Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 156: S Rank Gate - Interlude
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- Sung Jin-Woo -
He watched the broadcast with narrowed eyes. He hadn't been able to perfectly recover from his spar with Megumin just yet. Her attacks were more than even the healing his System provided once per day, but now that he knew the origins of that power, that made sense.
His System's usefulness was practically null now. It slowly gave him the power of Ashborn over time in the form of "stats". Once he had all of Ashborn's stats, then there was nothing more the System could do for him.
He already had access to all of Ashborn's treasures, which he would look through some time. From now on, it would be up to himself to grow further, beyond the level even Ashborn was at.
Perhaps in the past he would have doubted if that was possible, but what Felix said did leave an impression on him. He needed to have a bigger ego, and so he wouldn't question if he could reach that level. He simply would, and his fight with Megumin was only the first step of that.
Megumin's attacks were designed to harm his very Spirit, and he was inexperienced in that form of combat. So he had to learn on the fly with Megumin. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be serious, so that gave him a chance to adapt.
Still, he wasn't in perfect condition. Going to help Japan right now could be a risk. All the other nations were well taken care of, their own National Rank Hunters or peak S Rank Hunters were in the process of handling the Gate. It was just Japan that was having a bit of a hard time, mostly because the black haired woman was focusing mostly on preventing deaths rather than eliminating the Giants or the Gate.
The black haired woman was the one who jumped in to save Orloff, and one shotted that powerful S Rank Giant.
Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed further.
That woman… she didn't belong to the circle of Hunters he knew, and yet she was clearly stronger than Orloff. Orloff was a defense focused Hunter, but his defenses were not capable enough for the Giants. Yet this woman was casually weaving between the Giants, killing any that got too dangerous to the other Hunters.
He was watching through a TV screen, but even then strong people had a certain aura about them that could be felt even through a screen.
Her aura wasn't like Thomas Andre's brute force or Liu Zhigang's razor edge of discipline. She was most certainly someone to keep an eye on.
Even through the broadcast's distortion, Jin-Woo could feel it. It wasn't something the average Hunter could detect, but to him, a person who had seen Ashborn's memories of the war between the Monarchs and Rulers, a person that inherited the memories of the battlefields Ashborn raised, and inherited Ashborn's instinct, such an aura was impossible to miss.
Then there was another thing; the Giants were dangerously fast for their sheer size. It made no sense. The only explanation was that each of them had an explosive amount of mana.
Though he noticed that even with the barrier gone, most of the Giants didn't stray far from the Gate itself, almost as if they were guarding it.
And those that did get too far were killed by a beam of light to the head. Where it came from, Jin-Woo did not know, but clearly there was another faction at play.
His guess was the Rulers.
Beru appeared from his shadow. "Shall I test her for you, my liege? You seem interested in her."
Jin-Woo shook his head. "No." Beru nodded and disappeared back into his Shadow.
Beru was also rather beaten up from the fight with Megumin. He wasn't going to use his Shadows at the start, but as the fight went on it became more clear that he had to use his Shadows if he wanted even a chance at victory.
He may have had some of Ashborn's memories, but he still lacked true experience of his own. Experience that could not just be inherited from Ashborn.
Now the question was, should he help? Or did the mysterious woman have it handled?
"Jin-Woo, don't go." He heard his sister say from behind him.
He turned to face his sister. He closed his eyes. He had been doing a lot lately, getting into various dangerous situations. Perhaps it was time to relax, if only for a day.
His sister was clearly scared with everything happening, and if he couldn't even comfort his sister, then why was he doing everything he was doing?
"Alright, I won't go. She can handle it." He said to Jin-Ah.
- Felix -
I watched as Hinata danced through the battlefield. She wasn't particularly aiming to kill the Giants that were invading Tokyo. She was prioritizing keeping the other Hunters alive, having them fight their own battle.
