[The effects of the Personal Attribute ‘Godspeed’ have ended.]
<<Speed: 4,250 —> Speed: 850>>
“What do you think?” Theodore shrugged childishly, which instantly made Leviathan’s face turn red, her brows knitted closer together as she gritted her teeth, her attitude now would’ve most likely made Wrath proud.
“F*ck! I can still beat you to death you f*cker!” Leviathan tried lashing out at him, though she would suddenly toppled forward and fall fast-first onto the ground.
Theodore watched as the demon king tried her best to get up, just for her arms and legs to work against her and she kept falling back down. She glared up at him and said something about his family lineage, but the ‘Discord of the Flesh’ had also made it difficult for her to speak and he was barely able to make out her words.
Theodore huffed as a response. “What did you say again? It’s hard to hear you when you’re whining like a dog.”
“%!?&*” Leviathan screamed, though this time he didn’t know what she was saying at all.
Theodore decided that he should end her quickly before the status condition was dispelled. He unsummoned his staff and held out his hand, manifesting a small blue magic circle on top of his palm. Ice particles began to rise from around the perimeter as a sword slowly constructed itself, starting from the handle until it eventually stopped at the tip of the blade.
[The user of ‘Envious Grasp’ has been significantly weakened.]
[Your magical energy is returning to you.]
Leviathan's eyes widened, it seemed that she realized what was about to happen too. "No…! I #&!??& F*ck! #&$#@??!"
Theodore ignored the demon king's cries, he couldn't understand what she was saying anyway. He gripped the frozen sword in his hands and pointed the tip downwards, aiming directly at her back where her heart was. "Good bye."
"!!*?#@?!!!!??" Leviathan screeched at the top of her lungs as Theodore struck down as hard as he could, impaling through her back and the fleshy, wet sound of a blade slicing against meat rang out upon impact.
'Great, she didn't get the chance to shift into the second phase.' He thought to himself with relief as he plucked out the sword, letting it disappear while watching Leviathan's body slowly disintegrated into light particles.
He was expecting there to be a Status Orb lying where she once laid, though to his surprise, only blood and frost remained on the grassy spot. Frowning, he asked the System. 'What's wrong? Didn't I kill her?'
[Death is not permanent within the 'Arena of Trials'.]
'What…?'
[The Hall of Sins' evaluation is merely a test of what could have been, the Demon King of Envy is only transported back to the real world once she'd died in the 'Arena of Trials'.]
Theodore grabbed the back of his neck, massaging it lightly as his brows untie themselves. '...Huh, that's a shame, getting Envy's ability would be nice.'
He made a mental note to consider killing Leviathan once everything was over, though he would need to be sure that he gained more power to ensure an absolute win, unlike this messy fight that he'd just barely avoided losing.
[The Bloodline Skill 'Super Regeneration' has been activated!]
[Due to the effects of the Bloodline Skill 'Flaming Life', your healing effectiveness has been increased!]
Theodore needed to be at top condition before moving on to another area, he didn't want the other demon kings to jump him the moment they saw that he was injured.
But suddenly he heard the sounds of a firework launching right above him. Slightly startled, he looked up and saw that a large translucent banner had appeared up ahead and it was displaying an announcement.
[FIRST BLOOD: ENVY, LEVIATHAN.]
Beside the large texts were the crests of two animals: a snake and a small bird, its coloration made it easy to distinguish as a magpie, though unlike the snake, it had a sinister red cross over it.
'Ah…' Theodore was afraid that the sign would reveal his position, though after taking a closer look, he noticed that multiple banners had appeared all over the sky, most likely to make it easier for the others to see it too.
Theodore lowered his head down with a soft sigh. 'Anyway, that Odds Conqueror title didn't activate…I guess it wasn't that close of a fight.' He didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but at least he now knew that a fight like this one wasn't enough to trigger its luck-based effects.
When his hit points were full, Theodore began heading back towards the forest, deciding it would be best to use the thick branches and dense bushes as camouflage.
'Let's just hope I don't run into anybody else…'
.
.
.
