What the hell is this?
Jason instantly realized the mysterious portal materializing behind him must be the key to understanding why these lesser lords had dared challenge him so boldly.
His suspicions were confirmed when an enormous tentacle—slick, pulsating, and unnaturally thick—shot through the dimensional tear, wrapping itself around his waist with frightening strength and attempting to drag him backward into the unknown void.
Mephisto gasped from his perch on Jason's massive shoulder. "That's the Eye Demon Shuma-Gorath! By all the hells, how did these petty lords manage to form an alliance with such an entity?"
The tentacle's pull was incredibly powerful, but Jason managed to brace himself at the last possible moment, planting his feet firmly and resisting the combined strength of both the Hell Alliance and the interdimensional horror.
Gritting his teeth, he sneered at Mephisto's identification. "Octopus hands, huh? Well, I think I'll find out exactly what they taste like today!"
In the next instant, Jason's entire body erupted with blinding flames. These weren't the typical crimson infernos of hellfire but pale white fire—so intensely hot that the color had transformed completely. The raw power of these flames dramatically surpassed anything the Hell Alliance had demonstrated earlier.
From a distance, the white-hot sparks dancing across Jason's demonic form resembled delicate pear blossoms scattered across a twisted, nightmarish tree.
Even the Hell Alliance—composed of the merged true demonic forms of multiple lords—couldn't withstand this overwhelming assault. It released an agonized howl that echoed across Hell's blasted landscape, its pushing force against Jason rapidly diminishing.
The octopus limb wrapped around his waist sizzled horrifically as the supernatural flames seared its alien flesh. The distinctive smell of charred tentacle meat permeated the air.
Mephisto sniffed curiously. "Smells remarkably similar to grilled octopus on Earth!"
But Jason's counterattack had only begun. While the Hell Alliance struggled against the white-hot flames, he suddenly flexed with tremendous force, tearing his arms free from their restraints. In one lightning-fast motion, he seized the Alliance's chin with an iron grip.
Using his immense strength, Jason forced the merged entity's mouth wide open. His abdomen contracted sharply as his chest expanded to twice its normal size.
"DIE!" he roared.
As Jason's own jaws parted, an overwhelming force erupted from deep within his throat, blasting directly into the Hell Alliance's forced-open maw!
This was his long-possessed and twice-upgraded ability—[Frozen Breath]—now amplified to devastating levels by his true demonic form.
The Hell Alliance, mere moments ago roasting under supernatural flames, now experienced the ultimate torture of simultaneous extremes—blistering heat scorching its exterior while paralyzing cold ravaged its insides. The excruciating contrast sent waves of agony through the merged entity's shared consciousness.
The pain proved too overwhelming to resist. Though the Alliance desperately clawed at Jason's hands with its rapidly weakening limbs, its efforts proved futile against his superior strength.
Mephisto observed the spectacle with professional interest, shaking his head slightly. "This technique is rather flawed from a culinary perspective," he commented dryly. "When the outside is thoroughly cooked, the inside remains undercooked—possibly still containing ice crystals!"
After several sustained seconds of this dual assault, the Hell Alliance collapsed completely, crashing to the ground with the impact of a meteorite strike.
Jason finally turned his full attention toward Shuma-Gorath, who had yet to fully emerge from its dimensional portal. Grabbing the attached tentacles with both massive hands, he braced his powerful thighs and stretched the appendages taut.
Just as he prepared to rip them free completely, two additional tentacles shot from the portal—one wrapping around his throat while the other snaked toward his legs, clearly attempting to immobilize him entirely.
Mephisto grew increasingly anxious, hurling several hellish spells into the portal in rapid succession. His attacks disappeared without effect, like raindrops falling into a bottomless ocean.
Recognizing that Jason presented a more formidable challenge than anticipated, the dimensional horror finally revealed itself partially. A mountainous form slowly emerged halfway through the dark gateway—an enormous spherical body surrounded by countless writhing tentacles. At its center pulsed a single massive crimson eye, unblinking and alien. No mouth or other recognizable organs were visible anywhere on its form.
The entity displayed tactical intelligence by keeping half its body within its native dimension, preventing Jason from completely cutting off its retreat. Now positioned halfway between realities, it deployed even more tentacles with devastating efficiency.
