How long has it been… how long has it been since this fight started? It’s… it was becoming a blur to me…

Michael fell first, when his arms had been cut and he passed out from blood loss… the next to fall had been John actually, who passed out from using too much magic, giving our group less sustainability in this fight…

After that, Matt was next to go, knocked out due to hitting his head after being blown away and not being able to heal… mere seconds afterwards, Alice, who Matt had been guarding, was only spared being beheaded due to her sword breaking first, though she had a slight nick on her neck and had lost consciousness from the force.

Emilia… Emilia went down in a particularly sad way, almost getting buried head first when Blade had suddenly picked up his sheathe for his Katana and used it as a club to bludgeon Emilia’s skull into the floor, knocking her out…

“Five down, one left… will you impress me enough to let you all leave alive?” I breathed heavily, tired from more than just the physical exhaustion… I had been sporadically activating Jolt Step and then not, switching up my speed at such strange intervals that it confused Blade enough to keep me alive… but it was doing little to nothing.

I still hadn’t hit him… how was I going to kill him if I couldn’t hit him? Not to mention he surely must be harder to kill than even Brutes…

“I’m brittle.” I wearily stared at him as he spoke as if reading my mind, no lie in his voice that sounded deep like the crackling of firewood.

“I’m extremely brittle compared to the Knights and Brutes of my race. One or two good swings would likely kill me actually.” I stared at him, catching my breath, seeing as he was allowing me a chance to heal, I’d keep him talking, even if he could kill me at any moment… the thing I was most thankful for was the fact that none of my friends were dead, all unconscious… Blade had made sure not to kill them outright, only incapacitate them…

I guess that had to do with the fact that Blade was ‘testing’ us, and you couldn’t give the result if the test taker was dead before the test was over… I think…

“Why…tell me…that?” I breathed out, glad for the fact that my Cloak was practically weightless and didn’t obstruct my movement at all… in fact, Blade wouldn’t grab it or use it against me for some reason… must be the same reason my team was still alive despite his strength.

“I said it because I can’t test someone who gives up before it’s over. I recognize your type… you’re similar to me actually.” I blinked at his words, wondering in what way I was similar to the Demon Lord of the Sword that stood before me.

“I… before Lord Chronos conquered Hell by defeating Lord Lucifer, he had defeated and killed many high demons, the ones known as Demon Lords. When he had defeated me, he was honestly weaker than me in terms of the sword… but during our fight he grew, and grew, until he was beyond me.”

I was intrigued by his story, even if it didn’t hold much need to me, any information about Chronos was worth waiting for.

“It was… humbling, knowing that what I had learnt over my entire existence was surpassed in one fight against me. It also taught me that there was in fact more to what I could do, that there was something to aim for. Once I had something to aim for, I could work towards it.” He then raised his sword to me, before sheathing it, holding himself in a quick-draw stance as I flinched.

“Since that day, I had climbed the ranks of Demons until I became acknowledged as a Demon Lord by Lord Chronos… in spite of the fact that I’m only a lesser demon really.” I froze at his words… what? Blade, the being that just so easily demolished my team, was… a Lesser Demon?

“I’m not truly unique, I’m a Lantern Hero as my sub-category is known as… if I remember Lord Chronos’ words correctly… you’ll find more of my race around Floor 50 or so. I only became a Demon Lord, due to skill, not power… when it comes to raw power… there are many lesser demons stronger than I. I’m just a bit strange, and Lord Chronos acknowledged me… it’s why I fight for him.” I blinked.

“Lord Chronos is honestly a monster and disturbing… but he sees value in me, and I’ll repay that kindness… now, survive.” I activated Echo Step, not Jolt Step, and moved when the sword came for me… my arms flashed, and my body moved, and I was finally faster than Blade, but my body protested at the sudden movement after being so tired and I practically tripped away as I turned it into a roll to dodge the sudden over-head swing.

