Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 111: A New Hero
There are up to 15 chapters ahead at [email protected]/theogbasilisk
Also, Nun Lumi!
______________________________________________________________________
- Felix -
"The 'pawns' in your hands refers to…?" I already knew who the so-called pawns were without even asking, and judging by the stormy look on Luminous' face, she did as well. She was always a prideful one.
Guy smirked without a worry. "You all of course!"
I didn't blink when red pulses of energy crackled around the room as Luminous's Demon Lord's Haki burst out from within her. All of our cups shattered into millions of pieces as I felt the surprising amount of power within her Haki.
The raw power in the air was almost suffocating. It was as though the entire world had stopped to acknowledge her wrath. Haki wasn't based soley on her raw power, so it could allow her to slightly bridge the gap between power levels.
I placed a barrier around the room; one meant to contain the Haki. Though if one had good enough senses, it was probably still possible to sense wisps of the Haki due to Haki's nature. Haki was literally enforcing your will on the world. It tended to be hard to contain something like that.
I placed a Space Lock as well to make sure no one came here to bother Luminous or I through teleportation.
Damrada flinched as he was getting an up close and personal feel of Luminous' Haki, though her Haki wasn't focused on Damrada so he didn't have to unleash his own Hero's Haki to defend against it.
I was seriously surprised by just how potent her Demon Lord's Haki actually was. Don't get me wrong, I knew it would be very strong, Luminous was extremely old and experienced. She had more EP than most Saints could even dream to have, and her Magic Power was just as potent. Even her desire and will was strong enough. They had to be to allow her to manifest an Ultimate Skill completely on her own merits.
Demon Lord's Haki wasn't just fueled by your own internal reserves. A lot more went into it than that. It was a crystallization of your vision of the world, of your dreams and of your ambition. The stronger each of those were, the stronger and more potent the Demon Lord's Haki. No amount of "cheating" could change that.
Rain was looking at Luminous wide eyed, just as she was about to unleash her own Demon Lord's Haki to fight against Luminous's own. Despite how she acted, I imagined she wouldn't tolerate any disrespect to Guy, she was loyal like that, but Guy raised a hand, signaling for Rain to stop.
Rain stopped mid-motion, her body frozen as if her very instincts compelled her to obey Guy's silent command. The tension in the room was unbearable.
Luminous' Haki was practically a storm incarnate. Her wrath at Guy's insult, her ambition, and unshakable pride manifested as a crushing force that seemed to pull all attention toward her. I was pretty damn proud of the power she was showing off. Who wouldn't be happy in their partner's success?
Guy, however, didn't even flinch. His smirk remained firmly in place as he tilted his head, feigning mild curiosity as though Luminous' rage was nothing of concern. There was a damn good reason he got Lucifer, Lord of Pride of all Skills.
I leaned back against my comfy chair, content to let this play out. Of course, I was upset at being considered a mere "pawn", but it wasn't anything that I'd take any action on. I wasn't going to let one person's view of me define how I saw myself. Why should I care what Guy thought of me? I wasn't going to abide by his thoughts on me. He was sorta a friend sure, but nothing more.
"Master, Hinata has awoken." Othinus chimed in.
'I was wondering why you weren't saying anything. Busy huh?'
"Not quite. I merely do not believe my assistance was needed. You are capable of handling the situation."
'That's true.'
I suppose I still wasn't used to Othinus's more passive nature. It was something to get used to, but I didn't dislike it. Odin was a bit of a control freak now that I was looking back at things.
Odin would always want to be involved in anything happening in front of me, though I was also one hell of a control freak. My current attitude was a literal result of my control freak nature. I didn't think it was ideal to take action against the Eastern Empire because I didn't feel like I held enough control over the situation.
Of course, even if I was a bit wary of them, simply due to the nuisances the people of the Empire could make themselves into, in the end I was confident in myself and all my friends. When it came to it, I was confident in us pulling through. That was just the level of ego I had.
Even the so-called unbeatable Castle Guard that Damrada told me about. It sounded broken, and I was shocked when I learned about it, but everything has a weakness. Damrada may not have known its weakness, but I'm certain it existed. The very fact that Rudra believed it had a weakness since he sent Damrada out to find someone to beat him was proof enough.
In the end, all it was was a Skill, even if it was God's Skill, and if there was one thing Othinus and I were good at, it was bullshitting through Skills and taking them for ourselves.
I already had a few ideas for how to deal with Castle Guard anyway. Some direct, others less direct and probably a bit cruel, most likely wouldn't work, but all were strategies nonetheless.
"Mhmm! We'll definitely kick that Michael down a peg!"
'I'm sure we will.'
Nothing was absolute in this world, and in the end belief was all that mattered. This world was far more shonen than I believed at the start.
So long as I kept believing that, whether I wanted to win or not in a fight didn't matter, the result would be clear either way; that I would win, and I would keep winning.
That kind of confidence had been with me for a long time now. Perhaps misplaced at the start, but over time it was engraved into my ego since Spiritual Lifeforms were vulnerable to our own thoughts.
Perhaps I brainwashed myself? Who knows, I didn't care either way.
I am who I am.
I literally couldn't imagine my own defeat. That's how powerful my ego was in that regard, and that was gold for me as a Spiritual Lifeform. So long as I couldn't see myself losing, I'd always pull through, somehow.
It was really one of the hax of being a Spiritual Lifeform, but most never made use of it.
