3 - A Devil’s Entertainment

"Looks like we have an uninvited guest."

The whitehead looked at the city and sensed the presence of his twin brother and...a human.

"Is that so..." The man besides the teen perked his head slightly at the statement.

The teen nodded his head at silent inquiry, "A human; a women."

Arkham who was reading his tome halted, closing it and stood up before moving downwards towards the door of the tower, "I believe I shall ask the uninvited to leave then, actually, I happen to be acquainted with that women."

The teen looked at the man who continued on his path, "A storm is approaching." Was Arkham's last words before he disappeared from the teen's sights.

He sighed before narrowing his eyes. "A human child approaching this tower? Interesting. I guess I should meet the little one for...entertainment." It had peeked his interest as to how one such small could have simply entered into here when all the others had evacuated due to the rise of the tower. Perhaps if it was a mere curiosity then he would simply force him out of the way. While he could have had the man also solve both intruders, he had time to spare. "Unexpected things seems to be happening as of now."

XXX

The entrance looked to have been frozen all over unnaturally, the way it kept such cool temperature and was blocking the entrance only gave the boy the conclusion of it being recent. Did a demon do this or was is simply so cold that everything inside was frozen like a chiller room, he felt that to be the unlikely case.

Joshua looked around for any clear other entry before noticing the hole on top of the entrance. "Looks like someone broke through, huh."

He would have struggled to climb the tower with one hand but luckily he had the grappling hook the lady gifted. The only thing is, he didn't know was how to use it in the first place. The entrance was also far away for him to jump and swing the rope around.

It was a good plan to climb the tower if not the fact that he was too small to even reach it in the first place. He looked at the entrance again which was frozen solid and saw the inside more clearly than before. The only other option is to break the ice or climb the hole provided.

Groaning about the decision, he brought out the bayonet and stabbed the tower, Joshua raised a brow when he noticed the blade stay still on the point where he impaled. It was indeed sharp.

!!

A plan came around when he saw the blade stuck in place. Bringing out his knife and looking at the sole of his boot. An idea to have a foot grip came to mind though it was crazy.

Grabbing a spare cloth from his body armour's pocket. He placed it on the ground before placed the handle on the knife. He then placed his left foot to step on the handle before wrapping the cloths around the boot. It wasn't stable but it felt tight enough.

Gripping the other sharp object with his right arm, made sure to tighten the hold of it too by using the remain cloth with his teeth. It was difficult but was soon accomplished after several minutes.

Stepping towards the tower. He stabbed the blade at the tower before stabbing his left foot to the left side. "Here goes nothing..." standing up with the blade on his foot, he found it to be wobbly but strong enough to bear his weight. The plan was now simple.

He proceeded to stabbed higher with the bayonet, striking with his arm again to hold hold his weight while he let go of his foothold, he struck higher with his foot.

The plan was going well and sooner or later, he soon made it to the hole without the use of the grappling hook.

Landing on to the hole, he released the cloth that was tightly stuck with his hand along with the knife and brought it back to where they were previously placed. The height was large but it wouldn't damage it too much.

Jumping down from the hole may have been a mistake after looking down. He brought the blade which he still held onto his hand and stepped the tower as he slid down quickly. Scratch marks soon appeared as they damaged his arms but he took no chance to worry about it at the moment.

*thud*

Soon he had landed and was able to set forth to the ground floor of the tower. It was cold enough that he could see his hot breath come out from his nostrils and mouth.

There didn't seem to be of any importance at this floor since there was nothing to look at in the first place expect for the done of ice it was surrounded in.

"KEEEEEEIIIIIIIII!!!"

Joshua flinched before looking at the entrance which showed the demons with the scythe slashing at the entrance cased in ice. They didn't seem to be making process but that didn't mean they wouldn't find the hole and decide to climb up.

"Better leave before they come closer." Saying so, he open the massive double door which led to the inside of the proper tower it seems.

He saw no one but himself and he expected a demon to come wondering around and attack him when he first opened the door. Doesn't seem like so it seems and it was good thing too. The less he handled the quicker he can reach the top of the tower.

...Or so it would seem, the moment he stepped further into the central part of the tower of the first floor, several demons soon appeared with their scythes. The colour of their robes was different though and which meant that there was possibly a slight different between these lot and the ones from the outside.

