Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Blood boiling, blade trembling in his clenched fist, Adam's demonic essence surged through his veins.

The clouds roiled above the charging cavalry, lightning crackling within them as his palm blazed with dark flames.

"All you did was send another wave of soldiers to their deaths, Ikarion." He spat through gritted teeth, ready to obliterate the enemy's reinforcements.

Before he did, a thundering voice accompanied by agonising wails distracted his attention from the rumbling hooves.

"Show these miserable creatures why Oikos ruled this realm for three thousand years! Fight back, brave citizens!"

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His eyes darted to a blond man, his hair cascading down a Greek helmet. A set of intricate golden armor protected his heroic stature. The white shawl, embroidered with Oikos' coat of arms, fluttered behind him as he led the human army in a ferocious charge.

His golden blade gleamed in scarlet arcs as he beheaded orcs and demons. Seven light spears surrounded him like a burning halo that incinerated everything in his path.

Bodies fell one after another as the humans chanted his name and fought back with twice the ferocity.

"King Ikarion!" "Follow the king. Victory is ours!" "Teach these mongrels why humans are above them!"

"Ikarion..." Adam's eyes narrowed into fiery slits. "You lost this war long ago. How many more will you sacrifice in your vain struggle?"

The air rumbled as his draconic wings shoved angry gales forward. He cleaved through the wind like a rocket, his sword glinting.

However, Ikarion picked up his movement and snapped his head in his direction. A smirk, full of condescension, split his face as his posture shifted and light burst from his figure.

CLANG

The collision sent their hair upwards, sparks flying between them. The impact's shockwave blasted the nearby soldiers backwards as both rulers faced off.

Yet, a groan escaped Adam's lips as a tremor travelled through his forearm and jolted his shoulders. His grip wavered for a split second, the sensation of hitting an unbreakable wall spreading through his mind.

'Stronger than me?' He cursed the tier difference and the stat points he had lost as Ikarion pushed him a step back.

Out of balance and vulnerable, a spear blinded his right eye. But his instincts reacted before his brain did.

Locks of hair sizzled, vaporising into smoke. A pain seared across his cheek, the scent of his burning skin drifting to his nose.

His right eye slammed close, the heat rushing a millimeter above the eyelid as he bent his back at an unnatural angle.

However, he had no time to think; another spear rushed to impale his heart. Cursing, he rotated his foot and leapt back.

With a suppressed groan, he felt the light melt and tear through his scales. Blood tingled the long gash running from his clavicle to his abdomen and dripped to the ground with his movement.

'He goes for the kill. It'll be a tough fight.' A steely glint flashed in his eyes as he landed a meter away. 'But I'll win!'

Without looking at the orc, he called his name and smirked at Ikarion.

"Let's kill the king together, Vrashnak!"

Against his expectations, Vrashnak shook his head.

"Duels are sacred for us. I'm not interfering, but don't worry. I'll pick up your sword and avenge you if you fall."

Adam's knuckles whitened, and the ground caved in under his stomp. No matter his culture, their goal was in sight. So, what nonsense was Vrashnak spouting at this decisive juncture? More than that, since when did he care about such things besides when it benefited him?

'So that's how you're going to play it?' His lips twisted, the lingering suspicions against the orc igniting like an inferno.

Meanwhile, Ikarion burst into laughter.

"I'll admit it, you're a skilled warrior, demon." He pointed at the orcs surrounding them, noting their lowered weapons and fists drumming a war beat on their chests. 'That's what you want to replace me with? You still have much to learn."

"From you?" Adam snorted, his muscles stirring and blood rushing to his wounds.

In the blink of an eye, blood coalesced into a fresh layer of rosy skin that closed the gashes. Excalibur's scabbard radiated intense, watery light inside him, causing new scales to sprout as the melted ones clanged on the ground. Like a new set of natural armor, they covered his skin under his coat as he rolled his shoulders and smirked.

"Petty tricks. Show me how you'll heal with seven spears riddling your body and my blade running through your brain. I won't mind surrendering if you survive that." Ikarion shrugged, then blurred in for the kill.

