Chapter 270

After our blades collide, we're both sent flying back as energy is expelled. A series of attacks follow at blindingly fast speeds.

Air-stepping through the sky, all that can be seen from a distance are flashes of red, black, and white light colliding as pulses of energy come out from the impossibly loud metallic clangs.

We both go into full battle mode. Each of us is solely focused on destroying the other completely at any moment of weakness.

Every time I gain a tiny bit of ground, the Arch Demon slips through on a side where I'm unprotected. The same goes for it. Each attack it throws leaves fractions of a second of leeway for me to Dungeon Walk in and block it. One slip-up with be the end for either of us.

The monster's senses are on par if not greater than mine.

It's able to manipulate its mana shielding faster than I can swing, while I'm able to blip away faster than it can attack.

The only way for either of us to land a hit is to get in close and risk getting hit ourselves. It's a perfectly even match-up.

Our battle styles are very similar too. Rigid and rational movements driven by hunger and greed for any room to strike.

The Arch Demon speaks up again as our endless clash of metal on metal continues.

"If you're unable to land a scratch on me, you have no hope of stopping the great collapse."

It grins, letting out a pulse of new red magic that covers its body.

Without teleporting, the monster moves over to me with blinding speed and eyes that seem to stare straight through my soul.

After just 20 seconds of numerous blocks, it seems like its activating a trump card and already going in for the kill.

The devious creature's silver sword comes down at me with nearly untraceable speed.

I block it with both my weapons at the last second but am pushed downward under the pressure of its attack.

It speaks again as I realize it activated its [Enrage] hidden ability. This is where this new power is coming from.

"A human has never challenged this labyrinth's top floor since it was created. I've had to travel to the nearby linked dungeons for my fun."

It grins while pushing me down toward the mountain below.

I'm clearly overpowered but can teleport away if I wish. However, it's spilling good information now that I'd rather not miss out on. I let the Arch Demon push my blades back as we fall through the sky.

It continues to speak through our link in a deep echoing voice.

"As my first and only challenger, I have to say your power is commendable. Unfortunately, a human can never truly surpass a demon in its element."

It pulses darker red, showing off even more power.

We fall past the two dragons as they clash. Fire and Ice explosions fill the sky lighting up the face of the Demon that angrily stares into my eyes.

A full second passes and I feel it activate another skill.

It pushes its sword forward with a powerful thrust, sending me down toward the base of the mountain and slicing into my side drawing blood. At this rate, It'll take less than 3 seconds to hit the center of the shallow area-like floor Ember and I flew over earlier.

I smirk, activating my self regeneration and life steal skills as we both fall.

The Demon continues as I watch two exact copies of itself emerge from the monster's back.

"I'll show you the full power of an Arch Demon and make you pay for your foolish remark against the King. You have no right to challenge the creator. The one true Demonic Emperor that will conquer this world like it has many others."

The beings that emerge from its back separate and I watch two body doubles at level 575 each detaching from its main body carrying the exact same long silver sword.

The two of them dive forward in front of the Arch Demon's main body and swing their swords down at me as the ground gets closer and closer. I finally reply, content with the information I've gathered.

"Bring it on."

My feet collide with the icy floor beside the mountain's base creating an impact crater tens of meters wide while blocking the two silver swords with my own weapons. The main Demon's body comes plummeting through and I Dungeon Walk backward to avoid its deadly red glowing strike.

Breathing heavily, I stare down the 3 crimson demons now 30 meters away as the ice chunks from our impact settles. Their 6 glowing white eyes lock onto me, and I stare back.

I can easily take out its doubles if I have a second or two alone, but focusing on one of them now would leave me wide open for a fatal blow.

Activating my item storage, I let the golem core from the dungeon break and the metal warrior core from the floor 23 boss room fall to the ground. I re-active my mana manipulation perk on both of them and allow both to respawn at level 500.

