Venerable Demon King & The Doting Immortal (QT)-Chapter 31: Karma

The Demon King reached her, cradling her dying body in his arms. His eyes met Xiang Yu’s, fury and grief warring within them. "You bastard!" he spat. "I should have strangled you on your first breath."

Xiang Yu laughed, the sound echoing off the walls. "That... you should have," he said. "Both of us can agree on that." He took a step back and with a cruel twist, he crushed her demon core in his palm. Power surged through him like an infernal wildfire. Xiang Yu’s veins glowed, and his eyes blazed like twin suns.

The Demon King’s grief turned to violent rage. He clung to Lu Se, her blood staining his hands. "I will kill you," he said through gritted teeth.

Xiang Yu didn’t reply. He closed his eyes getting ready for the fight of his life. The Demon King got up with Lu Se’s lifeless form in his arms. Her once-fierce eyes were now vacant, and her silk skin seemed to lose its lustre. He walked towards the edge of the arena to pass her over. He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering for a moment. He handed her over to her concubines then he straightened his back, his aura shifting. The air thickened with hostility, and the concubines stepped back, their delicate features etched with fear.

"You mongrel," the Demon King said, his voice a low growl.

"My name is Xiang Yu, the Yu for rain. I figured you should know my name before either one of us dies," he said as he raised his head, but his father wasn’t listening.

He was walking towards him, and with each step he took, he revealed his true form. His body stretched, tearing through the embroidered robes that had once adorned him. A pair of horns sprouted from his skull, curving upward like twisted thorns. His fingernails elongated into talons, and his eyes glowed with infernal fire.

Xiang Yu felt a deadly force envelope him. It pulled at him, lifting him from the ground. His neck felt constricted, and he couldn’t breathe. His veins throbbed dark spots obscuring his eyes.

"You actually dared to challenge me?" the Demon King snarled.

Xiang Yu’s vision blurred, and his complexion shifted the life draining from his body. He could end it like this. He could fall into an eternal sleep with no pain, no rejection... just peace. But he couldn’t let this bastard win. He refused to die in his hands. His demon blood stirred like a violent storm and his fingers clawed at the invisible grip around his throat.

With a surge of strength, he broke free plummeting toward the sand. The wind howled past him as he fell to the ground. Pain exploded through his body, but he rolled, absorbing the impact. Blood seeped from his mouth as he staggered to his feet.

The Demon King’s chest rose and fell his true form a monstrous nightmare in the flesh. Xiang Yu wiped the blood from his lips his eyes locked on his father. The arena quaked as Xiang Yu got up. He faced his father, a behemoth that was now twice his size. His demon blood surged within him, flames licking at his veins.

His father lunged forward, swinging his blade that could cleave mountains. Xiang Yu dodged the air singing with the near-miss. His years under the dead guards improved his agility and speed, and combined with his accumulated power, he was a force not to be reckoned with. But he couldn’t evade them all. The next blow sent him sprawling, ribs cracking. He tasted blood, gritting his teeth against the pain.

He staggered to his feet, defiance burning in his eyes. Xiang Yu charged his sword with a comet of vengeance. Their blades met, and the ground trembled. Each strike reverberated through his bones, but he pressed on. He met the Demon King head-on, fury fuelling his every move.

The crowd roared, their voices revelling in the brutality of their king. They wanted him to tear that half-blood to shreds and perch his body at the centre of the market for all to see. Xiang Yu’s body was battered, his skin marred by gashes. But he rose, again and again refusing to back down.

The Demon King’s eyes glowed his fury ablaze. He swung his blade and Xiang Yu blocked, muscles screaming. The blade bit into his flesh as he was forced to the ground. His legs trembled as he stared into those heartless eyes.

Thinking of his master’s words of sacrificing eight hundred for a thousand, he let the blade pierce through his flesh, and when his father wasn’t paying attention, he drove his sword into the Demon King’s abdomen.

The blade sank deep, and his father staggered back, eyes wide with shock. Xiang Yu wrenched the sword free, blood spattering across the sand. His father clutched his wound, his regal facade crumbling. Xiang Yu’s eyes burned with hatred. He wouldn’t stop, not until he took everything from him. With a swift movement, he slashed at the Demon King’s Achilles heels. The tendons snapped, and the Demon King collapsed, his roar echoing through the arena.

His form shifted, and he returned to his normal height, his body trembling with rage. He tackled Xiang Yu to the ground and the back of his head hit the ground with a loud thud. His head buzzed but he didn’t have time to recover.

He dodged the sharp claw aimed at his face. He kneed his father’s wound thrice in retaliation. The two of them scuffled on the ground, blood and rage intermingling. Xiang Yu crumpled to the ground as his father punched his wounded chest repeatedly. Pain exploded within him his veins bulging on his neck and temples.

The torment finally stopped giving him a moment of reprieve. The Demon King tried to get up and get his fallen sword but he was in excruciating pain. The wounds in his ankles could heal fast but not fast enough. He crawled toward his sword leaving a trail of blood on the sand.

Xiang Yu was in agony but he rose to his feet. He wanted to grab his sword but his gaze fell upon his father’s whip that had fallen. He quickly snatched it up, its material cool against his palm. As the Demon King rushed towards him Xiang Yu tried to strike him. The whip resisted him as it was a divine weapon. It writhed as if alive, but Xiang Yu’s blood dominated it. The serrated blades tore at the Demon King’s chest ripping his flesh. His father staggered back and Xiang Yu took the opportunity to pay him back for the scars on his back. As the saying goes, karma is a bitch.