"Don't get arrogant, demon!" Jack let out a battle cry as he charged at Asher with his axe.
Asher didn't charge toward him, but instead, he jumped backward and threw his Blade of Damnation in a spinning motion at him.
Jack grunted as he swung his axe towards it to block it, expecting this flimsy thing to get thrown off.
*CLASHH!*
"Urgh!" Jack was shocked when he got pushed back by this ring blade by a few feet and grimaced as his arms shook under the brunt of blocking Hellbringer's blade.
He managed to stop the blade from cutting his skin as it fell down to the ground. But his arms were visibly shaking from the shock of blocking the attack. He lost 120 HP even after blocking it!
This made him sweat as he realized that not only this demon had abnormally high Intelligence, but his strength was also on the higher side. Was he someone whose mana circuit specialized in Intelligence and Strength?
He felt relieved upon realizing this as he realized that this demon's defense and dexterity must be on the weaker side to compensate. So all he had to do was use his advantage of speed to dodge his attacks and keep attacking him till he got hacked down.
"Endurance Boost!" Jack used one of his skills that temporarily increased his strength and defenses as he charged at Asher again.
Asher could see how his body briefly glowed for a moment which could only mean he used some skill. But he didn't care and summoned his ring blade back with just a wave of his fingers.
Jack had a confused look seeing this demon simply standing in front of him and waving his fingers. He can't be stupid enough to not even put some distance between them.
But his eyes widened when he heard the sound of the air behind him getting cut by something very sharp.
"Shit!" Jack saw the ring blade magically shooting towards his back, threatening to slash his flesh. How could a weapon fly on its own? He was shocked, to say the least.
Fortunately, he was quick on his feet and managed to dodge to the side but not without suffering a cut on his arm which threw off his momentum. Even if the blade didn't even fully strike him, it left a deep cut on his arm that took away 200 HP from him just like that.
His heart was pounding against his chest, realizing even more how dangerous this demon was with his high strength and his deadly ring blade, which could fly on its own.
Asher didn't even let him catch his breath as he sent his ring blade shooting towards him again, 'Resentful Slash!'
Jack steadied his posture, but seeing the ring blade shooting towards him again with dark green flames surrounding it, he quickly raised his axe and shouted, "Force Barrier!"
A barrier of energy emanated from his axe, and the next moment the ring blade struck against it, causing a fiery explosion that pushed his feet back by a couple of inches, making him feel like the bones in his fingers were rattled.
But he managed to minimize the damage by a lot to the point he only lost 40 HP, though in this situation, he would rather not lose a single HP.
Asher let out a tired sigh as he decided to stop toying with him after feeling bored.
Jack saw Hellbringer magically summoning his blade back for another attack. However, this time Jack was frustrated enough as he leaped toward Hellbringer to cut off his neck.
Asher scoffed in amusement as he simply jumped back and sent his ring blade whizzing through the air.
Jack was fully prepared to deflect away the ring blade instead of blocking it head-on to not lose his momentum.
However, his brows raised upon seeing the ring blade fly past him without even hitting him, "You missed, demon!" Jack said as he reached near Asher, and with killing intent, he raised his axe high to slash at him.
"Did I?" Asher smirked.
Jack frowned as he heard the air on his right side getting cut and immediately realized what it was. He swiftly turned around to see the ring blade had bounced off a tree and was whizzing towards him directly!
"Fuck off!" Jack was fed up with dealing with this annoying weapon as he gathered all the strength in his arms to deflect it away.
But his eyes widened when he saw Hellbringer leaping towards him with a fist burning with dark green flames, "Too bad you got too close to me," Asher said with a curve of his lips.
Jack's eyes shuddered as he realized he had put himself in a tight situation, but he didn't falter as he shouted, "Force Barrier!" With his barrier up, he can throw off Hellbringer while using his axe to deflect the ring blade.
However, Asher's expression didn't change despite seeing the barrier, and he let his flaming fist strike it with all his strength, "Your barrier is too weak, just like you!"
"No!" Jack's eyes widened when he saw his barrier crumble under the might of Hellbringer's flaming fist. It barely slowed down his fist, and he couldn't even put up another barrier before the cooldown.
"AARGH!" Jack could only helplessly look as the flaming fist struck his jaw with a force that shook every bone in his body, temporarily making him lose control of his arms as well.
This prevented him from defending himself from the ring blade as well, which slashed at the side of his neck, lodging itself into his flesh.
*Thwang!*
"Urghhkk!...Who the fuck…are you…" Jack asked with widened eyes. Even if he knew he was going to die, he wanted to know who was going to take his life. This was the first time he felt like he fought someone who didn't even consider him a worthy opponent but toyed with him like a child.
