Chapter 20: Vs High-Class (1)

[Third Person's Point of View]

"Sire", Bernard addressed Augustus, who was lounging with his head propped up on one hand, legs elegantly crossed and eyes shut.

Piercing Blue eyes blinked open and focused on the old man standing a respectable distance from him.

"Everything is ready as you instructed", Behind him, a sea of employees stood at attention, their hands gripping bags filled with supplies and tools.

The bags were all spatial storage bags, with meters of storage space inside their small pouch-like forms.

All the contents of the trading company were now neatly packed in the bags, including valuable magical items, artefacts, enchanted weapons, scrolls, and the entire 65 million Lilium in cash that the company possessed.

Augustus leisurely slid each bag into his spatial ring, carefully arranging them according to their type as he stowed them away.

After nearly an hour inside the building, he was close to completing all of his tasks.

"One last thing," he said as he finished packing the last bag into his spatial ring and turned to face the employees with a serious expression. "Kill yourself"

Silence stretched out for a brief moment before all the devils pointed their index fingers at their heads as a small white ball of intense heat formed at the tip and fired in unison.

-Plop

The heads of the employees burst open in a synchronized display of carnage, their bodies dropping to the ground as if a silent signal had been given. Blood and brains splattered against the walls and floors, painting the scene in a visceral red. The once neat and organized ranks of employees were now a chaotic mess of bodies. As soon as they entered his crosshairs, the members of the Ameing branch of Balam Trading Company were doomed.

Now, the building stood empty, its employees deceased and its belongings looted. The only course of action now was to eradicate any trace of its existence completely.

[Delay Maximize Magic: Infernal Explosion]

He set a delay of about two minutes, enough for him to tie up loose ends if any, and get out leisurely. "Onto the next st--"

An ear-splitting alarm blared in his mind, his Keen Instincts screaming madly for him to move as he instantly used [Teleport] to get out of there right before a massive figure barreled towards his position, narrowly missing him by inches as he blinked out.

The Low-Latency function of his Innate technique meant he was technically the fastest man in the world while using [Teleport].

His teleportation spell could move him from point A to point B in just 0.0001 seconds, allowing him to potentially teleport up to 10,000 times within a single second.

Augustus was certain that even Konoha's renowned Yellow Flash would feel embarrassed upon hearing this statistic.

But, it was all hypothetical. There was no way any supernatural being in the underworld could have that fast cognition speed, let alone him. This made it nearly impossible for anyone to fully master this technique.

He could only teleport once every half second, and even that was pushing his abilities to the limit. As soon as he materialized above the building, he witnessed the right side, where he had been moments ago, crumble with a thunderous noise. The resulting air pressure sent shards of debris flying in every direction.

Eleven silhouettes darted through the opening in the building's wall and came to a halt a few meters in front of him.

[Lennox Balam - Greater Devil - 'The Lion of Balam' - Tier 7]

[Hailey - Devil - 'Queen of Storms' - Tier 8]

[Carter - Devil - 'Lion's Apprentice' - Tier 8]

His Observe told him the details of his opponents; the infamous heir of the Balam branch house and his prestigious peerage, which included two other devils that stood out from the rest.

'These guys even have titles. That's new'

"You," the muscular devil started, built at a huge 7'2, the man could intimidate anyone by his physique alone. "Join my peerage"

"Huh?", Augustus was truly confused. He just killed hundreds of their employees and stole approximately a hundred million Liliums. 'what kind of bullshit is this musclehead spouting?'

Seeing the confusion on the silver-haired devil's face, Lennox continued, "You have good reflexes, awareness and reaction time, to be able to dodge my punch. You even teleported without the help of a magic circle, which is extremely rare. Join my peerage"

He couldn't help but sneer in his mind at the devil's bluntness. "But I just killed your employees and caused you guys a huge loss. And how did you even find out what's going on?"

"We have safeguards that notify us when important items and safes are opened in a certain sequence without any authorisation. I tried to contact the management, but no one replied so we came over." Lennox paused for a second, before continuing, "If you join my peerage, of course, you need to return everything you stole and work to repay the damage you have caused, other than that you will be treated nicely. If you don't..."

His expression hardened at the last word, clearly letting the implication hang in the air.

'Heh. As if', Augustus scoffed at the idea. He knew it was all a facade. The moment he joined, he would be greeted nicely with a good beating.

Silence stretched on for a few seconds, as instead of outright rejecting the offer, he showed a contemplating expression on his face.

"Sigh, I don't see a better way out.....are you sure you would keep your word?" Lennox's expression brightened at that and he took out four pawns, "Absolutely"

Augustus's face displayed a sense of defeat as he spoke, "Well," he began to make his way towards the group, but then his bitter expression transformed into a cruel grin. 

