"Ahahaha... I have it admit. You truly came up with some good shit. Too bad. That's not enough. Now I need to beat you up and get the truth from inside your head." 'Ryu' sighed deeply. He had a feeling she won't listen. Her claws dug in the ground. "Get ready. If you hold back, you WILL die." 

The boy got up. His body began growing in size taking on his demon form. His hair grew, reaching his feet. His nails increased grew, sharper than ever. Spikes emerged from his back, along his spine. Horns surfaced from his head. "You were always a pain in the ass." As he spoke his muscles bulged making his height grow by a full three feet. 

"Fuck all this. Let's beat you up first. Maybe then my words will make sense to you. Demonic Body... Stage 3!!" Seal after seal, his hands came together at blinding speed. The black dragon kept silently gazing at the boy. She was in no hurry to attack. Every dragon was immensely proud. She would patiently wait until his transformation was complete.

"Here I come!!" Its strong chest expanded. *Blast* With a jerk of its large head it attacked with dragon breath. Black flames scorched the earth, melting the top away. "So be it!" 'Ryu' stood mid-air staring at the blaze directed at himself. Such was the scale of the attack that a town like Korua would have been utterly devastated with just this single breath. 

The demon put up his arm, his palm opening to block the sea of flames coming at him. "Majestic Flame Eruption!" Blue flames emerged from his hands, not losing to the dragon's breath in intensity. The black and blue flames collided with the resulting explosion sending blazing meteors crashing all around. 

Both fires continued to attack each other. Neither party was willing to give up. The blue flames burnt ever brighter while the black one wanted to consume all its brilliance. The land under each other the opponent had melted away but they paid no heed to it. This situation remained undecided for five more minutes when the annoyed black dragon chose to step up the ante.

Next to the demon, the flames were ripped apart and a more than 10-meter wide claw swiped at him. There was no time to escape this attack. Well, it didn't mean that he planned to avoid it anyway. He had no plans to be the punching bag anymore. *Crackle* *Crackle* Sparks generated all around him as he slapped the claw away with little effort. 

The dragon did not get the time to register the fall when the demon teleported himself right against her face. *BOOOM* Such was the force of impact that it created a vacuum in space around the dragon's head. There was a massive blast that sent the reptile rolling into the distance. Surrounded by the lightning, the demon looked down at his smashed hands, smiling bitterly. "Not enough. Demonic body. Stage 4!!"

A mile away from him the black dragon's claw sunk in the ground, forcing itself to come to stop. The residue lightning still flashed over her monumental body. "Hahaha.. good... it's been long since someone dared to attack my face." 

"Face? Huh... I am planning to spank your butt, little lizard." *Boom* Claws crashed against the fists sending both of them flying backward from the impact. She noticed that the demon's body had changed. His horns had grown longer. His body grew darker. The most apparent of all was the two leathery wings that had emerged from his back. 

"Hehe.. let's see how long can you keep going." The reptile jumped into action. Slamming its body into the rapidly approaching humanoid figure. The demon had his fists blazing in the blue fire as he punched the dragon again and again. For every attack of the dragon, the demon landed multiple times on her. 

Too bad, dragon was too sturdy. Ten minutes passed like this but none was willing to back off. So much punishment and there was not even a scratch on her scales. On the contrary, every decent attack from her would at the very least break his bones. Had it not been for his godly healing ability, he would have been destroyed multiple times over. 

**A day back**

In the forest en route to the town of Korua, there was some troop movement. Linda had been personally leading the search to find her husband and son. A few miles away from her location, one of their men claimed to have discovered two mutilated bodies. Their faces can't be identified but just that fact that one of the dead had been a young one, sent chills down her spine. 

Now she was headed in the same direction, guided by that particular soldier. "Don't be sad, my lady. They might be some random passerby who was too bold to cross the forest on their own. We always get reports of people disappearing in these woods, most of them devoured by wild beasts."

"Master is not someone who can be defeated by a random profound beast." Linda nodded at the words of her maid, who rode her horse right beside her. Her thoughts were the same. Her husband is not a weakling. Most probably his must be laying drunk in some whore's arms. 

Within a few hours, they had closed in on the location. As soon as they reached the spot, her throat ran dry. Because she can readily identify those temporary tents that still stood in the wilderness with little to no damage to them. The next she noticed was the mutilated corpse of a massive beast. Its body had been destroyed beyond recognition but Gratos has been a trusted partner of her husband for decades. How can she not identify it?

Even the maid didn't say anything and kept quiet. She too had come to the same conclusion as her lady. Linda slowly got off her mount and walked over to the dead carcass laying out in the open. Her eyes teared up. She identified both of them. Walking over to them she dropped on her knees, losing all the strength in her body. 

