Demon lord a super class world disaster, he descended on the world again after being sealed by the former hero. In his rage he destroyed an entire country over a night and if not stopped he threatened to eliminate all living creatures on the continent.
"We will rest here for the time being".
"Should we not just charge into the castle right now, it's not like our journey here exhausted us or anything".
Said a man with a huge build carrying a shield on his back, the party's tank.
"Why are you such a block head, all muscle and no brains".
"You forget it's those muscles that keep you safe during enemy attacks".
He retorted at the mage, she had short hair and was two heads shorter than him granted he was on the tall side.
"I argue he has brains if can make such a come back".
Added the party's thief, a tall and slender man with sharp physique.
"Shadow siding with Gadra, now that's rare. And Gadra we are about to face the demon lord, we cannot rush in, we need a plan and Intel so we'll wait here while Shadow goes ahead and scouts the castle, we don't want any surprises when we go in".
Hiro the party leader and current hero, said while shaping the tree he'd just cut into a chair to sit on for his sister Rinia, the saintess.
"It better not take more than an hour or I'm going in".
Gadra said to Shadow who was already making his way to the castle, the remaining party settled down.
"You know for being the oldest one here you act the most childish".
"What'd I ever do to you Soltia".
The two always found themselves at odds even in the most dire situation, for them arguing was like a daily ritual. After a while they had started a fire, the night sky was on the darker side on this day, so the stars appeared brighter and they could not help but admire its beauty, as they sat around the fire.
"I could use a drink drink right about now".
"We'll have one, when we return".
Soltia's words not only shocked everyone but herself as well. They continued to chat about all kinds of things that unbeknownst to them they had finally relaxed and though they would not admit that they were ever tense from the pressure. They were adults sure but the weight of the world had its toll. A while later Shadow finally returned, even he seemed less tense than before.
"So what did you find out?".
"The demon lord is alone, there are no trapps throughout the entire castle, basically this is gonna be a lot more easier than it was dealing with the demon generals and their minions".
This was good news and they all knew the sooner they were done the sooner they would go back to their normal lives. Gadra wasted no time he stood up, put out the fire by stepping on it.
"Well what are we waiting for, the final boss awaits".
The party followed Shadow who had been there already. The castle was dark, with one look it would send shivers down one's spine, the corridor lanterns were few and far between.
(It's bigger the the imperial palace).
After passing a few rooms they had arrived at the throne room. The doors were huge, Gadra had to use both hands to push the doors open, they creaked as though they were a century old, laying bare to what was beyond them. The demon lord seated on his throne, his long black hair covered his left eye making the right eye which was red make him seem even more menacing than he really was. Even after the doors were full opened he remained seated without so much as a twitch, he sat there waiting for them to make their move but they too were waiting on him to do something.
The impatient Gadra charged shield at the ready.
"Demon lord Vail, come face your doom".
"Gadra you fool the plan".
Shouted Soltia who paused her silent casting of physical enhancing spells for the entire party. Hiro unsheathed his holy sword Epsilon.
"Focus on your spells, there isn't much deviation from the plan. Just follow my lead".
The demon lord's eyes flashed for a second and an aura wave was emitted, Gadra who was mid charge came to a halt. The aura wave made one feel so much fear that any normal warrior would go mad not to mention a normal person who would die when exposed to it, but to Gadra it just brought him back to his senses after it paralysed him for just a moment, which was thanks to the saintess' blessing. When his plan to disorient the hero's party failed the demon lord finally stood up, he stretched his hand forward and a portal appeared from which he pulled out a black sword with a red edge. Sensing the incoming attack Gadra positioned himself to shield the others. The others also got in defensive formation, Hiro stood in the front, Shadow and Soltia on either side with Rinia at the back, she cast began to another blessing.
"Divine protection of clear mind and healing descent".
Everyone was briefly enveloped in light.
"Everyone let's go".
At Hiro's command Soltia unleashed an explosion spell with the demon lord at its centre, her and Hiro ran to join up with Gadra while Shadow and Rinia stayed behind in Soltia's magic barrier. Amidst the raging flames the demon lord stood unharmed and unfazed, with a simple swing of his sword the fire was extinguished, the floor around him was scorched. It looked as though he only took a single step forward and yet he was now before Gadra, he moved so fast not a fraction of a second had passed even though they were dozens of feet apart. This was so unexpected that Gadra had not even noticed until the demon lord was about to swing his sword, from his stunned state he barely reacted to it, he could not bring the shield up in order to block. Luckily Hiro had just arrived at Gadra's side and was fast enough to react. Two swords collided, the hero's holy sword Epsilon and the demonic sword Invidia, sending shock waves all around them. Hiro followed up with a swift kick, sending the demon lord a few steps back, two daggers went passed Hiro flying after the demon lord. Shadow who was a master of projectiles had thrown them as far back as he was. One stabbed the demon lord's shoulder, the other deflected by sword.
