‘Demons…’ thought Luke with a serious expression, watching as the reddish creature slowly got to its feet, dazed from the blow.
Ajax sent him a telepathic message, informing him that lesser demons were attacking the labyrinth. He asked Luke to help the others so that as few people as possible would die, and Luke agreed-because that’s what friends do.
Luke glanced back. Behind the Nao, Eugene, and the others, three more demons were approaching, running as if their prey might escape at any moment and they’d miss out on a delicious feast.
The three demons looked identical in appearance. They had a grotesque, semi-alien humanoid form and stood about four meters tall.
Their bodies were massive and muscular, with a shiny blue viscous skin tone. Their eyes were red, glowing with malevolent and intimidating energy. Their mouths were small, filled with sharp teeth.
Their arms were long and muscular, ending in large hands with sharp claws, and their bulky torsos were hunched forward. Their legs were thin compared to the rest of their bodies but ended in feet with black claws.
The demon Luke had struck was the same, except its skin color was a fiery red instead of bright blue, as if it were in a berserker mode, with muscles that seemed ready to burst.
“We need to move,” Eugene said. They were caught in the midst of Luke’s impending battle with the demons. He knew he couldn’t help his friend and that the best course of action was to get the wounded away from the battlefield.
Yes, Eugene already considered Luke his first male friend. Although he didn’t know if Luke saw him the same way. He had helped him to win over Nao and overcome his fears. He felt a great improvement in his strength thanks to the fighting tournament.
“We won’t make it in time,” Julie murmured from behind the brown-haired boy, who was still shaken by his friend’s death and wasn’t in the best condition for battle.
“We’ll protect-“
Before Yoko, who had just stood up moments ago with blood at the corner of her mouth, could finish her sentence, Luke said, “Shambles.”
Eugene, Yoko, Nao, and the others vanished from where they stood and reappeared at the far end of the chamber, far from the monsters and Luke.
“What?” Julie murmured to herself, confused by the sudden teleportation. The others were equally surprised. Few people knew about the techniques Luke used in battle. Most who had witnessed them didn’t live to tell the tale.
Luke, seeing the three demons leaping toward him and shattering the stone floor of the labyrinth, created a powerful circular barrier around his body-a barrier capable of withstanding 10 tons of force.
The demons’ claws struck Luke’s translucent barrier. The impact resounded loudly, and the air seemed to vibrate from the sheer force of the collision. However, the barrier remained unbroken.
The effect didn’t stop there. The barrier not only absorbed the strength of their attacks but also released a shockwave in response to the impact. In an instant, the three demons were violently repelled backward, as if struck by an invisible explosion.
Luke didn’t stop there. Before the berserker demon could reach him, he had to take out one of the other three. He extended his arm, aiming at the blue demon on the right.
The demon, still in midair, felt a powerful force gripping it. Suddenly, that force began pulling it upward at a dizzying speed.
The creature roared, struggling to break free, but Luke’s telekinetic strength far surpassed its physical power. It could do nothing but ascend, rising higher and higher away from the ground.
“Down,” Luke murmured, making a sharp downward motion with his arm.
The demon began to plummet at a devastating speed, like a guided meteor, incapable of stopping its fall.
The blue demon’s head struck the ground with immense force, creating a crater upon impact. The violence of the collision pulverized its head and most of its torso, leaving behind only an unrecognizable mess of blood and crushed bones.
The only thing left was the lower half of its body, impaled upside-down in the ground.
The other two demons managed to stabilize themselves after Luke’s previous attack. They glanced at the remains of their fallen companion, then shifted their gaze back to Luke, this time watching him with more caution than before.
‘Seems they’re not mindless beasts,’ Luke thought. After all, most creatures have a basic instinct for survival or caution.
“What the hell…?” murmured the boy carrying Julie on his back. His group had struggled just to keep the demons at bay, but Luke had taken out one of these violent creatures in a matter of moments, and he was facing all of them alone.
“So fast?” Julie, the maid, murmured, her eyes wide as she watched the scene.
“Looks like I’ll live another day,” Eugene murmured, sighing in relief as he witnessed Luke’s strength firsthand. He had always heard rumors but never imagined he would be this powerful.
He had always considered Wednesday the strongest and most intimidating psychic in their class, but… was she really? After seeing Luke’s display of strength, he began to doubt whether she could defeat him.
