Chapter 583: Chapter 585: Hour Of Weakness Damon crawled to the edge of the crystal platform, looking down at the sight below him. At the vast entrance of the cavern was a small swarm of demons, mostly lesser demons, as well as two Goristro holding massive axes. However, what made Damon narrow his eyes was a goblin sitting on the back of a lesser demon. His body was small and covered from head to toe in blood. Parts of his flesh were missing as if they had been cut off. From the looks of it he was on his last legs. However, even then he sat up straight as if the pain meant nothing to him. He gave off a formidable aura that was both arrogant and domineering. Naturally, this was Ashcroft. As soon as Ashcroft made his entrance, the massive swarm of spiders didn’t even hesitate. They charged forward with the intent to defend their nest and their queen mother. Ashcroft casually waved his hand as the lesser demons and Goristro roared without a hint of fear against the overwhelming odds they were facing. It was just a few lesser demons, maybe a dozen, with the support of the Goristro. Most of Ashcroft’s forces had been decimated. They had died facing Abellona’s knights, losing him most of his Balors save one, which was later killed. His lesser demons and Goristro were also killed. Ashcroft didn’t have much time. Damon was sure Ashcroft knew he was here, and he also knew Damon would not run from him. This was Ashcroft’s final obstacle. In a sense it was fair—Ashcroft had an army of demons to do his bidding, so Damon using monsters was fine. Then again, there was no fair in life or in war, and life was war, so expecting fair was a crude joke. Ashcroft laughed, his voice echoing in the air. "Usurper... hide, hide all you want... but I am the dominator. Like many before you, you will be dominated." Damon narrowed his eyes, the shadows around him deepening as the battle below raged on. The dungeon rumbled, rocks fell from the ceiling, and corpses of both demons and spiders grew. The demons were fewer, however they fought more intensely, more fiercely. With each spider they felled, a shadow grew in Damon’s heart. With it came doubt. Would he be able to kill Ashcroft? For the first time, he doubted if he could defeat Ashcroft in the same rank. This was a monster. Even with time against him, he was just too strong. The spiders charged forward, shooting webs of sharp crystal wires, killing the demons. When one fell ten took its place, and when ten fell a hundred stood where it had been. The demons were fierce, but the spiders had the numbers. And no matter how fierce the spirit, the body would not be able to keep up. A Goristro roared as it was surprised and pinned down by crystal spiders. One of them pulled its head into the ceiling, the other ripping it apart. Blood soaked the dungeon floor. Damon watched as Ashcroft observed his minions being slain. He didn’t even look worried or anxious. Biting his lips, Damon took a deep breath. "I’ve gotten complacent... of course I can’t win... when have I ever fought a battle I could win? Having grown stronger, I have forgotten what being the weakest is like..." Damon stood up, unafraid that Ashcroft would spot him. "I didn’t fight because I could win. I fought because I didn’t want to just accept it..." That was the problem. He was fighting like someone who always had power, who always succeeded. But at his core he was just a master of defeat. "I’m not a winner. I’m a survivor." That was what he had done wrong. He was trying to fight Ashcroft as a winner, not as someone who survived tooth and nail. There was a soft smile on his face as the last of the demons was cut down, save for the lesser demon Ashcroft was sitting on. Ashcroft slowly, unhurried, got off the lesser demon. This time it didn’t charge in like its kin. Instead it left the cavern. The demon lord of domination watched as the massive swarm of spiders charged toward him, almost like a crystal flood. He raised his hand. An entire section of the spiders ceased to exist. All that fell was shattered remains, legs, mandibles, chitin, heads and half-wreathed monster corpses. This was the power of Ashcroft. Still, the demon lord coughed up blood. Even so, he didn’t halt, he didn’t slow down. He smiled. "Flame Dominate." Pillars of fire rose around the spiders as the smell of roasted bugs spread with clouds of smoke. Fire spread as Damon watched from the crystal on the ceiling. The spiders had seemed like an unstoppable army, a calamity that could reduce cities to nothing. But faced with Ashcroft, all they could do was shatter, break, and die. Right before his eyes, the thousands of spiders marched to their deaths as blood soaked the dungeon floor, corpses filling everywhere. Ashcroft remained where he was, without moving a single spot, until the corpses had formed tall towers of half-destroyed remains. It was difficult to find any intact corpse. Some were burned, some were frozen, some died in ways Damon could not quite explain, and he watched all this knowing he would face this monster next. Ashcroft was untouched, but the more he fought, the more spiders fell, the more his aura diminished, his body breaking apart. Finally, the demon lord of domination walked forward, with no spider left to hinder him. Even as his body bled, he carried the same unstoppable, domineering aura. He finally stopped in front of the giant spider queen. It was the last of its kind left alive. Its many giant eyes carried the anguish of a mother that had watched her children get destroyed by a monster. Ashcroft raised his destroyed, frail-looking hand. "I would give you a swift death but I am too weakened... still, allow me to honor you with a spell created by the unknown god himself..." The spider was not reactive. It was already on the offensive, this powerful rank four monster already raising its massive frontal legs to strike. Ashcroft’s hand began to glow. "Tinder to spark, ember to glow, In this place, let fire grow. With a breath, let flames flow, Consume all—Inferno." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 With an immolating wave of heat, flames consumed the giant crystal spider, its body turning to ash. Ashcroft’s body rotted even more. Still, he slowly turned around with an anguished smile. "Have you finally decided to face me..." His gaze was on a figure looking down on him as he stood atop the tallest mountain of spider corpses. His armor was something Ashcroft recognized, especially now, seeing it in its sovereign mantle form. "The armor of Pale Crown... as expected of the usurper... you inherited Valthren’s armor." Ashcroft continued speaking. "The last wielder was someone I didn’t quite kill... will you fare any better?" The figure in dark armor finally spoke. "Time to find out."