With a loud explosion, Roygerd punched down.
The floor shook. As if an explosive had just been exploded there, a small crater was created there. Unfortunately, he missed his target again. And a shot almost blinded him if he wasn't fast enough to block it.
Theo ran around the place like he owned it, so free and agile, but with inhumane precision and deadly air.
"A strong vessel, I liked it!"
After Roygerd, a fat, bald man with a strength that not too lacking if compared to he himself rushed toward Theo with a battleaxe in hand.
He swung it down, but only able to cleave the floor.
Then an elemental bolt landed on his right arm, holed it. Different from Roygerd, who couldn't be damaged by Theo's Gemgun, this fat man was seem to be weaker.
But something about him was strange. Theo had that premonition from him.
So he shot the man again. This time at the head.
His shot perfectly holed his brain.
However—
The man didn't stop moving.
"Strong vessel, strong vessel, wahahaha!"
The fat man kept yelling that while he chased Theo and swinging his battleaxe.
Roygerd scoffed from the side as he correcting his necktie placement.
"You wouldn't be able to kill Tratbone even if you kept shooting your Gemgun until the last shot. He was no ordinary man," Said Roygerd before he joined the fray.
Meanwhile, outside the heated fight, Tizmilly and Carole were hastily trying to free Timmy from the shackles.
They didn't have time to carefully looking for the key, so Tizmilly used her sword to cut the chains. Carole caught him as he fell.
"Timmy... You... Wh-what they had done to you..."
Carole couldn't hold her tears from flowing down after he saw how bad his state was. Dried blood covered his entire body, with scars everywhere. Some from whip, some from knife or something sharp. Tizmilly and Carole could felt the pain from seeing the scars alone.
The fight intensified. Theo barely evaded a punch from Roygerd when Tratbone came to him from other side with his battleaxe. Theo countered him with shooting his wrist, separating his palm and arm. It resulted in Tratbone's inability to swing his Battleaxe properly and missed Theo completely.
Then Theo kicked him on the face and cast Levitation on him. The duration was: 5 seconds. Tratbone could only frailing his limbs confusedly as he was thrown to the air and was stuck there.
"Let's go, Miss Carole!"
Tizmilly afraid that their presences would only hinder Theo, so she urged Carole.
"O-okay..." Carole nodded and immediately get up with Timmy on her hands
They avoided every debris and stones produced by Roygerd's punches as they headed toward the exit. Since neither Roygerd nor Tratbone were interested in them, they could get out of the room without much trouble.
Leaving Theo alone there didn't align with Tizmilly's idealism, but she knew that she couldn't do anything to help him in a high-leveled fight like that at the moment.
'If only I was stronger!'
Tizmilly sent the basement a last glance before followed Carole to the kitchen. They had to meet up with the children and brought them out quickly before The Rats's members were surrounded the place.
'Please... Be safe, Mister Roost!'
She prayed for his safety as she opened the door to the kitchen.
...
'Finally, I could fight without worries.'
Theo sighed after he saw Tizmilly and Carole successfully get out of the basement.
He paused to wipe his sweat and check the remaining shots left of his Gemgun.
'8 shots left... I should use it to at least blind one of Roygerd's eyes. Otherwise, this fight will continue until this building collapsed and we are all die.'
Roygerd also paused to control his breathing.
"The winner was set, young one," He muttered, before raising his fists again.
At the same time, Tratbone plummeted from the air after 5 seconds of floating experience. His legs sprained after falling from that height, but he stood up like nothing had happened. Or rather, Theo even noticed that the wounds he inflicted to him until now was even starting to close itself in a visible speed.
Only after seeing that did Theo noticed Tratbone's true identity.
"Demon, huh? As expected."
Roygerd took a step forward, but he halted his next step after he heard Theo's words. Surprise filled his eyes.
"How?" He asked Theo.
And Theo responded with a shrugg.
"I am the Abyss Crusher, so... Well..."
Roygerd's eyelid twitched. He knew that the title was certainly what Theo made up on the spot because he didn't want him to know his real name. However, whether his name truly was Abyss Crusher or not was not important now after he showed that he knew about the existence of Demons.
More precisely, Half-Demons that they had created.
"As expected, I really have to kill you here."
Theo smiled.
"But do you even able to do that?"
They stared at each other in silence.
Only the sound of Tratbone who was slowly moving toward Theo with his twisted legs could be heard.
Until,
A heartbeat later.
Just as Tratbone raised his Battleaxe to cleave Theo, the two launched at each other, leaving Tratbone with a crushed floor.
Theo and Roygerd met at the center of the room.
Fists thrown, they exchanged pure martial attacks for the first time.
Theo clearly was faster, so he could land his punches while evading all of Roygerd's punches. But Roygerd's strength was greater. A punch landed could immediately critically wounded Theo.
