Chapter 54: Cause and Effect

  Greedius raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised by the sight of the young man levitating before him. As far as he understood, the boy was a target of Belisara, and he hadn't expected him to survive the Foundation Stabilization ritual on the moon.

  'I doubt anything went wrong with that little she-devil. Even without cultivation, she could stir up trouble like few others.'

  His assessment was that this adept had most likely gotten lucky and simply arrived here before falling into the trap.

  'Although I wouldn't call this lucky.'

  It was definitely not a good time to appear before him and play the hero.

  "Scram, whelp, before something happens that you'll regret," he said magnanimously, turning back to his empty-headed victim.

  He reached out a hand for Ignatius, only to frown. It had been caught by that meddlesome brat.

  "I said I'd hel—" Justinian didn't even finish his sentence as a powerful blow flew towards him.

  Greedius was thoroughly fed up with this ridiculous situation. If his magnanimity was ignored, the boy had only himself to blame.

  However, the situation... unfolded differently than he had anticipated.

  "...lp him," finished the human punk before him, blocking the blow with a strange, iron-looking hand. From the sweat dripping down his temples, it was clear it had cost him dearly, but the fact remained.

  Then, events unfolded in a flash. The Lord of the Mountain ripped his hand free and threw several punches, which the youth somehow managed to dodge, and then counterattacked himself!

  A fist carrying the power of a newly stabilized foundation flew at Greedius, which he met with a mocking internal smile. He planned to take the hit to set up a counter, but his perfectly timed riposte hit air when the attack turned out to be just a feint!

  'Damn it...' he cursed inwardly, as the intruder attacked him deceitfully, striking with the momentum of his second, iron hand!

  The attack hit him perfectly, causing his bones and internal organs to grind painfully against each other, and an awful grimace twisted his face!

  But that wasn't the end. The youth, with pure hatred in his eyes, managed to send another quick punch to his jaw, which led to the absolutely unexpected!

  "Impossible!" came the shouts from the watching infernal dimension, as the absurd sight unfolded before their eyes.

  Even Boruta twirled his mustache in disbelief, still trapped in a strange, semi-transparent state, as it turned out that... Greedius, spitting blood from his mouth, had to retreat under the attacks of the young representative adept!

  The devil himself stared at the boy, unable to believe what he was seeing, as the scale of the humiliation he had just experienced dawned on him.

  Gritting his teeth, he was preparing to use a technique when the human, breathing heavily and almost red with hatred, declared:

  "I'll kill you, you fucking piece of trash."

  The battlefield, which just a moment ago had been completely stunned by the world-shattering sight, was now enveloped in absolute silence!

  "Did I mishear the Grim Judge?!"

  "He really wants to kill a Lord of the Mountain!"

  "What's more, he even managed to wound him! How powerful is the foundation he achieved?!"

  The roar that rose up after Justinian's declaration was incomparable to anything that had happened in hell to date.

  The entire chain of events that unfolded today, leading to this clash, was something that would certainly go down in the dimension's history and be gossiped about for many, many years.

  Upon hearing this threat, Greedius paradoxically calmed down.

  Before, he had been driven by haste, stemming from his worry about Boruta, but now he saw he had to focus on the threat before him.

  'I underestimated him, but it's clear he was driven by a thirst for revenge for what Belisara did in the human kingdom,' he analyzed.

  But it was another fact that intrigued him the most.

  'Could that little nit have betrayed me? Somehow, the boy knows I had a hand in it...'

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  Of course, the scenario in which Belisara died, killed by this simple pawn, was unimaginable to him.

  He himself didn't know if he could handle her scheming, and the fact that the moon was interfering with his connection to his subordinate made him even more nervous.

  'Damn Twardowski and his aversion to any interference...'

  The devil shook his head.

  'Time to show this brat the difference between a demonic virtue and his bullshit cultivation.'

  Greedius focused and looked ahead seriously. He took a deep breath, patted his belly, and... vanished!

  Justinian, with fury in his eyes, watched the Mountain Lord. He knew his arrival here was reckless, but he couldn't let him escape.

  He had seen in Belisara's memories that Greedius wanted to attack Ignatius.

  The brief exchange of blows had allowed him to gauge his opponent's immense strength. Despite using the Iron Hand of Law several times, all he had inflicted were superficial wounds.

  Pure rage was bursting from his chest when his foe disappeared from sight.

  The boy barely managed to block as an unopposable blow descended on him. A terrible sound of impact tore the air, and observers a second later saw a streak shoot across dozens of meters!

  Justinian was that streak!

  Greedius's blow was so powerful that, despite the block, it threw him a terrifying distance, his bones rattling painfully where he'd taken the hit.