But whenever a Giant almost managed to take a Hunter out, she'd send a quick Aura Slash that would one-shot it. Having her as backup gave the Hunters present far more confidence, allowing them to deal with the threats far more efficiently.
The civilians had already been evacuated so she didn't need to worry about that either.
Before long, with all of the cover Hinata was providing and her taking out the strongest Giant at the start, the Hunters managed to clean up the initial invading force of Giants. There were stronger ones inside the Gate that would need to be dealt with, but if Hinata planned to lend her assistance then, then the Hunters would have no trouble.
I looked around at the scattered rocket launchers, tanks, and other military equipment. The military equipment was essentially useless though, but I'm pretty sure the only reason that stuff was here was to maintain the image that the standard military could actually do something against a Gate of this caliber.
When a people lost confidence in a nation's ability to protect them, then things could get pretty messy.
No more monsters were coming out for the time being. A lot of monsters were intelligent, so I imagine they were regrouping to see what was going on.
Yuri Orloff had quickly gotten his shit together after realizing how close he had been to dying.
But now that things had relaxed a bit, he approached Hinata. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded.
She raised a brow. "That is an odd way to thank your savior."
Before Orloff could continue, some other Japanese Hunter intervened. "You have done enough, Orloff. The government will likely be renegotiating the contract as you failed to provide the service in its entirety. I would focus on that."
Orloff narrowed his eyes dangerously, as if he were considering doing something before clicking his tongue and walking away.
The Hunter bowed her head towards Hinata. "My name is Kanae Tawata, thank you for saving us." She was an S Rank Hunter going by the amount of energy she possessed. An above average one, as well.
Hinata merely smiled. "It was no problem."
"I apologize for being presumptuous, but at this point I will be direct. Are you willing to assist us with defeating this Gate? I do not believe Orloff will be cooperative from now on." Kanae asked.
The other Hunters around were focused on the conversation as well, as it could very well decide the fate of their country now that it was clear that Orloff wasn't enough.
"The Giant that tore apart Orloff's barrier clearly was not the Boss of the Gate, or else it would have collapsed, meaning there is an even stronger threat lurking within. I am certain the government would be willing to provide you the same tremendous compensation Orloff would have been provided."
Hinata nodded. "I am a defender of Humanity, I will not fight your battles for you, however I will assist you should it be necessary."
Kanae nodded, a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you. I will make certain that your generosity is known by this country, and that you are adequately rewarded."
"I do not care for that, but do what you will."
Wow, Hinata was going all in on the "heroine" role, though I guess she was a heroine in the end. I just hadn't really seen her in heroine mode very often. It was oddly very chuuni, but Hinata probably didn't want to hear that.
But it seems Hinata has things handled here.
"I'm going to head back, I think this is a perfect conclusion to our date. I'll let you have your fun now."
"Very well. I enjoyed our date as well."
"Good. I'll make sure to keep the stuffed animal you gave me on my bed!"
Hinata, in her typical tsundere fashion responded with. "Do what you wish with it."
"Just as a heads up, I'm sure you can already sense it, but there is someone decently strong within that Gate: another Monarch. He was sealed by the Rulers in the past, but I can't guarantee his current situation. You should be able to handle everything, nonetheless."
"Very well. Thank you for the warning."
With that, I teleported back to the penthouse I was staying at. I didn't want to mess with Hinata's flow with my presence there.
"Ara? You have returned already, Felix?" Luminous asked from the couch she was laying on.
I sighed. "Even in another world you're slothful."
- Antares -
He waited for Scorpius to take his seat in the room. Querehsha, Tarnak, and himself were the only present Monarchs at the moment. He knew not what happened to Sirka, but he could guess.
She certainly had not been killed, as he had checked on Nildhogg personally, and the power of the Monarch of the Frost had not yet returned to it, so she still lived.
His guess for her circumstances was that the Rulers detected her presence within the Gate they had created to allow her to understand her power more, as well as sabotage the Humans by taking out more of their high ranking individuals.
