Those Who Laugh First, Cry At The Last

"Rarrrgh!!!" Jarius roared as his red eyes briefly glowed after drinking the contents in the vial.

"The fuck? He still had one potion left? Ron, didn't he use up all five?" William asked with a baffled look upon noticing how this demon's aura got amped.

"I think he must have faked it the last time to fool us," Ron said with a frown while correcting his grip on his sharp shield, which acted as his weapon as well.

"Hmph, so what? He will still die trying. Come!" William roared as he tried to charge at Jarius to kill him.

"Take care of him quickly!" Jarius pushed Porun forward, who was taken by surprise, seeing how he was being pushed to face William, who was coming in his direction with his sword raised high.

"You filthy goblin, die!" William was annoyed seeing this goblin get in the way and slashed at his neck.

Porun's eyes widened as he tried to use his spear to block his attack, but his body froze in shock as William's sharp sword cut through the wooden shaft of his spear as easy as cutting through butter.

Porun closed his eyes, knowing his fate was sealed, and the next moment a fountain of blood gushed out of his severed neck as his decapitated head rolled down on the cold ground.

Just a few seconds ago, Jarius took advantage of William's distraction to charge at Ron, who only had a shield with sharp edges in his hand.

Ron gulped since even if he was acting unfazed all this while, he was not in good shape, especially after spending so much mana for the initial battles where he had to take on two goblins before managing to kill them.

And seeing the strongest demon of this dungeon coming at him, he tried to bash him down with his shield.

"How foolish!" Jarius mocked as he easily dodged Ron's attempt to ram him with his shield.

"Now bleed to death!" Jarius gave a wicked smile as he slashed Ron's stomach with his saber, leaving a very deep and wide cut that didn't look good at all.

"Ron!" Jarius, who had just killed Porun, was shocked to see Ron lying on the ground, bleeding to death. He then saw this vampire step forward and look at him with a sadistic smile, "That was too easy. I should have targeted him first."

Jarius only gave a brief glance at Porun's corpse and was satisfied that he at least died after doing his part despite not being that useful in fighting.

"You despicable fucker. You are dead meat anyway," William said as his expression contorted into a vengeful one.

"Not before I drain your blood," Jarius said as he licked the blood on his saber.

"Yaaargh!!" William let out a battle cry as he lunged at this bloodsucking demon.

Jarius was surprised that he was worried about fighting this dumb human who was coming at him wide open.

But he frowned when William's mana surged, and his long sword blazed with bright flames, "F-Fire element?" Jarius now realized why this Hunter never seemed to fight seriously all this time. William was purposefully hiding the true nature of his mana to take him by surprise, and this was bad news since fire was a natural bane for vampires like him.

"Haha, you should see your face right now!" William laughed with a frenzied look since he knew that Jarius no longer had any ace up his sleeve and he could take revenge for his friend as well.

*Thwang!*

Jarius used his saber to defend himself from William's attack, but the flames were getting bigger as they blazed on William's sword.

"Urghh…" Jarius was groaning in pain as the skin of his hands began to flay off since they were the closest to William's flames.

The excruciating pain was making him lose his strength gradually every second as his feet were forced to push back through the ground.

"Burn to death already. No point in struggling. The victory was always mine," William said with a smug look as he wasn't even going all out, but his flames were doing a good enough job to suppress this vampire.

"Argh!" Jarius couldn't endure it any longer as he had to lower his hands before they got turned to ashes. But unfortunately for him, this left him wide open, and William easily pushed on with his sword and,

*Slash!*

"AAARGH!"

William's sword left a deep laceration on Jarius's shoulder, making him stagger and fall on the ground while bleeding profusely.

"UGHHHH…" Jarius was groaning with a grimace as he clutched his bleeding shoulder, which rendered his left arm useless. Even if William didn't use his flames, there was no chance of coming back with such severe injuries.

"I never thought killing a small demon lord would be this easy. But well…I am destined for greatness, and one day even the Demon Queen would fall at my feet, haha," William said with a supercilious look as he raised his sword slowly to deal the killing blow, "But unfortunately for you…You won't live to see that day."

*Sling!*

But suddenly, the sound of a sharp metal cutting through air resounded in the area.

"Who the fuck!" William suddenly felt something sharp and hot cutting across his back, even though the injuries were light. But he was taken by surprise as he didn't expect another demon to suddenly enter the dungeon.

He quickly jumped a few steps back and looked at the large dark entrance with a wary look.

Jarius, who was lying on the ground, also looked at the entrance to see who it was.

The walls of the dark entrance were slowly getting revealed as dark green light fell on them.

William squinted his eyes as he saw the silhouette of a person, but their head and hands were blazing with dark green flames, making him realize that it was a demon, but how was this demon alive if his head was on flames? He also never had flames with such a spine-chilling color.

"It seems you like to play with fire just like me," The tone was casual, yet the voice was chilling as these words echoed in the area.

"What the fuck are you…" William mumbled upon seeing a strange demon who had no skin or flesh but only a black skeleton blazing with dark, eerie green flames. It was only wearing a black cloak, and its empty, hollow, yet glowing green eyes made William's hair stand on its ends. He had never ever seen a demon with such an unnerving appearance.

Even Jarius, who was relieved to see William get distracted, was surprised by the sight of this demon whom he couldn't even recognize. He would have surely known if a skeleton was running around in his realm with dark green flames all over its body.

Hellbringer?...Was this demon created from some kind of dark magic he had no idea of?

"What I am should be the least of your concerns," Asher said as he flashed his Blade of Damnation which flared up with dark green flames. Asher could see that this guy was a Hunter but could tell that he was just an amateur.

William shook his head as he came to his senses and realized something, "Tch, a mere level 1 demon like you dare to enter this dungeon and talk big? You almost had me there for a second. Too bad you walked into your grave."

William couldn't believe he got intimidated before by the appearance of this so-called 'Hellbringer' when in reality, it was just a low-level demon who must have no idea how weak it was.

Jarius, who was elated at first, was frustrated and angry that he got hopeful for nothing.

"You useless trash, why would you accept this quest when someone stronger could have? What is the point in dragging your weak ass here for no reason? Fuck!" Jarius was venting at this Hellbringer when suddenly he howled in pain as his injuries weren't getting any better.

Asher turned his head, and after a moment of silence, he said in a respectful tone, "Forgive me, young lord, but I will help you kill this Hunter. You won't regret having some confidence in me."

"Hahaha! God…I can't believe this. It seems like the demon realm is getting filled with fools and weaklings after the death of the Demon King," William laughed with a look of ridicule as he found it laughable that a level 1 was talking so confidently about defeating him, a level 5.

Jarius didn't even bother wasting his energy talking to this idiot and was thinking of ways he could escape. Even if he knew he was fucked, he desperately wanted to live.

"Those who laugh first always end up crying in the end. Let me prove it to you," Asher said in a deep, chilling voice as he charged towards this Hunter, making William snort as he casually raised his sword since just a simple swing would be enough to cleave through its bones.