He got his answer as they can running at him, he was on guard so he was able to dodge the quick rush but it was quite the same movements from before, they didn't attack together but individually. Thanking for the weird concept of these demons not working together, he brought out the bayonet and readied the weapon in front of him.

The demon's red cloak moved rapidly and he found it difficult to catch up but, his instinct somehow forced him to crouch down and dodge the sudden slash from behind.

Was this the power of the statue? If so then he was thankful. Otherwise, he would have been dead on the spot. The motion of the demon who had completed the slash was not able to return to his guard giving Joshua the chance to slash it widely.

A quick slash from the waist to the chest, caused it to stumble in pain. Going forward, Joshua brought the blade up to the air besides his left shoulder and swiped down from the chest to its left thigh. It felt quick and simple, the movements he performed felt as if he performed them often.

The final movement of his attack was a quick spin for momentum, bringing the the blade to his left side next to his rib and spinning once more quickly, the demon was still frozen from the leg muscle being damaged, it couldn't bring its weapon up to protect itself as the stomach was soon cut open.

Blood leaked from the wounds before clutching it's stomach to stop the bleeding.

It was no longer focused on him and that was its mistake, it gave Joshua the chance to cut off its head killing the demon and turning into sand. The crystal red orbs which left from the nonexistent body scattering on to the floor.

He looked at the other demon who stood there waiting, it's mouth wide open while leaking saliva from its long tongue, as if showing some indication. Joshua brought his bayonet back to his sheath and held the handle tightly. Readying to strike.

The demons walked in a line together, not in sync with each other but close.

He released the emotions he buried and let it loose, controlling the anger to making him stronger. Reminding him the loss of his parents forced him to ignore the demons as threats but just mere obstacles. 'They deserve to die.' His grip tightened onto the handle than felt his bones slightly crack. 'They should all just…DIE!!'

When they reached close, he unsheathes and releases a scream.

XXX

"Peculiar…", that was the only thing he could describe such a scene when watching the boy. Though in retrospect, when he was around the child's age, he displayed a better performance with the blade, he knew of these movements, though they looked amateurish and rash, it only required a slight polish before it can before significantly a threat to anyone if such a human increased to a higher level of speed and power.

Yes, the style he performed was Kendo, though he noticed the style looked to require the usage of both arms. Nevertheless, he could give praise of the fact that a child such as him had the capability to achieve this far in reaching the tower.

He had thought previously it to be quite an annoyance of the fact that not one but two humans was here unexpectedly but he was half wrong. The boy was an amusement to watch, the anger he showed when he attacked strengthens his attacks further and the blade he wielded was sharp enough a task to cut the demons.

The boy from what he could sense was human, most definitely. Yet the feat he was performing was unnatural. Was this the divinity statue's working coming to play.

It was not meant to work on Humans was it not? Or was there another way to do so in which the boy obtained. Amusing, the boy caused him to smile at the battle exchange. His eyes widened at the stance he was now performing, it was no longer Kendo but something that was meant to finish a battle quickly, after all, it was something he was very fond with.

The blade was sheathed and kept there while the handle was gripped waiting in anticipation to strike at the right moment. The right leg crouched a little forwards while the left was was placed behind and straight. A stance to charge ahead. Was this the technique he learned?

'Show me...' He watched as the boy waited for the right moment, waiting for the demon to come charging in. 'Not yet boy, patience.' He sensed the anger rising from the boy again and this time, it was more visible, the muscles were clenched, the hand tightened till his hand's was lacking blood. The jawline was closed tightly and his eyes gave out that pure void of emotion to this very attack.

The veins was visible that it almost seems as though the boy would pop a vessel. As he watched the demons come close enough to attack the boy with a swipe of their weapons. The boy opened his eyes wide quickly. 'Yes, this was the right moment.'

With a loud scream, he pushed, the left foot one step forward before he leaped. The blade cutting through a demon with a quick slash but he did not stop there and continued to run ahead even further, the two demons looked startled but slow to react to the boy rushing to them with those eyes filled with death.

