"Mmm, I see you're persistent, however, the battle is already over," the demon king affirmed calmly.
For him, combat was like a game, a game where he sought to recover the emotion he felt in his battle against the hero.
However, after Gerald confirmed he had used his most powerful card, Aku lost interest in him.
"[Vessel of a Thousand and One Shadows]," the demon king said with a somber voice as purple sparks jumped, materializing an ancient vessel in his hand.
As he did this, the ninja goblins headed toward Aku at great speed.
They used a [stealth] ability to not be seen or heard.
However, when a dozen shadow wolves emerged from the vessel, they found them right away.
Shadows, obviously, have neither internal organs nor sensory organs.
They were more like a specter, and therefore the visible and invisible were perceivable in the same way.
The wolves intercepted some confused goblins who didn't know how they had been detected.
The wolves' mouths bit each goblin's torso, however they didn't remain idle.
They quickly tried to stab their weapons into the wolves' skin, but encountered a harsh truth.
The weapons slid as if it were a liquid, doing no real damage.
Those creatures couldn't be harmed by conventional means, and simply squeezed their jaws harder, splitting the goblins in half.
"You think that will be enough to defeat me! Well, you're wrong!" Gerald roared as his blood boiled.
It wasn't fair. His enemy seemed to have all kinds of incredibly convenient artifacts.
Was his arsenal infinite?
Gerald felt that Aku was his nemesis in every sense.
He was like the injustice in his life materialized.
Aku was handsome, powerful, confident, and with all kinds of artifacts and powers.
He was clearly the incarnation of the perfect hero.
Of what he wanted to achieve, or rather, of what society looked for in a hero, what he could never be.
That infuriated him, because if he lost it would mean that no matter what he did, he would never be enough.
But if he defeated him, he would also be surpassing all those who once laughed at him.
"It doesn't matter that I've lost my best card. I still have thousands of things to try," Gerald affirmed as magic pentagrams appeared on the ground, pulsing with an orange light.
From them emerged several orcs, burly, with metal armor and armed with large, imposing weapons.
Behind Gerald, two elderly goblin shamans with feather crowns on their heads and staffs began to dance and recite spells.
"It's useless. I've already analyzed your capabilities and you won't be able to defeat me," Aku affirmed. The horse jumped out of the swamp.
The shadow wolves began running toward the orcs while Gerald looked at his enemy with an analytical gaze.
The young man adjusted his glasses with his finger while smiling.
"Didn't I already tell you? There's no greater flattery than the indifference of a fool," he affirmed. He wasn't going to complain if his enemy underestimated him.
The wolves jumped toward the orcs, who defended themselves quickly, crushing their heads or cutting their bodies to pieces.
This time, unlike with the ninja goblins, the attacks did damage the shadow creatures.
"Ha! Did you think I wouldn't learn from my mistake? This isn't the first time I've faced an intangible enemy," the boy affirmed arrogantly as runes of different colors pulsed on the orcs' weapons.
However, the demon king didn't flinch in the slightest.
A dense and ominous mass of darkness began to overflow from the vessel, taking shape quickly.
The complete body of the [Hydra of Darkness] didn't materialize, only six imposing dragon heads with elongated necks like a serpent's.
A lump appeared at the base of each head's neck, a lump that moved through the entire neck until reaching the mouth and being expelled as a dense cloud of miasma.
The purple poison cloud began to spread in front of the hydra while the vegetation died with a simple touch of it.
Gerald reacted quickly.
"Defensive formation!" he said rapidly.
The orcs obeyed, planting their shields in the ground as silver runes glowed intensely on the shields.
A field of white energy surrounded the orcs and Gerald in a dome that blocked the miasma.
"Don't think you can beat me just like that, bastard!" the man affirmed as he pointed his staff in the direction where the hydra had been.
Several energy pentagrams were drawn in the air, and from them emerged several goblins, smaller than usual, with a rag covering their faces and armed with knives and bombs.
The goblins shot out like projectiles at great speed.
Some missed their target, but others managed to reach the hydra's necks.
Their blades violently stabbed the creature's eyes, though that was really useless.
The hydra began shaking, trying to get rid of the goblins who had latched on very well to its head.
Then each goblin's bombs exploded forcefully, destroying each head.
"Heh, their [Kamikaze] ability allows the damage done by my goblins when sacrificing themselves to be incurable! Also, I should say this is already checkmate!" the boy affirmed as he adjusted his glasses with his finger.
The two shamans finished their ritual dance as the sky was covered by immense pentagrams pulsing with a scarlet light.
Aku raised his gaze. A large amount of esoteric energy had concentrated in the sky, and suddenly, a giant rock began emerging from the pentagram.
"How do you like this!? The most destructive spell of the goblin shamans! Meteor rain!" Gerald roared as he raised his hands.
Perhaps the demon king had been too confident?