Chapter 37

"Are…Are you crazy?" Eugene frowned in disbelief, his singular eye trained on Theodore's figure, as if studying him.

Theodore simply stared sternly at the other brunet. "Well, am I ever not serious?"

"Eugene, draw your axe now." Merlin said in a low tone, his bow raised and a light arrow appeared in between his fingers, nocked and ready to fire.

"You too!?" Eugene's eyes widened, if the usually carefree Merlin was serious about it, then he should really pull out his weapon.

Theodore's eyes shifted towards Rhys as he activated his magic, a soft green glow appeared around the blonde as the pain in his wounds dissipated. "Take the arrows out, you need to be in top condition."

Rhys looked hesitant, though since he didn't have the freedom of choice, his hands moved on their own and plucked out the two light arrows from his thigh and shoulder, in which they would instantly disperse into dust and his injuries would magically close up soon after.

"…You're not going to bully us, right?" Eugene carefully grabbed the handle of his battleaxe, unslinging it from his back.

Theodore thought about it for a moment as his focus averted to the ground. "I won't use ice magic, how about that?"

Rhys' eyes widened. "But…But sir, you have black magic."

"...I have fire magic and divine magic too, do you want me to not use magic then?" Theodore raised his eyebrows, he wasn't interested in bullying his friends with 'training' as the excuse, so he thought that maybe he should just not use any magic at all.

"Theodore Varon without his magic?" Merlin sneered. "Wouldn't that be too easy?"

Theodore blinked at his best friend's remark, slightly surprised to hear that he thought he would be weak without his magic, the thought caused him to smile. He spoke in an amused tone as he unsummoned his staff. "Okay then, I won't use magic, but the rest is fine right?"

"The rest? Skills are fine." Merlin replied, his arrow now trained on him, more specifically, it was aiming straight at his chest.

'He's serious too?' Theodore narrowed his eyes.

Eugene sighed. "Okay, should we set the rules first? Like…No killing?"

"Let's see…" Theodore tilted his head while thinking for a bit. "I don't want to hurt you guys, so if I can knock you out of the basketball court then you're out."

"What about you?" Eugene raised an eyebrow.

"Go all out," Theodore shrugged. "Come at me like you want me dead, because that's what the other demon kings would most likely be doing too."

"So I can headshot you?" Merlin said jokingly.

Though Theodore wasn't joking with him. "Go for it, if you think you can, that is."

"Then let's start!" Merlin shouted in a frustrated tone and let go of the arrow, letting it fly through the air and head straight toward its target.

However, that arrow would never get the chance to even do anything impactful.

Dark fog burst from Theodore's body as it engulfed him, and as soon as the projectile came into contact with the sinister aura, it would instantly shatter and disappear. The smoke rose upward and expanded, growing taller and longer until a pair of bright green eyes stared at the three men from within the smog.

Everyone instinctively took a few steps back while raising their weapons, eyes widened with fear and body shaking with anticipation. Merlin swallowed nervously. "…Did I f*cked up?"

When the smoke dissipated, it revealed a large serpent standing in Theodore's place, it was different from the snake that everyone was used to seeing, this time, their eyes ran along this new figure in both awe and disbelief, noticing the spikes and the blinking gaze staring at them coldly.

Like a predator looking at its prey.

'I can't use half of my skills either,' Theodore thought to himself. 'Chaos will definitely kill them…That leaves Wild Thunder and Divine Blaze, it seems…'

"He…Did he evolve…?" Eugene tightened his grip on his battleaxe. "Merlin…! Isn't he even stronger than last time?"

"I…" Merlin shook his head. "I don't know! Just focus!"

The ginger gritted his teeth and fired a barrage of arrows towards him while stepping back, trying to use the range of an archer to his advantage. Theodore was unfazed by the attacks and simply swatted them away with his tail.

[The Personal Attribute 'Scales of the Serpent' has been activated!]

Rhys and Eugene didn't attack immediately though, they were still in a trance from having caught a glimpse of the demonic aura earlier. "Eugene."

