[Mordred]

The greatsword and halberd clutched by the daemons quivered, attempting to slice through the sinuous blood tentacles sprouting from my back.

Good luck with that fellas.

They quickly withdrew and went for another strike.

Only to hit nothing.

I soared into the air right above them and before they could even turn their heads up, my blood tentacles lashed out.

Two daemon heads rolled down into the bloody snow.

Another flash of crimson and their chests were simultaneously torn open. I landed on the ground, their black abominable hearts in my tentacles as they staggered and exploded into darkness.

The wails of two wraiths reverberated, the crimson smoke of their spirits hurtling towards me. Two tentacles deftly swatted them into red dust.

The hearts of the two daemons dripping with black ooze disintegrated into smoky darkness.

"Two C ranks down," I remarked, shifting my gaze toward the A-rank daemon.

Except it wasn't there.

I felt a tingle beside me and instantly reacted.

A resounding clang resonated in my ears, accompanied by a gust of wind that ruffled my hair.

One of my tentacles, shimmering with blood, intercepted the daemon's sword, preventing it from lopping off my head.

The shimmering tentacle of blood struggled quite a bit against the daemon's blade as it pushed against the appendage and I could feel its malevolent power seeping into my body

I narrowed my eyes.

"You are going to be quite the troublesome lad," I said, taking out my sword from my bracelet.

Its pure white blade glinted sharply, the bright green single edge radiating an eerie glow reminiscent of a basilisk's eye.

I streamed ardor into my sword and the blade hissed like an angry serpent.

I unleashed my aura and the knees of the daemon buckled.

In a flicker, the daemon teleported a few feet away, tightly gripping its longsword.

Nearby Deathwalkers yelped in surprise and newbies stumbled to the ground as my aura shook the very air and ground around a ten-meter radius.

I can now effortlessly control the strength and range of my aura. With a smirk, I stopped releasing my aura and beckoned the daemon with my index finger.

"Shall we dance?"

The daemon flickered out of existence, and the next second, the glinting edge of its black longsword appeared, aimed directly at my throat.

Swiftly activating transcendence, I casually leaned back as the blade seemed to be wielded by a frail old man with arthritis rather than a deadly A-ranked daemon.

Without breaking a step, the daemon swung again, this time with a vertical slash intention turning me into a split banana like poor Tim.

I shifted my body to the side and dodged again.

Undeterred, the daemon unleashed a furious barrage of sword attacks.

Each swing was met with efficient dodges and precise parries, my sword and tentacles dancing in tandem to deflect the onslaught.

Each collision of our blades birthed a flurry of sparks and ardor, unleashing powerful shockwaves as we danced our way through the battlefield.

Our dance echoed in symphony with the clashing of weapons, causing some inconvenience to the Deathwalkers we passed.

"Oi! Watch it, Pendragon!" shouted an eyepatch-wearing female Deathwalker in her twenties, narrowly evading a massive hammer aimed at her head by the twenty-foot daemon she faced.

"Sorry!", I yelled and got distracted for a second. The demon took its chance.

It lunged and aimed a powerful thrust at my chest. I deftly blocked the attack, only to be launched into the air

While airborne I caught a group of Deathwalkers surrounded by daemons in the corner of my eye.

My gaze shifted to the daemon flickering as it closed the distance between us in the air.

I stretched my free hand and channeled Haema.

Crimson runes encircled my arm as blood swirled in multiple points around me in the air.

{Haema: Vortex Bloodlances}

The swirling blood transformed into rapidly spinning, two-meter-long lances that hurled toward the daemon with lethal precision.

Twisting gracefully in midair, I aimed my body toward the group of Deathwalkers encircled by daemons.

I quickly scanned the enemies and smiled.

Five master C-ranks and four intermediate B-ranks.

Transcendence is still active and so the world around me has slowed down.

I quickly switched my sword with my bow, an ebony masterpiece of a weapon.

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Taking out five arrows with practiced ease, I aimed with precision and released.

A whistling sound cut through the air, followed by the sound of the arrows hitting their targets, the daemons.

I smirked and quickly glanced behind me. My daemon just sliced apart the last blood lance and turned its head at me.

"Time to wrap this up."

My blood tentacles seamlessly merged, forming massive wings of crimson. With a powerful flap, I shot toward the ground.

Upon landing behind one of the daemons encircling the Deathwalkers, my wings split back into six tentacles and they surged forward on all sides.

In an instant, six daemons found barbed blood spikes sprouting from their chests, while three other daemons discovered their bodies intertwined by a pulsating blood tentacle.

Swiftly lifting them up, I turned around to face the A-rank daemon.

"A small gift from me.", I called out and flung the convulsing daemons at my playmate.

"Scram!" I yelled at the Deathwalkers I had just saved.

Understanding the urgency, they immediately scattered as nine balls of darkness exploded in the air.

Nine columns of crimson smoke rushed at me, filling the air with their horrible wailing.

My blood tentacles shot forward and turned them all into red dust.

As it turns out, I am immune to the possession of wraiths. The blood of the Pendragon Family is special.

Those with the blood of Pendragon coursing through their veins are immune to virtually every type of poison, curse, and possession.

Perhaps it's because the royal family is the direct descendants of a powerful dragon.

And since dragons are the ultimate lifeforms, they are immune to all diseases, curses, and even natural death.

Huh. Finally, something good came out of being the child of Arthur.

Okay. Let's get back to my awesome fight.

Amidst the dispersing darkness, I caught a glimpse of black metal and swiftly drew my sword.

In an instant, the A-ranked daemon, seemingly unfazed by the explosive deaths of its kind, appeared before me with a mighty downward slash.

I stepped back and blocked the attack.

