Theodore blinked before looking around, he’d just walked through the door and immediately he’d been transported to an unknown location. Trees surrounded him from every angle, they rose tall and their leaves created a rooftop that blocked nearly all sunlight, though there were just enough for him to see his surroundings.
He couldn’t sense anyone’s presence so he thought that he might be alone, the situation was sort of similar to a book he’d read when he was younger, it was about a group of selected children that needed to kill each other to survive.
‘…Technically it’s kind of the same.’ He thought while sighing, sort of relieved that he didn’t have to fight anyone just yet, after all, it would be best if the other demon kings took each other out first.
He had saved his transformation time just for this occasion so he could stay in his human body longer, he thought that he could have more dexterity if he’s smaller and has hands and feet. Though just as he was about to move, he felt something creeping closer to him.
The hair at the back of his neck stood on end, his eyes widened on reflex as he turned around and was instantly met with a blast of dark magic, though luckily for him, he stepped back and activated ‘Scales of the Serpent’ just in time and the spell was blocked.
“Hm? Not bad,” A womanly voice spoke as Theodore looked up at her with his eyes narrowed and brows tied up in a knot, he didn’t expect his first opponent to be Leviathan.
“…Do you think you have unfinished business with me?” He spoke in a low tone, to which Envy amusedly chuckled.
“So you do know,” Leviathan’s monstrous golden eyes shined fiercely as her body began to radiate a heavy demonic aura. “Lucifer’s strength was supposed to be mine, yet you foolish serpent stole it from me!”
Theodore didn’t know how to reply to that, he let out a soft huff before readying himself to cast a spell. ‘Her logic confuses me…’
A blue magic circle appeared in front of him before a blast of cold air erupted from its center, heading straight towards Leviathan.
[Frozen Disaster: Freeze.]
Just as Envy casted a cyan magic wall to block his spell, Theodore drew three more magic circles and let a barrage of icicle spears rain down onto it, not wanting to leave any opening for the demon king to recover.
Leviathan’s shield was holding on just as Theodore had expected, he increased the amount of magic circles while preparing a more powerful spell, using the ice bullets as a distraction.
However, before he could even finish casting, he felt a sharp pain run down his entire body. Wincing slightly at the sting, he paid attention to what caused it.
All of his magic circles had shattered like glass, its fragments falling onto the ground before disappearing. Leviathan was standing among all of it and in her hand was a large purplish blue scythe, its blade gleaming ominously. “Did you think you could put me down with a weak spell like that?”
Theodore didn’t reply and went back to focus on casting his intended spell, he didn’t want to use something flashy like Devouring Winter, it would definitely draw unwanted attention towards him, he couldn’t use holy magic immediately or else the demon king would grow too wary of him and it would be too difficult to outsmart otherwise.
The magic circle appeared in front of him, gleaming with power as magical energy began to gather around the central point before it would release a concentrated beam towards Leviathan.
[Frozen Disaster: Glacial Beam.]
The woman frowned with annoyance clearly expressed on her features, she drew her scythe and brought it down onto the spell. Glacial Beam didn’t seem to be doing what it should as Envy slowly pushed against the beam, walking closer and closer towards Theodore.
‘Glacial Beam should’ve completely frozen the scythe, what happened?’ Theodore frowned, noticing that Envy’s weapon was completely unaffected by his magic, instead, it seemed to be doing something else that he couldn’t exactly be sure of, the spell was wrapping itself around the scythe’s razor, seemingly just hovering there and not doing anything.
Theodore glanced down towards his magic circle as he felt its magical aura dissipating, like a light bulb that was about to run out of power, it wasn’t shining as brightly anymore. He then saw what was going on and his eyes turned round at the realization. ‘…Is she absorbing my magic?’
He noticed this a little too late though, the instant his mind was off of Leviathan, she immediately sprung into action. She threw herself to the side, letting the weak magic beam fly off elsewhere before drawing her scythe to her right, the cut she delivered was swift, making it near impossible to dodge. “Die!”
She shouldn’t have screamed though since it pulled Theodore out of his trance, he stepped back but the sharp blade still managed to connect, creating a large horizontal wound on his stomach.
