Akiza spent as much time as she could training with her new techniques. They consumed an enormous amount of Internal Energy. The purple flames only appeared when Akiza was fully Armatized. At all other times, it was orange. Even as she concentrated on increasing her own, it was not something that she could use very often. She was still a long way from the Emperor Stage despite her skills. In a real fight, she would not last as long as someone who has achieved the Emperor Stage. However, a Demon Lord was still only at the Lord stage.

It was finally time, Akiza and Cixi headed to Masa and Mune's to retrieve their Emperor Stage swords. "Are you sure?" asked Masa. "Those people are still hunting for Emperor Stage Artifacts."

"They will have a lot more to handle soon," said Cixi. "We'll be ready."

"I have them here," said Mune as he brought them out.

There were two swords equal in size and looked exactly like one another. The blade itself was white while the hilt and cross guard were a little yellowish in color. There was no fuller, in fact, that spot was hollow. It was like the sword was only the edge.

"Will this sword even be stable?" asked Cixi.

"Yes," said Masa. "Believe it or not, the material itself is very dense, this will allow you to maximize the effects of your element while using the weapon."

Cixi channeled her Internal Energy through the sword. Sure enough, the center of the blade instantly became filled with water and a thick sheet of ice appeared over the whole sword. "This is amazing," said Cixi.

Akiza tried it with hers. The hollow center section of her sword turned from red to orange to purple and the entire sword lit up with purple flames before returning to the orange color.

"Don't swing that in here," said Masa. "The element will spray out when you do."

This was the potential of an Emperor Stage Artifact. It would be what makes the difference in the fight between Akiza and the Demon Lord.

"I look forward to seeing you two again," said Mune.

"If we find more, we will," said Cixi. "Let's go."

As Akiza and Cixi left, Akiza could feel that people were looking at her already. "Why are they all staring?" asked Akiza.

"That's because we have Emperor Stage Artifacts now," said Cixi. "They all want it."

Emperor Stage Artifacts were not only extremely rare, but also extremely powerful. The people at Labyrinthos like Masa and Mune could actually work them, which was also another rare skill. The people were probably looking for a chance to rob them.

"What should we do?" asked Akiza.

"Wait for the Demon of Greed to appear," said Cixi. "When it does, people will rush towards the Emperor Stage creatures that appear. Then, we go after the Demon after they are all busy."

"Do you have a gold coin?" asked Akiza.

"I brought several," said Cixi. "But I'm only going to keep this one visible," she said as she held it in her hand.

The gold coin would distract a Demon of Greed because they will be too focused on trying to retrieve the gold coin. They will lose sight of fighting and become unfocused. Akiza and Cixi were going to use this to their advantage and then slay the Demon of Greed.

The two headed to the entrance of the Labyrinth and waited. Around them, a lot of people were watching them. Some stood very close, others hid around the corner. They were probably waiting for Akiza and Cixi to walk in, then they could attack them. If they attacked Akiza and Cixi while still in the building and not the Labyrinth, Himiko would probably just beat them all down with her power for breaking the rules.

Cixi was tracking the time. It was soon. "When we go in, we rush straight for where we found the phoenix okay?" said Cixi.

"Okay," said Akiza.

"Now!' said Cixi. Cixi and Akiza both charged into the silver portal that lead to the Labyrinth.

Without thinking or looking around, Akiza Armatized and flew towards where they found the phoenix. Akiza could hear shouting from behind her. In another direction though, Akiza felt something strange. It was like there was a hole devoid of any Internal Energy. From it, Dark Energy was leaking out. That was most likely where the Demon Lord was, but Akiza had to meet up with Cixi first. It would be too dangerous to fight the Demon Lord alone.

Akiza heard more shouting behind there. "There's an Emperor Stage creature!" someone shouted.

"Do we go after the girls or the creatures?" someone asked.

People began to split up. Some of them decided that it would be better or maybe even easier to take on the monster than to fight the other people for the Emperor Stage Artifacts that Cixi and Akiza had.

Akiza finally caught up to Cixi, behind her were still a few people who were chasing from the ground. "Fly higher!" shouted Cixi.

Akiza rose up into the orange colored sky. In an instant, she felt a chill beneath her. She looked down and saw the entire path and the sides of the buildings coated in ice. It was like if a river suddenly went through the area and was flash frozen. This was the power of an Emperor Stage Artifact. It was as if every swing directed the power of the person's domain in that general direction, applying to everything caught within range. It was truly a devastating power. With a hundred swings, it could probably freeze all of West Wind Academy.

"We have to hurry," said Akiza.