"Have fun!"

[Teleport]

--Boom

*

A huge explosion could be seen from the foothills at the southern side of the mountains where a figure could be seen floating, his hair white as snow and eyes shining a brilliant blue, reflecting the dark reddish mushroom cloud in the distance.

Augustus was counting in his head all along, and just when the timer of his Delay Magic was over, he teleported, leaving them to face the brunt of the explosion. 

He never even once considered Lennox's offer as he would rather die than serve someone else. The blast was large, with dark-red flames of inferno all-consuming and he hoped for the devils to have perished in the explosion, but knew that was a tall order.

That explosion would have done nothing to him, so realistically he could not expect that spell to take down Lennox, whose clan was famous in the underworld for their Inherited Innate Demonic Technique - Super Strength and High Magic Resistance

At that moment, he could sense the chaotic energy of magic swirling through his back. He spun around to witness eleven individuals emerge unscathed from a massive magic circle.

A heavy frown marred Lennox's face, as he looked disappointed towards his opponent. "In the end, you chose to fight futilely." He sighed, "But your magical abilities would perfectly fit our peerage. Shame, I have to enslave you for it"

The peerage employed their battle formation and they readied themselves to teach their opponent an unforgettable lesson.

Augustus was well aware that this battle would be substantially more challenging than any he had faced before. This time, he was up against a peerage ranked in the top 150 of the rating game, led by a King who was close to reaching Ultimate class with their immense demonic energy alone. 

Even the peerage members were well-versed in various forms of battle, making one doubt their own ability before engaging in a fight with them. Could victory be possible against such skilled opponents?

"Nah, I'd win" Augustus maniacally grinned to himself as he cast his spells.

[Multi-Cast Wood Release: Kanzeon Lotus King]

Ten large wooden statues of bodhisattva stood behind him meanwhile he buffed himself with plentiful strength, agility and magic resistance-increasing spells.

'His magic activations are faster than Beelzebub's!' The opposing devils were surprised that their opponent could cast such complex magic in an instant, but quickly steeled themselves as they knew that there could only be one result for the white-haired devil for opposing them; overwhelming defeat.

With no more hesitation, both sides charged towards each other. Augustus drew out a long sword made of magisteel and infused it with magic. The once shimmering steel now glowed with a deep black hue, causing the air around it to quiver with intense heat.

[Amaterasu] turned the blade black from the intense heat equalling the surface of the sun.

The Lotus Kings unleashed their elemental spells, crashing into the devil's own magic as Augustus manoeuvred through the chaos towards Lennox. While the spells collided and clashed, he moved skillfully to reach his target.

-Boom

The clash of Augustus' blade against the white gauntlet-covered fists sent a loud shockwave through the air. As they collided again, Augustus could feel himself being overpowered and gradually losing ground in the exchange.

The difference in strength between Lennox and him was not big, but enough for Augustus to lose in close combat.

'Shit', he backed away from Lennox and cast [Multi-Lightning Arrow] while creating some more distance for himself.

7 large arrows made up of pure lightning instantly blurred across and zapped Lennox in the chest.

Boom

Despite the loud noise and small explosion, Lennox easily brushed off the small explosion and emerged unscathed.

'Tch, the magic resistance of the Balam would be a huge problem' Magic-resistant physical types were the biggest counter to Augustus's broken technique.

The ten wooden statues finally reached them, and each of them singled out and engaged with a devil.

Augustus slowly retreated, trying to create space between himself and the muscular man who was charging towards him. He cast powerful spells in a frantic attempt to defend himself, but they seemed to have no effect on his attacker.

The remaining devils didn't stop themselves from interfering with their fight while fighting off their own Lotus Kings.

The sky darkened as storm clouds gathered, the air heavy and charged with electricity. A silvery flash of lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating the chaotic battlefield. Hailey, close to finishing off her opponent, redirected her attack towards Augustus. In an instant, a powerful bolt of lightning struck him, despite his earlier warning from his heightened senses.

After all, only a handful could dodge lightning.

The bolt struck Augustus, and the area around them was illuminated for a brief moment before a deafening explosion echoed throughout.

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Author-san here!!!

How did you guys like the new cover? Took a lot of time to make that one ngl.

Oh, and I changed the name. Wanted to make it clear to new readers what they are clicking on. Got that from YT marketing classes haha.

Anyways, Let's get to 110 Powerstones for this one.

Do VOTE.

And leave a comment and review if you like the story so far.

Anyway, See you guys tomorrow.