Watching the massive fireball descend toward Ruvian, Julian frowned as his breathing grew heavier. He had already cast several powerful spells in quick succession, and each one had taken a considerable toll on his mana reserves.
’How is this possible?’
The realisation that he still couldn’t easily overwhelm that damn commoner only fueled his irritation further.
What made it even more infuriating was the fact that Ruvian had already fought a large number of scholars that very morning, yet somehow, he barely showed any signs of exhaustion.
’No, perhaps Lady Calyra healed him?’
But then again, healing spells that powerful were high-tier, and only skilled mages could use them. Even among those mages, only a few were capable of it.
Unable to figure it out, Julian quickly discarded those thoughts. And as soon as he did so, Ruvian suddenly emerged from the massive fire spell, propelling himself toward him at incredible speed. (+500PP)
’How? It should’ve exploded the moment he made contact with that spell!? Why does this bastard have so many ways to make my spells look completely useless!?’
Furious, Julian gritted his teeth and prepared to engage, but suddenly, his entire body tensed as if... an immense weight was crushing down upon him.
Even so, Julian fought through the crushing force with sheer tenacity and raised his sword to defend himself against Ruvian’s attack.
Clang!
Their swords collided violently.
"What was that spell?" Julian hissed through gritted teeth.
"And why should I tell you?" Ruvian replied with a mocking smirk.
The two continued exchanging fierce clashes with their swords in midair, neither giving the other any ground as they slowly descended toward the ground below.
’Is this close enough, Morvayne?’
[Yes. Hold it for five seconds.]
’Sounds easy.’
For five seconds, their blades continued trading blow after blow, the harsh reverberations of steel traveling through their arms and deep into their muscles and bones.
Then, just as they were about to reach the ground...
Morvayne’s voice suddenly echoed inside Ruvian’s mind.
[Done!]
In the next moment, Ruvian immediately disengaged and used wind magic to soften his descent, pushing himself farther away from Julian before landing safely.
Julian did the same, releasing a burst of fire beneath himself to lessen the impact before landing several meters away.
For a brief moment, neither of them moved.
Both stood several meters apart, breathing heavily as they kept their eyes fixed on each other. Their exchange had been almost even so far, with each attack met by a defense and every opening quickly covered before the other could take advantage of it.
Still, Julian clearly held the advantage when it came to raw strength and speed.
Ruvian, on the other hand, had been keeping up with his technique and by carefully reading Julian’s attack patterns.
But none of that was what occupied Ruvian’s mind right now.
’What did you find out... Morvayne?’
Yet even after Ruvian asked, Morvayne remained strangely silent.
That alone made him slightly uneasy. She seemed uncertain about whatever she had discovered, almost as though...
Ruvian’s brows slowly furrowed.
’Morvayne...?’
Finally, she answered, her voice became wary.
[Child... you would be wise to withdraw from this battle. The demon dwelling within that man is no ordinary being.]
Ruvian stiffened.
He didn’t like the sound of that.
’What rank...?’
[Two rank beneath a Demon King, Child... a Supreme Demon.]
*****
’What?’
The moment he heard that, Ruvian’s mind went completely blank. He was too shocked to even form a single thought. No, even calling it shock felt like an understatement.
’Why... why the hell is a Supreme Demon residing inside Julian!?’
Ruvian had known from the beginning that a demon was dwelling within Julian. But this was far beyond anything he had expected.
Even with his S-Rank Mental Strength, Ruvian felt a deep sense of dread upon learning the truth. If what Morvayne said was true, then there was simply no way he could defeat it.
All this time, he had assumed that the demon inside Julian was merely a High Demon, or at worst, a Demon General. Never once had he considered the possibility that it could be a Supreme Demon.
After all, those kinds of demons were on an entirely different level.
Their strength rivaled even the likes of the Seven Virtuous Paragons, beings who stood near the very peak of this world. And existences of such caliber were something the current generation severely lacked.
Yet somehow, one of them was residing inside Julian.
Ruvian gritted his teeth as countless questions began flooding his mind.
’This doesn’t make any sense...’
Seeing the sudden change in Ruvian’s expression, Julian scoffed as he pointed his blade toward him.
"What’s with that pale face? Have you finally reached your limit?"
Ruvian frowned.
’This bastard doesn’t even realize what the real problem is here!’
Morvayne then added, a rare concern lingering in her voice.
[Yet he is not entirely wrong, Child. That potion may have healed your wounds and restored your strength, but it cannot remove all the exhaustion from your body.]
Ruvian sighed inwardly.
Morvayne was right. Even now, he could feel the fatigue accumulated in his body.
Then, Ruvian finally realized something.
He already knew that Julian’s disappearance had something to do with the demon. It was the only explanation that made any sense.
Even so, there had always been one thing that didn’t sit right with him.
From what he remembered in the novel, it was the academy that later informed everyone that Julian had gone missing.
But how could Julian possibly escape from this island so easily? There were academy staff stationed throughout the entire island, and more importantly, Ophelia was watching over the examination herself.
Escaping without any of them stopping him should have been nearly impossible.
Unless...
Yes, unless the demon inside Julian was powerful enough to make it possible.
Everything suddenly began to fall into place.
’Shit... I should’ve seen this coming way earlier.’
If Ruvian had known the demon’s true rank from the beginning, he would have already prevented all of this by simply removing the necklace from Julian.
But he hadn’t done that because he had another plan.
He had intentionally allowed Julian to keep the necklace, hoping the demon would eventually possess him while they were still on the island.
Once that happened, Ruvian planned to confront the demon himself and interrogate it, hoping to learn more about them, why they had targeted Julian, and what exactly they were planning.
But now, it seemed his plan had completely backfired.
’Damn it... I was too naive.’
He should have considered the possibility that the demon could be a Supreme Demon.
But seriously, how was he supposed to assume something like that when the odds were ridiculously low?
Even throughout OG Ruvian’s countless regressions, he had never encountered a single Supreme Demon this early in the story.
Not even during the event where the entire capital city was thrown into chaos.
As far as Ruvian remembered, the first time one of them actually appeared in the novel was during the Magus Spire Arc. But that was through Zian’s POV, not OG Ruvian’s.
’Forget it...’
But now that things had already reached this point, there was only one thing Ruvian wanted to know. There was no use lamenting over what had already happened.
Instead, he needed to focus on what came next.
’Morvayne...’
[Yes, Child?]
’How strong is a Supreme Demon and lets say, if you were to fight with one of them now....
──────── ✦ ────────
[Chapter 310: Would You Win?]
Plot Points= 57,000 PP
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter