No one in the room could believe what they'd just heard, especially Merlin and Eugene whose eyes were widened with shock and terror.
But they weren't afraid of Vincent…
Merlin swallowed nervously. 'Theo might be aloof, but his temperament is even worse.'
Eugene have heard a lot of stories from Merlin when Theodore wasn't around, one of them in particular had haunted his dreams for a while after hearing about it in detail. 'Theodore…is really bad at taking provocation…!'
Vincent, unaware of what was going on, let out an arrogant huff after seeing the two awakened's fearful expressions. "There's no need to be afraid, if you surrender quietly then I won't hurt you."
Theodore on the other hand was trying his best to calm his racing heart, it felt like he was suffocating under his own rage. He was silently staring at Vincent with an unreadable expression, it wasn't believing at all to say that he was angry. "...Did you work for Gabriel Griffins before this?"
Even Theodore was surprised that he managed to sound calm.
Vincent tilted his head. "Eh, I guess I can entertain you a bit, yeah, I did work for that old man, what about it?"
"Do you know that your boss is dead?"
"Of course, a god took over his body, or so I've heard." Vincent shrugged, somehow his extended hand was still holding onto his large greatsword, it didn't waver one bit. "So are you just going to stand there and talk? Or are you going to fight me? They all spoke about how great you are so show me!"
Theodore took a deep breath, trying to calm his fastened heart, with his current stats, forget about a coma, Vincent would be dead in a single hit if he doesn't control his strength. "You want to fight me that badly? Fine, have it your way."
[Serpent's Arcane: Venom Blast]
As soon as he finished speaking, a magic circle appeared above Vincent's head and a bolt of pure energy struck down onto him, despite being a weak B rank spell, its force was strong enough to shake the entire room and engulf the area in thick dust.
"Heh, that was barely even a tickle." Vincent's voice rang out as his greatsword sliced through the air, aimed directly at Theodore's neck, the weapon was big and heavy but it'd managed to move extremely fast.
'As expected of an S rank.'
As soon as the sword struck Theodore, Vincent's prideful expression crumbled in an instant, his eyes went round and his mouth fell agape, quivering at how his opponent was looking at him with an ice-like gaze.
Eventually, Vincent looked down onto his weapon—no, it was barely able to be called a viable object at that point, the blade had shattered the instant it made contact with the skin, even the hilt had cracked and began to crumble in his shaking grip.
"That…That was an A plus weapon…"
Theodore sighed. "You have no idea how many people tried to cut me and ended up breaking their swords."
Vincent took a few steps back as he warily eyed him like he was a monster. "But you're just a mage…how can you—"
"You really want to know?" Suddenly, Theodore was standing behind Vincent, who bolted back the moment he'd spoken.
'How did he—'
Theodore didn't even use his magic, that was his raw speed stat at work. "What was the order?"
"H-Huh?"
"There's no way Ra—your boss would order you to come here, sending small fries like you to fight me is just stupid and insulting."
"I…" Vincent glanced behind him, looking at Merlin and Eugene, he was contemplating whether he should aim for them or not, but he chose to be smart and dismissed the thoughts. "No, we came here on our own."
[The Skill 'Lord of Souls' has peered into Vincent Cruise's soul.]
[His statement has been confirmed as 'TRUTH'.]
"...That's all I want to hear."
[Demon Arts: Reverie Fog.]
Magenta fog suddenly bursts upwards from underneath Vincent's feet, it swirled around his body, as if trapping him, and made its way over to the face. "Wha—what's happen…ing…?"
When the mist dissipates, Vincent fell backwards and landed on the ground with a heavy 'thud', but immediately a thunderous snore filled the entire room.
"Wow," Merlin sneered as he tapped the sleeping Vincent with his foot. "This is S rank? You made them look like newbies."
Theodore merely shrugged before turning around, facing the hallway, he noticed that it was covered in debris and broken furniture, the elegance of the sacred hall stripped away from the chaos. "Anyway, we should hurry up, there's still more of these pests running around."
.
.
.
"Frey! I've buffed you!" Hina shouted at Frey who was struggling to block an attack from the other swordsman.
Frey gritted his teeth and pushed back with all his strength, but because he didn't have Zeus' blessings anymore, he only had his A rank strength to rely on.
