While Ryo was in a deep slumber, trying to control the eternal powers,
the situation in the outside world was completely different. The sky began to crack, and terrifying demonic entities started appearing from every corner of the world.
Loris and Infernus were fighting the demons alone, but they couldn't protect the entire world by themselves.
So they began training a large number of people, until a guild was formed known as the "Demon Slayers."
The goal of that guild was to exterminate demons and restore peace to the world, but the mission was anything but easy.
The number of demons continued to grow, and the cracks in the sky multiplied until their shape completely changed and turned red.
People began calling it "The False Sky."
The demon world became connected to the human world, and both sides were able to travel between them freely.
Chaos spread everywhere, and the demons managed to take control of more than seventy percent of the human world.
Loris and Infernus grew exhausted from the endless wars and wanted greater forces to intervene, but no one responded.
> "Kai, Azumi! Thank you for coming!"
Kai (one of the Ten Supreme Commanders of the Karujin Empire — the Eighth Supreme Commander, Satoru Kai):
> "No need to thank us. This is a world-level threat. The Emperor sent only us to reclaim twenty percent of the lost lands."
Shinso (the Ninth Supreme Commander of the Empire — Shinso Azumi):
> "No need. I alone am enough to reclaim forty percent of the territories we lost in the war!"
Kai:
> "There's no need for that—"
Before Kai could finish his sentence, Shinso disappeared and reappeared within one of the enemy territories.
He didn't just fight — he committed a massive massacre, killing about 23,000 demons in just five minutes.
He continued his advance without stopping until one of the Abyssal Commanders appeared.
He was known as Azrath the Destroyer — the strongest being in the domain of destruction. It was said that his maximum power could destroy stars, and he was described as being at the level of celestial entities, capable even of annihilating galaxies.
---
Under the torn sky, Shinso stood facing Azrath, and the ground trembled around them.
Shinso unleashed a barrage of poisoned arrows dancing between threads of darkness, while daggers spun around him like black flaming planets.
Azrath laughed thunderously, stretching out his hand and tearing through the fabric of space itself.
But Shinso raised his hand, and the dark magic devoured the light. A field of black fire exploded, burning both shadows and air alike.
Azrath lunged out of the flames, his wounds healing instantly — but Shinso's eyes burned with a cold stillness. The darkness obeyed him, and the void whispered his name.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, everything changed.
The place became terrifyingly dark — so dark that even the darkness itself could not be seen. His eyes turned pitch black, bleeding a black liquid.
> "Domain of Loss."
In that suffocating darkness, where no sound could be heard and nothing could be seen, Azrath heard droplets of water falling.
A small light emerged from the shadows, and behind it stood Shinso with a distorted, terrifying smile — even the demon himself described him as a demon.
He looked at Azrath with lifeless eyes — not moving, not blinking — only smiling.
Azrath grew uneasy, and millions of possibilities swirled wildly in his mind.
> "Will he attack me?"
"Is he trying to scare me?"
"What will he do next?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Shinso's footsteps on the water.
Shinso raised his hand and launched the light upward; it struck something invisible, forming a glasslike orb glowing brightly, illuminating the area.
Then millions of swords, spears, and arrows appeared, surrounding Azrath from every direction.
Realizing the danger, Azrath unleashed his destructive power, but the weapons shot toward him with blinding speed, then split into dozens of fragments and multiplied.
Shinso smiled victoriously and said:
> "Now… farewell!"
The weapons pierced through Azrath's body, shredding him until he was nothing but a mass of crushed flesh.
But when Shinso lowered his defense, believing Azrath was dead, he was shocked to find him still alive — his wounds completely healed.
Azrath grabbed Shinso's hand, and in an instant, hurled him toward the forest.
The impact uprooted trees and ripped the ground apart from the sheer force of the blow.
Shinso quickly regained his balance and returned like a flash.
He raised his hand, forming a small black sphere, and fired it at Azrath.
The demon sensed danger and barely dodged it, but the sphere pierced through a mountain and exploded with a force equal to ten Tsar Bombs, turning the mountain into ash.
Shinso attacked again, releasing whirlwinds of shadow that condensed into a shield devouring the light itself.
Then he fired poisoned arrows bound by threads of night, carrying the scent of silent death.
The arrows struck Azrath but did not bring him down — instead, they made him roar, his chest igniting with crimson flames, every breath a storm of fire.
Azrath laughed with a gravelly voice that shook the heavens:
> "Dark magic? Against the flames of hell? You're playing with my shadow, son of darkness!"
But Shinso didn't respond.
He raised his twin poisoned daggers, and their rapid rotation tore a rift in the air, from which emerged a dark fire of immense heat — so intense that the ground began to melt, turning the battlefield into a boiling volcano.
In response, Azrath summoned the flames of hell, burning the air itself.
The two powers collided, creating a massive fiery explosion that transformed the entire environment — the clouds, the rain, the oceans — all vaporized.
Steam engulfed the world, and the sky turned gray, raining endlessly.
Azrath charged through the smoke, slamming the ground with his infernal hammer. The earth cracked and turned into rivers of molten fire.
But Shinso vanished.
From above, new daggers descended, each carrying a poison from which no creature could recover.
Shinso appeared behind Azrath and whispered words in an unknown language. A pulsating cage of darkness closed around the demon.
> "The end… your death, Azrath."
But Azrath unleashed his strongest attack.
Light collapsed, and darkness swallowed everything.
Time stopped, space cracked, and then a massive explosion occurred — destroying the entire solar system. No trace of life remained.
Yet everything began to return — the sun, the planets, life — for time itself was rewinding.
In that moment, Shinso had absorbed Azrath's attack into the void, saving everyone from annihilation.
Then he prepared his final move and said calmly:
> "Azrath, you were truly strong… your power was devastating. But you chose the wrong person to fight."
He raised his arm, and a sphere resembling a black hole appeared — completely pitch black.
When he unleashed its power, night turned to day, day to night, seasons flashed by in an instant, time sped up, slowed down, and then reversed.
The laws of existence shattered, and time itself stopped completely.
In that moment, Shinso released his final attack, and Azrath vanished from existence — not a single trace remained…
Even time itself forgot that he had ever existed.
To be continued…