Cucking The Demon King
Chapter 123: No way out

Chapter 123: No way out

Elsa’s jaw clenched. Her light dagger trembled slightly in her grip.

Emerald didn’t respond. Her gaze stayed sharp, her blade raised.

"No matter how hard you resist," the man continued, his words laced with scorn, "you’ll never escape me."

His voice lingered in the air like a curse.

"You’re not fighting to survive. You’re struggling to delay the inevitable."

Behind him, the heretics snickered again. One of them wiped blood from his mouth and grinned like he was drunk on the thrill of pain.

Another cracked his knuckles, licking the corner of his lips. "Let’s break their legs. Let’s see how long they crawl."

Cynthia’s shields flickered, her concentration wavering from the rising pressure. But she didn’t fall.

Emerald took a breath, low and measured.

Then she answered.

"Then come cage us."

The man’s smile sharpened.

"You first."

In an instant, two heretics lunged forward again—one leaping through the air, his body twisting mid-spin, while another slid low along the floor, dark claws sprouting from his fingers.

Emerald sprang into motion, her sword flashing in a wide arc. The airborne heretic was forced to twist away, mid-flip.

Cynthia raised a translucent golden shield in front of the second attacker, but he shattered it with a roar—only for a light spear to suddenly pierce the ground in front of him, halting his advance.

Elsa stood firm beside Emerald, another glowing weapon forming in her free hand. This time, it was a spear.

She hurled it.

The weapon sailed straight at the clawed heretic—too fast for him to dodge.

He grunted and barely managed to deflect it with a burning swipe of his arm, but the force sent him stumbling back.

"Stick to the plan!" Emerald shouted. "Cynthia, cover the sides! Elsa, rotate your weapons and stay mobile! Lela—"

She didn’t finish.

Because Lela had already vanished in a golden blur.

Light burst across the room as her boots activated, pushing her body forward like a missile.

She zigzagged between the enemies, weaving through slashes and fireballs with dizzying speed. In the blink of an eye, she was behind one of the heretics.

And then—BAM!

Her foot collided with his back in a blinding strike.

The man flew forward, smashing into a crumbled pillar with a choked grunt.

But Lela didn’t stop.

She dashed again, golden trails streaking through the room, forcing the heretics to stay split and scattered.

"Damn pest!" one of them barked, trying to pin her down with another fireball—but she was already gone before it left his fingers.

"She’s a rabbit!" another shouted.

Emerald used the moment of chaos to press forward, engaging one of the dazed attackers with calculated precision. Her blade struck true—cutting his side—but he twisted his body at the last moment, avoiding a fatal blow.

Elsa summoned a pair of short blades now, dashing in to flank the same target. Her strikes were cleaner this time. Confident. Sharp.

The heretic snarled and backed away, overwhelmed by the coordinated assault.

And yet... even with that momentum...

Even as they began to push back again...

The shadowy man remained still, watching and studying them.

His voice returned, darker now—almost cold.

"You keep swinging... but you’re only digging deeper."

A pulse of darkness erupted from his cloak. A wave of sheer, oppressive energy flooded the chamber, pushing into their skin like an invisible weight.

Emerald’s sword dipped for half a second.

Elsa winced and took a shaky step back.

Lela lost a bit of control and skidded mid-dash, barely avoiding a counterstrike.

Only Cynthia, glowing softly, reinforced her shield spells around them, struggling to keep the pressure at bay.

The man in shadows lifted both hands slowly—his cloak peeling back slightly.

However, except from the piercing darkness clouding him, there was no sight of his face.

"You’re brave," he said. "Skilled, especially for a bunch of students."

His voice grew louder with each word, building like a cruel crescendo.

"But none of that matters..."

His hands clenched into fists.

"...because I already own this battlefield."

The room shuddered, shadows began to rise from the ground beneath their feet...

They twisted, curling into different weird shapes and figures.

Like echoes of the dead.

And the worst part was—they didn’t feel like illusions.

They felt real.

Emerald’s eyes widened.

’He’s using shadow summons... and they’re not weak.’

