Asmodeus quickly went to Theodore’s side, standing on her guard as she held her whip defensively, her body still glowing a soft green hue while her wounds began to heal up. “…It’s Wrath’s trump card, he can turn his and others rage into strength, those black things are made using that skill too.”
“Like that one comic character?” Theodore spoke jokingly, although his tone didn’t change so Asmodeus couldn’t tell and stared at him with a look of confusion on her face.
He didn’t bother trying to explain to her and focused on Samuel, who had decided to initiate the first attack, the demon king rushed forward with his sword pulled back, ready to deliver a horizontal strike when he was close enough.
Theodore was about to cast an ice spell to attack Wrath, although he would need to stop drawing his magic circle since something else seemed to be moving from underneath the both of them.
“Sh*t!” Asmodeus cursed and moved to the side, which prompted Theodore to do the same, and immediately after, a bunch of dark spikes would shoot upwards, going up as high as ten meters, it would’ve skewered the both of them if they were just a second too slow.
But because they were too busy dodging that attack, Wrath had plenty of time to close in the distance, but he didn’t aim for Theodore at all and instead strike towards Asmodeus, who luckily managed to deflect the blade away with her whip, she used the reflected force to create distance between the two of them before extending out her hand.
A purple magic circle appeared on the ground in front of her and expanded before ten tentacles shot up from within accompanied by a monster-like screech, the slimy, octopus-like tendrils would shot towards Wrath, although the demon king simply flicked his sword and all of them would be cut into little pieces.
Samuel jumped onto the fallen tentacles while continuing to cut the ones that were still moving, making his way closer and closer to Asmodeus.
Theodore knew he needed to do something or else Wrath would easily kill Asmodeus, he casted two spells at once, one of them caused black mist to rise from underneath him.
[Shadow Wrap.]
The moment he appeared, Theodore found Samuel’s longsword coming straight for his body, he gritted his teeth and took the hit, causing the blade to cut straight into his side. Wrath was slightly confused as to why he would willingly take that hit for Asmodeus, but he would then realize that his sword was now stuck inside the scales.
“What…?” Samuel frowned just as Theodore’s second spell became active, the golden magic circle appeared right above Wrath’s head and it left the dom no chance to dodge.
[Silent Judgment.]
A loud scream erupted from Samuel as the holy spell struck him directly, it burned through the constructs created from ‘Unstoppable Malice’ though despite the skill trying to repair the damage, the demon king’s wounds didn’t heal just like them and he was heavily injured afterward.
Wrath tried to back up and created distance, however Asmodeus would suddenly appear from behind Theodore and struck him with her whip, the gashing wound on her chest had grown bigger and deeper, meaning that she’d once again activated ‘Sadomasochist’
The attack sent Wrath flying backwards, his body crashing onto the frozen ground until it would finally stop his momentum. Samuel unsteadily got up from the ground, blood seeping through his gritted teeth, he shook his right hand to the side and the same longsword appeared in his grip once again as his eyes continued to burn angrily.
Theodore followed up Asmodeus’ attack and drew three magic circles.
A large one appeared up ahead of them, growing big enough to cover the entire area of Devouring Winter, and in the center of the circle a black ball began to expand, increasing its energy in the process.
[Doom Desire: Half-Stage.]
Another circle manifested itself in front of him, its color was red meaning that it was from Immortal Flames, as soon as it grew to a decent size, a serpent-like beast marched forward and rushed towards Wrath with its mouth open wide.
[Fiery Glacier.]
The last one was something that Theodore had seen while looking through the list of spells Demon Arts had, he was trying to see whether he could find something that the demon kings were using.
And sure enough, he found one.
Black smoke began pouring out of Theodore’s mouth until they extended and formed themselves into a large sword, the blade solidified and a forest green aura surrounded it, further increasing the power that was radiating from the blade.
[Archangel’s Might: Fallen.]
Theodore was going to bet everything in this one attack, he activated ‘Godspeed’ and strengthened his attack with ‘Embodiment of Chaos’ before dashing forward, managing to reach Wrath in only a few seconds.