‘F*ck!’ Theodore gritted his teeth through the pain and jumped back, creating distance between him and his opponent. ‘She can absorb magic?’
Glacial Beam was an intermediate spell and Leviathan was able to easily negate it, Theodore was sure that even if he’d used an advanced spell, things would end up the same way. ‘I need to melee her?’
For once, he was at a disadvantage, he truly only had his magic to rely on when facing the demon kings, his physical strength would most likely be matched and it would become too difficult of a fight.
‘…Can she absorb Chaos?’
[I’m not sure.] Ouroboros spoke up in a concerned tone.
Before Theodore could think of another plan, Leviathan was already on the move, her aura suddenly changed and he could feel intense cold emanating from her figure, the frost mixed itself with her unique demonic aura, but he could still tell what it was. ‘Wait, that’s my magic…!’
Leviathan smirked as she held out her hand, despite not summoning any magic circle, the magic was casted. A powerful gust of frozen wind shot out from her palm and crashed onto the still stupored Theodore, immediately, blocks of ice began growing from his skin. “Haha! Your magic is indeed very strong! Too bad you’re too weak to properly use it!”
Theodore brought up his arms and tried to cast magic of his own, though the circle kept disappearing each time since it became difficult to focus on his spells, to make matters worse, Leviathan’s ‘Freeze’ seemed to be growing stronger the longer she casted it.
[Warning! The Unique Magic ‘Frozen Disaster’ is being absorbed by ‘Envious Grasp’!]
[Your body recognizes the spell as your own! It will not defend against it!]
‘!?’ Theodore frowned, immediately he got angry at the System’s notification. ‘What do you mean!? It’s still hurting me right!?’
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[It is the bonus effect of the Demon King of Envy’s ‘Envious Grasp’. Any stolen abilities will ignore the defensive capabilities of the original owner.]
‘Sh*t!’ Theodore was then suddenly blasted backwards by the powerful magic, before he knew it, he was suddenly outside the dense forest, having been pushed through the gaps between the trees. He quickly summoned his staff and stopped his momentum by plunging the pole deep into the soil.
The sound of laughter was heard as Leviathan slowly stepped into his view, her body still giving off the same atmosphere as before, though it was certainly a lot stronger, she’d had a lot of time to absorb his magical energy. “What’s wrong, Pride? Realized that you aren’t as strong as you think you are?”
Despite his situation, Theodore managed to smirk. “No, I was just thinking that Asmodeus was stronger than you.”
That seemed to have made the woman mad, she pointed towards him as she shouted angrily. “Shut up! It’s always Asmodeus this Asmodeus that!”
Almost immediately, Envy released all of her magic power, her demonic majesty combined with Theodore’s powerful ice magic made her look even more imposing than before. “Today, I, Leviathan, will have all that I’ve longed for!”
Theodore slowly straightened himself, wincing slightly due to the wound on his stomach, he held out his staff defensively as his mind raced for a solution. ‘It’s like fighting myself but worse…System, is there a limit to Envious Grasp?’
[Negative, ‘Envious Grasp’ can absorb as many skills as the Demon King can handle. However, she cannot take Bloodline Skills.]
‘What about Personal Attributes?’
[‘Envious Grasp’ can still absorb them, they’re merely skills commonly found in certain species of monsters.]
‘But she’s using my Unique Magic?’
[Unique Magic can be naturally passed down, though they will not be as strong, ‘Envious Grasp’ can only take the weaker variety.]
Theodore could only guess that Leviathan had taken the original ice magic from him, although even just that was a powerful magic, combined with the demon king’s knowledge, it would explain why it was still so strong.
But now that he knew how Leviathan’s skill worked, he just needed to avoid using anything but his Bloodline Skills.
Leviathan suddenly rushed forward, her nails extending into claws as her magical aura enveloped them, the cold radiating from her caused the grass below to catch frost as she moved through it.
Theodore was already prepared as soon as he had a solid plan in mind, he dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding the demon’s razors and causing them to instead strike the ground where he once stood.
As the claws from her free hand dug themselves into the dirt, ice and frost began emerging from the point of impact, it spreaded outwards until solid ice spikes rose from around the perimeter. Leviathan got up from the ground and slightly shook the debris off of her hand. “Are you running away now?”