But, clearly something went wrong. Whether the Rulers sent a strong subordinate of theirs or something else did not matter. She was likely out of the game for the time being regardless, though he would not discount her potential to return. Perhaps she was only stranded on Earth and was waiting for the right moment to strike.
All sorts of things could go wrong, so he would not jump to conclusions about her competency, though the odds of her disappearance being a ploy by the Rulers were high. Taking her off the board like they had Legia would only be a good thing for them, and it was their style. They preferred fighting in indirect ways, as in direct combat they would always lose with their current power. The only reason they had lasted as long as they have was due to the artifact they possessed.
Fortunately, they had recently learned about where exactly Legia was, giving them another potential card to play.
The Ice Elves were panicking quite a bit. They had only recently reacquired the portion of their kingdom that had been stolen by the Rulers.
He still recalled the day the Rulers stole a portion of that dimension for their Gates, taking a significant portion of the Ice Elves fighting force. Sillad had raged quite a bit that day.
"Thank you for waiting, my Lords, my Lady." Scorpius said as he teleported into the meeting room. Previously, this was the room he and his fellow Monarchs met, but the circumstances had changed.
Scorpius had grown stronger as he adapted to the body he had taken over. Not as strong as even the weakest Monarch, of course, but stronger nonetheless. Though Scorpius believed that his "General" back in his own dimension was capable of slaughtering the Rulers in their entirety alone. The potential was there if Scorpius was being truthful.
Of course, Scorpius emphasized that this being would not be coming through the portal between dimensions due to the restrictions present, but Antares wouldn't trust him blindly. He had been making preparations in case he had to fight yet another enemy from another dimension.
Scorpius' subordinates were also growing in quantity and had begun building bases throughout the Chaos World, though Antares made sure to sneak his own men into Scorpius' forces.
It was difficult, but possible.
Querehsha merely smirked. Her vain ego enjoyed the praises Scorpius sung upon her, no matter how hollow they rang. But he did not care for that.
Scorpius had been playing his role well. Sacrificing the fodder and less useful denizens of the Chaos World to strengthen the portal between universes. With that, more of Scorpius' kind, the Phantoms, were able to come through, but in limited quantity and quality still.
They would be useful foot soldiers nonetheless; a qualitative upgrade compared to what they had previously.
As time went on, he was only more certain that Scorpius would eventually betray him. He had said his goal was to acquire resources for his people, and yet he had made no moves to search for the resources that his people seemingly needed. No plans were made to acquire more resources.
Scorpius had also stated his people wished for battle, but it still did not line up. In the end, that did not matter to him. He was Antares, the Monarch of Destruction. He would fight off any betrayal, even this mysterious General of Scorpius' that he seemed to worship, and he would either win or lose. He deserved whatever would happen at that point.
"You have already sent one of your operatives, correct?" Tarnak asked directly.
Scorpius looked at Tarnak. "I have, my Lord."
They had sensed Legia's energy signature on Earth through sheer coincidence. Ordinarily, they would have not been able to breach the Gate that Legia seemed to be sealed in, but the Phantoms had different restrictions.
The Monarchs, including him, would need a vessel to arrive on Earth. The Phantoms shared the limitation, however, they were capable of creating temporary vessels out of energy alone. It would cost a significant amount of energy, and be temporary, but it would work for their purposes.
Scorpius had someone who would be capable of sneaking into the Gate, and releasing Legia. He had given Scorpius a weapon capable of breaking the bindings on Legia as well.
Once they had Legia, things would become far easier. Many Giants were sealed with Legia as well, meaning almost right away they'd acquire a significant force, something that was clearly required with how things were in the Rulers favor.
It was astonishing that after so many timelines of defeating the Rulers, things had gone so differently in this one, single timeline, and now they, the Monarchs, were on the total backfoot.
"Good. Then soon Legia should be rejoining our ranks." Tarnak said with a satisfied nod.
