"And On this side, we have Devil, the close-range conquerer." Devil paid no mind to the crowd, and it was as if he didn't even perceive them. He was entirely focused on Eric. He wore only a pair of pants and a locket.

"3...2...1 fight!" instantly, Devil jumped across the arena and appeared before Eric.

Devil stared into Eric's very soul and spoke. "He was a little cocky sometimes, but he was a good man. he had a family. A mother who loved him dearly, a father who was so proud of him, and a husband who he had promised to spend a lifetime with. A husband that had to bury him." Devil spoke quietly with fury few had ever seen.

  The pieces clicked for Eric immediately.

 "They were married." he realized.

  Devil leaned in closely. "once I'm done with you, I'm going to kill every single person you have ever fucking known."

  The way Devil spoke let Eric know that every word was sincere. Eric quickly struck his opponent square in the jaw, and the only noticeable change was the dull pain in Eric's fist.

  Devil threw out a punch that Eric only barely managed to dodge. Despite the attack not connecting, the wind pressure pushed Eric back several meters.

  There was only one thought in Eric's mind. "this guy is not only more powerful than Jeremy, but he is also considerably more skilled."

  The man races toward Eric. He is slower than Eric by a considerable amount. Eric quickly calms himself and runs toward Devil. he remembers what he went over with his teacher. Eric throws strike after strike at Devil, who tries to grab Eric.

Eric could feel his training had paid off as every one of his opponent's strikes looked incredibly slow. Despite their slow speeds, the blows contained enough power to instantly destroy him should they graze him. However, despite the mortal danger he was in, he felt no threat. it was strange. He felt he could kill Devil with a wave of his hand; however, he knew that couldn't be true.

Eric continued to strike Devil over and over again. It was as if he was removing drops of water from an endless ocean with each strike. as he fought, he quickly recognized patterns in the way Devil fought and quickly fell into a trance. He couldn't even tell how much time had passed. A few seconds? An hour? he couldn't tell. Over time, however, Devil got slower and slower.

Eric could feel his muscles aching from exertion, but it was nothing compared to the acid. Devil eventually collapsed to his knees from exhaustion. The hundreds of blows piling up left his face broken and bloodied. His eyes, however, still burned with an unending hatred.

Eric came out of his trance and approached Devil. He leaned in close, so the audience couldn't hear him.

  “It felt good killing him. Watching the light fade from his eyes as he begged for mercy that did not come. But I didn't hate him, not in the slightest. I didn't hate ember, alloy, or reverse, either. Then why? Why did I kill them if I didn't hate them? I could have chosen to spare them, but I didn't. Why?

   I'll tell you why, because I like killing people, it feels good to watch them struggle and beg. I joined the colosseum to kill people and get away with it. Everything else is a lie. A pretext I use to justify killing people to the world. Human rights? Equality? Sticking it to the stuck-up superhumans? I don't care about any of those things. The truth is, I want to kill, and so I kill. I want to fight and kill. It's all I want. I would burn the world to ash if it meant I could kill one more person.

  I killed your husband because I wanted to. That's all there is to it. There is no greater goal or grander purpose, only death. And I'm going to kill more. Many more. So please do me a favor and struggle until the end. Beg me for mercy. I love it so much more when they beg.”

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  The smile on Eric's face was horrifying. All the smiles Eric had done previously were either fake or restrained so as not to reveal the evil he had hidden from the world. This one, however, was genuine and looked like the face of a demon sent to torment mankind.

  Devil looks up at Eric with both shock and fear. there is only a single thought in his mind. "this man is The Devil." Eric kicks him in the chest so his back is on the ground. He straddles his chest and begins striking Devil's face over and over. Devil is too weak to escape. He tries sending punches, but his arms refuse to listen to him. His jaw is shattered, and his skull is fractured. he knows he will die. With the last of his strength, he reaches for the locket around his neck. he opens it. Inside is a picture of him and his husband on their wedding day. Next to it is a small pill.

He grabs the small pill, all while still being struck by Eric. Eric sees the pill in his hands and is confused, but decides to investigate after killing him. Devil pops the small pill, and instantly Eric feels an immense threat. Devil's bones reknit themselves, his flesh heals, and his muscles bulge.

  Devil speaks. “I need to kill you. Not just for the selfish reason of revenge, but for the sake of everyone, I need to stop you.”

Devil winds up for a punch, which confuses Eric. "why is he trying to punch me from so far away?" despite erics confusion, he braced himself anyway.

  as Devil threw the punch, erics instincts screamed at him to dodge.

A massive blast of wind crashed into Eric at an insane speed, throwing him across the arena and breaking several ribs.

  Eric quickly got up and ran at Devil. "I need to kill him quickly." Eric struck Devil with his full body weight and was completely undamaged.

"you have no idea how difficult it was to get my hands on this. I had to sell my house for just a single pill. It increases my powers by one-tier. Now I have mid-level superhuman durability and high-level superhuman strength."

Eric was shocked. "could such a ridiculous pill exist? Surely it had to have downsides?"

  Eric dodged Devil's fist, but the wind pressure blasted him back again. "ill keep dodging until help arrives or the pill wears off."

Several arena security guards, noticing the sudden change in Devil's abilities, jumped into the ring.

  "We suspect foul play, and we are suspending this match until further notice." the man was immediately turned into red mist by Devil. The other security guards attempted to stop him but were quickly dealt with.

The announcer spoke up. "it seems that Devil is going on an absolute rampage. I don't know what pill he took, but I don't see primarch coming out of this in one piece."

   Eric quickly prepared himself for the fight of his life. Devil through another punch toward Eric. Eric quickly dove behind one of the columns in the arena. The blast of wind crashes into the column, but it stands strong until Devil leaps across the arena and smashes it to bits.

   Eric quickly sprints away from the massive superhuman.

  "Where the fuck is d?" eric questions.

"uhh, I think ill have... a hot dog." d says to the man behind the register.

   "Those things are awful for your health, you know," Nathan says to d.

   "dude, I am literally fuckin immortal. You once dared me to eat a pound of uranium." d replies.

   "ahh yeah. Being a teacher has changed me, hasn't it?" The two continued their conversation, unaware that Eric was currently in mortal peril.

"When I get my hands on those fuckers I am going to give them so much shit," Eric said as he dodged another punch from Devil.

   The wind blast once again crashes into Eric, pushing him back. Eric notices something odd this time. "his attacks are getting weaker. The pill must have a time limit." Eric smiled and continued to dodge as Devil got weaker and weaker.

   Eventually, Devil collapsed, struggling to breathe. Eric, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity, rushes in to kick Devil in the head. Moments before his kick connects, Devil, catches his foot.

"I did some research into your trainer. He can resurrect people from the dead, but he has a time limit. let's see if he can reach you in time." Devil grinned madly and hurled Eric into the distance with every ounce of strength he had left. Eric's leg was instantly destroyed, but he had more pressing concerns.

  He hurtled through the city's air at a truly absurd speed.

"There's no way in hell d will reach my corpse in time to resurrect me. I need to fall and not die. the odds are against me, but it is necessary." Eric curled into a ball and protected his head. It felt like hours when in reality, it couldn't have been more than 2 minutes in the air. He looked at the ground rapidly approaching and prayed to every deity he knew.

“Who am I kidding? If there is a god, he sure as hell isn't on my side. I might as well call out to a unicorn.” Eric laughs. “Fine then. Devils and demons of the world, I can't promise that ill save the poor or stop world hunger, but I can promise that I will leave mountains of bodies in my wake.”