Kael pulled two dark, menacing scythes out from the crimson circles.
Dusk's eyes widened in sheer horror. Step by step, he backed away, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "No way... How is our Supreme Lord's weapon in your hands?!"
Kael did not answer. A suffocating purple aura erupted from his body, filling the vast white space.
Panicking, Dusk tried to create a crimson domain of his own to force an escape route. Red mana flared around his hands, but before the domain could fully take shape, it shattered into pieces like fragile glass, raining down onto the floor.
Kael took a calm step forward. "You can't create anything inside my Infinity Room."
Dusk gritted his teeth, his expression twisting with desperate rage. "Fine! I thought I would just teach you a lesson, but now I have to kill you!"
"A lesson?" Kael smirked, but his eyes were completely devoid of warmth. Ice-cold killing intent dripped from his gaze.
Kael hurled both Death Scythes straight toward Dusk.
Dusk shot into the air, barely dodging the flying blades. But the twin scythes curved like boomerangs, flying right back into Kael's hands.
Kael spread his massive white and black wings. Activating his speed skill, he blurred into multiple ghostly replicas, chasing Dusk across the endless light.
Dusk attempted to teleport away. He reappeared far across the room, but no matter where he went, he could not breach the boundary.
In a flash of light, Kael materialized right in front of him. "What lesson were you planning to teach me?"
Dusk ground his teeth so hard they nearly cracked. He stared at Kael, his eyes filled with pure hatred.
Kael paused for a moment, closing his eyes as if reading the flow of battle.
That brief second was all Dusk needed.
Exploding with brutal speed, Dusk lunged forward. His fist smashed directly into Kael's face. A sharp scratch cut across Kael's cheek, and the sheer force of the blow sent him flying backward.
Before Kael could recover, Dusk closed the gap again.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Dusk unleashed a ruthless barrage of heavy punches directly into Kael's face. Bones cracked. Blood spattered across the brilliant white floor.
Within seconds, Kael lay battered and bleeding, his face soaked in dark crimson.
Dusk stood over him with a maniacal grin, raising his fist for a final, lethal strike. "A mere human... Did you really think you could defeat me? Now, die!"
"Stop!"
A blinding golden light flashed, and Sara materialized in front of Kael. She fell to her knees, holding her hands up as tears streamed down her bloody face.
"Please don't kill him! Please... I will do anything you want!" she begged, her voice breaking with desperate sobs.
Dusk sneered down at her. "I am not the type of demon who loses his head over lust."
"I don't mean that!" Sara cried out, trembling. "I will work for you! I will obey any order!"
Dusk smirked coldly. "Then kill him yourself."
Sara froze, completely stunned. "I am begging you to save his life... and you want me to kill him?"
Dusk clicked his tongue in disgust. Suddenly, a dark spatial gate tore open inside the Infinity Room.
Dusk turned toward the portal, eager to leave. But before he could take a single step, a cold, majestic voice echoed through the vast space.
"Dusk. Listen to me carefully."
A towering, dark figure stepped out from the shadows. It was Nyxara. She stood tall, staring down at Dusk with eyes that radiated absolute terror.
Sara cradled Kael's bloody head in her lap, watching in shock.
Before Dusk could move, Nyxara offered a dark, mocking smile. "If you want to talk... talk to me."
Dusk stumbled backward, his face turning pale as paper. "No way... Supreme Demon Lord Nyxara?! We treated you as our supreme ruler... How could you betray us?!"
Nyxara tilted her head slightly, her voice calm and terrifying. "Oh? So I betrayed you?" She took a slow breath and smirked. "Hell yeah. Think whatever you want."
Before Dusk could react, Nyxara moved like a shadow.
BOOM!
She drove a brutal, mana-infused fist straight into Dusk's stomach. Blood exploded from Dusk's mouth, his eyes bulging in pure agony.
Without breaking her calm composure, Nyxara followed up with a ruthless kick, blasting Dusk straight through the spatial gate and out of the domain!
With the enemy gone, the Infinity Room fractured and dissolved into tiny, sparkling dust particles, returning them to the ruined bedroom.
Sara tried frantically to pick Kael up, but her injuries were too severe. Sensing the danger, Drakes materialized in his physical form. He gently lifted Kael's unconscious, bloody body into his arms and rushed out of the house toward the luxury car.
Nyxara walked beside them for a moment before fading back into Kael's inner soul.
Sara sprinted to the driver's seat, started the engine, and slammed her foot on the gas. The car tore through the night roads toward the hospital.
She pulled up directly to the emergency entrance, laying on the horn continuously.
The loud blare echoed through the night. Recognizing the Redgrave family's vehicle, the emergency room doors burst open, and doctors and nurses rushed outside with a stretcher.
They carefully moved Kael's limp body onto the gurney and wheeled him straight into the trauma bay. Within seconds, the emergency red light flickered on, and the chief surgeon began operating.
Moments later, Renjiro burst through the hospital doors, running down the corridor. He spotted Sara sitting on the floor, her hands shaking.
"Sara! What happened to him?!" Renjiro demanded, his breath ragged.
Sara raised her head, her eyes red and overflowing with tears. "Kael... Kael was ambushed... He was beaten terribly..."
Renjiro sank onto a nearby bench, trying to process the news. But as he looked over at Drakes standing near the wall, his stomach dropped. Drakes looked utterly terrified, his skin pale and his hands trembling.
Renjiro stood up slowly. "Drakes... What's wrong? Why do you look so worried?"
Drakes looked up, his eyes filled with sheer despair. "Kael used too much soul energy in that state... Right now, he has no self-healing ability left. He can't regenerate."
Renjiro took a step backward, his mind going completely blank. "No way... Tell me you're lying."
"It's the truth," Drakes whispered faintly.
A surge of blind rage and helplessness exploded inside Renjiro. He swung his fist with all his strength directly into the glass corridor window beside him.
CRASH!
The heavy glass shattered into thousands of sharp pieces, raining down onto the floor.
"How could Kael lose a simple ability like that?!" Renjiro roared, his chest heaving.
The sudden crash echoed down the quiet hallway. Patients and medical staff stared in shock. Orderlies quickly rushed over with brooms to clean up the sharp glass, while a nurse ran over to bandage Renjiro's hand, which was dripping dark blood onto the floor.
Sara looked at him softly, her voice trembling. "Renjiro... why did you break the window?"
Renjiro forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to control the dark emotions tearing through him. "I was just... angry. I didn't think I'd actually break it."
Hours passed in excruciating silence. The red operating light finally clicked off.
The sliding doors opened, and the lead surgeon walked out into the corridor. He pulled down his blood-stained mask, his face pale and exhausted.
Renjiro and Sara rushed forward immediately. "Doctor! How is he?!"
The doctor looked at them with heavy eyes and took a quiet breath.
"Kael is—"