All of them knew that the final battle was approaching. His vessel was being prepared, as was everyone else's. Yogumunt, Sillad, and Rakan's vessels had already been prepared ahead of time for them, as they were meant to start the initial attack, but the rest of them were still acquiring their own vessels.
At the very least, they knew who exactly they needed, as after many timelines, they had learned which vessels were the most compatible.
It was only a matter of time.
"And of your people infiltrating through the Humans' ranks?" Querehsha hummed.
"That is going well as well." Scorpius responded. The Phantoms were also infiltrating the higher ranking Humans' forces. Causing more chaos in the Humans' own forces may be useful, or it may not be.
"Then it seems that everything is going according to plan."
At the very least, with the Phantoms being far more mobile on Earth, they had learned quite a bit more information.
They learned about the possible vessel of the Shadow Monarch, as a specific Hunter was showing off abilities only the Shadow Monarch had. Once Ashborn was back, then Antares would have full confidence in their ability to defeat the Rulers.
Him and Ashborn together would be undefeatable.
They had also learned about the man who killed Sillad, Yogumunt, and Rakan. It seems those three's defeat was shown across the world, bringing shame to their name upon Earth.
He was sure the three would have wanted to destroy the planet immediately should they have learned what the Humans were saying about them.
He of course was only amused.
The man who killed them had made almost no appearance since then. But he still knew more about him. He called himself a Demon Lord and was called Felix. From the broadcast that Scorpius' operative managed to present them, he could tell that Felix was only doing what he pleased.
Those three had only annoyed him, and so they were swatted like the bugs they were. That meant if he could appeal to Felix's motives, perhaps he would join their side. If not, then a fight would be inevitable, and Antares would be prepared.
He had only increased his training since everything had happened, and more progress was being made than he had in decades thus far. It seems the challenge had stimulated his growth.
- Hinata Sakaguchi -
She watched as the apparent lead Hunter, Kanae Tawata, passed around her orders. Orders to evacuate the civilians further away, while also gathering all the A and S Rank Hunters.
She liked Kanae. She reminded her somewhat of herself.
The Gate in the sky had stopped releasing monsters, but she had a feeling that was by design.
She could feel the intensity of the Aura being released from the Gate magnify many fold.
And going by the apprehension on the faces of the Hunters that were gathering, they could as well. But when they looked at her she could see it in their faces; the looks that people even back in the Cardinal World gave her, that they had given her for as long as she had been in that world.
Hope.
It was rather annoying that all this had interrupted her date with Felix, but she was happy with it nonetheless. He had probably returned to the place they were staying at by now. Either that or he had gone to have fun in another corner of the world due to these large Gates being a widespread phenomena throughout the world at the moment.
She already knew the entire story behind this universe and the factions at play. She could even deduce the Rulers' reasoning for unleashing such powerful Gates upon the mostly defenseless Humans.
But she was a True Hero. Even in another world, she'd fight to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Other parts of the world seemed to be mostly okay for the time being. If not, she'd go to help them as well.
She wouldn't fight the entire battle for the Humans, but if they were overwhelmed, better her save them than allow them to learn a lesson through mass amounts of death.
"What the hell!?" Some Hunter yelled as he looked down at his phone.
"Is something the matter?" Kanae asked as she approached the shocked Hunter.
"Look at this!" He said as he held his phone out to her.
She could only sigh as she spotted what he was shocked about. There was a live video on some streaming service about a "pink-haired Demon Lord", beating up Thomas Andre, someone she knew to be the strongest Hunter in this world, at least officially.
Milim was clearly holding back, and yet even then she was slapping around the strongest Hunter with ease. Which was about what she could expect from someone like Milim Nava.
"Wahaha! This is pretty fun! Who knew slapping someone away over and over again could be entertaining!"
Thomas Andre spit out a glob of blood. "It's probably because I'm just gonna keep gettin back up, you little shit." He said with a toothy grin.
It was rather admirable that he kept rising to face Milim, someone he had no hope of defeating.