“You are faltering. Stand strong or die. Should you die, I’ll remain here… and more and more people will come. And more and more will die. Maybe one will get lucky and kill me. Maybe someone you care about will die before that happens though.” At this point he was just trying to rile me up to do something, but it was difficult to even try and hit him when one hit would end me, and he defends just as well as he attacks, like that time I tried to kick him and almost lost a foot.

“Shut up!” Okay, riling me up was working, but I was getting pretty frantic and trying to just stay alive and figure out something… then I noticed I rolled just next to something… Matts sword that he had dropped when he began focusing solely on defence. In less time than it takes a heart to beat I had that sword in my right hand an my Dagger in my left, standing and facing Blade once more as he looked at my choice.

“Dual Wielding? A particularly difficult sword style… one I am versed in though… that won’t save you.” Or so he thought.

I held my dagger loosely and gripped my sword tightly, a bit awkward due to not being used to using both at once though I had done it a few times it was still very difficult. Blade didn’t wait for me to get used to it though, as he swung…

And blinked as my dagger shot out and parried his Katana, my own sword swinging up to hit him on his side as he… twirled? Honestly looked like something he practiced but used as a last resort, anyway, he ‘twirled’ out of my range with a spin as he looked.

“…what are you?” he asked as I raised an eyebrow, finally figuring out my stance as I had my left hand forward, my right hand slightly behind my left, both blades extending towards my left due to my Nameless Dagger being held in a reverse grip.

“…when we began this fight, I could tell that you were experienced in using bladed weaponry, and despite your inexperience with magic, you are slightly more advanced than your partners… but you’re improving instead of declining as this fight continues.” I shrugged, glaring at him, not daring to take my focus off him as I finally found some sort of equilibrium in my style, it still wasn’t entirely right I felt though…

“I guess I’m getting used to it? After all, humans adapt.”

Blade froze at my words… then he burst into laughter, a full bellied one as he held his stomach, leaning backwards… hey.

“Ah! I hadn’t had a laugh like that in a few years! Right, that’s right! Humans adapt to their environment, they grow and learn faster than we demons because it is what they do! Yes, come at me, human! Come at me, Arthur Clive!” I growled at him as I dashed forward, deciding to activate Jolt Step and instead of dropping out of it occasionally, I’d instead shift up to Echo Step, draining my magic faster, but I couldn’t afford to go any slower now…

Besides, while Jolt Step made me faster and gave me slightly greater control, Echo Step made me much faster, at the expense of control… I’d occasionally overshoot my steps or swings, which was a problem… luckily Echo Step was so fast that it kept me from getting killed from my mistakes, but it was a problem… I’d need something giving me more control and speed than Jolt Step…

“Huh? You’re creating a spell while fighting me? Yes, grow, grow and show me! Show me the Potential!” I could tell that he wasn’t simply talking about the term potential, but something near tangible… what he meant exactly, I had no idea, as I focused.

[Spell Created: Flow Step (F)!]

Close enough, it activated and I smiled, and had he a physical mouth, I’m sure Blade would have smiled as well, as I upped my speed slightly, making me roughly equal with him.

Now instead of being faster but overshooting, or slower but with more focus, I was roughly on par with him, equalizing the gap between our skills using my reflexes at this point. If it weren’t for the boost Flow Step provided to that, I’d probably die.

“What a brilliant fight, whoever hits first wins, a fight on the edge!” I twisted out of the way of a thrust, sending my own sword gliding along his sword arm to try and stab him in the face as I abandoned my attack, ducking as his sword turned and then swung, going from a stab straight into a horizontal slash, I almost got hit if it weren’t for using my Dagger to deflect the sword upwards, during which I slashed upwards with my sword, Blade jumping slightly back to dodge before stepping back in.

