Inside the Simulation World...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Two blurs clashed at a speed barely visible to the naked eye. One was a huge creature that looked like an utter abomination while one was a person that has donned a white cloak and wielded a wicked-looking scythe doused in white flames.
Each time they clashed, space itself trembled. The impact of their fight caused the earth to rupture, winds to howl, and the sky to darken.
These figures were none other than Demon Prince Lu in his Leech Abomination Form and Ashton who is now wielding the scythe that Aria created for him.
Both are locked in a deadly melee and refused to retreat from this challenge. Everywhere they clashed, a pool of toxic blood was sure to appear.
None of it was Ashton's though. Due to the unique function of his Cloak of Apparitions, so long as he could react before it was too late, he could apparate and evade, what normally would be, a fatal blow for him. He could even use that as bait, drawing the demon prince in, to land a decent hit on him.
Ashton would sometimes pull out the Mortal Reminder on its base form to restrict the movements of the demon prince but most of the time, he is using that scythe to deal with the abomination.
It is unknown how many times Demon Prince Lu brushed off a fatal attack like it was nothing but Ashton knew it well. Even though it doesn't look like he's doing much, he knows that he's pushing the Demon Prince to the brink of death every time the scythe cleaves a part of the demon prince's body.
The regenerative power of this bitch is off the charts. It sucks that Ashton doesn't have a spell that can mitigate that but he'll make do with what he has.
Admittedly, Ashton's proficiency with Scythe wielding isn't too great yet. Especially that now he's more sensitive to the world itself and the existence of profound things such as 'Laws', Ashton literally winces due to how bad he is.
Nevertheless, he still presses on. After all, combat is the best teacher. It doesn't matter if he dies in the Simulation World anyway, he could just boot it up again and he's set.
As he grew stronger, Ashton's sense of combat grows as well. Along with the experiences he's accumulating thanks to his consistent effort, these factors allowed him to challenge beings that should normally be way above his pay grade.
It is challenging but Ashton has to rise to the occasion. After all, if not him, then who?
Zing!
A strong fluctuation was released from his scythe. Ashton held it using both hands, grunted, and performed a clean jerk which sent the scythe cleaving the space in front of him diagonally.
A large white projectile appeared, it is so sharp that it cuts through the air like a hot knife through butter. This projectile was Ashton's mana concentrated and blessed with White Magic.
The projectile sliced the air and passed through the Demon Prince's body without any problems. The Leech Abomination paused on its tracks, shortly after, it busted into white-hot flames and a diagonal, gaping wound appeared on its body.
Toxic blood splattered everywhere, Ashton evaded most of it as he pulled out the Mortal Reminder - Rocket Launcher Form to his hands and proceeded to load it with 10 spells he Memorized before this battle began.
A shell formed and Ashton aimed. Pulling the trigger, he fired and jumped so far back to escape the impact as soon as the shell exited the launcher.
BOOOM!
An explosion so strong that it left a stadium-sized crater occurred. Ashton could feel the aftershocks even with how far he retreated. A huge mushroom cloud appeared one that can be seen from a mile away.
Ashton paused for a moment and thought that instead of a rocket shell, he might've launched a nuke instead.
'Well, but if it works, then it works. Got no complaints here.'
That's what he thought when he heard a crisp jingle on his ears and he felt his surroundings changing back to its default setting.
He did it. Ashton killed Demon Prince Lu.
A Demon Prince that not even Sorcerers dare to mess with, died in his hands. Well, it was a simulation yes, but granted that this simulation was so realistic, this might as well be counted as him actually doing it.
If he could kill Demon Prince Lu in the simulation, he could also kill him in reality.
'Whew...' Ashton heaved a sigh, 'Out of 344 matches against this motherfucker. I finally won one. Damn.'
That's a bit embarrassing to admit out loud but it's no foul considering that he basically did something deemed impossible through regular standards.
Now that he won once, he could do it again. It doesn't necessarily mean that his next move should be to replicate this victory in real life. There's no harm in making sure that he can actually defeat the demon prince but doing it some more.
If there's a way he could eliminate his enemy most efficiently, why wouldn't he do that? It doesn't hurt to be sure.
'Plus...' Ashton lifted the scythe and looked at it in a meaningful way. 'I still haven't applied the improved Blood-Drinking Seal into this thing, so more tests are needed.'
[Bone Scythe]
: Created by an experienced Artificer using the spine of an Undead Dragon, Claw-Blades of a Demonized Mantis, and several other Demonic Trinkets, this scythe is durable and possesses extreme sharpness that would never fade.
: It could extend its reach according to the user's will due to the unique materials it was made out of. It could also conduct mana smoothly, allowing the user to enhance their attacks with it.
The Bone Scythe - the name that Ashton just casually came up for the damn thing, was 110 inches long, weighs around 100 kilograms, and has a blade that is just a shy away from reaching 50 inches.
It is one hell of a wicked scythe if Ashton had ever seen one, he doubted if Mr. Slayer's scythe was anywhere near as ridiculous as this thing was but he digresses, this thing is massive and looks sick as fuck...
This means he absolutely loves it...
How can he not? First and foremost, his lovely girlfriend was the one who made this for him with all the love and consideration she has. Secondly, although it's a little bit unruly to use, having this thing cleaving large swathes of enemies was extremely satisfying.
The way he has to drag it with a controlled force which causes a wide range of death and chaos felt awesome. Yes, it's a little scary to give this thing a twirl since he could shank himself with it if he's not careful but it's fiiiine...he's a white mage, surely he can heal himself and walk off any accidents.
Moreover, this thing just looks wicked. He still remembers facing a hoard of thousands of demons in this Simulation Zone with this thing. The feeling he got when demons themselves felt so afraid of him, shaking like a lead as he starts walking towards them as he held this thing, was thrilling and addicting.
Screw him for being petulant but it's fun to reverse the roles sometimes so he doesn't mind the difficulty of using this thing.
Well, his [Basic Scythe Arts] was at the 1-Star Unity Rank already. It's still far from his Firearms Mastery but it's getting there.
Now that he knows that he could kill the Demon Prince with his skill, it's about time he weaved the Blood-Drinking Seal into this thing.
Ashton's mind retreated from the Simulation Zone. He stood up and stretched his body for a bit, feeling phantom pains here and there but nothing that a healing spell couldn't get rid of.
Once he's good and all. He went to a nearby table and placed the Bone Scythe on it. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and briefly recalled the procedures on how to create the Blood-Drinking Seal.
Once his memory was refreshed, he took out a dagger from his Inventory and sliced his wrist, drawing out a good amount of his blood.
He let the scythe become drenched in it for a few seconds before he began chanting something unintelligible. The sounds he made caused a weird fluctuation to occur around him. He poured mana on his fingertips and began drawing a complex inscription in the air.
His hands blurred as he drew the lines needed for the inscription. The fluctuation became stronger and stronger until the blood staining the scythe reacted to it.
"Fuse!" Ashton roared out an order and the seal suddenly let out a blinding crimson brilliance as his blood fused to it.
Ashton kept his attention on the process. He watched as the seal condensed and fused into the Bone Scythe.
All of the blood he drained from himself earlier was gone, they fused perfectly with the seal.
It was when he felt his connection with the Bone Scythe becoming closer that he confirmed that he succeeded.
Now, he just has to secure a few more rounds of victory for himself against the Demon Prince and he'd be ready to kill that thing once and for all.
