Chapter 156

Arc 15 - Dead Men Rising - Part 9

Casuan Galaxy:

The large demon, growing larger than a planet, roared in the dark space and shook the nearby star systems.

Lord Cosmos, who was standing along in front of the demon, raised his hands to cover himself.

Against such a powerful enemy, he could not do anything but watch it destroy worlds.

He is not a coward, he would do anything to save people, but right now, due to fear, he cannot move his body.

So, he could do nothing while hearing the screams of the innocents from the worlds around him.

“As a sign of goodwill, I, Asura, the Demon King, will allow you, a miserable little man to continue living.”

Lord Cosmos stood still in his place as he swallowed his saliva.

He could not even leave this dreaded place.

Move! he commanded his body, but there was no response.

“Ah,” Asura smiled thinly, “I suppose you do not want to go then. Shall I have my way with you?”

As the thin and evil laughter of the demon reached the ears of the hero, his mind overwhelmed because of fear and he fainted.

“Hrm,” the Demon King’s smile and laughter vanished as he squirmed unhappily. “A pity.”

He reached his hand towards the body of the fallen hero and tried to crush him like a bug.

But a flash of light appeared in front of him and in the next instant, his right arm was detached from his body and floating dead in the cold space.

“Hm?”

The Demon King regrew his lost limb as he looked around for the source of the attack.

With another flash of white light, the Demon King’s other arm was lost to the cold space as well.

“Hmmm?”

He was not in pain or in anger, he was simply confused.

“Why have you come down to this plane?”

Asura did not have to answer, but he wanted to amuse this man.

“I need to recollect the souls of the dead, which belongs rightfully to the master of hell, I!”

“That is… Impossible, at the moment, but you mustn't cause any more unwarranted harm to the universe.”

“Who are you?”

A large explosion of white light flooded the dark space, causing the demon to cover his eyes.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw a human-looking God standing on an asteroid. His right leg was on top of a stone and he was resting a claymore-like glowing sword on his shoulder.

“I am Orion, the God of War, and this is my blade and companion, Volda, the God of Blades.”

“Hrm,” the Demon King was not amused.

“I ask of you to leave this realm and your… “belongings” will be returned to you in due time.”

With his now regenerated hand, the Demon King swept it through the air and clenched his fist angrily.

“I do not know in what kind of fantasyland you live, God of War, but death does not exist anymore. Only I, the ruler of hells, can take back the souls to their rightful place. Perhaps you ought to use your magnificent power to help me take these souls to their rightful place instead of trying to stand before me antagonising.”

“I hear you, Demon King, but why harm the innocents?”

“There are no innocents in this world. I can taste their sweet savoury sins.”

“That is beside the question.”

“Bah, you will not understand, but in any case, I need you to leave me be, so I can carry out my tasks of reclaiming what is rightfully mine.”

“I am afraid I cannot let you do that.”

The God of War’s eyes lit up with white light.

“「Euphirium」!”

Euphirium is the process in which an angel and a God accesses their true power.

“I see the type of man you are, Demon King, I have seen many such as you in the battlefield. Thirsty for blood and power, they will stop at nothing to prove themselves superior.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Asura smiled thinly.

“But I will tell you this, Demon King,” Orion narrowed his eyes, “you are no warrior. You are a bully.”

“...” Asura chuckled shortly after. “Do I resemble a fool who cares about the words coming out of your mouth, God of War?”

“Of course not,” Orion rolled his eyes.

He kicked the asteroid he was standing on and shot himself forward like a rocket.

"A warrior doesn't use violence against those weaker, but Demon King, I will not hesitate to slay you today."

Like a flash of light, the God of War moved through the dark space.

He slashed his sword through the air space, sending a barrage of white-blue light towards Asura.

Asura flicked his fingers and created an orb of gloomy dark light which flew at the light and broke it in half, sending it into different directions.

Orion slowed down and held out his left hand, stopping the lights before it destroyed nearby worlds.

The larger-than-a-planet Demon King scoffed.

