Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

The Pelian Ash Spear pierced toward Cu Chulainn's widening eyes. Despite the lethal strike, he smirked mysteriously before his leg shot up.

A warrior? He was one, too—the best that has ever walked Ireland. And he would prove once more that he inherited Scathach's divine spear for good reasons.

Exhilarated by the heat of combat, he poured all his strength into his kick.

BAM

It collided with the spear, forcing it off course. However, his eyes widened at its weight. He couldn't deflect it entirely, but just enough to avoid having his brain pierced.

Gritting his teeth, he endured the searing sensation of the blade slicing his forehead as he swung his arm.

Meanwhile, Achilles stepped forward to end this battle. Yet, his eyes trembled, dread wrapping around his heart as a sharp pain assaulted his shoulder from his blind spot.

"Shit."

He had experienced the spear's horrible enchantments earlier. That's how his ever-defended heel sustained injury and how it would worsen. But he couldn't give up on his offensive!

Cu Chulainn was cornered, off balance, and a strike away from death. He just had to grit his teeth and endure the pain.

"RAAH!"

Rage and agony mixed in his roar as Cu Chulainn's spear tip split into barbs, piercing his lungs, heart, and heel.

Despite the overwhelming pain, his gaze remained firm, and his tense arm cleaved down at the smiling fool.

"Pain is my oldest dancing partner!"

Cu Chulainn's smile froze as death loomed over him, horror gripping his heart. How could Achilles strike back? Even last time, he had backed off powerlessly after his invincible spear pierced him. Would he lose—he?!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Blood rushed to his eyes as rage replaced dread in his racing heart.

Never! He could repel armies single-handedly, and no curse weakened him like during his ultimate battle. He was Scathach's strongest disciple, the son of the most formidable Irish deity—Lugh. So, how could he lose to a half-assed human dipped in a river?

As the question rumbled in his mind, his body twisted unnaturally. His skeleton reshaped itself in a cacophony of disturbing noises a split second before Achille's spear struck it.

BANG

Sparks flew, and a dull noise reverberated as the weapon rebounded on the thick bones.

His eyes narrowed as he pulled his weapon back and shoved it at his adversary's eye.

However, Cu Chulainn's elongating mouth widened into a grotesque grin. In a disturbing show, his teeth grew into a jagged row of natural weapons as he bit down on Achilles' spear, stopping it cold.

"Ríastrad."

His guttural voice reverberated as his bones dislocated. From 185 centimeters, he grew to a staggering eight meters. Grotesque muscles twitched on his distorted bones, blue veins as thick as pipes throbbing under his thick skin. His hair stiffened and ignited. Like burning spears, they proudly crowned his hideous face and caused the air to sizzle and evaporate.

Worse, Achilles' pupils constricted as he saw burning blood gush from the monster's pores. The violent and horrifying aura alone forced him to leap back, while the surrounding soldiers clutched their sweating necks, gasping for air.

The ones far enough not to feel the heat scrambled in horror, but he remained.

"I've never seen such a transformation."

His eyes narrowed into slits as he noticed the unbridled rage in Cu Chulainn's eyes. But what was rage's worth without control? He could see the beastlike madness overwhelming the spearman's eyes and scoffed.

"You're no longer a hero nor a warrior. You turned into an ugly beast to defeat me, reflecting the poor extent of your skills."

His nose scrunched, his blood boiling in his veins as his own rage flared like a volcano.

"That's how you use rage."

His voice rumbled as his bloody heel rose to strike the ground.

Though pain assaulted him as he charged, his eyes remained clear, calculative even. Instead, his mind deleted any outside noise and images, leaving only him and the monster.

Each of his thoughts focused on brutal precision with the sole purpose of annihilating the bastard who appeared like Hector in his eyes.

"I am Achilles, son of Peleus, born of the sea nymph Thetis! I am the storm of your destruction, the doom the gods fear! None will escape my wrath. None will find mercy! Flee if you dare, but death comes for you!"

Like an unstoppable wildfire blasted by a hurricane, he closed the distance in a split second. With his primal roar, his presence rose to a godlike level, dwarfing that of Cu Chulainn as he swung his spear.