The demons brought their weapons close and saw the human boy raise his blade to guard against them. The attack was powerful enough that the two demons knew the human boy couldn't protect himself against it however, that was not what he was planning, when the pressure of their weapons came into contact with his own, the boy allowed his weapon to tilt the blades slightly enough that a large scratch to the left leg was the only result of damage taken from the boy.

It was better than a cut to his chest.

The pain did not stop his aggression, he  jumped to one of them directly, impaling it's skull with the blade. The other demon pulled its weapon back, ready to strike again only for it to not occur when the boy pulled out a gun from his side and shoot three times to the chest.

Impressive, the boy was calculative. He took the brunt force of the two demons and used it against them to reduce the injury and initiate his attack to one of them while the other was readying itself again.

Although, the boy required more training in breathing techniques if he wants to continue further. The skill he obtained requires as such and the cut to his leg was his punishment for his lack of control in doing so.

Then again, such punishment was needed for the boy to learn, it is a shame that he can only muster half of the techniques full power.

He turned away from the boy as he watched him huff and sit down. 'Still, I  found some entertainment to watch for the time being.'

"Continue to impress me, boy."

XXX

"Huff...phew..." Joshua made his breathing steady as he revised the battle against the red cloaked demons. They were quick to charge but slow to attack, they didn't seem to be working together but he forgot of the matter that even if the demons don't work together, they we're still able to kill; they'll attack anyone without any roles provided.

While the first looked like he was stalling and running to attack, the one from behind came only to attack from behind, they took turns getting their attacks in.

There was no tactics but plain chances. The act of if there is a chance to strike they take it unless, they stall for time.

They get agitated easily but so did he, their face sickened him and he wanted to end it as soon as possible.

The move he performed was something he received. [Dragon Flash]; A Combat Art they performs a high-speed cut from a sheathed stance. The skill result was to create some sort of shockwaves. It would seem that it was not complete without the other arm to hold the sheath steady when released.

There's no reason to be gloomy, now is the time to proceed further ahead. Doing so, he first looked back at the crystal orbs which scattered the ground and decided to obtain them. The space was occupied with this many but it gave him an exchange for the next time he encountered the statue. He brought out a cloth and wrapped it around his thigh; preventing any more leakage of blood.

"Oh right," blood was required; demon blood was needed in order to activate the statue. "If there's a moment for another meeting with it, then it will be the time to receive some blood."

Saying so, he looked at the stairs which was around him. Some cracked and broken while other looked as thought a single step would push gravity upon it.

The flooring on some of the floor was unstable too while others was missing pavements and such.

Proceeding some stairs which was stable enough to walk on and check several doors which was up high or some were...encased in flames? Doesn't seem to be something that he needed to worry about at the moment.

Walking up as far as Joshua could, there was two sides of choice he could go to. The right seems have been the best option after going to a few steps, the left side was visible enough to see a hole which wasn't jumpable to him.

Moving to the right side and up the stairs, he noticed the floor broken. It looked far but not far enough like the others that he couldn't male it with his grappling hook.

Readying the hook by swinging it, he threw the rope to the pillar next to the floor. Checking if it was safe to pull his weight in, he pulled the rope several times and none was successful in pulling it back.

Holding his breath, he jumped while keeping a strong grip on the rope. Climbing was quite difficult to do with one hand but the standing of the feet was the same. By placing one feet lower to the other, it provided a stepping point for you with holding to rope, the process is repeated when grabbing higher to go up.

He soon arrived on the other side and looked at the door which was available to him. There was several doors which he could go to however, there could always be something lurking each corner which he needed to be careful of. The blue door was the closest to him.

'Guess entering this one first will show what I'm up against.' Thinking so, he entered the building only to see a silent entrance way of stairs leading somewhere.

The silence was not a good sign in this tower and he knew it. Pulling out his gun, he checked the bullets and remembered that he had used around 5 bullets so far. Reloading had to be quick. Pressing the button while making sure the safety was on, he placed it under his left armpit and changed the magazines.

The magazine that was just changed still had some bullets so it was still useful, for other times. Placing it back on the back pouch of the bullet vest armour, he proceeded forward with the gun in hand.

It was proceeding smoothly at the moment, the demons didn't seem to appear out of nowhere. It was...abnormal in this type of situation.