"Is the best you can do, God of War?" he mocked him. "I heard tales of a God who has been every warrior ever, fought every battle ever, but you… You disappoint me."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. I want you to leave this realm without any bloodshed. I shall personally see it to it that your "belongings" return to you."

"Hrm," the Demon King breathed out loudly through his large nose like a beast. "No."

Asura swung his right fist forward, sending shockwaves through the galaxy and destabilising thousands of worlds in an instant.

Orion saw the punch coming, so he clicked his tongue.

"Why can't we solve everything by talking it out?"

He scoffed because the last time he said this to someone was Arael.

Arael loved fighting, he loved nothing more than it, but Orion was not very fond of battles. However, Arael would always force him to a battle to test out his new abilities and powers. Or send him to a battlefield as a joke.

"One day…"

One day, he will be back.

One day, the God of Power will stand before them and smile widely again.

One day, the angel who changed heavens forever, will return.

Until then, the soul and heart of this army is missing.

"But not today, it seems," Orion sucked in a breath with wrinkled brows of annoyance and anger.

Like always, he hoped Arael will break through the barriers of dimension and solve this problem of theirs, but no matter how much he hoped for such moment, he knew better he might not be back.

So, he took it upon himself to fight this enemy and save the nearby worlds.

A fraction of a second had passed since Asura destabilised the core of those planets. Which means if God of War does not fix them in the next minute, those worlds will be lost.

In this deathless world, the people will be suffocating in the dead space.

"Hoo…" he breathed out through his nose and mouth in an orderly fashion as he gripped the Claymore-like sword, Volda, with both of his hands.

"What seems to be--"

Before Asura could say anything else, Orion flew right at him, cutting off her limbs and then his head.

However, he could not relax yet.

There is no death anymore.

"He he he."

The remains of the Demon King came back together and reformed his body.

With an evil laughter, he unleashed a torrent of black energies from his entire body. The black energy flew in every direction, causing the powers of the God of War to glitch.

"Glitch?!"

For a split second, he was not a warrior on every battlefield.

For a split second, he was not every war ever.

For a split second, the powers of the God of War stopped working.

"Indeed, it seems you have forgotten what I am."

Asura clenched his fist, creating a large black done in his hand.

"I am the opposite of Lucifer, he is all of you, but I am different. I am everything he isn't, but that is not all. I can do the basics of what he is capable. I am not a mere demon, I am…"

The Demon King swung the black dome at Orion.

"I stand on the equal grounds with the Supreme Beings in the Celestial Hierarchy."

Orion tried to move away but he was too slow.

The black dome covered Orion and caused his power to malfunction again.

"I am not a Supreme Being, but like Lucifer and Michael, I am close to them. I was given sufficient control over the cosmos, and that includes you too, God of War."

His power was slipping away from his fingers.

It was leaving him empty.

"Fight hard and harder, God of War, but know this, simply because the blasted Lucifer bested me, doesn't mean I am weak."

The Demon King moved his large head forward, looming over the black dome.

"Now then, God of War, I shall sail forward and reclaim what is mine… without distractions, that is."

The Demon King was proud of his creation.

He was one of the most powerful beings in creation, chosen by a cosmic Grandmaster to be his pawn. He did not care what he was, but he was happy to have this power.

What is a demon king if he has no confidence?

Throughout the history of the world and myths, demons have always been confident in their abilities. That is true in the real world too.

Their confidence brings them more power, even in the face of calamity.

So, he was sure Orion was taken out of the equation.

Afterall, he did bring down the Supreme God of everything to his knees.

"You are unlucky, Demon King."

"Curios, what makes you say that?"

"The Gods and angels have gone to find the Angel Killer."

"Ohh," the Demon King let out in a loud cheerful voice. "She is the one who freed me from my shackles not too long ago."

"Unimportant," Orion muttered under his breath before continuing. "Which means…"

As a thin smile spread across his face, Orion's eyes flared for an instant like a star.

"I can go all out."

The black dome exploded into pieces and Orion flew out of it at an unimaginable speed.