Adam's instincts roared, and his neck tingled as he saw the seven spears lunge from the sides. In front, Ikarion's blade sparkled like the sun on its descent to behead him.

Deprived of his mobility against the omnidirectional attack, he propelled himself forward without hesitation. Chaos bringer cleaved the wind, leaving a scarlet track in its wake.

CLANG

Their blades collided again, but he knew he couldn't overpower Ikarion. Worse, a try would numb his arm and leave him at the spears' mercy.

Ikarion knew it, too, and smirked in victory, yet his lips froze the next second.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

'Technique is superior if he can't overwhelm me.' He repeated Wukong's first lesson as he tilted his wrist.

SCREECH

With a sharp noise, he guided the golden blade to slide on his sword. With it out of the way, his arm whipped like a snake, his chaos bringer glinting like fangs as he cleaved upward.

WHOOSH

A gale rose with the movement as he saw Ikarion's legs blur—a split second before he gutted him like the pig he was.

But he had expected that much and instantly pressed forward. His movements melding into one another, he shoved his flame-coated left palm at the light spears shooting at his limbs.

The air sizzled, scalding dark spears darting from his palm to meet them mid-air as he swung his blade again.

Seven explosions flapped his long coat angrily as he faked from an upward slash to a horizontal one aimed at sundering Ikarion's sword arm.

Yet, he clicked his tongue as the king's blade emerged to parry. Instead of continuing, he flicked his blade and caught it upside down. The clash of strength avoided, he rotated his arm in a graceful circle before he thrust it down to pierce his adversary's right foot in a vicious, fluid strike.

"Fight like a man, damned demon!" Teeth gritted, Ikarion stepped back for the second time. Shame and anger fueled his trembling arms as he counterattacked.

However, Adam ignored his words, the frustration that distorted the man's face, and the orcs' clamours. This was a battle to the death. The means didn't matter; only victory did and if he had to be labelled a coward to achieve it despite being a tier and countless levels below Ikarion, he'd wear this title like an emblem. This was even truer when technique and strategies had nothing to do with cowardice. Who was brave? The weak facing the strong. Or was it the other way around in Ikarion's twisted mind?

He crouched as the idea flashed in his mind, a terrifying strike whistling above his head.

"ARGH!"

Drawn by the orcs' wails, he glanced back, only to see a sharp golden light bisecting flesh, bones, and stones with ease. Torsos dropped to the ground in a cacophony of splashing blood before crumbling houses blasted dust waves in his direction.

However, his eyes focused on something else: a glowing finger pointed at his face and Ikarion's voice. Dripping with mockery, it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Checkmate, coward."

Dread's icy finger wrapped around his heart as the light blinded him, and his instincts roared at maximum force. A split second. That's all he had to find a counter to the beam about to vaporise his brain... Counter? What a mistake.

'You'll die if you think for too long. Focus on mitigating the damage and accept the wound, fool!'

He twisted his neck, the bones popping in protest and almost shattering with the violent movement. It was nothing compared to the scalding heat brushing his face, the sensation of his left eye's water evaporating, or the searing pain engulfing his world.

Despite it, despite the blood trailing down his cheeks, and despite his desire to roll on the ground in misery, he had to react, to make Ikarion pay by returning the pain twofold, tenfold, a millionfold even.

"RAAAAH!"

With a mighty draconic roar that shook the air and caused the damaged buildings to collapse further, he swung his chaos bringer like a hammer.

Ikarion's eyes widened at his survival by the skin of his teeth and the swift counterattack. But his focus never wavered—how could it when he carried his kingdom's survival alone?

Feeling the blade's pressure collapse on his head, he leapt to the left with a smirk.

"Eyes are one of the human body's marvels." His chilling mocking echoed as he stood in Adam's blind spot, his finger raised and sparkling. "Can your little trick heal a vaporised one? Hahaha. Surely, it can't when the damage comes from light magic. You're such a poor little demon. Let me bring your sufferings to an end."