Reaching the end of the room, led to a double door which he peeked in fo see if anyone was present. The silence was becoming frightening, was someone going to pop up out of nowhere?

He didn't know and he didn't want to either, he steadied his breathing for the upcoming danger that was hinting him it was going to happen once he fully entered the room.

'Okay!'

Opening the door wide and he fully entered the room, he could sense something approaching. The feeling was what saved him all those time when the first revealed himself and he thought of it as a good use to recognise the feeling of uncertainty about to happen upon him.

The door shut by itself and was covered in some red vortex of faces. When nearing the door, a giant hand erupted causing him to dodge the sudden action before it disappeared.

Did that mean he was trapped?

The room was spacious as was everything else and up the stairs led to a red door which too was also locked with the same vortex of faces. It must have been another way to the next floor. Walking for a few steps, portals soon appeared and what appeared was those 6 armed statues with bows, glowing blue.

But this time, they can see him properly without aiming at the general direction. Their red eyes locked to his form, and he contemplated if they were able to attack with close combat with no swords or scythes.

The eyes was the weak point which he already knew but the matter was that with 5 of them each on different areas of the room, he couldn't have his back unprotected from them.

Looking at the wall next to the door, he noticed a shield which looked sturdy but old at the same time. Should he grab it?

His thinking was cut short when he saw a blue beam coming towards him and out of instinct, he jumped to the side before grabbing the shield from the wall and protected himself from the barrage of beams. The pressure was painful to his arm but he kept still until he couldn't hear the rotation of their beams.

This took a while until they were done and he peeked from the side of the shield to notice their beams seeming to be recharging in some way.

Seeing that, he wrapped the strap handle of the shield around him, with the shield protecting his body from behind while he brought his gun out and the shot the centre of the body which was the eye.

That was one down.

Noticing the closest one next to it almost finished and ready to start shooting at him again, he charged ahead to the body which seemed to have shocked the body as the rotation halted for a second, but that second was what ended it when he place the gun directly onto its eyes. Spraying the gun and him with its blood.

Two down.

Wasting time on the first two allowed the others to recharge completely and quickly shoot the beam upon him. Joshua's eyes widened in shock before turning around quickly to allow the shield to absorb the impact.

"Argh!" He didn't however, take precaution for the demons to have hit his leg leaving him with a hole on one of his calf. "It got me?!" Groaning and trying to endure the pain, he dropped down brought the shield in front of his whole body to shield him a whole of the attacks.

The anger of his started to appear once again as he was unable to stand up but stay crouched with the shield protecting him, "YOU'LL PAY!" Tears was coming out of his but it was covered with full of hate in his eyes, bringing out his gun and shooting one of the beams by accident which seemed to cause a small eruption between two of the statues. The attack blew the both up leaving the last with five more shots to release.

Three and Four were down.

"Now it's only you...and me...demon." His stamina diminished with the result of pushing himself but he didn't take the chance of moving his spot from cover.

With so much blood lost to him, in pain, starving and exhausted. It was pure will and grit alone that the boy was able to continue on, he didn't give in...

"I won't...die," memories of his mum and dad appeared once again which caused him to flare his emotion once again even louder, "I won't lose to the likes of You!!!!"

With his anger erupted once again, the boy stood while blood leaked from the fatal wound, but he walked towards the demon with the shield strapped around his arm. The boy didn't see the demon with the shield covering him but he was able to tell he was walking closer.

Every attack received allowed him to find the area it was stationed. He tripped slightly on the stairs but was able to jump with his other leg and lean on the wall.

The damage to the shield was getting worse and started to creak from the amount of torment it received.

Then...he saw the foot of the demon, the shooting was halted meaning it was recharging, he wouldn't let it continue.

Bringing his arm up while glaring at the demon dangerously, he slammed the lower part of the shield to its eyes making it scream in pain while blood and chunks of its flesh splatter onto him.

It was disgusting and some by accident went inside his mouth and was swallowed from his yell but he didn't relent and continued.

The image of the lizard like demons breaking down the bone and eating a hand like it was a box of fried chickens made him slammed harder to the demon. The handle of the shield was abused and tormented too much that it broke in his grip.