The very thought that I, personally, could lose to Rudra or that the Eastern Empire would doom me would be to my detriment. And so, I refused to even materialize that thought, which wasn't hard at all.
Some may consider it the highest level of deluding oneself, but I called it confidence.
That didn't change my control freak nature and how cautious I was. It's not like being confident and cautious canceled each other out. I just preferred it more when things were in my complete control, since things were a lot easier then, and I could arrange for things to go just the way I wanted them to.
Especially since this war with the Empire didn't actually rely only on me winning. It was a lot more complex with many other layers and factors to consider. There was Rimuru, Veldora, Tempest, the Western Nations, even Chloe (who I had yet to get a clear understanding of). If even a single one of them fell, it would be troublesome.
So confidence in myself wasn't going to be enough if I didn't want to suffer some losses along the way.
Perhaps it was idealistic, but I didn't want the people who relied on me, who lived in my territory, to suffer too much from this war. Them and the people in Tempest who I'd also grown a bit attached to. So this information war was mostly for them.
As for Othinus, now she was more passive. I had no doubt that she had come up with countermeasures for any way this meeting could go, but she was content to keep them to herself and allow me to do as I pleased. She would then adjust to whatever actions I took. Such was the nature of our relationship. It felt like I already knew every bit of her, and her me.
"Of course, Master! I will always be your partner!" Othinus said with some smugness for some reason, but there was a deep affection there as well.
'Thank you, it means more than you know. Or maybe you do actually know since you're inside of me. Anyways, you said that Hinata is up now? That was quick.'
"Indeed. Her evolution did not result in a racial evolution, it merely increased her base stats, as you would say, by a rather significant margin."
'Got it.'
Hinata got one new Ultimate Skill on top of her base stats increasing.
I wonder just how much EP she has now? Probably more than Luminous for sure, I know EP isn't a good measure of overall strength; look at Veldora. He had more EP than both his sisters, yet he would get thrown around by both in the past.
Though EP was still important as it was a major factor in how much energy you could output at once, as well as how long you could last in a fight.
"Now, now Luminous, calm down." Guy said as I lowered my Thought Acceleration as he raised his hands in surrender with an easy going smile on his face. "I'm sure that being a pawn sounds bad, but you of all people should know better than anyone how this game works. Pawns are essential, yes, but do you truly think you're powerless in this grand contest? If so, you're selling yourself far too short." Guy said, ending his speech with a little flattery, which I rolled my eyes at.
Despite seeming to prefer to get straight to the point in conversations like these, it seems that Guy is also proficient in politics. Luminous rolled her eyes, also seeing what Guy was trying to do.
"I mean look at that Hinata woman. She's one of your underlings right?"
I raised a brow. I didn't think the Hinata that Guy knew of was someone that would get Guy's attention. He shouldn't know of her trip to the past or her true strength ever since she came back. Maybe Ramiris told him that Hinata acquired a Hero's Egg in the past? That would make sense.
Guy's crimson eyes flickered as his own presence began to stir, his own Haki seeped out of him, easily contesting against Luminous' own. He didn't overpower her, he used just enough to keep her Haki at bay.
The room became a storm of invisible energy as Guy's Haki clashed against Luminous'. I took a deep breath as I let the two of them play their game, continuing to passively shield Damrada from the effects of their Haki as I had from the start.
Damrada himself was looking at the two of them in awe.
The air felt like it was alive, crackling with tension as flickers of energy materialized within the room. I rolled my eyes as I used Brahma to reinforce the material of everything in the room, or else everything would crumble.
Someone's Haki said a lot about them, where Luminous' Haki surged with raw, unyielding pride and defiance, Guy's was a cold, calculated force. The kind of power that didn't need to scream to be felt, yet there was plenty of pride within him as well.
I imagine my own Haki also similarly gave others a general feel for who I was as a person.
I glanced at Damrada, who was doing his best to remain impassive despite the beads of sweat forming on his brow. It was honestly impressive that he hadn't crumbled, but the Haki wasn't even remotely focused on him, and he was a bonafide Saint.
Even Rain, as powerful as she was, had tensed, her focus shifting entirely onto Guy. The Haki wasn't even focused on her, and I doubt Guy was unleashing his full power, but even the faintest ripple of his Haki was enough to make even a Saint of Damrada's caliber freeze, even when under my protection.
Luminous' eyes glowed with fury and spite as her Haki flared brighter, pushing harder against the crimson aura that surrounded Guy. Her pride wouldn't allow her to back down. The room began to tremble under the weight of their clash, even as I used Brahma to reinforce everything.
All of a sudden, as if coming to a mutual understanding, both Luminous and Guy withdrew their Haki at once, returning peace to the room.
"Tsk." Luminous clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms under her bust.
Guy leaned back and laughed. "Hahaha! It's been a while since I've done something like that! It's always fun messing around!"
Rain looked down at Guy as her eyes twitched. "That was really scary, Lord Guy! Please don't do that again!"
Guy rolled his eyes at Rain's antics. "I'll try." His gaze swept past me and to Damrada. "It seems Rudra truly did get lucky with you if you could handle being in the presence of a Haki clash of that magnitude without any injuries." Guy said with an impressed smile.
I grinned and put an arm over Damrada's shoulder. "He's gotta be at least that good to become one of my minions!" I laughed along with Guy.
"I am no pawn of yours, Guy." Luminous stated with certainty as she interrupted our laughter.
