Chapter 14: The Backstab

[Third Person's Point of View]

Boom

A deafening boom rang out, causing the walls of the deserted four-story building on the northern outskirts of Ameing to tremble. Clouds of dust and rubble erupted from all sides as the explosion ripped through the structure.

From a distance, one could see a small plume of fire erupting from the top of the building like a mushroom cloud.

A black-haired individual could be seen emerging from the building, darting in a disorganized manner to dodge the debris being expelled.

Augustus halted his ascent, hovering at a safe distance from the crumbling building. His bat-like wings beat rhythmically to keep him airborne.

Amidst another deafening boom, the dilapidated four-story building crumbled into a heap of dust, rubble, and debris, scattering in all directions like an unstoppable wave.

Emerging from the swirling dust were thirty-six human-like beings, their bat-like wings beating rapidly as they swiftly closed in on him.

Augustus held his position, observing in silence as the figures closed in on him and spread out to surround him. The only remaining leader of the gang, Mauricio, floated forward and stopped about ten meters away from Augustus, creating an open space between them.

His face was red with rage, veins pulsating as he clenched his jaw. "So the infamous Tarot Killer is just a lowly piece of garbage? A low-class scum!"

Without a special artefact to hide their true demonic energy, it was easy for devils to sense each other's power level as long as the difference between them wasn't too great. Mauricio's senses immediately honed in on the source of his troubles: a low-class riffraff.

The eyes of all the surrounding members glowed with a malicious glint, promising extreme pain to its target, seeking revenge for all the transgression upon them for the past week.

"If you surrender now, I will grant you a quick death after just one week of torture. But if you refuse, you will suffer and beg for death without ever receiving it."

Augustus gave a mocking smirk and taunted Mauricio with a cocky wag of his left hand.

"Thought so", magical circles unfolded in Mauricio's left hand while his right hand clutched a golden spear tightly, blue light gathering at the tip, "Don't let him get away, boys."

All three dozen men surrounding Augustus prepared their spells as Mauricio backed away from his position, his left hand and spear pointed at Augustus.

"NOW!"

With a signal from Mauricio, a massive fireball as large as a two-story building erupted from his hand, followed by a piercing blue beam from his spear and a flurry of spells from the devils surrounding him

For the first time during this encounter, Augustus reinforced his body with demonic energy, feeling a surge of power coursing through his body. He didn't just stop there; he cranked his Keen Intuition skill to its fullest potential and channelled his demonic energy through his sword, causing lightning to crackle along the blade. Luckily, his sword was made of low-quality magisteel, a material known for being a powerful conductor of mystical energy.

The world around him slowed down, as Augustus experienced time differently, almost as if it moved at a different pace for him. He could easily perceive the spells heading his way as if they were caught in a slow-motion video.

Or rather his perception had suddenly heightened to an incredible speed. The sudden increase in his awareness caused a small headache to form, as he pushed his skills to their maximum capacity.

Spells flew towards the centre of the circular formation, colliding and merging to create a massive energy ball that shifted from yellow to blue to purple before finally exploding into a blinding red light. The force of the explosion pushed back the surrounding devils with intense air pressure, breaking their encirclement.

Boom

The noise was overwhelming and nearly deafening, much like the explosion itself. Augustus could feel the pressure but managed to withstand it. He utilized the air pressure from the centre of the explosion as a springboard, pushing off with his feet and using his wings to steer himself in his desired direction at almost half the speed of sound.

With the burst of speed, he took out five devils in an instant and then used his remaining momentum to swiftly behead eight more as he continued his pursuit.

After the chaos caused by the explosion subsided, the devils gathered themselves as their numbers dwindled to less than twenty. Across from them stood a solitary figure with a muscular build, dark hair, and piercing black eyes. His left hand grasped the head of a devil he had recently decapitated by its hair. They faced each other, several hundred meters apart.

From above, both sides saw a desolate landscape; buildings and structures that had once stood tall were now crumbled and destroyed, reduced to mere piles of rubble.

The two sides charged at each other without speaking a word. The devils from the gang were readying their spells, while others checked and loaded their weapons as they raced towards their lone adversary.

Meanwhile, Augustus channelled more of his demonic energy into the blade, causing the already sparking electricity to intensify, giving the blade a bright white-blue glow.

The battlefield was a frenzy of magic and mayhem as the opposing sides clashed. Augustus skillfully evaded, dodged, and manoeuvred through the spells being hurled at him, some of which he slashed down with his sword infused with lightning. Finally, he reached his opponents and engaged in close combat.

Mauricio and his team eagerly engaged in close-quarters aerial combat, hoping to overpower Augustus with sheer numbers. However, they quickly learned that their strategy was not as effective as they had hoped.

The abilities bestowed upon him by his sequence gave Augustus a sense of invincibility when facing weaker supernatural beings in close combat. And thus far, he had yet to encounter any evidence to disprove his belief.

His opponents had the bright idea to overwhelm him with numbers. If only they had received proper training in taking on a stronger opponent as a team and possessed some level of skill in martial or weapon arts, their efforts might have been successful to an extent.

As neither of those criteria were met, it would be considered a death wish for any devil below high class to engage in close combat with him. Augustus would not let such a chance go to waste.