It didn't matter, the demon soon disappeared with its crystal orbs scattering along with a different colour he didn't care at the moment.

He stayed in that kneed position, breathing heavily and gasping in pain. Blood and saliva leaking out of his mouth while trying to steady himself.

His black hair covering his eyes while his tears and blood merged together, dripping down his chin.

The shield which was damaged was thrown to the side and he laid there; chest to the floor, trying to move his left leg which had a hole in his calf, he failed and halted the movement crying in pain.

"When...will this end...mum, dad?" He looked to the ceiling which was covered with bulbs of light. They looked new which felt confusing with the tower being ancient itself.

"I'm...hungry...mum."

His eyelids started to close even when he tried to stay awake, "I...can't...die here..."

A moment of rest did not settle for the boy, for his nightmare of that time did nothing but haunt his dreams of the never-ending bloodshed the demons caused upon families and to his own.

The eyes it gave, full of hunger. Filled with red lightning which seemed ready to strike.

The loss of his limb being eaten, the smile it showed as it walked towards him leisurely as if his frightened expression was some sort of pleasure to look at until a bite took his life away.

The cry he let out as it was near to lick its tongue to his face.

"STAAAAAAY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKK!"

And the moment that mouth devoured him whole.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Waking up from that nightmare frightened him even more than knowing he was resting in a place where death was always around him.

His breathing was heard and he tried to calm his beating heart from trembling, 'Stay...focused!' He told himself as he stood up. The action caused him to remember that his leg was injured before noticing the injury healed but not the pants he wore. How was it possible? Magic? He didn't have magic in the first place.

He scavenged around trying the find the answer before noticing the green orb being split as if eaten. The strange taste in his mouth meant that it was from this, it couldn't be...taking the chance to know the answer, he took a bite which somehow eased the slight pain from his back and left side.

"The red is for exchanges and the green is for healing damages...Though," he noticed the left arm of his which was gone didn't appear. "Doesn't look like it helps grow limbs back."

Stretched his arm, releasing the stiff joints along with his back allowing him to notice that he had more energy than before. 'The power of these orbs are crazy!' It also meant that he would have to obtain more if he desired to survive an incident like this again.

The door which was locked was no longer covered with its trap allowing him to go forwards. The shield he used was battered and bruised, it served its purpose but the boy couldn't deny that such equipment saved his backside from being unprotected.

Looking at the walls, there were several of them across the rooms but with different styles and design. They were all rusty and old but he still decided to grab a hold of one.

There was several that looked fancy and such but he chose the simplest and the smallest shield for his frame. The shield was perfect and looked durable though like the others, it was rusty from the sides, he thought nothing of it and placed it on his back.

"Time to head to the next door." Collecting enough of the red crystals and placing the green orb in his pocket. He went forth to the next room.

XXX

Arkham watched the teen who wore a blue coat smirking for a moment, it wouldn't have mattered to the man of not for the fact that he had been doing so for the last few hours and so. It confused him to what he saw as amusement after making this whole procedure to fight his twin brother here.

Yet again, Vergil once showed an expression though his eyes were closed, the top of his lips constantly rose in a matter of finding something amusing to him.

"...What is it that you find interesting, Vergil?"

"...And why do you wish to know, Arkham?" Cheeky brat, asking a question of his own. "I find it confusing as to why you have not dealt with the girl yet."

"Ah, in due time. I have something planned until she reaches to a certain point. It just requires patience at the moment." He explained getting no response from the teen but him closing his eyes.

"I found something amusing that I thought of impossible."

"And what was it?"

"Who know? Even I have yet to find an understanding towards it as well." Glancing at his hand which he clenched, he gave a furrow expression. "Maybe there was a path to strength for human not yet known."

XXX

It looked like an elevator which was powered by something else, the only thing that looked like it made it function was the wheel which wasn't lit unlike the one which was in the bar previously. Before, he didn't think any of it and passed by but it seems as though something was required to light it aflame.

Using a torch didn't seem to work on at all. The colour was different to a normal fire as well, banging the centre of the wheel lightly created a sudden noise he didn't expected which had caused him to flinch.

Narrowing his eyes, he brought out his bayonet and slash the wheel, the damage wasn't visible but one of the torches of the panel erupted slightly with fire.