Guy sighed. "Geez, did that tick you off so much? And I thought I represented Pride." He said with a laugh. "We're all pawns to someone else, I'm a pawn to Veldanava. Rain is one of my pawns." He continued.
We all ignored Rain's indignant shout.
"You think yourself above it all? How naive. You've been playing from the moment you chose to ascend to the throne of the Demon Lords. All the benefits and status you have received have been in exchange for being a piece on my board. Every decision you've made, every alliance, every battle, it's all part of the same game. Whether you were aware of it or not."
I saw Luminous' power flicker slightly. No doubt she was pissed at realizing that everything she had been working towards had benefited Guy in some way.
Guy had a way of getting under your skin, and his words were calculated to do just that.
I sighed as I realized the two of them would keep going if I didn't say something. Why did I have to be the responsible one?
Before Luminous could retort, the tension in the room shifted as I decided to speak up. "Enough." I said firmly, spreading a slight bit of my Aura throughout the room which was enough to get both of their attention. "Both of you are powerful, yada yada, we get it. But this posturing is getting us nowhere. Guy, just explain the damned rules of your game so we can decide whether to burn the board or play along. What was that about being one of your 'pawns', Guy?"
I already knew full well that I was in too deep. Whether I wanted to or not, the Eastern Empire would invade, if Guy already had some agreement with their Emperor then it was best if everyone was aware of the details of that agreement. Not knowing would just be troublesome.
It's not like I cared what someone like Guy called me in the first place, I was surprised that Luminous was actually bothered, though going by the smug look in her eyes as she looked at me, it seems she didn't particularly care either, and was just trying to push Guy into a bit of a corner.
For a moment, silence reigned. Luminous clicked her tongue once again. "Fine, but know this Guy, if you believe you can control me," She said with a scoff, "then you will be rather surprised at the lengths I can go to to protect what is mine."
Guy looked at Luminous with amusement. "Very well, your warning has been received. There is no point keeping you two out of the loop if you already know, so I might as well explain."
- Hinata Sakaguchi -
As she blitzed her way over to the room Luminous, Felix, and Guy Crimson were in, she froze for a moment as she felt two different Hakis clashing with each other. There was a barrier placed around the room they were in, but even then Haki left a unique flavor on the air around where a Haki clash took place.
Her eyes narrowed as she held her hands out, her two weapons materializing in her hands from her bracelet. Divine Moonlight in her right hand and Truth in her left. Her armor slowly materialized on her.
She felt her armor's reinforcement and enhancement aspects strengthen her further as both Truth and Divine Moonlight bursted with energy.
She had thought that while things could quickly deteriorate, there wouldn't be a fight. Both Felix and Luminous were intelligent enough to realize that a fight right here, right now would end badly for them, if only for the sheer destruction that would be wrought around them.
Though perhaps Felix could counteract that by sending the fight to another dimension. Still, if there was a Haki clash then that meant things weren't as peaceful as she hoped they would be.
A Haki clash would not be occurring between "friendly" parties, at least that was the logical conclusion she could come to. Why would someone have a haki clash for any other reason? Just to show off? That would be stupid.
She believed she had enough cause to suspect that something was going on in that room; something that threatened what she cared for.
The sensation of that clash still clung to the air around her, like the residual heat of a raging wildfire. One Haki was unmistakably Luminous's, it was unrelenting, and searing with pride and the unshakable resolve Hinata knew Luminous to have.
The other… had to have been Guy Crimson's. It did not feel like Felix's at all. It was colder, more calculated, yet terrifyingly vast, like staring into an abyss that would smirk back at you.
She felt a slight shiver go through her body at the thought of that Haki. It was no wonder that he was called the Lord of Darkness. When she thought of the Aura of a Demon Lord, that is what she had imagined. It was no wonder he was the first Demon Lord in existence.
But despite feeling that slight spike of fear, she grit her teeth as she dashed forwards again. If Guy Crimson of all people was going to start a fight then she needed to be there to help Luminous and Felix. She couldn't teleport as Felix had placed a Space Lock around the area he was in.
She also knew there was a connection between her and Felix, but she couldn't focus enough on it to send her intent through, not right now; something she would of course have to train on.
Holy energy flickered to life around her weapons as she mixed in her Divinity as well.
Her feet barely touched the ground as she surged forward, the air around her shimmering faintly from the raw power radiating off her. She couldn't take the time to admire just how far she had come.
The closer she got to the barrier, the more intense the lingering clash of Haki became. Her sharpened senses picked up on the subtle ripples in the magical barrier. The barrier contained the Haki the best it could but Haki functioned differently compared to most magical abilities.
She reached the edge of the barrier and immediately assessed it. The energy pulsing through the construct was most definitely Felix's.
She blinked as a small hole in the barrier was created, one in which she could pass through. The moment she did so she could feel the lingering effects of the Haki to a much greater extent. The Haki clash had only recently finished.
She dashed forwards once more as her Divinity surrounded her form. She burst through the room at speeds invisible to the naked eye as she locked onto Guy Crimson.
Just as she was about to dash forwards, a blue haired maid appeared in front of her, eyes narrowed in focus.
Before the maid could even speak up, Hinata used Space-Time Manipulation to trap the maid in a spatial seal.
"Hey! Not cool!" The maid protested.
Hinata ignored the maid's words as she dashed forwards once more.
Guy Crimson's gaze was already in her direction, a small grin forming on his face, but she ignored it as she raised both Truth and Divine Moonlight up before slashing downwards.
From the corner of her eye she could see Felix sighing while Luminous was in the process of reaching out towards her.
