Before him were countless beheaded beasts, each varying in size from ten to twenty meters. He assumed they belonged to the Beastmaster, recognising some beasts ripped open or smashed into mince meat from a few familiar remaining body parts.
A bulging man sat on a pile of the beast's corpses - the Beastmaster!
Ezekiel immediately recognised him from his familiar attire.
But unlike previously, his left and right arms were decapitated, his two legs were still in their positions, and his lips were marred with blood and tiny pieces of flesh and tendrils from unknown sources.
Though Ezekiel had concealed himself throughout the entire battle, he had witnessed everything.
The Beastmaster had used his fangs and continued relentlessly attacking the Demon King by biting out pieces of his flesh like a feral beast. He truly lived up to his title.
Besides them, three burnt figures, the mage, archer, and rogue, lay lifelessly on the ground.
The scent of burnt corpses lingered in the air, and he was sure that the Demon King had taken these three out with every ounce of power he possessed because he would have certainly done the same, considering how much of an annoying itch they were in a battle.
Lastly, at a distance from his position, he witnessed the Demon King, whose body was now suspended mid-air, his lower half missing and restrained by numerous chains that glowed in a rainbow-like hue.
As soon as he saw the Priestess standing on her feet, he recognised the chains as one of her skills and noticed that she was exhausted.
The sounds of weary boots, desperately beseeching to be replaced, grated against the desecrated castle floor and echoed through the throne room.
Ezekiel's gaze was fixed on the one responsible - the Hero.
He dragged his bloodied and battered body to the Demon King.
As Ezekiel watched the scene unfold before him, his heart began to race. He had always wondered what would happen if the Heroes' party defeated the Demon King without excessively utilising their abilities.
If the Demon King proved too powerful for them, they would be killed like insects walking into an insecticide. However, he could see the results before him.
There were no more what-ifs.
Ezekiel didn't hesitate as he coated his dagger with the frost dragon bladder poison and surged towards the Beastmaster. Despite being injured and losing his arms, he knew the Beastmaster still posed a significant threat.
"Do you have anything you would like to say before I end your miserable existence, Demon King Vexorath?" The Hero's voice resonated in his ears, no longer bearing the same confidence as it did previously.
Instead, it was filled with caution, hate, and a desire for revenge, all of which Ezekiel knew well.
The weary Beastmaster's senses flared, prompting him to snap his head backwards to look behind him. His eyes widened in shock as searing pain rippled through his body from his throat.
He gagged, trying to cough out the blade that had pierced through his oesophagus. His mana gushed—
'No, you don't!' Ezekiel inwardly screamed.
Ezekiel twisted the blade and dragged it in a sweeping position upwards, ensuring the frost dragon bladder poison he had used to coat his sword penetrated his most sensitive organs.
Before he pulled his dagger out and plunged it into the Beastmaster's right eye, he twisted it gruesomely and raised his right hand to hammer it in like a woodworker in a final nail into his finished work.
"AARRRHHHHHHGGGGG!!!" The Beastmaster's thundering roars reverberated through the vast throne room.
Instantly, all who had ears turned towards the source of anguished screams.
"REILLEEYY!!" The Hero screamed, his voice tingling with shock as it reverberated around all four corners of the vast throne room.
'So his name was Reiley?' Ezekiel thought. He had gotten used to being treated as shit, so he had to continuously address them by their alias, almost forgetting what their names were.
"YOU BASTARD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!" The Hero's voice thundered across the vast throne room again. His glaring, hate-filled eyes were fixed on Ezekiel.
The Priestess had already turned her head backwards, frozen as she saw the gruesome scene unfolding.
Ezekiel didn't bother to respond to the Hero's words, as now was not the time to exchange pleasantries or lay his heart-wrenching remarks for the reason he had turned against them.
He made sure the frost dragon bladder poison defiled the remaining life within Reiley before he pulled out his dagger from his socket and observed as his lifeless body fell sideways and landed upon the bodies of his decapitated beasts.
A good master accompanies his pets, dead or alive.
Ezekiel lifted his head and stared at the Priestess, his expression devoid of emotion.
He had been so engrossed in planning the best approach to eliminate the next target that he didn't even realise when his legs had started running forward on their own.
If they had been too ignorant to expect a situation like this and make preparations for it, then they were beyond help.
"BASTARD! STOP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
Witnessing Ezekiel approaching her, the Priestess attempted to activate another skill and quickly take care of Ezekiel; however, the moment she tried to do so—
CRACCK!!
The Demon King was halfway free from the chains that imprisoned him.
"OLIVIA!! MAINTAIN YOUR FOCUS!!" The Hero shouted.
"I'LL PROTECT YOU!!" he added. His gait was swift as he rushed forward to halt Ezekiel's advances.
Olivia's lips were hushed. She trialled her eyes to the imprisoned Demon King and reinforced the divine chains that bound his body.
That's right. There was no reason to worry about Ezekiel. Even though he had killed Reiley, with the Hero's focus now directed towards Ezekiel, his death will be swift.
Her current worries should be managing her mana to keep the divine chains from dispersing.
Unfortunately, Ezekiel was not a patient carpenter. He threw his dagger forward with precision, aiming with increasing accuracy towards the Princess's neck.