She held her sword tightly and shouted, "Don’t let them surround you! Form a tight triangle! Cynthia, shields now!"

The battle wasn’t over.

It had only just begun.

And this time... it was on the enemy’s terms.

Emerald’s grip tightened around her sword as the pressure in the room grew heavier.

She could feel it in the air—the suffocating presence of the man in shadows.

Despite their best efforts to stay calm, she could see it on their faces: the girls were starting to lose their composure.

Elsa’s clenched jaw, Cynthia’s flickering shields, and Lela’s hurried breaths—each of them was struggling.

They didn’t want to admit it, but the truth was there, reflected in their eyes.

Emerald swallowed hard, pushing down the growing dread in her chest. She had to focus. There was no time for fear now.

The man in shadows, who had remained silent for a moment, suddenly clapped his hands together.

The sound echoed in the chamber, loud and sharp, cutting through the tension.

As he did, the shadows around him seemed to shift, growing thick and dense like living things. Emerald’s stomach twisted.

From the swirling mass of darkness, five figures began to emerge.

They took shape—barely. Shadows twisted and undulated, their forms unclear, constantly shifting.

They were like wisps of smoke, coiling in and out of focus.

The creatures moved with eerie fluidity, their very presence unnatural, inhuman.

Emerald’s heart sank, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

’Master-rank,’ she thought, grimacing.

The shadow creatures radiated power—unmistakable, raw power.

Each one was as strong as a Master, and the girl’s odds had just plummeted.

With the heretics already here, there was no hope of escape. Their numbers had doubled, and with each passing second, the battle was slipping further out of their control.

The strange man’s eyes glinted as he surveyed the scene. His lips curled into a dark smile, his satisfaction clear.

"You should have come with me," he said, his voice as cold as ice, "but now, it’s too late."

Emerald’s fingers tightened around her sword. She knew he was taunting them, trying to break their resolve, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.

She would never give in. No matter how impossible the odds, no matter how overwhelming the situation was, they would fight.

"We’ll never surrender," she declared through gritted teeth, her voice as firm as she could manage. But even as the words left her mouth, she could feel the weight of reality bearing down on her.

The man laughed, the sound cold and harsh. "How foolish. You could have avoided all this, yet you chose to fight."

His gaze turned sharp, the shadows around him thickening. "But now, you’ll see why that was a mistake."

Emerald’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the area.

The heretics, though dangerous, were still manageable.

She could feel their power. Practitioners. At best, they were practitioners—strong enough to be a threat, but not an insurmountable one. They were not the problem.

It was the shadow creatures. Each one was far stronger than she had expected. Each one felt like a storm, and she knew that with them in the mix, their chances of surviving were growing slimmer by the second.

Elsa took a step forward, her face hardening with resolve.

Her weapons of light shimmered into existence in her hands, each one shining with a fierce brilliance.

Cynthia’s shields flashed into place around her, but even as they appeared, Emerald could sense the flicker of uncertainty in her posture.

Lela’s boots glowed beneath her, the light enhancing her speed, but her movements were hesitant, as if the weight of the situation was starting to wear on her.

Emerald’s stomach turned. She knew they weren’t ready for this. None of them were.

And yet, the shadowy man’s confidence only grew.

"You think you can win?" he asked, his tone mocking, as if the idea itself were laughable.

He raised his hand, and the shadow soldiers moved, their bodies swaying with unnatural grace, each one poised to strike.

Emerald’s heart raced.

"Fight back!" she shouted to her companions, her voice filled with urgency.

Lela was the first to move, her boots flaring with light as she darted forward, aiming to strike at one of the shadow creatures.

Her speed was impressive, but it wasn’t enough.

The shadow soldier she targeted lunged, its form rippling, a blur of darkness, and knocked her to the ground with one swift movement.

"Lela!" Elsa cried out, rushing to help, but another shadow creature was already on her, tendrils of darkness wrapping around her.

Emerald’s eyes flared with panic, but she forced herself to stay calm. There was no time to hesitate. She could see it in their eyes—the way they were starting to falter.

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