Devil’s Night – 5

Crow feathers fluttered in the air as his greatsword stuck with enough force to burn the world. Even though I was far away from him thanks to Ubiquitous, I still needed to lift the Twilight Sword to defend myself.

[Hahahahah! How fragile your body is now! You’re like that after betraying everyone!]

His voice was light and cheerful, unlike his attack.

“Khhh…!”

[A little bit remains?]

My judgment was correct; the dark mana of the man’s attack bore down upon me.

“Ohhh.” I let out a groan, the shock so great I felt I would break. I used the Belkena spell to cover my body with ice, but it wasn’t enough to completely stop his flames.

“The Jinma is over there!”

“There are two of them!”

Ultimately, it worked out in some ways that this angel was confronting me. The demons that had been running blindly recognized his huge amount of power and turned to face us. But to the angel, they were just annoying little bugs.

[There’s nothing here for you to see.]

When he swung his sword, an explosion rocked the ground. Dozens of demons were taken in mere seconds, unable to regenerate from such sheer destruction. I knew it well; after all, the moment I came into contact with him, it was over.

[Were you quietly hiding? Why did you build a new castle? Oh, was it him? Did he encourage you?]

His gaze returned to me, the crow feathers stuck in the crown he wore fluttered, distorting his handsome face.

What was truly annoying was how he threw words that made me stop and think while he was pressing his attack.

[Fate, not yet! You need to evolve at least once more first…]

[Well, this annoying voice. This one tricked you, didn’t he?]

[Don’t listen to him! Like most demons, he can use it to sow discord!]

The angel shrugged, and I picked up my dropped greatsword. Red lava began to rise up from the ground I was on.

[Always getting in between the king and I like this…]

It was like the lava was tracking me, full of the mana of Jinma. I finally activated Predation, but it brought no sense of relief. This man had the power to destroy half of my body in a single blow; I had to be careful. It felt like when I was dealing with L’s power, something greater than my own power that I had to face desperately.[You’re just another demon!]

[If you still think he’s the king, go back to your little hole!]

[Ha, you fool!]

The lava collided with me right after I succeeded in separating the mana of the lava from the disgustingly warm mana of the angel. It was impossible to avoid it with Ubiquitous by the way it sought me out.

[The only reason I call him a king is to laugh at him. There’s no way a king without a crown could ever be recognized.]

It was hot, but even when cut in half, Blood Baptism was able to block it. It felt odd to me that it was able to prevent the lava from hurting me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. My body was certainly in an odd state, half of it destroyed by the Angel. But something felt off about it- about the angel’s first attack. I didn’t have time to think about it, however. I leaped forward, lifting the lava with my mana to block the angel. I gripped the Twilight sword tightly.

[…After losing everything, what’s left of you isn’t half-bad.]

The angel stroked his chin. I hardly had the time to consider how odd of a signal it was before the huge black wolf carrying him let out a cry and began to narrow the distance between us. It blew through the trap I made with Belkena Spell and Lunatic Trickster with ease.

[Sir, I don’t think that will work.]

Explosions bloomed everywhere. I read the flow of mana, taking great care to avoid them before they could hit me. By his standards, these explosions were just a small fragment of his power. On the other hand, I was swinging as hard as I could, and it didn’t even faze him. The imbalance between our power was too great.

I felt a moment of hesitation, the sword of the angel cutting the air in front of me and summoning a huge wall of flames. It burned away any thoughts of retreat.

He was too strong. So much so that I wondered if I could even reach him with my sword. So, how great would I become by devouring such a person? Since my evolution, I hadn’t acquired any new skills, no matter how much I ate. But what if I used Predation on him? If I could eat this guy who was using powers I didn’t have, wouldn’t I acquire new skills? The path of growth before me was limitless, so long as I could beat him.

But then, what should I do? I had to finish regenerating, but if I just kept avoiding his attacks without fighting back, it would only end in my defeat. So how? I had to hit him somehow.

I ran up the air, using the power of Ubiquitous to move me closer to him. His destructive pressure surrounded me, but I threw my body against it.

