Chapter 1960: All Good Things Must Come to An End

This well of light shining from heaven was Grace's level 99 skill, the Divine Penance. It was an AOE offensive skill that dealt light and soul element damage. The best thing about this skill was it only affected the enemies. So, even though Jack and Grace were also bathed by the light, they were unharmed.

When the well of light fell on the demons, they found their bodies becoming extremely heavy. They had difficulty moving. As they struggled to move, the shooting stars came to them. When those shooting stars arrived, they discovered they were not shooting stars. These shooting stars were hungry spirits composed of light. Their faces expressed extreme hunger. Their mouths opened wide as they attempted to devour the souls of those trapped by this light.

Damage number over damage number kept popping up on these demons as the spirits crashed into them.

Even Satan was not unscathed. He stood still as Flame Meditation burned his body to counter the damage he suffered. All the while, runic symbols flared all over his skin, reducing the damage he received.

Dajja's eye flared with ominous light. An orb of darkness shrouded his round body. What Dajja used was the Dark Space Defense. This skill was the weaker version of Jack's Void Defense. It distorted the space around Dajja. But instead of creating an unlimited space, it buffered the space around Dajja with condensed air, softening all the attacks before they hit him. The damage he suffered was greatly reduced.

The demons Dajja had summoned also used any protective skills or spells they possessed, but theirs were not as effective as Satan and Dajja. After the well of light ended, only four demons survived aside from Satan and Dajja. These four demons' HP was below one-third.

The Divine Penance had lasting effects even after the skill ended. Every enemy hit by this skill suffered several debuffs. They received a reduction in their defenses, resistance, max HP, and max stamina or MP. Every time they used a skill or cast a spell, their stamina and MP consumption were increased. These debuffs lasted the entire battle but were not stackable.

"I see you are not the only exceptional outworlder around," Satan said to Jack.

"I never said I was," Jack replied.

"You are about to learn there are even more of us, devil!" A voice thundered as a piercing light shot from behind Satan.

Satan sensed the attack. He shifted his upper body, and the piercing light went past without hitting him. He looked back and saw three new outworlders, two male and one female. The female was wielding a spear. The piercing light came from her.

"John, Jeanny, George!" Jack called.

"You are the last devil, Satan," John announced. "All your brothers had been slain."

Satan scowled upon hearing that. Unlike Lucifer, he couldn't sense the life force of the other devils. His scowl soon turned into a condescending sneer.

"What a lump of bull," he said. "If you are trying to demoralize me, you should make a more believable claim, outworlder."

John sneered back. "Well, I want to tell you to go ahead to the other fronts to learn the truth for yourself, but unfortunately, you won't be leaving this place alive."

"Harharhar," Satan laughed. "While I find Storm Wind funny. You, on the other hand, are just plain annoying."

"I can't believe I agree with Satan," Jack muttered.

Satan did not doubt that John was bluffing. Because if the other devils had fallen as John claimed, Lord Lucifer would have shown himself. Yet, he didn't. That's how Satan believed John was simply trying to demoralize him.

"Enough talk. Time to die, devil!" John exclaimed. He pointed at Satan and yelled, "Attack!!"

Jeanny and Paytowin, who were beside him, glanced at him with irritation. Why did this guy act like they were his minions?

They still advanced. They came here to defeat Satan, after all.

"I will help you, my Lord," Dajja said. He was about to advance but found Grace before him.

"Like I said, I will be your opponent," Grace exclaimed.

Dajja turned to the four surviving demons and repeated his order, "Get her!!"

However, before the four could move, a large blade came flying at high speed. The frontmost demon got cut by this large blade. It was forced back after receiving damage.

The large blade transformed into an automaton with swords for limbs and more swords on its back. This automaton was Spark, who Jack called over after Satan ended the duel by telling Dajja to aid him.

Jack called only Spark. He ordered Therras to remain with the army, helping them fight the underworld force. Without Elevate Beast, Therras was only a mythical grade. Even if Therras had much higher HP compared to regular mythical monsters, the fight with Satan was still too dangerous for it.

Jack gave the same command to his royal agents. After all, John and the others had arrived. He had enough reinforcements. His royal agents could come with the army once they defeated the underworld forces, but Jack hoped to defeat Satan before that happened.

Spark took it upon itself to face the four low-health demons. It used its third skill, which was a buff. The ten bladed wings on its back extended. Sharp blade auras came out of the wings' tips. This skill made Spark look like it was wielding ten long scythes from its back. The blade auras from the five wings on its right were silver, while the five on its left were dark purple.

These ten long scythes slashed using the sword art of Formless Flowing Sword Style. Due to the length of these scythes, Spark had a very wide reach. Its slashes hit all four demons at the same time. The four demons were overwhelmed by the complexity and ferocity of Spark's

slashes.

Jack left the four demons to Spark and Dajja to Grace. He flew toward Satan, who was already engaging Jeanny, Paytowin, John, and John's avatar incarnation.

"Hey, is your Strength of Hope available?" Jack received a message from John.

"No. Its cooldown is still around two more hours. My War God's Manifestation will be

available soon, though," Jack answered.

"I don't care about your War God's Manifestation. Don't use your Strength of Hope when it becomes available."

"Huh? Why...? Oh! Do you want to use Hope's Light?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Satan's defense increases as his HP falls. Hope's Light might be our shot at overcoming that defense," John answered.

Satan saw Jack's approach. His weapon changed into a glaive. He then spun at high speed. His spinning conjured a fiery hurricane. The hurricane repelled all his melee opponents, including Jack, who just arrived. The hurricane also blocked all the ranged attacks sent by Paytowin and

John.

Unfortunately, John and the others also ran out of big skills because they had just gone all out to defeat Mammon not long ago.

"What did I say? We should have saved our level 99 skills," Paytowin complained to John.

"Look at Satan," John said. "Jack brought him to half HP all by himself. With us helping him, do you still worry we can't defeat Satan? Stop whining and focus on the fight!"

With the others aiding Jack, Satan could no longer take a breather to utilize his self-recovery ability. His HP went down steadily.

When War God's Manifestation became available, Jack's body exploded with golden light. He used Form Manipulation and gathered all the light onto one hand, forming a giant golden sword. He then slashed that golden sword using One-word Slash. Satan's flaming weapon was cut in two, and he was forced a couple of steps back.

"Give it up, devil!" Jack exclaimed. "Your Soul and Chaos Peak Flames, Ring of Defense, and Flame Rage are all still on cooldown. You won't win!"

"Hehe," Satan chuckled. "I must say. This is the first time I have been pushed into such a situation. I must applaud you, outworlders. Especially you, Storm Wind. I never expected to experience such an exhilarating battle when I undertook this conquest of the upperworld. For this, I want to express my gratitude. However, all good things must come to an end."

Jack noticed Satan's HP then. It had hit the thirty percent mark. "Be careful, everyone!" He

exclaimed.

Satan's body burst with intense fire. The ground beneath him was instantly scorched. The flames radiated out and forced everyone to take a step back. The halo above Satan spun at high speed and enlarged. The halo then moved from Satan's head to his back. It attached itself there, becoming a flaming aureole.

The fire that was burning Satan stopped raging, but it didn't douse. It solidified and became a

second skin. It was as if Satan had a thin layer of fire covering his entire body. His eight horns grew. They became much longer and larger. They became more like antlers, and their lengths were half his body height. They were also burning, which made them look like giant torches. Despite all the transformations, it was his aura that caused everyone to become very tense. "How... How long is the duration of his form?" Jeanny asked.

Jack answered, "... Once he gets into this form. He stays this way until the battle ends."