Nothing could stop Aji now. He bombarded the Demon Lord with a powerful lightning attack from a distance. Lightning struck from all directions from the sky toward the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord dodged to the far right, but the lightning attack struck him directly. He dodged to the far side again, half a kilometer away, but Aji sensed it. He launched another lightning attack.

Aji's magical abilities were capable of destroying anything from a distance. Aji didn't display his magical and assassin abilities carelessly; he only intended to use them against the Demon Lord. This was the moment. Until now, the Legend of the Lightning Striker had only been known for his warrior-like strength, capable of destroying anything with his fists.

This time, it was different because the enemy he had always sought was the Demon Lord.

The thunderous roar grew louder, destroying everything. The earth where the Demon Lord and Aji were fighting was now a lifeless plain, with craters everywhere. They were truly monsters capable of destroying anything.

Lord Demon grinned even more as he dodged all of Aji's attacks. Aji descended to the ground, recovering his strength while preparing a new power to destroy Lord Demon.

It was time to use his assassin powers.

A light emerged from Aji's hands, and two half-meter-long daggers appeared from them. Magical energy radiated from the two energy daggers; his speed was at a high level, and his attack power was imbued with warrior power.

Perhaps this was the way to take down Lord Demon! A second later, Aji seemed to vanish from sight. It wasn't a form of invisibility, but rather the incredible speed displayed by Aji. Lord Demon seemed shocked by Aji's disappearance and became prepared.

From the right!

Wooossssshh! Bug!

Aji's attack with the daggers was already half a meter away, about to hit Lord Demon. Lord Demon's reaction was swift, and an energy barrier appeared, but Lord Demon couldn't block the effect. Lord Demon's body was sent flying away. Lord Demon was struggling with the surprise attack.

As Lord Demon was sent flying, his eyes looked up, and Aji had disappeared again. Where had he disappeared?

Aji appeared very quickly behind Lord Demon. As Lord Demon looked back, he realized Aji was behind him. Lord Demon was about to turn to block the attack, but it was too late.

Duaagg!

A powerful blow from two daggers approached Lord Demon's back. Lord Demon reacted quickly and coated his back with an energy shield. The attack sent Lord Demon flying forward again.

Lord Demon, who was knocked flying, turned around and was immediately followed by Aji, who shot with great force towards Lord Demon. Lord Demon's eyes narrowed as Aji was about to land a blow with his two energy daggers.

Splash!

Lord Demon's body vanished, and Aji landed an empty blow as Lord Demon's body vanished before him. Lord Demon also possessed incredible speed, so he was now above the shattered ground, while Aji remained quite far above him. They were about 30 meters apart.

Of course, Lord Demon was not an opponent to be defeated easily. He had also absorbed thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of souls from the energy of the creatures he had killed. Such a vast amount of energy must have accumulated within the Demon Lord's soul. Furthermore, the Demon Lord was a supreme being recognized by all the dark forces.

A one-on-one encounter was already incredibly difficult, let alone with the Five Gates protecting him.

Yes! The Five Gates!

Aji realized something. There was something strange about this whole battle. It felt real, and Aji felt like he was trapped in this strange struggle. Indeed, the Five Gates couldn't possibly abandon their master.

Aji closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

"How dare you, Thunderbolt Striker! I've already killed two of your comrades, Yonan and Ganad. I've already crushed them. I'll make you join them soon! Ha... ha... ha..." Lord Demon's laughter boomed.

The laughter made Aji realize even more that this was something strange. Aji opened his eyes with calm. Destruction was everywhere he saw. The ground beneath them was burning everywhere, everything seemed to be smoking, and it felt like the end of the world.

This was a life-and-death battle. This was the goal Aji had desired. Aji felt like his life's goal had always been right before him. But why did everything seem so different? On the other end, Lord Demon was still laughing loudly, mocking Aji.

One more thing, how did Lord Demon know his identity as the Lightning Striker? Aji had changed his appearance. No one should have known he was the Lightning Striker. Thanks to the water of life and Soul Deep, no one should have known his identity, except for Aaman, who was sure to keep his identity secret.

This was odd, but what was this? Aji was still struggling to regain his memories of everything about himself.

"Aji! Aji! Wake up!"

A woman's voice? It was the voice of a woman Aji knew. It was Gayatri's voice! Indeed, Aji closed his eyes once more. He realized one thing now: this was an illusion, and he was trapped within the illusion of the Heart Dragon artifact.

When his eyes opened, Lord Demon's figure charged towards him with a large sword engraved with a dragon, shrouded in a cloud of darkness.

"Die, Lightning Striker! Rest in peace with your two comrades!" Lord Demon's shouts went unheeded until Aji was several meters away. Aji remained calm and simply extended his right palm forward, facing the Lord Demon's swift attack, imbued with a dark energy.

The attack, filled with maximum darkness, was about to consume Aji in a matter of seconds, and was only a stone's throw away. Aji smiled, not resisting the Lord Demon's immense energy.

As his consciousness recovered, the Lord Demon's body vanished like fine dust, spreading forward and past Aji. This was an illusion, where the Heart Dragon illusion traps one. Calmness is the way to counter the illusion that traps one within that illusionary realm. And mental weakness will keep one trapped within the Heart Dragon illusion.

The dimension he was in seemed to be burning from all sides, disappearing like burning paper, and he began to see the new rooms around him one by one. It was a room within the large chamber where the third test for the Heavenly Troops was taking place.

Aji had emerged from the Heart Dragon illusion.

He saw that several people seemed to be asleep and delirious. Even the two intruders who had just fought him were affected. Everyone's sweat dripped down their faces, and they seemed to sense something in the anxiety on their faces.

Only one person now looked at Aji consciously; it was Gayatri. The woman's voice in the illusion had brought him back to his senses. The woman smiled at him and nodded.