As usual, Theo cast Levitation on Roygerd whenever his punches landed on his body.
Roygerd's huge build didn't help him to tank punches like before. He was gradually being pushed back, and his footing was unstable.
But his Magic had greatly enhanced his muscle. Theo's physical attacks couldn't damage his that much no matter how irritating it was to be the receiving end in a martial fight like this.
They only distanced themselves away after Tratbone joined in with his downward swing, which missed once more.
Theo looked at his reddened knuckles.
"You're so damn tough!" He exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Roygerd was frowning.
"What was that?"
What he meant by 'that' of course was about how Theo pushing him away even though his strength and body weight was clearly superior.
"A magic? Yours?" He asked again.
Theo, of course, wouldn't let him know about his Magic, so he only shrugged in response.
"By the way, that little Demon of yours was irritating. Can I kill it first?" Theo asked him back instead of giving Roygerd an answer.
Roygerd entered his fighting stance again.
"Do you think I will let you?"
Theo grinned.
"Oh, you will. 'Cause you only have that option."
"Nonsense!" Roygerd hollered back.
They launched at each other again. Theo moved like a weightless rocket, while Roygerd moved like a bulldozer.
Both started exchanging punches again. But this time, Theo also started to use his kicks, while Roygerd started to smashing the floor because he always missed, which never failed to force Theo to recoiled from him.
However, suddenly, Theo extended an arm holding a Gemgun when their fight was at the peak moment, aiming it at Roygerd's left eye. Roygerd barely avoided the shot, letting the bolt scorched his cheek instead of his eye.
He avoided the fatal damage, but that made he lost balance.
Theo gave him a twirl kick on his jaw in that chance and sending him to the air. He also casted Levitation on him, so he wouldn't be able to be back to the ground soon. The duration was: 1 minute.
Next, Theo shot Tratbone who was limping toward him, separating his other palm from the arm. Even then, his focus was completely on Theo. He didn't even feel pain from that.
Possessed ones.
That was how they were called in the game.
'Children who was sacrificed as a vessel to the Demons since they were young, eventually turning them into Half-Demon like this...'
In the game, enemies like Tratbone looked cool with their demonic backstories, but when they were existed in the real world, Theo could only felt disgust toward people who were crazy enough to create an abomination like Tratbone.
Theo picked up Tratbone's battleaxe, then cleaved him using his own weapon.
Of course, that also was not enough to kill him, or it.
Theo needed to cut it more, and more.
Only after the limbs was all sliced to 33 parts that it finally stopped regenerating its limbs and finally dead for sure.
Theo frowned and sighed at the bloody mess he had made.
'This why I didn't want to get involved with the main plot of the game...' He silently lamenting his previous decision to kill Tratbone.
Theo threw the battleaxe away.
At the same time, Roygerd returned after he understood how to move his body while under the influence of Levitation.
His veins was bulged to the maximum volume when he looked at what was left from Tratbone.
"You killed him..." He muttered with grim voice, as if the matter was life and death for him.
A broken plank fell between them. The mansion was at its limit after enduring their superhuman fight until now. Soon, it would collapse, sealing the history of The Rats tightly to the ground.
Only their crimes and sins would be left behind. All recorded in the documents Theo stored inside his clothes.
Then another plank fell.
The two stared at each other and realized that they were both already tired. Not only their stamina were at their limit, but they were also started to running low in mana.
If they continued the fight, both would die.
Either die in the hands of their opponent, or crushed to the death by the collapsing building.
Roygerd didn't mind dying if he could kill Theo, who knew about them, but he knew that he couldn't achieve that goal with his current power.
Theo could kill him if he used all his Mana to brought him to the sky and let him fell to his death, but he didn't want to die with him.
Both stared at each other eyes, and noticed their opponent's hesitation.
Roygerd was the one who killed the silence.
"They said that the world is smaller than you thought, and I believe that it was true. We'll meet again, kid. And next time, I won't let you go this easily," said Roygerd while recorrecting his necktie, before slowly turned around as if he knew that Theo wouldn't shoot him, then leave the room.
Theo sighed after he was completely alone. He activated the safety of his Gemgun, then strapped it on his waist, before he used Levitation on himself to fly out of the collapsing mansion.
After Theo get out of the building through the window, the mansion finally couldn't support its weight anymore and started to collapsing. The floors were falling, planks and stones were broken, furnitures were shattered—leaving nothing but a crumbled building behind.
Floating in the air, Theo looked around and noticed that the place was surrounded by the guards of the Dungeon City. Among the guards he saw familiar faces.
Tizmilly, Carole, and that boy named Timmy, Carole's little brother.
And then, the one who had forced the guards to move and also the one The Academy sent to help Theo and his party, Professor Golmind.
'Finally, I could rest easy,' thought Theo, sighing in relief.