After around ten minutes of roaming around aimlessly, Theodore eventually noticed something.
The ground around him seemed to ripple in his vision, though the trees and bushes weren't waving at all. The humidity in the air had changed ever so slightly, becoming dryer than what he'd initially felt.
The 'Tongue Receptor' attribute seemed to be detecting something coming from a distance. Theodore tried looking on ahead, but the dense flora had made it impossible to see anything.
'Thomp!'
He could barely hear a noise coming from in front of him, there seemed to be the sounds of metal against metal mixed in too.
Theodore couldn't help but be curious, though he would quickly push any foolish thoughts to the back of his mind with a shake of his head. 'No…Let's think about this properly first.'
Judging from the frequency of the sound, Theodore deduced that the fight had just started, whoever was at each other's throats seemed to be throwing attacks left right and center, all of which were strong enough to cause the ground to shake.
'...If I can get closer and watch the fight…' Theodore pursed his lips, after considering his choices for a few more seconds, he began to move closer towards the sound. ‘Maybe I can clean up and get two kills, wouldn’t that be nice?”
If this was a game lobby, he would’ve gotten called names.
Theodore continued to feel the vibrations from the ground, noticing that they were growing stronger as he moved, the noise of a fierce battle got louder as well until they became clearer to differentiate. He could now tell what was causing so much noise.
‘…Gunshots?’ He frowned, slightly intrigued that one of the demon kings would be using something so modern like a gun, he decided that he was close enough to the area and jumped up onto a thick branch, which also allowed him to view the scene from a bird’s eye view.
‘THUMP!’
Theodore almost fell off his perch when a thunderous stomp reverberated the surrounding area, he looked on ahead of him and saw a behemoth of a man crazily waving around an equally terrifying weapon; a five-foot long single-edge blade, its guard gleamed a beautiful gold while the handle was wrapped in a red bandage, the extra length of the cloth swinging wildly with each strike.
“Hahah!” Beelzebub laughed maniacally as he swung the katana horizontally at his target, although the smaller demon easily used his short build to his advantage and was able to dodge the attack. “I’ve longed for this! A battle between the modern bow and the ancient blade!”
“…Would you just shut up for once?” Belphegor murmured, his voice drowned by the sound of Gluttony’s hysterical screams, the boy trained his two guns at him, a pair of red and black desert eagles swiftly found their marks and shots were fired.
However, Beelzebub was unfazed, he simply raised his sword and sliced the bullets in half. “So you are still weak after all, no wonder why it was so easy for Mammon to take you down.”
Belphegor flinched at the other king’s words, although he didn’t let it get to his head and he continued to rain down a barrage of bullets towards Beelzebub, who would flick his blade and deflected all of them, not even when the young boy had started enveloping the projectiles with magic did any of his attacks got through.
Sloth clenched his teeth, eyes narrowed as he finally thought he should retreat from this fight, it became clear that he couldn’t even get through Beelzebub’s regular defenses, meaning that if the fight continued to drag on, he would most likely be defeated. ‘Should I just give up?’
The boy’s mind briefly wandered into the past, it was when Greed’s army had invaded him for the first time in millenia, their armies clashed and their powers crossed, but in the end, Sloth had to surrender. ‘…I couldn’t beat him, I didn't want to risk him killing me…I didn’t want to die.’
Gluttony jumped forward and slashed at Sloth with his fierce katana, though Belphegor quickly reacted and weaved towards the right before taking more steps backwards while shooting at the other demon.
‘Huh?’ Because of Sloth’s positioning, his eyes accidentally landed on someone resting within the trees. The person’s cold, emerald gaze locked with his and he felt a chill run down his spine, feeling a fearsome aura radiating from his body. ‘…Pride?’
Theodore stared back, slightly surprised that Belphegor was able to spot him from that distance, but then again, Sloth seemed to be a sharpshooter, it was natural for him to have great eyesight. ‘…He noticed me, but now what?’
For that brief moment, Beelzebub was able to close in their once-growing distance and landed a direct hit onto Sloth, the blade cut his right shoulder and dragged all the way down to his left hip, though a demon king’s defenses weren’t something to underestimate, despite being weak, Belphegor was able to survive being cut by the monstrous sword.