But the difference between S and A was larger than anyone could've imagined.
There were a total of nine other S rank monsters inside the hall, and they were all fighting against large groups of people, their strengths combined had barely allowed them to stand their ground against the attackers.
'A bunch of us were heavily injured…' Frey put more strength into his sword and eventually managed to push his opponent away, all thanks to Hina's amazing buffs.
'Despite her buffing me…My wrists are aching from that block…!'
"How long are you going to struggle?" The swordsman smirked while twirling his weapon around, clearly trying to taunt him. "You bugs are no match for us anyway, we're S ranks! The only ones in the world!"
"So you're saying you could kill us anytime but just don't want to?" Frey planned on stalling for time, he'd heard an explosion coming from outside earlier and he could only guess that it was where Theodore had gone.
"Obviously," The swordsman laughed. "Our general asked us to hold you guys back so he could go kill the Winter Frost Mage, without reinforcement, even talent couldn't—"
Everything suddenly went quiet as immense pressure filled up the entire hall, pressing down at only the nine S rank individuals and forcing them to their knees, the source of all this came from a single word, ushered from the gates of the grand chamber.
[Kneel.]
"Keuhk! What is this…?" The swordsman tried to resist the mysterious power but his muscle wouldn't move an inch, he was only able to turn his head towards the door and look at the person who'd done all of this.
The cold eyes of a serpent looked at them while Theodore's free hand was gripping tightly around a lock of Vincent's hair, the berserker was fast asleep, snoring loudly as if the pain from getting dragged across the floor by his hair couldn't even wake him up.
His clothes had changed into the fancy ‘Pride’s Royal Gown’, making him look more commanding than he already was.
[Why are you here?] Theodore spoke, his voice holding an authority worthy of kings.
The S rank swordsman found himself speaking against his will. "We…We're here to kill the Winter Frost Mage…as per our master, Gabriel Griffin's intentions."
Theodore tilted his head. [...You're a little too late for that—]
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came crashing right onto him, interrupting his speech while freeing the captivated invaders from Theodore's authorities.
"Late? What makes you think that you can stop us!" A woman shouted, her brown hair was her most distinguishable feature since it was long enough to touch her thighs, and her electrifying blue eyes were complimented by her sapphire robes and staff, hinting her class.
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< HP: 1,000,000/1,000,000 Status Condition: None. Species: Awakened Human Age: 33 Rank: S Class: Mage Specialty: Lightning magic. Triple Casting. Equipment: Staff of Storm (A+). Elements: Lightning. [There are other viewable information.]>> "Advance lightning magic, as expected of an S rank mage." Noah's eyes widened with surprise when she saw that Theodore was completely unfazed by her powerful spell, he was giving off a soft green aura, as if it'd acted as a layer of protection against her attack. [Scales of the Serpent.] Theodore figured that there was no need to keep talking with a god's voice, considering that he was under the Scale of Balance's radar, he shouldn't be recklessly asserting his authority on something so trivial. "Were you guys living under a rock or something? You weren't there when I raided Gabriel's building." The S ranks seemed shocked. "You…That was why our headquarters was in that state?" "We were just tasked with something more important than—" 'BAM!' It was another sneak attack, this time the culprit was an assassin clad in pure black, parts of his clothes were giving off smoke as if he was wearing the darkest fire instead of fabric, however, Theodore merely casted a Dragon Claw and smacked the man to the ground, instantly knocking him out. During this time, the rest of the S ranks began to move, they charged at him all at once while using their skills and magic, Theodore could only sigh at the idiotic play and counteracted accordingly. Another assassin tried to ambush him from below using some sort of shadow skill, of course it didn't work against Theodore's monstrous reflexes and the female assassin was instantly taken out after getting stomped on ruthlessly. 'Seven.' A tank suddenly ran towards him while shouting curses at the top of his lungs, his ginormous shield was set ablaze by some special skill that Theodore didn't bother to learn about, with another Dragon Claw, the tank was stopped dead in his tracks before the spell Impale rained down icy spears from above him. 