Arc 1 - Chapter 3 - Counterattack

Alphonse: [N--No way...]

Alphonse expressed the Heroes' shock.

Not a few minutes ago, they were easily slaughtering Demons, and now one of them got killed by some sort of an invisible force, and right in front of their eyes, just like that.

Lara: [T...Tino...No...]

Lara was the most shocked out of all of them that she neared Tino's head to catch it...

Sirius: [Ember]

...So shocked in fact that she didn't pay attention to the thin fire marble that spat itself out from Tino's mouth when she lifted said deceased boy's head. Said fire marble ignored her chest armor plate, melting its way instantly through said piece of armory, before piercing through where her heart is supposed to be.

Lara: [...Huh...?]

That was the last thing the female Hero said before remaining silent and static, as if completely frozen in her kneeling form..

It took both Alphonse and Robert a few seconds to register what had just happened before...

Alphonse: [NOOOOOO! LARAAAAA!]

Robert: [Wait, Alphonse! Calm down!]

Alphonse, in respond to seeing his crush being killed mysteriously by some sort of foreign power that used one of her signature moves, Ember, ran towards Lara's dead body, only for Robert to stop him by pulling him by the arm.

Alphonse: [What the hell! Let go, man!]

Robert: [No! You have to calm down, Alphonse! We don't know yet the exact powers of whoever did this to Tino and Lara! It's best if we retreated for now!]

Alphonse: [Don't screw with me! An innocent kid and our own teammate were just killed right in front of our damn eyes! And we're standing here watching like idiots!]

Robert: [Yes! I know! But judging from the nature of the two previous assaults, he was using my Aerial Needle and Lara's Ember! This means that whoever or whatever is doing this must be having the ability to copy our abilities. So it's best if we went back to the Guild and asked for assistance!]

Sirius: [Like I will let you imbeciles retreat]

Suddenly, a light breeze blew inside the dungeon, before it grew larger and more powerful, causing both Alphonse and Robert to cover their eyes.

Sirius: [Grand Breakthrough]

The massive burst of wind generated a sonic boom that sent both male Heroes flying even deeper into the dungeon. The two Heroes couldn't even do anything to resist the hurricane that pushed them even deeper inside the dungeon, denying any means of retreating.

A few seconds later, the hurricane ceased, and both of Robert and Alphonse fell on the solid ground, in the very center of the pathway leading to the deepest room in the dungeon.

Alphonse: [Ugh... Those One Magatama bastards...]

As soon as he stood on his feet, Alphonse gritted his teeth in anger, cursing his enemies who we didn't see.

Robert: [Alphonse...There's now no way for us to retreat. We have to finish the Demon King's daughter right here and now]

Alphonse: [Those bastards...]

Robert had a sad look on his face.

He knew about Alphonse's feelings for Lara, despite said woman not even holding the same emotions for him.

But then again, trying to comfort him would be pointless, so the only thing to do now is to take revenge for their deceased comrades and friends.

Alphonse: [Those...Damned One Magatama Demons...Tino...Lara...I swear to avenge your deaths...I will...I will...]

A vein popped in Alphonse's forehead, before he charged forward deeper in the dungeon, Robert straight behind him.

Alphonse: [...I'LL DEFINITELY KILL YOU ALL!]

Sirius: [I would love to see you try!]

The normally calm Sirius had a maniac grin plastered on his face, indicating that he was simply shrugging away Alphonse's threat as if it was nothing.

Sirius: [Stone Fist]

As Alphonse was blindly charging, a human sized fist that was made of rock bursted from below the ground, hitting Alphonse and knocking him backwards.

Robert: [Alphonse!]

Alphonse: [I'm alright!]

Robert: [Watch out!]

Sirius: [Earth Spikes]

Alphonse: [Wha--Augh?!]

Robert's warning came on deaf ears as brown thorns made out of dirt bursted out from the floor, piercing the form of Alphonse, who was still lying on the ground due to being knocked off his feet. Alphonse let out a gasp as blood started to fill his lungs upon being pierced by the spikes through his entire torso and limbs, making it impossible for him to move.

Robert: [Alphonse! Hang in there!]