Asher curved his lips and said, "You already know my name, but the people here also know me as the husband of the Demon Queen."
Jack's eyes shuddered before his expression loosened up as he felt that it was only natural he was going to die like this. Who would have ever known he would be dying at the hands of the Demon Queen's husband? He didn't even know she had a husband.
His eyes became languid as the axe in his hand dropped to the ground before his legs began to wobble.
"Jack, no!" Rachel cried out as she turned around after hearing the sound of his heavy axe dropping to the ground. She was so focused on healing Kara she didn't realize things had taken a bad turn for Jack this quickly. How could that be possible when Jack was almost at the peak of D Rank. He was the second strongest in the team, with sufficient battle experience as well.
She pressed her lips together as she saw him squirming on the ground, his neck profusely bleeding.
She had almost healed Kara, and so she rushed towards Jack, hoping to save him just in time. But when she reached him and turned his body around, his eyes were already lifeless, making her chin quiver.
She was the strongest in the team, and yet she let two of them die on her watch. Never before had she been in such a situation nor ever felt this much anger and disappointment. They depended on and trusted her, yet she let them down.
Bolo and Jack may not be an Elite like her, but they were trustworthy people whom she had relied on so many times in the past. Only she knew how hard it was to come by such good people.
"You demons are the worst…All of you deserve to be punished by the heavenly power," She mumbled in a quivering voice as she slowly looked up at him, her bright blue eyes quivering in resentment.
"Tsk, you have no idea how horrible humans can be, especially the ones around you. You are too blind to see it, but perhaps I can help you open your eyes," Asher said with a curve of his lips.
"AAH!!"
Kara's cry startled Rachel as she turned around and saw Merina dipping her claws into Kara's back and damaging her spine again with a vicious look. However, she didn't finish her off.
"How could you!" Rachel got up as her hands glowed with a bright blue light. How could she not get angry after seeing her efforts to heal Kara go down the drain? Didn't this mean that it was pointless letting Jack fight on his own while she was healing Kara?
But she didn't dare turn her back to Hellbringer and realized that it was only her and Sarah left now.
"Relax, my maid won't kill her," Asher said as he gestured to Merina to leave Kara and take care of Sarah in the gazebo.
Merina had splotches of blood all over her body and face as she nodded firmly. Her claws were dripping with blood as she walked past David's mauled corpse.
Rachel had a confounded look as she asked, "What are you up to?" She knew there was no way a demon would be merciful. However, she saw Shadow Maid walking towards Sarah and warned her to look out. She wanted to protect Sarah since this quest couldn't be completed without her. But at the same time, she knew she couldn't do it without first defeating this demon before her.
"I am giving you a chance to save her. Defeat me, and you all or whoever is still alive can go home," Asher said with a subtle smile, making Rachel furrow her brows, "Then I shall do just that by drowning you in this filthy soil," Saying so, Rachel brought forward her spear as she thrust it right towards Hellbringer's chest with a blast of blinding blue wave of water. She has to quickly get rid of him and then help Sarah and Kara.
Asher narrowly dodged her spear thrust, though a few drops of water from her spear fell on his shoulder, scalding a part of his skin.
"Not a bad move," Asher subtly smiled as he patted his shoulder. As expected, light magic was the bane of all demons, just like how dark magic was the bane of all humans.
Rachel was surprised he actually managed to dodge her attack even though she was sure his dexterity was lower than hers. It was as if he saw her attacking coming a mile away. Otherwise, there was no way someone weaker than her could dodge that.
"HA!" Rachel stopped thinking about it as she rushed towards him to attack again, but Asher laughed as he retreated back towards the forests, away from the open area.
Rachel thought he was scared of her and was trying to run for his life. Still, she decided to take him down first since she didn't want him backstabbing her later. It was not like he could outrun her anyway.
Asher stopped running just as he entered a few feet into the forest and turned around to look at her, "Playtime is over, girl," He said with a smile.
"Rot in hell, demon," Rachel said with killing intent as she aimed her spear at him, and it began to get charged with her glowing blue mana. She was sure he won't be able to dodge her spear throw and will die once and for all.
"I am way past that," Asher said as he clenched both his hands, making Rachel frown upon feeling something crawling over her feet. She looked down, and her eyes widened upon seeing dark tendrils emerging from the shadow underneath her and binding around her body quickly.
"Egh! Get off me!" She shouted with a flustered look as the tendrils wrapped around her limbs, her neck, and over her chest, immobilizing her to the point she couldn't even release her spear at Hellbringer.