'Six.' "Your ice magic is strong!" Another mage spoke gleefully, standing with his arms akimbo while his staff hovered beside him, along with it, his entire body was giving off a cold, menacing air. "Now you're an opponent worth facing! Be warned, I'm not like those weaklings!" < HP: 950,000/950,000 Status Condition: None. Species: Awakened Human Age: 31 Rank: S Class: Mage Specialty: Ice Magic. Instant Cast. Double Cast. Equipment: Boreas' Blessing (A+). Elements: Ice. [There are other viewable information.]>> As soon as those words were spoken, Thomas began raining down icicle spears at Theodore, despite only casting a single magic circle, the magnitude of the attack didn't correspond to the amount of circles. Theodore's eyes widened, though he was intrigued rather than afraid. "You really aren't like those weaklings…but…" With a single wave of his hand, the ice shards were shattered by a powerful, invisible force; it expanded outwards until it reached Thomas, breaking his magic circle as well. [Demon Arts: Supreme Magic.] [All magic grovels before the Original Demon Arts!] "It's not nearly enough." Theodore used Shadow Warp and quickly appeared behind Thomas, who had no time to react to the sudden teleportation magic and had to take a kick to the middle of his back. It sent him flying towards Eugene and Merlin, landing face-first on the ground before finally stopping in front of them. 'Five.' Seeing her fellow mage getting knocked out, Noah gritted her teeth and casted three magic circles, all gleaming a dangerous purple before shooting out bolts of lightning towards Theodore. "Just die!" "...Seriously?" Theo turned to face the woman and took the attack head on, thinking that the result would be the same, however he would then realize that the spell had another purpose. [You have been inflicted with the Status Condition: 'Paralysis'.] [The Spell 'Sky's Absolute Grasp' prevents all skills from dispelling the Status Condition.] [Paralysis: 5 Minutes.] "Everyone, attack now!" The other four S rank awakens quickly got on their feet and rushed towards the incapacitated Theodore. "...Annoying pricks." He cursed under his breath and turned towards the nearest attacker; a tall man wearing full golden armor, wielding a double-sided axe that was just about as tall as him, his face was covered by his extravagant helmet so it was impossible to see his face. < HP: 2,000/2,000,000 Status Condition: None. Species: Awakened Human Age: 31 Rank: S Class: Holy Knight Specialty: Heavy weaponry. Close combat. Light Magic. Equipment: Divine Golden Armor set (A+). Divine Golden Battleaxe (A+). Elements: Holy. [There are other viewable information.]>> Just because Theodore was paralyzed, it didn't mean that he couldn't use his skills, though this particular paralysis debuff had given him another handicap: [Due to the 'Staff of Storm', the Status Condition 'Paralysis' will decrease all Magic Casting speed by 85%.] 'If magic is too slow, I'll just use something else.' Theodore had always wanted to try using a particular skill in a combat situation, but he was never given the chance until now. A smirk unknowingly appeared on his lips as his eyes flashed, startling the charging knight but otherwise didn't stop his movements. That proved to be a fatal mistake though as suddenly a silhouette of a snake bursted from Theodore's figure and swiftly struck at its target with its wide jaw. "Keukh! Ah!" The knight cried out in pain as the snake's fangs dug through his thick armor and into the flesh, he tried to struggle free but it only made everything worse. [The Skill 'Master of All Poison' has enhanced the Skill 'All Devourer'.] [The target 'Cole Murray' has been inflicted with the Status Condition: 'God's Poison'.] [All stats will be reduced by 20.] [Skill and magic casting speed will be reduced by 60%.] [A God's Poison causes excruciating pain, the target's mental fortitude is drastically lowered.] [The target's immune system is drastically reduced.] The snake soon let go of the screaming knight and turned to another target, this time it was a man with a tattered red scarf covering half of his face carrying two chipped swords dripping with a dark green liquid. < HP: 1,000,000/1,000,000 Status Condition: None. Species: Awakened Human Age: 29 Rank: S Class: Bandit Specialty: Poison Master. Extreme Swiftness. Equipment: Dual Viper Fangs (A+). Crimson Wind Scarf (B). Elements: None. [There are other viewable information.]