"How can it be? AGGGGGHHHH!!!!" Dispair. That was the only emotion she had in her heart right now. In such a small time she lost the two most important persons in her life. The killer didn't even spare her son. The boy was not even come of age. How ruthless!

She thought killer because this was not the work of wild beasts. Both the males had not a piece of clothing on their bodies. Their heads had been smashed open, like with a heavy object. There was nothing she can do now. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks but she stood there unmoving for an entire hour. All this while the soldiers under her command surveyed the spot for any evidence, not disturbing the mourning lady. 

"Collect the bodies." Linda wiped her face clean as her gaze hardened. She got up and turned to the men around her. "Report." Her voice was grumpy like she can barely speak. The leader of this platoon came forward and dropped on his one knee. "It's the beastmen, my lady. Every evidence point to them. So much so that they didn't even bother to hide their marks. The attack must have taken place at least a month back." 

"It's a common scene during their attack. This level of brutality can only be performed by their race, especially the Lizardmen." Tangible hate spilled over from the man's gaze. It was clear that he was not a stranger to these scenes. "If you allow us, madam. We would like to survey the bodies once." 

Linda took a lasting glance at the two bodies before nodding. "Do it." The man signaled one of his subordinates, who made his way to the corpses. He performed some search and presented his report. "Their hearts and liver are missing." Linda clenched her fists. "Bastards.." 

"It's a grave matter, my lady. If such a group of beastmen is running amock in our territory then it's a matter of utmost importance. I suggest we make haste and return to the capital. Our security needs to be beefed up so that we can bring justice to master Jacob." 

Justice? It's been more than a month since they had been dead. It's only because cultivators' bodies take a long time to rot away and the wild animals avoid them, did they discover the bodies. How in the world will they ever find out who did this? And why would they be around waiting for justice to be delivered? In all possibilities, they might have already returned to their tribes. "Fuckers..!!" The more she thought about the matter, the more her frustration grew. 

"Let's go!" There was no use fretting over her loss. She needs to find out the culprits. They won't have an easy death if she ever found out who did this to her. Doesn't matter what she had to sacrifice, she will have her retribution. 

**Current time**

*Rumble* *Rumble* *BOOOM* *BOOM* The entire landscape in the Abyss realm had been devastated at biblical scale. Two massive bodies stood opposite to each other, both breathing heavily with pauses. The first one was the black dragon, slowly creeping its way around the solid mass at the center. 

The other one was a giant humanoid structure created entirely of wood and vegetation. It was easily more than 60 meters tall with proportionally large limbs. Its whole body was covered in a blue fire that blazed with a sustained brilliance. The giant held a large sword in its hand, pointing straight at the beast circling it. 

"Don't force my hand, Evren. I don't want to injure you." A voice echoed coming from inside the wooden giant. Standing right between its eyebrows was the demon's body. He had been the one speaking.

"Force your hands? What happened brat, don't want to play any longer? Ahahaha...I can keep going like this for years." The dragon was not wrong. It had taken no damage at all. Apart from a few marks over its shoulder scales and a quickened breath, there was nothing different about it. 

That's how fundamentally different dragons were from other species. They did not rely on external mana to power their bodies, rather they can create mana as and when needed, inside their bodies. This otherworldly ability along with their unmatched strength, endurance, and durability, made sure that they had a place among the best. There were only a handful of demons who could ever best a dragon one on one, each one of them coming from the royal family. 

Compared to the black beast, the demon knew he can't endure this assault much longer. It's not every day that someone of his level suffers from mana deficiency. "Why are women so hard to deal with, especially the older ones? All of you have your heads so high up your asses." 

"Hahaha.. why does it feel like you got some unresolved grievances with my kind? Anyhow, I can tell you are at your limit boy. Go ahead, bring forth the best attack you can. I won't attack midway." "Tcchh..!" This might be the first time someone pitied him. "Damn.. this weak body..!" 

"Heavenly Demon Arts! O Lord, Curse this world!!" The black dragon's golden pupils shrank. "Purgatory!!" The bright brilliance of the blue fire dimmed down. The fire began turning darker with every passing second. The flames blazed, emerging to twice its original height. The giant positioned his sword above his head and tracked the movement of the beast. 

Surprisingly, the dragon took the initiative to launch itself towards the giant. There was no evading this attack, hence it was better to be active and bring the fight to it. Even the demon's body inside had begun burning. He raised his hands and pointed at the leaping dragon. "Ignition!" 

The giant's sword fell at a blinding speed. A blast so powerful that it can be heard all over, shook the Abyss realm. Along with it came a massive ball of fire that kept on expanding until it was more than 10 miles in diameter. The blast had increased the temperature of the whole realm by multiple times over, sending the profound beasts hundreds of miles away roiling in their borrows and charring others who were unfortunate enough to find themselves in the flaming radius. 

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