Chandler swung the lightsword in his hand in a wide sweep; the blade extended dozens of meters and slashed viciously at Charles.
Charles bent his arm to block. Though the thick scales of \[Dragonslayer] stopped the lightsword, he was still shoved backward.
"This is more like it!"
Charles, after all, was raised by Igneel; his love of battle had fused into his blood along with the power of dragons.
Since coming to this world, Chandler was the first opponent to put real pressure on Charles. Only such an opponent could let him really loosen up.
Halting his retreat, Charles used an eruption of flame to rocket straight at Chandler, greeting him with an unceremonious punch.
Chandler was Meliodas's teacher; besides \[Full Counter], he had taught him every combat skill.
Meliodas's swordsmanship also came from Chandler—and compared to Meliodas, Chandler's swordplay was more seasoned.
The long lightsword moved fluidly in Chandler's hands, laying down a lattice of blades in the blink of an eye. But he still underestimated Charles's reaction speed. Even attacks that dense failed to stop him.
"Four Symbols Fist—Azure Dragon Form: Flowing Water!"
Charles seemed to transform into a flowing current, phasing through every slash to reach Chandler. His arm, like a spring compressed to the limit, drove his fist forward.
Chandler raised his blade horizontally to meet Charles's fist. As metal clanged, dark and flame magic collided head-on.
Chandler's eyes widened, because after the clash, his weapon lifted along with his arm. Even the dense magic sheathing the edge shattered, exposing the blade itself.
This human displayed strength beyond his expectations, actually taking the upper hand in a head-on collision.
Charles slid half a step back as well, but quickly regrouped and chopped toward Chandler with a hand-knife strike.
Chandler's expression changed—into a savage grin.
He was a highest-ranking demon, Chandler the Devouring Fiend. In terms of lust for combat, he far surpassed Charles.
Being suppressed by Charles repeatedly had brought out his truest and cruelest self—the real Devouring Fiend.
He no longer formed "lightswords" with magic; Chandler knew such little tricks couldn't deal with an opponent like Charles.
By now, he had put away his contempt for humans and truly regarded Charles as his enemy and rival. And that was exactly what Charles wanted!
"Divine Thousand Cuts!"
This was Meliodas's strongest sword art, but compared to his teacher, Meliodas was clearly a notch below.
A torrent of slashes struck in an instant, shrouding Charles's whole body; even he couldn't dodge them.
Charles realized this on instinct and chose to meet offense with offense.
"Fire Dragon King's Crushing Fist!"
A bloody line appeared on Charles's face, followed by many more wounds over his body. But his fist wreathed in searing flame shattered swaths of slashes and hammered Chandler in the gut.
Chandler's body folded, his eyes nearly popping out. A spiral of flame bored through him and fanned out from his back, scattering all the clouds behind him.
In the distance, Ludociel's eyes lit up; he wouldn't miss such a chance. The Goddess Clan emblem flared between his hands again.
A massive beam lanced over, enveloping the entangled Charles and Chandler together.
And as Ludociel wished, the beam swallowed them both.
"This is what you deserve!"
Before his taunt faded, flame and darkness split the beam, and two figures closed in an instant.
"You're too annoying!"
Charles said this as his fist smashed into Ludociel's face, distorting those pretty features.
He'd meant to do that for a while; this punch vented his anger at that pompous bird-man. A pity it wasn't Ludociel's own body—then it would have felt even better!
On the other side, Chandler was no gentler. His arm turned into a dragon claw and he swatted Ludociel, whom Charles had sent flying, straight into the ground.
With the nuisance dispatched, the remaining two exchanged a glance, then resumed their battle.
Dark magic began to gather around Chandler and finally formed several purple energy spheres. As soon as each sphere formed, it shot toward Charles; every time one launched, a new one formed and followed right after.
In no time, countless spheres of violent power pelted Charles like rain.
"Fire Dragon's Wingbeat!"
As Charles swept his arms, extending flames detonated all the incoming dark orbs.
Chandler could bombard Charles with magic, but Charles couldn't use the same approach against someone with Full Counter; he had to close the distance fast.
His burning battlelust didn't cloud his reason. Charles immediately sorted out his next move and put it into action.
One more Wingbeat cleared the dark orbs about to hit him, and Charles, wreathed in scorching fire, charged Chandler.
Chandler guided the remaining bolts to converge on Charles, but Charles only narrowed his eyes and barreled straight through without slowing.
The explosions merged into a single roar, kicking up dust and black smoke in billows.
Before Chandler could savor it, Charles burst from the haze right in front of him. Though his body bore many sooty marks from the blasts, there were no real wounds to be seen.
Magic gathered again, and the staff-blade in Chandler's hand turned back into a lightsword. This time he didn't make a blade tens of meters long; he channeled his vast magic into a blade just over a meter.
That made the blade's power rise exponentially. Chandler swung the dreadful edge at Charles's body.
"Dragonslayer Secret Art (Revised): Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Fist!"
Charles neither dodged nor evaded. He poured his magic out at maximum power and unleashed a full-force Dragonslayer secret art!
Charles's arm, along with the Gauntlet-Dragon, seemed to turn incandescent—that was the manifestation of condensed, high-intensity magic.
The crimson fist and the black-violet blade collided, and for a moment all sound seemed to vanish.
A second later came a strange cracking, then a thunderous boom. From their point of contact outward, both sky and earth seemed to split.
On one side was scorching flame; on the other, rampant darkness. The already barren Edinburgh region became a purgatory in an instant.
Both men staggered back. Chandler looked at his crack-laced blade and bared a vicious smile.
He looked at the steady Charles and licked his sharp teeth with his tongue. At that moment, all he wanted was to devour the human before him.
Unfortunately, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
"Chandler, withdraw!"
Chandler snorted. "What a joke! Cusack, would you interfere with my battle?"
The voice belonged to Cusack, the other half of the Original Demon, but with the Devouring Fiend's blood up, Cusack couldn't sway him.
"Forget you—even Zeldris's orders won't work!"
Chandler declared it to show his resolve.
Cusack's voice continued, "It's His Majesty's order. Do you mean to disrupt His Majesty's plan?"
Charles felt Chandler's fighting spirit soar—and then drop. As Charles wondered what had happened, he saw Chandler's face twist into something odd.
That mix of grievance, reluctance, and anger only puzzled Charles more.
"This time I'll let you off! Human, next time you won't be so lucky."
After issuing the standard threat, Chandler turned and left.
Charles didn't give chase. No one else could have made Chandler quit a fight. The Demon King's interference set Charles thinking about his intent.
But that was fine too. This time Chandler had only let Charles loosen up a bit—he hadn't even earned enough "experience" to level up.
He wondered whether the Original Demon, after Chandler and Cusack fused, could let him really cut loose!
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