Chapter 357: Crushing Mard Geer
The dust billowing over the ruined landscape began to settle, revealing a hulking silhouette stepping forward through the debris. It was a burly old man, his massive frame rippling with impossibly knotted muscles that seemed to pulse with a vile, corrupted energy. Dark veins bulged against his skin, his eyes glowing with the unmistakable malice of an Etherious.
Mard Geer Tartaros, the Underworld King, floated a few meters away, a haughty smirk gracing his aristocratic features. "Did you make it in time...?" he mused, his tone dripping with condescending approval. "As expected of someone who once stood at the absolute peak of human guilds, you've truly reincarnated into a fine demon, Jiemma!"
This monstrous old man was none other than the former Guild Master of Sabertooth, Jiemma. Following his humiliating defeat at the hands of Sting Eucliffe, he had been unceremoniously stripped of his position, manipulated and cast aside by his own daughter, Minerva. Driven by a pathetic, insatiable lust for dominance, he had sought out Tartaros.
Jiemma flexed his grotesquely oversized arms, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. "Made into one? No... I obtained this absolute power of my own volition. I discarded my frail humanity all for the sake of becoming the strongest in this world."
Mard Geer turned his dark, mocking gaze toward Ren, gesturing to the hulking beast. "Behold, human. He is a demon whose raw power far exceeds even that of my Nine Demon Gates. He is my newest, most magnificent servant."
Jiemma's glowing eyes narrowed into slits, his colossal ego instantly bruised by the title. "Servant? To call me—a man whose infamy and terror resound throughout the entire world—a mere servant?" He sneered, baring sharp, predatory teeth. "Mard Geer, mind your tongue. After I've dealt with this insolent brat, I assure you... you're next!!"
Before the Underworld King could even react to the blatant insubordination, Jiemma kicked off the ground with explosive force. The bedrock shattered beneath his feet as he propelled his massive body forward, hurtling toward Ren like a runaway siege engine. With a feral roar, he pulled back his fist, channeling a dense concentration of demonic power, and threw a devastating punch aimed squarely at Ren's head.
Smack!
The thunderous impact echoed across the wasteland, but what followed was absolute, terrifying silence.
Ren hadn't dodged. He hadn't retreated. He merely raised his arm, his palm open, and effortlessly caught Jiemma's titanic punch with a single hand.
Boom—!
The sheer kinetic force of Jiemma's strike bypassed Ren entirely, violently traveling down his body and causing the ground beneath their feet to completely cave in. An enormous crater formed instantly, spiderwebbing outward for dozens of meters. Yet, amidst the localized earthquake, Ren's slender arm didn't budge a single millimeter.
"Hmm?!" Jiemma grunted, his eyes widening in sheer disbelief. He pushed with all his demonic might, but it was like trying to move a mountain. He hadn't expected Ren to block his empowered punch so casually, let alone completely neutralize its momentum.
"It seems I've been underestimated by a dying old dog," Ren whispered, his voice smooth, chilling, and devoid of any human empathy.
Without giving the former Guild Master a fraction of a second to react, Ren's grip clamped down on Jiemma's massive fist with vise-like, bone-crushing pressure. Simultaneously, pure spiritual energy surged into Ren's free hand, violently condensing into a radiant, javelin-like blade of light—the Luz de la Luna.
Ren swung the blade of light in a rapid, fluid arc.
Slash—!!
The sickening sound of tearing flesh and shattering bone ripped through the air. Before Jiemma could even comprehend what was happening or mount a defense, the arm Ren was holding was cleanly sliced right off his shoulder.
"Ugh... AAAAAAAH!!"
Jiemma let out a bloodcurdling cry of agony. He stumbled backward, clumsily beating a hasty retreat while clutching the spurting stump of his right shoulder, a torrent of dark, demonic blood spraying across the ruined earth.
Thud.
Ren casually tossed Jiemma's severed, muscular arm onto the ground nearby, letting it roll away like a discarded piece of trash. He slowly raised his gaze, his emerald eyes locking onto Mard Geer and the bleeding Jiemma.
"If this is the peak of your demonic power," Ren said softly, his spiritual pressure beginning to seep out like a heavy, suffocating fog, "then let me show you true despair."
He held his glowing weapon sideways and whispered a single, forbidden incantation:
"Resurrección: Segunda Etapa."
Thrum—!!!
An apocalyptic shockwave of Reiatsu erupted from Ren's body. It was a pressure so dense, so terrifyingly heavy, that the very air began to distort and wail. A blue-black pillar of spiritual energy shot toward the heavens, radiating around him and surging outward in violent, crushing ripples. The surrounding rubble was pulverized into fine dust instantly under the sheer gravity of his aura.
Within the blinding dark light, Ren's physical form underwent a drastic, horrifyingly beautiful metamorphosis. The clothes on his upper body slowly dissolved into black ash. From his toned abdomen down to his legs, as well as across his arms and back, a thick layer of sleek, midnight-black feathers sprouted. The lower half of his remaining robe split down the middle, transforming into an elegant, sweeping black swallowtail.
