Elalios was in great trouble. He was faced with a demon equal to or even stronger than a grade A mage. His mana capacity alone couldn’t even compare. It was a fight that he could not win. But, despite the odds, even when he himself knew that he would not survive, fighting was the only thing he could do. If he was successful, he would lower the number of demons, and this will help Kael and the others. If he failed, he still helped his comrades by making one of the demons busy. That’s what he had in mind, and so, that’s what he yearned to accomplish.

Not far from Elalios, Abzer was observing the fight. He was afraid that Elalios might detect him like how Kael could do it. He placed himself close enough to see the entire fight, but he was not close enough to fully grasp the true nature of most things that were about to occur. His cautious move proved to be a good thing for Elalios.

Elalios placed his right hand near his belt. His waist was circled with potions that he bought as a preparation for the demons’ invasion. Although he wasn’t prepared during that time, he was thankful that he thought of bringing many potions with him. With multiple potions in his arsenal, he thought that he could at least put up a fight against the demon.

There was silence for a minute after the demon leaped in front of him. Elalios knew that in terms of strength and speed, he would get destroyed. So he decided to not move in his position, and he decided that defending his position was the best course of action. But when the opportunity arose, he would not hesitate to use a strong potion to strike back.

Before Kael went to the academy, Elalios was taught by Seqina how to fight using potions. He wanted to protect Kael in some way so he took the initiative. It was Seqina’s means of fighting, which happen to be suitable for weak mages like Elalios. Elalios did learn some basics, like how combining certain potions could either boost an attack or diminish each potion’s power. He must remain calm even if he was against a demon. Seqina told him what happened when they were dealing with the demonized Osbert, and as Elalios’s mentor, Seqina pleaded that he must not do what she did.

Elalios took a deep breath. He acknowledged that he was alone this time. He mustered his courage, thinking only of his own life. He waited until the demon moved first, before he use one of the potions.

Abzer was carefully observing. In his line of sight, Elalios looked like a human ready to destroy a mere fourth class demon. Abzer expected it, for he was still associating Kael’s strength to Elalios’s.

“Let’s see your strength, human”, Abzer muttered. “ATTACK AND KILL”

Abzer’s command was the only thing that the demon was waiting for. The demon moved immediately, and rushed towards Elalios.

Elalios threw a potion bottle in front of him. It shattered and with his words, the liquid inside the bottle created a sturdy barrier.

[Shield]

Elalios conjured another barrier using his mana. He exhausted all his mana to create the thickest barrier he could conjure on his own. It wasn’t that thick of a barrier, but it gave Elalios more protection.

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Just after Elalios conjured a barrier, the demon punch through the potion-created barrier. The demon’s attack was not fully stopped, and it clashed against Elalios’s magical barrier. The barrier that he created cracked, but the remaining force of the punch was not enough to shatter it entirely.

The demon leaped back, then it launched another quick and powerful attack. Elalios dropped another potion bottle just in time to create another barrier. Like the first, the barrier created by the potion was shattered into pieces, and the demon’s attack managed to have enough momentum to reach Elalios’s magical barrier again. The demon’s attack worsened the cracks of the barrier. It was in the verge of totally breaking. One more attack and Elalios will actually feel the demon’s cruel fist.

The demon leaped back once again. Elalios knew that the demon will attack again just as quick as it did before. He still have some shield potions, but spending two at once may not be a good idea. He realized that he must start attacking as well.

The demon rushed towards Elalios for the third time. Elalios used another shield potion. He had another potion ready in his hand for his attack. He was anxious, he didn’t want to mess up the timing of his attack. He heard the destruction of the potion-created barrier. He almost leaped back in panic, but he managed to control himself.

‘Not yet’

The demon’s attack continued on. Upon contact, Elalios’s magical barrier collapsed, and the demon had more than enough momentum to reach Elalios. This time, Elalios leaped back, and throw a potion towards the demon. He hoped that the potion was effective enough to incapacitate the demon.

The demon was covered with sticky slime. It became sluggish, and all its struggles to reach Elalios made it even slower. It was a success, but it was not Elalios’s whole plan.

Elalios knew that the demon would get out of the slime after some minutes. The slime may be sticky, but it was still dripping to the ground. Elalios wasted no time, and threw another potion bottle.

As the potion dripped down making contact with the sticky slime, the greenish slime started to heat up. The slime became reddish until it turned to red hot. The sticky slime turned into magma that was so viscous and sticky that it scorched the demon thoroughly. The demon was suffering, but it couldn’t get out of the sticky magma. Soon enough, the pain was too much to bear that the demon fell down, succumbing to its fate. Elalios was surprised that it was over that fast, but he was relieved that he won the fight.

The outcome was witnessed by Abzer. The demon thought that Elalios did all those things using his magic. Abzer thought that during the entire battle, Elalios was calm, as the fourth class demon posed no threat to him. The demon couldn’t use his authority to heal his subordinate, for he was too far from the fight. In his mind, it was better to return to the castle, and follow his great lord’s orders. However, just when he was about to flee, and return to the king’s castle, he felt a sudden change in his body. He was getting stronger, as the darkness that engulfed the town distributed the power of despair and chaos to high class demons like him. Realizing what was happening, Abzer felt prideful, convincing himself that he could kill Elalios with his rising power. A sinister smirk emerged on his face.

Elalios calmed himself for several seconds. He was so terrified that he fell on his knees, and repeatedly murmured his gratitude for still being alive. He decided to go to town, and call for someone to handle whatever was going on in the king’s castle. He didn’t have the courage to go in the castle by himself. His intuition was telling him that he will die there. Unfortunately for him, the strongest demon among the demons in the king’s castle decided to go against him. Just a minute after he defeated a fourth class demon, he would need to defeat a stronger one. Elalios’s real fight was about to begin.