The apparition of a gargantuan humanoid made of World Strength shocked everybody.
In all the fights Ezequiel showed to them, the incarnation never appeared. The smartest ones understood the Supreme Neo-Demon had purposely hidden this ability to fool them, making them think long-range was his weakness.
While Ezequiel's battle style may seem straightforward, the truth was that he wasn't inferior to a Devil Lord when it comes to deceptions and schemes.
The World Strength's Incarnation attacked immediately. His two palms moved with an impressive speed, and they sought to crush the three Neo-Demons in front of it.
Although its battle strength was highly inferior to Ezequiel's, the World Strength's Incarnation still reached the bottom of Rank 6.
Ezequiel was in their sight, and their spells were ready, but the incarnation forced the trio to reconsider their next move.
The Neo-Demons did not lose focus and immediately adapted to the new variable. Sophia and Totto turned around and fired their spells at the World Strength's Incarnation, unleashing a dragon breath of white liquid fire and an arc of a sinister force.
Although the incarnation's offensive power reached Rank 6, its defensive power was mediocre, so it blew apart under the duo's attacks.
Zitra, whose attacks were the fastest, did not change target, and she fired the giant spears of light at the Supreme Neo-Demon.
The spears were not only extremely fast, but they also carried an immense amount of energy.
Ezequiel had regained control over his body an instant after handling the explosive attack of the close-range team. He focused on the spears and immediately understood they were too fast to dodge them all.
His eyes glowed with a particular light, and instead of trying to avoid them, the Supreme Neo-Demon took a step forward, closing in at the spears of light.
That step made the void tremble, and the Neo-Demons felt how every aspect of Ezequiel's existence grew stronger when he took it.
The Supreme Neo-Demon found himself right in front of the first spear of light.
What happened next was something that shocked everybody to the core.
Ezequiel threw a front kick and shattered the light spear. Then, without losing his momentum, he took another Primordial Steep, enhancing once again his power before performing a 360º kick, breaking three more projectiles.
Zitra's eyes widened, and she could not understand how the Supreme Neo-Demon could display such a high level of martial skills.
The ability to move his body even faster than his brain could process, to act purely by instinct while still fulfilling a determined task, was an ability Ezequiel unlocked when his head was about to be crushed under the sneak attack of the Devil Marquess.
The Supreme Neo-Demon took another two Primordial Steps, pushing every part of his existence to a higher level, and then performed a machine gun kick, destroying the last five spears of light.
If that fantastic display of technique shocked the Neo-Demons, what happened next terrified them.
After destroying the light spears, Ezequiel raised his arms and opened his hands, showing reddish-golden spheres above them.
The spheres were the size of an apple, but every Neo-Demon felt the monstrous amount of Elemental Chaos, Origin Power, and Astral Chaos Qi in them.
Ezequiel only used his legs to handle the spears, not due to his vanity but because he had a more important task for his hands.
The Supreme Neo-Demon's murderous aura grew stronger as he focused on Dante, Sophia, Totto, and Zitra.
The last three had just unleashed their spells and did not have time to respond to him. Dante was charging a golden arrow on his bow, but Ezequiel had already calculated the time the projectiles needed to reach him and was sure he could unleash his attack first.
The reddish-golden spheres instantly transformed into lances with beautiful magic matrices. Ezequiel poured all his strength into his arms as he prepared to launch them.
The close-range team flashed to him with their maximum speed, attempting to stop him.
Heinz and the others were sure Dante, Zitra, Totto, and Sophia would not survive the power in those lances.
Unfortunately, they were too slow. The close-range team did not even come close to the Supreme Neo-Demon when this one was releasing the lances.
However, just as the weapons were about to leave Ezequiel's hands with power and speed capable of piercing a moon, Dante released the golden arrow.
The projectile did not flash toward Ezequiel. Instead, the instant Dante released the golden arrow, this one manifested itself in front of the Supreme Neo-Demon's chest, right above the Bloodline Heart.
It was the first time in the fight that Ezequiel's found himself at a disadvantage. His laws sealed the space around him, making teleportation anywhere near him virtually impossible.
However, the golden arrow still managed to appear in front of him. It struck him with a monstrous momentum and carried tremendous penetrative power.
What Dante fired was one of his three Bloodline Arrows. In it, he engraved two abilities. First, ignore any form of space disruption, and second, pierce anything in its path.
This attack pushed the Supreme Neo-Demon's body backward, hindering the power and accuracy of the lances.
Of course, even with that disturbance, Ezequiel still managed to throw the projectiles in the Neo-Demons' direction. Four for Dante and Sophia, since they had the highest survival abilities, and two for Zitra and Totto.
The four Neo-Demons did their best to dodge them and limit the damage, but they still suffered grave injuries. Dante ended up with a hole in his right lung, Sophia lost a wing and leg, Totto no longer had the lower left side of his head, and Zitra had a gaping wound right above her stomach.
Ezequiel's eyes narrowed when he saw how little damage his attack had produced.
'I guess no matter its lack of purity, a Second-Order Bloodline can always display extraordinary abilities.'
He lowered his sight and saw the golden arrow trying to pierce his chest and destroy his Bloodline Heart.
If he did not have the Astral Destroyer God Slayer Mantle, the Bloodline Arrow could have been dangerous, but now it had barely pierced less than five centimeters into his chest.
Thanks to his domain over the Astral Chaos Omega Law, the arrow was an annoyance instead of a threat.
Ezequiel crushed the arrow with his hands, and although he would have wanted to continue attacking Dante and the others, he had to respond to the close-range team's offensive.
The exchange between Heinz, Tyrus, Juntu, Rax, and Kylo against Ezequiel renewed as both sides clashed with their full power.
Dante ignored the damage to his lung and immediately began to assist the close-range team. Sophia, Totto, and Zitra would have wanted to help them as well, but the World Strength's Incarnation rematerialized behind them.
The incarnation's defenses were mediocre, but it could reform in a matter of seconds.
The use of Primordial Steeps produced a dangerous backlash on the Supreme Neo-Demon. Still, thanks to his powerful physique, it did not diminish his battle power and only made his inner organs tremble.
As the fight carried on, the damage on the Neo-Demons grew worse and worse.
No matter how many times Sophia, Totto, and Zitra destroyed the World Strength's Incarnation, this one would always reform and continue its attack.
Heinz and the rest of the close-range team started developing severe wounds due to the vibrational power carrying white lighting that slowly accumulated inside their bodies.
Although the Supreme Neo-Demon's Soul Origin diminished at an accelerated rate due to his powerful Law Avatar, they would be the first ones to collapse if things keep like this.
As they were trying to think of a way to turn the tables, a voice appeared on the battlefield.
"Stop fighting as you would with any powerful enemy, and change your battle style to counter the unique abilities of the one you have in front of you."