"What?" The brunet frowned as he turned towards the tanned man.

"I have a plan, although if he'd grown stronger, you might need to back me up, and quickly too."

Eugene scoffed. "Don't order me around, slave. I'm not going to—"

The sentence was cut short when Merlin was blasted away by a column of fire coming from Theodore's mouth, luckily for the archer, he managed to dodge some of it and wasn't knocked out of the court just yet. "F*ck! You two, what are you standing there for!?"

Rhys glanced towards Eugene. "If you don't follow up our attacks, his wounds will just heal, it would be a waste of effort."

Eugene clicked his tongue in annoyance. "F-Fine! Just this once!"

Rhys didn't say anything else and summoned everything he had; his golden armor and his trusty sword. He took a deep breath before dashing towards Theodore, his feet causing sparks on the ground as he enhanced his speed with magic.

The blade of the sword burst into flames as Rhys closed the distance, however he would be forced to retreat when he saw something coming towards him from the side, if he hadn't moved out of the way, Theodore's tail would've surely broken his spine.

However, because Theo shifted his focus towards Rhys, it gave Merlin the chance to shoot a bunch of arrows at him, all of which connected and embedded themselves into his scales.

<<HP: 3,200,000/3,500,000>>

'…As expected of an S grade weapon.' Theodore thought to himself, though he wouldn't get any more breathing room as Rhys came charging at him again, he edged his body to the side, dodging a slash, though he would instantly feel a sting of pain coming from behind him. 'What…?'

<<HP: 3,109,900/3,500,000>>

While the fire from Rhys' sword barely did anything to him, something else had done that large chunk of damage, turning towards the culprit, Eugene would shake the blood from his battleaxe as a large grin appeared on his face. "Rhys!"

Right on queue, the blonde appeared out of nowhere and slashed towards Theodore's wound, cutting it way deeper than the original paper cut that Eugene's axe had done.

<<HP: 2,970,892/3,500,000

Status Condition: Bleed. Burn.>>

[Warning! Your wounds cannot regenerate properly due to the 'Burn' Status Condition!]

While his injury was still healing, it was significantly slower. 'Like how hydras are weak to fire?'

"Now!" Eugene shouted before rushing towards Theodore once again with Rhys following behind him, though because the blonde's speed was faster, he reached Theo first and delivered a vertical cut directly onto his wound.

He would've immediately tried to smack them away but Merlin kept annoying him by impaling arrows into the other side, one of them even managed to pierce right into his left eye. "Merlin, you jackass!"

"You can heal it back up right?" The ginger shouted back with a smug expression, this distracted him long enough for the other two to hit him once again, Eugene dug deeper into his injury and Rhys prevented him from healing with his burning sword.

<<HP: 2,560,877/3,500,000

Status Condition: Bleed. Burn.>>

'Fine, I've been stalling for long enough.' Theodore's body suddenly began giving off sparks until large bolts of electricity shot towards the two close-range combatants.

"What…?" Eugene was caught off guard and was struck by the lightning, his entire body froze up and he was knocked backwards, but luckily for him, the skill was low-leveled so he didn't lose consciousness.

Rhys recognized this attack so he swiftly changed his direction and avoided the bolts, managing to maneuver around them until he deemed that it was safe to close in the distance.

'Hm? I'll actually give him some credit, he's good.' Theodore thought just as Rhys appeared behind him, his speed wasn't something to scoff at, anyone could very well mistaken it as some sort of short range teleportation skill, though for Theodore, it was still easy for him to detect his target.

[The Personal Attribute 'Tongue Receptor' is warning you of danger!]

'He's no danger.' As soon as Rhys was close enough, Theodore lifted his tail and smacked him across the chest, causing the blonde to drop his sword as he was sent flying out of the court before hitting his back against a tree.

His armor was strong, so it managed to save him from sustaining any life-threatening injuries.

"Rhys' out." Theodore announced as he turned his attention towards Merlin, knowing that Eugene would still need some more time to recover from the lightning strike.

Merlin bit his lips nervously and raised his bow again. "Can I surrender?"

