“Who are you?”

The mysterious man who greeted Kaiser wasn't flustered by the attack. He calmly blocked it and retreated.

“I am Percival, the Master of Destruction.”

His voice carried some weight, as if this title were too heavy for him to carry.

“Never heard of ya.”

“It's because of your upbringing—or the lack of it, actually. You never knew there were others like you, right?” Percival asked with a deadpan expression.

“Demons? 'Course I knew, idiot!”

Kaiser's voice was filled with sarcasm. He was weary of this powerful man. The near-death experience after fighting Cyrus and Marina remained vivid in his mind.

“I'm talking about Elemental Masters. Those who can control a certain element, with a might to trample on common sense. From observation, I'm guessing you encountered one yourself.”

“...”

Not one, but goddamn two! The mere thought pissed him off.

“You were lucky to have the ice demon's body. The cold worked in your favor, and you just barely survived.”

“I was tired and let a hit slip. Otherwise, I would have won.”

They were two crazy bunch talking nonsense. Kaiser may have had some fault for making hasty assumptions, but they still chased after him even after the misunderstanding was cleared.

It was discovered that they were delusional and thought Kaiser to have fought their ancestors and was called the Malevolent One...

“Have you ever heard of the Malevolent One?”

Hearing this name again caused Kaiser to jolt. He fired ice shards without a break from his palm; it's the power of an ice demon.

Percival created a purple-colored barrier, and the ice shards disappeared at the moment of impact.

“I'm not that guy! Is there some mental illness virus or something?”

Kaiser directed a blast of cold, but the barrier blocked that as well, vibrating the space.

“I know that. He wants to recruit you.”

The offer didn't make Percival seem less insane. By the way Marina described the Malevolent One, he sounded more like a character in a myth than an actual person. And since Kaiser didn't believe in legends, it was easier to believe all that nonsense was the talk of lunatics than reality.

Percival withdrew the purple aura. “Are you interested?”

“Sorry, but fairy tales bore me. I don't buy your crap for a second.”

“You lived your life surrounded by the ignorant and powerless. Unlike what you thought, you aren't the strongest around, but that no longer applies. If you think the one you thought was strong, just imagine their strongest, the Master of Light. And he will come for you. For all of us.”

“And that 'Malevolent One' would protect me? Don't joke around.”

Kaiser wouldn't let someone else fight his battles. If anyone was after him, he would fight and kill them with his own hands. That's the way he lived until now.

“The power you have—the power I have—used to belong to him, but he still lost.” Percival shook his head. “He wouldn't protect you. We would fight together.”

“Hard pass. I will get my revenge by myself.”

Although ganging on Cyrus and Marina sounded amusing, it wasn't how he dealt with things. It meant being dependent on someone else, and he didn't like that idea one bit.

“May I ask who attacked you?”

“...There were two. Fire and water.”

“The Malevolent One's grudge is with the Master of Light. If you can guarantee victory against the two on your own, it will be most welcomed.”

Kaiser thought about the suggestion. He still wasn't confident in a head-on battle, but he wouldn't mind using dirty tricks and setting traps. But the two were versatile and strong even by themselves, so there wasn't much to do against them.

“What's your goal, anyway?”

“We... want to make him king. I am just trying to avoid death, and for that, we will destroy every Elemental Master that rebels and make the Malevolent One the ruler of the world.”

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That sounded overly ambitious for Kaiser. Had he wanted to live like a king, he would have taken over a country, but he preferred the adventure and the rowdy life of an outlaw.

It had a good aspect, as he could just focus on getting his revenge and leave the obstacles to the others.

But there was the whole greedy part. People who tried to take over authority usually distrusted others who wouldn't bend to them. Kaiser had experienced it firsthand when he was a child, watching adults kill each other for even a slightly different view. It wouldn't be nice to get stabbed in the back.

“I will join.”

Percival took a step back, and a single muscle in his face twitched slightly. “Are you sure?”

“On one condition.”

“What is it?”

Kaiser took a deep breath.

In order to fulfill his revenge, he will have to get out of his comfort zone and train. Moreover, he would need to throw away his pride.

He just hoped it would be worth it.

“Teach me how to use my powers.”

“A little warning beforehand: I can't teach you much about your powers. They vastly differ from my own, after all.”

The two stop in the open field, shouting to overcome the roaring storm. Neither shook from the cold—Percival with his physiology and Kaiser with his ice demon form.

“So you can't?”

That would make joining them worthless, so Kaiser was ready to abandon them any minute.

“I can, but not to the full extent. That's on you alone.”

“Whatever. So what can you teach me?”

Needless to say, Kaiser was lacking respect. He was an outlaw. A criminal. The big bad guy who doesn't bend to authority. Not the type to be respectful. In other words, he was the type of person you wanted to punch so badly.

Percival didn't seem bothered. He clad himself in a purple aura, similar to the auras Kaiser had seen before on the two Elemental Masters.

