Arthur Bellmont (the hero)
A pillar of brilliant golden light descended onto the great hall. Illuminating the surroundings and radiating pleasant warmth, it attracted the attention of all that saw it. As the light began dissipating, seven silhouettes appeared from within. I unconsciously aimed my sword towards them, the feeling of uneasiness that I've been feeling reaching the zenith.
As the light fully dissipated, it revealed five women, a child and… A sudden nausea began welling up inside my stomach - a being clad in black, wearing a golden demon mask. That being radiated something profoundly vile and unpleasant - it was violence, rage, murder and destruction with a hint of madness packaged into a thin packaging of self control.
This package - like a bomb waiting to explode - I knew instinctively, that there was no honor in it, I knew that I had to destroy it no matter what, no matter what means I used to do it, it had to be done, because, if it was left as it was, sooner or later there would be nothing left in this world.
The man with the demon mask slowly turned towards us. He scanned all of us, then his eyes stopped on Yama and me, sending a shiver down my spine. In an instant, the one with the demon mask disappeared and appeared in front of me, holding Yama in the air by the neck.
I was taken it back and raised my sword on instinct, but, for some reason, I couldn't strike. I was afraid, I was afraid to anger this being, I was afraid to be noticed by it. Then he spoke. "I leave you in charge for a month and you manage to fuck up?" The one with the demon mask said. "How truly disappointing…"
"King… I…" Yama tried to speak, but the hand holding his neck loosened and the one covering his face landed a kick onto Yama's side. Like a comet, Yama was sent flying, then the one that kicked him turned his back on me and began walking towards the throne - every step - deliberate and resounding in the hall.
The one with the demon mask took a seat on the throne and rested his head on one of his hands. "Well?" His calm authoritative voice rang out. "What is it that you want… Arthur?"
A shiver ran down my back, my knees almost buckled under the pressure. So this is the demon king - the absolute being from Vulcan's warning, and… "How… How do you know my name?" I asked.
"What is it… That you want here?" The one sitting on the throne repeated.
"They are here to kill the demon king - to kill you." An alluring voice came from the left and a graceful and mature demoness with raven-black hair emerged from the shadows, approached the throne and belt before it.
"I see…" The demon king said and looked at me for a moment - an immense fear chilled me to the very bones - then he stood up and stretched his fingers in front of him. "I haven't had fun in a while, I haven't killed anyone that could put up a modicum of resistance in quite some time actually."
The demoness stood up and leaned into the demon king's ear, then whispered something. The demon king listened, then asked. "What's in it for me?" The demoness whispered something more. "I want four…" The demon king said. "Final offer." The demoness thought for a second then nodded and retreated.
"Well then…" The demon king turned to us. "Let's begin. But first…" He looked at the ones behind me. "Let's thin the herd a bit…" His eyes flashed and surprised and terrified screams began to ring from behind me.
I turned to see what was happening, just to witness most of my comrades slowly turning to stone before my very eyes. After the initial shock dissipated, I commanded those that were capable of using light magic to begin casting anti-petrification spells.
But there were far too many affected and not enough to help them, at most, all the light magic users could slow the petrification of those affected. I watched the terror on the faces of my comrades as they slowly turned to stone, crying and begging for help. I once again turned my back on my opponent and he took the opportunity.
In an instant he appeared right in front of me. With his fist cocked by his side, he aimed a punch straight at my gut. I wasn't able to dodge, but I at least placed my sword between my body and the attack.
The punch landed, sending me back. The onslaught continued - punches and kicks aimed at me came one after the other until my hands became numb from the vibrations of the sword and my feet were burning from continuous dodging.
"Is that all you've got, hero?" The masked one asked. "I'm truly disappointed. Believe it or not, but I used to respect you… Somewhat."
He punched my sword to the side and was aiming for my head, but a barrage of blades flew from behind me aimed at this monster from all sides. "Don't tell me that you want to fight this one alone too?" Daria's voice sounded.
"Not a chance." I replied. "How many of us are left?"
"Less than ten…"
"That's… Bad." I said, parrying another blow.