"It seems I underestimated you. Summon servents of Invidia".
Following his command three shadowy creatures came out of his sword, forming three black humanoid phantoms.
"Watch out he's got helpers, Gadra stay in line or the drinks are on you".
The shadow phantoms took on the form of Hiro, Shadow and Soltia respectively and at the demon lords command they sprang into action, going after their closest enemy, Hiro,Gadra and Soltia. The demon lord waited in the back apprehending his surroundings, he could have summoned more phantoms but his objective was not to be overwhelmed.
"You guys handle the phantoms I'll keep the the demon lord busy, you can join me after".
Gadra and Soltia nodded in agreement while defending against the phantoms' combined attack, Hiro then proceeded to face off against the demon lord alone. Their clash was pure swordsmanship on the highest level surpassing even sword sage, a state reached when one can wield anything as though it were a sword as a result of their being embodying the attribute of sword. Sparks were flying in all directions with every strike and parry, the speed and strength behind every swing each greater than the last. Their battle was so destructive the walls of the castle were being destroyed all around them, the destruction was even more wide spread as a result of them trying and out maneuvering one another. The hero brought down his sword only for it to be parried and struck into the ground causing tremors that further destroyed the castle. Before he could pull it out the demon lord delivered a kick to Hiro's side, knocking him back to where he crashed into the destroyed walls, he got up and shrugged it off. Their battle had reached its peak non of them were holding back in their current states. After another extended period of exchanges between the two, Hiro with his free hand grabbed the demon lord's leg mid kick and slammed him on the ground several times before the demon blew the ground when he failed to free himself with strength alone. The hero looked around as he retreated, only some of the ground level aspects of the castle remained the rest were now rubble. He kicked a large piece of debris at the demon lord, who cut the debris into small pieces that it turned to fine dust.
"Trying to attack using blind spots".
Hiro said seeing the demon lord disappeare in the dust and lose track of him in all their surroundings. And in the next moment there was a loud clang, evident to the colliding of swords.
"I was gonna say it wont work, thanks to Epsilon".
He looked behind him to see the demon lord whose sword was blocked and was in shock, in that brief opening he slashed at the stunned demon lord leaving behind a deep cut across the chest. Hiro was definitely not aware of the demon lord's position and actions. But that did not matter thanks to holy sword Epsilon with its passive All Guard, surprise attacks were rendered useless with the exception of those that exceeded its reaction speed, when his body moved guided by it.
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"I've fought a hero before and I know the abilities of the holy sword they wielded and this is clearly not it".
The demon lord said as he recovered from his failed ambush, the chest wound healing leaving behind a scar.
"You must mean holy sword Spiriton the one that was used to seal you".
"Yes that one, but yours... I never thought there existed one that nullified the curses of my Invidia".
He said as he looked at his demonic sword which he had been using to curse Hiro since the beginning of the fight. But thanks to holy sword Epsilon the curses that were supposed to weaken, corrupt and increase the probability of misfortune for Hiro were nullified, the sword's guard was not limited to physical means to protect its wielder. Their swords clashed again creating shock wave after shock wave, they were both pushed back, from the continues shock waves. Taking this moment the demon lord actived another one of Invidia's abilities, one that made him intangible and in this state he could not be physically harmed by anything, his form becoming similar to the shadow phantoms, who did not have physical bodies and were incorporeal.
Theirs wasn't the only battle intensifying, the rest of the hero's party were in a heated battle against the phantoms. Unlike Hiro who had the upper hand in his fight they were being pushed back even though they had an advantage of numbers. The main reason they were being pushed back was the number of damage dealers, Soltia was on offense, Gadra was on defense, Shadow was doing both while Rinia was on support, healing and restoring their stamina. The shadow phantoms were all on offense and healed from most damage done to them.
"Shadow a little help over here".