All of a sudden it was like cold water was poured over her head. Felix was still seated, as was Luminous. Both did not seem to be in the dire situation she thought they were in
Had she… misunderstood?
Before she could even think about pulling her weapons back and apologizing for misreading the situation (something she could actually do in time before her strike landed), Guy Crimson's hand flashed as his weapon appeared in his hand in an instant. She only had nanoseconds to react before the bright glint of a moving blade would reach her.
She grit her teeth as she adjusted her posture, defending against Guy Crimson's instantaneous strike with her two blades. She wasn't used to dual wielding yet so she wasn't as efficient as she wished.
The clash of their weapons sent out a deafening boom, a thunderous shockwave erupting from the point of contact.
The air itself rippled, shimmering as if space had bent under the sheer force of their strikes. The walls of the room groaned against the pressure, even as they were reinforced by Felix's barrier which she could sense in more detail. Said barrier flickered momentarily under the strain of such concentrated power.
Sparks flew from the collision, dazzlingly bright as Divine Moonlight and Truth ground against the ominously glowing blade of Guy Crimson.
Hinata planted her feet firmly against the onslaught of raw force. Despite her armor's reinforcement, she could feel the sheer weight of Guy's attack coursing down her arms; it made it clear that he was overwhelmingly more powerful. He was using only one arm at that, and had no reinforcement from any armor.
She pushed back with everything she had, her divinity flaring brighter around her weapons as she sought to match the force of the Demon Lord's blade.
She felt the space within the room expand, giving her and Guy Crimson more room to fight. The table Felix, Luminous, and even Damrada were sitting at seemed to be miles away now.
She had no idea what was happening, but seeing as how neither Felix or Luminous were coming to her assistance, she could guess that she wasn't in danger. Probably.
- Felix -
As I held Luminous's hand, stopping her from taking action. I looked at Hinata's form with interest. I had sensed her approaching the room. Once she was outside the barrier I thought to let her in. What was the worst that could happen? She was probably just curious about what we were up to.
I didn't sense her energy levels or anything; mostly because I hadn't bothered too. I didn't expect this to happen either, and it's not like Othinus was monitoring Hinata at that moment either.
Of course I was completely wrong, though I could see why Hinata acted the way she did. I mean looking at it from her perspective she probably sensed the Haki and thought that things were going downhill so she rushed over to help. She was always a rather brash girl so just jumping in the room and attacking was honestly pretty in character.
I didn't stop her even though I could have; partially because I knew Guy. He wouldn't mind as long as Hinata entertained him enough.
In fact, he would be excited. And going by the grin on his face, I was right. I grabbed Luminous right as she was about to jump in. She glared at me for a moment before sighing and silently agreeing to watch as things play out.
I'd interfere if things got a bit too much, though from now on I planned to use Lover to scan the intentions of people more often. It would probably save me some trouble.
As the shockwaves from their clash traveled through my body I observed Damrada who was looking at the scene wide eyed. "Another one…" He mumbled. "And her of all people?" I'm sure he was having his mind blown, meeting one overpowered person after another. He was probably wondering just how he missed so many people that could help him with his goal.
I watched on as Hinata put more and more force into her arms as she attempted to overpower Guy. It surprised me for a moment when I saw her using both Truth and Divine Moonlight, but dual wielding was a good option if she wanted to wield both weapons. Divine Moonlight had grown a bit stronger from Hinata's Awakening into a True Hero, same with the armor I gifted her.
Hinata's EP had skyrocketed as well, it was a little over 8,000,000. That was more than Luminous had. That was more than even Rimuru had. Though, I suppose that is expected with Hinata already being a Divine Human beforehand. The energy from becoming a True Hero was solely focused on increasing Hinata's base stats. And that was 8,000,000 EP after acquiring a new Ultimate Skill, which likely cost a couple million EP.
Hinata grit her teeth as a burst of holy energy was expelled from her; holy energy that was meant to harm Guy as a demonic being, but Guy just shrugged it all off.
I looked to Rain who was slouched over with teary eyes as she was confined to a small spatial seal. Space-Time Manipulation was broken if used well. Rain, a Devil Lord Primordial, just got defeated in a few moments. Rain spotted my gaze and looked at me pleadingly. I rolled my eyes and dispelled Hinata's spatial seal causing Rain to sigh in relief.
Rain seemingly got the hint this time and didn't interfere with Guy and Hinata's clash, though the shockwaves from the clash caused Rain's maid outfit to flutter, giving me a panty shot with cameltoe.
Rain shot me a wink causing me to roll my eyes. I winced as I felt Luminous pinch my hand as she narrowed her eyes at me dangerously.
I looked to the side harmlessly. It wasn't like Rain wasn't attractive, but I just wasn't attracted to her emotionally. Still, it wasn't my fault! She flashed me!
Luminous, seemingly satisfied with my indifference towards Rain, released my hand as she watched Guy and Hinata with me. I think she just didn't like Rain.
My focus shifted back to Hinata. Her teeth were clenched, her focus narrowing as her weapons screeched against his. The floor beneath them had cracked and splintered as their energy spilled over at this point, creating a crater-like indentation under their feet.
At this point I saw my reinforcements pointless. I'd just focus on containing the fight, which certainly looked pretty cool.
Hinata refused to yield; her Divinity surging as she channeled holy energy into her blades. With a sharp yell, she twisted, breaking the deadlock and spinning to slash at Guy's flank. He moved in a blur, leaving behind a sonic boom with his weapon parrying her strike with an ease that belied the explosive sound of their blades meeting again.