“Did you lose focus?” Beelzebub laughed, staring at the staggering Sloth who dropped his black pistol from the blazing pain on his shoulder. “You’re a sharpshooter! How can you get so easily distracted? No wonder why you’ve never climbed up from the bottom rank!”
Belphegor didn’t answer, he couldn’t answer. As his knees gave up, he could only stare blankly at Gluttony while pained tears stung his eyes. ‘…What even is the point? I thought that I had a chance since Envy died first…’
Beelzebub slowly walked closer towards Sloth while letting the tip of his katana run along the grassy floor. When he was right in front of the boy, he raised the blade and prepared to decapitate him in one strike. “You tried, but it’s just not quite enough.”
Belphegor let out a soft huff, coughing up blood in the process. He closed his eyes and prepared for his fake death. ‘…I moved one place up, that’s fine.’
“You’re pathetic.”
But the sword was never brought down on him as an unfamiliar voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of something getting stomped on. Belphegor opened his eyes with confusion written in his expression as his eyes landed on Theodore, who had kicked the giant demon to the ground and knocked his katana out of his hand.
“You…!” Gluttony frowned as he tried to get up, but Theodore simply pushed down with his singular feet and it managed to stop him from moving any further.
“I bet that’s all you guys ever do.” Theodore sighed, glancing towards Sloth. “You picked on his low mentality and climbed up the ranks with it.”
Beelzebub sneered. “But that’s exactly why he’s weak! It’s his fault for always surrendering.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Theodore’s words surprised both of the demon kings. “Belphegor, you give up way too easily, that’s why you kept—“
“I know that!” Sloth suddenly shouted, cutting him off. “But what can I even do about it? I’m still weaker than everyone anyway! Nothing I do will ever change that fact!”
Theodore sighed. “I don’t think that’s true. You’re a demon king, shouldn’t you stand more proudly?”
“Of course you can say that…” Belphegor sniffled as he bit his lips. “You’re Pride, after all. You took down Lucifer all on your own…and…and I can’t do that…I can’t even beat Envy last time…”
Before Theodore could answer, Beelzebub seemed to have gotten bored of their conversation and pushed himself back up with all of his strength, since his figure was a lot smaller than the giant demon, Theodore was inevitably pushed away but he quickly regained his composure and stood his ground.
“You have no pride for someone who took the mantle of Pride.” Gluttony spoke in a serious tone, his frown deepened along with his anger. He extended out his right hand and the katana flew into his grasp. “I’ll kill you along with Sloth.”
Theodore merely smirked. “Let’s see if you can.”
Provoked by his taunting, Gluttony gritted his teeth and swung his katana at him, cutting horizontally at a speed no large weapon should be able to achieve.
Though Theodore was easily able to dodge the attack, ducking below the sword’s range and rolling to the side. He kept up the momentum and instantly got on his feet while casting a spell at the same time.
[Frozen Disaster: Blizzard.]
As soon as a magic circle manifested, a powerful blast of freezing wind erupted from it, the attack grew and expanded until Beelzebub’s surroundings became nothing but white as small and sharp icicles scraped against his skin every few seconds.
“F*ck you, serpent! Fight me like a man!” Gluttony cried out as he swung his sword, it created a cut through the snow storm however the wound quickly closed before he could do anything else.
Theodore didn’t want to use all of his spells just yet since he didn’t know what Beelzebub could be hiding as his trump card, since it was Gluttony, he might be able to do something similar to Envy, which meant that using his skills now would be too dangerous.
He instead turned towards Sloth and extended his palm out, activating Asclepius’ Secrets. “…You seemed like a reasonable person, how about we team up?”
Belphegor was surprised by his words, he stared at his wounds closing up with a look filled with hesitation and pity. “I would just be dead weight…You can clearly handle yourself.”
“I don’t take no as an answer.” Sloth casted a careful glance upwards, though he had to immediately avert his gaze when his eyes met with Theodore’s cold stare.