“Amazing,” Nao said, looking at Luke with shining eyes, completely unfazed by the shattered remains of the demon’s body.
“…” Eugene glanced at her but said nothing.
As for Yoko, she was surprised but remained silent. She simply wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and straightened up, ready to help in the fight. She refused to be a useless
bystander.
Nao shared the same determination. Covering her body in electricity, she began running toward Luke alongside Yoko.
“We’ll handle these two normal ones, Luke!” Nao shouted, sending a powerful bolt of lightning at one of the demons. Yoko attacked the other with a massive hammer made of
blood.
Both of them knew from the earlier exchange that the red berserker demon was far stronger than they were, so they left it to Luke.
Luke nodded, satisfied that the people he was saving weren’t cowards waiting helplessly on the sidelines.
As for Eugene, Luke knew he wasn’t the most useful in a fight, but he watched as the boy carefully placed the injured girl on the ground before running toward Nao and Yoko.
‘He’s grown,’ Luke thought, as if he were watching a pet grow older, becoming stronger and more capable. He made a mental note to tell Wednesday about this later. Thinking of Wednesday, Luke decided to send her a telepathic message. He trusted his girlfriend’s strength-she was the danger. Lesser demons would need sheer luck not to cross paths with her, but he wanted to stay in communication given the unusual circumstances.
Demons weren’t a common occurrence. Stranger than a Hyde, it was bizarre that so many had appeared. As for their attack, it was typical of these vile creatures to assault anything they saw once they emerged.
[Hey, lesser demons have appeared, according to Ajax. This is my first time fighting them, so I don’t have a clear visual reference. I’m facing four here; I’ve already killed one. Have you run into any?] Luke asked while creating another shield that lightly pushed back the red demon, which was growing increasingly enraged.
Wednesday, who had just vanished into her own shadow, received Luke’s telepathic message without losing focus.
She emerged from the shadow of a demon that failed to react in time, slicing its head off with
her scythe of darkness.
“Finally, your damned neck…” Wednesday murmured, watching the ugly demon head fly through the air before hitting the ground.
It had taken several cumulative strikes to the demon’s neck before its tough skin gave way, allowing her to sever the head from the body.
[Yes, I’m already fighting them. There are five here; I’ve killed one. A fantastic evening.] Wednesday responded to Luke as she surveyed the destruction in the chamber.
The guardian knight statues lay shattered, their pieces scattered across the hall.
Wednesday and Enid had cleared the area of other threats, but just as they were about to step through the threshold of the door, five demons arrived.
“Get back!” Enid shouted, delivering a powerful kick to a demon’s large stomach, sending it flying. Her leg had partially transformed, enhancing her strength.
By getting rid of this demon, Enid’s gaze quickly shifted to the one she had already weakened
with several strikes.
With a fierce roar, she charged at it, her right arm partially transforming. The demon swung its massive claws at her, but Enid dodged with agility and countered with a swift, forceful
move.
She leaped onto the demon, positioning herself atop its head, and drove her claws directly
into its skull.
The demon roared in fury and pain, thrashing wildly in an attempt to throw her off, but Enid’s strength was overwhelming. She crushed the demon’s head, which collapsed under her
weight.
‘Another one down. Three left,’ thought Wednesday, her cold, calculating eyes locking onto the remaining creatures. Two of them were similar to the ones they had just killed. But the
third… was different.
This third demon barely stood 1.30 meters tall. Its thin, gaunt body starkly contrasted with the others’ robust forms. Its bluish, slimy skin clung tightly to its bones, making it even more
repulsive than the rest.
Despite its ugly and insignificant appearance, it radiated an unsettling aura of danger. It hadn’t attacked or shown any intention of doing so; instead, it lingered on the sidelines, occasionally emitting guttural sounds.
This made Wednesday realize the demon had some level of intelligence, suggesting it might be on the verge of evolving into an intermediate demon, which meant it was likely stronger than the other lesser demons.
[Do you need me to come?] Luke asked, concerned upon learning Wednesday was facing four
demons.
[No. I’m with Enid, though that’s irrelevant. Her strength is useful, so I don’t need help]
Wednesday replied.
[Is Eugene with you?] she asked.
[Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t let him die] Luke assured her, putting Wednesday at ease. She could
now fully focus on the thrilling life-and-death battle before her.
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