A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5452

"Holy Judgement!" the guard commander cried, thrusting his spear skyward.

A pillar of blinding gold erupted from the weapon's tip and thundered down the street.

"Ahh!"

Demon Cultivators caught in its path shrieked tragically, then dissolved to drifting gray ash before their screams fully left their throats.

Yet for every soul erased, two more clawed forward, rabid and unthinking, their only purpose to drown the fleeing party beneath sheer numbers.

"Ms. Dusko, this can't hold. We're drowning out here!" Aurelius shouted over the din.

Onneas felt her own power sputtering like a guttering candle. "Hold fast! If we reach the gate, we still have a chance!"

"The gate—there, just ahead!" Yuliana's voice trembled between pain and hope as she pointed to the battered sandstone archway scarcely a hundred yards away.

Hope vanished an instant later. From the roiling sky descended a swarm of jet-black demonic souls that wove themselves into a vast, quivering barrier, sealing the exit with living darkness.

"Hahaha! None of you will leave!" The arrogant voice of Soul Devourer rolled from the distant palace, rich with cruel delight. "Today, every last one of you dies."

Artemis, pale and sweating, whispered, "What now?"—her legs already buckling beneath her.

Onneas drew a shaking breath, eyes burning with resolve. "Golden Armor Guards—full assault! Break that wall or die trying!"

Three hundred gold-armored sentries answered in one thunderous voice, the single syllable cracking like a drumroll across the ruined plaza.

A heartbeat later, each warrior emptied the last reserve of his spiritual energy. Golden light flooded out of their bodies, braided itself into a single radiant spear the length of a city street, and—with a howl that rattled teeth—shot straight toward the onyx barrier ahead.

"Boom!"

The spear collided with the black wall. Concussive pressure ripped through the square, overturning debris, shredding banners, and driving even the strongest fighters a step back.

Veins of silver cracks darted across the obsidian shield. For one hopeful second, it looked ready to shatter—then the fractures froze, quivering, and the wall held.

A cold, playful voice drifted through the smoke. "Futile. Did you truly think such a parlor trick could breach my line?" Soul Devourer sounded almost amused—as though carnage were a game he had already won.

Onneas clenched her jaw until it hurt. If we don't break that shell now, every soul under this sky dies with me.

"Quartet Celestial Guards—stand with me!" she shouted.

Boom!

"We have to vanish before they reform!" Onneas shouted.

No one dared slow. They ran as if chased by judgment itself, footsteps drumming a desperate cadence across the open plain.

Behind them, the capital shook. Echoes of titans colliding rolled across the night—Jared, ridden by the Vermilion Demon Lord, was still locked in brutal combat with Soul Devourer. Each distant blast lit the horizon, reminding the fugitives that dawn—and salvation—were a very long way off.

"Jared, he..." Yuliana began, the words snagging in her throat.

She whipped around, violet robes swirling, and cast an anxious glance over her shoulder as though distance alone might let her see what was happening behind them."

Flaxseed laid a calloused hand on her arm. "Easy," he murmured, voice meant to steady them all. "Vermilion Demon Lord doesn't fall that quickly. He'll find a way to slip the noose. He always does."

Onneas kept her eyes fixed on the black-smudged skyline of Celestia City. A complicated light flickered there. "We owe him our lives," she said, the admission soft but iron-clad.

No one argued. They all remembered the moment Vermilion Demon Lord had seized Jared's body and hurled himself between them and the Soul Devourer. Without that sacrifice, they would already be corpses inside the ruined capital.

"First we heal," Onneas added, her voice regaining command. "We find shelter, mend our strength, then we go back for him. We don't leave debts like this unpaid."

The others nodded as one. Bruised, bleeding, but unbroken, they turned and fled toward the pale horizon, putting mile after mile between themselves and the city now crawling with demon cultivators.