Pixie snorted at my crazy request. “Are you stupid or what? There’s no way-”
She stopped whatever she was about to say and finally noticed the excitement in the Demonic Exorcist’s gaze.
Pixie’s eyes widened, and she jumped away. “What the fuck?! You crazy bastard! Do you think you can betray the boss and get away with it?!”
The Demonic Exorcist’s crazed grin turned stony. “Jeez, I was just joking. No need to take it so seriously.”
He would have probably killed her if she hadn’t jumped back. Why would he do something so illogical like killing his own teammate? Simple. Because he felt like it.
Also, was he now a part of the Red Tails? That would be the most dangerous decision they’d have ever made.
The Demonic Exorcist was like a force of nature, unpredictable and catastrophic. How could they ever control someone like that? Despite his power, he was the last guy I would want on my team.
"Anyway, kiddo, ready for a rematch? Last time we fought, you came out uninjured, but I lost a finger." He showed me his new pinky finger.
Right, this guy had a good special ability too. Though he rarely used it, as he preferred to show off his demons.
"Rematch? Now? But there are so many people around."
"You're right. We should just kill everyone here,” he nodded.
No, that was not at all what I meant. “No, let’s not do that.”
“Take Ellen out of here!” Ordered the zombie samurai, emitting an aura of sharpness that seemed to cut the surrounding air.
Ellen lay in a pool of her own blood next to the World Exorcist, and the clan head went and brought her back to us. He was surprisingly fast for a pure Creator.
The demonic exorcist smiled and asked the clan head. “I wonder what strange ability you have?”
As soon as he said that, the Demonic Exorcist took out a book, and a dark beam shot out of it. The zombie samurai swiftly dodged the attack, but it curved in midair and struck him in the chest. His body immediately froze, like he was stuck in time.
Then the Demonic Exorcist charged past him and toward the clan head. But Delia’s father had a calm look on his face and intertwined his fingers.
{Mass Murderer Shrine of Glory!}
The surroundings darkened, and we were all transported into the dark world with the mountain of skulls.
“I knew I sensed something dangerous from you,” the Demonic Exorcist nodded as if proud of his deduction.
The World Exorcist wasn’t so calm. “He can manifest a terrain!”
“This is bad!” Pixie’s voice shook.
But there was nothing they could do to escape, but the Demonic Exorcist had his centipede wrap itself around him, and the sound of a knife hitting metal rang out. Minor scratches appeared on the centipede.
Suddenly, the world cracked. The World Exorcist held a key the size of a sword in his hand, which was the crack's source. “My ability lets me unlock any door or lock. Barriers and seals are useless against me.”
Yeah, this was why this bastard was amongst the Special Rank Exorcists. Just like Paris, his ability was overpowered, but not very useful in direct battle.
With the barrier released, the Demonic Exorcist emerged from his centipede’s defensive cocoon. “I see, so it’s that kind of ability.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
He glanced at the rest of his team and then at me. “You can’t attack someone who hasn’t harmed your clan. Also, your ability doesn't tell you who has attacked them, so you have to guess. I wonder what the drawback to guessing wrong is?”
His centipede demon had large cuts on its exoskeleton, and the Demonic Exorcist frowned at them. “Also, if I were a betting man, your ability is one where it grows stronger the more enemies of the clan you were to kill. That’s what those crying skulls were, right? They belonged to the enemies of your clan, right? Right? Right? RIGHT?!”
It was a bit of a stretch to think that he had managed to correctly guess all those details about the clan head’s special ability. But despite his craziness, the Demonic Exorcist had an instinct for these things.
Whether the Demonic Exorcist had figured it out was hard to tell since the clan head remained expressionless. But there had to be some truth to it as the cutting attacks had only been aimed at the Demonic Exorcist, who I had clashed with in the past. So technically, he had ‘attacked’ a member of the Dark Sword Clan.
It seemed like a special ability with many rules, but its power was crazy. Even the Demonic Exorcist could only defend himself when the clan head fully manifested his power.
Though now that the enemy knew his limitations, this fight would become much harder.
But even if the clan head’s ability worked as the Demonic Exorcist had assumed, we still had the advantage.
Delia, her father, and I were part of the Dark Sword Clan. If we got attacked, he could activate his special ability.
While his restrictions were a pain to get around, they didn’t just strengthen his ability. If they were harsh enough, restrictions could even ease the Ord expenditure.
Crack!... The sound of something breaking rang out, and the undead samurai assaulted the Demonic Exorcist. He had his back turned toward the attacker, as the zombie shot a point-blank sword beam. “Die!”
A colossal explosion rang out, and the attack was so fast there had been no time for the centipede demon to defend him. But as the dust cleared, it revealed a still unharmed demonic exorcist, and he had a smile on his face. “Because of a certain someone,” he glanced at me. “I learned to always keep some defensive Magic Items on my person.”
“Who said I was aiming for you?” The undead changed his sword’s angle and hit the ground, creating a smoke screen.
“Let’s go,” the clan head said. “The undead swordsman has made his decision.”
Huh? What was that supposed to mean? He made it sound like they had some kind of secret conversation. Maybe it was a warrior thing?
Whatever it was, we couldn’t afford to stay here any longer. We took off, I carried Delia while the clan head had Ellen on his shoulder.
***
How long had it been since he had been in a battle where he had to put his life on the line? Decades? Centuries?
Ever since he had become an undead monster, roaming these lands for an enemy strong enough to kill him, Oda hadn’t encountered anyone who could kill him.
Ellen was the closest anyone had come to obliterating him. But her tamed demon’s ability wasn’t the kind that could satisfy a warrior like him.
“Ah, that’s a shame. I wanted to have a bout with Kon,” said the Demonic Exorcist.
When the dust cleared, Oda noticed that the other two enemies had also disappeared. He would have wished to personally kill the guy who stabbed Ellen, but it was better to hold back the strongest enemy than go after petty revenge. “My name is Oda, and I will challenge you to a battle to the death. What is your name?”
“Name? I haven’t been asked that in a while,” he smiled. “You may call me Cesar. Perhaps I will tell you my real name if you become a satisfying opponent.”
“Heh,” Oda laughed. His undead heart almost started beating again.
No one had ever looked down on him. He had dominated his generation; neither exorcist nor samurai had dared stand in his way.
“I don’t have all day. So excuse me for being a rude old-timer,” Cesar said.
A dark centipede burst from the ground with widened jaws, looking to rend Oda’s rotten flesh. But before it could do that, Oda infused his sword with demonic energy and delivered a slash that almost approached the quality of cuts he gave back when he was a human.
The cut was clean, almost beautiful, and he admired his own craft as the centipede demon collapsed in two pieces.
“You must have been quite the monster when you were alive, old timer,” Cesar complimented as another demon suddenly fell from the sky. It looked like a gorilla with wings instead of arms.
The gorilla demon tried to kick at Oda, but his leg was swiftly severed, causing it to back off while staring at his missing leg in shock.
“If you think you can defeat me while playing around, then you might find your head separated from your body before you even know what happened,” Oda advised his opponent.
Despite losing the centipede demon, Cesar hadn’t used his special ability.
“You’re right. If I play for too long, I won’t be able to get my rematch with the kid,” Cesar sighed, his eyes sharpening. The surrounding aura changed as his skin turned blood red.
“{Bloody Ghost of Domination}”