[Aren’t you tired of a life full of lies? Do you think you can atone for your treachery through dying? Suicide will only make you look more pathetic…]

Lightning sparked out to resist his pressure, the energy of Predation devouring some of the force as the two manas collided. Gradually, the distance narrowed, and the pressure only worsened. But I didn’t withdraw. It wasn’t easy to control, but the reward was immense. A blackmine that overcame the pressure of mana gained enough strength to sustain itself, and that same prison I had built before was slowly spreading out to absorb his mana. I didn’t let my Lunatic Trickster go to waste, turning the air inside of this prison of blackmines into my territory.

It gave me temporary relief from the pressure; the prison devoured his mana and spewed lightning. It was a lot narrower than the previous prison I had created, but it was all I could manage with my body in its current shape.

[Huh, you mean that you, who’ve lost his name, strength, and memory…will try to devour me?!]

He imbued his sword with the fierce flame again, and I jumped through space once more to reach near his face. His attack redirected, striking where I moved, but it had less power behind it now. Lightning sparked again as I swung my sword to face the attack.

“Ahhhhhh!” My shoulder was pierced, and blood began to spurt out like a fountain, but I didn’t stop my attack. I stabbed him in the throat, black blood oozing out of his wound.

[Khhk!]

[Fate.]Rain’s voice came through again, much calmer.

[Now I know, but he has also weakened. It is possible for you!]

[Even so, I am stronger than this shabby king!]

The black wolf let out a fierce howl as the angel’s wings fluttered, summoning blasts of flames. I could feel the heat burning my lungs, and I jumped away.

[Running around?!]

The flames chased me, pressuring me with the promise of destruction. I kept firing off traps with Lunatic Trickster and Belkena Spell everywhere I could. Magic traps with the ice attribute didn’t have any real effect on the angel, but they could weaken and deflect his abilities. The feeling of my weapon sliding into his throat lingered on my hand. Contrary to his overwhelming power, I now knew that his body wasn’t that strong. Reaper had bitten into his neck. I had enough power to do it.

[Sir!]

His voice was as hot and full of rage as his flames.

[Sir, who broke the world. Who wants to forget the ugly past and live in ignorance! Your Excellency, who broke the hearts of every demon and caused the Great Fusion!]

“What?!” I had forgotten that I shouldn’t react to his words and raised my head. He was smiling.

[Of course, you are a fool to the end.]

His greatsword, infused with fiery mana, descended in front of me, heading straight for my head. The sparks surrounding my body disappeared without a trace; the attack happened too fast for me to respond properly. In that split second, only the sword moved.

No, there was one other thing moving. A crystal appeared in the air in front of me, immediately recognizable as the Goddess’ Touch which always guarded me. It had been the source of my feeling of incongruity before, having protected me from the enemy’s initial attack and the lava. It was a little different than before, sparking blue as if it were made of lightning. It was an artifact that even Rain didn’t know much about, but it was obvious why it was changing. It soaked up all of the mana I had been using to create lightning and was finally about to reveal its true strength now. The flaming greatsword was stopped by the Goddess’ Touch, which began to release a huge amount of electricity into the mana of the flames.

[Kahak!]

I heard the angel scream, a terrible one that was incomparable to the noise he made when I stabbed his neck. I’d be stupid to miss this opportunity. What he said was still rattling around inside my head, but I could think about that later. I leaped into space, concentrating all of my mana into the Twilight sword. I put all of my power into it, activating Predation as I resisted the pressure emanating from my foe. My sword flashed, separating the angel’s head from his body as he was being electrocuted. His look of astonishment was worth all the trouble he had caused me.

But he wasn’t dead yet. There were too many monsters in this world that wouldn’t die just because they were decapitated. Several of them were able to ignore the power of Reaper. I could feel the hot mana rising from his core, trying to stop me. But I didn’t worry about it. The best way to deal with a demon was to commit yourself to the attack, even if you might die from being hit. I kept slashing, letting Predation overflow from me to swallow up the head and crow’s crown that was sailing through the air. It all became mana absorbed into my sword.

[Ahhhhhh!]

Only

A scream burst out, though I didn’t know where it came from.

[You have gained 132,930 experience.]

[Your level has risen multiple times.]

[You obtained Lava Teeth.]

[You have obtained the Feathers of a Fallen Angel.]

A welcome notification window popped up, and I could feel myself growing stronger in both body and soul. Leveling up as a higher-level entity was so special I would never forget it. But that wasn’t all of it.

[Evolution is now available.]

I could feel it. The iron gate that had been blocking me began to open.