  Tumbling through the air, he finally managed to stabilize. Although the fighting spirit in his eyes was stronger than ever, blood dripped rhythmically and quickly from his hand, slowly forming a small puddle.

  He had no intention of letting that stop him. Just as his foe had before, now Justinian vanished, only to reappear a moment later in front of the burly devil!

  His speeding fist was already flying towards his opponent when he suddenly hesitated! With great difficulty, he used his momentum to leap back and swore.

  The Lord of the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration... had near-invisible, tiny blades growing from his skin all over his body! That was why the previous attack had been so devastating.

  And now, smiling mockingly, he looked down on Justinian with superiority.

  "What's wrong? Weren't you saying something about killing me?"

  He then nodded his head towards Ignacjusz, still paralyzed on the ground nearby.

  "Sorry, kid, but I have important business, so I'll finish this quickly."

  Justinian couldn't even block as his opponent appeared next to him, wounding him more and more with successive blows.

  Gritting his teeth, increasingly mangled, he decided to resort to one of his trump cards to turn the situation around.

  Dodging one of Greedius's strikes, he looked him in the eyes and attacked with his intent!

  Then, without waiting even half a second, he threw a punch with the Iron Hand of Law.

  The air once again filled with a terrible boom as a cloud of dust rose high.

  It was however the direct result of the Mountain Lord's counter, who had dealt with the intent attack without any trouble!

  Now, he looked with disappointment at the fallen adept.

  "Did you really think your little tricks would work on someone stronger?"

  Aside from the clash with Shedim Medaiash, who had faced this attack before, this was the first time the intent strike had failed!

  The young man, now also bleeding profusely from his face where the hard counter had left a wound, had to retreat from his opponent.

  The devils watching this event were in absolute shock, seeing these two powerful cultivators exchange blows. After all, an event where someone with the power of Foundation Stabilization clashed was something absolutely unusual in this dimension.

  "Has Greedius always been this strong?"

  "He's a Lord of the Mountain! What else did you expect?"

  "I hope nothing happens to the Grim Judge's handsome face..."

  Especially the fiends, who on a daily basis had little to do with the affairs of the four mountains, were astonished by the unforgettable spectacle.

  Despite such a great fight with someone who was hated by a large part of the dimension, few people were genuinely happy with what they were seeing. Everyone understood that the stakes were much higher than just teaching the annoying human a lesson.

  After all, it was one thing when adepts fought and died under fair rules. It was quite another to have power games between the Mountain Lords and the Voivode, who were supposed to ensure the dimension's safety.

  Therefore, on the faces of a huge part of the audience, worry bloomed about where this shocking event would lead.

  Greedius looked at the man standing nearby with satisfaction. The adrenaline from the fight had already taken effect, and he was becoming less and less concerned that something would go wrong.

  After all, Boruta would be trapped for another good hour, and in that time, he could tie up all the loose ends.

  'This kid's foundation is surprising, though.'

  He himself was at the third level of Foundation Stabilization, and his combat experience was vast. Hence, seeing how a kid who looked to be about twenty was able, despite his recklessness, to fight him at this level, he was very impressed.

  'The question is, how could I include him in my plans?'

  The devil was not one to waste scraps. In his eyes, it was worth planning to consume everything that was unique.

  Even if not all plans succeeded, many of them would sprout wonderfully.

  He had the same approach towards Feliks, for that matter.

  Considering the situation, he concluded that the easiest thing would be to end the fight quickly.

  So, narrowing his eyes, he had no intention of calculating his power as he attacked the boy again, with the full force of his spiked technique.

  Justinian took several of his blows, staggering under their weight.

  Greedius, meanwhile, attacked ever more strongly. After a few strikes, he noticed that the blood-soaked boy's side was exposed by the stance he had taken.

  At first, he was sure it was just a feint, but he soon began to have doubts.

  'What kind of feint could he make from this position?'

  His calculations, no matter how many times he repeated them, told him that the youth was in no position to avoid a blow to that spot.

  'On the other hand, I could end this fight quickly...'

  After few more exchanges, as the kid continued to avoid his attacks by a hair's breadth, the devil decided.

  His powerful, spiked fist flew into the boy's exposed side and... connected!

  He felt bones at least crack under his powerful blow!

  What he hadn't anticipated was that, in absolute madness, the young man would ignore his spikes and grab the arm that had attacked!

  The devil immediately tried to rip it free, only to howl in terrible pain.

  His own skin, on his exposed side, had been wounded by a powerful cut from a saber that emanated a wild power and had cut off one of his horns!

  The Lord of the Mountain immediately jumped back, expecting follow-up attacks, but none came.

  Instead, he heard the whisper of his opponent, who was completely covered in blood and coughing.

  "I will kill you... even if it's the last thing I ever do..."

  That whisper made him forget his pain and feel the cold breath of fear creep up his temples.