Elvis vs Vanitas

"Begin!"

Immediately after Jack's voice cut off, both of them launched at the other party with their swords raised high.

"Hah!" Elvis cried as he swung down his sword.

Vanitas met his blow with his black sword. As the two connected, the sound of metal ringing resounded in the arena with a - clang!

Elvis tried to push him back by applying more force to his sword. However, he quickly realized that it wouldn't be useful. So he pushed away.

"Not bad," He said. Vanitas didn't reply and just waited for him to attack again.

Elvis launched again. This time with more force. Their swords met again. This time, instead of trying to push him, Elvis moved his swords in quick succession without giving Vanitas much time to launch an attack of his own.

"He really is strong." Someone muttered in the crowd.

They had heard that those in the rank of Lieutenant were really strong but for many of those present here, today was the first time they had seen someone of that rank in action. They were simply blown away by his moves and the power behind his swings. But, they were also blown away by something else.

"But I think the newbie is equally amazing."

"Yeah. He has been able to parry or dodge every single one of his attacks."

The sword came from above his head. Vanitas held his sword horizontally to block. The force of the blow caused his foot to cave in a bit. He has really good muscle power. Vanitas thought as he dodged a kick coming from the left, aiming at his lower stomach.

He had moved to the left to dodge the kick. And now the long sword was coming at him from his left. He kicked off the ground and moved backward to dodge once again.

"Got you!" He suddenly heard a voice coming from behind me.

He looked over his shoulder and found Elvis in midair, trying to bring the sword down at his head. He had managed to slip back even faster than Vanitas.

He probably used the power of his demon to enhance his physical abilities.

The sword gleamed and reflected the moonlight as it came down swiftly.

However, the sword didn't meet its target and instead lodged itself into the ground. When the dust settled down, Elvis saw Vanitas stand a few meters ahead of him with his sword on his shoulder.

'How did he manage to dodge that?' Elvis thought. Not only that, he had attacked Vanitas countless times by now and there were multiple times when he had thought that he had got him. But every time he had managed to either parry or dodge his attack. He started feeling something. He started getting frustrated. Is he really strong like the General said? He found himself asking that.

'No.' He thought. 'I couldn't be swayed this easily.'

Elvis steadied his breathing. He sucked in a large breath and then attacked once again with more ferocity and agility than before. It was as if he was being more and more adept as the battle continued. Vanitas had noticed it as well.

As the two continued to trade blows, sparks flew across the arena. The spectators could only see the sparks and weren't able to trace their movements at all. They were so fast that they couldn't follow them with their eyes.

One sharp horizontal swing managed to make a small cut on Vanitas's right hand.

This was the first hit scored in today's duel. Although Elvis had managed to cause damage to his opponent, he wasn't particularly happy. It was a small hit after all.

However, after that, there was a visible change in Vanitas.

He stood in the middle of the arena without moving. That left him open to attacks but Elvis didn't go in for it. He felt afraid for some reason. Although he was standing there motionless and his sword was gripped loosely in his hand, he felt that if he were to go for an attack then he will be done for. But turns out, even without him attacking, he was already done for.

Vanitas muttered to himself and nobody but he heard his sound.

"Guess, I will have to get a bit serious as well."

He then used the power of the demon he had entered a contract with. Yes, during this entire battle, he had been fighting against Elvis purely of his own power.

He tightened the grip on his sword.

Then, this time he launched himself toward Elvis.

Elvis was sure that he hadn't even blinked but all of a sudden, Vanitas was right in front of him. He swung his sword diagonally at Elvis.

Elvis raised his sword to block his attack but the force behind it caused his hands to go numb. He somehow managed to not lose his grip.

Vanitas didn't let up, however. He followed with swings after swings of his sword. Each one was more powerful and faster than the one before. Elvis was having difficulty following his every attack.

He was completely overwhelmed. Elvis originally hailed from the clans of swordsmen that resided in the cold northern region of the country. They were regarded as the most powerful of swordsmen in the whole country and even among them Elvis was considered one of the strongest. The fact that someone like him was being overwhelmed in his area of expertise by a newcomer was frustrating him.

