The enormous volcano with a crater that broke the clouds and appeared it could rip the firmament had endured several earthquakes as the battle between the Ice Styx Dragon and Abyssfire Demon Phoenix carried out.
Despite the power of Sophia and the demon, when the shock waves generated in its core finally ended, the volcano still stood strong.
But the calmness was just an illusion. After those few short moments of peace, the magmatic chamber with the thousand of tons of lava became the origin of an outburst of dark flames. The power carried in that explosion was so high that the entire volcano was reduced to ashes in an instant.
The flames gave the illusion they could reach the Crystal Wall. It generated a sonic boom so loud it could liquify the inner organs of a Rank 1 life form with ease. There was also a hurricane of toxic air that extended for hundreds of kilometers.
The core of the explosion reached equal temperatures to the ones you would find on the surface of a sun belonging to a Low World.
Two figures covered in flames were ejected from the explosion with such a potency that they landed more than five hundred kilometers away from the area where there used to be a volcano.
The first one to disperse the fire was Sophia. Her breathing was harsh and energy in a disarray. She continuously coughed mouthfuls of blood. The inner organs of the Neo-Demon were filled with injuries.
Most of her skin was charred, her eyes were destroyed due to the immense temperatures and her left leg was gone. The Styx cocoon was pulverized and only a thin layer remained covering the body of the Neo-Demon.
The condition of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix was countless times worse. The only thing that remained from his body was part of his chest and head. The heat he endured was so high that his remains appear to be petrified.
Sophia stared at the corpse of the demon and her eyes narrowed. She took a moment to take control of her body and then slowly flew to the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix.
The Neo-Demon was less than five meters away from the demon and was about to place him into her spatial ring when the eyes of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix glowed with dark light. From them, an invincible force was fired into Sophia's consciousness.
The attack had immense power and Sophia fainted for a moment. In that instant, a drop of dark red blood came out from the head of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix and landed on Sophia's glabella before melting inside her head.
It only took a moment for Sophia's eyes to regain their focus. She grabbed her head and an expression of immense pain could be seen on her face.
The light in the Neo-Demon's eyes was constantly changing. You could see a chaotic and evil presence appear on them for a moment along with a nasty smirk.
"Hahaha, this body is too amazing. Its energy pool contains a very pure Abyss Aura and has an unbelievable talent and tuning with the natural energy. Woman, you can be proud that your body will be taken over by the mighty Eliezer."
In the space where Sophia's soul resided, a foreign entity appeared. Unlike the Neo-Demon's soul that appeared to be an agglomeration of energy, the soul of the Eliezer had the form of an Abyssfire Demon Phoenix.
This is because the demon had previously awakened his True Soul. However, its power was severely weakened. You could notice it by the fact the soul was almost translucent.
What Eliezer had done was use the last bit of power he had to transport his bloodline and True Soul into Sophia's body.
The original body of a creature would always be the best vessel for his soul. That was because, from their creation, they were perfectly tuned for each other. This is the reason why Rank 4 life forms would usually create a clone of their original bodies to occupy, in case they are forced to escape with only their True Souls.
The stronger and older your soul is, the more severe would be the side effects of transferring it to another body. With the right knowledge, those problems could be reduced.
Eliezer had controlled several Peak Rank 3 demons from whom he could have taken over their bodies. However, those bodies were too weak and their aptitudes were too trashy for him to disregard the side effects.
The condition of his body, after the explosion, was too severe. There was nothing he could do other than invade Sophia's body. When he realized how amazing the body of a Neo-Demon was, he was ecstatic.
He wanted to assimilate Sophia's soul to heal some of the damage on his True Soul and then take full control of the body. What he did not know was that the moment the Neo-Demon's soul perished, the Chaotic-Core would destroy the Bloodline Heart and Elemental Chaos Heart and waste away the body.
That was one of the many counterintelligence measures Zatiel had designed for the Neo-Demon race. He would never allow information about his greatest creation to fall on anyone's hands.
Of course, the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix did not know any of that. There was a vicious smile on his face as he launched himself at Sophia's soul to devour it.
Before he could reach his target, a set of glowing letters clashed on him and threw him back.
There was wrath on Eliezer's face as he focused on his opponent. He could not read them but understood immediately what they were.
"Hmph, you think your True Name can stop me. Stupid women, I will..." Eliezer abruptly stopped speaking and panic filled his eyes.
The clash with the True Name did not hurt him at all, but the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix felt something on his chest. He was very familiar with the aura in it. Slowly, he looked down, and absolute terror filled his face when he saw the small dot of multicolored fire.
"Nirvanic Fire!"
The shock on Eliezer's mind allowed Sophia to get back control over her body. Instead of rage or desperation, what appeared on the face of the Neo-Demon when she realized that the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix had invaded her body was a satisfied smile.
"I... got you!" The moment she spoke those words, the multicolored flame that touched the True Soul of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix reacted violently and expanded without control.
That fire not only filled the space where the soul of Sophia and Eliezer were, it also appeared all over the body of the Neo-Demon.
The ability that the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix was too scared to use, that could have healed his body and soul and improved his talent, was named Nirvanic Rebirth. That ability used the power of the laws to incite Nirvanic Fire to burn the flesh and blood while tempering the soul.
Nirvanic Rebirth could be considered a test of the laws to those who possess a bloodline capable of inciting it. Success meant experiencing a rebirth that would increase their talent and the potential of their bloodline. Only death awaits those who fail it.
Sophia's plan had two paths. The first one was to defeat the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix and then take the purest bloodline from his corpse. This path would generate a normal fusion from the demon's bloodline with her Styx Dragon bloodline. The result would have been a very powerful bloodline, but still, it would have been just an Emperor bloodline.
The second path was an extremely dangerous one. She had used the Nirvanic Root and the knowledge in the Rank 4 recipe for the pill Nirvanic Fire to create a Pseudo-Nirvanic Flame.
The power in the Pseudo-Nirvanic Flame was too small to produce an effect anywhere close to the one you would see in Nirvanic Fire. But once it entered in contact with the True Soul of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, it triggered Nirvanic Rebirth in the demon and produced Nirvanic Fire.
The core of the plan was to trick the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix to invade her body with his bloodline. Most of the power of Nirvanic Fire targeted Eliezer's True Soul, but there was still a part that reached Sophia's soul.
This was also part of Sophia's plan. The Neo-Demon's soul glowed as she activated the ability of the Chaotic-Core to swallow the bloodline of the demon. She wanted to temper the fusion of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix bloodline and her Styx Dragon bloodline with the power of the laws in Nirvanic Rebirth.
Eliezer understood that he was lured into a trap and killing intent filled his mind. He was very clear that there was almost zero percent chance he would survive Nirvanic Rebirth.
"Damn woman, I may die today but I will take you with me!" Eliezer's True Soul still was powerful enough to severely harm Sophia's soul.
Sophia's body still had a smile on her face. On her chest, the Mirage Rune glowed, and in the next second, the Neo-Demon disappeared.