I clench my jaw as thousands of MP leave my body, but regain it instantly with my plunderer skill.

The black core of the Metal Warrior starts to pour shards of white metal from its abyss and form the monstrosity I fought earlier.

The shimmering clear core of the stone golem lies on the ground vibrating violently. The floor shatters and rock from deep underground forms around it to build up into a grey stone golem the same color as the exposed stone of the bare mountain in front of us.

Dense pink strings of mana are visible coming off my fingertips as I manipulate my minions to move forward. They're covered in shielding and are constantly being replenished from the source.

The two Demon body doubles run forward at them and leave the middle of the battlefield open for the main fighters to clash.

The Arch Demon snarls and lunges forward at me with blinding speed.

I smirk and push myself forward to match it.

All 6 of us clash at once, while both dragons collide in the sky.

A series of Dungeon Walker portals and teleportations follow as we chase each other around the battlefield. One slip-up from either of us will result in a fatal blow that finishes this battle.

Clash after clash only leads to minor arm, leg, and flesh wounds that I heal with self-regeneration and life steal. My mana sources are nearly unlimited, so I never need to worry about this.

The Demon is faster and stronger than me by about 30% with its new hidden ability activated, but the lag time between our teleports gives me just enough time to block and counter while landing quite a few hits of my own.

The Rock Golem and Metal Warrior are putting up a good match against their opponents. Even when their cores are shattered, the influx of MP heals them back to 100%. A distraction is all they need to be right now, so it's perfect.

Just 30 seconds pass, but it feels like hours. In such a short time, I've received over 30 small wounds and landed 10 of my own back on the menace.

I heal my HP and MP every time, but this doesn't help my mental and physical fatigue. I've never moved this fast and exerted this much power in my life.

Multiple times a second my MP bar's full capacity is used on the golems, my shielding, as well as full power attacks and healing spells.

It's invigorating and exciting... but the physical damage done to the Arch Demon is nowhere near enough to continue this battle style and have any hope of winning.

I push through and continue to wrack my brain for ideas...

The base of the mountain becomes a complete and total war zone.

All of the blue ice that covered it previously has melted away due to the enormous blasts and residue of my hot flames.

A full minute of endless clashing continues.

I heal over 60 more non-fatal wounds and land almost 2 dozen of my own back on the Arch Demon's arms and legs along with about 1000 HP from life steal. It's still at over half health, and the tingling sensation of overusing mana is starting to spread to every point on my body.

I won't be able to keep this up for much longer...

All of my stat-boosting skills are raging like a furnace and any sneaky tricks will take far too long to activate. A risky tactic would be to allow this monster to get me to under 10% health and activate [Final Breath], but I'd be putting myself in a vulnerable position with a limited amount of time to complete the task.

The last time I activated that move, I was asleep and out of commission for many days after.

I'll just have to endure...

Another 30 seconds pass and my body feels like it is being torn apart from the inside. I've burned through millions of MP in just a few minutes. I can't go on much further.

Dungeon Walking away isn't an option right now either. Even if I try to find Abby on another floor for a quick full restore, I imagine this Arch Demon would follow. It'd lead to me having to protect much more than just myself.

Every one of my teammates would be in danger then.

There's only one other option I can think of. It may be even riskier than the others but my intuition is telling me this may be the only way. Plus, when else will I get to try an ability like this one out...?

I stop in the center of the shallow arena as the golems clash by my sides and the dragons let out another magnificent ball of flames and ice high up in the sky above the mountain.

The Arch Demon flies my way with increasing velocity. It grins wider and wider as I stand still and take a deep breath while deactivating all of my active and passive skills.

Its voice echoes through my inner ear.

"A valiant battle for a human, but you see the result will only end in your failure. I have won."

It swings its sword, enjoying every moment that passes as it comes closer. The Demon believes in its heart that it's the winner.

I stare back with a confident grin and activate my newest skill.

"Demonic Energy Manipulation."

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Author's Note:

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