>> "Don't think your venom will work against me!" Richard screamed as he rushed forward, holding out his quirky swords in preparation for a strike. The snake silhouette let out a soft hiss and lunged forward, opening its jaw wide, however Richard managed to match its speed most likely with the help of his special scarf, he weaved to the side and dug his weapons into the snake's scales as he ran through, soon closing in the distance between him and Theodore. "Die!" Richard shouted with confidence as he leaped into the air with his swords held high above his head. Theodore had no idea why these people kept trying to scratch him with their weapons despite seeing how easily an A+ equipment shattered when it made contact with his skin, but then he would realize where Richard's confidence had come from. It was already too late by the time the System's notifications rang inside his head, the two poison-dripped swords struck both of Theodore's shoulders and dug deep into his chest. "Theo!" Merlin called out his name in distress. [Warning! The set weapon 'Dual Viper Fangs' deals 100% more damage against serpentine creatures!] [The 'Dual Viper Fangs' will ignore a snake's defenses up to 70%.] [Warning! You have been poisoned!] [The 'Dual Viper Poison' has been neutralized by 'Master of All Poison'.] Theodore didn't have the time to curse out how late the warning was, he quickly activated Scales of the Serpent to stop the two swords in place before commanding the phantom snake to whirl back around, although Richard was once again able to dodge the attack, he jumped to the side and begrudgingly left his weapons where they were. "Hm? That's odd, I was going to gamble with the swords but for some reason it cut through?" The corner of Richard's mouth curled up into a mocking smirk, it was large enough that anyone could see it despite the scarf covering his mouth. "Actually…My boys do deal a sh*t tone of damage against snakes." 'I can't use my skills recklessly here.' Theodore frowned as he glanced towards the other heroes, seeing that some were treating the injured while retreating to the furthest corners of the grand hall, besides that, he couldn't risk upsetting the Scales of Balance anymore than he already had. The phantom serpent disappeared just as a notification popped up next to him. [The Scales of Balance is watching your decisions.] '...Growing a god's strength comes with an equally great price.' It was unfortunate, but Theodore had to quickly think of a compromise. 'With these swords…They might actually be able to kill me.' "Are you giving up already?" The swordsman that'd been fighting Frey in the beginning finally revealed himself yet again, taking a better look at the man, he had a very charming face, a smooth pale skin tone and medium-length brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail, he was wearing a blue outfit similar to those worn by royal guards. < HP: 1,100,000/1,100,000 Status Condition: None. Species: Awakened Human Age: 33 Rank: S Class: Spellblade Specialty: Excels in combining master swordsmanship with advanced magic. Equipment: Covetous Blade (A+). Pride's Necklace (B+) Elements: Dark. [There are other viewable information.]>> Theodore was intrigued the moment he brought up this person's status window, he was especially interested in the items that he had on him. 'Aren't those the Seven Deadly Sins' equipment? Then that means the necklace is technically mine.' It seemed to only be a beautiful accessory to the naked eye, it has an intricately designed silver frame encasing a diamond-shaped emerald, although for Theodore, he could feel the trance of demonic aura radiating from the necklace. < Rarity: B+ Durability: Stronger than steel. Type: Accessory Source: Branches of Hell (Dungeon) [Loot Drop] Stats: [+20% Mana Recovery] [+100% Mental Resistance] Passive Skills: [Demon King's Aura] Skills: [None] Description: It's a necklace forged in Hell by the Great Demon King of Pride, among many of his items, Pride's Necklace is considered to be mediocre.>> Theodore would take a look at the necklace in more details later on since Charles had started to act, the swordsman charged towards him and precisely slashed at his wound, though Theo wouldn't just stand there and let himself get cut like last time, he used Dark Veil and blocked the attack with the spell, causing Charles to retreat due to the rebound. [Paralysis: 2 Minutes 26 Seconds.] 'F*ck. I need to wait for two more minutes?' "Noah!" Once Charles was done recomposing himself, he rushed towards Theodore again while shouting for the mage to cast a spell. Noah gritted her teeth as she closed her eyes, concentrating on her magic, an intricate purple circle appeared in front of her and began to expand until it was big enough to touch the ceiling. "...What the hell is that?" Everyone else could only stare in shock and terror as Noah began to chant out loud. It was the sign that an advance spell was being casted. "Oh, the Queen of Magic, lend me your strength and allow me to punish my enemy who dares to question your authority." Theodore didn't need anyone to tell him what the spell was, he could take an educated guess based on the incantation alone. '...Ah…Am I F*cked?’ With that thought, a loud explosion filled up the grand hall.