Each collision was enough to level entire cities, and was punctuated by eruptions of light and sound that reverberated through the chamber. Sword Dance, the sub-skill of Nemesis, was taking effect as each of Hinata's strikes became more and more powerful as long as Hinata kept up her dance, and as an Ultimate Skill it was far more powerful now.
Lightning flashed, and thunder echoed as Sword Flow's effects became more and more potent, though it still did not harm Guy as he was an expert in not getting hit. He had to be to fight people above his overall weight class and not lose.
After a few moments, Guy jumped back. Guy's grin widened, his red eyes gleaming with amusement. "Hinata Sakaguchi." He drawled, his voice low and resonant. "You're a Hero." Guy said as he laughed. "Another new Hero! Truly, times are changing! And one with an Ultimate Skill at that!"
Hinata looked at Guy warily as her weapons glowed in holy energy.
I felt a shift in the atmosphere as Hinata began using another one of her Ultimate Skills. I could see Calculation Domain's effect on Hinata as she adjusted her posture and stance to be more fit for dual wielding, Guy also noticed the difference as he lightly twirled his longsword.
I felt Guy trying to copy the sub-skills he could analyze of Nemesis, Lord of Retribution with his own Lucifer, but I wasn't going to let that happen.
I reached out into the battlefield and interfered with Guy's own analysis attempts. He could understand a certain amount with his own intelligence, but this would mostly prevent him from directly copying Hinata's sub-skills with a glance alone.
I could feel Guy's attention shift towards me as he realized what I had done. I'm sure not many had managed to block his attempts to copy a Skill, and seeing as how I was one of the few who had and was present in the room, it was normal for him to suspect me.
Guy clicked his tongue and looked back towards Hinata, a small frustrated smile appearing on his lips.
Hinata scoffed. "Nice to meet you, Demon Lord Guy. This is our first time meeting." Hinata said diplomatically as she attempted to diffuse the situation. "I apologize for my attack, I believed that my friends were in danger."
I nodded in approval. Hianta got some character development! She acknowledged her wrongdoings from the start and apologized. The hero from when we first met would not have done that.
Guy only laughed harder hearing her. "Ahahaha, it's fine! I came here for some excitement, and you fit my definition of it to a tee! People with as much power as you are quite few in number!" Guy's grin turned wild. "Now it seems Luminous and Felix are fine with waiting. Come! I refuse to be left wanting after seeing you now!" Guy said as without giving Hinata a chance to respond he appeared in front of her in a moment, his longsword slicing outwards as Fighting Spirit surged around his blade.
______________________________________________________________________
Guy sliced outwards, sending a slash full of Fighting Spirit towards Hinata. Hinata slashed downwards, cutting through Guy's Fighting Spirit.
"Hahaha! That had more energy than most Saints!" Guy laughed in excitement.
"I could tell!" Hinata panted out. The fight had been going on for some time, and Hinata's reserves were draining. The fight would be ending soon.
For the most part, Guy had been testing and prodding Hinata. He was far from serious, but even then he seemed to be mostly satisfied.
"Aha, you truly have potential." Guy praised before a small smile grew on his face. "I wonder…" He mumbled. Before I could react I felt Guy expelling an enormous amount of energy as the flow of time slowed to a crawl, the magicules around us slowly stopped moving, oxygen slowly stopped flowing, and then eventually, time stopped completely.
I appeared directly in front of Guy, staring at him with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing Guy?" I asked Guy, sending my query through the information particles around us. Though doing so still didn't feel perfectly natural to me. Even with Othinus, moving in the suspended world was something that needed time and practice to truly get used to.
Guy was looking at Hinata with a frown before looking back at me. "I was merely testing her."
I raised a brow. "You wanted to know if she was a Digital Lifeform?"
Guy nodded. "Indeed, it seems I have my answer." Guy said with a disappointed sigh before he looked around the room.
He clicked his tongue at the sight of everyone in the room being frozen.
"It's not easy to become a Digital Lifeform you know." I messaged, defending everyone in the room from Guy's disappointment. Without Gabriel, Lord of Patience, I'm sure Odin would have had a more difficult time figuring things out, let alone me on my own.
By myself, I imagine I'd take decades to learn. I was good, but not that good. Especially at the things that required more finesse. Though, to be fair, when people millenia years old didn't know how to move in a Time Stop, I was comparatively impressive.
"Indeed. Without the data from the Ultimate Skill: Gabriel, Lord of Patience, my previous incarnation would have required much more data to learn even the basics of moving in the Suspended World." Othinus chimed in.
Guy nodded. "I am aware, I merely was curious if Hinata was one of the few." Guy stated as he looked back at me.
"Great, now that you know, end the time stop." I said. It was more difficult to end someone else's time stop since you'd have to wrestle for control over the time stop from them.
The next moment time resumed flowing.
"Huh? What are you doing there, Felix?" Hinata asked in confusion as I was standing between her and Guy all of a sudden.
I waved her off. "It's nothing, you can continue now." I'd tell her about Time Stop some other time, Hinata is better off focusing on what she has now.
Guy didn't wait for me to get out of the way before he dashed forwards with a mad cackle.
- Luminous Valentine -
She looked at Felix with wide eyes as he casually returned to his seat. She went through the series of events that had just occurred in her head.
What was that!?
