Absolute King Chapter 17.

Chapter 17:The demon three.

Faust felt like his insides were on fire. Every organ burned, tearing him apart from within as blood poured from his nose, ears, and mouth. He collapsed, writhing, the pain unbearable.

Mark stepped forward slowly, sword in hand, glaring down at the broken sorcerer with nothing but disgust.

Faust forced his head up. His eyes were bloodshot, his body trembling, but his pride wouldn’t let him stay down. He clawed at the ground, trying to rise. All he managed was to kneel, coughing blood, humiliated that a teenager, No, a kid was the one who brought him so low.

Through clenched teeth and burning lungs, he spat out the question that tortured him.

“Wha… t-the f… fuck did you do… to me?” His words cracked apart as blood bubbled from his lips.

Mark blinked, genuinely surprised. “You can still talk? I thought you’d be unconscious by now. Guess I’ll give you this much,your resilience is impressive.”

He lowered his blade slightly and continued.

“You see, you’re not the only one who sets traps. The moment you stepped foot into my home, you sealed your fate.”

Faust’s eyes widened.

“I knew someone was watching me. You said you’ve been monitoring me this past week? In truth, it was the other way around. I saw through your disguise when you pretended to be a janitor at my school, always stealing glances at me.”

Mark’s gaze sharpened.

“I have a sense for when people are staring at me. And I don’t take kindly to it.”

Faust coughed violently, shaking his head, still not understanding. “Bu… t-that still… doesn’t… explain what you did to me.”

“Oh, that?” Mark smirked. “You can thank my phantasm—Ramesseum Tentyris. A gift from the King of Kings.”

The name meant nothing to Faust. His confusion deepened.

Mark leaned closer. “Let me spell it out. The Ramesseum Tentyris acts like a temple. I don’t have the mana to summon it completely, but I adapted its effect to surround my home. Its specialty? Drawing in curses. Here, my house is my temple. Which means anyone who steps inside… is mine to curse.”

Finally, Faust understood. His body convulsed harder. Rage and

humiliation burned hotter than the pain.

Mark raised his sword high, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

“Remember this—you brought it on yourself.”

But before his blade could strike, a heavy clang rang out—his strike blocked by a massive axe.

Mark leapt back, shocked. Faust started to laugh—loud, wild, hysterical.

“I swear, kid—you really got me,” he wheezed, rising to his feet with unnatural strength. His wounds were closing, the blood drying.

Mark’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell…?”

“You made me feel useless, so I decided to play my trump card.”

Faust grinned wickedly. “Meet Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast. Or, as they’re known… the Demon Three.”

The ground split open in a burst of molten fire. From the abyss crawled three towering demons, grotesque bodies twisted, each carrying an axe dripping with brimstone. Their guttural growls shook the earth.

Mark clenched his sword tighter. So that’s how he broke the curse… He traded his suffering for their power.

But instead of fear, he felt a rush of excitement.

“Alright then. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The demons charged like rabid predators. One swung its axe down in a wide arc, but Mark sidestepped cleanly. Before he could counter, another demon lunged from behind, its blade crashing down.

Mark spun, parrying just in time but the third kicked him hard in the chest, launching him across the dirt.

He skidded back, boots tearing trenches in the ground. His chest burned.

“Not bad,” he muttered, steadying himself.

The demons pressed on, attacking relentlessly. Mark fought back with precision, his blade ringing out with each clash. Still, he was outnumbered. He leapt high, summoning dozens of sword constructs in the air, sending them spiraling down in a storm of steel.

The blades pierced through their twisted bodies. But the demons simply roared, ripping the swords out and regenerating.

Mark cursed under his breath. “Damn… this is gonna be rough.”

One demon rushed forward. Mark slashed hard, severing its head clean off—only to watch in disbelief as the creature calmly reattached it, grinning with jagged teeth.

“These things aren’t normal…”

His stamina was waning fast. He needed more.

Mark gripped Clarent tightly, pouring the last of his strength into it. The blade glowed crimson, thrumming with power.

“Noble Phantasm—release!”

A pillar of scarlet light tore through the sky, bright enough to be seen for miles. Mark brought it crashing down, engulfing the battlefield in a roaring inferno.

The ground exploded. The earth split apart. A sea of crimson fire swallowed the demons whole, their screams echoing across the night. Faust shielded himself with a barrier, his face twisted with effort.

When the smoke cleared, a blackened trench stretched across the battlefield. The Demon Three were scorched and broken, their bodies unable to regenerate this time. Mark collapsed to one knee, gasping, his mana completely drained. Faust too was down, panting heavily, barely able to stand.

Mark smirked weakly. “Looks like… it’s over.”

But Faust’s rage only burned hotter.

“You… bastard… Forget the Grail—I’m going to kill you.”

With trembling hands, he pulled out a yellowed parchment from his coat and muttered an incantation. The words twisted in the air like fire and smoke, an eerie echo clinging to each syllable.

Mark’s eyes widened. “Wait… is that a mnemonic spell? Since when did Faust start stealing tricks from Zatanna?”

Purple energy wrapped around the three demons, their charred bodies convulsing. With a hideous roar, they regenerated—stronger, larger, more monstrous than before.

They towered over Mark, their eyes burning like molten suns.

The only thing he could mutter was, “Oh, shit…”