Gadra who was in the back line protecting Rinia, called out struggling to defeat, even force the phantom he was facing to retreat. As a tank he was a pure physical combat kind of person so he could only deal minimal damage to it, what made it worse was that the one he was fighting was Shadow's mimic. Who was adapt at evasion and quick attacks and had great acrobatic skills. Gadra raised his shield and brought it forward to block, but the phantom was already on his flank, grabbing the shield then quickly pulling it off his hands tossing it aside. He tried to punch it but it ducked down, stabbing his abdomen in the process, he groaned from the pain.
"... purifier of all things unholy, corrector of unworldly form. Holy Sanctuary manifest".
Rinia who had just finished creating a Saintess blessing activated it to counter the properties of the shadow phantoms. A moment prior Shadow threw his daggers at his phantom mimic while still ingaged in combat with Hiro's phantom mimic.
Thanks to the phantom being disrupted by the daggers Gadra had a moment to breathe and with the addition of the holy Sanctuary his wound healed leaving no trace behind. He punched the phantom several times in a short time before it fell back. He was indeed exerting more power than before but that wasn't the the main reason, the sanctuary did more than heal them, its primary effect was to purify and weaken the phantoms, who were in a literary sense curses, though derivatives of the curses of Invidia itself. And now that he could interact with them like any tangible object Gadra could deal more damage than before. He tried to stomped on it while it was trying to get up but it rolled aside and got back on its feet just as quickly.
Soltia was also in a tough fight, battling against her phantom mimic, each time she used a spell it would also use the same spell against her. She cast fire ball, wind blade and earth bullet spells in succession and it did the same, either tanking her attacks or countering. The ground was littered with with broken spikes from earth magic, as result she could not move around well so she used a flying spell.
(I don't know why it's not copying this but I should use this chance). "Fluid earth".
She whispered the spell and the ground beneath and around the phantom turned into a liquid, it began to sink into the ground and struggled to get out. From the ground outside the fluid earth range she made two golems, commanding them to go in and push it down. The golems in the midst of submerging it even deeper turned darker, being corrupted by the phantom. The corrupt golems were hijacked and pulled it out of the fluid ground, Soltia did not let this stop her while it was being pulled out she threw another fire ball. This one was blocked by one golem, using its hulking body as shield. It was at this moment the Holy Sanctuary was activated, the corrupted golems crumbled into a rubble of earth under its effects. But that did not matter before one crumbled it had thrown the phantom at Soltia.
"Graviton".
She said as she moved out of the way while swinging her stuff down. It was struck by a sudden wave of gravity and plummeted straight down, but this time it also used the same spell against her but thanks to flight she remained in the air only descending for a moment, and with additional spell negative gravity she cancelled out the spells effect.
"Is it only using the spells I use against it".
She said when it remained in her spells effect and did not use negative gravity. It resisted trying with all its might to get back up but each time it rose a few inches off ground, Soltia would increase the amount of gravity while countering it's gravity spell on her with negative gravity. It got to a point where the gravity was so high that even a structure as big as castle would be crushed and its density increased to point of being the size of an apple. As much as it was effective against it she could not keep the spell active indefinitely so after the time limit passed it broke free but that was something she took into account, while it was still immobile she had the chance to cast her strongest spell, black hole. Another gravity type spell, it sucked in anything she wanted with gravity twice that of a normal black hole its size. Even though its size was about half a person in diameter and sustained for no more than a second, it was more than enough to do the job, the phantom got pulled apart entering the black hole.
"With that settled I should go help the others".
Shadow was breathing heavily his opponent Hiro's phantom mimic was the strongest of the phantoms even though it was not as strong as the real Hiro. Shadow was not the second strongest in the party but thanks to his speed he could fight it better than the others would. Theirs was a contest of blades Shadow's dual dagger wielding and the phantom's swordsmanship, like the other phantoms it possessed the skills of the person it mimicked but it did not surpass the level of sword sage. With his ability to blend into the surroundings when he's not doing extreme movement meant he could attack and hide when he needed to catch his breath. After disappearing from its view he striked, with his daggers flying at it guided by strings, aiming at the neck and abdomen. It was stabbed pretty deeply but there wasn't even a drop of blood.
