The Damned Demon

The moment held a chilling clarity for Asher as he realized the depth of his miscalculation while the serpent's menacing smile widened, its towering presence now fully restored, looming over him like an invincible force of nature.

Asher steadied himself, realizing that the battle was far from over. If anything, he had only given it some amusement. But now it was time to show it that he was going to have the last laugh.

"Don't get too cocky, you oversized worm. This isn't over…"With a gritted whisper, he ran forward and jumped off a rock to propel himself up towards the serpent's head, whose eyes glowed with a malicious glee to find its prey obediently flying towards its maw to get devoured.

However, just as Asher was about to get devoured, his lips curved into a smirk as he uttered: "Hellbringer."

*BOOOOOM!!*

*SSSKREEEECH!!*

In an instant, the cavern was rocked by an earth-shattering explosion, a blinding burst of dark green energy that engulfed both Asher and the serpent in its fiery embrace.

The ground trembled, and the air itself seemed to scream in the wake of the cataclysmic power.

Asher's form was now a terrifying spectacle, forming a skeletal figure shrouded in a mantle of fire. Each of his bones, now a gleaming shard of black diamond, crackled with unleashed power.

His newfound strength surged by 30%, even as 30% of his mana was instantly devoured due to the Rupture of the Damned.

The serpent, taken aback by the sudden onslaught, was hurled against the cavern wall with a thunderous crash, its massive body denting the old stones, followed by a painful, ear-rendering screech.

Wasting no time, Asher opened his bony jaws wide, unleashing the Cursed Flame Breath.

*WHOOSH!*

A sea of corrosive, dark green fire swept towards the serpent. The flames engulfed the beast, clinging to its scales with a voracious hunger, eating away at the regenerated flesh and stifling its ability to heal.

The cavern filled with the acrid scent of burning scales as the serpent writhed in agony, its agony echoing like the cries of the damned.

*SSSKREEEECH!!...SSSKREEEECH!!*

Seeing the serpent falter, Asher's confidence surged. He advanced, his skeletal form cutting a grim figure through the swirling mists.

But the serpent, driven by primal rage and malice, was not yet defeated.

With a sudden, vicious energy, it lunged forward, its enormous maw open wide to crush him.

*KSSSHHHRR!*

Reacting with split-second timing, Asher let out the Rakshasa's Roar.

*ROARRRR!!!*

The sound was a sonic shockwave, booming through the cavern and causing the walls to tremble.

Stalactites shuddered loose from the ceiling, crashing down around them.

The serpent's charged dark purple mana attack, just moments from release, dissipated harmlessly into the vibrating air, causing it to cough corrosive blood due to the backlash.

Asher, knowing that he had 6 seconds before it could use mana again, seized the moment, and whipped forward the Chains of Despair.

The chains, extensions of his own damned essence, snaked through the air with lethal precision.

He lashed at the beast, each lash draining its strength and transferring it to Asher, his own power amplifying with every pulse of energy siphoned from the creature by 2% of his DEF and STR.

His skeletal form glowed brighter with each transfer of power, the dark green light in his hollow sockets burning with savage triumph.

Even if he hadn't much mana remaining, he was confident only a few more attacks would fall before it could recover its regeneration ability.

But just as victory seemed within grasp and its HP fell below 10%, the serpent's eyes suddenly flashed with a venomous fury, and its entire body glowed ominously.

*BOOOOOOM!!*

A devastating blast of dark purple mana was unleashed in every direction.

The explosion was immense, rocking the cavern, a maelstrom of dark energy that sent Asher flying.

He slammed into the cavern wall, his skeletal form causing a loud, dull sound upon impact but remaining intact, his bones unbroken by virtue of their damned strength.

He was right back on his feet, but before he could react, the serpent's massive tail whipped around, coiling around him with constrictor-like efficiency.

Asher felt a cold sensation as his MP began to drain away, the serpent's scales leeching his mana with alarming speed while it seemed to recover itself at the same time.

MP: 9,310 -> 8200 -> 7,130->.... / 132,725

Trapped in its deathly embrace, Asher was shocked to see the insane rate at which this serpent was siphoning away his MP as each second passed, each second bringing him closer to a forced reversion to his mortal form.

Its grip was too strong for him to physically free himself, and even if he could, he wouldn't have enough mana left to fight it.