In anger, he hollered.

"You bastard!"

He then immediately released the power of the demon inside him. A black miasma was spreading out from his long sword. The thick miasma covered his sword and then he swung it horizontally.

A black particle of what seemed to be smoke and air traveled at high speed towards Vanitas. It wasn't just one. Elvis followed it with multiple slashes, all homing in on Vanitas.

Vanitas, however, looked totally unfazed.

He raised his sword and slashed at the sharp, black mass. The miasma upon contact with his sword was cut into two and they struck the defensive barrier behind him. The force of the blow caused the barrier to tremble a bit but it still stood strong.

The slashes came at him one after the other in rapid succession but Vanitas cut all of them with ease and grace. His sword movements were so refined and elegant that all the spectators were mesmerized by them. It was almost as if he was dancing with the sword in his hand.

Even Dominique, who usually didn't show much expression, had her mouth hung open and eyes glued to him.

The fact that none of his attacks worked seemed to rile Elvis more.

'Why? Why are none of my attacks working? How did he manage to cut them all? No, there's o way he could be strong than me. No way he could be as strong as the General. I will prove it. I will kill him and prove it here and now. I will fucking prove it!!!!!!!!!!'

He was overtaken by his anger and fury. He wasn't in his right state of mind. With only a single desire to crush the man before him, he did something that wasn't permitted inside the headquarter. He called on his demon.

"Overtake me, Phthonos!"

Suddenly, black marks started appearing on his face, as if insects crawling up. His eyes turned completely red. And he looked like he had gone insane - which he truly had.

He laughed maniacally as he launched at Vanitas.

Vanitas knew that Elvis had allowed the demon he had contracted to overtake him. Those who had good control over their demons and were strong enough could momentarily allow their demons to take control of their body and manifest more of their true powers. However, one needed to make sure that they still had the upper hand against their demons. Otherwise, there was a possibility they could completely overtake the contractee, causing them to go berserk.

Vanitas wasn't sure which was the case with Elvis but he was sure that he wouldn't be able to fight with just the enhancement of his physical abilities. If he used his demon's power, he would be able to knock him out easily. But, he didn't want to. The power of his demon wasn't cheap. It demanded sacrifice every time its power was borrowed to more than a certain extent. He could use some bit of his demon's power freely but he knew it wouldn't be enough. But any more than that, the greedy demon demanded a sacrifice from its contractee. And that sacrifice was something that Vanitas didn't want to make often. And most definitely not here.

As he wondered what to do, Elvis rushed at him.

He had already covered more than half of the distance between the two. Vanitas readied his sword and coated it in his demon's power.

However, before Elvis could reach him, someone fell from above and kicked him fiercely. He was instantly knocked hard to the ground. The area around where he had fallen caved in because of the impact. After taking the kick, Elvis stopped moving completely and lay motionless on the ground. He was knocked unconscious.

Up on his broad back, sat a bewitching woman with purple hair flowing elegantly in the air. She was wearing a hat with a pointed top and a dress that hugged her body completely. Because of that, the shape and size of her bust and bottom were clear for everyone to see. Her body had fine curves and she was wearing a thigh-high boot.

She placed her hands on her cheek and looked at Vanitas. Her eyes were that of a witch and she was trying to pry some sort of secret from Vanitas. It was a bit different from the General's gaze. It was bewitching and it drew you in.

She said nothing and continued to look for a while, while musing to herself.

Then she turned toward the crowd and declared in a sweet voice.

"Since Elvis used the power of his demon and breached the rule, the winner is Vanitas!"

There was a piercing silence for a time after her declaration then came the thunderous applause.

"Wah!"

"Amazing!"

"That was cool, newbie!"

"This guy's way too strong!"

"For the first time, it was the newbie doing the crushing!"

Cheers of all sorts coalesced and reached his ears in a pleasant note.

Relieved that the dangerous situation hadn't come to pass, he heaved a sigh he had been holding.