From one moment Felix was sitting next to her, and then all of a sudden she felt a shift of some kind before she saw Felix standing in between Guy and Hinata.
It wasn't a spatial or movement technique, she would have sensed it if it was. It also seemed like Felix and Guy had just finished having a conversation of some kind, meaning there was some time missing from her perception. Time in which Guy and Felix interacted before her perception was returned.
Despite having an Ultimate Skill, she couldn't make heads or tails of what she just saw happen in front of her, or rather what she didn't see.
Felix casually took his seat next to her, she spotted that man, Damrada. He looked just as pale as she likely was. It seems he was also rather clueless about what had just happened.
Felix noticed her odd state of mind and looked at her with concern. "Everything fine?"
She nodded. "Yes, everything is fine."
She did not wish to ask Felix about what just happened, call it her foolish pride but if she relied on Felix for everything, then she would have lost her essence as a person. She would not become some simpering woman who was not capable of even the most basic facilities without the assistance of their partner. She could handle things on her own. Only when things were desperate would she discard her pride.
For now she still had time to learn. She wished to grow stronger by her own merits rather than handouts, that was how she had gotten to where she was now. Through thousands of years of work.
Felix nodded, though she could tell he didn't believe her. "If you're certain then."
She nodded, grateful that Felix was willing to leave it at that.
She looked back at the fight between Guy and Hinata. Guy had lunged at Hinata leaving behind a sonic explosion the moment Felix began walking away.
Her lips threatened to form into a scowl as she thought of Guy. She knew he was stronger than her, but she was still minorly insulted by what he thought of her and the other Demon Lords. However, she wouldn't let it get to her. She was Luminous Valentine, she didn't have anything to prove to Guy. She only associated with him out of convenience.
Still, it galled her even more that despite her vast strength, she would not be able to harm Guy unless she released one of her trump cards: the Sanctuary Disintegration.
A beam of Disintegration powered by all the faith of Luminism. It was a certified True Dragon killing attack she developed after Veldora's rampage. But she did not wish to use that as it was her trump card against Dagruel. So for now she would merely have to bear it. She would grow stronger so that she was not found in a similar position again.
She knew that very thought alone made it even more difficult to face Guy due to her nature as a Spiritual Lifeform. But what was it Chloe said? She just was not capable of "coping" into success, not in the same way Felix seemed to be.
His self-confidence was practically illogical, in fact he seemed to embody the mindset that Chloe preached, that being coping to success. Part of her wondered if Felix taught Chloe that in a previous timeline.
At this point she was certain it was a core part of his identity. But it was something that attracted her to him, just one thing among many, however.
As she got to know Felix more over time, both when they were "friends" and then lovers, she was discovering new sides to Felix that she was enjoying. Though of course he still had his down sides, such as how he seemed to enjoy annoying her so much.
She banished the thoughts, as that was not what she should be thinking of now.
As Hinata met Guy's own blade, Luminous thought back to just how much Hinata had improved. It only felt like yesterday when Luminous heard about a promising young Paladin that had joined her Order. The moment she learned about the new Paladin, Luminous knew just who it was that had finally arrived.
At that point she was getting rather worried that something had gone wrong, as Hinata was set to show up around that time.
Despite wishing otherwise, Luminous did not go to meet Hinata right away, that would contradict with what she was "supposed" to do.
It galled her more than she would like to admit that her actions were limited if she wished to keep her promise to Chloe and Hinata: to not change the timeline willingly. Not to mention she was uncertain if the World itself would take measures to ensure events occurred as they already had in Chronoa's past.
Still, she had kept a very close eye on Hinata from then on. Back then Hinata was strong, but weak in the grand scheme of things. She was stronger than most of Humanity, but far from what Luminous knew she would eventually reach.
All of Hinata's strength back then was stolen with her Unique Skill. Hinata had yet to make that power truly hers and it showed. But over time she made progress, eventually becoming an Incomplete Saint; the youngest to ever reach that stage in fact, as far as she knew.
And then that fateful day arrived. Hinata found out the truth about Luminism and confronted her. Hinata defeated both Roy and Louis in a two against one, and things happened just as Hinata said they would.
To think that little girl was now matching blades with Guy Crimson. It was incredibly astounding. Luminous could sense the increase in strength Hinata got from her awakening into a True Hero. Guy had openly said Hinata had an Ultimate Skill, though Luminous already knew that since Hinata had told her in the past.
Now, Hinata's total energy reserves may just surpass Luminous' own, even with the enhancement she received from Granbell's soul, though it wasn't by a large margin. Still, she refused to let that stand.
She would have to increase her training further, it wouldn't do if her friend surpassed her so easily.
- Felix -
"Ghahaha! That was a great spar!" Guy laughed out as his longsword vanished from his grip. I adjusted space, returning the room to its normal size. I eyed his empty hand. That longsword alone seemed to be monstrous to my perception, similar to Milim's own weapon in fact.
Something within it had blocked my analysis attempt, and going by the smug look Guy shot me back then, he was aware of the fact, and enjoying getting back at me for foiling his attempt at copying Hinata's sub-skills.
Hinata looked rather worn out. Their spar only lasted for a few short minutes, but Hinata had to expel a lot of energy just to keep up with Guy. Plus she had only just woken up from her slumber. Her reserves weren't full when she first confronted Guy, so it was normal for her to be tired.
Hinata's weapons and armor vanished into the bracelet I gave her. "Thank you for the fight." Hinata said simply.