"You're saying that as you point your weapon at me?" Theodore scoffed as he moved closer.

"Well, just in case, but may I surrender though?" Merlin slowly lowered the bow.

"Sure, then you're out—"

Theodore quickly turned around just in time to see Eugene's axe heading straight towards him, he opened his mouth and breathed fire onto it, knocking the weapon to the floor.

Eugene stood several meters away while breathing heavily, his arms dangled limbly while his eye was fixated on Theo, it seemed that he'd just used the remaining of his strength to throw the battleaxe at him. "Damn…What's with your reflexes dude?"

"Are you going to surrender too?" Theodore slightly tilted his head.

"Yeah, I've got nothing." Eugene let himself fall onto the ground, barely catching himself with his sore arms. "You were using three skills and we can't even make you stagger, I can't imagine how quickly we would lose if you had used magic."

Theodore didn't reply and turned towards the arrows sticking out of his body, he moved his tail and swept them off of his scales, causing blood to drip from the gaping hole.

[The Bloodline Skill 'Super Regeneration' has been activated!]

Merlin willed his bow away as he walked over to him. "Need help?"

Theodore didn't know what would happen if he transformed into a human while having an arrow stick out of his eye, so he thought it would be better if he healed his current body first. "If you would, take it out for me."

As Theodore lowered his head, Merlin stepped closer and grabbed the arrow's shaft, pulling it with all his strength until it eventually came out.

The light arrow disappeared as soon as it was plucked from Theodore's eye. "...I don't think that fight is going to be a problem now."

Theo's eye healed at a rapid speed, and soon his body would be back at top condition, as if he'd never suffered any injuries before.

Seeing this, Eugene spoke up. "Hey, if you're stronger now…Can you heal my eye?"

"Eh? Why, though? The eye patch looks cool on you." Merlin snickered mockingly, which earned him a smack at the back of his head from the brunet.

"How about you try living with one eye closed?" Eugene said heatedly, his brows furrowing.

Theodore thought about it for a second, he didn't even notice that his healing magic will only heal a specific injury, similar to how a doctor needs to slowly treat his patient.

[That's how it works indeed.] Asclepius' voice rang out inside his mind.

'...It's quite balanced, then if I need to heal two separate injuries, I would have to use twice the mana.' It was a shame, though Theodore wasn't complaining, for a powerful healing magic, paying an extra price to cast it was reasonable.

Theodore nodded at Eugene. "Alright, let's try."

[The Skill 'Asclepius' Secrets' has been activated!]

A soft green glow encased Eugene's figure, and after a moment, he carefully removed his eyepatch before looking around. "...I can see."

The brunet closed one of his eyes, testing the other that was just healed. He then turned to face Theodore with a look full of gratitude on his face. "Bro, thank you…You have no idea how much I f*cking wants my eye back."

Theodore turned himself back into a human just as a maid made their way towards them, she was holding a metal plate with a food cover on top. "Your Majesty, your breakfast."

"Oh, thanks." It'd almost passed his mind that he'd ordered some breakfast, the maid would remove the cover and reveal a steamy chicken sandwich on a ceramic plate.

When Theodore took the food out, the maid would bow and excuse herself from the garden. He turned his attention towards Rhys. "You can go now."

"H-Huh?" The blonde was slightly startled as he slowly got up from the ground, dismissing his armor and sword. "I—Yes sir."

His eyes followed Rhys as he limped away as he finished his breakfast in only a few bites, after dusting the bread crumbs from his hands, his gaze landed on another person who was moving towards them.

She wasn't that hard to spot, looking as flashy as she could ever be. As soon as she realized that Theodore was looking at her, she got on her tiptoes and waved at him with a smile. "Theodore~"

Merlin blinked as he turned towards his best friend. "I forgot to ask, but is she your–"

"No."

"I…I didn't even finish my sentence."

Eugene laughed. "She's definitely his girl–umph!"

The brunet's sentence was cut short when Theodore smacked him across the back. "I healed your eye, and I can take it away again, you know?"

