form, his smaller size let him accelerate faster than in demon form, hitting the sound barrier in an instant and pulling Iris out of harm's way.
Iris, who had already seen Ash's attack through her divine vision and was about to use a prophecy spell to defend, was startled by Roy's sudden move.
"Mr. Black, let me go!" Iris's cool expression flushed slightly—Roy, in his haste, had grabbed her in an awkward spot.
"Cough, sorry, Lady Iris! My strength can't match the War Horseman's. I don't think I can lift him off the ground!"
Iris pondered for a moment. "Your body is indeed weaker than the War Horseman's. I can bless you to boost your abilities, but you'll need to be in angel form for the maximum effect."
"No problem!"
In a flash, Roy transformed from Nephilim to angel, six radiant wings unfurling behind him.
Iris's blessing came next. Holding Genesis, she recited divine words in a commanding voice: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace!" (Exodus, God's blessing to Moses).
A beam of holy light descended, enveloping Roy. He felt his body surge with power, his wings growing even larger.
[You've received a mysterious blessing. Attributes greatly enhanced!]
Checking his system panel—holy cow! Strength 181, agility 175, constitution 193. His physical attributes had jumped by a whopping 300 points!
This boost far outstripped his demon form.
With this power, plus Courage, Guardian, and Vitality auras, Roy glowed white, radiating the presence of a war god.
Ash reloaded his shotgun and aimed at Roy.
Roy launched instantly, easily dodging the shot. His 175 agility was unreal—likely hitting three times the speed of sound. By the time he appeared behind Ash, the sonic boom was only just reaching the others.
At this moment, sound couldn't keep up with Roy's speed.
"Get up!" Roy grabbed Ash's arm from behind, trying to lift him. But Ash's feet seemed rooted to the ground. Even with 181 strength, Roy couldn't budge him.
Seeing this, Iris frowned, opened Genesis again, and recited: "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John).
[You've received a mysterious blessing. Attributes slightly enhanced!]
Another beam of holy light hit Roy, but his body couldn't handle more. After his attributes hit the 200 cap, the excess blessing became a sustained buff, rapidly restoring his health and stamina.
At that moment, Roy felt the Earth's rejection of higher-dimensional beings—a suffocating pressure all around him. So 200 was the limit for physical attributes on Earth, the baseline for ascending to a higher existence. Roy had just hit that threshold early.
With 200 strength, he finally managed to lift Ash's feet slightly off the ground. Just a bit more effort, and he'd succeed.
But then, something unexpected happened.
After a prolonged struggle with Roy's strength and the accumulated damage, Ash's body split in half—upper and lower halves torn apart!
Ash: I'm splitting apart!
Roy hadn't anticipated this, so his momentum sent him flying forward. Thankfully, his 200 agility let him recover mid-air.
Now the question: was a War Horseman with only half a body, still touching the ground, dead or alive?
Iris quickly answered. "Bad news! The War Horseman's power is still growing! In five minutes, he'll be as strong as you!"
Only half a body, and still not dead?
Gray matter poured from Ash's abdomen, merging with more gray matter to reshape his body. A gray beam shot into the sky.
The sky turned ashen, thunder roiling in the clouds. The Eye of Death pendant on Roy's neck stirred, as if responding to the War Horseman's power. Panicked, Roy tossed it into his inventory.
One War Horseman was bad enough. A Death Horseman too? Might as well surrender now.
Roy tried attacking Ash, but the mysterious gray energy warped the surrounding space. He didn't dare get close, and his angelic holy light couldn't penetrate it.
With no other options, Roy flew to Iris. "Lady Iris, any way to deal with that gray energy?"
Iris shook her head helplessly. "That's apocalyptic energy. If I were in my full form, I might manage. Otherwise, only specific substances can pierce it."
Only a full-powered Uriel could handle it? So, archangel or demon lord-level power was needed?
Roy frowned deeply. Though his attributes were boosted to 200, he was still short of true demon lord status—otherwise, Earth would've rejected him already.
Then he remembered something, pulling an item from his inventory to show Iris. "Lady Iris, can this deal with the War Horseman?"
Iris's eyes widened at the nearly fully transformed Box of Sorrow in Roy's hand. "The Leviathan Box? How do you have it?"
The Leviathan Box was just another name for the Box of Sorrow.
"It's a long story. Just tell me if it can take him down!"
Iris's eyes glowed blue, as if peering into the future. After a moment, she replied, "It can, but if you use it for the final sacrifice, it'll summon Leviathan!"
"Lady Iris, who's easier to deal with—Leviathan or the War Horseman?"
Iris fell silent. Leviathan and the War Horseman were on the same level, but she and Roy couldn't handle the War Horseman. Leviathan, as a demon, might be slightly easier for angels to counter.
"Sigh, I should've called Adrian for help," Iris muttered.
At that moment, beautiful string music filled the air, and a man's voice called out, "Did I hear someone say my name?"
Adrian appeared on the mountain path, guitar in hand.
"Adrian, how are you here?" Roy gaped.
"Hmm! I felt a certain… guidance. So I played my tunes, sang my songs, and somehow ended up here. Iris, I'm not late this time, am I?"
Iris sighed in relief. With her, Roy, and now Adrian—two archangels and one six-winged angel—they had a fighting chance, even against Leviathan itself.
"Mr. Black, go with your plan! The War Horseman's almost fully restored!"
"On it!" Roy gripped the Box of Sorrow, aiming its spiked end at Ash, who was nearly reformed, minus his head. He struck a classic quarterback pose—his original body had practiced this countless times—and threw.
The Box of Sorrow broke the sound barrier, hitting five times the speed of sound with terrifying force.
