Chapter 21: Danus

'It's time,' Van thought as he and his group stood in front of the portal. 'Time to fight a Demon King.'

The portal looked strange, it was just… there. Like a magical doorway, looking through the portal showed a body of water stretching into the distance, a night sky full of stars and faraway planets overlooking it. 

"Let's do this quick," Travis said, pushing Van into the portal before he could study it further, the rest of the group walking through it.

As the portal closed behind them, Van fell onto the water, afraid that he was going to sink in, only to fall flat on top of it. The water acted like a floor, and everyone could stand and walk on top of it normally. 

Van, his front side now wet, stood back up and grumbled while squeezing the water out of the particularly soaked parts of his clothes. 

"Wh-What now?" Sid stuttered, fearfully looking around. The rest were also wondering what to do. They were all just standing on flat, endless water, with nothing of interest in the distance, in the middle of nowhere. 

Trish shrugged. 

"Let's just wander, I guess?" 

"No need."

A voice boomed out, alerting everyone. Van felt the voice rattle his bones, while Sid had already fallen onto his butt in fear. 

In front of the group, the water floor began to shake. A massive rumbling sound could be heard, and the water in front of them began to bubble. Slowly, the water rose as something was emerging from beneath.

"What the fuck…" Van muttered under his breath as he saw the being that revealed itself. "You call that a demon?"

Demon King Danus had finally revealed himself. A massive, black creature around a couple kilometers high was hulking over them. Danus' head was shaped like a diamond and around the size of a few football fields. Instead of any distinguishing features, stars littered the diamond shaped face. 

Beneath his face was a torso that could blanket a city, with massive, lengthy arms that ended in claws, each one the size of a building. They couldn't see his lower half, as it trailed behind the torso. 

"Hmph, don't look so alarmed. I am limited to only using 1% of my power against you." 

Hearing the booming voice speak in a disappointed tone, Van was flabbergasted. 

'What the hell is his 100%???' 

"Will you attack, or must I make the first move?" Danus asked the group, and they all began to feel a pressure descend onto them. 

"Heh, if you insist." Travis sauntered towards Danus, cracking his knuckles. 

As the bully and the Demon King began to clash, Emil approached Van and Sid. 

"Ooookay. Van, Slick-" 

"S-Sid." Sid corrected him.

"-Spin. We're about to fight, so uhh, just step back a little. Yeah, little bit more. Just a LITTLE bit more. Perfect!"

Emil shot the two, who were now so far away they could barely hear him, a thumbs up. 

As Emil ran back to the group, Van and Sid watched the fight. 

Travis dashed at Danus, who swiped a claw at him. 

As the claw descended onto him, Travis activated a skill and punched towards the massive claw.

<> Skills <> 

Immovable [A] [Active]:

The user gains a massive reinforcement to their physical capabilities. They cannot be pushed back by any attack unless it is significantly stronger than them, and the user's defense and attacks are tripled.

<> End <>

A yellow aura began to glow around Travis, and his gauntlet met the tip of Danus' claw. A massive shockwave emerged where the two attacks met, parting the endless ocean beneath them. 

Even being so far away, bruises appeared on Van's skin as the aftershocks reached him and Sid, prompting them to back away even further. Van could only squint as he saw tsunamis be created from a single clash. 

'No wonder they don't personally bother me anymore…' Van realized. 'They've become so much stronger than me, they wouldn't be able to control their strength.'

"WOOOOHOOO!" Travis yelled in excitement, and even Danus grunted in appreciation of the clash.

Before the two could attack again, 3 bright flashes flew through the air, and explosions appeared on Danus' face. Far behind the rest of the group, Jake stood there with his bow, his glowing right eye and his open hand revealing that he had fired at Danus.

<> Skills <>

Spirit of Karrus [S] [Active]:

The user can temporarily be possessed by the spirit of Karrus, a legendary archer. The spirit contains a fraction of Karrus' power, increasing the user's skill and damage output with the bow, and allowing the user to use some of Karrus' abilities, namely Lock-On, Multiply, Magic Arrow, and Blindspot.

<> End <>

As Danus turned his attention to Jake, more flashes came from the side this time, and his massive head tilted sideways as it was bombarded by more explosions. 

"Keep your eye- well, stars, on me!" Travis shouted, unleashing a barrage of punches onto Danus' torso, each one sounding like a bomb going off. 

"I will get a little serious." 

Danus' voice rang in everyone's ears, making them cautious. 

As the seconds passed, everyone noticed something. Van looked down to see that the ground beneath him and Sid was slowly getting brighter.

"RUN!" He grabbed Sid and the pair dashed as fast as they could back to the normal water. A few seconds after they left the massive circle of light, it silently erupted, blasting a pillar of light into the night sky.

On the other end, the 8 bullies had also moved out of the way save for Travis, who was in the center of the pillar, still unleashing punches as his skin was burning from Danus' light attack, laughing maniacally. 

After the pillars faded out, the group was going to attack again, but- 

"AGAIN!?" Van exclaimed as once more, he and Sid ran away from the circle of light. 

"Looks like we have to finish this quickly." Grant said, turning to Jessica as they all avoided being in the pillar's radius. "Could you stagger him please?"

"Hmph." She grunted in affirmation.