Chapter 292: Wait, this isn’t a part of the script
In the wake of their clash, the entire fort was obliterated. Thankfully, the spirit orbs managed to protect the spirits by shielding them with their power, and the others there were simply strong enough to withstand the destruction.
Ripples of their energy crackled in the dust that rose into the air, the ground was seared by their power, and everyone was eager to know who came out on top. The spirits had faith in their leader. Not only was she at full strength, actually stronger than that, thanks to Kai, but she also had the power of the spirit orbs.
The demons, on the other hand, knew how dominant their Demon Lord was. She was hand-picked by the demon king to do his bidding and wouldn’t fall to a lowly spirit. So if it was Carleen on the ground, beaten by Kurami, they would have to double-check to see if they were seeing things correctly.
Finally, after the dust cleared, everyone saw the outcome, the moment they were waiting for. On the ground, with her hand tightly gripping the neck of the other, Carleen held Kurami on the ground with a blade made of demonic energy in her other hand.
"It was a good fight, but all good things come to an end. Time to die, Queen of the Spirits!" The blade was right on her throat, nearly about to cut Kurami’s neck in half, when it was deflected by another blade.
Barry had arrived, and he was not about to let Kurami die and have the spirit world turn to shit. He was the hero, and he was going to slay every demon in his path to make the world, both worlds, a better place.
"I am Barry, Hero of the Goddess Aquaphina, and I’m here to-" Barry felt a sharp pain in his stomach, interrupting his speech. He looked down and saw red. Not his vision, but where his belly was, or used to be.
"W-What the he-" He collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Seriously, those annoying heroes, always announcing who they are instead of taking action. It’s like they’re leaving themselves open on purpose." Carleen didn’t even find taking out Barry amusing. She was simply disappointed.
"BARRY!"
"BARRY! GET UP!"
Patty and Iris rushed over to him, standing their ground to Carleen and healing Barry as well.
"Stay back, you monster!" There was no way Iris would be able to take on Carleen; even with her increased strength, she stood no chance.
Patty was having difficulty healing Barry. Not only was his wound life-threatening, but the demonic energy made it difficult for her to heal him. Thankfully, his hero power helped her in this department, but it still wasn’t easy to heal Barry.
"Loyalty, that’s one thing that I love. I commend you for having the guts to stand up to me; however, it will be your undoing."
"Cut! Cut! Time out! What the hell is going on? This isn’t part of the script! Kurami, why the hell are you all beaten up like that? And Barry, why do you have a hole in your stomach? This isn’t improv! Follow the script!" Kai expected Barry to lend a hand to Kurami, but he didn’t expect both of them to lose.
"Mother!" Karumi rushed over to her mother, but Carleen blasted her away, or almost did. Kai protected her at the last minute.
"Mother! Get up! You have to get up!"
"Yeah, get up! Follow the script. No way she’s that powerful!" Kai checked her stats, and her mana was at 150,000. "Hmm." He then checked Kurami’s stats, and her mana was at 120,000, and that was with the spirit orb boost.
"Okay, I apologize, this was a miscalculation on my part. I failed to realize that the demon lord was this strong." She was the strongest demon lord Kai had ever encountered. Carleen was slightly above the baseline level of a demon king.
"Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do. Kurami, we’re going to do this all over again. We’ll have you and...Carleen," Kai had to check her stats again to remember her name. "Go back to the room where you will start from the top with your fight."
Kai healed Barry since Patty was taking too long. "Now you, Barry, you will wait for when Kurami is about to get beaten, then you will jump in, don’t introduce yourself since everyone knows who you are, and just duke it out with Carleen. Okay?"
"Uhh, i-is that even possible?" It took a lot out of him just to stand up. Even though his belly was healed, he could still feel the soreness.
"Listen to me, Barry, you can do this, I know you can do this. She’s nothing but a classic villain, a person who is meant to stop the hero before he can complete their main mission. Are you gonna let her stop you from achieving greatness?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Are you going to let her kill you and allow the demon king to ruin these lands? Are you going to disappoint the goddess?"
"No! No I’m not!"
"Exactly! You’re going to get out there, show her who’s the boss, and put that demon down. Now run, Barry, RUN!"
The pep talk increased Barry’s morale by 100 times, and he felt more powerful than ever! He wouldn’t lose, he couldn’t lose. He was the hero, and his power was meant to slay demons. There was no way he would fall to anyone who wasn’t the demon king.
"Demon Lord, Carleen, you’ve made a big mistake!" Barry’s energy skyrocketed. He was exerting more power than normal and truly looked like the hero.
"You’re reign is over. Time to die!" Barry ran, just like Kai told him to, and set his sights on Carleen’s heart to pierce it with his sword.
"Yes! Show her who’s boss! It’s okay that you’re going off script, we can just edit the previous parts out!" Kai was looking forward to seeing the outcome of the battle.
"Get the fuck out of my face, you weak bitch." Carleen slapped Barry out of his hero mode and knocked him out instantly. He literally twirled like a cartoon character and landed in the dirt with his butt sticking up.
Kai face-palmed. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"