Sirius: [Dirt Blender]

As Robert was trying to reach his friend, the ceiling of the dungeon suddenly grew spikes, before shooting down on Alphonse's immobilized form. Both the spikes of the ceiling and the spikes impaling Alphonse smashed together, making it look as if Alphonse turned into a sandwich, as blood splattered out from him. Not a moment later, the dual spike layers spun rapidly, the upper spikes in a clockwise rotation and the lower spikes in an anti clockwise rotation, effectively twisting and mangling the muscular Hero's body.

Alphonse: [No! Augh...! No! I don't wanna die! I DON'T WANNA DIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!]

Robert: [ALPHONSE!]

Robert could only watch as his friend got torn to shreds, limbs, organs, brains and viscera were splattered and scattered everywhere, painting the walls of the dungeon with the flesh and blood of Alphonse.

Robert could only watch in shock and disbelief as his friend was killed right before his eyes, without him being able to do anything to save him.

**********************************************

Plagus: [Amazing! Truly amazing! No one was able to use the Insignia with this effectiveness before!]

Hestiaca: [Just like that...Three of them are...I...I can't believe it...]

In the deepest room of the dungeon, Plagus and Hestiaca were expressing their absolute surprise at Sirius' performance, using Magic against the Heroes despite him being having Mana Deficiency Syndrome.

Sirius: [Heh...Hehehehehe...]

Plagus, Hestiaca and the two young Goblins had their attention grabbed by Sirius' chuckling, before suddenly...

Sirius: [HAHAHAHAHAHA!]

...The chuckle soon turned into full blown laughter, before Sirius was seen grasping his heart tightly.

Sirius: (This...This is amazing! Never ever in my life have I felt this excited! My heart pulse is around 2 million beats in a second! This rush of Endorphin and Dopamine inside my bloodstream feels phenomenal! I can barely breathe from all of this excitement, and my body is shaking uncontrollably!)

This feeling was a first for Sirius.

This thrill. This agitation. This thirst for the unknown. This phenomenal rush of blood and brain juices inside his body.

This world...

Sirius: [...Is Heaven to me!]

**********************************************

Robert: [Tino...Lara... Alphonse...I'm so sorry...It was my fault to underestimate the One Magatama Demon King's daughter...]

Robert looked so angry that his veins threatened to burst out from his face. His grip on his sword tightened so hard that his gloves hand bled.

Wind swirled around him and his sword. His teeth gritted that his gum was bleeding.

He was hell bent on killing.

Robert: [At least...To repent...I'll...]

He then kicked off the ground, a sonic boom roared behind the stretch of his leg as he soared forwards at speeds exceeding the speed of sound. His lunge was so powerful that the nasty screeching sound of wind ripping in the air could be heard echoing.

Robert: [I will kill this insolent Demon!]

**********************************************

Plagus: [Chishiki-dono! This is bad! He's going so fast in here!]

When he saw Robert charging towards where they were like a madman, Plagus panicked, seeking salvation from Sirius.

The previous three Heroes were eliminated rather easily, given the positions they were in and the emotional stands they were suffering from.

For example, Tino was behind his team, which made him an easy target because he wasn't surrounded by his more experienced comrades.

Lara, on the other hand, was in extreme shock upon witnessing Tino's death right in front of her, to which it made her drop her guard, allowing for an opening that made a swift instant kill an assurance.

As for Alphonse, it was by so far the easiest, mainly due to him entering a state of both deep sorrow and rage, which blinded him completely and made him enter a state of reckless charging towards the enemy's territory, causing him to fall for one of Sirius' traps rather easily.

In Sirius' eyes, however, Robert didn't seem to be that kind of person, especially with the given fact that he had just witnessed the death of his comrades right before his eyes, which in turn would mean that he might have figured out the ability of his powers. That's a possibility.

Sirius: [I will confront him myself]

Plagus: [What?! But Chishiki-dono, isn't that too risky?!]

Upon Sirius announcing his intention to face the remaining Hero head on, Plagus turned into a worried fit.

Sirius: [No, it is not. You see, there might be a possibility that he had found out about the mechanisms of my Insignia. Placing that into account would imply that he might have a counterattack for it, so facing him in a direct manner would be the most logical and appropriate choice to do]

Plagus: [But...But what is the power that you have gained from the Insignia?]

Seeing that Plagus won't let him go easily, Sirius sighed, before opening his mouth to speak.

