Chapter 9 – A Mere Existence Like You
“This should be one of the last ones,” An assassin from the brigade spoke to her colleague.
“We need to regroup. Sir Cain has sent the signal.”
Most assassins regrouped near the proximity of the town centre, overlooking at the battle that is happening.
“This is crazy… Who on earth in Adept Minor realm can output that much mana.”
“Not only is he good looking, but he is also domineering.”
“Is Sir Cain not taking any maidens? Even as a concubine I would be set for life.”
“Can we even jump in and assassinate her? My body instincts are telling me that if I blink in, I will die right away.”
“There! An opening- never mind…”
As the assassins chatter about the fight that is happening, a lone assassin is patiently waiting for a chance. Nacht kept a low profile- limiting her presence to the most minimum that she can do.
‘What the fuck is this battle. This is not even in the realms of Adept Minor. Sir Cain is transcending his own realm to fight toe to toe with this demon. I need someone to remind me not to make an enemy out of him.’
She remained low while her thoughts are running around Cains jump in a realm of power.
‘I’m not getting any openings… I just need one, just one. Come on’
“You belong beneath me, whore. You are nothing if I say you are nothing,” She heard Cain talk to Eletzia. “This is the place where you will grovel and die. Nothing else.” Eletzia’s posture and defence crumbled with the arrogant taunt that Cain screamed.
“COME!” Eletzia yelled.
‘There!’
“Blink!” She said with a low whisper, her body vanishing out of thin air, only for her to appear behind Eletzia.
‘Come here bitch!’
The katana’s cold steel touched Eletzia’s neck only for Eletzia to burn her remaining mana and life force to mutter her last resort- taking everyone with her to their death.
Demon Legacy Art “Limbo!”
‘What?! She is of royal blood? Only demons with royal blood can tap into their inner potential and summon a Legacy Art!’ Nacht thought.
The whole world seemed to slow down for the town. Eletzia has deemed the humans worthy of her life. Getting pushed in the brink of death, her whole confident aura has now been changed to anger. By summoning her last essence of life and wringing her mana to the last drop, she evoked a legacy art that she was not able to do. By sacrificing her life, she opened the potential to summon her true demonic art.
Her previous burnt skin healed in a blink. The previous luster of her eyes are now shining than ever. Her curvaceous body became more seductive and smoother to the point that one would think that she is reborn as an angel.
The scent of the demon became stronger and the hazardous mana began to act erratic on the surroundings. The demon’s wings became a shade darker than before with spikes coming out of it.
“I must say. I should congratulate you for pushing me this far. Do you really think I wouldn’t take you with me? All of you assassins are just good at running away. Let’s see if you can still run away like a dogs tail tucked away, running like a bitch.” Her voice filled with malice reverberated while talking to Cain and Nacht.
Cain, bruised and bleeding looked at Nacht. “First time seeing a legacy art?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry too much, this means that we pushed her so hard that she forced herself to activate her legacy art. Since you can still move, help me fend her off. She’s using the last of her life to compensate for forcefully evoking her legacy art.”
“I will do my best.”
The new Eletzia knew not to underestimate this two. Instead of attacking she decided to wait out for their attack.
‘This girl is not bad. She is fast but thankfully not as strong as Cain. This is difficult. Not only I need to keep my mental guard up for the assassins, I also need to defend against a crippled Cain, how embarrassing.’
As Eletzia thought about her plans, “You’re probably thinking of how to stay aware of everyone huh. Even if I am crippled, that will be enough to finish your insignificant life.” Cain cut her line of thought.
Nacht melted through the shadows while Cain dashed towards the demon.
With a hack of his halberd with his working arm, he aimed straight into her torso, intending to exploit a brief vulnerability. She defended with her weaponized arms which caused shockwaves around them.
“Such a big talk for someone injured and about to die!” Eletzia taunted.
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“Such a big talk for someone who is dying,” Cain replied.
“If you think I will let myself die without all of you, you are wrong!”
Cain kept attacking Eletzia with heavy charged blows. Despite her enhanced state, the toll on her body invoking her Demon Legacy Art using her lifeforce is evident. Cain exchanged attacks, blow for blow causing both of them to stagger.
“I see, you might be stronger offensively, but you are nothing but a glass cannon.” A bloody Cain said with malice, not seeming to care that his body is begging for reprieve.
As they exchanged attacks, Nacht, seizing the opportunity created by Cain’s attacks emerged from the shadows with flurry of attacks. Her daggers flashed in the dim light, aiming for Eletzia’s vital points with deadly accuracy. Eletzia fueled by her last remaining life as motivation kept her fury deep inside to focus on the fight. With her sheer will, she managed to avoid most of Nacht’s strikes, though not without sustaining further injuries.
“I believe we can’t even help Sir Cain and madam Nacht. I keep seeing opening but if I jump in there I would immediately die.”
These are mostly the assassin’s thoughts whilst seeing the fight between the realm higher than Adept Minors.
“Is it just me or the mist is getting thicker?”
“You’re right, we have to let them know- “
Before the assassins can warn Cain, the surrounding turned into a thicker pink miasma, encompassing the town. The assassins that are on guard all fell asleep, seemingly stuck in limbo. All this occurred without the Cain and Nacht noticing.
As the battle raged on, Cain and Nacht fought with a synchronicity of someone who has fought countless of battles together.