Theodore was indeed running away, while Envy was too busy making her villain speech, he was already twenty feet away from her. He didn’t turn around to reply at all and instead he kept sprinting with all his strength.
‘I know my own magic’s weakness.’
The area that Leviathan had taken them to was vast and open, Theodore could see rivers running along the edge of the forest, stretching towards a mountain range in the distance; from his current speed, he deduced that it would take him around five minutes to reach the foot.
He had a plan in mind, and it could fail if he missed any variables, but he couldn’t just let a crazy, power-hungry demon king kill him that easily. ‘I would rather have Lucifer end me rather than her.’ The thought briefly crossed his mind as he glanced behind him after hearing the sound of rushing footsteps, confirming that Leviathan was chasing him.
‘Ouroboros, help me here.’
[Of course, leave it to me.]
There was still quite a distance until he reached the mountain’s foot, but Theodore wasn’t in a rush. He swallowed nervously and took deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart despite the pain from his wound. ‘I need to take this slow…Or else Leviathan would notice what I’m trying to do.’
“You’re going to bleed out, Pride.” Envy spoke with a hint of mockery in her voice, her steps growing closer and closer to the point that the cold air brushed against his back.
< Status Condition: Heavy Bleed. Frost.>> < Status Condition: Heavy Bleed. Frost.>> He was losing about a thousand hit points every second, the combination of Heavy Bleed and Frost was racking up all the damage. Despite it looking grim for him, Theodore didn’t panic. ‘This is actually better, I can use Persistence if something goes wrong.’ ‘A million hit points still isn’t something to scoff at.’ Theodore thought as steeled his resolve, turning around, he waved his staff and a beam of magic shot out from the crystal, landing in front of Leviathan which successfully halted her movements and allowed Theodore to gain some more distance. “…What are you trying to do?” Leviathan tilted her head with a frown, clearly she still didn’t see him as a threat. Theodore didn’t answer, it would be stupid to tell his opponent his entire plan after all. He stood firmly while half-supporting himself with his staff, a dark aura radiated from his body, however, Leviathan’s brows would furrow when she noticed that it wasn’t from Demon Arts. [The Fragment of the Original is responding to the Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’!] [‘Lightbringer’ is offering to assist you!] [The two Bloodline Skills are releasing the true potential of ‘Divine Blaze’.] [You have activated ‘Force Spell’!] [The Skill ‘Uriel’s Blessings’ has responded to the Evolution of its parent skill!] [‘Uriel’s Blessings’ will be consumed to fuel this awakening.] Theodore had been noticing that when he used certain skills to boost the prowess of another, they tend to change into a new and stronger form of itself. It was a gamble, though even if he couldn’t evolve ‘Divine Blaze’, the buff from two Bloodline Skills would still be plenty for him to work with. He listened to the next strings of notification as an aura of darkness swarmed his figure, unlike Demon Arts, the smog had dark sanguine spots that slightly pulsated from time to time, giving it the illusion of being alive. Leviathan seemed to have grown wary of this unknown energy since she had never seen it before in her many thousand years. “…What is that?” “Like I would tell you.” [The Bloodline Skill ‘Divine Blaze’ has undergone Evolution!] [The Skill ‘Uriel’s Blessings’ has been consumed to strengthen the product skill!] [You have successfully developed your first Bloodline Skill!] [‘Flaming Life’ has been added to the list of Bloodline Skills.] [‘Coldest Death’ is welcoming its counterpart. You are now getting closer to true Chaos.] < Lvl. 2 Rank: A+ Type: Active Skill. Requirement for Upgrade: Skill will upgrade if ‘Immortal Flames’ is used often. Estimated 7-31 Days for a single level. Cooldown: None. Description: True flames of a holy being, a fire that spreads life everywhere it touches, giving warmth to all that’s considered to be Death. This skill is most useful when paired with the Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’, and along with its ‘Coldest Death’ counterpart, it boosts the effectiveness of abilities with the same element; Chaos, Holy, and Fire, though because the Flaming Life wants nothing more but to spread the warmth of life, your healing skills will be improved as well.>> [The Status Condition ‘Frost’ has been dispelled!] As soon as the skill had evolved, the feeling around the dark smog had changed as well, the twitching red patch suddenly changed color and was now a bright yellow, emanating a holy air from itself as the skill was strengthened. Leviathan looked clearly distressed, her eyes went wide with shock and disgust as she subconsciously took a step back. “You…! How are you using holy magic!?” Theodore didn’t reply and decided to use one more skill. [The Personal Attribute ‘Godspeed’ has been activated!] < [Waning! A major imbalance between stats has been detected!] [Godspeed’s buff duration has been reduced: 10 Minutes —> 60 Seconds.] ‘That will have to do.’ With that last thought, Theodore suddenly disappeared from Leviathan’s vision, leaving behind only a whisk of black flames on the ground. Envy instantly tensed up and looked around, her stolen ice magic growing stronger as she tried to sense her enemy’s location, eventually, Theodore would reappear to her right and was about to hit her with a bolt of those concentrated holy fire, though her reflexes were just barely fast enough for her to block some of the damage by manifesting a small ice shield as she turned. “Just stay dead!” “The last person to have said that to me didn’t have a good ending.” Theodore scoffed before disappearing again, avoiding a frozen blast that was aimed towards him. He moved behind her and extended his hand forward, letting the chaos smog travel along where he was directing them, Leviathan tried to back away but it was already too late, the flame-like mist began crawling up her legs and enveloping her body, she gritted her teeth and struggled, although the smoke held her firmly. “Do you think this much would stop me!?” The demon king growled angrily as she used her magic once again, this time she tried to cover herself in an icy coat and push outwards in an attempt to ward the fog away. When she noticed that they were still persistently sticking by her, she aimed her magic towards Theodore instead. The multiple icicle spears that shot out of her palms were easily avoidable with Theodore’s god-like speed. He stared quietly at the confined Leviathan while hoping to hear the notifications that he was hoping for. [‘Demon King of Envy: Leviathan’ has a very high resistance to Status Conditions.] [The Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ had failed to inflict its effects.] ‘F*ck.’ It was annoying, but since she wasn’t immune to status effects, Theodore didn’t give up and strengthened his control over Embodiment of Chaos, with Ouroboros helping him, he only needed to assert his concentration into the skill. [Warning! ‘Chaos’ is trying to break your body apart!] [It is recommended that you stop using the Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’!] < Status Condition: Heavy Bleed. Chaos Corrosion.>> Both of them were lock in a stalemate for the moment, while Leviathan’s body seemed to be heavily affected by the holy qualities of his skill, it didn’t weaken her stolen ice magic one bit, she continued to fire off both ice spells and verbal curses while Theodore dodged and hoped that everything would go to plan. [The Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ had failed to inflict its effects] [The Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ had failed to inflict its effects.] [The Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ had failed to inflict its effects.] … [The Bloodline Skill ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ has inflicted the ‘Demon King of Envy: Leviathan’ with the ‘Discord’ Status Condition!] [The target has been inflicted with ‘Magic Disarray’ and ‘Discord of the Flesh’!] [The target’s high resistance has lowered the effects durations.] Theodore was just at his limits as well, he didn’t want to continue the risk of using ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ for too long and immediately deactivated the skill the instant those notifications rang inside his head. When the dark smoke dissipated from both of their figures, Theodore could see that Leviathan’s entire body was just as bruised up as his, though for her it was from the holy element while his arms and legs were showing signs of necrotizing. Envy was breathing heavily as she glared at him, though she’d now regained her confidence when she noticed that Theodore had suffered from using that skill too. “Ha…You couldn’t continue on with it, huh? Too bad.” Her snarky claims only made his huff, finding it funny that she was oblivious to what was about to happen. “Ha, I’m glad I’m the only one who can see it.” “See what?” Leviathan frowned, not knowing that Theodore was talking about the attribute window, though she would later chuckled as he extended out both of her palms, letting the ice magic flew into them. “Whatever, I’ll just finish you—“ Silence suddenly fell between the both of them as Leviathan stood still, as if she was anticipating something to happen, although she would soon frown once she realized that she couldn’t cast ice magic anymore. She looked at her hands, seeing the cold mist radiating from it, though no matter how hard she concentrated, not a single spell came out. Her attention instantly landed on Theodore; her eyes round with anger. “What did you do!?”