At this point, I’m sure if one looked at our fight from outside, it would look more like a dance… neither hit the other, and every time it looked like one might win, the other would launch their own counter-attack ruining the attack, until eventually one would be forced to dodge backwards or to the side, thus giving very small breaks between the clashes…

But it was also obvious that I couldn’t keep this going forever. No, at best, I could only keep Flow Step active for another five minutes, an eternity in a one sided fight, but in a fight as equal as the one between Blade and I, it seemed much too short…

During this thought, I absently noted that while Blade was near unfairly strong, one on one he was actually more manageable… I guess that was because I had no partners to disturb my train of thought by seeing them injured or worrying about running into them or helping.

“Ha.” I gave a breathless laugh as I dodged another hit, I was getting used to his attacks by now, strangely… they seemed more… understandable, unlike before…

“What is it?” Blade asked, noting my laugh as we continued our fight, though I didn’t know how Lanterns tired, I doubt Blade would tire before me as I parried once more, sending him dodging as my right hand streaked out.

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“I’m stronger when I fight in a group because they cover my weaknesses… yet, it seems that just this once, I’m stronger without them.” I said as he chuckled along with me.

“Hm, it appears this will be ending soon, yes?” he asked as I nodded… strangely enough, over the course of this fight, I had begun to somehow ‘understand’ Blade, and it was confusing.

He was honest, and spoke truths, he got excited at the prospect of a fight and opponents that grew stronger in the middle of the fight. He viewed himself as weak, much like I did, and he was thankful to… urgh, Chronos of all beings, for taking note of his strength in spite of his low standing in Hell…

He was an interesting being honestly… he was right when he said we were similar…

That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t kill him though.

I dodged a swing and contemplated my options… he’d die in one or two good hits, said it himself, and so would I, I’d also die in a hit or two… honestly, there was only one possible way I could see winning.

I stepped forward, dodging a slice as I stabbed forward, watching him turn and slash… no, not yet, so I parried, this time stabbing forward with my dagger instead of my sword, and I watched him step back out of my short range, aiming to cut my arm off as I quickly brought it back, not taking the bait and instead of swinging out with my sword, I stepped forward slightly into his space, and he then tried to use his sheathe to smash me, and I dodged rather than try to block what was essentially a club…

It was annoying how he’d drop and pick that up randomly to use against me, but at least it was noticeable, and didn’t simply teleport into his hand.

With that thought in mind I threw my Dagger at him, making his eyes widen in surprise as he tilted his head, dodging the dagger, raising his sword and stabbing forward… and I was hit, around the stomach area as he sighed.

“…It seems I win.” He said as he looked at my face… and his eyes made of blue fire flared in surprise when he saw me smiling even as some blood welled up from my mouth.

“No…I win.” I said as I dropped my sword, surprising him even more as my left hand held onto his clawed (I only noticed that now really) hand as my Dagger reappeared in my right.

Then I stabbed him in the middle of his chest, and watched his eyes widen as the fire in his eyes died slowly…

Then I felt my heart seize and my head spin as my eyes closed for a second, and when they opened…

“Where…where am I?” I asked, looking around as I stood, looking around in confusion… I was somewhere different, and… I felt different… I felt… lighter, stronger… and as I looked around, taking in the low lighting and fog surrounding me, I noticed someone standing in front of me…

It was Blade, the Demon Lord, though he stood staring at me for a few moments, then looked at his own hands… then looked to me.

“You have slain me… impressive. You most certainly passed my test. Though I… I see. Well, we will have to be leaving now. You have someone who wishes to speak with you. Follow me.” I was weary, but he seemed to be non-aggressive with me… this seemed strange though.

“Where are we? Who am I meeting?” I asked, and Blade did not falter in his steps as I followed him near blindly through the fog, the only notice that he had heard me was the turn of his head letting me see the blue fire that was his eyes… they seemed different though… as if the soul that had just been there had left, leaving an empty husk in the form of the mighty swordsman that had threatened my life.