“I…What even is the benefit of you—“
“It’s good to make allies, no?” Theodore sighed, turning his attention to the swirling cold for a moment. “…I’ve met people like you too, they all have such good potentials yet once they were beaten by someone stronger than them, instead of improving their strength, they gave up and abandoned what could’ve been.”
Theodore was reminded of his time as the infamous ‘Winter Frost Mage’, he was called a prodigy, a master in his arts, he didn’t care much for fame or glory, he simply wanted to fight so that the world could become a safe place for humans once again. He wished for others to have a similar mindset as him, but he’d later learned that there will always be unpleasant surprises in life, many mages had cursed at him for being strong and never looked at themselves once, never tried to grow stronger and never struggled to win.
‘…It’s pathetic…and sad.’ Seeing something as great as a demon king having that sort of mindset angered him. Then what was the point of having that title? Theodore didn’t want to ignore them anymore and said that it wasn’t his problem.
He had a second chance, so why not make the most out of it?
Theodore’s thoughts would soon be cut short when he felt an increased amount of demonic energy coming from within the blizzard. He instantly stood on his guard while forming a loose magic circle, ready to change it into a spell the moment something happened. “Choose, Sloth. Do you want to lose knowing you didn’t give your best? Or do you want to try and become a better person than you are today?”
“I…I can’t…!” Belphegor slowly shook his head, his eyes were wide and his brows were knotted together.
Theodore would’ve given up if he didn’t hear the slight hesitation in the demon’s voice. ‘Later, I need to focus on Gluttony.’
As soon as he finished that thought, Beelzebub’s magical energy expanded, revealing its ominous golden color, it moved with the swirling wind and it seemed to be reducing the blizzard’s size.
[The Spell ‘Blizzard’ is being absorbed by ‘Voracious Beast’!]
‘What’s up with demon kings and their ability to absorb skills?’ Theodore gritted his teeth and fixed his gaze at the target in front of him, the blizzard was now replaced with a tornado formed from Beelzebub’s magical energy, though it would soon slow down until it would eventually disperse, revealing the giant demon king in the center.
“To think you would force me to use it…” Gluttony’s expression was stern, though Theodore was barely able to make out a few drops of sweat on the demon’s forehead, he seemed to be trying to hide his exhaustion.
‘Did the skill use a lot of his stamina?’
He wouldn’t get to know the answer immediately though as Beelzebub charged towards him, his sword drew back and ready to strike the moment he was close enough.
Theodore once again avoided the horizontal slash, although the outcome was a bit different than last time, the amount of force exerted behind that strike was enough to cut through the ground and send a powerful shockwave in all directions, knocking both Sloth and Theodore off of their feet.
He quickly regained his composure though, at least getting on his knees. He thought of nothing else but casting his magic and immediately a circle would appear underneath where his palm had touched the ground. In mere seconds, large ice spikes rose from the floor and quickly made their way towards Beelzebub.
[Frozen Disaster: Impale.]
However, Gluttony only held out one palm and let his magical energy run through it, and as soon as the ice constructs reached their target, the demon aura would surround them in an instant, not only stopping the spikes dead in their tracks, but also breaking them apart into smaller and smaller particles until they were swallowed by the dark energy.
“Fool. I’ll finish this now then.” Beelzebub’s eyes gleamed dangerously and suddenly he would disappear, leaving only blurs behind him.
Theodore was surprised, he didn’t know what sort of power ‘Voracious Beast’ was, he just thought that it could dismantle spells. ‘Is he gaining strength from eating them?’
[The Bloodline Skill ‘Voracious Beast’ can consume anything and make its strength their own.]
‘F*ck! You should’ve just told me!’
[…But you did not ask.]
Blizzard and Impale were intermediate spells, and since Beelzebub’s strength was already monstrous, adding those two into the mix had most likely buffed him enough to stand toe-to-toe with Theodore.
Gluttony had taken advantage of that split second of him not paying attention and snuck up behind him with his increased speed, his sword drew back as far as it could and ready to strike his vital points in an instant. “Die!”