Kanae took a step back in shock. "No way. Thomas Andre is actually losing?" She whispered.
"Apparently she called herself a Dragonoid."
"If anything like that is inside our Gate then…"
"You do not need to worry." She said, attempting to relieve their worry.
All the Hunters who were now fearful looked at her with hope.
"She is a… friend of mine. She likely just went out to cause some trouble." She sighed.
"So she's not a monster?" Kanae asked with some relief.
Hinata shrugged. "That depends on your point of view. But look closer at the stream. Does Thomas Andre not seem to be enjoying himself? I believe he would not be so relaxed if the fate of his country and maybe even the world was on the line. I imagine they came to some agreement."
"She's right." One of the Hunters said with a relieved sigh.
Kanae nodded. "Then let us do our duty. Is everyone ready?"
" " "Yes!" " "
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She stayed in the back of the party as they all continued to venture deeper into the Gate. There were some Giants that attempted to ambush them, but none as strong as the one that she had to slay to save that man, and so the group was able to take them all on without issue due to their coordination.
However, as they went deeper, she could sense a more malevolent being. She was concealing her presence to the maximum so as not to alert the being, but it was clear that it was strong.
She would likely have to be the one to fight it if it was hostile, as everyone else here would merely die.
All of a sudden, they all stopped as a laugh echoed throughout the corridor they were in. "Hmhahahaha!"
"What was that!?"
"That was an evil ass laugh, are we really going to be fine?"
"Shut up and focus everyone! If we fail here, who knows what's going to happen to Japan!" Kanae yelled.
As they continued, Hinata couldn't help but wonder what was so amusing to the being. Was having enemies invade its Gate that amusing to it?
There were a couple more waves of Giants, but they were dealt with easily like the last ones. Though she could sense stronger Giants deep within, it was as if the ruler of this Gate was only sending in the fodder as a welcoming message.
They pushed forward until the corridor finally widened, opening into a massive chamber. At the center of the room they could see a dozen collapsed chains, as well as a large cuff. Going by equipment ranking from the Cardinal World, each chain was at minimum Legendary Grade, pushing God Grade even.
Whatever was sealed here was powerful.
The Hunters stopped in their tracks, some audibly gasping at the sight. The shattered chains still hummed faintly with more energy than any single Hunter here possessed.
Kanae swallowed hard. "These… these restraints… what in the world could they have been binding?"
No one answered. The oppressive atmosphere spoke volumes on its own. The air was so thick with malice and demonic energy that she was sure that even breathing was difficult for the Hunters.
Even as the pinnacle of Humanity as S Rank Hunters, they must have realized how far out of their league they were. In theory, whatever being was present in this Gate could kill them all with its Aura alone. Hinata would protect them, of course, but that was the level of danger they were in.
But it was for the best that they knew what they were up against. The International Guild Conference had not occurred yet, and so many nations were still underestimating the threat they faced. This way, these Hunters could at least inform their leaders of the situation, who would hopefully take their warnings seriously.
She wouldn't be here to save the day for them every time. In fact, after this event, she and Luminous planned to go around the world to see the sights as well as attempt to recruit individuals with potential.
After that, they would have to return to the Cardinal World due to the connected timeflows between the two worlds. Even if Louis could likely manage things for some time, she did not want to be gone for too long in the case of an emergency, and Luminous felt the same.
Despite how Luminous may act, she was at the very least serious about the duties she had as the goddess of Luminism, as she should be.
Her senses sharpened as she attempted to find their foe. That malevolent presence she had felt earlier was far clearer now. No longer distant, but close. So close it felt as though it were coiling around the entire chamber.
"Careful." She said quietly to everyone. "The true ruler of this Gate is here."
The moment she finished, the air shimmered and warped. At the far end of the chamber, atop a jagged throne of some dark crystal a being began materializing. Dark mist coalesced into a form, first humanoid but it grew, and grew, and grew, until it was twice the size of a normal man.