Feeling he was cornered, his figure suddenly vanished into thin air, causing the Dreadspine Serpent to have its dark purple eyes flicker with a confused and shocked light.

In the eerie silence of the Damned Dimension, Asher found himself falling to his knees amidst a desolate landscape marked by dark green-spewing volcanoes and barren rocky terrain.

The transition was abrupt, his body momentarily free from the serpent's lethal grip but still echoing with the fatigue of the recent battle.

His flesh and skin, once stripped to the bone in his Hellbringer form, began to knit itself together, though his face remained hauntingly pale.

Snapping his fingers together, Asher summoned several health potions he had tucked away from this very dimension.

With shaking hands, he downed them one after another, the magical elixirs coursing through his veins like liquid fire, knitting his mana back together while dark green veins pulsed ominously across his skin.

Each gulp brought a grimace of pain, a stark contrast to his usually unfazed face. He groaned, the recovery process agonizing enough to make him feel like fainting.

It took several agonizing minutes before his mana was fully restored, the life force traded for mana leaving a nauseous churning in his stomach. He wiped his mouth, the taste of too many potions lingering like a bad memory.

Sitting back on his haunches, Asher processed the terrifying abilities of the Dreadspine Serpent.

The creature's power to rapidly regenerate and siphon his MP had nearly been his undoing. He had a feeling it could also have siphoned his HP as well, if not for the fact that he was in his Hellbringer form.

He also thought it had some kind of passive but destructive ability that activated the moment its HP went below 10%.

That powerful blast not only broke his flow but could have weakened all his stats by a whopping 20%!...If not for him being in his Hellbringer form of course. But even without getting weakened, he was already running on fumes at that time.

"So, this is why the Moon Guardians forbade entering its lair," Asher muttered to himself, understanding the caution that even the strongest demons had advised in the past.

With a flick of his fingers, Asher conjured a damned mirror, peering through dimensions back into the serpent's lair.

The beast was in a frenzy, its colossal body twisting and turning as it searched for its vanished prey.

Confusion and rage played across its monstrous features as it unleashed its aura, probing every shadow and corner for any sign of him.

"Should I just leave?" Asher whispered into the void, his voice barely audible over the rumble of a nearby volcano.

The dilemma weighed heavily on him; his pride urged him to return, yet prudence suggested retreat.

With only two more escapes to his Damned Dimension available, every decision carried the weight of life or death.

But surrender was not in Asher's nature. He felt he might stand a better chance now that he had more understanding of its abilities.

With renewed determination, Asher took a deep, steadying breath, and in a blink, he vanished from the Damned Dimension.

Reappearing in the cavern, Asher faced the Dreadspine Serpent once more.

The creature paused, its furious search interrupted by the sudden reappearance of its foe.

Asher stood defiant, his presence a clear challenge.

"You haven't seen the last of me yet, you slippery old worm," Asher declared with a smile.

*KSCHHHHH…*

It let out an enraged hiss upon hearing his words, but instead of attacking, the hiss suddenly morphed into words, "You impudent brat. You dare call a beauty like me a slippery old worm??" It spoke in a feminine yet sharp tone that cut through the air with chilling clarity,

Asher, caught completely off guard, stumbled over his words, his battle stance faltering, "B-Beau...what?! It talks??" His voice cracked in disbelief, his eyes wide as they darted about, trying to reconcile the creature in front of him with the voice that seemed it belonged to a woman.

"Hmph," The serpent scoffed, her body coiling elegantly as if to showcase her scales that shimmered with an ethereal dark glow under the cavern's dim light, "This magnificent, beautiful, and powerful creature like myself is named Lori."

"Y-You named yourself?" Asher continued, blinking rapidly, his mind racing to process the surreal encounter. He had faced many foes, but a narcissistic, talking serpent was not something he was prepared for.

He did know some creatures could talk, but most could only parrot back what they heard or learned. There did exist myths and tales of beasts that could talk but he had yet to meet one that was alive.

But none of the ones he met could speak like an intelligent being, except for Drakaris, of course. However, that deity-like being was in a different league altogether.

"Ssssss...Why? Only you little things can name yourselves? But that is not what's important. What's important is that you should feel honored that I have chosen you as my breeding vessel," Lori declared proudly, her voice resonating with a regal and unsettling confidence.

"Excuse me but…What the fuck?"