"Shadow a little help over here"
He heard Gadra calling, he immediately withdrew his embedded daggers using the strings and used his ability, if he disappeared for too long it would go after the others so he wasted no time, he pulled out his throwing daggers and threw them at his phantom. This did not disable his ability but the flying daggers did give away his general position, and moving away really fast would disable his ability. The phantom swung its sword at random where it assumed he was, but he was aiming for that. Along with the daggers to relieve Gadra from attacks, he threw extra daggers with strings around himself creating a web like structure that trapped the phantom when it entered his range, at that moment the sanctuary activated. Shadow reappeared at the same time attacking the immobile phantom with a flurry of slashes, before it could break free in moments but now it was weakened by the sanctuary.
Hiro braced himself when he saw the demon lord on the offensive after the transformation but it was at this moment the Holy Sanctuary was activated. The demon lord's strength decreased greatly that he became much weaker than his untransformed state. Hiro did not miss this chance he, with all of his remaining strength he could kill the demon lord without a doubt. With this last move he would end the demon lord's terror and return home victorious, atleast that was the plan and what just happened. After cutting the demon lord down, Hiro was going to assist the others when time was rewound to just before dealing the final blow. A tall old man in a suit with a long goatee, appeared out of thin air standing in between Hiro and the demon lord and was holding Hiro's holy sword in place, preventing it from reaching its target. Both the demon lord and Hiro had no time to be surprised, the old man snapped his fingers and Hiro was blown away. He lay on the ground struggling to get up, only managing to raise his head and watched the old man lift the demon lord by his neck.
"No,no,no this was not supposed to have happened, it's not according to my design, all events leading up to this point. Useless... useless creations not following the fate and plan I set out for you".
After saying that he plunged his free hand into the demon lords chest, his body began pulsating and morph.
"Maybe this is a sign, I should leave this world as soon as I can".
The old man dropped the demon lord then disappeared, the demon lord's body continued to morph growing in size till it became larger than a bear and left with the ragged clothes. Hiro was not sure what was happening he only hoped it was the effects of its death. With the time spent while laying down the sanctuary healed him enough to be able to stand. He was about to go check for a pulse when the body rose growing fur all over the body and horns on the head. The only thing that remained from the features of the demon lord were the red eyes.
"I guess it's true, there is always a next form".
He said while raising his sword channeling all his power into it. With speed that far surpassed his previous one the demon lord moved to choke Hiro, he was so fast from Hiro's perspective it was no different from him being frozen in time. Hiro could not defend himself and was dragged back to the others at this incredible speed and was thrown before the others. With some invisible force Soltia who was in the best condition in comparison to the others, was pulled and smashed against a platform of shadows. The shadow platform extracted her soul and turning her body into a cursed statue. The others were fully aware but he was moving too fast that they were in extreme slow motion in comparison. Soltia's petrified body was released and left to fall, Gadra who was on top of a phantom, his fist descending on it in slow motion was fused with the phantom, corrupting his body and soul. The same was done to Shadow, Hiro could do naught but watch his friends get their lives taken. He knew his sister was next this made him feel even more intense emotions ranging from desperation, helplessness,rage and grief, those emotions stirred his willpower in unimaginable ways establishing a connection with holy sword Spiriton which sensed his will.
(I became a reknowned adventurer and became a knight, even surpassing the highest level of swordsmanship sage, what was the point of it all if it ends like this. No I cannot let end here. If anything can be a sword then anything can be cut).
When the demon lord finally killed Rinia his emotions were so intense that Spiriton could respond to his will, cutting through space to arrive in portal like manner. And from his stimulated willpower developed an ability, sacrifice and he knew with it he could achieve virtually anything. Inspired by the ability of holy sword Spiriton an idea came to mind, he used sacrifice. With this new found power he moved the two swords, sliced through time allowing the two swords to travel backwards in time and cut the demon lord into pieces immediately after the old man disappeared. Resulting in the tragic events of everyone, being undone whereas Hiro who used his ability to achieve this died. The others woke up with headaches to see the dead Hiro, they did not remember anything related to their defeat, they were all in a state of confusion, speculating on what happened. Rinia rushed to Hiro's side, she could bring back to life any person who wasn't dead for more than a day.
"Gadra, Soltia you guard them I'll search the perimeter for any threats".
They acted calmly believing there was still a chance. Shadow who was looking around found the scattered, unrecognisable pieces of demon lord, for a second he was not sure it was the same entity but the demonic sword Invidia and the residue of its magic power all attested to it being the demon lord. He returned to the others and announced this one piece of good news.
"Everyone the demon lord is dead".
"He's not reviving... my brother is dead".
Said Rinia with tears flowing with no sign of stopping.