Rather small for a man that seemed to rule over the Giants, but he had been sealed for who knew how long. Perhaps he was limited due to not being at full power.
The being wore no armor, only a ragged cloak. From beneath its hood she could see two gleaming red eyes.
The Hunters froze as the oppressive Aura pressed against them. Several dropped to one knee, unable to withstand the pressure. The Aura was only meant to intimidate, so she did not counteract it.
The being finally spoke, its voice smooth and deep, carrying an almost mocking amusement. "So, it seems the terror of the Monarchs has been forgotten if you so carelessly tread here."
Most of the Hunters were shaking, unable to even properly grip their weapons.
Hinata believed that they had seen enough by now. They knew just how out of their league they were with the Monarchs. Some would give up and allow hopelessness to take root in them, which she did not blame them for. Then the others would continue to fight despite the odds, those were the ones she was hoping to inspire.
Hinata stepped forward, unflinching. "You were sealed for a reason, Monarch. You should have stayed that way." She stated as she began to release some of her Holy Haki, bringing comfort to the Hunters and discomfort to the Monarch in front of her.
Deeper within the Gate she could sense many, many Giants. They were most likely the Monarch's army that was sealed with him. Her Haki would ward them away as well for the time being.
The figure chuckled. "Ah, it has been a long time since one as weak as you dared to stand against me. I know not what Antares has been doing for our reputation to have vanished."
His gaze swept across the trembling Hunters before returning to her. "You may be stronger than the rest, but these little insects won't survive a single gesture of mine. You know this. So tell me, what will you be doing?"
No one said anything. Though when he turned to face the Hunters she saw something in the back of his head that made her curious. It was a stone of some kind.
Hinata's hand moved to her blade, her expression firm and resolute. "If you think your threats will shake me, you're mistaken. These people are under my protection. If you desire battle…"
She could protect the Hunters with some barriers and fight this weakened Monarch at the same time. The Monarch did not know her full power, as she was not showing all of it off.
"I was needing a bit of a warm up. You shall do nicely." The Monarch said as he took a step forward, his very step shaking the dimension they were in.
"You all need to stay back." She told the Hunters as she summoned her rapier in a single fluid motion, its holy power cutting through the Monarch's miasma.
The Hunters quickly got behind her, once they did so she placed a barrier around herself and the Monarch, keeping them isolated from the rest. That way the Hunters would have the option to turn back if they desired.
The Monarch himself was eyeing her weapon. "A rather potent weapon. I have not seen one such as it before."
She merely smiled as she held her other hand out, Truth materializing in it.
"A dual wielder hmm? And two extraordinary weapons? It seems things have changed. My name is Legia, the Monarch of the Beginning. Be ready to suffer." He said as a malevolent smile graced his face.
- Legia, the Monarch of the Beginning -
He allowed a smile to form on his face as he faced the courageous Human, even as the stone in the back of his head screamed at him to slaughter them all. Something he would have done regardless of the stone's presence.
That didn't change the utter rage he felt at the fact that the Rulers dared to place such an artifact onto him, the ruler of the Giants. They would pay, that was for certain.
The artifact was designed to make monsters feel utter rage and bloodthirst towards the Humans, so that the Humans would be forced to defend themselves against monsters, growing in strength in the process. In the end, the Rulers wanted to use him as just another piece on their board.
It was tied deeply within him at this point. The Rulers embedded it into him after forcing him into unconsciousness to preserve his energy, lest he fade away. And through that, they managed to tie the stone into his very Spirit, making it almost impossible to remove.
Indeed, they had grown arrogant. For that he would make sure they would suffer. He was looking forward to personally ripping off some of their wings as they released keeling wails.
Not long ago, some being who called himself a Phantom and an ally of Antares arrived in this Gate. Using some artifact, he managed to take off the mana-absorbing chains the Rulers had bound him with for eons.
He had explained some things to Legia before leaving. He wouldn't take the Phantom's word as truth blindly, but he had freed him and showed him proper respect, and that allowed him to leave this Gate alive at the very least.