"That's how it works, huh." Slashing the wheel constantly caused the torches to light up until all of them was embedded with flames. The sound of metal creaking made him looked at the makeshift elevator which was being pulled up.

Damn it! Running towards it and holding a hand to it from the side, he pulled himself up quickly unless he wanted to lose this arm too. "That was close."

"The elevator looks like it'll bring me to the next floor, but that also means that there's demon there too." Readying himself, the elevator halted and stood there as if it had merged with the floor. The entrance was in front of him, it was simple to walk through, too simple.

Walking towards the door didn't seem to have changed anything. It was strange to not have any demons here but he didn't complain. It could have been a plan to lower his guard and catch him unexpectedly. But he won't do so.

Opening the door led to returning to a higher floor from the tower. Looking down to the left, he saw the blue door he came in first. At least there were ways to go up if the stair are broken.

Looking else where for the next way to the next floor he saw the massive pavement broken down. "That's the only way up as well." He sighed to himself before walking to the next stairs up.

Throwing a hook was the idea but the pillar was further away than the others were. Looking down at the broken pavement. He threw the hook nevertheless but it failed to reach its target.  "Okay, plan B." Through the hook at the floor and aiming for the crack was the other option and the annoying one.

Attempts after attempts were made but none reached the target. "It's a waste of bullets but-" he brought out his gun and shot the crack for a higher success rate.

After another several attempts as well as stumbling back from the shake of the tower as if someone was yelling and slamming something down to the ground, he was able to lock it in place.

Climbing the rope though it took a while was much more better than to constantly throw and meet at the expected target perfectly. It wasn't something possible unless you practiced it enough.

Finally, he came into contact with the lime colour door which was unlocked. Opening the door to take a peek, there a a giant red door and a stone monument which glowing red. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he entered the room.

The left side looked like a massive pitfall which he wouldn't be able to survive. The glowing red stone monument had some wordings which he didn't understand at the point.

"Steel thy soul! The future knows no bounds for those who deftly march forth to meet it!"

Was it talking about the pit? Upon the pit was an entrance but there was no staircase as such. The entrance to the door looked to have been opened with a glowing white orb being used as the object to open it.

"I'm crazy for doing this..." He brought his grappling hook out and readied it as he walked towards the edge. His heart started to pump blood quickly, his sweat soon started to drip from his chin out of fear.

"...Please." Holding his breath as he took a step to the abyss he felt no rushing of air but a clear force like puddle which seem to be keeping him afloat.

He laughed at the fright he just had and ran forward, no way he was going to walk steadily at something like that.

Sighing and releasing a heavy breath. The shaking from before was heard clearly, the large groans up ahead and he had to make sure that he was prepared.

Reloading his gun and making sure the shield was tight so that it wouldn't come loose. The bayonet held from its handle while the blade was steady but shaky inside it's sheath.

He entered.

XXX

"I'd best handle that little adventurer, if only to not lose that entertainment so quickly." While saying so, Vergil turned away from looking at the moon.

Pulling his blade from it's scabbard, he sliced the open air creating a rift which he entered.

He soon disappeared, so too did the rift he created with it.

XXX

The room was dark and difficult to see but his eyes soon adjusted well enough to see where he was going.

The glowing red wheel was seen once again and the elevator that functioned with it.

"Then this will lead me to the top of the tower." He felt the cool air from up top which meant he was right to his statement. "Almost there mum, dad. I'll get my answers."

Attacking the wheel till the flame was present to all the torches, he quickly entered he elevator which rode up. He sighed with relief of the experience he felt coming to the tower.

"This nightmare will..." Joshua's statement was interrupted when several demons appeared to have landed on the small elevator. The act of it caused it to go down.

?! The weight is pulling it down!

Quickly bringing out his bayonet and slicing one of the red cloaked skull faced demon. He looked back to see one ready to strike down and so he jumped to the side before leaping towards it and impaling the demon to its skull.

The blood splattered around him as did the red crystal orbs which dropped when it disappeared. The elevator soon started to rise again with two being defeated and gone but the others continued to attack him.

It was difficult to dodge in a small room that he found himself cornered. The blade wasn't going to work, placing the bayonet back to its sheath, he brought out his gun and aimed a bullet only to widen his eyes when it stopped working.

