Chapter 1052: Monster
"He is no longer a demon now," Max muttered, his voice calm yet carrying a weight that sank into the hearts of everyone present. His white hair flowed in the air, untouched by the corruption that had transferred into Zoltan. His eyes reflected no sympathy, no hesitation, only cold certainty.
Zoltan’s monstrous form convulsed again. His flesh bubbled and writhed as if something inside him was clawing to escape. His mind was shattered beyond repair, his roars incoherent, filled with agony and blind rage.
Every movement of his body exuded raw infernal energy, and it was clear that he was no longer Zoltan the genius but a mindless beast ruled by corruption.
Varian’s face twisted with fury at Max’s words. His voice thundered across the arena, laced with murderous intent. "Damn you humans! You truly are despicable. When you cannot defeat him, you resort to such vile methods. You turn him into this abomination instead of facing him with honor." The demonic energy around his colossal frame surged violently, shaking the ground as cracks spread across the stone beneath him. His rage was palpable, the fury of a teacher watching his most prized disciple desecrated.
Max sneered, his expression sharp as a blade. "We are all sorts of bad. That much is true. But it is your misfortune, not ours. You demons chose to invade the human world. You decided to slaughter entire continents. That was your mistake, and it will be your doom." His tone was calm, but every word carried a venom that made even the humans standing nearby feel a chill.
He shifted his gaze to the berserk figure of Zoltan, who thrashed against his own body, black flames pouring from his mouth like venom, his claws carving deep gouges into the arena floor.
The infernal corruption spread through him without mercy, warping his body into something unrecognizable and drowning his soul beneath waves of madness. His once-proud aura of Divine Rank genius was broken beyond recognition, replaced by a monstrous presence that could not distinguish friend from foe.
Max’s eyes narrowed as he addressed the demons. "What I did to Zoltan was only the beginning. A warning, nothing more. Mark my words, demons. It will not be long before I drag your entire race into a fate worse than death. I will make you regret invading our world. I will make you regret crawling back to the surface after centuries of hiding in the shadows. You should have stayed hidden your whole lives."
His voice did not rise, yet the conviction in it struck like thunder. The demons felt it pierce their hearts, and even the human leaders could not help but tremble slightly at the chilling promise.
Just then, Zoltan’s roar shook the arena, a guttural, twisted sound that carried no trace of reason. His monstrous frame convulsed as jagged spikes of blackened bone erupted from his back, dripping with molten corruption. Infernal fire poured from his mouth, scorching the stone beneath him into ash. His eyes glowed like two pits of molten blood, devoid of thought, devoid of soul.
Then he moved.
The corrupted claws lashed out without warning, tearing across the floor with such force that the entire arena quaked. The runes flickered violently under the strain. Zoltan’s aura surged outward like a storm, and its touch was indiscriminate. It cared nothing for sides. Human or demon, it saw only prey.
A group of demons behind Varian and Bellion too slow to retreat screamed as black fire swept across their bodies. Their skin blistered and peeled away before they collapsed into heaps of smoldering bone.
On the opposite side, human experts caught by the wave of corrupted energy tried to resist with energy barriers, but the infernal flames pierced through with ease, leaving their bodies writhing in agony but Max quickly teleported before them and devoured the infernal energy they were affected with causing them to return to normal.
"Zoltan, stop!" Varian bellowed, his voice strained. He released a wave of demonic energy, trying to suppress the corruption, but it was useless. The infernal storm devoured everything he poured into it. The proud genius he had once trained was gone, replaced by a beast that no longer recognized him.
"This is what I feared..." Lady Divine whispered, her face dark. "He is no longer Zoltan. He is only a monster. A puppet of corruption."
The monstrous Zoltan leapt into the air, his body a blur of black fire and bone. His claws swept down, aiming to crush both demon and human leaders alike.
Aden reacted instantly, raising a blazing shield of phoenix flames to block the blow. The impact rang out like thunder, and cracks rippled through the arena floor as he pushed Zoltan towards the demon lords.
"He is stronger than before," Aden muttered, his brows furrowed in grim realization. "The corruption has amplified his strength but stripped away everything else."
Max stood calm in the center of the chaos, his white hair glowing faintly in the crimson light. His eyes never left Zoltan’s monstrous form. He watched with cold clarity as the strongest genius of the demon race, once a symbol of pride, turned on his own people.
Demon lords scrambled to restrain him, but each attempt ended in failure. Infernal fire burned through their defenses. Corruption spread into their veins at the slightest touch, forcing them to retreat or risk becoming like him. Panic spread among the demons, their disciplined ranks scattering under the onslaught of their own genius.
The humans outside the barrier watched in stunned silence. Some cheered, unable to hold back their excitement. Others trembled at the horror of what they were witnessing. The greatest genius of the demon race had been transformed into a mindless beast, not by fate, but by the hand of Max.
"Do you see now?" Max’s voice cut through the roar of destruction, steady and cold. "This is the fate that awaits your race. One by one, I will drag you into despair until nothing remains."
The corrupted Zoltan roared again, his voice filled with endless hate, as his claws swung wildly at anyone who dared approach. The arena was no longer a battlefield. It was a cage holding back a monster born from infernal corruption.
"You... you monster!" Varian’s voice shook with rage and grief as he glared at Max. His chest heaved, and his eyes burned red. Never in his darkest thoughts had he imagined things would descend to this when the twin demons had issued their challenge. He had expected blood, he had expected victory or loss, but not this. Not Zoltan, the pride of the demon race, twisted into a creature so far gone it no longer resembled anything but corruption itself.