Chapter 72 - A Turn for the Worse

"Ah, yes. The human."

The man who was meditating in the center of the room suddenly opened his eyes.

Not that it was creepy or anything, but the overall vibe shifted from tense to totally overwhelming. Whatever caused it, Rynold was sure that the man was trying to show that he was stronger. Much stronger. It was as if it was important for him to assert dominance.

"Human beings," the man continued, "as creatures who have developed a reliance on other technologies, you creatures still revere gods all the same. Even though your race has developed so far, yet you still return to the nonsense of the gods."

Rynold was preoccupied with the battle against the creature before him but he still heard what the man was saying. In which case, he simply replied, "Your point being?"

He was never a religious person and, at some times in his life, bordering on sacrilegious. But he never tempted fate, Rynold was smart that way.

The way he's seen the world and all the chaos its brought no wonder that some people eventually lose faith and hope. Rynold, on one hand, tried to hold onto some form of hope but it was often tested.

He was smart, though.

Rynold sensed a pattern that if he said aloud would only piss everyone off. Regardless, Rynold's way of life changed over time. At this point in his life, Rynold just tried not to get on anybody's toes. And he took that literally.

It's gotten so bad that when people directed their anger at him, Rynold didn't react and just showed nonchalance. And whenever people notice that he didn't care, they get even more pissed at the guy. It was his way of saying that it was better if anger was directed at him instead of spreading it more into the world, creating even more chaos.

Well, not that it mattered anyway.

Back to the fight at hand, Rynold constantly dodged his opponent. At first, he made some common mistakes but as the fight progressed, he soon familiarized himself with the opponent's attack pattern. The man, on the other hand, was still spouting out nonsense that Rynold's brain managed to block out.

"Are you done?" Rynold interrupted the man's long-winded approach of saying that he was doomed no matter what. "You've said a bunch of bullshit that I didn't even pay attention to. Are you actually gonna do something about it? Or just keep spouting out even more nonsense?"

Rynold attempted to aggravate the man enough for Oliver to get the job done. Too bad, though, it didn't work.

"Foolish human," the man announced his dominance, "I don't need to deal with you directly. Each of my minions could kill you if I ordered them to. I barely have to lift a finger."

"Really?" Rynold said as he ducked, "You're Shado, right? Your name fits your fighting style perfectly. Cowering in fear whenever light comes."

As soon as he ended the sentence Rynold moved his hand into an uppercut directed at the creature's stomach. Before it hit, though, he fully extended the drill and whirred it to life, simultaneously augmenting the attack.

Just like that, the creature dispelled into nothingness.

He pointed the drill towards Shado and smiled arrogantly. "You're next."

"Oh?" Shado raised an eyebrow in curiosity at the lower lifeform. "Perhaps I'll have a little more fun with you."

Shado raised his hands, and strings made from dark Mana came from his fingertips. The ominous and vile aura that he released was even stronger as he summoned another creature that was of the same size and shape as the previous one.

Only this time, the vibe that Rynold was sensing showed danger of a different scale.

The strings didn't disappear from Shado's fingertips as he moved his hands in a fluid motion. Shado controlled the monster like a master puppeteer that controlled every movement of the creature. It was then that Rynold realized that Shado was holding back.

It was completely evident that his opponent was only now showing his true strengths. Masterful control of the creatures made it so that Shado was a one-man army. No wonder that his name was feared by many.

The creature's movements were fast and swift. Almost all of the creature's attacks hit their mark. For those that didn't, it still grazed Rynold, painfully.

Rynold cursed inwardly and somewhat regretted showing all of his cards early on. Shado was a lot more experienced in combat compared to Rynold. That meat that most of Rynold's attacks missed and Shado knew how to dodge the drill's effective range too, even with Mana Augment.

Shado had complete control over his wide variety of Conjurer-based spells. Rynold, on the other hand, was way in over his head.

Rynold braced for impact as he was thrown to the wall with the creature's full attack. He knew that the punch was coming but he wasn't able to react in time. The impact made him projectile spit out blood.

'Oliver, where the hell are you?' Rynold thought as the creature approached him with his blurring vision. There was no way he would survive another hit as each step the creature took terrified him to his very core.

It was then that Oliver dropped from the ceiling and swung his dagger down with full force, the sound of air whistling by as he descended.

He missed.

Shado was able to notice in time and dodge just by a hair's breadth. Rynold was too preoccupied to notice that Oliver had failed but the creature at least stopped from moving forward.

Oliver raised his head vengefully as he looked at Shado who was smiling ear to ear.

"Ah yes!" Shado sadistically smiled as he announced. "Humans are truly what they say. Your race relies on being cunning to survive. Truly despicable! However, you are a million years too young to surprise me with that!"

Shado whipped the strings back to command the creature to approach him. Then, instead of the creature working at a smaller radius, it absorbed Shado fully.

Oliver was on guard for the next attack while Rynold was down and trying to recover. The two of them estimated that they should be able to survive. What happened next, though, brought that expectation down to the ground.

The vile Mana circulated where Shado stood and Oliver instinctively jumped back. With the atmosphere getting continuously worse, the dark Mana's presence strengthened with each passing second.

After a few moments of utter awe at the chaos, the transformation ended and Shado appeared bulkier than before. The creature has enveloped him and formed an armor that looked menacing at first glance.

'Equip magic?!' Oliver's eyes widened as he saw the man giving out an even stronger domineering aura.

"I...," Shado's voice seem to echo the room, "have had enough of this."

And, without even a fraction of a breath, Shado appeared before Oliver. Luckily, he was able to react on time.

Oliver raised his daggers to defend but the punch threw him across the room and slammed the wall. It wasn't as powerful of an impact that Rynold received but his hands numbed from the force of the attack.

'Crap.'

His legs trembling, Oliver moved. He was fast but barely fast enough to dodge Shado's attacks. The attacks came in closer to hitting him with each strike. He knew he was underpowered against this guy and tried to think of a solution.

"Do you want power?"

A familiar voice rang in his head.

Oliver shook his head as he ran farther and faster. He tried to prolong the fight as long as he could but each strike tempted him to accept the devil's power further. The walls and floors cracked as each second passed, making the property damage rocket to unparallel heights.

He was slowly getting tired and going full speed was not doing wonders. He knew that if he slowed down it would be game over for him. One wrong move, one single mistake could mean death for both him and Rynold.

So, he pushed further until he couldn't anymore.

Oliver managed to lead him closer to the hallway but it wasn't close enough for Jack to look past the window. It was then that he had made the mistake of hesitating.

With a swift punch, Oliver was thrown to the side of the building, creating a massive Oliver-sized dent on the wall.

"Shit."

He cursed as he felt his body give up on him. His HP was now closer to zero than it was ever before.

Feeling his heart fall into despair, the familiar voice rang in his mind once again.

"Human, you need me. Even if you don't want to admit it, you do. Will you accept my power once more?"

"I... won't," Oliver said as his consciousness was slowly fading.

Shado was approaching Oliver slowly, each step he took showed full arrogance.

"The way I see it," the devil continued, "I don't think you have a choice."

And, just like that, darkness ensued.