"I know," said Cixi. "I feel it too."

The two rushed towards the site of where they felt the Dark Energy coming from. As they got closer, they heard sounds. It was the sound of fighting. Flames erupted from the ruins of the city at odd intervals, most likely as a result of some power skill or Artifact being used.

As Cixi got closer, she saw that was not the case. The white phoenix was fighting against against a small humanoid. There were a few Emperor Stage creatures walking away from the site of the battle up ahead. The Demon's aura probably contained enough Dark Energy to spawn more creatures or upgrade the existing ones at least. More were gradually appearing.

Akiza saw the small humanoid. It was wrapped in a black fog of some kind. It had claws and wore some black type of outfit and even had black wings on his back. It resembled something between a mix of Armatization and mutation. "Quickly Hero, you must defeat it," said the phoenix.

Cixi took out the gold coin. Akiza could see that the Demon instant rushed toward Cixi at full speed.

BOOM. The Demon crashed against the ground, missing Cixi. "Mine!" it shouted.

Cixi slashed the Demon, but the part of the Demon she slashed turned into a black fog and reformed. It dealt no visible damage. The ice from her sword went straight through it as well.

"What are you?" asked Cixi.

"Midas, Lord of Greed!" shouted the Demon. "All will be mine!" It was relentlessly pursuing Cixi.

"Take it," said Cixi as she tossed the coin to Akiza.

Midas was focused on the coin. It suddenly ignored Cixi and chased after the coin. Akiza grabbed it and descended from the sky. "That is mine!" shouted Midas as it chased after Akiza.

BANG. Akiza heard the sound of something crashing. She turned around and saw that Midas was stabbed with something and suddenly came to a halt. Cixi stepped back and revealed that Midas had a rusty knife in his chest. It was one of Himiko's.

"Ugh," groaned Midas. It looked at Akiza. It was not focus on its injuries, but instead, focused on the coin that was in Akiza's hand.

Midas was relentlessly pursuing the object of his desire, ignoring everything else. "It's mine!" it shouted.

"Quickly, you must finish it!" shouted the phoenix.

Akiza activated her Domain and charged towards the Demon. BANG. "UGH," Midas groaned loudly and keeled over onto the floor. "It's mine," he groaned. "It's MINE!" he shouted. Using his wings he picked himself up, grabbing onto the knife stuck in his chest. He struggled and attempted to pull it out to no avail. "Why?" he asked.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Himiko's knives were weapons especially designed to slay Demons like Midas. It was probably impossible for a Demon to pull out. It turned to Akiza and chased after her, but much slower than before. The knife had severely affected its abilities.

Midas swung his arm at Akiza. Akiza responded with her own sword. As she swung it, the sword lit up and flames burst from the tip of it. VWOOM. Flames suddenly burst outward and burned Midas. Midas ignored the flames continuing to pressure Akiza. Even at only fighting at a fraction of his power, Midas was tough. It was not only suppressed by the phoenix, it was also being suppressed by Himiko's knife.

"GAH," Akiza screamed as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Midas used his other arm and stabbed Akiza. She could feel her blood flowing out of her body.

"Get away from my student!" shouted Cixi. She crashed against Midas, knocking him onto the ground.

Akiza looked and saw that Cixi had wings made of ice. "How?"

"The phoenix," said Cixi.

It was like when Serph temporarily Armatized with Akira. The phoenix lent Cixi her power temporarily gave her access to Divine Energy and upgraded her Armatization as well. With this, they could fight together.

"I'll attack first," said Cixi. "You watch for an opening like we did with the Lich."

"Alright," said Akiza. She kept her eye on the movements of Cixi and Midas.

Midas picked himself up, but he was becoming slower. The knife stuck in his chest was either draining him or he was expending a lot more of his energy. Either way, it would make it easier for Akiza. The problem was that he was still much stronger than either Cixi or Akiza.

Cixi took out another gold coin. "Look at what I have here!" she shouted.

"Mine!" shouted Midas as he chased after Cixi.

Cixi swung her sword and froze Midas' arm. Midas shattered the ice on his arm and regrew it. Demons were not only strong, they were also very durable. There was a reason why they were feared.

"Attack Midas when it is attacking Cixi," said Akira.

"Master?" asked Akiza.

"Midas is focused on chasing down Cixi and the gold coin in front of him," said Akira. "It can see nothing else because it needs to satisfy its greed."

Akiza saw that Cixi was hurting Midas with her attacks, but Midas was also regenerating. Either Cixi was not strong enough or Midas had that high of a regeneration. "I don't think I can kill it," said Akiza. "I'm not strong enough."

