"Get ready!" Severus yelled. He then gave a nod to the other mages who synchronized with his act.
The rune diagram around the black dome shone a bright light. Runic symbols started appearing around the dome.
Right in front where Jack and the others stood, a narrow slit appeared. It was as if someone used a knife to cut the dome's wall as if it were paper. The slit tried to repair itself, but the runic symbols gathered densely around it. Jack saw the symbols literally pulling the slit apart.
Then abruptly, it opened wide. A huge gap was there. There was nothing on the other side, just void.
"Go…!!!" Jack shouted his command and was the first to dash forward.
Seeing the king dove in without hesitation, the others didn't want to be left behind. In less than two seconds, all five disappeared into the gap.
"Close it!!" Severus shouted. The mages reversed their control. The runic symbols that forced the gap to widen now pushed it back. The dome itself seemed to be eager to repair itself. The gap closed faster than when it was opened.
Soon, everything was as it was. The black dome looked flawless as if there was never a gap. Everyone was silent. No one could know what was happening inside the dome.
Diana seriously hoped she didn't just send their newly crowned king to his doom.
*
"What the… How can the inside be so big?" Jack uttered.
They were inside the dome. Behind them was the black wall of the dome which had a tear a second ago. Seeing the space inside the dome, Jack estimated it could easily be ten times larger than what they saw from the outside.
"Spatial distortion," Peniel said.
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"A phenomenon when unnatural mana invades a natural space," Duke Alfredo explained. "This dome has locked the space inside here for two centuries. The corrupted mana from the portal caused the space to distort, making it larger than it should be."
"But I thought there will be demons inside? Why is it so empty?" Jonathan asked.
"It's not empty," Arlcard said.
"I mean except that creepy portal," Jonathan said.
At the center of this space was a crimson oval tear hanging in the air. It was easy to guess that that was the demonic portal. On the portal's sides were two shining pillars that hummed and caused the rune diagram around the place to glow. Those shining pillars should be the legendary artifacts, their target.
"It's not empty," Arlcard repeated.
"He is right. Everyone be ready. This place is crawling with them," Jack said.
"Crawling with wha–Holy mother of…!" Jonathan's words turned a pitch when demonic creatures started appearing around them.
There were probably hundreds, maybe even a thousand of the creatures. They had different sizes, but each one possessed similar features that let them know that they were of the same kind. Each of them had red rough skin, horns, and a lean tail with a pointy end. They all had claws and sharp teeth. Some of them had wings. Some of them carried flaming weapons.
"Shadow meld," Arlcard said.
"It was underworld demons' natural ability," Peniel explained. "If they stayed unmoving in a shadowy area for some time, they become invisible."
'Like the ability of my Cloak of Shadow,' Jack thought. He surveyed the demons. They had a variety of levels and grades. Their level ranged from around 30 to 70, while their grades ranged from elite to rare elite. Rare elites were in a significantly less number and the highest level of the rare elite was level 60.
Jack came forward. "Perhaps I have been too cautious. You, people, need not act. Leave everything to me!" Jack said and used Judgement of Past Kings.
Thenodeep appeared and cast his great flood spell. The other kings followed one by one.
Duke Alfredo, Jonathan, and Dimitri were gaping as they saw their past kings come out one after another, decimating the horde of demons in front of them.
Arlcard was the only one unimpressed. "This is taking too long!" He uttered and cast his Perpetual Sword of Death.
Black orbs appeared around the demons. Black swords then shot out from those orbs, slicing the demons.
Jack noticed a considerable increase in the number of black swords from Arlcard's spell compared to when he previously cast. The black swords were also larger, delivering higher damage.
Jack was depressed. He thought he could show off. His Judgement of Past Kings ended up being downplayed by Arlcard's intervention. But he did admit although his skill was powerful, it took a rather long time since the past kings came out one by one.
Between Jack's Judgement of Past Kings and Arlcard's Perpetual Sword of Death, the demon horde fell at a fast rate. Everyone couldn't believe the menacing horde of demons that materialized in front of them was being mowed down like grasses.
By the time the two's skills were over, only a few level 60 rare elites were still standing. Their lives were also critical.
Arlcard floated forward and cast another spell. Seven dark large swords appeared around him. The dark swords resembled his other spell, Dark Lord's Sword, only slightly smaller.
The number of dark swords equaled the number of surviving rare elites. The dark swords rushed forward and stabbed each of the rare elites, claiming their lives.
"I feel like bringing us here is completely unnecessary," Jonathan said as the rare elites fell.
Duke Alfredo simply nodded.
"Well, I didn't expect it will be this easy," Jack said. "Perhaps we have just become too strong, hahaha..."
As he laughed, he sensed the mana around changed. The bodies of the demons that had been killed were strangely not yet disintegrated. Suddenly, those massive numbers of demon corpses burst apart at the same time, turning into flaming blood.
The blood rose into the air in a massive quantity and then was abruptly sucked into the crimson portal far ahead.
When the last drop of the blood entered the portal, a clawed hand thrust through. At the same time, an oppressive feeling assailed Jack's mana sense.
"F*ck!! Perhaps I have talked too early…," Jack uttered.
The owner of the hand slowly pulled himself out of the portal. A head with a pair of long-bending horns appeared. Its skin was red like the other demons that had just been slaughtered. Its body was covered by black armor, and it had two large black wings on its back.
It seemed to have difficulty coming out of the portal. The portal throbbed madly. The two light pillars beside the portal shone following the throb.
After a struggle, the demon finally tore itself out. It stood more than two meters tall. Dark fires seemed to constantly burn his exposed red skin.
When Jack used his Inspect, he was speechless by the reading.
*
ArchDemon Warrior (Eternal monster, Demon), level 85
HP: 4,300,000
