With the Blood-Drinking Seal now etched to the Bone Scythe, Ashton felt that his connection with it go deeper.
After a couple of rounds of testing, he found out that this was certainly the case. Wielding the ridiculously large scythe became much easier for him than before.
He also discovered that there were some major changes in the scythe now...
[Blood-Drinking Bone Scythe]
: Made from Demonic Remains. Flexible can extend and possesses sharpness that will never dull.
: Blood Thirst - This scythe can consume the blood of opponents who fell under its blade. The more blood this scythe consumes, the stronger it gets.
Killing multiple enemies of the same kind increases this weapon's lethality against that enemy kind. Stacks infinitely.
Killing enemies that are stronger than the weapon's wielder and having their blood absorbed by the seal will have a small chance of raising the weapon's quality.
These changes were welcomed of course. Since Ashton modified the Blood Drinking Seal to be better than its previous form, its effects will be more terrifying considering how many methods Ashton has in his repertoire.
He rested for a bit after engraving the seal onto the Scythe. Once he was well rested, he went back into his training, but this time, instead of fighting Demon Prince Lu, he chose a different opponent.
And that opponent was himself...
See, this is something that Ashton thinks he should take advantage of more. Testing his skills against himself sounds like a redundant idea but in truth, this will have a greater effect on him compared to fighting other enemies.
At the end of the day, his goal was to become stronger each day if possible. And the one who pressures him the most and squeezes the most potential out of him could only be himself.
The Simulation Zone can't be used to pass down enlightenment, but he still could experience it so long as he's fighting someone who has skills.n
Ashton set his simulated avatar to be around the same strength as he was. The parameters were set strictly for Scythe uses only, spells are forbidden as so were guns. Ashton will have to fight against himself with nothing but pure sycthe skills.
Mana wasn't restrained though, meaning that he and the simulated avatar can use mana to fuel their attacks, making it deadlier than usual.
Once everything was set, Ashton started the battle, and immediately, he was alarmed by the fact that he needed to dodge, pronto.
He followed his instincts and narrowly dodged the tip of the scythe from poking a hole through his skull. He twirled the scythe to retaliate, but it was stopped by the avatar's foot slamming down heavily on the scythe's blade.
Ashton felt the impact of the stomp coursing through his body, causing his grip on the scythe to loosen. It was then followed by a wide swing aimed at his neck.
Pupils dilating and coldly sweating, he swiftly ducked and tugged at his scythe to pull it off from the avatar's restriction. This caused the avatar to lose its balance so Ashton followed up with a wide swing, also aiming at the avatar's neck.
The avatar leaned back and narrowly dodge the attack, then the avatar retreated while spinning the scythe in front of them.
Ashton held his scythe and watched the avatar warily. The avatar suddenly raised its scythe and slashed diagonally using its scythe. A wide projectile suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was sharp and could certainly slice Ashton in half.
Ashton countered this by performing an upward slice, which was then followed by a large, shark's fin-like projectile. It sliced the diagonal projectile in half, leaving just enough gap for Ashton to fit and be unharmed.
The avatar side-stepped Ashton's projectile before running towards him again.
The start of this battle was abrupt, Ashton completely lose the initiative and was forced to retaliate and respond to the rhythm the avatar made for their battle.
This is no good of course. Ashton knows that if he's being swept by the enemy's pace, he'd lose this match fast and quite miserably. Trust him, he'd know. After all, where else did the avatar learn this kind of thing?
The intense fight continued, and for the first time ever, Ashton finally felt what it was like to deal with his own tricks and schemes.
It's annoying. Especially since he knows it's happening yet once it starts happening, it's difficult to upset the rhythm at all. What's more is that this is just a battle with purely scythe skills. No spells, no guns, only the skills and he's losing.
That's quite depressing actually...
Nevertheless, Ashton managed to cinch victory over his avatar despite the difficulty. He won by the skin of his teeth though so it didn't make him overly happy.
The only reason why he won was because of the momentary mishap on the avatar's part. Ashton managed to chip the avatar's skin with the edge of the scythe and leave a large wound on their chest. He followed it with another swing that avatar fell.
Still, though he won, Ashton felt like that battle was even more difficult than fighting the Demon Prince itself. Plus, the avatar was clearly holding back due to the stipulations Ashton placed for the match.
But this proved to him that his decision was indeed correct. He has to fight himself more since he could feel more pressure this way than using the other method.
For now, he'd retain those stipulations; strictly for Scythe skills. It's because he could feel himself improving faster at this rate. As time went on, he wouldn't mind going all out with his avatars but again, for now, this would suffice.
He also attempted to fight Demon Prince Lu a couple more times. He could win against him now but in some rounds, he's still losing so he reckoned that it's not yet the time for confrontation.
Needless to say though, this should only take a few more days. Eventually, when he could win all his mock battles with the Demon Prince, he'd have to confidence to enact the final part of his plans.
"Actually..." Ashton mused to himself as he spied outside of the library's walls. "Maybe I can start it now..."
Ashton did some calculations in his mind and felt more convinced.
He needs to set the stage properly for the showdown anyway, and that will take some time to do.
According to his plan, he could probably begin laying off in tormenting the poor Demon Prince and his lackeys.
The past few days and weeks were the most horrible ones that the Demon Prince experienced in his entire life.
The previously dignified, cold, and aloof Demon Prince Lu is now reduced to a haggard, tired, and extremely vexed demon who's on the verge of a mentak breakdown.
At this point, Demon Prince Lu was convinced that this must be some kind of karma at play. Not even his sincere worship of the Demon God allowed him to escape these vexing events.
The pranks continued and nothing can be done to stop them. Demon Prince Lu was already starting to forget what a good sleep was like since it's been so long since he had one.
...we can say that he's being very dramatic about this since it's only just weeks but still, for a royal demon like him, a proud and privileged one, this kind of torture is just inhumane.
At this point, he's just so done with everything. He stopped trying to figure out who was doing this and stopped bothering him altogether. He neither had the energy nor the time to pay attention to that anymore.
All he wanted, was for this damn mission to end, yet even that's vexing him because for some reason, the production of Ghouls was at an all-time low these past few days and he seriously has no idea why.
All he could do right now is to endure and just stretch his patience a little bit more since he was close. Very close to being done with this mission and this god-forsaken place altogether.
Unbeknownst to him though, thanks to the mercy of whoever it was, he'll have some reprieve.
Within the next few days, Demon Prince Lu was a bit surprised to discover that he suddenly felt well. He felt light and airy as if he was treading on clouds. He then discovered that during the past few days, he'd been getting some really good sleep. Long and uninterrupted, which is why he felt good and at peace.
His morning drink tasted different, like something's missing, but also normal at the same time. His documents were no longer all over the place. His shampoo was no longer being replaced by some weird substance. The hot tub was once again working properly. His food no longer tastes like soil and so on.
He felt slightly confused but pleased by this sudden turn of events. He even found himself smiling at one point, thinking:
"Huh, maybe the Demon God finally heard my pleas and drove away the scourge plaguing this land."
But just as soon as thought about that, one of his servants entered his office with a panicked expression, saying:
"Y-your Majesty, Demon Prince! I-It's bad! All the Ghouls are dead!"
"WHAT!!!"
