Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
chapter-288

Even those who were nowhere near the Demon Emperor felt the existential threat that he experienced.

If they were in the same position as him, they wouldn't have survived that. The attack was silent and untraceable. It started and ended in a blink of an eye and it carried a soul-chilling lethality that caused everyone's heart to palpitate.

The crimson-haired beauty who launched that attack, calmly stood in the skies, holding her golden sword. Her long hair was being scattered by the wind.

She stared stoically at the Demon Emperor. Her body language exudes absolute confidence and nobility. It was quite obvious that she was not afraid nor even the slightest bit intimidated by the Demon Emperor.

"...you dare stand in my way, Wench!?"

"You know, I don't appreciate that language. Especially coming from a Freak like you." She replied while gently tucking her hair behind her ear.

The Demon Emperor gripped his fists and gritted his teeth. His temper was flaring once more. He couldn't stand the absolute audacity of the pest in front of him.

"I will say this once more." The Demon Emperor stressed. "Bring me the Trickster, and I might spare the rest of you. Continue this resistance and I'll make sure that your puny race ceases to exist from this day onwards."

"...huh, that's amusing." She scoffed. "I'm pretty sure I've heard that before. Oh yeah, everyone that you Freaks sent here said the same thing! But oh, how weird is that? Where are they, I wonder? Why do we still exist if that's true? Hmm, how strange."

"You talk too much, Wench! Do you wanna die!?"

"That's rich coming from someone who quite literally announced his presence by shouting really loudly. Be for fucking real...and maybe I do want to die, but the question is, can a Freak as you kill me?"

Boom!!

The sound barrier shattered, startling a lot of people on the battlefield. The Demon Emperor suddenly disappeared from his spot and appeared right in front of the crimson-haired beauty.

With fists cocked all the way back, the Demon Emperor launched a devastating punch that has enough force to wipe out an entire civilization.

There was a manic expression on the Demon Emperor's face, meanwhile, Alice wore the complete opposite expression.

She was calm, unflinching, and unbothered. It's as if she was getting bored waiting for his attack to arrive.

As the fist of the Demon Emperor got closer to her, Alice let out a disappointed sigh before proceeding to reverse her grip on her sword.

To the Demon Emperor's surprise, Alice deflected his punch that carried a civilization-wiping force, using the pommel of her sword. And she made it look so easy.

The force that accumulated on his fist got dispersed throughout the sky. In fact, it even hit one of the Hypogeans' remaining aircraft, destroying it once and for all.

Disbelief was plastered all over the Demon Emperor's face as he realized what happened. He watched as the aircraft crashed which was a mistake that he realized when he heard Alice calling out to him.

"Eyes on me, Big Boy."

Before he could even turn around, the Demon Emperor felt something hard and heavy sink into his stomach, causing his expression to twist in pain. He was sent flying at a speed that broke the sound barrier several times.

The Hypogeans nearby watched this with a gobsmacked expressions. They couldn't believe it.

Someone made the Demon Emperor eat a fat loss at the initial exchange, and there wasn't even a competition.

This was something that they'd never seen before. It's also something that they never thought would be possible, especially on this backward planet. It felt like everything they knew was a lie.

The Demon Emperor dislodged himself from the mountain he crashed into. His heart pounded in his chest as he let out a stuffy cough. He spat on the ground and noticed that it contained blood.

There was no way he could deny it. That wench's attack hurts. He couldn't remember when was the last time that someone injured him, it felt quite refreshing for him actually, but at the same time, it also irks him so much.

He couldn't forgive himself for letting a pest hurt him. And thus, he decided that from now, he will hunt this wench as if his life depended on it.

The trickster can wait. This wench, on the other hand, has to die for her sins.

He glared at the woman who was still in her initial position with hatred. He didn't need to be close to her to hear her say:

"Ooh, you pissed. Finally taking me seriously, eh? About damn time."

She corrected her grip on her sword and beckoned at the Demon Emperor with her fingers.

The Demon Emperor snarled in anger and launched himself toward her, obliterating the mountain that he crashed into earlier... what was left of it at least.

A wriggling dark mass crept up on the Demon Emperor's body, covering his lower body and his fist. It didn't take long for it to smoothen out.

The Demon Emperor threw another punch at Alice which she received using her sword.

Sparks flew from the friction of her sword and his fist. The Demon Emperor snarled again and again, continuing to throw out punches that escalated in strength.

But every single one of them was calmly received by Alice. From the looks of it, she's not even struggling at all.

She was reserved. She's wary enough but not pressured. She never took the initiative so far, yet she's able to match him blow by blow without being injured.

The compressed strength of the Demon Emperor's punches wasn't hurting Humans either. It was being scattered in a way that only harms the land near them and the invaders, not the Humans.

Of course, the Demon Emperor was aware of this, but at this point, he absolutely couldn't care less. He's more focused on returning the favor earlier. He wants...no, he needs to land a punch on her body and send her flying back as well.

Only then would he feel the slightest bit of satisfaction in this battle.

"Ugh, how dull..." Alice said.

Boom!

The sensation of hitting flesh registered on the Demon Emperor's brain. He felt quite giddy and happy at first, only for that to be ruined by what he saw.

Alice was still standing in front of him, now wearing a bored expression on her face.

The sensation he got earlier came from his fist connecting with Alice's palms.

In other words, she received a full-forced blow of his with her bare palms and she didn't even look remotely shaken by it.

"Come on, this seriously couldn't be all you got right?" She complained. "I mean, you've got so much bravado earlier, telling me that you will kill me and all that crap, but you haven't even landed a clean punch at me."

"Hell, I'm not even trying here!" She continues to complain. "I've been waiting for you to do something but so far? All you managed to do is bore me. I'm starting to think that you're just all talk and no bite."

Alice clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Ah! I know!" Her face suddenly lit up. "How about I give you a demonstration on how to actually hurt someone? Watch carefully alright?"

Schwing!!

"AAAAARRRGGGGHHH!!!!"

Out of pure instinct, the Demon Emperor retreated but it was too late.

Like earlier, the crimson-haired beauty's attack started and ended before anybody could even register it.

It took the Demon Emperor a solid second for his body to register that it was hurt for him to realize that his arm got sliced from his shoulders. L

Blackened blood spurted out of his shoulders. The Demon Emperor's face paled and twisted due to sheer pain. His arm was cleanly sliced that not even a stump remained.

As he clutched his missing arm, the Demon Emperor glared hatefully at his enemy, only for her to say:

"See? That's how you hurt someone. At least, it's one of the most effective ways to do it. Come on, your turn I guess."

The Demon Emperor was so angry that all he could utter were grunts and snarls.

His regenerative ability kicked in shortly after that. The injury closed up and his arm started growing back. It didn't take long before the Demon Emperor recovered his missing arm but that doesn't mean that the pain was completely gone.

He could still feel the tingling sensation on his shoulder joint. It sent shivers down his spine and he didn't appreciate it.

At this point, he had completely forgotten about his initial reason for coming here. He had forgotten about the trickster completely.

His focus is now on this woman who managed to cause him so much pain. The pain he received from her was far greater than all of the injuries he suffered during the past millennia.

And because of that, he finally did the thing that he should've done from the very beginning.

The black mass that covered his lower body and fist, wriggled once more and encased his entire body.

He was morphing into a complete abomination, and the Hypogeans were scared.

Alice, on the other hand, wasn't. If anything, she got even more excited.

"That's what I'm talking about...bring it on, Big Boy."