Sirius: [Apparently, my Insignia gives me the ability to copy powers and abilities. This includes spells, martial arts moves, and even Magic affinities. I can also know all about my opponent. Age, Name, Gender, Magic affinity, Spells, Health status, Hidden secrets or weapons if there are any and so on. I can even use it on both animate and inanimate objects, living and nonliving organisms. For example, this guy called Alphonse had an affinity for Earth Magic, but he holds zero talent and effeciency to use it. Another example is Lara. She had an affinity for Fire Magic, and her bow is a special weapon which allows her to infuse her arrows with Fire Mana. Lastly, this man called Robert holds an affinity for Wind Mana, and can infuse his sword with it, considering that said weapon is a special weapon designed for Mana storage, just like Lara's bow]

Sirius made a long term explanation of his unique ability...

Plagus: [Uhh...]

...Still, that didn't actually explain why Sirius wants to face him head on instead of taking the advantage of both the distance and his ability.

Not waiting for Plagus to speak, Sirius marched towards the dirt of the room, and exited it. He waited for a few minutes, and right in front of him stood Robert, who halted his running upon laying his eyes on Sirius' standing form.

Robert: [So you're with the Demons just as I expected! I also assume that you were the one that killed my companions?!]

Sirius: [Yes]

Robert: [You...]

Hearing Sirius' immediate and cold response, Robert was about to explode from anger, before Sirius saw him taking deep breaths.

Robert: [I know that you used the chance of negative emotions spreading among us to take us down. My friends did fall for it, but it won't be the same for me]

Sirius: [I see that you can indeed use your brain]

Robert: [I also figured out your ability]

Sirius: [Hm?]

Robert's claim of having known Sirius' powers made him raise his eyebrows in anticipation, and it made the four Demons that were watching the scene displaying in the Magic Screen to shiver slightly.

Robert: [If I'm not wrong, your ability is to copy the spells of others. This is made through seeing the person, even when they're not executing the spell]

Sirius: [And what makes you think that?]

Robert: [The proof is evident from a few minutes ago. You were able to use my Aerial Needle and Grand Breakthrough, which normally I would think that you were able to replicate those spells by seeing me performing them. However, you were able to execute Lara's Ember spell, despite her never showing any Fire spells, as well as being able to execute Earth spells like Stone Fist, Earth Spikes and Dirt Blender. The logical explanation is that you can also copy affinities, considering the fact that Alphonse is the one in us that had an Earth affinity, but he never used any spells because he wasn't trained in Magic, so he never used it]

Plagus: [N--No way! He was able to figure Chishiki-dono's ability! Chishiki-dono was right in everything he said!]

Plagus was shocked. What Sirius said was correct. Every single word that Sirius said was heard by the enemy.

Sirius indeed had a rather impressive and flawless battle analysis

As for Sirius' reaction, however...

Sirius: [Heh...]

...A small smile, followed by a chuckle being released from his mouth.

Plagus, Hestiaca & Robert: [Huh?]

The three were really surprised by Sirius' reaction.

Obviously, it was extremely unexpected, since normally, if your plan or tactics were revealed to your enemy, then your situation becomes dire in the battlefield, especially in a battle of life and death, where one small mistake would result in your demise, which was the case for Sirius.

However, apparently this wasn't the case with Sirius. He was completely relaxed and calm, even when his powers were discovered, and in absolute and accurate detailed explanation.

In fact, in Robert's eyes, he looked...Amused.

Robert: [What's so funny? I have discovered your ability. All I have to do now is to not use Magic against you, and defeat you with simple brute force]

Sirius: [I predicted that such an outcome would happen anyways, so I am not surprised about it. For that reason...]

Sirius then took a weird stance in front of Robert, but judging by the situation, Robert concluded that this was a fighting stance.

Sirius: [...I have decided to confront you head on].

Robert took his own stance, his sword in his right hand, and his small shield strapped to his left arm.

The Hero then charged towards Sirius, before swinging his sword at him. The sheer force of the lunge that Robert brought was tremendous.

Truly, a sword infused with the power to rival a hydrogen bomb.

Truly, a leg with the strength to shatter the sound barrier.

Truly, an aura of defense that would put all kinds of shields to shame.

With that, it was so obvious that no ordinary human, let alone a Demon, would survive that.

However...

Sirius: [Easy]

As Sirius muttered this, he sidestepped to the right, dodging the vertical sword slash that was aimed at him.

Sirius: (His dominant arm is the right arm due to him holding the sword in it. So disabling said limb would be the best choice to break through his defenses)

Sirius then delivered the first strike, by delivering a palm strike to Robert's forearm, causing the Hero to hiss in pain as his grip on his sword was lost, causing him to drop said weapon involuntary.