It was jammed at the worst moment possible!

?!

The attack was close from his right but he dodged it only to be cut on the right side by another, causing him to roll over to the floor.

"C-crap," grabbing the green orb from his pocket and eating the whole orb felt disgusting but it did it's work in healing the sudden damage.

Quickly getting up, he readied his stance for the [Dragon Flash] with his right hand holding the handle tightly while his feet's were positioned, "Die!" He didn't wait for them to approach as the room was small, the attack met its target with quick precision killing them.

The blood that leaked out oozed a later second before they turned into sand dust and scattered away with the wind.

With the end of the weight, the elevator proceeded upwards until Joshua arrived at the top.

The open air blasted upon him which felt nice from the full sweat and exhaustion he felt at the moment, he walked forwards slowly, the leader could be more dangerous than anything that was here.

He looked to the edge, it was calm...as if nothing happens at the moment but, a disaster happened so suddenly.

Turning back to see two large doors, there was a statue on the side similar to the one before he had entered the tower.

Looking at it, the context was the same, the slot placement however was on the right and not on the left for this one. He was lucky to have currently have fresh blood dripping from his weapon.

Placing it on the slot, he waited for a few seconds with closed eyes as he felt the sudden pull of consciousness. When he opened it, he was back at the dimension, however, it was no longer misty but void.

XXX

"...So we meet again." The statue soon appeared which startled him but boded his head at the statue.

"Y-Yeah, I came this far and I don't intend to back down now." He raised his fist and clenched it showing his determination.

"...It would seem so," the statue stopped talking for a few moments before speaking again. "To thou who has offered the blood of monsters, I shall provide my knowledge of war with a price in exchange."

Joshua gulped before taking out all of the crystal orbs he had obtained. The statue's glow grew bright as did the orbs with so many coming out that there was now enough space for his pockets and such.

"The exchange has been met," two orbs of light seem to have appeared this time and rushed to his head. "With this amount thou currently have, thou can obtain anything helpful that is required."

He expected the escape of the dimension when the knowledge was transferred but it would seem that with so much he had collected, he needed to waste some to make sure he didn't use the spares for later.

"A new skill of war could be useful but I've already received three in total," the statue stayed silent as the human thought of his plan. "Is the green orbs available?"

The statue was silent before proving information of a similar item, "A vital star; replenishes vitality, I warn thee, Monster flavour do differ to Humans."

"Thanks for the warning. I'll spend it on them."

"...Very well," saying so, the items appeared in front of him, 4 glasses cases items which contained a green liquids which was surely the liquid version of the green orbs. "...The act of providing power was not meant for the uses of Human."

The statue repeated the word it spoke before, this soon happened after he...

"Arggghh!!" The jolt to his body occurs and the feeling of numbness took over as his body ached everywhere.

The new knowledge of the two skills which he had just received made him feel different to his own body. Was these things possible for him in the first place to do? It was worth a shot in asking it at least.

"Where...argh...do these memories come from." He whispered in pain but it was heard clearly to the void dimension.

"...Power learnt are from the magic clans of old, Humans have long past forgotten to learn as such."

It was the knowledge of the very skills that he received which questioned the reality of the gift. The magic clan of olds, there was long ago beings who fought as such with this power he was going to wield.

Such power was long forgotten with the passing of time while technology came along.

"Take precaution to heed my word, for thou may lose yourself if you are not wary...we shall meet again"

XXX

His eyes opened once again with his arm carrying vials of vital stars. Placing three inside a pocket and making sure it was secured. He opened one and drank it, making sure to hold his breath in order to make sure that he did not puke the component which healed him.

"Bleh!" The taste was disgusting, how the hell did they drink these stuffs? He faced the large double door, the fighting which was rampaging the area he was in seemed to have been no more, either the fight was settled or that was merely a set of preparing for someone to arrive.

He didn't know but he had to be prepared. The power he received had a risk to his body. But he started doing so when he first arrived this tower.

The body didn't look to have changed as he had expected but the feeling of strength was there, it knew it and he knew that the feeling was not disappearing.

"I've gotten strong to this point, I must end this."

Opening the door. He soon entered the next room.