"Aha, no need to be so cold! After that, you've got my attention! I'd been hearing about some wannabe Hero under Luminous but I didn't think you'd be that strong, let alone the real deal!" Guy said as he took his seat once more.
Hinata shrugged as she took a seat beside me, inserting herself into our little meeting. "Thank you for the praise."
Hinata wisely didn't use all of the cards she had in her back pocket in the fight once she realized that it wasn't anything serious. Usurper wasn't used, and Nemesis and Fortuna were only used minimally. It was mostly a fight of swordsmanship, one in which Guy easily shows the difference between them.
The fight went about as I expected. Hinata put up a good fight. A really good fight. She managed to keep up with Guy to a certain point through sheer swordsmanship alone, but Guy was one of the best swordsmen in the history of this world. Once he started to try a bit harder, she was outmatched in the swordsmanship department.
Still, Hinata quickly adjusted to her new style of combat; that being dual wielding. She even improved it as she fought Guy. It was pretty interesting watching Truth almost eagerly obey Hinata's whims. It seems the weapon really took a liking to Hinata.
Calculation Domain also helped in the fight. It was sort of like a pseudo-Sage that could calculate the odds of things and help Hinata determine the best course of action. Hinata could explore the application of unique uses of her abilities by having Calculation Domain run the odds of it working.
Of course, Guy of all people wasn't a good test subject, since he had counters to just about everything Hinata threw at him.
Guy attempted to copy Hinata's Skills a few more times, but I kept blocking his attempts much to his annoyance.
Hinata had managed to control her newly increased energy pretty well for her first fight. After getting astronomically stronger, her reserves weren't full even at the start, but she was still able to throw around attacks that tested the limits of her total energy output.
Hinata's reaction to Guy using Archangel Shootdown on her was pretty amusing as well. It seems she wasn't expecting some of my own fodder level attacks being used by Guy of all people.
But in the end, it was all just a test from Guy. He wasn't even close to going all out. With his EP, he could have chucked a galaxy destroying attack for another universe at Hinata with ease, yet he limited himself to around her level in energy output.
After the time stop, Guy was just trying to figure out what Hinata's limits were. I didn't blame him, there hasn't been a new True Hero in a very long time. True Heroes were among the few that could match True Demon Lords; it was only right to be curious. Not to mention, with Guy's job as the Mediator, he had to evaluate Hinata's threat level in case she became a danger to Humanity.
It's not like the people who became True Heroes couldn't harm Humanity. The only requirement was having an affinity with a darkness, holy, or light elemental, and getting Ramiris's Blessing, and Ramiris threw those around like crazy to anyone who was blessed by one of those elementals.
After that it was up to the elemental to decide if the holder of the Hero's Egg was worthy, and elementals could be very whimsical. Knowing Guy, he wasn't going to trust the judgment of an elemental when it came to his role as the Mediator.
Hinata gently leaned back against her chair. I connected to her through the soul corridor we had between us. Her reserves were pretty drained, which wasn't helping in her recovery.
Hinata was acting all calm and composed but I could tell she was very, very tired. It was a stark contrast to Guy, who remained as lively as ever; his grin as wide as the moment he'd drawn his sword.
Hinata felt my gentle probe through our soul corridor as she looked at me questioningly. She seemed surprised at my use of the soul corridor, and seemed to be trying to learn more about it as we connected.
"Yes, Felix?" She asked through a Thought Communication. We were both now using Thought Acceleration so our conversation would take place within nanoseconds.
A funny idea came to mind as I sent her my message. "Did you want some of my essence to help you recover?"
There was a brief pause before her response came, and through the link, I felt her emotional responses, there was a mix of embarrassment and flustered confusion "Wh-Wha!?" She sputtered via the Thought Communication.
"Hahaha, I'm just messing with you. I can fill up your reserves, you want me to?"
"A-Ah? That, yes, that is fine." Hinata responded in a perfectly composed fashion as if she wasn't just internally freaking out about what I said.
"Alright, it might feel a little weird since this is the first time I've done this, but don't mind that."
As a Divine Human and True Hero, Hinata could handle any sort of energy I gave her, but holy energy would work best. I'd have to convert my own energy into holy energy through Brahma, Lord of Creation. It would probably hurt me a bit since I'd have to do it inside of me, plus Hinata's level of holy energy was at a higher quality, but I was easily willing to do that much for Hinata.
"First time? Maybe you should wait Fel–"
Before Hinata could finish her sentence I reached out through the soul corridor, feeling the faint but steady connection between us.
When a Spiritual Being ran out of reserves completely, they would cease to exist, since as Spiritual Beings, we were completely made up of energy. Running out of energy was a death sentence to all of us. Hinata wasn't that far gone, but she was close enough that it was rather concerning.
The fact that she was acting like nothing was wrong and had willingly sat in the same room as the first Demon Lord when she was a True Hero on minimal reserves spoke for itself.
It wasn't hard at all to convert my magicules into holy energy, both were energies I understood deeply.
"Are you certain you wish to do this, Master?" Othinus asked with some concern.
'It won't have any lasting effect, just a few moments of unbearable pain from deep within me. It'll be fine.'
Holy energy was poison to us demonic beings, I was more resistant to it than most, most holy energy wouldn't do a thing to me, but this was going to be holy energy deep inside of me, created by Brahma, Lord of Creation of all things.
"Very well. I will not stop you then." I could tell Othinus wanted to protest, but she respected my choices when it came to things like this. That was another change from Odin, Othinus was far less overbearing, but I still liked both incarnations of her.
