Devil's Hour

'Pandemonium?'

I repeated to myself. This guy was different from the group stages. Joker doesn't seem human, moreover. I turn my head to scan the surroundings. Most of the seating area in the stands have collapsed in on itself, while people were evacuating. Some were able to get out, but minorities are...

My eyes locked onto a body crushed under rubble, with blood splattered all around it. There were others with severed limbs and body parts. I couldn't stomach it–I vomited on the spot.

They're dead. They died in the collision of everything. What is this Pandemonium, anyways? There was a loud inhumane shriek. I felt fatigued from seeing all the corpses, I couldn't turn.

Not being able to tell what was happening, I heard a weird noise. Like blades running through skin was deeper. A slight thud and I heard Arcana sigh.

'Are you okay? I'll cure you, wait for a little.'

She bent down and put her hand on my forehead.

'Heal.'

A green light shone from her hand.

'Ah!'

I jumped up–I felt a slight burn on my forehead, but my fatigue and sickness seemed to have gone. But what the fuck was that? It hurt.

'Were you really trying to heal me?'

'Yes. Oh, I forgot that Demons have a natural blemish for Light Magic.'

Arcana snickered behind her hand. She definitely didn't. Something flashed past my face. Turning, I see a red body being burned and cremated by blue flames. Sirius seemed to have got it directly in the head, but what is that?

«Those are low-ranked Demons. They were summoned to Devil's Hour by The Demon Clock, Chronos.»

Devil's Hour? Is this what Joker was talking about when he said, "Pandemonium?"

'Altair, Sirius, handle the demons here! I'll go for Jo–'

'I'll do it!'

I shouted on instinct. Arcana and Sirius looked at me quizzically.

'If I stay here, I'll hold Sirius back. The best choice is for me to try and stop Joker!'

'Go on! Arcana and I will handle the demons!'

Sirius said, trying to target the demons charging toward us. Arcana didn't seem to agree at first, but she eventually agreed. She drew her two daggers and started to slash at the demons. I better go now before he decides to go somewhere else. Leaping off of the stand edge, I landed, feet first, in the arena.

Ah! This guy is–

Prince Guist and Eustance were on the ground, next to each other, they looked wounded. Joker kicked Prince Eustace's head and lit another cigar. He looked uninterested. Until he turned to me. His expression looked more perplexed than excited.

'Oi. Kid. I know you're strong and all, but, how are you standing? No normal human can move a lot during Devil's Hour.'

'That's simple. I'm a Demon.'

I said, looking to see if there were any openings. He looked full of them, but that's me talking from a novice's point of view. I'm guessing that–

«There are no openings.»

Knew it. His perplexed look then turned into one of his regular smiles. This one had a sense of malice behind it. I could tell. Looks like all the years of being a hikikomori paid off in a different world. And because of that, I should be able to...

'Ah, if you're a Demon then join m–'

'No thanks. I don't want anything to do with Devil's Hour and Pandemonium.'

The arms of Joker became cloaked in electricity. His ki. Something that would be dangerous. I saw Joker use ki during Group B Preliminaries. If he gets a decent hit on me, while he's using ki, then my ki core will be destroyed, or something similar. In conclusion, don't get hit. The best way will be to maintain my distance. I have defences like Battle Thread and Earth Magic.

Ai, how much mana do I have?

«Total Mana Capacity: 300,000/300,000»

Woah! Is that a lot?

«You can use Spatial Rupture five times in a row.»

That's a lot then.

'I know what you're thinking.'

I snapped back to reality. Joker started smirking.

'You're going to try keep a distance because I can rupture your ki core. Am I right?'

I didn't reply.

'I see then. I'll attack first.'

He leapt from his position toward me. There was a loud clap and a flash of light. He moving toward me, but I couldn't see him. I didn't move from my position but swiftly used Earth Magic to create a large wall in front of me, using my foot as a medium. It was broken in an instant. My next move was the same type as the wall. I used Sabre Composition–blades burst out of the ground and launched themselves at Joker. He quickly leapt backwards and warded off all of the blades.

Joker shot electric orbs from his hands–rapidly too. I whipped them away using Battle Thread. When that assault finished, I blasted blue flames out of my hands. (This was the Unique Skill, Azure Flames.) He put his arms in an X-shape in front of him and endured the flames. The clothing on the arms of his clothes was completely burned off. I kissed the top of my mouth, making a "tch!" sound.

'We're getting nowhere.'

I said.

'If so, then I'll–'

Joker turned around but stopped in shock. He couldn't find what he was looking for. I gave him a cheeky smile. Turning back to me, he shouted.

'When did they disappear?!'

He's referring to the two princes. Those guys were conscious the whole time but were waiting for a chance to dip. I kindly came in and gave it to them.

'When we were clashing. They ran off around when you broke through my Earth Magic. Now you don't have any scapegoats.'

'That's fine, I'll be killing you, anyways.'

The ki emitted from his arms seemed to become stronger. His eyes started glowing but in blue colour. Joker really was preparing to kill me. I think I'll use that skill against him, but, for now, I'll hold my own.

'I'd like to see you try.'

I gave him a slight smile.