However, Samuel seemed to have recovered from the attacks earlier and raised his longsword, his rage-filled gaze staring right ahead at Theodore as if he could see his movements, with all of his power, the demon king brought the blade down, sending a vertical wave of pure demonic energy towards him.
But due to his monstrous speed, Theodore managed to weave his body around it before raising his head, moving the large sword with him. The timing was perfect since as soon as Theodore struck down horizontally, a notification rang out in his head.
[Would you like to release ‘Doomsday’?]
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Merlin stared nervously at the screen that was showing the fight between the last three demon kings, the others that were eliminated were also watching from their own panels as well, no one said anything to each other and simply watched, some biting their nails or frowning with anticipation, the results of the battle suddenly became uncertain.
Eugene leaned in closer to Merlin and whispered, his voice sounding nervous. “Did you think that rage state did anything to Theodore?”
“No…” He replied, eyes still fixated on the screen. “Though Theo is easily angered…He’ll calm down once something else catches his attention.”
They continued to watch the fight in silence, by now the magic circle above the area had dropped a large black ball onto the battleground, the only one who seemed to know about this particular spell was Greed.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“…Wrath can take it.” Mammon had muttered, though it seemed that he’d changed his mind the moment he saw Theodore’s next spell; the large black sword that he held in between his fangs.
Every demon king instantly stood up, eyes widened and shaking with unknown emotions, causing the humans’ attention to turn towards them. Gluttony was the first to speak, his voice filled with shock. “That’s…! That’s Lucifer’s spell!”
“But that’s impossible!” Envy shouted. “Even if you take a demon king’s spot, their magic doesn’t transfer!”
“He must have some weird skill-stealing ability…” Greed spoke, it was the only explanation after all. “I mean, we don’t really know where this snake came from…”
Suddenly, all of the demons’ blood red gaze shifted towards the humans.
Merlin sighed and slowly shook his head, putting his hands up defensively. “Look, we don’t know a lot about his powers either, he only told us vaguely about things that you lots should already know.”
Envy narrowed her eyes at them. “Really? Pride seems to be pretty close to you humans, so why does he have to hide things from you?”
“Who knows.” Lawrence spoke with a casual shrug, not showing any fear towards the demon kings, whether it was ignorance or bravery, it was hard to tell. “Theo had always been like that…Always keeping secrets and doing things all alone, it’s like he thought he had no one to rely on.”
There was a moment of silence, but then suddenly a thunderous explosion sounded out from around them, causing all eyes to turn towards the screen.
Everything was white from the booming flash, although as the image began to clear up, the conclusion of the battle would be shown in front of them.
A large translucent tab was visible across the screen, showing the results in bold letters and an animal that represented a particular demon king.
[WINNER: WRA—.]
[ERROR! AN UNKNOWN VARIABLE DETECTED!]
[WINNER: PRIDE.]
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Theodore stared down at Samuel as he watched his body beginning to disintegrate into light particles, a black longsword impaling straight into his heart, the blade had extended and began large enough for the tip to emerge from the other side.
Wrath was breathing heavily while half of his body had disappeared and leaking light, he was just barely holding onto the handle of his sword while he held Theodore’s gaze, frowning with confusion as he wheezed. “…How…did you…”
[The Bonus Effect of ‘Final Desperation’ has been activated!]
<
Theodore glanced around him and saw that Asmodeus had already disappeared, most likely because Wrath’s attack earlier had hit her instead of him, he returned his focus back towards the demon king and let out an arrogant chuckle.
“Well, I’m competitive too.”
His vision would briefly disappear for a moment before he soon found himself in his human form standing inside the Hall of Sins once again. He looked around and saw everyone present at the central area as well, all of them staring at Theodore with a mixture of we and disbelief.
Samuel instantly walked towards him, his expression neutral but his eyes were gleaming with curiosity. “How did you do that?”
Theodore turned towards Wrath, tilting his head slightly. “Sorry, but that’s a secret.”