Sirius: (He must be strapping his shield tightly to his left arm, so that means that it is tightly strapped to his nerves as well. A sufficient strike to his left arm will paralyze it)

He then shoved two fingers to Robert's left forearm, causing the arm to fall to Robert's side, followed by an unbearable pain.

Sirius: (Next is to make him lose his footing)

Sirius followed by an axe kick to Robert's right knee, causing a sickening crack sound to resonate in Robert's ear. He then felt another pain in his left hind leg as Sirius delivered yet another axe kick that had enough power to break said appendage in four different places.

Sirius : (Judging by the slightly pale complexion on his face and the brown bags under his eyes, he must have consumed alcohol before entering the dungeon, so a strong strike to the lower abdomen will disrupt his digestive system)

Sirius followed his assault by delivering a punch to the lower section of Robert's stomach, causing him to gasp as the air was instantly knocked out from his lungs.

Sirius: (Assuming the disadvantageous situation he is in right now, he will try to cast Magic. Normally, that will be extremely difficult due to the previous strike that deprived him from his oxygen supply, but for safety measurements, strike his throat to prevent him from speaking)

The relentless merciless assault continued as Sirius delivered a palm strike to Robert's throat, striking at where his Adam's apple was located. Robert's lack of oxygen made him unable to notice his throat being shattered as blood bursted out from his mouth.

Sirius: (Disrupt his thought process even more by assaulting his head)

By now, Robert has fell to his knees, but that didn't mean that it was a time for resting, as proven when Sirius delivered a right hook to his face, causing blood and teeth to fly out from Robert's mouth, followed by a left axe kick, then a right uppercut, and finally, a spinning roundhouse kick.

By now, Robert was unable to lift a finger, and was barely conscious.

Robert: [H...Ho...w...?]

Sirius stood in front of Robert's barely hanging to life form.

As for how this happened, it was simple.

Back in his previous world, Sirius' grandmother was a martial arts champion. She was in her late 60s, but due to continuous physical training, she looked as if she was in her early 20s, with the slightly muscular-based athletic body.

In the time where Sirius was adopted by her prior to her death, she taught Sirius about Mixed Martial Arts, combining that with his tremendous brain analysis, and you have a flawless martial arts master.

Sirius: [It is simple actually]

Sirius placed a hand on his hip, directing his cold glare at the crippled Robert.

Sirius: [You, you so called Heroes, were only trained in basic unarmed combat, since you all trained on weapon and Magic usage. A prime example is that Alphonse fellow, who is using knuckle dusters as his weapon, which is also a Magic enhanced weapon, which enhances his striking and lifting strength, and without it, he won't be able to release his Mana in the form of enhancements. Same goes for you, Lara, Tino, and presumably most, if not all Heroes. Am I right?]

Robert: [...]

Robert's silent glare proved Sirius' explanation.

Sirius: [Now...It is time for you to die]

As he said this, a purple outline glow surrounded Sirius' body, before Robert saw that he was surrounded with dozens of boulders that were floating around him, all having the same purple outline.

Sirius: [Terra Pit]

While the boulders were still floating, a massive 10 meter radius and 5 meter depth hole filled with sand was instantly created underneath Robert, who immediately fell into it. He tried to move, using Mana to enhance his broken body to at least free himself from the pit, but...

Robert: [W-What?!]

...He just realized that can't move, even with Mana reinforcing his body.

Looking even further, he realized the reason.

Robert: [Quicksand?!]

Sirius: [Correct. And for extra measurements...]

Sirius raised his opened palm.

Sirius: [Sand Coffin]

In an instant, an Egyptian-shaped Pharaoh coffin instantly rose from the sand. The coffin itself rose from behind Robert, while the coffin lid rose in front of him.

And in the next instant, both coffin and lid stormed towards Robert, effectively closing on him and trapping him inside.

Sirius: [The End]

Sirius then raised his arm above him, before immediately lowering it, causing the floating boulders to descend towards The sand pit, mainly down on Robert, crushing both Robert and the coffin that said Hero was trapped inside of it, causing blood to burst and splatter, painting the quicksand red, before the pit was shortly closed afterwards, returning the ground of the dungeon to its previous state.

Sirius: (Reverting Brain Capacity to 11%...)