"Theodore!" Asmodeus called his name again, she was now practically standing in front of him. "Hm? I see you're even stronger now, did your friends help with training?"

"Ah, of course." Merlin let out a short laugh, smiling at the beautiful woman, he'd always been this way around girls even before the First Gate incident. "I specifically helped a lot, you know I managed to hit him straight in the eye."

"Oh, really?" Asmodeus seemed amused, her already smiling lips curled up even higher. "I would've believed that if Theo didn't have that look on his face."

Merlin quickly turned to look at his friend, and sure enough, Theodore didn't look very pleased with their interaction. "I was practicing, yes. But what he did was just a d*ck move."

"It was kind of funny though." Merlin protested with a shrug.

"Yeah, let's see what you'll say when I take out your eye."

Asmodeus' laughter stopped anyone from getting violent, she put her hands behind her back and slightly leaned forward. "So, I'll take that as you're ready to fight?"

"What's the rush?" Theodore raised an eyebrow in questioning. "It's six days from now, I have plenty of time to do other things."

"Eh? Like what?" Asmodeus pouted with a playful frown. "You should hang out with me~ I'm bored~"

Theodore narrowed his eyes. "I can do things other than entertain you."

"Aw, you're so mean~" The demon king sang as she straightened her back, pouting playfully.

Her face would shift back to her usual smile before she continued speaking. "Anyway, I'm here because I want to help you get ready."

"Don't need it." He turned her down coldly, but Asmodeus persisted with a serious frown.

"Hey, I'm not joking around here, Theo." The woman tilted her head. "The ranking evaluation isn't just a test, for those demons, they view it as an opportunity. They will kill you the moment you show weakness."

"I know." Theodore nodded. "But I'm—"

"Don't get cocky," Asmodeus cut him short as she wagged her finger in a 'no' gesture before pointing towards him. "What if you match up against Wrath first? You wouldn't stand a chance, there's something in this world you can't control, Theo, and that is luck."

"I would say I've been pretty lucky so far."

"Yeah, but then it means that you've used up all of it." Asmodeus sighed. "You might have won against Lucifer, but that was because you got very lucky, that prideful demon had made a mistake of not getting rid of you instantly, but the other kings know this and will take you seriously from the start."

"Asmodeus, I'll be fine." Theodore replied, his voice sounding slightly irritated. He wasn't being arrogant, he was sure that no matter what happened, he could stand his ground and pull through in the end.

"...No wonder why fate decided to make you the new Pride." Asmodeus crooked her neck to the side with a frown, eyeing him with frustration. "Look, 'Pride'. Just because you forced me to surrender earlier doesn't mean that you're strong enough to take the rest of the kings down."

"I know that…" Theodore let out another sigh, though he wasn't sure how to feel about the usually cheery Asmodeus suddenly acting serious, the fact she called him 'Pride' instead of his actual name was sending him chills. "You have your second phase or whatever…But—"

Theodore swiftly tilted his head to the side, causing something to barely pass by his face, the gale wind from the motion managed to slit his cheek and blood trickle down from the wound.

His friends, who were just idly watching the two of them argue a moment earlier, instantly got into a fighting stance and took out their weapons. Merlin nocked his bow and Eugene held his battleaxe offensively.

Asmodeus was staring at Theodore with a neutral expression, in her dominant right hand was her trusty whip, the tip of it slightly covered in blood. "I demand a rematch."

"Asmodeus?" Theodore frowned. "What are you talking about? Why did you suddenly—"

"Think of this as a lesson," The whip sprung into action once again, although this time it wasn't meant for him, with a single well-placed stroke, the lasso smack against both Merlin and Eugene, knocking them to the ground.

Theodore gritted his teeth and glanced towards his friends, knowing that it was just a light tap meant to keep them out of their fight. "...Do you need to go this far?"

"It's tough love, Pride." Asmodeus sighed as she swung her whip once again, this time it was encased in an evil aura, making it too risky for Theo to try and grab it with his hand just as he did last time.

"You need to know what it's like to fight a demon king."