The war between the Monarchs and the Rulers was coming to its climax, and he had been called to assist. He did not know the specifics, but it was clear that the Monarchs were on the backfoot now. That much was clear when even the meager species before him did not fear his very name.
It would see it was up to him to remind these Humans of their place.
The one in the lead was stronger than the rest, but even as a weakened Monarch, he would swat her like a bug.
- Hinata Sakaguchi -
Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her blades, tanking the fist of the Monarch, without reinforcing herself at all, merely relying on her weapon's own energies.
The impact split the ground beneath her feet, cracks spiderwebbing outward across the chamber floor.
His physical power was greater than her own, but that was expected of a powerful Giant. She could compensate against his raw power with her greater energy reserves. In the end, she had full confidence that she would win this fight.
The force of his blow would have reduced even some Saints to dust immediately, but she held firm, holy energy radiating from her crossed swords and keeping the Monarch's fist at bay.
Even weakened as the Monarch clearly was, he was still powerful. He was a Spiritual Lifeform, so the energy draining chains had weakened him severely, but clearly someone had helped him escape his bindings. That person also likely helped him recover at least some of his strength and stamina.
The Monarch's red eyes gleamed with surprise. "You did not shatter immediately. Interesting. Concealing your power then?"
Hinata didn't respond, she only pushed him back, sending the Monarch a step away. Her aura flared brighter, the oppressive darkness momentarily pushed aside by her holy light.
She hadn't drawn on her Ultimate Skills yet, as she felt she did not need them. Overreliance on them would only hurt her in the long run. That was what she did with Usurper which only made her a jack of all trades, master of none. She would use her Skills when needed, but for now she was content to test her skill against the Monarch.
He would prove useful in honing her dual wielding capabilities. She still did not feel comfortable wielding two blades.
"You will need more than that if you wish to push me." She taunted him as she twirled her rapier, dozens of magic circles forming around Legia and firing all sorts of spells at him.
Legia tilted his head, amused, his deep voice rumbling like a landslide as he cut through her spells. They were not meant to truly wound him, only test his capabilities. "Arrogant insect. Yet… you wield weapons that even my kind would hesitate to face. Perhaps you are worthy of a proper test."
With a casual wave of his hand, black chains of energy surged up from the ground, aiming to bind her limbs. But with a twist of her blades, she cleaved through them even as she pointed two of her fingers at him even as she gripped the hilt of her weapon.
In a moment, a small ball of holy power formed at the tip of her fingers and fired off at Legia.
The Monarch's smile widened as he tilted his head, allowing the holy bullet to fly past his head and crash into her barrier. "Good. Very good. It has been too long since I faced one who resists, most give up upon seeing me." He said with a rumbling laugh.
"What the hell is this? I couldn't even see them moving!" One of the Hunters from behind her yelled.
Legia's attention moved to them. "Quiet, bug." Before he could say anything else, however, she interfered, beginning to use more of her energy.
Her aura expanded like a tidal wave, slamming against his own, getting his attention back onto her. She would prefer it if she didn't have to worry about the other Hunters while she fought Legia. Keeping his attention on her was the best thing to do.
The dimension shook from the clash of their Auras, loose fragments of stone raining from the ceiling.
"You face me, Monarch. Do not waste your words on those under my protection," Hinata said sharply, both blades leveled at him.
Legia's eyes narrowed, their crimson gleam brightening. "You dare raise your voice to me? Interesting. I had thought Humans were nothing but vermin scurrying in the dirt. Yet here you stand, as though you are my equal. It seems you need to be reminded of your place."
He raised one arm, energy gathering around it until it resembled a massive greatsword forged of pure mana. The weapon's Aura alone was disturbing the mana in the air around them.
Hinata kept her expression calm, though inwardly she catalogued his energy carefully. Even weakened, his output dwarfs all Saints that she had met before. If not for the chains having drained him for centuries, perhaps I'd have had to go all out.