“Where we are is unimportant. Even less important is the fact that I am here… in fact, I am not here. I’m just an image. I am just an abstract that took the shape you’d most likely listen to in the current situation.” Huh? What…

“It is a bit strange that you would listen to the enemy that tried to kill you though… and about the person you are meeting… well, you’ll remember.” I was confused by his words as he motioned to a door that seemed to appear from nowhere, though I stepped in front of him and looked at the door… when I turned to ask Blade another question, he had vanished…

I looked at the door… and then I opened it, and inside (though inside seemed to still be mist) was a man.

I didn’t recognize him, though it was a man judging from how he appeared… he wore a strange mask, seemingly having no holes for the eyes or to breathe yet he stood there, the mask had no features save that it was pure white, and around the mouth area was a massive grin with red teeth. Other than the mask, the man also wore a suit, standing at my height.

“Who are you?” I asked staring at the man as the masks grin stretched, making me step back in surprise as the man pointed to me, with a white gloved hand, and then tapping his own chest, above his heart.

“What, how am I supposed to understand that?” I asked as suddenly the man was in front of me, and the mask was right in my face… then the mouth opened, an abyss staring at me from inside the huge hole in the beings face, because no ‘man’ would be capable of this, and something punched its way into my chest making me jerk in surprise.

“I am me, and I am you.”

“Ah!” I sat up with shock, almost falling off the bed I was seated on, before I winced and clutched at my stomach… where, where was I now?

“Arthur, you’re awake!” I heard before I was suddenly hugged, and I blinked at the feeling… who… I noted the blonde hair and gave a small smile, hugging Emilia… I… I’m alive…

“Where… a hospital?” I asked, noting the smell of ‘clean’ and antiseptics… unlike most, I happened to like the smell of a hospital, even if I couldn’t stand being in it for too long.

“Yeah… we woke up outside the dungeon… apparently after we won we got the option to exit the dungeon straight from the tenth floor, and you accepted, and then passed out or something to that effect…” I blinked at her words… I did that?

I… I didn’t remember doing that… in fact, I can’t remember anything after- “Argh.” I held my mouth at the sudden sense of nausea… Emilia quickly supplied a bin and I vomited into the bin, coughing violently…

Why… I tried to remember… and I couldn’t? Something wasn’t right… But if I tried to understand what was wrong I’d feel sick? What… no, don’t think about it… it would be better to ignore that…

“Hold on Arthur, I’ll get a doctor!” Emilia rushed out and I noted the bandages wrapped around her forehead…

We were all probably hurt badly during that fight… that fight against a Demon Lord, the weakest of all ninety nine, not to mention the only Demon Lord that was a lesser demon…

And while that was a sobering thought, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked out the window near my bed.

“I won… I survived…” I almost broke into tears, glad to be alive as I was…

Personal Information

Name:

Arthur Clive

Level:

33

2170 EXP

Rank:

K

Anima:

Traveller’s Cloak

The Nameless Dagger

Stats(15):

Strength: 30 (34.5)

Dexterity: 35 (42)

Intelligence: 22

Wisdom: 36 (57.6)

Vitality: 30 (33)

Constitution: 22

Skills:

Shooting (F), Blade Wielding (S), Tactician (S), Recovery (B), Close Combat ©, Enchanting (D), ℗℮ΩↃ∏∆

“So, they cleared the tenth floor?” I glanced at my boss as I sighed… wouldn’t have to interact with them again my ass… it sucked being a soldier with the President giving you direct orders… well, the pay was good, but I’d need hazard pay to deal with that group of ‘Adventurers’ as they were soon going to be called.

“Yes, I spoke to their second-in-command, the eldest of their group, Michael Grave, their archer. Apparently they had cleared most of the ninth floor, and went to go check on the tenth floor… their leader, Arthur Clive, assumed there to be a stronger Demon on this floor, and was proven right soon afterwards apparently.”

I stated as President Clayton nodded, looking over the report I handed to him… I had it done pretty quickly, in spite of how late it was, or early, depending on your idea of three in the morning.