"Die!" The Hero materialised, screaming as he hurled his sword towards Ezeekiel in a sweeping motion.
The consequences of throwing his dagger with all his strength and attempting to dodge the Hero's attack kicked in, causing Ezekiel to stumble to his left.
Nonetheless, he used the moment to his advantage and did not resist the fall.
SWWISSSSHHH!!
The first strike missed him by a hair's breadth.
Just as he was about to pick himself up and continue onwards, Ezekiel saw the sword changing direction towards him. He smiled, defeatedly.
How could an ordinary man like him dodge the blade of the monster before him?
Ezekiel laughed.
To think he would almost entirely achieve what he has been chasing all this time, only to die soon after.
'At least I killed two of them,' Ezekiel thought, closing his eyes and preparing for his eternal rest.
At least, until death lagged slower than he expected.
"Arrggh—"
Ezekiel's ears trembled with a groan, followed by the heavy, echoing clang of metal hitting the ground.
Ezekiel's eyes snapped open. He froze at seeing the Hero being impaled by the Demon King's fist.
He turned his head towards the Priestess' direction and gained an understanding of how she had been killed, noticing her headless, battered body, and the dagger had impaled the back of her neck.
The Demon King raised the Hero high with a snicker, "After all these efforts, you were betrayed by your comrade and still made to die at my hands; how miserable it is for you to have encountered such an unfortunate death.
The Demon King's mana flared as he condensed it towards his right arm.
"Now die!"
As the scene unfolded, Ezekiel stretched his left arm towards the Hero's sword that had fallen beside him.
"Don't even think about it; resistance is futile. Once I'm finished with him, I'll give you a swift death as a reward for helping me secure my victory," The Demon King responded, not caring to look behind to cast a glance at Ezekiel as though he could already tell he was aware of his futile actions.
But Ezekiel was not one to be deterred by mere threats. He quickly sprang to his feet, grasping the Hero's sword.
Then, he stabbed forward, aiming straight at the Demon King's lower region.
"Bastard!!" The Demon lord cursed loudly and leaned to the side to dodge and deflect Ezekiel's daring attack.
But how could the final struggle of a man plotting his revenge for ten years be so simple?
Ezekiel's action caught the Demon King off guard as he leapt towards him with a cylindrical vial in his right hand. He wrapped his left arm around the Demon King's shoulder and shoved the vial alongside his right arm into the Demon King's frightening, sharp jaws just as the Demon King was about to give his umpteenth warning.
The price for his attack––
CRAACCKK!! CLAMMPP!!
The Demon King's jaws snapped shut on Ezekiel's right hand, cleanly cutting it away from the rest of his body.
"ARGHHH!" Ezekiel screamed in agony and spat out blood. He leapt down from the Demon King, who struggled to catch his breath with a look of fear, realising what he had swallowed.
Trying to regain his composure, Ezekiel bit his lips until he drew blood.
"Heal," Ezekiel muttered. He felt his wounds beginning to seal in the most agonising way imaginable.
Picking up the Hero's sword, Ezekiel could feel his body throb with agony. He gritted his teeth and launched forward, the blade aiming at the Demon King's neck.
He wouldn't have attempted such a stupid feat if it were any other weapon. However, the blade in his grasp was the Hero's sword - a sword granted to him by his system, capable of cutting down any being or thing in its way.
SWWISSSHHHH!!!
Before the Demon King could react, his head was chopped off from his body. His eyes widened in shock as he tumbled in the air before landing on the ground.
However, Ezekiel wasn't just stopping here; he moved again, slicing off the Demon King's arms and legs.
"Haaaa…. Haaaa…." Ezekiel breathed heavily, trying his best to calm down his excitement as he looked at the Demon King's decapitated corpse.
He had one damned job, and he executed it perfectly.
Regardless, just to be sure that the Demon King was genuinely dead, Ezekiel pulled out his corpse together. He then brought out frost dragon bladder poison from his inner pocket and poured it over the Demon King's corpse.
He summoned a flame and launched it towards it. The corpse flared up into a bright greenish flame that seared through the Demon King's skin.
The Demon King's corpse convulsed a few times violently before it was gradually stripped of its skin, flesh and bone, disintegrating into ashes.
"Cough! What are you doing?" The Hero asked, coughing out a mouthful of blood as he tried to crawl away from Ezekiel, who was approaching him quickly.
He couldn't face him in his current condition and needed more time to heal before he could confront him.
For ten years, the Heroes' party had fought against the Demon King and his armies. And had fought without end.
Ezekiel knew from the beginning that without any interference, this battle would have ended with only one side emerging victorious.
Ezekiel swung the Hero's sword downward, cleanly beheading him with a single sweep. He raised the sword and swung downwards again, slicing his body into various parts before dragging them all towards the Demon King's burning body and mixing them.
He did the same to other Heroes to ensure that they don't resurrect.
Time seemed to come to a standstill as Ezekiel observed the ashen remains of the Demon King and the Heroes before taking a good look at his surroundings. He realised that both the Heroes' party and the Demon King were dead, neither side emerging victorious over the other.
The battle between the Demon King and the Heroes' party, which would determine the beginning of a new age for Eldoria, had ended, and the last one standing - its victor was...