"I am every warrior there ever is, I am every war ever waged, and Volda is every blade and weapon held by the warriors. We are war and…"

The Demon King could not comprehend the speed at which the sword was slashed.

All he could see were faint lights in distance behind him.

"Throughout the universe, weapons are charging and so does warriors as they move towards a single enemy; the zombies."

"Hrk?!"

The lights were far behind him, but just now, after so long, he felt the impact of the blow.

Looking down at his body, it was cut into a million pieces.

"This is the largest war in history of our creation, beyond the comprehension of mortals or small-minded people like you."

“It can’t...” through the pain and death, the Demon King raged like a roaring beast, “BE!”

He took control of his molecules and rebuilt his body without waiting for natural regeneration.

“You are not to disrespect me in such a manner, God of War, you are puny. In comparison, I have brought down the Supreme God of EVERYTHING to his knees. He needed help to be saved. You think yourself above me?!”

The Demon King swung his fist, creating a dark voice that ate everything.

The shockwave from his punch caused the bones inside the God of War to clutter in pain, but he did not care.

He flew through the slash of void and attacked with a barrage of energy blades.

“Boring.”

The Demon King created a dark black dome of goo and blocked his attacks.

“You are boring, God of War.”

The space around the God of War expanded for a split second, before it compressed, causing him to gasp for breath. He turned the space into a prison for the God of War.

“Hm,” Orion was not defeated. He was still confident. With sheer willpower, he fought through the demon's control and created breathable space for himself. “Our multiverse consists of Eight-Dimensional Plane of Existence and each Plane consists of at least ten thousand phases, in other words, higher dimensions.”

“!!”

“Your control over space is good, but you must understand, I stand in the hierarchy above you in the cosmos, fifty thousand phases above you, to be exact.”

The space expanded like a balloon and the God of War freed himself.

“From the Planes we originate from, it is not meaningless. No, it gives us a better understanding of our multiverse and it’s cosmic structure, as well as gives us more control over it.”

“I know...”

But his words received the opposite reaction from Asura.

It was not a look of defeat or hopelessness, but confidence.

“War is magnificent, but why don’t you think for a flickering moment?”

Orion did not care but created a million swords that flew right at the Demon King.

“I have the souls of almost every dead person ever, I have the power of demons, I can draw upon the power of the universe, I am not weak. So, what if I am from a lower realm? You might have more control over the universe, but that is also a fatal weakness. A weakness, which can win me this war.”

“Hm?”

Orion, the warrior God who could understand the fatal weakness of anyone and anything wondered for a moment, what was he talking about?

But he did not let the strategy of the Demon King get to his mind, so he focused on his task at hand.

He had to stop the Demon Lord from damaging these worlds, so he saw his fatal weakness. The area around his heart is very weak, so he can penetrate it easily and destroy his core, it will stop him for a short while.

However, that was not the best option he could go for since the victory would be noticeably short lived.

So, he looked for another weakness.

What do you consider a weakness? Orion asked himself and Volda.

Too many things can be considered a weakness. For example, the Demon King might not be able to create a multiverse, but is that a weakness? Of course, not.

He cannot manipulate the souls of someone like Lucifer, but is that a weakness? Of course, not.

Orion looked deeper and deeper into the being that stood tall before him.

He searched for something that will bring him victory.

He found many, but at the same time, he found it redundant. Every road led to the death of the Demon King, but the problem is that there is no death.

If I split his soul in half, that would create a larger problem in the future, so why not incapacitate him?

But the question remained, how?

How do I incapacitate someone as powerful as this?

He did not have to think for too long, the answer came to him instantly.

Immortals and people with regenerative powers have one weakness. For you see, the only way to keep them down is to put them through a state where they would constantly get hurt, so their body cannot heal in time.

Alright!

He created thousands of domes of light and it came crashing down on the Demon King.

His vision had faltered, he could not see very well with the white light glowing around him.

Now then, this should do the--

Before he could attack him, the Demon King spread his arms widely with great force and speed, causing the lights to break like pieces of glass.