[Attention.] A robotic male voice spoke up, causing everyone to stop speaking and listen. [All Deadly Sins please enter your respective Halls for your final evaluation.]
Wrath took one last glance at Theodore before putting his hands inside his pockets and walked back through the door that once led to the arena.
The other demon kings looked like they wanted to ask him some questions as well but seemed to have decided against it, turning towards their respective doors and heading inside.
Belphegor gave Theodore a bright smile, half of his body had already disappeared into the gate. “Thank you, Theo!”
He didn’t react for a moment, not expecting the once quiet boy to suddenly say something like that, but he would smile back and give him a thumbs up. “No problem, but it was all you, Belphi. You did great.”
His compliment made Belphigor’s smile widen slightly, he waved at Theodore before finally disappearing behind the gate.
Asmodeus came up to him next, though instead of her usual playful expression, she had an angry pout on her face. She would hit him in the arm the moment that she was close enough. “You let me die…”
“Hey, it’s fine isn’t it? You didn't actually die in real life.”
“But I still feel pain, you know! How can you be so cruel…!” Asmodeus hit him again.
Theodore’s eyes landed on his father and friends, who were looking at him while smirking as if they found something funny. He stared back at them and slightly tilted his head. “…What?”
“Nothing.” Merlin shrugged before gesturing towards a door with green frames, the crest of a coiling snake hanging above it. “Shouldn’t you get going now?”
Asmodeus gave Theodore a punch in the arm one last time before making her way over to her own door, which was just right beside his. “You owe me a date.”
“I don’t—“ Before Theodore could finish speaking, Asmodeus had already gone through the door. He let out a tired sigh before looking at Merlin and the others. “…See you then.”
He inspected the Pride gate for a bit, noticing that the door frame and the snake emblem seemed to be shinier than the other gates. He assumed that Lucifer had a different gate than his so it was changed to match who he was.
He didn’t think about it too much though, and after taking a deep breath, he walked on through.
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[The Serpent Bearer. The Ouroboros.]
[You have accomplished a great feat. Defeating four Demon Kings in your lifetime.]
[Your name shall forever be recorded in the Hall of Sins.]
Many notification panels popped from all around him, being the only things visible within the pure black areas that surrounded him from all sides.
Theodore stared at all of them, slowly reading through the words while more banners appear one by one, and behind them bookshelves manifested from the ground up, rising as tall as the eyes could see.
[Pride's Territory: Lake of Rage.]
[Inhabitants: 3,520.]
[Detecting the Skill 'Deitify'.]
[This is your first time registering in the Hall of Sins.]
[You will be given Pride's 'Unique Spells'.]
Theodore immediately came intrigued at the last notification, he waited for the System's voice to speak up patiently and eventually it did.
His attribute panel appeared in front of him and 'Demon Arts' became highlighted before three separate screens appeared on top of it, each showing the description of his new skills.
< Rank: S Origin: Demon Arts Type: Self-Buff. Cost: 1,000 MP. Cast Time: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 8 Hours. Description: Who can ever defeat you? Who can ever dethrone you? The most rightfully arrogant king with the strength to back him up, with this spell, your power will grow along with your pride until you can be called a Monarch Amongst Monarchs. Because you're prideful of your strength, only your Attack, Speed, and Magic Level will temporarily increase. While this spell is active, you'll be inflicted with the Status Condition: 'Bottomless Hubris'. [Spell is stackable with 'Reverse Scales'. However, the Status Condition 'Insanity' will be inflicted immediately.]