Everything about Balam had changed, from his appearance down to the fierce aura he ess exuding, Raith could feel his throat go dry as he stood before this new form of Balam.

Balam's hardened skill glistened with malevolence adorned with intricate, fiery runes that pulsed with the power of hell.

Tssss

Raith exuded a slow breath and held his sword, immersing himself in the moment. Balam before now has not even been an easy foe, however, he revealed his true form— things just got very worse.

He was going to give it his all too, taking advantage of every skill, every power at his disposal to make sure he escorts Balam to the end of his life.

As their clash began again, Balam unleashed a deafening roar, shattering the ground beneath him. He extended his clawed hands, unleashing a barrage of infernal projectiles. The projectiles soared through the air, leaving trails of searing red flames in their wake, intent on reducing Raith to ash.

But Raith swiftly maneuvered through them. With each step, shadows coiled around him, empowering his every movement.

As Balam's projectiles neared, Raith twisted his body, fluidly dodging the fiery onslaught. He countered with a swift slash, his sword crackling with darkness, cutting through the air with deadly precision— although he still came short and the majority of the attack projection was easily parried by Balam.

Raith did not give up and took every opportunity to slip in attack at Balam but the demon had been elevated from the minimal demon king he was moments ago.

CLAANNNGGG!!

The clash of steel resonated through the battlefield as Balam retaliated, his wicked claws swiping at Raith with unmatched ferocity.

Raith's [ultra instinct] at level 20 guided his every move with an amazing predictive ability. He could smell the attacks more accurately and with his honed reflexes from battles, he was matching up to the speed of the demon. Easily evading his claws every now and then. He ducked, weaved, and parried with incredible agility, narrowly evading Balam's relentless assault.

Each missed strike from the demon king fueled Raith's determination, causing him to go harder on the demon—

"Heavenly Destruction: Waves Of Destruction"

Shockwaves rippled through the air as each wave of Raith's barrage of the strike was cleaved into Balam at a blinding speed– not only that, Raith appeared next in front of him in the next moment using the sword imbued skill [stride Of The Wind God]

Raith released another twist of attacks from uncanny angles, twisting his body in an unconventional manner, his footwork was not lacking either, it was because of this that he was able to tighten Balam's space and heavily restrict the moment of the demon into only defensive forms.

It was as though Raith was making Balam move the way he wanted with his cognitive resonance. He had perceived where Balam was going to pull his attack through and with the unconventional footwork that [Extreme Art Of The Blade God] exhibited, forcing Balam into defense was easy.

Each time Raith used the hidden skills he found in Bal he continued to find them very amazing. They were very effective, perhaps even too effective. When the only sword skill he had was [Way Of The Sword] he never thought that he was going to get as strong as this, that too in the way of the sword— plus the hidden skills were not the only skill that Balam possessed, in fact they were not even his main skill.

'Hey... are you ready?'

Raith knew what Bal was talking about, as he continued to unleash a series of sword attacks over and over again he was feeling himself immersed, it was as though he was drowning in something.

And because of that when Bal said to him 'Are you ready?' He figured that he was probably about to break another threshold. Hence Raith chose to surrender his senses to the upgraded skill.

[Do you want to use Auto Battle Mode]

"Yes"

[Do you want to give Auto Battle Mode access to all your skill]

Raith thought for a moment about it, he had never seen any kind of message like this before now. Then again, he wasn't really accustomed to using the auto mode so there's no way he could accurately tell– but he suspected that this might have to do with his status as a ruler and his ruler skills.

Even though he had thought of using them on several occasions, he hadn't seen the opening to– perhaps it would be a good decision to leave it to the [Auto Mode].

"Yes," Raith responded with narrowed eyes as he fixated his eyes on Balam.

Balam was gritting his teeth hardly as he watched the small wounds on his torso burn deeper into him. His fear of dying was growing with time– so was his anger.

Balam catapulted forward— but before he reached half the distance between him and Raith, a devastating technique surged at him.

With a swift motion, Raith's sword swung into the air causing the heavens to darken and clouds to gather menacingly. Balam was forced to be momentarily stopped by the sudden change in weather. His frown deepened as he looked at Raith.

"Insolence, this bastard" Even though it was muttering, his voice vibrated the very ground he was standing on. He was astonished as to how Raith's power could change the weather of a particular area but he had not even seen the best of Raith yet.

Whissshhh

As Raith channeled his dark energy into the Bal, the clouds above churned and transform into a torrential storm of crimson droplets, resembling a macabre rain shower. Each droplet holds an otherworldly aura and carries the potential for destruction.

"Blood of Rain" Upon the command word, Raith brought his sword swinging down– historical

WHAMMMMM!!

Torrents of blood rain cascade down upon the battlefield with astonishing speed and force, engulfing a wide area in a spectacle of crimson chaos. The droplets carry a malevolent energy that sought out and strikes multiple targets, making it an indiscriminate and relentless assault.

As the rain of blood descends, each droplet targeted everything within its range, slashing through concrete, glass, and metal with an ethereal edge. On impact, they unleash a powerful explosion of energy, causing severe damage and leaving a trail of devastation in their wake. The whole surrounding was engulfed in crimson explosions at intervals as the rain came in contact with different things.

Even Balam could not avoid it, the majority of the Rain was pouring towards his side and no matter how much he jumped away, they kept coming– it was hard and annoying to dodge so he just went for Raith— swinging his wings once, he blasted away all the rain of blood that fell towards him and glided through the wind like he was a part of it.

In a minute, he was right before Raithz his hands about to cleave the young swordsman's face. Raith backstepped at the last minute but Balam was far too experienced than he thought. The demon spun last minute and kicked his cheek with a resounding kick that blasted and hurtled him away.

Raith quickly regains himself, delving his hand into the ground to cause enough friction that would reduce the uncontrolled speed at which he hurtled away. Being successful at that, he leaped up and dashed towards Balam–

The way his gaze was fixated on Balam was amazing, not once did his eyes waver away or blink.

Balam frowned at his persistence.

"Just die already," he said and swung out a greatsword from nowhere, the air rippled with infernal waves as Balam swung the sword anticipating Raith's attack– just when he was about to dash forward and slash—

"Huh? He's gone" Demon King Balam was shocked.

Infinite Flash

Raith appeared behind him and cleaved his sword upward, tearing through Balam's back but the wound was too shallow. Balam's skin had become so hard that as Raith's sword cleaved through it sparks flew– as if metal was trying to cut metal.

"AAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHH" Balam let out a scream, screaming the great sword backward immediately and causing the entire ruined space behind him to be enveloped in a mega destruction that was caused by the wave effect of the sword enhanced by his fiendish energy. If Raith had been right there he would have died with that one swing.

Balam swelled with anger, his back was exuding steam as Raith successfully cut through– although it was shallow but the fact that it was never going to heal was beginning to get at Balam. His fear continued to grow with each passing moment and he began to lose composure.

He had concocted how he would just finish Raith with one strike but the human was far stronger than he thought. He couldn't find an opening and instead was cornered into a state where all he had to do was keep defending himself.

Of course, he was well aware of Raith's battle intelligence, not just anyone would have been able to pull it off.

Balam looked at Raith— but Raith's focus was unchanging, they were stagnant on him and were blank.

Balam squinted his eyes, '...perhaps he is not the one fighting me?'