“It is a very comprehensive report Agent Fife.” I appreciated my work being accepted, even if I didn’t like the actual working…

“Thank you sir… continuing, after finding proof of the demon a ‘Demon Lord’ as claimed, the group engaged in combat with said Demon Lord, apparently ‘The Demon Lord of the Sword’ and was named Blade, imaginatively…” I sighed at the department of redundancy department I heard in that title and name.

My boss appreciated such funny things though and chuckled a bit as I continued. “Apparently, according to Grave, the Demon Lord was humanoid in shape with blue fire on the inside, it was of the Lantern family so that made sense. It also had a ‘ponytail of blue fire’ that did not harm those that touched it, it seemed to behave similar to our own hair in that sense.” I noted such small things and the President nodded.

“The Demon Lord was apparently a ‘test’ of some kind, as while it had ample chance to kill any of the group, it didn’t, instead knocking them out. Estimation is that the Demon Lord would have killed them had they all been knocked out.” I added, and the President sighed in relief at that part, though I didn’t think he should… it proved intelligent apparently, and anything with intelligence was to be feared.

“The Demon Lord, as its name would suggest, used a sword predominantly, a Japanese Katana of sorts, though it was thicker than a standard one apparently. Similar to the lesser variations of the Lantern family, it ‘dropped’ the Katana, and it is currently in the inventory of the group’s leader.” I explained and the President nodded… it was just a sword, not too important, but to people who actually entered the Dungeon it was. It was a weapon used by a being estimated to be roughly level 50 or so, about twenty levels higher than the person that actually killed it.

“Beyond the Demon Lords sword skills, it had no special abilities beyond high physical stats corresponding with its estimated level, though we still hope to find out how strong its defence was considering that their leader killed it, and apparently his weapon does very low damage.” I was a bit conflicted on that part… his weapon did low damage, but my Anima was an observation type Anima.

I viewed every member of their group, and I found that the observation on the damage the weapon did was pretty accurate… it was pretty much the weakest Dagger type Anima I had ever seen.

It also happened to be stealing something every time it killed something. At first, I assumed it to be granting Clive extra experience points, thus explaining his level when compared to most, even my level 27 wasn’t that special compared to his level 30 before the fight with the Demon Lord…

But then I tried to look deeper. See, Anima do exactly what they are supposed to do on the tin, my Anima was a higher tiered observation type Anima known as ‘Dragon Eyes’ and at my current level it allowed me to see level, highest stat, and the highest skill of a person, or if it was an item, the ‘worth’ of an item and its effects (though Anima were all registered as ‘-’ at the worth column)

And Clive’s Anima did something more than just grant extra experience points… my ‘eyes’ were currently the highest known observation Anima luckily, though I have no doubt there were more in the world, just being kept hidden… information warfare still continued in our world now, no, especially now… and my eyes said that Dagger had info…

“Ahem, with that being said sir, after the majority of their team was knocked out, Arthur Clive engaged in one on one combat with the Demon Lord… and apparently the Demon Lord was easier to fight in this manner than a group fight, because Clive won… you know what that means, right sir?” I asked just for the sake of professionalism as the President sighed. At my words, before staring at me and I paused for a moment.

Despite how I act, this was a man I could respect, he had spine and stood up with pride when he had to. Many complained that our President was behind and making mistakes, but they didn’t see what Clayton dealt with.

He let out a slow sigh as he nodded. “Of course I understand what it means Agent Fife… I’m… I’m honestly sad that it wasn’t you to achieve it.” I sighed at his words… quite honestly, I had no desire to go through what Clive was likely to go through due to what he had done…

Slaying a Demon Lord… wasn’t something small… especially not killing the first Demon Lord… “Poor kid…” I said silently as I walked out of the room, ready to go order my junior to go talk to Clive… I was freaked out by Clive honestly, but that didn’t mean I’d wish what was going to happen to him on anyone…

“That kid… if he wakes up anytime soon, he’ll think he got away alive… sad really… he doesn’t know he just got even closer to dying.” I walked towards one of my agents with a sigh… that kid might be thankful that he’s alive, that he survived… he survived nothing yet.