Witnessing this nightmarish apparition, Mephisto couldn't suppress a gasp of genuine terror. He instinctively turned to flee, only to find himself bound in place by his soul contract with Jason. With no escape possible, he could only stand his ground and continue casting relatively harmless spells against the cosmic entity.
As additional tentacles reached toward him, Jason inwardly acknowledged his opponent's tremendous power. Yet his confidence never wavered.
You're still not strong enough to kill me.
With this thought, he summoned two portals behind himself simultaneously—one golden (the First God Domain) and one black (the Second God Domain). The moment these gateways materialized, divine power from both realms flooded into his demonic form.
Then, three small gems appeared hovering before him. Without hesitation, Jason opened his massive jaws and swallowed all three in a single gulp!
Instantaneously, a colossal wave of energy surged through his entire being.
With a sickening crackling sound, two additional arms erupted from Jason's back, transforming him into a four-armed monstrosity. With his newfound limbs, he easily intercepted the incoming tentacles, grabbing them firmly and pinning them beneath his armpits.
A dangerous coldness flashed in Jason's eyes as he opened his mouth once more. This time, a blindingly brilliant tri-colored beam of energy blasted forth, striking the Eye Demon directly in its singular ocular organ!
"BOOM!"
This concentrated attack—powered by the three gems Jason had consumed—contained unprecedented destructive potential. The impact caused Shuma-Gorath to convulse violently, its tentacles spasming uncontrollably.
Yet Jason wasn't finished. Under his meticulous control, a colorless, invisible, chaos-like energy began coalescing before him—his painstakingly developed ultimate weapon, the Space Blade.
This wasn't merely an ordinary cutting edge; it was a weapon capable of slicing through not just physical matter but the very fabric of reality itself.
Sensing this existential threat, Shuma-Gorath visibly panicked. It desperately attempted to retreat, its tentacles struggling frantically to break free from Jason's iron grip.
Jason held fast, his determination unwavering despite the Eye Demon repeatedly battering his head and face with its free appendages. Not a single blow made him loosen his hold.
Finally, the Space Blade fully materialized. Without hesitation, Jason slashed directly at Shuma-Gorath's enormous eye!
Whatever the blade touched instantly ceased to exist. It didn't merely cut—it erased, leaving nothing but absolute void in its wake. The weapon cleaved not just through matter but through the membrane separating dimensions, revealing a glimpse of perfect nothingness beyond all reality.
Halfway through its arc, several of Shuma-Gorath's tentacles moved to intercept the blade, only to be instantaneously severed from existence.
At the crucial moment, the Eye Demon made a desperate decision, willingly severing several of its own limbs to propel itself backward into the portal, vanishing completely.
The Space Blade continued its trajectory through the rapidly closing gateway before disappearing as well.
Only seven or eight severed tentacles remained on the hellish ground, still twitching with residual alien life force.
Jason sighed in disappointment. "That creature's reflexes are impressive! My Space Blade may be devastatingly powerful, but it does have significant limitations—primarily its lengthy charge time and relatively slow attack speed."
With a casual wave of his hand, he collected most of the discarded tentacles, leaving only the half-cooked one he'd burned earlier. After examining it critically from several angles, he exhaled another blast of intense flame to finish cooking it properly before stuffing the entire appendage into his mouth.
To his surprise, the taste was extraordinary—tender, juicy, with a perfect balance of flavors unlike anything found on Earth or in Hell.
As he swallowed, Jason felt strange energy circulating throughout his system. Though his physical size had somewhat diminished, he could sense his raw strength increasing dramatically.
"Well, this is an unexpected benefit! Who knew Eye Demon tentacles could be so delicious AND power-enhancing?"
As he felt his demonic form growing steadily more powerful, Jason turned his attention back to the still-paralyzed Hell Alliance. By claiming their combined lordships, his power would increase even further.
A devious smile spread across his features as he contemplated capturing Shuma-Gorath after completing Hell's unification. If consuming a single tentacle produced such remarkable results, imagine the benefits of having a renewable source!
"Daily octopus tentacles might be my shortcut to multiversal dominance," he mused, advancing toward the fallen Alliance with purposeful strides.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~