Previously on The Hidden Extra: The Lazy Prince Refuses to Ascend The Throne...
Demon Emperor Zerathos unleashed the demonic sword Hellscar against Nolan. After Nolan survived Zerathos's initial barrage of attacks and a powerful flame-based technique, Zerathos resorted to close combat. Nolan met him head-on, eventually overpowering the Demon Emperor and incapacitating him.
"Th-those eyes…" Demon Emperor Zerathos stammered, his voice choked with disbelief. He had never encountered such eyes before, yet a glance sent an unbearable dread coursing through him, like an immense hand crushing his very being. A sliver of a smirk played on Nolan’s lips before he violently slammed the Demon Emperor into the earth. BOOM!
"Pfft!" Blood erupted from Zerathos’s mouth, but he refused to yield. Demonic power surged, compelling Nolan to take an instinctive step back. Seizing this fleeting chance, Zerathos slapped his hand on the ground, his form dissolving into a pool of black liquid. He shot backward, reconstituting himself dozens of meters away, panting heavily as he wiped the blood from his lip.
"Damn it…" he hissed. This was an unprecedented humiliation, yet he couldn't fault himself; he had unleashed everything he possessed. Nolan was simply too formidable, exceeding all his expectations. Even the Hellscar Demonic Sword had failed to inflict a single scratch.
"There’s no other way…" he gritted out through clenched teeth. He plunged his sword into the ground, bit his thumb, and bellowed, "Forbidden Technique: Sacrifice to the Demon God!"
He smeared the blood from the wound across his left palm, forming an intricate, arcane hand seal. The very atmosphere grew heavy and suffocating. Then, demonic power exploded from his body, erupting skyward. BOOM!
Myriad lightning bolts seared the heavens as a colossal vortex of churning clouds expanded, stretching for hundreds of kilometers. "ARGHHH!" Demon Emperor Zerathos screamed, his demonic power surging, spiraling wildly out of his control.
Observing this spectacle, Nolan felt no apprehension; instead, a thrill ignited in his eyes. He knew Zerathos had not yet revealed his true capabilities. This was precisely why Nolan had goaded and overpowered him. Now that the demon was finally resorting to his ultimate power, Nolan was determined not to falter.
Nolan slowly unfurled his palm, revealing a sinister demonic mask nestled within. He then pressed it against his face, and his entire aura underwent a drastic transformation. What had seemed ordinary moments before now felt chillingly terrifying. BOOM!
Zerathos’s demonic power exploded outward, enveloping him completely. In an instant, his form changed: two immense wings unfurled from his back, and a pair of horns sprouted from his forehead. His pupils turned an abyssal black, while crimson tendrils pulsed around his neck like living veins. A wicked grin spread across his face as he fixed his gaze on Nolan.
"No one in this world has ever witnessed my true power. You should consider yourself honored, human!" He crouched, balled his fist, and unleashed a devastating punch forward. A colossal black fist materialized in the air, hurtling towards Nolan with terrifying velocity. The sheer impact ripped through the atmosphere, triggering a chain reaction of explosions, akin to bombs detonating in rapid succession.
Without flinching, Nolan met the colossal fist with one of his own. BOOM!
A concussive blast erupted, sending Nolan hurtling back dozens of meters before he could regain his footing. "How is this possible…?" Nolan exclaimed, his voice laced with disbelief. The force of his own punch had been enough to send a catastrophe-level monster flying. Yet, he had just been outmatched by one of Zerathos’s casual attacks—it was utterly preposterous.
However, he had no time to ponder this anomaly. Zerathos had already materialized above him, the Hellscar Demonic Sword raised high. "Die!" As the blade descended, a razor-sharp slash tore through the air towards him. Nolan snapped his fingers, momentarily freezing the space around him. His form instantly merged with the very fabric of reality, vanishing from sight. BOOM!
The devastating slash cleaved the ground in two, leaving a chasm that extended for a hundred kilometers. "Keep running like a frightened ant!" Zerathos bellowed in fury. He raised his left hand, shouting, "Demonic Starfall!"
Buzz!
Thousands of arcane sigils materialized across the sky, unleashing a torrent of black meteors that rained down upon Nolan. He dared not let his guard slip. Clenching his fist, a massive earthen hand erupted from the ground beneath him, intercepting the cataclysmic assault and providing him with perfect cover.
"You let your guard down!" Demon Emperor Zerathos grinned maliciously, suddenly appearing directly behind Nolan. Nolan’s eyes widened in shock. He prepared to teleport away, but ensnaring his legs were mysterious black roots he hadn't perceived. "Danger!"
"Hahaha! Got you!" Demon Emperor Zerathos swung his sword horizontally towards Nolan’s waist. BOOM!
A concealed barrier around Nolan’s body instantly activated, nullifying the lethal strike.
Merely the force of the impact sent Nolan hurtling backward like a projectile launched from a warship.
Demon Emperor Zerathos offered no moment for him to recover. Crimson flames ignited within his eyes as he bellowed, "Soulbreaker Ray!"
SZZZT!
Two crimson beams erupted from his eyes, slicing through the air directly at Nolan.
Witnessing this, Nolan swiftly contorted his body, narrowly evading the onslaught. Yet, Zerathos pursued relentlessly, the beams unwavering in their trajectory.
In the end, one of the rays brushed past Nolan's shoulder, its touch beginning to scorch and melt the flesh.
Nolan immediately thrust out his hand, conjuring a barrier of spatial energy before him.
As he retreated, his gaze flickered toward his shoulder, which was steadily being consumed.
"Hahaha! Surrender! You stand no chance against my might!"
Demon Emperor Zerathos guffawed, raising his hand once more.
"Crimson Eclipse!"
A peculiar black moon materialized in the heavens. It advanced deliberately, engulfing the verdant sun and casting a strange, world-enveloping darkness.
As the eclipse solidified, Nolan sensed an immediate and unsettling alteration within his very being.
His power began to wane progressively, as if the surrounding atmosphere itself were siphoning it away.
"My power… it's diminishing!?"
"Hahaha! Astonished?" Zerathos's voice, laced with triumph, reverberated across the battlefield. "Concede defeat. Victory is utterly beyond your grasp. Within a two-hundred-kilometer radius, all falls under my dominion. The Crimson Eclipse has sapped fifty percent of your strength. There is no path to victory for you!"
Nolan slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed upon Zerathos, a grimace etched on his face.
"How can you possess such immense strength?" he rasped.
"Hahaha! It is because I was ordained to rule. It is that straightforward. Now then…"
Zerathos halted directly before him, elevating the sword in his grasp and pointing its tip toward Nolan's chest.
"Your prowess is undeniable, and I acknowledge it—particularly your mastery over spatial forces. But therein lies the extent of it. You dared to incur my wrath, and only one reprisal awaits such insolence: death."
With those pronouncements, he drove his blade deep into Nolan's chest.
The light in Nolan's eyes instantly extinguished, and his form cascaded backward.
The formidable warrior, who had once stood defiant against Demon Emperor Zerathos, had finally been vanquished.
"A regrettable outcome…" Zerathos murmured, his tone low.
A maelstrom of fury churned within him, resentment towards Nolan for cornering him, even compelling the use of a forbidden technique.
Yet, simultaneously, a grudging respect bloomed. Nolan was the sole individual to ever push him to such extremes.
Just as Demon Emperor Zerathos turned to depart, the sky abruptly darkened further.
Then, a voice, calm yet undeniably powerful, resonated through the firmament.