Wincing, he guarded himself as Percival devestated the area with a ripple of aura.

“My power is destruction. Easy to understand and use. But yours isn't as easy as mine. The power of fiends encompasses all beings classified as fiends, whether it's a demon, an oni, or an imp. You can transform into any of those creatures, but I'm guessing your lack of knowledge regarding these entities limited you. So, what fiends can you transform into?”

“Ice demon, fire demon, and a normal demon.”

Only three. The variety of fiends exceeds a dozen, but Kaiser knows only three. His power was extremely limited, as fiends, unlike monsters, were a very rare existence in the world. They all inhabit a different world, after all.

“Our goal for training would be to first bring out your aura. For that, transform into a fire demon and fight me until you collapse.” Percival took a stance.

Kaiser took out his own sword.

Exhaustion was a foreign concept for someone like him with the physique of a demon, but he has been experiencing it all the time as of late. Although he tried to look strong, his body was lethargic and sluggish, and he didn't feel he could put up much of a fight.

The thought of losing angered Kaiser. He never had to deal with this sensation of powerlessness before, and it started to piss him off. He didn't want to lose anymore.

But this was training. If it meant he could also gain that aura power, Kaiser was willing to make an effort to grow for the first time in his life. He was training so he could win.

Transforming into a fire demon, Kaiser unleashed a wave of blue flames, but they couldn't bypass the aura's defense. Even after directing a current of fire at him, Percival stood still.

The glacier they stood on started to melt and crack. Both jumped off to stable ground, and Kaiser kept the flames from extinquishing. The snow continued to melt, but this time there was a solid, frozen ground beneath them.

Because of the cold, the blue fire didn't burn at the same ferocity as it did on a warmer land. Their suppressed firepower frustrated Kaiser and motivated him to push further.

“Is that all you got?”

Percival appeared nonchalant. The flames couldn't penetrate his defenses, and he simply stood there looking bored.

“As if! Just shut up and die!”

He didn't really mean to kill him, but that was his way of speaking—rowdy and rough like himself. Criminals don't bother with manners, after all.

For ten minutes, the blue flames burned hot, vaporizing the snow and thawing the earth. In the middle part, the flow of flames became erratic and uneven. Kaiser was visibly sweating, and parts of his body ached.

“Stop!” Percival ordered, seeing his condition.

The cold wind soon blew at their faces, and snow once again started to pile up.

“I could have gone longer.”

In fact, Kaiser was secretly happy to stop, as the pain eased the moment he did. But he didn't lie, as he could have continued to produce flames. Only his finesse was damaged by the increased levels of pain.

“There is not much worth if you die. Even if you can produce a lot of energy, it won't help since your body is still recovering. We need to change the training method.”

“To what?”

“I will think of something by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow! I don't have the patience to wait until tomorrow, you piece of shit!”

Kaiser immediately reverted to insulting and behaving rudely, even though he knew the person he was dealing with was stronger than him. Habits die hard. He was tired, but failing to do anything at all against Percival vexed him, making the frustration slowly accumulate.

It was foreign. He shouldn't have lost, been forced to flee, or ended up nearly dead. He was meant to win and be the strongest. Kaiser was driven by the desire to reclaim what was stolen from him: his title as the strongest.

“Who said we weren't doing anything today? Your body is tough, so you won't whine even if I work you a little, right?”

“...What do you mean by work?”

Kaiser spoke with caution as he felt a bad premonition from Percival.

“Let's get you working on your childish swordplay. We wouldn't want you to lose so badly just because you held your sword wrong.”

What is wrong with how I hold my sword? As soon as he thought that, Percival charged, clear of any aura, with an explosive speed. Confronted by a swift motion at a speed he could barely react to, Kaiser was disarmed of his weapon in an instant.

“Keep the ice demon form. We will be sparring for a while.”

A strength surpassing Cyrus'—surpassing his—already inhuman strength. Without the demon form, he would have died a thousand times per minute.

Unbeknownst to Kaiser, Percival was desperate to transform this street thug into a warrior. Thus, he decided to go a little spartan on him.

Being subjected to a sparring match closer to a battle for survival, Kaiser would come to curse and swear profusely at his savior. He was cut many times,

At night, looking at the dark skies with a blank expression, Kaiser lied on the frozen earth, buried in bloody snow. As his wounds regenerated incredibly slowly from his exhaustion, he started to wonder whether he had died and was now only tortured in hell.

“Nah, hell is probably a home for someone like me.”

He was a fiend—no, the Master of Fiends. The hell he was often told to go to by his enemies was most likely a kingdom just for him.

“You said something?” Percival streched his arm in an offer to help him stand.

Refusing the help, Kaiser stood on his own two feet and marched back to the cave.

“I said that my name is Kaiser, and I will be the strongest. Just wait and see, you bastard.”