A Hero is bestowed an Artifact with three seals.
Each seals unlock a portion of its power.
In the case of Blastur, the first seal enables the user to utilize the Artifact power.
The second seal allows the user to use the Artifact's specialized armor.
The last seal. It's purpose is to utilize The Artifact's power to the fullest.
A Demon Lord Envoy is bestowed the opposite.
Instead of power getting sealed, their power has weaknesses, which are called Vents.
Baal, the First Rank, can seal 7 Vents.
Paimon, the Second Rank, can seal 6 Vents.
Asmodeus, the Fourth Rank, can seal 4 Vents
Belial, the Sixth Rank, can seal 2 Vents.
The reason Raymed can survive the fight against Paimon is that, after transferring to this world that has low quality and low volume of Mana, all her Vents were unsealed. Not to mention Saint Carmilla with her Sealing Magic, caught her by surprise.
With a grade 2 Hero at my side.
Perhaps we can finally begin our advancement.
.
.
.
No.
Who am I kidding?
If I were to fail, more people would die.
It doesn't matter how long I have to keep this stalemate.
What matters is that I will eventually win.
By any means necessary.
***
One may ask.
What does a fight between a Demon Lord Envoy who has just sealed one of his vents and a Grade 2 Hero who has just opened his seal look like?
Well, in short, everything was in utter disarray.
Explosions followed them everywhere they went.
Raymed, with his newfound strength, unlocked another element he wasn't familiar with, which was Light Magic.
Belial, with his sealed Vent, released his aura, which is now burning hot like flames.
BOOM!
CLANG!
The island was a kiln.
Sand sagged into black glass.
Air wobbled.
Belial now stood in the center, great hammer on his shoulder. His aura burned the ground into black glass.
Raymed hovered in the air opposite him with his white armor. Blastur is in his right hand while Avalon is orbiting around him. The new armor has incorporated a mana channel that can be extended to control Avalon from afar. So he didn't need to activate or deactivate Split Flow again to trigger control of Avalon.
"Let's take it from the top," Belial said.
"Wouldn't want it any different," Raymed said.
"Split Flow: Star Striker" Raymed initiated the attack, his opening move. The speed of Star Striker can easily target most opponents, but somehow, Belial wasn't effective against this attack anymore.
Belial stepped to the side in ease as he swung his weapon.
Raymed blinked as Belial's hammer rose to greet him.
.
"Perfect Guard."
.
The hammer hit the shield cast by his blade.
Cracks of magical energy began to form around the shield. Raymed is now clashing with Belial as the sparks of magical energy begin to emit.
"GRR!"
"You're technique is undoubtedly strong, but I am stronger," Belial said before raising his aura. Then a strong force began weighing the mana shield of Raymed.
Shit!
CRUANGK!!!
Raymed Shield was finally broken.
But it wasn't for naught, since Raymed didn't suffer the aftermath of the impact. Instead, once the shield breaks, Belial's hammer is also reflected at the same time.
"Remarkable." He said before returning to his stance.
Then Avalon swept low—a flat line for Belial's knees.
CLANG.
Belial caught it on the haft.
"Lesser Artifacts," Belial said, amused as he proceeded to destroy Avalon into pieces.
Raymed went again, this time with a different technique, "Split Flow: Mystical Blades." He flicked his hand and conjured blades made out of mana, launching them at Belial as he charged as well.
Belial smiled before blocking the mystical blades with his body, destroying the form of the mystical blades. Then, one big blade made of mana appeared in front of him.
"Too predictable!" Belial said before aiming his fist at the blade.
But then.
SHUNG!!
The blades made out of mana dispersed abruptly.
In truth, Raymed wasn't aiming the last one at him; he was aiming them to disperse them to Avalon's pieces.
[The Blessing of Alayars is active]
[Your mana efficiency is at 120%]
The magical blades dispersed point-blank towards pieces of Avalon, shattered by Belial.
Now he didn't have enough time to react.