Sirius let out a sigh as he dropped his guard and deactivated both his Insignia and brain capacity increase level.

Plagus: [A-Amazing...Truly amazing...]

Sirius turned around to see Hestiaca, Plagus, and the two Goblin kids having came out from the large room they were in, stupefied expressions plastered on their faces, complete disbelief painting their entire body from head to toe.

Goblin Kid #1: [Wow...He...He just killed them that easily...]

Goblin Kid #2: [And did you see how did he beat that Hero? He defeated him with his bare hands! Amazing!]

Sirius watched as he was being praised for saving the lives of Demons, simply blinking coldly.

Plagus: [Superb! Truly superb! No one has ever used the Insignia in this perfect manner upon immediately obtaining it! You truly deserve the title of Knowledge Sage, Chishiki-dono! I can't thank you enough for saving our lives!]

Plagus' tears were flooding from his eyes as he thanked Sirius.

Sirius could also say the same thing was happening with Hestiaca, but the way she was crying was different.

It was not due to happiness, but due to grief.

Hestiaca: [Uhh...Hic...Again... Our kin are being slaughtered and discriminated again...This is too much to handle...]

Plagus: [Hestiaca-sama...]

Plagus himself didn't even know how to comfort her, and Sirius himself understood that.

It's natural, considering the fact that she had just witnessed her comrades die in front of her eyes and she was watching with her hands tied behind her back, unable to do anything to help them.

Looking back on it now that the tension has faded, If Sirius haven't arrived here, they would have been all killed, except for Hestiaca, who, according to Plagus, was going to suffer a fate worse than death.

Sirius: [I suppose it was a Heaven sent that I accidentally stumbled upon this dungeon]

Plagus: [Yes! It is indeed a miracle from the Heavens that you came here, Chishiki-dono!]

Hestiaca: [You...Human...Don't get cocky and comfortable around us...I...I still hate Humans, including you...]

Plagus gasped upon hearing Hestiaca's words, but Sirius didn't even flinch in the slightest.

Plagus: [But, Hestiaca-sama! Chishiki-dono is unlike the Heroes! He saved our lives without a second thought!]

Hestiaca: [He did that to save his own life, but I bet that he didn't even care about ours!]

Hestiaca seemed to be either stubborn to accept a Human's effort to save her, or is prideful enough even say a simple "Thank You" to the Human that saved her life.

Sirius: [It is true that I did that to mainly save my life...However, I also did save your lives as a sign of gratitude for this]

Sirius pointed at his left eye, which instantly shifted to the Insignia form, flaring with power briefly, before his eye reverted back to its normal ocean blue color.

Sirius: [In addition to this, you did me two more favors without myself asking for it, so I suppose that I can be around you to help you against those Humans]

Plagus: [Oh thank you! Thank you!]

Sirius: [Don't. Touch me]

Sirius' declaration to stick around and help the Demons against the Heroes caused Plagus to hug him tightly, only for Sirius to growl in annoyance at the rather unnecessary physical contact, which caused Plagus to release him immediately, before straightening himself, and bowing in front of Sirius.

Plagus: [Again, thank you for helping us, and again, I'm pleased to meet your acquaintance, and am looking forward to working with you, Chishiki-dono]

Sirius: [...Same here]

As Sirius said this, he then turned his back towards the Demons, looking at the ceiling of the dungeon.

The two favors that Hestiaca had done for him was saving him from death due to the Humans throwing him away like garbage, and...

Sirius: (...And...Taking me away from this world...)

That previous world of his saw him as a criminal for absolutely no reason. A scheme that labelled him as a bad person for absolutely nothing.

It was obvious the reason for all of this.

Envy.

Sirius: [Heh...]

A smirk widened itself on Sirius' face.

That previous that gave him nothing...Now he no longer can return even if he wanted to.

Not that he wanted to to begin with. This was a blessing for him.

Sirius: (This is an extremely magnificent opportunity placed to me on a plate of gold! Now, with this power, I will continue on taking down those Heroes and obtain even more knowledge! I was right! This world...)

His right eye flared, and the Insignia...The Eye Of Akasha...Flared to life.

Sirius: (...Is Heaven to me!)

The gates to a grand adventure for knowledge has been opened.

The other world now has a new predator.

His goal: Obtaining Knowledge.

His weapon: His Love For Knowledge.

His title: The Knowledge Sage.

His name: Sirius Chishiki.

The journey for knowledge...Has begun.