THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 757: Fulghor vs Vayne (2)

The collision hit with terrifying ferocity, twisting the moon's surface into a shape far removed from what it once was.

Buried under the rubble of destruction lay Vayne, leaving Fulghor isolated in the emptiness of space.

"I heard you were stronger than the previous Rank Three High Demon," Fulghor remarked. Even though his expression held no trace of scorn, his tone oozed with sarcasm. "But now that I've seen you this close, I'm starting to question if that's really true."

"I took down the last one with my own hands... and back then, he gave me endless headaches. He was genuinely formidable."

"Next to him... you're just a kid driven by rage."

Gradually, Vayne emerged from the debris left by that final strike.

Her right arm had been utterly obliterated. Her frame twisted in unnatural ways. Her wings lay in complete shreds.

All that damage... from just one clash.

But what stood out most was the savage anger etched across her features—a seething hatred aimed squarely at Fulghor.

He stayed completely composed, though, and kept up his taunts.

"Your wretched condition says it all. It looks like the upper ranks have weakened since the previous conflict."

Fulghor's words landed like a merciful final shot, piercing deep into Vayne and making the surrounding void quake.

"You’re dead."

Through gritted teeth, Vayne spat the phrase, her face morphing into a fiendish mask pulled from the depths of hell.

Shadows burst from her core, swallowing her whole as her body started shifting—contorting and reshaping into a horror that seemed birthed from the darkest dreams.

She shot up in height dramatically. Darkness devoured her face, giving way to a nightmarish one-eyed monster.

Countless tentacles sprouted from her back, her limbs stretching out in hideous fashion.

The aura she radiated turned even more dread-inducing, causing the whole moon to shudder violently.

Witnessing this, Fulghor unleashed a surge of his own presence, steeling for the fight.

"So this is the shape created by merging the King’s Shadow with its bearer..."

Even with Vayne's transformed horror now almost rivaling his stature... Fulghor betrayed no surprise. It all matched his expectations perfectly.

"Now let's witness... the might that once was rumored to eclipse Orested’s glow."

Suddenly, Fulghor and the beastly Vayne hurtled toward one another at impossible velocities.

A streak of shadow met a lance of gold, triggering a thunderous blast—right before their forces slammed together in savage fury.

Shadowy essence and radiant gold pushed hard against each other, both sides battling to crush the opposing energy.

Vayne morphed her appendages into deadly blades, slashing at ferocious speeds, as Fulghor countered using his twin spear, engaging her in a furious barrage.

The shadow energy outclassed Fulghor's golden force in purity... yet the Shadow Sect's beast made up for it by flooding the area with vastly more power.

To put it simply, he balanced superior quality through overwhelming amount.

And that's how he held his ground against something as fearsome as the King’s Shadow.

In the midst of that infernal struggle, Vayne howled without stop:

"You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead!!!!!!"

Her cries echoed like summons from the underworld... a living terror.

Utter insanity. Devastating might unchecked.

Bit by bit, Vayne started to dominate the energy showdown... the shadows edging ahead gradually.

Fulghor noticed it plainly, so he eased back on purpose, coaxing her to follow.

The Shadow Sect's fiend bounded forward on hands and feet, cloaked in searing golden brilliance, with Vayne chasing as a bolt of gloom.

"Vayne... the fresh Rank Three Demoness. Your strength is immense, sure, but you've already forfeited the mental war," Fulghor declared in a resonant tone as his luminous aura swelled.

"And before long... you'll forfeit the actual fight too."

By the time he spoke, they had zipped to the moon's distant edge, thanks to their blistering pace.

There—once they crossed into a particular zone—something incredible happened.

At Fulghor's cue, eight massive golden spires shot upward, extending to the brink of the cosmos.

They encircled Vayne fully, tricked by Fulghor right into the heart of the array.

"Supreme Art: Uranus Shock."

Reacting to Fulghor's command, Vayne—in her hideous shape—tilted her head to the heavens.

And disaster rained down on her.

From the remote depths of the stars—from a spot so far off its name escaped all knowledge...

a flood of destructive energy slammed into place.

A howling ray that spanned realms, pulled in by the spires that trapped Vayne inside.

The demoness wailed endlessly—but escape eluded her, and shattering the setup proved impossible in time.

"Too late for you, Rank Three," Fulghor intoned steadily, his gaze burning fierce.

"Unlike Gehrman and the others in the Shadow Sect, I never perished. I chose to trail my master Nameless willingly. My strength hasn't faded these years—in fact, it's only amplified."

"Right now... excluding Alexander Rybak, who kept his form almost flawless... I'm the mightiest in the Shadow Sect."

"Taking down someone like you... is child's play."

As Fulghor wrapped up his words, a profound hush gripped the void.

A quiet that endured mere heartbeats—

until the cascade of energy crashed down, swallowing Vayne whole.

That immense column of golden power kept surging endlessly, burning away the demoness's flesh amid her tortured shrieks.

The onslaught dragged on for endless, painful moments—until the energy ray bored into the moon's depths.

Fissures raced across the lunar body, throbbing with menacing golden light...

until an event both wondrous and terrible unfolded.

The moon burst apart under the immense force, sending a blast whose ripples touched Earth itself.

Moon shards flew across the stars, and at last, the golden ray faded.

Even after sparking such a cataclysm... Fulghor stayed utterly serene.

Because it had all played out just as he'd schemed.

Goading Vayne. Pulling her into raw confrontation. Making her drop all restraint.

Then guiding her directly into the snare he'd set beforehand.

It all happened exactly as the Shadow Sect’s War General had plotted.

Fulghor's form vented a thicker haze of boiling vapor, after burning through a huge chunk of his energy.

"Uranus Shock unleashes my full energy stockpile without limits," he explained, regaining his footing. "That gives it immense potency... but it leaves me utterly spent. And tricking a foe into it isn't simple."

He focused, handling his scant remaining power with precision.

Normally, firing off Uranus Shock one time wouldn't wear him down this badly... but sharing half his strength with Gehrman now bit back hard.

And unluckily... his foe had somehow endured to the last.

On a huge chunk of the broken moon, the Rank Three Demoness rose again.

Her condition was nightmarish... and it seemed she'd burned most of her shadow essence just to hang on.

"I hit her with half my total power... and still she stands," Fulghor grumbled, a hint of doubt entering his tone as he weighed his options.

Vayne looked awful. Vast parts of her had been wrecked... only the shadow kept her intact as one form.

But in return, Fulghor had nearly emptied his own reserves.

He'd claimed victory in the fight.

But finishing off the enemy... that was a different challenge.

"Should I push forward... or fall back?"

Fulghor weighed it briefly—then chose when he felt an odd surge from the distance... from Earth.

"This... the Wheel of Death..."

His eyes flashed briefly... then shut as he retreated slowly.

"Gehrman... I trust you understand your actions," Fulghor murmured while rocketing toward Earth, abandoning Vayne to twist in the wreckage and emptiness.

The Shadow Sect's War General withdrew in triumph—having delivered a devastating blow to the Rank Three Demoness.