Before the beast's roar, no one stepped back — not a single retreat, not a single heartbeat of hesitation.
They pressed forward, striking back with everything they had.
The elder's axe was consumed by a black aura. He raised it high and unleashed a simple swing.
Yet the aura expanded.
Five shadow-wrapped slashes tore through the air, descending like a titan's claws upon the evil god. The creature, still impaled by the arrow in its torso, could barely react.
One of the claws struck true, slicing open a deep wound across its short abdomen.
Another cry of agony echoed through the forest — and certainly, it would not be the last. The beast's scream only drew more attacks toward itself.
From behind, a colossal hammer attempted to crush it. Its wielder was the only 9-star cultivator among them.
With every strike, a heavy earth aura collapsed onto the monster. The evil god felt as though an entire house were falling on its body.
"Agonize, beast!
Agonize beneath my hatred!"
The elder roared, lunging like a wild animal. His axe never stopped tearing at the creature's flesh.
The god's claws were powerful — but not enough to hold its defense against twelve high-level cultivators besieging it.
Still, it fought with insane mastery. Every movement carved wide arcs through the air, capable of shredding anything caught in its path.
Even a 7-star cultivator would die instantly if careless. But unlike Crowler, who protected the weak, here the 7-stars were the weak links — and that changed everything. Fighting enemies of its own level stopped the monster from channeling its full force.
Zizzzzzz!
A shrill sound rang out when the axe collided with the creature's claw.
Click.
A faint sound — just enough to make the seventh elder smile with something feral and almost sickening. The beast's claw was beginning to crack.
Exactly as he expected: claws meant purely for offense, never for enduring repeated impact — especially not against an axe forged from decayed metal.
Combined with his metal element, anything that clashed with him again and again was doomed to break.
"Agonize, wretch. I am your natural enemy."
The elder advanced with growing brutality. He hated this creature — the monster that had killed an elder brother and caused so much suffering for his human juniors.
This was the beast he had to kill, at any cost.
The evil god, finally feeling suppressed, began to taste despair.
It did not want to die.
"Humans… dare kill me? You are not the only ones who can call for—"
Crash!
Its voice was inhuman, metallic, revolting. The words were a threat disguised as a plea.
But this was no ordinary human group.
They were the Eradicators, led by the Seventh Elder — a squad that had never failed a mission.
And this would not be the first.
Sensing the beast at its limit, the elder charged with every ounce of brutality he possessed.
The Eleventh Elder had been a close friend since childhood — one of the few of their generation still alive.
How could he not seek vengeance?
That creature could not comprehend even the most basic human feeling.
It could not understand the simplest truth:
Good must be repaid tenfold.
But evil… must be repaid three times worse.
The axe gleamed. The elder's arm began to split under the force he was channeling, yet he swung regardless — a devastating blow.
Crack!
An axe-intent split through the air, and the evil god was cleaved in half, gasping in its final agonizing breaths.
All around him, the others offered a solemn hand-salute toward the elder.
"Congratulations, Elder, on achieving Axe Intent.
May you reach Level Two… and live another two hundred years."
---
Months passed.
Inside a cave, Dante felt time drip through his mind in broken fragments.
The pain, the despair, the humiliation —
all of it would be remembered…