Chapter 662

Chapter 662: The Struggle of Shadows

Following the signs of the Soul Link, Jesse ran deep into the ruins of Grim Batol with Greed. Dragonmaw Orcs fled in all directions before them, having lost all will to fight. Under Deathwing’s terrifying pressure in the sky, escape was their only thought.

Though the black dragon’s shadow energy and the Red Dragon Queen’s radiant life force nearly drowned out all other magic, Jesse focused and detected that faint, familiar aura. He knew Molofeel too well.

After guiding Greed through roofless corridors, he finally spotted a shadow using Detect Demon… Wait, *two* shadows?!

The figures twisted together; one was clearly overpowered, while the other raged like a madman. What was that? Why was there another demon?!

“Ahead! Hear that, Jesse?” Greed pointed toward a collapsed hall’s entrance. Crawling beneath a fallen pillar, Jesse saw Molofeel darting through distant wreckage as a black monster chased her, attacking wildly!

Molofeel used Shadowstep to evade, but the winged demon matched her agility, swinging what was unmistakably Nekros’s staff!

Nekros had become a demon!

He screamed, “You slaughtered my men like cattle and dared enslave my will! You won’t die by a black dragon’s hand—pay now, filth!”

Exhausted from using Charm to control him, Molofeel struggled to dodge. When the demon seized her throat and raised his hammer, an orcish sword flew from behind and stabbed his flank!

“Release her, demon! I live… Seek vengeance for your kin? Face me!”

Vereesa’s voice!

The demon roared curses as he ripped the sword free. The succubus vanished into shadows. From the weapon’s origin, the elf stared coldly, gripping a scavenged blade.

“Thirty-seven subordinates, actually. Including your hideous son,” Vereesa taunted.

Molofeel reappeared meters away, raising her black dagger. “Yet you watched, Nekros. Now kneel… uncaring as they perished.”

“Silence!” Nekros lunged at Vereesa, but a blood-red tendril yanked his hoof mid-air, unbalancing him…

“Yulok… No, Jesse Seso! *Ah!*”

Nekros struggled against Jesse’s Gorefiend’s Grasp. As the demon descended, Greed charged. Thunder struck his hammer from the churning sky, and the dwarf leaped, smashing downward. Nekros swung to block—weapons collided, shadow and lightning flaring!

A flash lit the ruins! Nekros hurtled backward into rubble, his staff shattering into pieces.

“Don’t let him flee!” Greed bellowed, landing hard.

Vereesa pursued fastest, vaulting a collapsed wall. But shadow exploded before her, forcing her back. Nekros burst through dust, wings beating as he steadied himself aloft.

Vereesa—likely having lost her bow in Grim Batol’s destruction—could only glare upward, clutching her orcish blade.

Greed hurled his lightning-wrapped hammer. The demon dodged effortlessly…

Jesse closed in, casting Curse of Weakness. The spell landed, but Nekros sensed him and soared higher, escaping Jesse’s reach.

The demon cackled, relishing their frustration.

“They said I’d never fight again after losing my legs—even Zuluhed, my chieftain! He won’t see this day… but you scum will witness who the true warrior is!”

“Fight me, coward! What warrior flees?!” Greed roared. “Bring him down, Jesse! He can’t match us, even as a demon!”

Jesse summoned a Shadow Bolt, but Nekros hurled shadow without incantation! Jesse and Greed dove aside as dark energy detonated. A second bolt followed—Greed took the blast head-on. Only his Potion of Shadow Protection spared him grave injury.

“Damn these warlocks!”

Greed cursed, sheltering behind a wall as Nekros rained endless Shadow Bolts from above, laughing madly.

Jesse knew why: Deathwing’s descent had drowned Grim Batol in shadow and flame, its innate darkness magnifying Nekros’s Shadow Magic.

Nekros fought on home ground.

Shadow blasts erupted relentlessly. As the group sought an opening, thunder cracked the sky. A draconic head emerged from black clouds, roaring as it dragged a smaller—yet still monstrous—Red Dragon into a crumbling wall…

The earth shook. Their battle vanished beneath the cataclysm.

Amid distant ruins, Deathwing rose like a volcanic eruption.

He headbutted the Red Dragon, shattering scales and horns. The dragon’s shrieks echoed through burning peaks. Deathwing’s claws tore its neck, blood gushing as he thundered, “Today I crush every one of you! None leave Grim Batol!”

“No! Thal’dor!”

The Red Dragon Queen screamed. A pillar of fire tore through the night—she fought insanely, unaware of Jesse’s group. To dragons, mortals were but specks in this apocalypse.

Greed abandoned his pursuit, fleeing outward. Jesse hurled himself into rubble as searing flames engulfed the ruins, surging toward the mountain-like dragon. Deathwing merely beat his wings, scattering the fire into a whirling inferno.

“Patience… My Alexstrasza. Your turn comes.”