His momentum unstoppable, the air split, crying on its path. The tip glinted gold as its enchantments roared to life before it dug into the monster's right light.

ROAR

Cu Chulainn's soul-chilling roar blasted burning gales on his determined body, yet he didn't care. Even when a gigantic hand pressed down like a hill, his focused eyes didn't waver.

Instead, he ignored it and swung his spear faster and faster, digging deeper into the monster's flesh.

Blood pooled under his feet as a ghastly hole forced the giant's knee to buckle.

Simultaneously, the hand crashed on his head, crushing his skull. But he smirked as the water of the Styx surged from his skin and healed the damage in the blink of an eye.

Recovered, he gripped the palm. Muscles roaring, he shoved it aside and pivoted in the same movement. Then, he shoved his spear into the monster's heel, once, twice, ten times, fifty times. In a split second, he ripped the tendons and muscles and shattered the bones, depriving Cu Chulainn of a leg.

Then, he lept back, avoiding razor-sharp claws aimed to split him and focused on the other leg.

ROAR

Before he could, the air trembled as a bestial roar reverberated in his ears. He gazed up as jagged teeth, as long as his arms, plunged toward him. But did it matter?

He was the incarnation of vengeance, the personification of war. Nothing could stop him.

Without hesitation, he hurled his shield into the monster's mouth and crouched. His legs exploded with impossible momentum as he launched like a rocket into death's maws.

The scent of putrid blood assaulted his nose, and the heat melted his skin as he landed on his shield.

Feeling the weight on his tongue, Cu Chulainn raised his head and swallowed, his guttural laughter echoing.

However, Achilles' raw voice reverberated in his throat.

"This fight ends now!"

Taking support on his shield, he drew his tense arm back. His foot blurred as he stomped down before his arm followed.

"RAH!"

The spear glowed like a golden laser as it left his hand, its last enchantment rumbling to life.

BOOM

With the noise of a nuclear explosion, it pierced through the stomach below. The intestines ruptured like threads next before it shattered the pelvis. Fueled by its momentum, it left through a new opening and dug a five-meter pit into the plain below before finally stopping.

"ARGH!"

Cu Chulainn roared in agony, yet his sufferings had only begun... because Achilles' ruthlessness extended beyond victory or death. After all, hadn't he dragged Hector's body around the walls of Troy?

With a snort, he stretched his palm out and roared.

"Come, Pelian Ash Spear."

The spear hummed in the pit before it shot up and returned to its owner's hand. Then, He hurled it twice more while he fell through the holes he had dug.

Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn roared in rage and agony, a trace of intelligence returning to his red eyes.

During his transformation, he fought with utmost ferocity and became faster and stronger, yet lost his sense of self.

Allies admired him as much as they dreaded his unpredictability. Enemies cowered in horror, leaving him uncontestable, undefeatable: the king of the battlefield.

However, someone defeated him today. Worse, Achilles had used a similar rage-based fighting style, but still overwhelmed him. Why?

His eyes narrowed as his body shifted back to its normal appearance. Sprawled on a pool of blood, he scrutinised his approaching enemy's clear yet rage-filled eyes and bit his lips.

"I don't recognise this defeat."

Gurgling noises accompanied his voice as blood flooded his mouth and dripped down his curling lips.

"You'll join me soon. I'll show you who's the best in the afterlife."

Achilles' fingers tightened around his spear as he towered above his enemy. His eyes cold, he shoved it into the fool's throat and snorted.

"You can go alone. I'll destroy death itself if it tries to take me."

He watched Cu Chulainn breathe his last before his eyes narrowed on the enemy's lines. It was time to obliterate the left wing's spirit.

Without hesitation, he cleaved the bloodied carcasses' limbs and hurled them one after another onto their side.

Then, he picked his shield up, secured Cu Chulainn's Gae Bolg on his back, and roared.

"I'm coming!"

The ground rumbled under his feet as the enemy's army trembled in horror.

Before they could resist, they fell like leaves in a storm under Achilles' rage-filled charge.

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AN: That was a long chapter... I hope you'll enjoy it.