"You are," said Akira. "I can't help you much with the techniques that you've been learning, but I know that you have what it takes to kill your first Demon. Focus on the movement on the Demon, I will tell you when to attack and when you do, explode both your wings."

"Okay Master," said Akiza. She focused her attention on the movements of the Demon, watching it as it zigzagged through the air.

Midas' primary form of attack was swinging his arms. It was trying to grab Cixi's arm and the gold coin in it. It was not even trying to fight Cixi. It had been so consumed by its greed that it could see nothing else. Akiza saw as Midas became increasingly more frustrated by his inability to grab the gold coin.

Cixi swung her sword, parrying every one of Midas' attacks aimed at her. When Midas raised his arm, Cixi raised her sword. They both swung at similar times. Sometimes, Midas was cut, at other times, it came into contact with Cixi's sword. Either way, Cixi was gaining an advantage.

However, Midas showed no signs of tiring while Cixi did. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" shouted Midas. "Give me back what's mine!"

Cixi continued to cut off Midas' arms and legs when she had the chance. As Midas reached in to grab the coin, she slashed upward with the sword instantly removing the arm. The arm would shortly dissolve into black smoke and return to Midas' body. With that, the arm regrew. Unless they could kill Midas quickly, he would continue to regenerate.

Midas continued to relentlessly pursue the coin, ignoring the environment around him. He would trip over rocks and use his wings to recover. Cixi swung her sword as it transformed into an enormous frozen icicle. VWOOSH. With a single swing, Midas froze in place.

BANG. In a few seconds, Midas broke right of the solid ice and continued its pursuit of Cixi's coin and instantly forgot about how it was just frozen. Even though it was supposed to be weakened, it was still incredibly tough. Akiza saw that Cixi could not hold out much longer. She was starting to sweat heavily as Midas continued his relentless assault. Cixi's wings of ice were starting ot melt. She was losing control over the Divine Energy and could no longer maintain its form.

CLING. Midas was beginning to tear away at Cixi's Armatization. Midas was now the one with an advantage. Cixi was losing ground at a rapid pace. It took all of her concentration just to hold Midas back now.

"Now!" shouted Akira as Midas retreated.

"Exploding First Wing! Exploding Second Wing!" Akiza exploded both her wings. In an instant, her Armatization was gone, but in her hands, the sword she held still burned bright with purple flames. She swung the sword and watched as Midas' hand began to move forward with the rest of its body.

Midas was not even looking at what was happening to it. It was still focused on the gold coin in Cixi's hands. SHING. With a sharp cutting sound, Akiza's sword went straight through the body of Midas. It attempted to still crawl towards Cixi with the upper half of its body. Its lower half stopped moving. "Mine!" Midas groaned as it attempted to crawl forward. Its lower body was detached from its upper body, but that still did not stop him from trying to chase after the coin.

Cixi stabbed Midas' arm, pinning him to the ground and stopping him from moving, but Midas was still trying to move towards the coin. Cixi's sword tore through Midas' arm as it tried to do so. Akiza quickly stabbed Midas' upper body, piercing it four additional times. Midas finally stopped moving. "Is it over?" thought Akiza.

Cixi was still on guard, waiting to see if the body of the Demon would move. POOF. The body of the Demon disappeared. The Demon Lord's body burst into black smoke before disappearing. In its place was a single black rock. "Is it gone?" she thought.

They were able to exploit this Demon's fatal weakness. The others would probably not be as easy even if they had similar weaknesses. They only won because the abilities of the phoenix not only suppressed the Demon, it also gave Cixi a way to help Akiza fight. Akiza picked up the small black rock, she could feel some Internal Energy from it.

"Absorb it," said Akira.

"Isn't it dangerous to do so?" asked Akiza.

"It's the only way to purify it," said Akira. "As long as you have Divine Energy, it will not affect you much. If you don't purify it properly, it will continue to corrupt the land after its death."

Akiza absorbed the small black rock into her Dantian. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach, but also the feeling of something like the slow flow of Internal Energy being released into her body.

"It is done slowly, but it will help you in the long run," said Akira. "The power from the Demon will gradually become yours as it is purified."

"It's done," said Akiza.

"So what now?" asked Akiza. "I still feel dozens of Emperor Stage creatures near by."

"Let's talk to Himiko and tell her what happened first," said Cixi.

"That's probably best, she can tell us what to do from here," said Akiza.

With the Demon dead, they now had another problem to deal with, the Emperor Stage beasts that it had created in the meantime.