Placing himself in mortal peril.
Herman's goal was to force the dormant Divinity within him to awaken. Back when he first obtained the identity of the [Raven Emissary], he had already considered how to ignite the divine flame.
Crisis—the brush with death—was without question one of the surest methods.
Herman was gambling.
And he won.
The power hidden deep in his soul stirred, surging through his body. He felt every cell ignite.
A transformation of essence itself!
Boom!
Vast energy erupted inside him, like stars detonating in an instant, an endless tide of force crashing through his being.
In that single moment, Herman felt stronger than he had ever imagined.
"This… is my Divinity."
He whispered softly. Golden flames seemed to ignite across his skin, while his eyes blazed with brilliant, radiant light.
An oppressive aura poured out of him, swelling wilder and heavier by the second. Blackheart, in the midst of consuming him, instinctively felt a crushing sense of danger.
"What are you doing?!"
Blackheart cried out in shock.
He found he could no longer digest Herman's essence. Worse still, the golden fire burning across Herman's body was erasing his own existence.
Vast swathes of black mist disintegrated under the flames, vanishing completely.
Gone.
Irrecoverable.
"What… a magnificent feeling." Herman's gaze turned cold and majestic. Bathed in dazzling golden light, he seemed like a god who had existed since ancient times.
"You ask what I'm doing?"
The gold in his eyes blazed even brighter. "Teaching you a lesson. Don't just swallow others whole."
The moment he spoke, twin golden beams shot from his eyes, coiling like roaring dragons as they ripped through Blackheart's misty form.
"No!"
Blackheart's shrieks of agony split the night as the radiant beams tore apart the boundless black fog, surging into the heavens with unstoppable force. The pitch-black night sky blazed as if it were day.
The heavens themselves seemed to be set aflame.
Water Demon, Earth Demon, and Wind Demon—though all were formidable in their own right—could only tremble in primal terror at the sight.
"He… how can he be this powerful!?"
The three demons were already trembling.
Bathed in the searing light, they writhed in agony, yet there was nowhere to run. A dreadful premonition rose in their hearts.
Perhaps… we've provoked something we should never have touched!
"You're erasing my very existence! No! How could you possibly wield such power! You're just a mortal!" Blackheart, struck head-on by Herman, was in the most agony of all.
He felt a part of his essence obliterated—gone forever, beyond restoration. He couldn't understand how Herman possessed such terrifying power.
Power that could annihilate even demons? Unheard of!
Blackheart howled in pain.
He no longer dared maintain his mist form. The shattered black fog fell to the ground, condensing once more into his handsome human shape.
But gone was the composure he had worn before. Now his face was etched with terror. Seeing Herman descend slowly, he cried out at once.
"Don't come any closer! I surrender! Perhaps we can negotiate!"
Blackheart was prideful, yes—but that didn't mean he was unafraid of annihilation.
This wasn't mere death… this was true erasure.
"You despise your father, but you share his love of making deals," Herman said coldly, mocking the demon's disheveled state.
He shook his head, golden eyes indifferent. "Unfortunately, I have no interest in making deals with demons."
The moment the words left him, Herman, who had been standing hundreds of meters away, appeared instantly before Blackheart.
This speed, beyond even a demon's perception, made Blackheart's pupils contract sharply. He couldn't comprehend what had changed within Herman. In the end… even a Prince of Hell, ignorant as he was, would pay for it.
It wasn't that Blackheart knew nothing of divinity.
But divinity differed for every god, and a creature who couldn't even grasp soul contracts naturally never considered it.
A human… how could one possibly become a god?
"Demon," Herman said, seizing Blackheart and driving a fist into his skull.
Golden fire danced in his eyes, golden radiance wrapped his fist, and the strike unleashed violent ripples. Blackheart's skull—harder than steel—shattered by more than half.
Shards of black matter scattered through the air, but the golden flames clinging to them burned them to nothing in an instant.
"You can't… you can't do this to me!"
Blackheart realized his head could no longer repair itself. For the first time, he felt annihilation breathing down his neck.
Infinite terror festered in the Prince of Hell's heart.
"Oh? Weren't you the one boasting about ascending the supreme throne?" Herman lifted his fist again, golden eyes gleaming with disdain.
"What's this? Gods beg too?"
Another strike.
Blackheart's skull shattered once more, leaving only half a face and a mouth. He struggled in blind terror.
"My father is Mephisto! The Lord of Hell! If you kill me, he will avenge me! You too will face destruction!"
Well, well.
A moment ago he dared not even speak that name. Now suddenly it's "my father Mephisto"? What is this, the fantasy version of "my dad is somebody big"?