Using his heightened perception, he closely observed the movements of every devil in front of him as he engaged in close combat. 

One slash.

It took one slash per devil, in their kill-line as they fell down one after the others as Augustus deftly manoeuvred between their attacks, evading and blocking as necessary before delivering the final blows with his sword.

At this juncture, it was clear to all present that their adversary's skill with a sword was beyond their understanding.

Despite his reluctance, Mauricio couldn't deny that his opponent had far superior skills. As he watched his longtime colleagues fall one by one, he knew he had to act quickly. Being a middle-class devil, he made the impulsive choice to use brute force against his low-class opponent. No matter how talented they may be, power class divisions could not be easily overcome in their world.

Or, so he thought.

Mauricio surged ahead, joining his four subordinates who were desperately struggling to hold back Augustus. Without Mauricio's assistance, they would have surely perished in a matter of seconds.

A glimmer of hope sparked in the eyes of one of the grunts as he exclaimed, "Boss!" Now that their leader had arrived, they were certain they could successfully take down their target.

Mauricio crossed his spear with Augustus' swords, trying to use the extra reach of his spear to heavily injure his opponent, but Augustus parried the strike expertly. Waiting for this exact moment to come, he again swung his golden spear in a manner, forcing Augustus to block with his sword.

The clanging of metal on metal filled the air as a sword crackling with lightning collided with a golden spear pulsing with blue energy.

'Gotcha!'

Mauricio tightened his grip on the spear and summoned more strength. As a middle-class devil, he knew he had the advantage and could overpower his opponent at any moment. And when that happened, he would the powerful magic beam from the tip of his spear, directly at his opponent's face.

But that moment never arrived, as the sword in front of him remained still. As Mauricio locked eyes with his opponent, his anger, which he had pushed aside for the sake of rationality during the fight, surged back at the mocking gleam in his opponent's gaze.

Before he could take his next action, a hard kick to his stomach forced the air out of his lungs as he cannon-balled straight to the ground.

*

Clang

Boom

Mauricio emerged from the crater he had fallen into, his ears ringing with the sounds of metal clashing and magic exploding. He clutched his stomach where he had been kicked, feeling intense pain. As he looked up at the chaotic battle in the sky, he saw their attacker overpowering the six remaining members who were desperately trying to defend themselves.

Out of his initial group of over thirty men, only six remained.

Oh, his gang was over. He knew better than anyone else. But he couldn't bring himself to let go of the devil who wasted his decades to work in just one week. 

The explosion and battle were deafening and chaotic, their destruction too great. The northern district was already destroyed. Reinforcements should be arriving soon, but if he escaped now, the six members fighting against the enemy wouldn't be able to hold him back for more than a minute. They had managed to survive this long because they were the most experienced and skilled members of the gang, but they were on the brink of defeat.

After considering his options, he focused his remaining demonic energy into his spear.

Meanwhile, Augustus successfully took down one of the six opponents that had been obstructing him for what felt like an eternity. He couldn't deny their skills, but he also knew they wouldn't last another thirty seconds against him.

He was about to finish off another one when his Keen Intuition rang loudly. 

Danger.

He turned his gaze to the horizon, sensing the approaching presence of other devils. There were at least five of them, all from the middle class.

Augustus had to act faster than his calculations predicted. He attempted to strike the devil that was nearly within reach, but his efforts were cut short as a powerful blast of magic erupted from below, forcing him to retreat.

He focused down below to see Mauricio standing on the ground, his spear aimed at Augustus as he fired again. 

Augustus swiftly dodged as he streaked through the air, the white beam trailing closely behind him.

"Damn it. At this rate, I won't be able to finish this quickly", he murmured, visibly frustrated at the white beam following him. He couldn't even approach Mauricio on the ground as the five remaining devils would cut off his path.

He was thinking of a counterplan when suddenly he banked right at a sharp angle as he changed his direction towards the five devils, intending to face them headed on. 

Mauricio readjusted his aim and fired once again. But the agile devil was too skilled for him, dodging and weaving through the air with impressive flips and manoeuvres to avoid the beam, gradually getting closer.

The devils were on edge as Augustus got closer to them. He swooped down quickly, then abruptly changed direction and pulled up nearly reaching them.

Meanwhile, the white beam steadily approached, as seemed to be getting closer and closer to Augustus. But then, right as it was about to make contact, it abruptly came to a halt. 

The group was taken aback as their eyes shifted downwards to the sight of a blade piercing through Mauricio's chest. They could make out Trey's figure standing behind him, gripping a sword tightly with both hands. It had been driven straight through their boss's back.

And then their vision turned black.

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Author-san here.

Longest chapter to date. Spiced rightly with some juicy action haha.

New week bois. This time, we are aiming right at the Powerstone ranking.

50 powerstones. That's right boys.

The goal for this chapter will be 50 powerstones.

Hey, if you complete all the chapter goals this week, I've got a huge surprise for you this weekend! So make sure you get it all done and you won't be disappointed. Really.

So don't forget to VOTE.

Anyway, if you guys like the chapter do comment and leave a review. (I may not reply to all, but rest assured I do read them ALL)

See you guys tomorrow.

Okay bye.