"The good part is that all those that are left are 'A' class or higher. In other words, that thing targeted only those that he considered weak." Daria said, continuing the endless barrage of stabs and cuts.
The demon king swatted aside the blades in front of him and went straight for Daria, but was intercepted by Rory the 'Sonic boom', when she smashed straight into him. The demon king slid back a few feet and Rory began to circle him at an incredible speed.
The one covering his face swung his hand into the encirclement, but Rory would dodge every strike. "How very annoying." The masked one said and stomped his foot on the ground, shattering the flooring in a 30 foot radius.
Rory was caught off balance and the demon king used that chance to entangle her in what seemed like metal webbing and hang her on the ceiling. "No more buzzing around, little fly." He said and turned to us. "Who's next?"
In an instant, the demon king raised his hand and made a fist beside his head. The fist bled and Owen's form materialized beside the masked one with the blade of his dagger in the demon king's hand.
The demon king - "..."
Owen - "..."
The demon king released the dagger and Owen's body merged into the darkness once more. So did the masked one's.
For a moment the air grew still, then sparks began to fly and the sound of metal clashing with metal rang out. A battle unseen was raging on and I wasn't able to do anything, I wasn't even able to see them. All I saw was the blood puddles on the ground becoming more and more numerous.
Then a sound of flesh being sliced open sounded and I saw Owen the 'Shadow blade' on his knees, all covered in wounds and bleeding and the demon king standing before him with a dagger covered in blood in his right hand. "This was quite fun." He said and lifted the dagger to strike the finishing blow.
Just as he was about to strike, Eugene slammed his mighty shield into the demon's side, sending him backwards. "If you wish to harm anyone on my team, you'll have to go through me first." The 'Immovable shield' said.
The masked one looked at the bloodied Owen, then at Eugene. "Isn't it a bit late to say that now?"
Eugene turned to Owen then to the demon. "He's fine."
"You always were a block head, weren't you..."
"And how would you know…" Eugene was interrupted by a punch to his shield, sending him back slightly. "Huh? Is this all that the demon king is capable of?" The 'Immovable shields taunted.
Punch after punch the shield was pounded with the same result - slightly pushing Eugene back. Then the demon stopped, exhaled and stepped a few steps back. He drew what looked like a massive Konda sword from his denominational ring and took a low stance with his left hand on the ground and the right hand, that was holding the sword stretched back to the side.
He stood like a statue, no, more like a bow being drawn and I had the feeling that when the bow string was released, it would send an arrow that would pierce the world. "Daria, stop him no matter what!" I commanded and began running towards Eugene.
"Roger." Her blades went for the kill, but just as they came near, the demon disappeared, cracking the ground beneath his feet. When he reappeared, he was standing where Eugene once stood, his Konda sword midway through Eugene's shield. "Chicken…" The demon spoke to Eugene that was pushed out of the way by me at the last second.
a volley of blades flew towards him. The blades shot at him one by one and he blocked them as they came. "Is this all you've got?" He asked. "Boring." The blades went one after the other, until only one was left. The last blade stopped for a moment then went for the masked one's chest.
The demon king was about to block it but the last blade wasn't like the rest - it fell with hundreds of times the weight of the previous ones and pierced the demon through the left shoulder, pinning him to the ground.
"I was aiming to end you with that one…" Daria said. "Nevertheless, you're done." Her other blades formed ranks above the demon. The demon king tried to pull the blade that had him pinned from the ground, but it was futile. "You will never pull it out, no matter how much you tire." Daria said. "Now goodbye." Her blades descended with the weight of comets, piercing the ground beneath them, creating a dust cloud.
"That's a good trick." A voice came from the dust. "You were right, I couldn't pull it out…" The dust cloud dissipated to reveal the demon king standing with his left arm in his right. His left arm was no longer connected to the shoulder. "But just because I couldn't draw your blade, doesn't mean that I'm stuck."
"Either way, you've lost." Daria said. "You'll bleed out soon, and, before that, let's see what you can do with only one arm."
The demon looked at his severed arm, then back at Daria. "Is that so?" He connected his shoulder back to the arm and, a second later, his arm began moving as if nothing had happened. "Let's continue."
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