The battle inside the hellish chamber continued with unrelenting intensity.
The air was thick with raw energy as the three apostles closed in on Stark.
He stood at the center, breathing heavily, his body faintly glowing from the aftereffects of Crimson Healing.
The Ultimate Clone was beside him, ready to act at any moment, but the apostles showed no signs of letting up. Stark knew they were only moments away from victory if he faltered.
Cerberus growled, the sound vibrating through the ground like deep thunder.
Each of its three heads snapped aggressively, molten saliva dripping from its snarling mouths.
Stark’s gaze shifted to the giant beast.
He could feel it—Cerberus was weakening as he was the one Stark focused the most on. Its defenses had taken a beating, and if Stark was going to finish this, now was the time.
[Cerberus HP: 290,487/1,750,000]
With a swift motion, Stark summoned another barrage of Crimson Spears, sending the glowing projectiles flying toward the colossal hound. The air crackled as the spears closed in.
-45,000! -46,500! -47,300!
The spears pierced through Cerberus’s tough, leathery hide, making the beast stagger back with a howl of pain.
Its health was dropping fast, but it still wasn’t out of the fight.
“Flame Whip!” roared the central head of Cerberus, summoning a blazing chain of fire that lashed out toward Stark with terrifying speed.
Stark barely managed to dodge the first strike, rolling to the side with Invincible Dodge. His clone also shifted out of harm’s way.
“Is that all,” Stark audibly laughed as he saw the three apostles still walking toward him, confidence visible on their faces, as if they knew victory was close.
And Stark knew that reviving wouldn’t work on them, as they had seen him do it against the guardian ape, meaning that even if two forgot, another wouldn’t.
“Crimson Ball Transmission!” he commanded, teleporting himself behind Cerberus in an instant.
With a roar of determination, Stark summoned his Domination Soul, the glowing crimson heart appearing in his hand, a familiar =] face etched into its surface.
Chains shot out from it, which Stark grabbed to wield the soul perfectly.
[You can use your chains to bind enemies, but this is risky]
Suddenly, a panel appeared in front of Stark.
“So… basically like Domi-Chain Restrain…?” his chain broke since he had tried to use on Cerberus.
[Yeah.]
“Heh… let’s try then.”
Chains shot out from the crimson heart, wrapping tightly around Cerberus’s legs and necks, binding the monstrous hound in place.
Cerberus roared and thrashed violently, trying to break free, but Stark refused to give in. “Not this time!” he shouted, pulling the chains even tighter.
“Spear of Judgement!” Stark summoned a massive, glowing crimson spear, crackling with divine energy.
He aimed it directly at Cerberus, who struggled helplessly in its bindings.
The spear shot forward like lightning, impaling the center head of the beast.
-123,384!
That thing only had around 20000 HP left!
Cerberus let out an ear-splitting cry as the spear erupted within its skull. Blood and molten fire spewed from the wound, and the middle head went limp, lifeless.
The two remaining heads growled and snapped, but their strength was fading fast.
Suddenly, Valgorth charged at Stark from behind, his enormous fist glowing with a fiery aura.
“Inferno Crush!” The ground trembled as Valgorth’s massive fist slammed down, barely missing Stark as he dodged at the last second.
Even so, the impact sent a shockwave that hurled him across the chamber.
-42,372!
Stark hit the wall hard, grunting as he felt the sharp pain in his ribs. He tasted blood in his mouth but pushed himself back to his feet. Cerberus was almost done for—he couldn’t afford to stop now.
In a flash, Malthus appeared before him, swinging his deadly scythe in a wide arc. “Soul Cleaver!”
Stark raised his fists to block, but the scythe cut through his defenses with terrifying ease. The cold steel grazed his arm, leaving a deep cut that sapped his strength.
-31,231!
He hissed in pain, but as the scythe came for another deadly strike, he immediately activated [Crimson Purification]’s [Protection Burst], which reduced 95% of damage received by undead beings for 10 seconds!
-1547!
He received no damage.
“???” and so while the reaper was taken aback, he immediately took his chance.
“Crimson Purification!” he shouted, focusing divine energy which shot out from his body.
“Foolish,” Malthus used his scythe’s special power which cut the divine energy.
But… Stark had never aimed for him at all: he was aiming at Cerberus!