"Impale him, Avalon!" Raymed said before the pieces of Avalon regrew and impaled Belial from the ground. He also moved forward with Blastur swinging at Belial.
"Nice try, Raymed," Belial said.
At that moment, Raymed realized that Belial wasn't affected by that attack. His skin is not injured. Avalon wasn't able to pierce even his skin.
[Danger Sensitivity Detects Fatal Blow]
His eyes quickly moved to look at Belial's great hammer and instinctively raised Avalon to guard himself from the attack. Belial's hammer wasn't normal like before. Instead, its aura is overwhelmingly strong.
"Perfect Guard!" Raymed said.
"Scornful Sweep!" Belial said as the hammer hit his shield.
This time, the shield didn't clash.
This time, Belial's swing was more than Perfect Guard could handle.
CRACK!!! CRUANGK!
The Perfect Guard has failed, and Raymed was blown away by the impact. As he was blown off, he performed a maneuver to regain his stance, landing on his feet with Blastur thrusting the ground to help him stand.
His eyes fixated on the Hammer Belial is using.
Traces of Corrupted Mana.
Black Particles of Mana.
But at first, that hammer didn't have that.
It must have.
I see.
It's activation condition was...
The moment I hit Belial with copies of Avalon.
Raymed dusted his armor as he strategized.
Until that very moment, I haven't tried to use Avalon.
Our clashes consist of me using Blastur.
But Belial always almost dodges or parries Blastur.
Indeed, he did say that he was weak to Blastur.
But the question is, why Blastur and not Avalon?
Or is it perhaps...
Raymed lifted his left palm as he chanted,
"Gargantua, Colossal, Abyssal! Surtur. Black Frost. Skadi. Solomon!"
Mana surged—flame and frost colliding.
Once again, a colossal spear manifested, swirling with crimson fire and arctic blue.
"That attack again, it would be futile for you to do that!" Belial said as he readied himself.
"Great Split Polarized Nova Javelin!" Raymed launched his technique as the force of the javelin broke through the sands and waves.
Belial smiled as he lifted his hand.
BOOM!
The Javelin exploded when it made contact with Belial.
Then the mana around the explosion that was supposed to be dispersed suddenly moved abruptly.
"I see. So you are now not only able to nullify destruction magic. But you effectively absorbed it. Drain Destruction Magic." Raymed said, understanding Belial's upgraded cheat skill.
"Well done in figuring that one out. But you just gave me free energy." Belial spoke with a prideful voice. The mana around his hammer began to accumulate in dense energy.
"Did I now?" Raymed asked as he flicked his finger.
"Remote Javelin-Light." Then, from inside Belial's body, Javelins made of light punctured from the inside out.
"What? Oh, I see you put Light Energy inside what I absorbed."
"Your body previously was resistant to physical attacks, and its resistance only grows further. You also always charged up your hammer using whatever attacks you can drain upon. But somehow you always evaded and never seemed to use attacks by Blastur to charge your hammer."
Belial moved groggily as he expelled the javelins made of light as he regrew his broken body.
"You're weakness is to Light Element. The element that Blastur can utilize and what I can utilize because of Blastur."
Magical Energy around Raymed began to become dense and started creating a bunch of mana orbs.
His mana channel from his armor then made a link with each orb.
These orbs slowly morphed as they gathered more magical residue in the environment.
Then it creates an object made out of light elemental magical energy.
"Light was the source of everything... It creates, it guides, it destroys."
The orbs around Raymed, which were already turned into spikes, now multiply as they morph again into swords, greatswords, javelins and many more types of weapons.
With his hand pointed forward towards Belial, who is smiling, amused.
"Light was the origin and will be the end. Countless Armament"
At the end of his sentence, the weapons flew towards Belial at extreme speed.
Belial didn't waste any time and quickly took flight, hoping to evade the weapons.