>> < Rank: A+ Origin: Demon Arts Type: Enemy Debuff. Cost: 200 MP. Cast Time: 3 Seconds. Cooldown: 30 Seconds. Description: The spell can take the shapes of anything you desire, whether it would be a mist or tendrils that damage the enemy, the effect of this spell stays the same. Attacks from this spell each have a chance to inflict the Status Condition 'Humility', which will decreasing their stats and skill damage or efficiency by 30%, trigger chance depends on the target's pride.>> < Origin: Demon Arts. Type: Debuff. Description: Effect forces the inflicted target to become extremely arrogant, causing them to only use a single damaging skill or spell that they'd used prior to infliction. The inflicted target will also become extremely vulnerable to other forms of mental attacks, and they'll become more reckless when fighting. Bonus Effect: As a Master of Pride, you can steal the vitality of those who are inflicted with Bottomless Hubris by damaging them and 2% of the total damage will be added to yours. If you also have the Bottomless Hubris condition, you can also see the weak points of your target regardless of their skills.>> [Registration is complete. You can now exit Pride's Hall.] The notification bar appeared just as Theodore's eyes were sweeping through all the texts. He only noted that he could leave this place but didn't have any move to do so just yet. He wanted to analyze all the skills he had gotten before anything else, since he planned to head back to the human world immediately afterward, he wanted to use this opportunity to prepare. "I know that I can somewhat control myself during Insanity…So I guess those two skills are now extremely viable." Theodore spoke out loud, talking about the skills 'Reverse Scales' and 'Unbreakable Pride'. The new status condition added to the roster was useful too, the fact that if he self-inflicted the status onto himself would allow him to see people's weak points might become crucial in the future. < Species: The Ouroboros Serpent (35 Meters) Titles: 13th Zodiac: Serpent Bearer. Demon King of Pride. Odds Conqueror. Lvl: 30 EXP: 0/34,000,000 Skill Points: 1 HP: 3,500,000/3,500,000 MP: 27,000/27,000 DE: 10,000/10,000 Rank: S+ Attack: 800 (S-) Speed: 850 (S-) Defense: 1,200 (S+) Charm: 270 (D+) Intelligence: 800 (S-) Magic: 1,100 (S) Elements: Ice. Fire. Draconic. Lightning. Divine. Personal Attributes: Thermal Vision (Lvl.MAX). Tongue Receptor (Lvl.MAX). Deitify (Lvl.MAX). All-Speak (Lvl.MAX). Scales of the Serpent (Lvl.1). Asclepius’ Guidance (Lvl.MAX). Final Desperation (Lvl.MAX). Hell’s Master (Lvl.1). One-man Army (Lvl.1). Pro Alchemist (Lvl.3). Godspeed (Lvl.1). Unique Magic: Frozen Disaster (Lvl.2). Immortal Flames (Lvl.2). Demon Arts (Lvl.2). Serpent’s Arcane (Lvl.1). Skills: Master of Poison (Lvl.2). Persistence (Lvl.2). Wild Thunder (Lvl.1). Asclepius’ Secrets (Lvl.2). 13th’s Knowledge (Lvl.MAX). Lord of Souls (Lvl.1). First Deceptor (Lvl.1). All Devourer (Lvl.MAX). Bloodline Skills: Embodiment of Chaos (Lvl.4). Super Regeneration (Lvl.MAX). Corrupting Touch (Lvl. 3). Coldest Death (Lvl.2). The Great Cycle (Lvl.1). Forgotten Star (Lvl. 1). First Fallen (Lvl.1). Lightbringer (Lvl.1). Dragonkin (Lvl.MAX). Flaming Life (Lvl.2).>> Theodore cleared away the three panels and stared at his attribute window, looking through everything he'd accumulated so far. He felt slightly dizzy looking at the many skills that he had, but he was also glad that he managed to get this powerful in only a few months. '...It's worth it, I can do whatever I want with this much strength.' He thought that his revenge would be over the moment he finally caught up to Rhys, but then there was also the matter of those six other people that'd willingly gotten involved too. He couldn’t rest easy knowing that they were still out there, probably living like nothing had happened. Then there was Gabriel Griffins too. 'Something about him just doesn't feel right.' Theodore hadn't noticed at first because he was too busy struggling with the black hole's force, though as he thought back on it, he'd felt something…familiar with Gabriel's aura. Maybe it was because they were S ranks, though Theodore thought otherwise. 'Am I overthinking this?' Shaking his head, he then turned around and walked back the way he came, feeling his vision fade to black for a brief moment before he arrived back at the central area. '...Whatever, I'll deal with it when the time comes.'