From his back, two massive, leathery wings violently unfurled, revealing razor-sharp, bat-like claws at their joints. The bone-white horns on his helmet grew significantly longer and sharper, curving outward with a demonic regality. A long, prehensile black tail sprouted from the base of his spine, whipping through the air with lethal grace, while his feet morphed into sharp, predatory talons.
But the most chilling detail was the pitch-black void that materialized perfectly in the center of Ren's chest—a Hollow hole, so profound and absolute that one could see the desolate scenery directly through it.
"This guy..." Mard Geer Tartaros muttered, his trademark smirk finally melting away, replaced by a grimace of pure apprehension. The Underworld King could feel the cold sweat forming on the back of his neck. Compared to the Etherious, born from the dark abyss of Zeref's books, this entity standing before him... this man felt infinitely more like a true demon.
"Jiemma! Don't act on your own; cooperate with me!" Mard Geer barked, his voice losing its aristocratic calm.
Knowing he could no longer hold back, Mard Geer flew high into the sky, crossing his arms to release a torrential surge of his Curse power.
"Netherworld Tree!!"
The sky darkened further as an impossibly giant, thorny wooden construct—a monstrous amalgamation of barbed vines and demonic roots—descended from the heavens, seeking to crush and impale Ren beneath its colossal mass.
Ren didn't even bother looking up. He simply raised a single, razor-sharp claw toward the descending doom. Absolute darkness gathered at his fingertip, compressing into a tiny, vibrating sphere of terrifying density.
"Cero Oscuras."
Whoosh—!
A torrential beam of pure, jet-black spiritual destruction fired upward. The moment the Cero Oscuras made contact with the massive Netherworld Tree, there was no explosion, no grand collision. There was only erasure. The absolute black light cleanly consumed the giant tree, reducing hundreds of tons of demonic thorns to microscopic ash in a fraction of a second.
Swish!
Using the blinding flash of the attack as a distraction, Jiemma took the opportunity to appear directly behind Ren. His face was contorted in a mask of feral hatred, his remaining arm blazing with the pinnacle of his unstable magic.
"DIE!! RAAAH!!"
Jiemma violently thrust his hand forward, detonating the highly condensed sphere of magic point-blank against Ren's back.
Boom—!!
A massive shockwave erupted, engulfing Ren in a violent spherical explosion of fire and kinetic force that tore up the earth for hundreds of meters.
"Hah... hah... I killed him!" Jiemma panted, a manic grin spreading across his face.
"How is this possible?!" Jiemma's grin shattered a second later.
As the dense smoke cleared, Ren reappeared in the exact same spot. He hadn't moved an inch. There wasn't a single scratch on his pale skin, not a single feather out of place. His Hierro—the spiritually hardened iron skin of his Segunda Etapa—was so dense that Jiemma's desperate, ultimate attack felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze.
Ren turned his head slightly, casting a faint, utterly dismissive glance over his shoulder. "So weak."
The absolute indifference in Ren's voice was a knife to Jiemma's inflated pride. He was instantly enraged, the blood rushing to his head. "What did you say to me, you miserable little shit?!"
Blinded by sheer, unadulterated rage, Jiemma unleashed a guttural roar and rushed at Ren, completely abandoning whatever tactical sense he had left.
Suddenly—!
Sonído.
Ren's figure vanished from before Jiemma's eyes, melting into the air with nothing but the faint hum of static.
"What?!" Jiemma gasped, his momentum causing him to stumble forward. Before his brain could even process where his target had disappeared to...
Smack!
He felt an immense, unbreakable grip clamp violently down over his face. Ren had materialized directly above him, his taloned hand palming Jiemma's skull. Before the old man could scream, Ren rocketed into the sky, dragging Jiemma's massive body along with him like a ragdoll.
"White Light Blade!!"
High above, Mard Geer saw Ren flying toward him at breakneck speed, leading with Jiemma's body as a makeshift shield. Unfazed by the collateral damage to his 'servant,' the Underworld King quickly cast his Curse magic, firing a barrage of highly condensed, white-hot kinetic blades.
Ren didn't slow down. He continued his relentless charge, purposefully using Jiemma's bulk to plow right through the oncoming volley of White Light Blades.
"Ugh... AAAAAAAH!!"
The agonizing shrieks tore from Jiemma's throat as the White Light Blades slammed into his body. The demonic attacks sliced deep into his corrupted flesh, violently carving chunks out of him. The sheer betrayal and agony were absolute, yet Ren's grip on his face never wavered.
"White Light Sphere!"
Seeing that his blades weren't even slowing Ren down, Mard Geer Tartaros gritted his teeth and conjured a massive, volatile sphere of pure white Curse energy, intending to obliterate them both.
In response, Ren simply flicked his wrist, hurling Jiemma's battered, bleeding body directly into the path of the incoming spell.
Boom—!!
"WAAAAAAH!!"
