Everything changed so fast, it caught everyone completely off guard.
Not just Infernal Lord Malphas—even Ethan and the others hadn’t seen it coming. At this critical moment, who would’ve thought Diamond Golem Thalrun would suddenly charge back into the fight? Especially when, by all accounts, he was supposed to be on death’s door—critically wounded, barely clinging to life!
Everyone had basically written him off.
And that gave Thalrun the perfect opening to land a devastating, fatal blow on Malphas!
"You..." Malphas locked eyes with Thalrun, his face twisted in rage and disbelief, his gaze full of bitter regret.
He never imagined Thalrun still had enough strength left to fight. If he’d known, he would’ve finished him off properly instead of leaving him half-dead. But now? It was way too late for regrets.
Sure, Thalrun was at his weakest right now, but the full-force strike he unleashed—his innate skill, Diamond Starcrush Strike—was no joke.
No exaggeration: that punch had completely shattered Malphas’s chances of survival.
If you looked at it in game terms, Malphas’s health bar was probably down to single digits.
And that’s the biggest weakness of mage-type heroes: they’re glass cannons. As long as they avoid direct hits, they’re fine. But once they take a full-force blow head-on? They go down fast—and ugly.
"Lord of Emerald Castle, now’s your chance!"
Right then, The Tidebreaker Paxton roared and charged in, not about to let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away.
With a furious shout, he lunged at Malphas, whose face had gone pale with shock.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—
A terrifying blade storm exploded outward like a thunderous hurricane, sweeping across hundreds of feet in an instant, slashing straight toward Malphas.
Malphas’s figure flickered—he barely dodged Paxton’s attack by a hair’s breadth.
At the same time, Paxton’s monstrous strike slammed into the ground, unleashing a shockwave so powerful it kicked up a massive dust cloud and a roaring windstorm. A mushroom cloud, like a mini nuclear blast, erupted into the sky, spreading outward at terrifying speed.
The ground shook violently under the force of the impact.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Malphas’s figure kept blinking and darting away at lightning speed, like a shooting star tearing across the sky.
It was obvious—he was making a desperate break for it.
If he stayed any longer and got killed again, the loss would be catastrophic—something he absolutely couldn’t afford.
But trying to run now? Way too late.
A low, thunderous roar echoed out—and suddenly, a massive, overwhelming force descended, locking Malphas in place like a fly trapped in amber.
Kyros had made his move.
"Shit... Sacred Realm... I’m screwed..." Malphas’s pupils shrank, and a look of utter despair flashed across his face.
As one of Inferno Demon King Baelthar’s most trusted generals, Malphas knew all about the Crimson Ultimate hero’s signature skill—Sacred Realm. Newest update provided by novel·fiɾe·net
Hell, he was more than just familiar with it.
If he were still at his peak—or even just before Thalrun had wrecked him—he could’ve broken through a Sacred Realm of this level without too much trouble.
But the problem was... right now, he didn’t have that kind of time.
No exaggeration: with the state he was in (basically a sliver of health left), even if Kyros so much as brushed him, he’d drop dead on the spot—no question.
And if that happened, he’d be force-respawned back in Inferno... and his power (level) would take another brutal hit.
The thought alone made Malphas let out a furious, guttural roar, his voice full of rage and unwillingness to accept his fate.
At the same time, a terrifying surge of Inferno Flames burst out from deep within him, like a chain of volcanoes erupting all at once.
The sheer destructive force of it blasted outward in every direction, shaking the very air.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—
The Sacred Realm around him shuddered violently under the assault, like a palace caught in the middle of a hurricane, trembling and on the verge of collapse.
It was obvious: with Kyros’s current strength, trying to solo a desperate, all-out 68th-level Legendary hero was pushing it—hard.
Honestly, he wasn’t even really qualified to take Malphas head-on.
But Kyros didn’t panic.
He knew it didn’t matter.
He didn’t need to overpower Malphas.
He just needed to hit him—once.
Kyros let out a thunderous Kirin roar, and at the same time, a massive surge of Water Magic gathered around him, swelling into a vast, endless ocean that filled the entire Sacred Realm.
"No—!" Malphas’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as he screamed in despair.
Kyros’s magic flared to its peak, and he threw his head back, roaring with all his might:
"Ugly, disgusting demon—DIE!"
"Unleash your fangs, mighty tsunami of destruction! ROAR and DEVOUR EVERYTHING!"
In an instant, the ocean inside the Sacred Realm rose up into a monstrous tsunami—towering over ten thousand feet high—crashing down toward Malphas like the wrath of the gods.
Malphas barely lasted half a second.
His health bar hit zero almost instantly, and with a blinding flash of demonic blood-red light, he was obliterated—forcefully sent back to the Inferno respawn point.
A spray of blood-red light burst out—and then vanished without a trace.
Just like that, the mighty Infernal Lord Malphas had fallen—again—at Ethan’s hands.
And right on cue, a system notification chimed in Ethan’s ear:
"Congratulations, player Valkarion’s hero Kyros has successfully slain Infernal Lord Malphas.
The countdown for the Orange-grade Codex Quest Shadow of the Demons—The Manufacturing Project has ended.
Now evaluating quest completion... please wait..."
"Quest evaluation complete.
Player Valkarion’s completion rate: 60%.
Overall rating: S-Rank.
Beginning reward settlement... please wait..."
"Reward settlement complete. You have received the following rewards:
3x Blueprints for 11-Tier Diamond Golem Creature Dwellings: Diamond Golem Foundry
10x Blueprints for 11-Tier Bronze Golem Creature Dwellings: Bronze Golem Foundry
30x Blueprints for 10-Tier Gold Golem Creature Dwellings: Gold Golem Foundry
100x Blueprints for 7-Tier Iron Golem Creature Dwellings: Iron Golem Foundry"
Ethan blinked, his expression turning a little... weird.
It wasn’t that the rewards were bad—far from it.
It was just... this was it?