‘What is this…’ Nacht pondered while waiting in the darkness. ‘Every move that Sir Cain makes compliments my move set too much.’ Nacht was surprised inwardly.
‘He is a genius. That amount of time that we fought together made him aware of how I fight already. Every attack he makes, every opening he creates are perfectly in line with my attacks. I am basically reading him, and him reading me. This makes us seem like we have fought in the battlefield for many years!’
They kept fighting while Nacht appears and disappears into the shadows, injuring Eletzia every time she attacks. Their movements complemented each other perfectly, each of their attacks anticipating the other’s actions with precision. Together, they formed an unstoppable force. The heavy blows of Cain to keep Eletzia in check, and Nacht’s deadly precision to exhaust her focus.
Eletzia, though wounded and weakened, refused to back down. With every passing moment that she stands, her demonic aura grew stronger. The town now enveloped in a dark pink energy. Her attacks became more ferocious and unpredictable not caring about the life she has left. She is trading injury for injury only to try and get ahead.
Pink miasma started to thicken around them. It surrounded Eletzia as it began to pulsate and swirl with increasing intensity. Cain and Nacht realized the change in atmosphere and stopped their attacks. The miasma emanated waves of malevolent energy that filled the air with a sense of dread. The once peaceful town was now shrouded in demonic energy.
Cain found himself ensnared in place along with Nacht. The pink miasma grew stronger as it began to exert influence over the battlefield. Eletzia, sensing her moment of triumph, laughed weakly as she watched Cain and Nacht stopped in their tracks.
“What a pathetic sight,” Eletzia said with a tease. “Look at you, you tried so hard, but you can only go so far with your meager determination. Like grasshoppers ready to be crushed.”
“This will be the final attack. After this, everyone here will perish, me included,” With a wicked grin, she raised her hands high into the air, calling forth her final, devastating attack.
“Behold the true power of demonic royalty!” She declared, her voice echoing with dark resonance.
Nacht, perplexed that she cannot move no matter what she does looked at Cain with some sort of answer. To no avail, Cain seemed like he doesn’t have an escape from this final attack.
Suddenly, a surge of energy erupted from Eletzia's hands, enveloping the battlefield in a blinding light. Cain and Nacht felt themselves being consumed by an overwhelming force, their senses overwhelmed as they were plunged into a state of limbo.
In Cain's mind, he found himself trapped in a surreal landscape, where reality twisted and contorted around him. Shadows danced and shifted, that sent shivers down his spine. He struggled to maintain his focus, his thoughts scattered amidst the chaos of his subconscious.
“Fuck… Is this it?” Cain pondered.
Sigh
“No matter how much I think about giving up. My mind always thinks about not bending down. This might be a curse or a godsend.”
As he stands on nothingness, halberd in hand with a body full of injury, he looks into what can be called an empty void. Staring into nothingness.
“Interesting,” Eletzia appeared out of thin air, permeating into a solid body.
Cain and Eletzia now standing an arm away together, looked at each other for a few seconds.
“I always thought that Limbo was meant to incapacitate anyone.” Eletzia thought out loud.
“Well, it’s your first and last time trying it anyways so why does it matter?” Cain replied.
Eletzia stared at him.
“You keep surprising me. For a human, your age does not match your demeanor.”
With a quick motion, Cain angled his halberd and attacked Eletzia in her place. Before the blade could reach her, the pole and blade crumbled into big solid pieces disappearing into the darkness behind Eletzia.
“Do you think you can win?” Eletzia sneered.
“Your weapon is gone.”
“Your allies are asleep, never to wake up again.”
“Your body is battered.”
“Your mana well is dry.”
“You think you can live?”
Eletzia asked him questions that has obvious answers, giving him some sense in this situation.
“No. I do not think I can win right now.” Cain looked at her eyes without any fluctuations of fear.
“Then why not give up?” Eletzia asked.
“I can’t,” Cain replied.
Eletzia raised her right brow. “This is Limbo. The legacy art of the succubus lineage. This is one of the lower tier ones but it should be enough for someone of your calibre. Everything in here is catered towards me. You have no advantage in this space, your mind is mine.”
“Try and control me then.”
Cain's words took Eletzia by surprise, and she narrows her eyes at him. "You think you're clever, human. But you're just delaying the inevitable."
She raises her hands again, and tendrils of dark energy snake around Cain's body, probing and prodding at his mind.
But Cain stands firm, his determination unwavering. He feels the tendrils trying to pry into his thoughts, but he refuses to let them in. He focuses on his own willpower, his own sense of self, and pushes back against the invasion.
Eletzia sneers, clearly frustrated.
"You're strong, I'll give you that. But it's only a matter of time before I break you." She renews her efforts, pouring more energy into her attack.
Cain grits his teeth, his entire body shaking with the effort of resisting. The tendrils reached his heart, touching it ever so slightly.
“Any last words, human?” She sneered for one last time.
Instead of giving in, he said his last words. “Fuck you.”
At that moment, when Cain is neither dead, nor alive, a dark veil overtook the nothingness.
Eletzia’s body started to quiver in fear.
A voice filled with malice and arrogance whispered layered words everywhere, making it seem like thousand of demons are talking all together.
It then stopped all of a sudden. Two giant slits manifested behind Cain. When it stopped it started to open slowly. As it opened, the demonic aura became erratic, almost breaking the Limbo that Eletzia made.
“How dare a mere existence like you look.”