I didn't show any change on the outside as I felt the burning holy energy within me.
The pain was one of the worst I'd felt, but that was because I wasn't all that used to pain. It even bypassed my Pain Nullification, but in the end, pain really didn't do as much to me as a Spiritual Lifeform as it would to a normal mortal. Pain was just another facet of existence. If I couldn't deal with it, then I wouldn't have made it this far.
Going by the look Guy was shooting at me, he seemed to know I was doing something.
I released the flood gates to my reserves once I had enough, allowing the holy energy to transfer to Hinata through our soul corridor. Soul corridors were very esoteric. They were not physical things, but were spiritual in nature, and yet one could still interact with them.
The rest of the room now felt the transference of energy. It was kind of hard not to when one could sense Hinata's visible improvement as well as the light glow she was giving off from the massive amounts of holy energy I was flooding her with. The pain quickly faded with that.
"Mmm~!" Hinata moaned out after a moment. My brows jumped out at her rather… lewd moan. Does sending energy through a soul corridor make the other person feel pleasure? I hadn't really ever done something like that before.
Within moments her reserves were fully filled, as were my own with Magicule Breeder Reactor. A heated blush grew on Hinata's face as she realized what she had done.
Guy was looking at her with amusement, knowing him he really didn't care. Luminous was staring at Hinata with a small smirk while Damrada just looked like he would rather be anywhere else.
Guy looked back at me. "That was quite a lot of holy energy, Felix. Even with your resistance, I imagine."
I just shrugged, but Hinata seemed to take that another way going by the realization in her eyes.
"Felix!? I hadn't realized that you would convert your energy into holy energy! Allowing so much holy energy in a demonic being like you is suicidal!" She yelled at me, ignoring everyone else.
Luminous shot me a concerned look, as if asking if everything was fine. I just sent her my intentions through our soul corridor causing her to relax.
She was angry at me, but not for herself, but for me. It was rather heartwarming all things considered. Luminous now seemed to be rather amused.
I sighed. "It's fine Hinata."
Her eyes narrowed as she placed a barrier around us, one meant to isolate the conversation. "It is not fine, Felix!" She argued. "I do not want you to hurt yourself for my sake." She said in a much more vulnerable tone of voice.
I lightly ruffled her head, causing her to glare and pout at me. "I appreciate the thought, but you're looking too deep into this." As she was about to retort, I continued. "Plus you're underestimating me if you think that pain would stop me from helping you." I added with a laugh.
She blushed slightly at my words before looking down. "I'm sorry, I did not know." She just said simply.
"Eh, I would have done it either way, don't overthink it. You'd have done the same for me, right?"
She nodded instantly.
"Then it's fine, right?"
Hinata sighed. "I do not like it, but it is already done. I suppose I overreacted."
"Don't sweat it; emotions don't function on logic."
She sighed as she looked to the side, dispelling the barrier. "Emotions huh?"
"Let's move on." I said.
Hinata quickly nodded. "Yes, let us move on." She said, eager to ignore what had just happened.
Guy himself seemed to be amused but said nothing, and Damrada was still just observing silently, seemingly just taking in all the information.
"Fufufu." Luminous laughed. "I suppose I will spare you, for now."
Hinata shot a glare in Luminous' direction before sighing.
"You've improved, Hinata. I didn't think you'd adjust to dual-wielding so quickly, let alone put up such a spirited resistance against Guy." Luminous praised.
Hinata smiled at Luminous's praise. "Thank you, Luminous."
Guy raised a brow. "Oh? She hadn't always dual wielded?"
Hinata shook her head. "No, that was the first time I wielded two blades in a fight."
"Ghaha! If you hadn't given me a good showing I would have thought that you were looking down on me." Guy laughed out.
Rain pouted. "Don't praise her, Lord Guy! She bullied me!" She whined.
Guy clicked his tongue. "Shut."
Rain teared up. "Gah! Now you're bullying me!" Rain cried out. She quickly jumped to me, latching onto me like a koala. "You're my only hope now, Felix!"
Hinata and Luminous glared at Rain, if I wasn't as knowledgeable as I was, I would have thought they were using Haki. Rain, who was seemingly clueless about their bloodlust, continued to cry crocodile tears.
I rolled my eyes at Rain's exaggerations.
___________________________________________________________________
I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.
I have a discord server, come hang out if you want! https://discord.gg/VxR5Gn72Fp I also have a channel in Shiro's Gaming Omniverse.
Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon, and this one was a hefty one, 9k whole words.
We get to learn a bit more about the lore behind Rudra and Guy's game. Hinata has her first fight scene after becoming a True Hero. I wanted to make it longer and more detailed but there have been a lot of fight scenes recently, and there are some coming up so I wanted to cool down on that a bit. But I did want to show that Hinata has made a lot of progress, from behind an unlikable and rigid individual to the current her who can fight Guy to a certain degree.
Guy is also pretty interested in Hinata now, there haven't been new Heroes in ages, plus Hinata is a rather unique individual. Guy knows how rare Ultimate Skills are, if someone has them they automatically gain his interest and some of his respect.
As for Luminous, she's learning a bit more. She saw time stop happen in front of her, and her pride was wounded so she's going to have a shonen training arc. Also about her comment that sanctuary disintegration could harm Guy, while in theory this is possible, in practice Guy can deal with it. Of course she doesn't know this so she's just coping.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
I'm here once more! -Omnax