The Greatest Sinner

"Three hundred years? You're fucked! Are you sure you're a demon and not a robber?" Evan said with a frown.

"AHAHAHA, you have no other option anyway, and I'm sure you know better than anyone else that my offer is fair. There can't be any other way. Your body is still too weak to withstand that kind of power, so you'll have to make some sacrifices." Duke Flauros said with a smirk.

<Damn, if I hadn't known demons always offered only fair deals, I would have thought I was some charlatan in front of me. I was prepared for that, though, but losing three hundred years... it's a nightmare. It's a good thing I'm strong enough to summon the 65th demon already.> Evan thought.

"Alright, I agree," Proclaimed Evan with a shrug. He had no other option anyway.

Duke Flauros smiled, and his flame headed towards Evan. He felt as if he was burning alive. His body could hardly stand the fire. But, in time, the pain was replaced by a pleasant, warm sensation. Then Duke Flauros took years of Evan's life.

When Evan lost about half of his remaining life, he felt as if he were almost dead. He felt as if he had lost his heart, and his blood had stopped flowing through his veins.

"See you later." Duke Flauros said, smiling wryly, and disappeared. He had made a great deal today.

Evan's consciousness returned to reality, and changes began to happen to his body at the exact moment. His eyes began to burn brightly, and the silhouette of a massive, flaming leopard appeared behind Evan. It was as big as the Jade Serpent.

The beast sensed an incredible threat from Evan and tried to move away to a safe distance, but Evan wasn't about to let it do that.

Evan swung his arm, and with it, the fire leopard struck the ground with his paw. At the same moment, a wave of fire spread out for several kilometers around. The temperature of the flames was so high that even the crystal trees began to melt and turn into sparkling puddles.

As Evan had said, he had made the Glass Forest a living hell. Hundreds of monsters and beasts were turned to charcoal, their bodies burned to the ground, and some were left without even ash.

Nevertheless, the Jade Serpent was able to withstand this wave of flames. Its scales were robust and resistant to any elemental attacks. The Jade Serpent was about to attack again, but then fear appeared in his eyes.

This attack, with which Evan destroyed half of the Glass Forest, was only a prelude. It was just a tiny spark before the flames ignited in a massive fire.

Evan stared at the serpent and then folded his hands together into one big fist. He struck sharply from above, and the fire leopard did the same. A massive fire wall appeared in front of Evan and headed toward the Jade Serpent. The ground that the wave of fire passed over was melted and partially turned into burning shards.

The Jade Serpent could not avoid the wall of flame. It was too huge. However, the beast quickly figured out what it needed to do.

It quickly burst into the ground, thereby bypassing the wave of fire. Jade Serpent thought that Evan could not attack it underground and that flames could not burn in such a place, but the serpent was wrong.

Evan swung his arm, and the leopard's tail turned into a long, fiery whip that plunged deep into the ground. The next moment, a wave of flame through the tail traveled into the bowels of the earth, and the entire Glass Forest trembled.

Dozens of pillars of flame erupted from beneath the ground as if marking the beginning of the apocalypse. Even the land could not hide from Evan's flames.

The Jade Serpent struggled to dodge the pillars of fire appearing in its path, but it could not continue indefinitely. At one point, the beast failed to react, and the flames engulfed it.

The serpent's scales charred, and it had to get out. The serpent was severely wounded, but it could keep fighting, and so could Evan.

Evan mercilessly unleashed flames on the Jade Serpent for the next few minutes. Half of the Glass Forest was transformed into burnt wasteland and magma fields during that time. The area would never be the same again.

The Jade Serpent came to his limit, as did Evan. He attacked the serpent dozens of times, but the beast deftly dodged its attacks, and when it failed, it took the blow on itself. The serpent was wounded but still alive.

Evan only had strength left for one last attack, which he brought down sharply on the Jade Serpent. The blades of fire flew towards the serpent.

The Jade Serpent reacted quickly and curled up into a ball. He knew that victory would be his if he could withstand this attack.

Crackle.

The blades reached the serpent, and the rainbow scales collapsed one by one. Gradually the flames reached the beast's flesh, and it began to burn alive. But, the next moment, the serpent's body turned the other way, exposing the still relatively intact scales to the blow.

Eventually, the serpent's entire body was charred when the fire leopard disappeared, and Evan could hardly breathe. However, just when Evan thought he was done with it, he heard a loud cracking sound.

Many cracks went through the charred scales of the snake. All the scales were destroyed in a few seconds, but the Jade Serpent was excellent. The snow-white scales on its body sparkled again. The beast looked as if it hadn't been in the midst of a fiery inferno a few minutes ago.

<He shed his skin!?> Evan shouted to himself.

It was exactly like that. Evan was out of luck, for the Jade Serpent was supposed to have shed its skin around this time. But, the serpent also put a lot of effort into getting him to shed his hide. He tried to dodge and expose the parts of his body that was not badly damaged. Otherwise, his new hide would have been burned as well.

Moreover, some of Evan's attacks penetrated two skins and even burned some of the flesh. But, in this situation, those wounds were almost nothing.

Evan was not wounded, but he had no strength, unlike the serpent.

The Jade Serpent opened its mouth wide and pounced on Evan, but Evan heard a loud crack at that moment.. Then he broke through his first Stage Barrier in a second - Two-Pointed Star.