"What do you mean by she is the demon lord's daughter?" Darwin asked Hazel, his voice filled with worry, the legendary strength of the demon lord weighing heavily on his mind.
"You have really crossed the wrong person, Hazel," Ashton added, his face grim with concern.
"Oh, come on," Hazel scoffed, trying to downplay their fears. "How strong can he really be? We handled his daughter easily enough."
"Do you think the demon lord might kill us all?" Blossom asked Hazel, her voice trembling slightly.
"I promise, none of you will get hurt," Hazel reassured them, his gaze firm.
~In the Demon World~
"Father, I am sorry. Please forgive me," the demon lord's daughter pleaded, kneeling with her head bowed low in a vast, imposing chamber.
The Demon Lord sat upon a massive, ornate, yet menacing throne, his face still shrouded in shadow. "No matter," his voice boomed, filled with a chilling rage. "I suppose I will simply have to avenge my foolish daughter." A palpable bloodlust filled the room.
"Send fifty percent of our army in their direction," the Demon Lord commanded his general. "And from what I hear, they have a strong shadow user. Take the Shadow War Lord with you and kill them all."
"Yes, my lord," the general replied, bowing deeply.
~In the Human World~
"We need to not worry. We will be fine. If we want to retreat, we can always go into the shadows," Hazel said, his tone attempting to be comforting.
"Yeah, you're right," Mia agreed, though a hint of unease lingered in her voice.
A deafening roar echoed as a massive demon army approached, a terrifying horde of various monstrous forms charging towards Hazel and his group.
"We should be able to handle these little things, right?" Hazel said, though his eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the approaching swarm.
As the demons drew closer, the battle erupted. Attacks flew from both sides, the air filled with explosions and the cries of the monstrous invaders.
Suddenly, the region that Shadow had concealed within his shadow realm reappeared.
"What? Why did Shadow bring it out?" Hazel thought, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.
Immediately, Alexa melted into the shadows to investigate. She found a grotesque demon clutching the lifeless body of a student Hazel had once trained. Unexpectedly, a shadowy hand shot out and gripped Alexa's neck, squeezing with immense force.
Alexa reacted instantly, severing the shadowy hand. She tried to retreat to inform Hazel, but another shadowy hand snaked out and grabbed her leg, preventing her escape.
Despite her desperate struggle, Alexa was only able to tear a piece of Hazel's clothing before being dragged into the shadows.
Hazel, engrossed in fighting the main demon force, didn't notice Alexa's abduction.
Suddenly, a cold dread washed over Hazel. "Something is not right," he muttered, freezing mid-battle. With a furious roar, he tore through the ranks of demons, his scythe a whirlwind of death as he desperately searched for Alexa.
His frantic search proved fruitless. Without hesitation, Hazel sprinted towards his region at full speed, leaving a trail of decimated demons in his wake.
He arrived to a horrifying scene. Three of the students were dead, and Alexa was being brutally beaten and tormented.
"How dare you!" Hazel roared, his voice filled with unimaginable rage, his aura erupting violently around him.
The demon torturing Alexa recoiled in terror.
The demon grabbed Alexa by the neck, lifting her limp body. "Oh, you're really hurt because of her, aren't you? Don't worry, I'll end her pain soon by silencing her permanently."
With blinding speed, Hazel vanished before the demon's eyes. Before the demon could react, Alexa was snatched away. The demon stared in disbelief at Hazel holding Alexa, then looked at his own hand, or rather, the stump where his hand used to be.
The demon screamed in agony and fury. "Why isn't it regenerating?! What did you do to me?! Why can't I regenerate anymore?!"
"I will make sure you never hurt my people again," Hazel said, his gaze a monstrous side-eye directed at the demon. He gently placed Alexa and the surviving students down before turning back to the injured demon.
"General, I need your help!" the demon cried out. Instantly, a powerful demon general materialized beside the Shadow War Lord.
"You are truly pathetic," the general sneered at the Shadow War Lord. "I can't believe you were beaten this easily. How can you call yourself a war lord? You are a disgrace to the demon lord's army."
Without a moment's hesitation, Hazel hurled his scythe towards the demon general, but the general easily sidestepped the attack.
"You missed," the demon general taunted.
"You were never my target," Hazel replied, his voice chillingly calm.
The demon general's eyes widened in horror as he looked back and saw the Shadow War Lord lying in two severed pieces.
Immediately after killing the Shadow War Lord, Hazel received a series of notifications:
[You have leveled up]
[Player is now successfully at level 100]
[Player is ready to evolve]
A radiant light erupted around Hazel as he began to evolve.
The demon general, realizing the danger, lunged to attack before Hazel's transformation could complete. He threw a full-force punch, but Hazel, his transformation reaching its peak, effortlessly stopped the general's fist with a single finger.
Hazel's appearance had undergone another dramatic change. His hair turned a vibrant lemon yellow, and his eyes shifted to the same striking color, as did his clothes. He radiated an even more potent and monstrous aura.
"Shit," the demon general hissed, knowing he was facing an overwhelming power.
Instantly, Hazel delivered a devastating punch that shattered the demon general's jaw and sent him hurtling away with explosive force.
Hazel appeared instantly where the general had landed and delivered another brutal punch into the ground. The demon general died instantly, the force of the blow obliterating the ground around Hazel.
~In the Demon Realm~
--Boom--
A violent tremor shook the Demon Lord's chamber, impacting him directly. "How is that even possible?! I'm not even on the battlefield!" the Demon Lord roared in confusion and fury.
"Who dares show such disrespect to the Demon Lord?!" he bellowed, his voice echoing across the demon realm. "It seems I have lost two of my best. I think it's time to take matters into my own hands."