The White Light Sphere collided dead-on with Jiemma. The massive magical explosion engulfed the old man completely, the brilliant flash of light vaporizing what little remained of the disgraced Sabertooth Master.
Sensing the overwhelming danger, Mard Geer quickly flared his Curse power and flew away, attempting to put distance between himself and the monster. But a black, winged figure immediately pursued him, tearing through the explosion's shockwave at hypersonic speed.
Mard Geer's expression turned utterly grim as he glanced back. The winged figure was gaining on him effortlessly. A cold shiver of humiliation ran down his spine; this meant his speed was completely inferior. He, the Underworld King, had actually lost to a human in an aerial pursuit.
"White Light Bullet!!"
Refusing to be outmaneuvered, Mard Geer abruptly spun around, spreading his hands wide. He released a massive carpet-bombing spread of dense white orbs that completely saturated the airspace between them.
"Detonate!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Under Mard Geer's precise control, the entire minefield of white orbs detonated simultaneously. The sky was swallowed by a cascading chain reaction of deafening explosions, turning the heavens into a chaotic sea of white fire.
Bang!
A sonic boom shattered the flames as Ren charged straight out of the inferno, completely unfazed. The devastating force of the chain explosion hadn't injured him in the slightest. In his Resurrección: Segunda Etapa, Ren's Hierro defense was multiplied to an unfathomable degree. Combined with the dense, protective layer of his suffocating Reiatsu, an attack of this caliber posed absolutely no threat to him.
Swish—!
Ren closed the gap instantly, appearing right in Mard Geer's personal space.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
The sky became an arena of high-speed collisions. The two of them continuously clashed in mid-air, a blur of white and black exchanging blows at speeds invisible to the naked eye. But Mard Geer was severely pressured. This opponent possessed a thin, almost elegantly frail-looking demonic frame, yet his physical defense and raw kinetic strength were overwhelmingly devastating. Every time Mard Geer parried a strike, his bones rattled. Every time he tried to counter, his attacks glanced off Ren's hardened skin.
He wasn't just losing; he was being completely suppressed.
Bang!
"Ugh!" Mard Geer grunted, his eyes crossing as Ren's pitch-black fist violently bypassed his guard and smashed directly into his aristocratic face. The impact shattered the Underworld King's nose, sending him spinning backward through the air in a dizzying spiral.
Sonído!
Ren didn't let him breathe. He instantly vanished, reappearing directly behind the tumbling Mard Geer. Pivoting on his heel, Ren delivered a devastating roundhouse kick square into the center of Mard Geer's spine.
"Ugh... AAH!!" The Underworld King coughed up a spray of dark blood, his body sent hurtling forward like a fired cannonball.
Sonído!!
In the next fraction of a second, Ren intercepted his trajectory, materializing in front of Mard Geer. He pulled his fist back and drove it brutally deep into the demon's stomach.
Bang!
"Ugh... Ohh!!" Mard Geer's eyes bulged from their sockets, all the air violently expelled from his lungs as his internal organs ruptured under the immense pressure.
Then, before Mard Geer could even begin to process the pain or mount a counterattack, a merciless rain of fists descended upon him. Ren unleashed a rapid-fire barrage, a blur of fists caving in Mard Geer's ribs, pummeling his face, and utterly dismantling his body.
"WAAAAAAH!!"
The proud, untouchable Underworld King screamed incessantly, his dignified persona completely shattered as he was subjected to the absolute, humiliating beatdown.
Bang!
Ending the combination, Ren swung his leg high and delivered a brutal axe kick straight down onto Mard Geer's bruised, bloodied face.
Whoosh—!
The sheer kinetic force of the kick sent Mard Geer's body plummeting toward the ground at terminal velocity, breaking the sound barrier as he fell.
Boom!!
Mard Geer's body crashed into the ruined earth with the force of a meteor, smashing out a massive, dust-choked crater that shook the very foundations of the Tartaros headquarters.
Down in the depths of the rubble, Mard Geer coughed, choking on his own blood. "Ugh..." He twitched and struggled, his limbs refusing to obey his commands. For a long, humiliating moment, the absolute ruler of Tartaros was completely unable to stand up. It was terrifyingly clear that Ren's physical onslaught had caused him catastrophic, irreversible damage.
"Lord Mard Geer?!"
The surviving demons from the Books of Zeref, watching from the fringes of the battlefield, were paralyzed with horror. Their eyes were wide, their jaws slack as they stared at the broken form of their invincible king. Clearly, not a single one of them had ever expected that someone as godly and terrifying as Lord Mard Geer would be absolutely no match for a mere human.
High above the crater, Ren hovered silently in the air, his majestic black wings beating slowly. He gazed down at the pathetic, broken demon writhing in the dirt. Slowly, deliberately, Ren extended his arm, pointing a single, sharp index finger down at Mard Geer Tartaros.
A violent, humming sound vibrated through the atmosphere. Black light continuously gathered, twisting and compressing into an impossibly dense sphere of absolute darkness at the very tip of his finger.
"Cero Oscuras!!"
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