“Hhm,” Orion let out a dejected voice.

He thought he could defeat this demon easily and send him to the hell he belongs. This universe could not handle another villain at the moment. However, Orion’s calculations were wrong. He should have overestimated the Demon King.

In the hierarchy of the cosmos, demons ranked lower than angels and Gods, so this was the first time they came across a being from hell who could match them in power.

“You will not stand before I, Asura, and my belongings--” Asura, now freed himself, without any hesitation threw his fist forward, trying to crush the God of War. However, he felt a sudden cold chill in his spine and stopped moving.

In a state of surprise and confusion, the Demon King turned his gaze away from the God of War and looked in the opposite direction.

“That energy, so familiar yet so… different.”

As if reminiscing about the past he did not know, the Demon King felt a complicated emotion within him.

He devoured every other demon under his rule to grow in power so he could defeat Nazar, but to his disappointment, he failed. So, he knows what those demons went through and what they felt all those years ago.

While he was trying to find the source of energy, perhaps to try and take revenge for what he did back then, Orion, while thinking himself as a coward, shot forward. He swung his sword in many directions, creating chains which clutched onto the Demon King’s arms and restrained him.

Orion then tightened both his hands on the grip of the sword and held it above his head.

“Down you go, DEMON KING!”

He swung down the claymore, creating a colossal slash of light, cutting through the very space itself.

Before Asura could react, the slash of light had turned into flaming chains that restricted his movement. Asura found himself in unbreakable chains. Again.

Therefore, he let out a heavy sigh and said in an exceptionally muffled voice, “Not again...”

Orion held the sword in his left hand.

Narrowing his eyes, the space around Asura twisted. Fire ignited around Asura and it swallowed him.

The space returned to normal and Asura was no longer in this plane, but back in Hell, chained once again.

“That was...” Orion was disappointed in his cowardice, but pride would have caused the lives of billions to be lost.

Leaving aside his worries, he tended to the worlds around him.

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Tokyo, Japan, Earth:

Just like every other corner of the universe, the zombies could be found in every inch of this overcrowded city.

The zombies were moving slowly, but it caused the people great hindrance.

Throughout the city, the zombies were slowly descending into chaos, they were regaining just a little of their mind, so they were trying to attack the people, however, due to their slow speed, people avoided them with ease.

But it caused them great fear and they prayed to every God they could so this problem would go away.

However, amid this chaos, in a small apartment, Haru Watanabe was sleeping soundly in the middle of the day. The blinds were down, so the room was very dark, so she did not even know the night was gone and it was day now.

Unlike the rest, she was sleeping peacefully, living without fear.

Well, to be precise, it was not very peaceful since she has mild food poisoning.

Like always, she got her food from the convenience store, but yesterday, it turned out badly for her.

She decided to sleep through it instead of going to the doctor and here she is, sleeping through a zombie apocalypse without knowing.

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Sichuan, China:

Zhi Yan, the new superhuman with teleporting abilities moved into the Pengshan Air Base a few days ago. She will be starting her new job here soon, so she is still in the middle of settling in.

Yesterday, she left for her childhood home which was in the same region. She wanted to enjoy the world she saw as a child.

However, a few minutes ago, when she was in her old, abandoned childhood home, the zombies swarmed out of nowhere.

Since her home was in the mountains, with only one house in the vicinity, it means the zombies who came back from the dead are those close to her.

With wide eyes, she took a step back.

Her body shuddered with every growl she heard.

The voices were beastly, but she could sense something familiar deep down in it.

“” in a whimpering voice, she took a few more steps back. She wanted to move away from this place but behind stood a large wall that prevented her from moving.

In fear, she forgot she had powers now. Powers that can allow her to instantly travel to anywhere on Earth.

“” she forced out in her whimpering voice.

Years ago, when she first became a criminal at a youthful age, her family tried to convince her otherwise, but she killed them all. However, ever since that moment, she has regretted that.