-175,376!
The blast shattered through the remaining two heads of the hellish beast.
With a final, anguished howl, Cerberus collapsed. Its enormous body slumped against the molten ground, its once fearsome flames flickering out.
[Cerberus, The Protector of Hell: Defeated!]
Stark exhaled heavily, relief washing over him for just a moment.
But right as Malthus was about to attack, he was surprised by a second shockwave of holy aura from Stark!
[Ding! Divine Retribution activated!]
[Description: When activating your crimson purification, there is a 20% chance that the purification now unleashes a secondary burst of holy energy!]
Malthus was immediately hit, unable to counter with his scythe again to cut the divine energy, and so he received it, sending him flying!
BOOM!
-231,388!
But there was no time to rest. Valgorth and Malthus still stood back, both almost full health, not seeming weakened again at all.
He glanced at his clone, and it just smiled at him.
“Not bad, human,” Valgorth growled, his voice rumbling with menace. “But killing the hound won’t save you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Stark retorted, wiping the blood from his mouth.
Valgorth charged once more, his fists glowing with dark, pulsating energy. He swung with all his might.
“Titan’s Rampage!”
Stark braced himself, using [Double Assault] to increase his stats for 20 seconds and thus deflecting the blows from the calamity apostle.
-7426! -7847
The hits still hurt a little bit, but Stark held his ground. Then hurled a Crimson Spear with [Holy Infusion] directly at Valgorth’s chest.
-114,832!
[Valgorth HP: 1,601,429/1,820,000]
Valgorth howled in agony as the spear tore through his body, his health plummeting, but not enough for him to be in danger.
Malthus lunged toward Stark, his scythe glowing with deadly black energy. Stark dodged the first swing, but the second strike cut across his shoulder.
-22,833!
[Stark HP: 11744/125000]
Stark winced, rolling away to avoid another attack, he was on the verge of dying, another blow and it was over.
“Do not think you can revive yourself or take us by surprise, fool,” Malthus laughed, “We will be standing right next to you, and the moment you move, it’s over.”
“Damn.”
Stark knew he was cornered.
But before he could launch a desperate counterattack, something strange happened.
The Ultimate Clone, who was close to Valgorth, suddenly staggered.
The clone hadn’t done anything to help Stark for some reason all this time.
Stark frowned in confusion—the clone hadn’t been hit.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
But before he could react, a dark, oppressive aura filled the chamber.
The clone began to twitch violently, its body contorting as dark energy coiled around it.
[EGO!]
A system notification appeared before Stark’s eyes.
[Ultimate Clone has summoned EGO, The Hatred Demon!]
Stark blinked in disbelief. “What the fuck?”
He had seen this before, but it didn’t make sense—why and how would the clone…?
The clone’s body exploded in a storm of dark crimson flames, and above it, a massive demonic figure materialized, just as it had once done over Stark.
The demon was enormous, its form twisted and horrific, its eyes blazing with unbridled hatred.
The creature’s massive wings stretched out wide, casting an ominous shadow over the entire chamber as it hovered above the clone.
Stark took a step back, his heart racing. “Even I’m confused now,” he muttered, staring up at the monstrous figure.
Both apostles, Valgorth and Malthus, stood frozen, their eyes wide with fear—a reaction Stark had never expected to see from them.
The EGO demon let out a terrifying roar, shaking the chamber’s very foundations. The air hummed with malevolent energy as the demon’s oppressive presence grew stronger by the second.
Stark could feel the hatred radiating from the creature—an intense, overwhelming force. This wasn’t just any ordinary summon. It was far more dangerous.
The demon’s fiery eyes locked onto Stark, and at that moment, Stark felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine.
“Perfect,” Stark muttered, clenching his fists, “Now we’re on equal footing,” he smiled.
He didn’t know how the clone could now a mythical skill like EGO, as it wasn’t able to before, but was it because the ultimate clone now had the entirety of Stark’s aura at disposition? Meaning it could use anything he did?
He didn’t know, but seeing EGO the demon above the smiling clone was already good enough to increase his determination.
“Fool, this will not stop us.”
“Kill the original, and the other is dead,” Malthus pointed at the original Stark.
And then, the two dashed toward him, summoning two of their mythical skills at once.
