Darkness surged as a twisted figure slowly emerged from the deepest part of the cave.
It was a half-human, half-snake monster.
The upper body was a pale human male with a haggard face and crazed eyes, a pair of tattered bat wings spread from his back, and curved horns grew from his head, while the lower body was a thick snake tail covered in deep purple scales.
Most striking was the snake-shaped staff he held, its tip embedded with a gemstone emitting an ominous red light.
"A demon!"
Mirajane recognized the dense Curse Power emanating from him.
"To be precise, I am the 'Curse Demon' Seraphin."
The monster hissed, his forked tongue licking his lips. "It has been ten years since I last tasted the fresh magic of a Mage... especially young humans as full of vitality as you."
Hope narrowed his eyes, carefully sensing the other's presence. "Are you the culprit who placed the Curse on the people in the canyon?"
"Curse? No, no, no..."
Seraphin let out a piercing laugh. "I am granting them eternal life. Look, shedding their fragile bodies to become immortal serpents—how wonderful!"
The Snake Transformation Curse could indeed extend the life of the cursed, but they would live on as snakes, losing their human Memory.
How could such a deformed Curse ever be held in high regard?
Hope sneered. His dismissive attitude reminded Seraphin of his humiliating past—being defeated and sealed by the Demon Slayers.
Seraphin's eyes suddenly turned venomous. "Ignorant human brat! I will torture you until you beg for death! When I'm bored of playing with you, I'll turn you into my snake servants!"
"Just like the descendants of those Demon Slayers!"
Cana said angrily, "You turned them all into snakes?!"
"They broke in here themselves."
Seraphin shrugged indifferently. "After the Demon Slayers were wiped out, some of their foolish descendants tried to find the inheritance of Demon Slayer Magic here, so I gave them a proper welcome."
"But it seems the fools of recent years have all died out."
"The last time was ten years ago... a family of three, also here to find their ancestors' Demon Slayer Magic."
"I was hungry for too long and couldn't help but eat the woman in one bite."
Speaking of this, Seraphin licked his lips as if reminiscing. "The man had some tricks up his sleeve; at the last moment, he used a life-burning spell to send their daughter away."
"Pity he didn't know I had already cast the Snake Transformation Curse on that little girl, heehee."
Seraphin raised his snake-shaped staff, the red light flaring. "Now, it's your turn. Become my new snake servants for my amusement. This time, I'll definitely hold back—I'll torment you enough before eating you!"
The gemstone at the tip of the staff shot a crimson ray directly at Hope, who was at the front.
Hope didn't dodge. He raised his left hand and casually swatted away the Curse ray.
"What?!"
Seraphin was stunned. Dispersing a Curse with his bare hands—was this even human? Had humans developed some powerful magic in the decades he had been in seclusion?
Hope wouldn't show sportsmanship to a demon. His figure vanished from the spot, striking decisively the moment Seraphin was dazed.
An instant later, he appeared beside Seraphin and slammed his fist into the demon's flank, without Magnetic Field Rotation or any magic enhancement.
It was just an ordinary punch, yet it sent Seraphin flying out of the cave. The snake tail he hurriedly used to block was shattered into Crush, and dark purple blood continuously seeped from the stump.
Hope toyed with the ruby staff he had snatched as he slowly walked out of the cave.
"In truth, you are no Curse Demon at all."
"You're just a hybrid—neither human, snake, nor bird. For Zeref to design something like you, he really has no taste."
Hope had realized when Seraphin attacked that the source of the Snake Transformation Curse wasn't Seraphin himself, but this magic staff embedded with a strange gemstone.
Hope's words pierced Seraphin's heart.
The "Curse Demon" was indeed a title he had fabricated. He was merely a failed creation resulting from the Black Wizard Zeref getting distracted during a demon-making session.
A demon without even an innate Curse naturally faced ostracization from the other "Demon of the Book of Zeref" who considered themselves orthodox.
Fortunately, although Seraphin had no Curse, his physical constitution was excellent. While he couldn't beat his own kind, he was still a creation of the Black Wizard, so bullying humans was easy enough.
But the scar of being mocked and ostracized by his peers always remained in Seraphin's heart, and Hope had ruthlessly ripped it open.
"Damn human brat!"
Blinded by rage, Seraphin even forgot who had broken his snake tail. He opened his maw wide and spat a thick purple poison mist at Hope.
Wherever the poison mist passed, even the Stones were corroded into pits.
Hope didn't bother. "Cana, I'll leave it to you."
"Finally, my turn!"
Cana, who had been itching for a fight for a long time, immediately lit up a card and threw it into the Sky. "Emerge from the azure abyss! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Immediately after, the energy began to go berserk.
Dazzling white light tore through the Sky as a dragon's shadow rapidly expanded within the radiance.
The first things to pierce the curtain of light were its pair of sapphire-like eyes, cold and majestic.
A streamlined pure-white body covered in pearl-lustered carapaces shimmered with a slight blue-white gradient under the light. A pair of massive dragon wings burst open; the membranes were as thin as glass yet indestructible, with energy flowing through their patterns.
Upon appearing, the pure-white dragon let out a roar that echoed through the canyon. The surrounding energy frantically gathered in its mouth, forming a pure-white sphere of light so bright it was impossible to look at directly.
Burst Stream of Destruction!
The next moment, a blazing white torrent that annihilated everything surged forth.
Wherever it passed, it seemed even light itself was swallowed, let alone Seraphin's poison mist.
The demon's attack was instantly dismantled. He himself was pinned to the ground by the blazing white light of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's counterattack. Seraphin's shrill screams finally ended only when a two-meter-deep pit was blasted into the ground.
Powerful! Invincible! The Strongest!
This is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
Seeing the demon lying motionless in the deep pit with green smoke rising from his body, Cana couldn't help but widen her eyes. She never imagined a magic card could possess such power.
The "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" was essentially Hope imbuing his 'Holy Dragon Slaying' and a fixed 'Shaping' into the card.
To maximize its power, Hope had put in a lot of effort. This Blue-Eyes White Dragon possessed eighty percent of his strength when he fully unleashed his Holy Dragon Slaying magic.
Although it wasn't magic specifically for demons, Dragon Slaying was a powerful Slayer-type Magic after all. Dealing with a mere Seraphin was a simple task.
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