Roy's 200 strength was on full display. At that speed, even a pebble could cause catastrophic damage, let alone a box infused with Leviathan's divine power.
Boom!
The sonic boom hit just as the box pierced Ash's neck.
The Box of Sorrow absorbed some of the gray energy, fueling its transformation into a rhombus shape. Lodged in Ash's neck, it prevented his head from regenerating.
(Final form of the Box of Sorrow)
Mist began to rise, and a mysterious stone gate appeared within it. But with three angels—two archangels and one six-winged—the holy light they radiated easily dispelled the mist.
From the mist emerged grotesque, twisted Hell Priests, including some Roy had encountered on the USS San Diego. Likely bitter from past losses, they'd come in full force to take him down.
Leading them was the iconic leather-clad, pin-headed Elliot Spencer.
But when the Hell Priests saw three angels in the sky—two with twelve wings, one with six—they froze.
Fighting archangels? For real?
Roy kindly pointed them toward the War Horseman. "Don't look at us. That's your sacrifice!"
Even Spencer, no fool, knew he'd been played when he saw the headless War Horseman's terrifying aura.
But rules were rules. The Box of Sorrow's law dictated that the stabbed became the sacrifice, and the Hell Priests had to deal with the War Horseman—or face Leviathan's wrath.
Could the Hell Priests defeat the headless War Horseman?
Of course not.
Though not fully restored, Ash's attributes matched Roy's, hitting Earth's limit. The Hell Priests couldn't even beat Roy before—how could they handle Ash?
In the end, all 666 Hell Priests were slaughtered by the War Horseman, their rancid blood staining the ground like a crimson sea.
Iris's expression shifted as she looked skyward. "He's coming! Adrian, get ready!"
"No problem!" Adrian strummed his guitar, and as the music swelled, Roy noticed their forms becoming translucent.
Raphael had this kind of power? No wonder he was Heaven's top support!
The foul blood on the ground began flowing upward, the sky turning pitch black. A massive inverted triangle emerged from the clouds, blocking the gray beam.
How big was it? Imagine the Great Pyramid of Giza, scaled up ten times, flipped upside down, and descending from the sky.
Visible from dozens of kilometers away, it was fortunate this was the Rockies, near the nearly abandoned Ravensfall. Otherwise, FEAR's cleanup would've been a nightmare.
"Lady Iris, what is that?" Roy asked.
Her eyes glowed faintly blue. "That's Leviathan's palace in Hell, carrying part of Hell's rules, allowing Leviathan to appear on Earth near its full power!"
Good grief, a near-full-power Leviathan, King of Envy!
Fighting a half-powered Samael had already been torture. Now they faced a stronger, near-full-power Leviathan!
Bad news: Near-full-power Leviathan.
Good news: Leviathan's target was Ash.
With Adrian cloaking the angels and Ash's aura blazing—Box of Sorrow still in his neck—Leviathan attacked without hesitation.
The triangle's tip opened, revealing a serpent's head larger than the triangle itself, lunging at Ash.
As a Hell veteran possibly as old as God, Leviathan recognized the War Horseman. It aimed to swallow Ash and the ground beneath him, cutting off his power.
Ash's strength faded without the ground, but he landed one final blow, heavily wounding Leviathan.
Unfazed, Leviathan saw a chance to claim the War Horseman's authority—a heavenly opportunity.
But free pies from the sky are never real. Leviathan would soon learn it was duped.
"Black, now! Adrian and I will support you. Send Leviathan and the War Horseman to Hell together!" Iris declared.
She opened Genesis, while Adrian played his music—a majestic hymn paired with Iris's divine prayer.
"The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light!'"
A blinding holy light illuminated the sky like a rising sun.
Leviathan couldn't miss it. "Uriel, Raphael, it's you!"
Realizing the trap, Leviathan tried to retreat to its palace. But its massive size made turning slow.
If Leviathan took Ash's body to Hell, the King of Envy's power would skyrocket—unacceptable to Iris.
"Black, unleash all your holy light! I believe in you!"
Roy absorbed all the sky's holy light, plunging the world into darkness, not a single ray remaining.
This taught Roy a truth: light is born from darkness.
"Light of Heaven!"
Two new wings sprouted, eight in total, releasing a massive beam of divine light that struck Leviathan's serpent head.
Snakes often swallow oversized prey, digesting over days or weeks. When attacked, they spit out their food to flee or fight.
Roy's holy light critically wounded Leviathan, triggering its instinct to spit out the land and Ash's body.
Ash's strength had waned to his earlier level, so Roy adjusted the beam, vaporizing him completely.
[Ding! Obtained Ash's Fate Chest! Open it?]
Only the possessed Ash died, not the War Horseman itself—conceptual beings like the Four Horsemen couldn't truly be killed.
As Ash perished, the War Horseman's gray power flew off, seeking a new host.
"No!" Leviathan roared, furious at losing its prize, but Roy's relentless holy light kept it pinned.
Iris joined in. "God said: When the Day of Judgment comes, all sins shall be judged!"
The wind stopped, the air froze—a calm before the storm.
Leviathan sensed it too. Unlike the stubborn Samael, it chose survival, cutting its losses.
"Uriel, you maniac! I'll make you—"
Roy unleashed his last bit of holy light into Leviathan's mouth, silencing it.
The King of Envy glared at Roy. It had never taken this eight-winged angel seriously, yet Roy was its downfall.
"Damn angel, I'll be back!"
[Ding! Obtained Leviathan's Fate Chest! Open it?]
One more chapter, and the summer arc wraps up. Next, the protagonist enters the university arc, becoming a key figure in the struggle among Hell's Seven Demon Kings.