Her raw power was likely greater than this Monarch's, even at full power, but she had yet to achieve total mastery of her energy, leading to inefficiency. Though that could be heavily mitigated with Fortuna.
She dashed forward, holy light sparking under her feet, her two blades carving in arcs as they met his weapon head-on.
The clash ignited a shockwave that pressed against the barrier she had created. Legia's laughter thundered through the chamber. "Yes! Struggle more! Let me remember what it feels like to fight after endless years of silence!"
He seemed to be a battle maniac.
He swung again, each strike forcing her to pivot, block, and counter with perfect precision. Perhaps if she went all out from the start, she could "one-shot" him as Felix called it, but she was using this as a learning opportunity.
Her weapons lit up with more holy energy, but even as she sent Aura Slashes at him, she noticed the faint pulsation from the strange stone embedded at the back of his head. Its glow deepened each time he grew more enraged, as though it were amplifying his bloodlust.
Her eyes narrowed further as she realized the stone would likely allow her to end the fight far quicker, and without relying on her Ultimate Skills.
Legia roared, his greatsword of shadow slamming downward in a blow that cracked the chamber floor wide open.
Hinata braced, crossing her blades again. The force of the impact drove her back several meters, her boots grinding furrows into the stone. Yet, that was all that he strike did. He simply lacked the raw power to truly wound her.
In the end, he was simply unlucky enough to face her. After becoming a True Hero on top of already being a Divine Human, there were few who could match her at this point.
Legia pressed on, his blade cleaving through the chamber in great sweeping arcs. Each strike carried enough weight to collapse a mountain with ease. Yet, she continued to meet them all with ease, her twin blades sparking brilliantly.
The Monarch laughed between swings, drunk on the rush of combat. "Yes! Resist harder! Show me despair as your strength runs dry!"
Either he was a fool, or the Monarch was even more worn out than she believed if he simply ignored the fact that she was not winded at all.
Either way it didn't matter at this point. She had already gauged his rhythms, the rise and fall of his mana, the overconfidence in his timing. The chains had bled too much of his essence away. He's not strong enough to face a True Hero such as her.
She slid back after one particularly heavy strike, both swords glowing brighter, her aura swelling like a rising star.
"You were fun." She said simply.
Before Legia could respond, her holy energy surged outward, condensing around her in a brilliant sphere of light. The air vibrated violently as her power rose higher and higher, eclipsing the Monarch's darkness.
Her blades crossed before her chest, then spread wide as she poured her full strength into them.
She had yet to create a "final finisher" attack, but she had created other powerful abilities. This one was inspired by Absolute End's power and made use of spiritrons, holy power, and her own divinity.
"Absolute Severance." With those words she brought down both swords in a single motion.
A torrent of divine energy erupted forth from her weapons, a massive wave of holy energy and divinity that carved through the chamber.
The Monarch roared in rage, his Aura flaring around wildly as he tried to hold it back, but the holy light burned through him mercilessly, searing his soul.
His greatsword shattered, and the stone in his head pulsed violently before cracking apart, fragments scattering.
"N-No! I am Legia, the Beginning!" His final bellow was drowned out as her attack consumed him entirely, obliterating his form in a blinding explosion of light. The shockwave shook the Gate to its foundations.
When the light faded, she observed that nothing remained. She could feel the Space of the dimension they were in beginning to weaken as well.
Hinata lowered her blades slowly. She turned back to the Hunters, their stunned faces reflecting awe and disbelief.
"It is over." She said to them simply.
Kanae's legs gave way and she sank to one knee, equal parts relief and exhaustion flooding through her. "Oh man, this was way out of our league." She said with a wet laugh.
She hoped that with this demonstration, some of them realized the gravity of the situation.
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Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. Finished up the s rank gate mini arc with this chapter.
Next chapter will be a more… lewd development with Hinata, though no sex yet!
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Last bit of editing -Omnax
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