The impact generated a powerful shockwave that blew away the crimson snow around us.

The daemon turned its head at its sword suppressed by mine and then to my face.

I looked up at the swirling darkness that replaced its face and a small smile tugged at my mouth.

Swiftly sliding my blade against its black sword, I lunged forward with a jab enhanced by ardor.

The daemon reacted quickly and jumped away from the range of my sword.

No way I am letting you go that easy.

Blood surged along the green edge of my sword, propelling like a cannon at the daemon.

Caught off guard, the daemon barely deflected the high-speed blood projectile and was pushed back by the force.

I leaned forward and shot toward the daemon.

In an instant, I was before it and swung downwards diagonally.

The daemon immediately blocked it and the snow beneath our feet scattered as the ground cracked from the unleashed power.

It swiftly jumped back and immediately lunged at me.

The billowing darkness enveloping its body wafted to and fro as the daemon unleashed its deadly skills with its sword.

The daemon was swift and precise and executed each movement with utmost efficiency.

A shower of sparks and an explosion of darkness and ardor rippled through the air every time its black blade clashed with the white blade of my sword.

I gritted my teeth and was forced to admit its undeniable prowess with the sword.

Each strike of the daemon is filled with the power of an A-ranked being.

That means each strike is an act of pure devastation. This daemon could effortlessly overpower a Captain with its formidable sword mastery.

However, I smirked.

But I am way superior to this walking bag of smoke.

And I have regained all of the experience and skills of my past life in these three years.

And I feel good.

So I retracted my blood tentacles, deactivated transcendence and unleashed hell.

Countering every single strike from the daemon, I skillfully deflected each attack back at the creature.

The daemon unleashed a deadly diagonal slash on me.

I deflected it and flicked my wrist, dealing a quick and lethal horizontal slash.

The daemon quickly blocked it but I wasn't done. With another flick of the wrist, my sword went down vertically.

Maintaining the relentless onslaught, I seamlessly changed the path of my sword with each strike.

The daemon began to falter and struggle against the rain of white blades.

Dark ooze spurted out of numerous wounds all over the daemon's body as my sword dispersed the billowing darkness covering it.

With each strike, my blade cut through its tough black flesh like a hot knife through butter.

Whenever it flickered and backed away to make distance, I surged forward and increased the intensity of my attacks.

No way I am letting you leave, you fucking bag of black ooze.

I activated Haema and accelerated my blood, boosting my body and senses.

Planting my feet firmly, the ground crumbled underneath the force of my power.

Twenty-one slashes in ten seconds.

Let's double that, shall we?

Black ooze spurted, billowing darkness dispersed, and the clanging of weapons shredded the silence that enveloped the daemon as my sword overwhelmed it.

A black armored leg of billowing darkness was the first to be sliced off and was soon followed by the remaining limbs.

Limbs dropped to the ground, splashing black ooze everywhere, and dispersed into darkness.

Standing before the daemon, slightly out of breath, I looked down at the faceless visage of the daemon, now reduced to a head and a torso, somehow still standing upright.

Black ooze slid off my uniform and changed the shade of the snow around me from deep crimson to black.

"That was a good fight," I said between breaths and lopped off the daemon's head.

Even as the torso flopped to the ground, the stumps of the severed limbs were already regenerating.

I opened my palm and channeled Haema to it.

A circle of runes materialized, hovering above my palm as my blood accumulated at its center, swirling rapidly.

{Haema: Blood Grenade}

I dropped the small glowing ball of blood on the torso and stepped back.

A powerful explosion of crimson followed by a ball of darkness signaled the end of the A-rank daemon.

The spirit of the wraith rushed at me only to be reduced to red dust.

As I turned around, a powerful aura pressed down on me. A purplish-black smoke suddenly wrapped around my neck and began to tighten.

I attempted to grab the smoke, but it condensed into a cord of glowing purple and tightened further.

I dropped to my knees and struggled to breathe.

I looked beside me and saw a daemon holding a scepter topped with a purple orb that glowed brightly.

Its clawed fingers clenched, and with each tightening of its fist, the cord around my neck constricted.

Damnit! I forgot to look out for these guys.

Just like there are three types of warlocks, there are three types of daemons.

The one trying to strangle me to death is called a Sorcerer. These guys are a nuisance in battle and a pain in the ass to kill.

My vision began to blur, and I crouched over, desperately trying to break the cord and struggling to breathe.

Typically, this would be an instant kill move. The only reason I am still alive is because of my high status as a warlock.

I would've been a goner if this had happened three years ago. Not even plot armor could have saved me.

Just as the daemon sorcerer was about to choke the life out of me, another powerful aura shook the air.

Instantly, two long spikes of solid darkness impaled the sorcerer in the chest, killing it in an explosion of darkness and the dying wails of a dissipating wraith.

The cord immediately dissipated, leaving a faint mark on my neck. I hacked and coughed, taking in a lungful of frigid mountain air.

Incarni! That felt good.

As I recovered my breath, I heard a familiar voice.

"Good thing I came just in time! Is this what they call plot armor in books and movies?"

I looked up and witnessed a truly heavenly sight.

Floating in the air with the aid of massive wings reminiscent of a fairy's and donned in a sleek, all-black uniform similar to mine, which accentuated her slim figure, was Iris Karsus.

Her long black hair transitioning into bright blue glittered in the sunlight and snowy background of the valley, making the blue ends glow.

Shimmering black runes encircled her arms as she summoned more massive pikes and impaled another two daemons nearby.

Her deep blue eyes glowed with power and she smiled mischievously.

"I didn't know you enjoyed getting choked," she teased, looking down at me with a playful expression and pressing a finger to her smiling lips.

"Oh my. How kinky."