She was at a rebellious phase of her life and thought she did not need them, but she was wrong.

Over the years, she had slowly forgotten about them, but perhaps she had thought wrong.

She had not forgotten, just dumped it deep within her heart.

But now, the zombies growled at her and she shrunk in fear.

“”

She threw her hands forward, but it did not work. The zombies just pushed forward.

“”

With her eyes wide in horror and fear, she looked around at each of the zombies. She could see some remains from years ago.

“”

However, the zombies didn’t listen.

As they moved forward, she raised her hands and cowered in fear.

Her knees gave out and she fell onto her butt.

She shut her eyes and prayed to a God, any God, to save her.

But even if a God heard her, will they answer?

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Moscow, Russia:

In an underground facility known as 「SPHERE」, a bloodied young man slowly moved his hands, which were tied by cold chains. He was being hanged by his hands for experimentations.

It has been days or perhaps weeks, he does not know anymore, but one thing's for sure, he knows he will never return to normal life again. He could die any moment.

Illya Kolisnyk, a teenager who was given superpowers by Nazar, was optimistic for his future. He wanted to become this world's Superman.

However, looking at himself now, he scoffed at his own pathetic dream.

"" a man who entered this cold room spoke. ""

The man, who was as thin as a stick, crackled with laughter.

His small eyes, covered with dark circles, stabbed into the very being of Illya.

""

"" Illya spoke in a barely audible and painful voice. ""

""

Illya scoffed.

""

"" the old man smiled thinly. ""

Illya narrowed his eyes in pain, he wondered what this crazy old man was talking about.

The senile old man, smiled thinly, ""

While the man was talking, a few zombies who broke through the concrete, growled. The old man looked back abruptly, but seeing the zombies, his heart stopped and so he became one of them.

""

Illya widened his eyes in surprise as he stared at the zombies.

He could not believe the scene out of a post-apocalyptic game.

At first, he felt a little excited, he had powers now so he could be free, but then he was reminded of his grim reality, so he let his shoulders sink low and let out a defeated sigh.

""

He chuckled sadly as the zombies walked closer to him.

""

The zombies marched forward towards this young man and he could not fight them even if he tried.

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London, UK:

“Somehow I already know who is responsible for this mess...” Emily let out an exasperated sigh as she lumped on top of her bed.

Around her house, she created a barrier that kept her and her family safe. She did not have to worry about them getting hurt.

“Being friends with a weirdo like him is nothing but pain,” she let out another loud and tired sigh.

Around her house, she had created an illusion so those she cared a lot about won’t get scared either.

Being one of the most powerful humans ever comes with its own set of advantages.

“And why do I feel so many energies on earth…? This feels like angels.”

Out of the million worlds, so why did the angels come here?

And why was time frozen at a certain place on Earth?

She had too many questions, which could all be answered if she went outside and checked for herself, but she was too lazy.

So, she let out a soft groan as she threw away her questions.

“I will ask some other day.”

She picked out a phone from her jeans’ pocket and started watching videos on the internet.

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Nazareth, Israel:

When Azazel suffered at the hands of the Angel Killer, not one angel tried to stop that, but after his death, they finally opened their eyes and took the threat known as the Angel Killer seriously.

The angel who was shunned away by them for all his life, they finally found respect for him. So, they wanted to avenge him.

Or perhaps they wanted to use that as an excuse to assassinate the only weapon that can end their life with ease.

But either way, they descended from the heavens and came to Earth where the Angel Killer was.

They came here to kill her.

They came here to end her once and for all.

But...

On top of thousands of unconscious bodies which belonged to the angels and the Gods, Nazar sat and looked at the orange sunset.

Nazar exhaled loudly with a disappointed look on his face.

He stood in front of thousands of angels and Gods, they wanted to kill the one he cared a lot about, so he clenched his fist and shot himself forward like a rocket.

An instant later, they were all defeated and dropped dead on this grey hill on top of one another.

The angels had come to kill her, but they did not expect to face this monster.

“Boring,” he said slowly in a defeated manner.