Belial's hammer darkened due to its charge, and it decided to deflect and push away any weapons hoping to get close. But the countless weapons flew in like missiles. The sound it made when chasing Belial was like an airplane accelerating to a high speed.
"Remarkable strategy!" Belial smiled as he flew away, trying to evade every blow.
In the end, not all of the attacks hit him. Some of the armaments even hit each other. But Belial did sustain damage from all of it. So that move by Raymed wasn't at all in vain.
Belial descended from the sky as Raymed ascended up to the sky.
They both meet at the intersection mid-air.
"You did well in analyzing. It seems you are indeed a genius, like my master told me. But, you have to do more than that to be on my level." Belial said before readying himself once more.
[Vitality at 60%]
[Blessing of Boreas is active]
[Blessing of Oberon is active]
[Blessing of Alayars is active]
[Blessing of Blastur is active]
Once again, the Demon and the Hero prepare for another clash.
.
.
.
CLANG!
Belial abruptly charged first with his hammer, gleaming with corrupted Mana, as Raymed used Perfect Guard with Blastur before quickly moving to the side as the shield shattered.
I can't win in a clash against Belial.
Not when his hammer is charged up like that.
But at the same time, I have no clue how to remove that charge!
Belial attacked Raymed with a barrage of offensive attacks using his great hammer, and Raymed's Perfect Guard began to shatter over and over, but he was able to keep up by reducing the contact. Hence, lowering the impact received would make him get blown away.
But eventually that timing will come.
A time when he didn't react enough.
[Danger Sensitivity Fatal Blow Detected]
Instead of usually using perfect guard, Raymed moved backward and to the left when Belial swung his hammer to the right. He managed to evade it, but in reality, Belial wasn't swinging. Belial was throwing away his hammer as he himself charged forward.
Corrupted Mana filled his fist as he punched Raymed's armor.
"Abyssal Fist!" The corrupted Mana erupted in black flames. The impact made Raymed gag. As he was slowly launched upwards, Belial grabbed his armor and proceeded to do a barrage attack.
"Abyssal Barrage!" Belial strikes Raymed with both of his fists in a barrage. A fast-paced attack that uses corrupted mana. As Raymed's body flew upwards, Belial moved with a somersault using his leg and hit Raymed's head.
"Abyssal Crash!" Belial, using his leg, stepped on Raymed's head as he crashed it to the ground below them.
BOOM!
But he didn't finish.
Due to the impact, after hitting the ground, Raymed's body flew back, bouncing due to inertia. Then Belial made another stance with both his fists, point-blank at Raymed's body.
"You have fought well, Hero Raymed. But it seems you hit your limit. Farewell." Belial spoke before ending it all.
"Abyssal Combo: Absolute End!" Belial launched both his fists forward, gleaming with corrupted mana as it emitted magical energy like a beam of distorted light.
Raymed's body was launched towards the Ocean along with a beam of destruction comparable to that of what he suffered when fighting Focalors. No, perhaps even stronger. As his body flew and crashed into the ocean, corrupted mana was all around his body, slowly creeping into his system.
The Hero of United Front had sunk into the ocean.
.
.
.
.
.
Belial sighed as he turned his back,
"In the end, he is indeed just a human."
PLUCSH!!!
Something exited the water.
Belial, once more, looked at where Raymed fell.
He saw someone flying above the waves.
A man using black armor.
Then a voice was heard."If you hit the limit."
The waves echoed his voice. "You just have to break it again and again, right?"
No, the figure wasn't using black armor; it's clearly white.
But the corrupted magical energy is enveloping his body.
It made it seem like black.
[Rejection of Evil: Corrupted Mana no longer detrimentally affects you.]
Belial widened his eyes and said, "It was like back then when you fought with my master. Who would've thought I would get to see this spectacle myself?" He readied himself, lifting his hammer once again.
From the figure's eyes, black corrupted mana was sucked, as his aura was tainted by it.
[Chronic Eater is eating all mana residues]
[Rejection of Evil: Has filtered corrupted mana]