Clyde was taken aback at what he saw. A…thing. A pale-faced man, covered in flowing and oozing blackness, ripped himself out of a giant glowing gold net. That had to be Natalia's doing. Her smug smiled confirmed as much.
So, this was Elsado. Clyde analyzed him. People around cleared the area, walking on other streets, not looking. This phenomenon still unnerved the young man.
Elsado, Shadow Eye of House Hades.
Level: 80
Type: unknown.
Work under: demon lord.
Special: Shadow-walk.
Weakness: holy x 2, spiritual, light x56.
Resistances: dark, shadow x infinite.
Secret: was once human before dying and being sent to a place of torment for committing great crimes. Drinking from a cup of shadow brought him a dark rebirth.
"I'll make you suffer for playing games with me, pup witch," Elsado snarled. "And you, Lady Alice, Lord Hades requires your presence at the palace."
"You watch your tone," Natalia snapped.
"Likewise," Elsado said. "Perhaps this isn't the time for talking."
The creature formed a scythe from pure inky blackness. Black aura poured from him to form wings of shadow. The thing looked damned intimidating.
"This has been one hell of a Monday so far," Clyde said. Alice laughed.
"Come on, my heart, Father has challenged us. Just wait till he finds out who's my life mate."
Elsado frowned.
"You crashed the ceremony, which was wise. But without a ceremony, you're free for the taking. And I shall arrange you to someone of honor. Maybe your childhood playmate."
A flash of panic rushed into Alice's eyes.
"And that traitor will be reminded that I don't swing that way," Alice said with ice in her voice. "Anyway, you won't get the chance to summon her."
Elsado's laugh rang deep, evil. Clyde wondered if the thing that stood before them was actually Satan himself.
"Prepare yourself, especially you, disgusting beast kin."
[Your party has entered a death sentence!]
"Are you shitting me?" Clyde hissed. "Alice, I'm not sure about this. You know I can see extra properties. And this guy is bad news."
"Natalia, don't hold back—this rides on you," Alice said softly.
Elsado oozed forward, an unnerving glide with wings that didn't flap. He simply hovered, if one could call it that.
"Come, worms. Make the first move."
[You invoked Mystic wrath!]
[Your transformation has been cancelled.]
[Elsado's presence negates all transformations!]
Clyde's eyes widened. Fine, he didn't need it anyway. He unsheathed Ludacris.
"Ah, the Ashfall legendary sword," Elsado said. "Come."
[Neko activated Holy lance.]
[Elsado activated Shadow-walking]
The man merged into the shadows of a street light. Neko's blade of pure while light sailed past him. Natalia chanted line after line, golden aura surrounding her.
[Party loyalty has triggered. Any companion in the area will be notified. Bonus stats will be awarded to them if they're able to provide assistance.]
"Shit," Clyde said. He didn't want Harumi to join at the wrong the time. He'd have to keep Elsado's attention—the pink-haired girl would surely rush from her apartment.
The shadow man returned from the ground, smug grin on his face. But Clyde immediately knew that the shadow ability wasn't as broken as it seemed. He had a time limit. Thank god he had limits.
Clyde rushed forward, Alice flanking to engage the demon. He blocked both Clyde's sword and Alice's then bashed them backward with a black light. Painful black light and hot wind. So much blackness—there was no way they could've seen such a quick-casted attack coming. The yelling of Neko and Yuki sounded very far away.]
[Elsado used Tier 1 skill: Silent Reaper Dark wave.]
[Your Hp has dropped to 1%]
[You've been inflicted with Death blight.]
[You are dying…]
Clyde fell, blood gushing out of his mouth. Here we go again, he thought. Take one step forward, then fall five steps back.
[Alice's HP has dropped to 0.5% Warning, your life mate is dying. Warning!]
Alice…dying…even though she had a natural shield. Demon Lord Hades was stronger than this? This shadow man was level eighty. Much higher than him—yet…he began to reach for the power. Sudden warmth stopped him.
[Harumi activated skill fusion: Double Grand Heal + Refresh.]
[Your HP and MP returned to 75% All status alignments, hunger, and thirst, and exhaustion removed.]
[Alice's HP and MP returned to 75% All status alignments, hunger, and thirst, and exhaustion removed.]
Clyde looked toward Alice, but the demoness was already standing. He turned to Harumi.
"You saved our asses."
"Who is he?" Harumi said.
"Hades's dog," Yuki said.
Elsado chuckled.
"It is remarkable to see the wheel of luck spinning for such fools. To survive that, I'm impressed. Your power level must be at least over forty or so. Well, it doesn't matter. Come, the dance has just started."
"This is not one of my better ideas," Alice said with a chuckle. "Nobody in the palace would've guessed he was this strong."
Elsado held up a hand. Pools of his blackness began to ooze around pale fingers.
Clyde didn't hesitate, not wanting to fall close to death again. He'd have to keep the fear out of his head, think of this as simply a super challenging boss fight and not a death sentence.
[Clyde activated Spirit wave.]
Elsado clearly had no idea what was coming for him as he simply laughed.
"Your weak and path—agh!"
[Weakness exploited! No damage dealt due to Shadow shield.]
"He has some shadow shield," Clyde said.
"Natalia hurry up," Alice urged. The loli continued to chant, faster with more passion and song. That only pissed off Clyde—the worst trope at a time like this. The attack move that took fucking forever to launch.
Elsado looked pissed as he recovered. Clyde and Alice had no intention of going near him again.
"So you know of holy and spirit," Elsado said. "Too bad magic is useless. If only you had something else. Oh what's that? Don't want to rush headstrong for a pathetic physical attack?"
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
His aim was at Natalia, rightfully so. Clyde hopped in front of her and put up a Spirit shield. The attacked rocked him, but he held his ground.
[Your HP has dropped to 44%]
[Your MP has dropped to 60%]
He panted a little, catching his breath from such power. A prompt remained on the corner of his eye—one he forgot to check the previous night. Battle wasn't the right time—but he did so anyway without taking his eyes off the stationary opponent.
[Ki increased! Strength is at 1. Passion is at 1. Energy is at 1.]
[Ki increased! Soul is at 1. Command is at 1. Radiance is at 1.]
Oh, Kitome and Alice. Now wasn't the time to think about that—he just didn't have enough Ki or any Ki-based skills to make use of the gains.
Natalia continued to chant, her voice seeming to be coming to a conclusion. If this failed, they were through.
Clyde won a death sentence before. He'd win again. The Fireside girls should be dressed up sexily and painfully smiling as they served food to their customers.
[Neko activated Holy lance.]
[Alice activated Targeted raid ender.]
[Harumi activated Feral fire wave]
All of their magic missed.
[Elsado used Shadow-walking.]
He emerged from the ground seconds later, chuckling deeply. His chuckle became a full-on dark laugh.
"The daughter heir is but a worm to my feet. A shameless slut human lover."
Clyde shook his head.
"Elsado, you want to know what true fear is?"
Elsado laughed harder.
"A human, a lowly maggot spouting out words like this? This is rich. I'm going to enjoy eating your soul."
His eyes widened when Clyde was already there, hand holding his heart. The young man shoved it out and crushed it.
[Elsado's HP has dropped to 33%]
[Warning! You do not have access to this system!]
Clyde felt the strain, the pain but ignore it. Practice made perfect. Elsado still laughed.
[Elsado activated almighty-tier skill: Son Tan YU regeneration.]
[Elsado's HP has fully restored to 700%]
[You activated Flash step.]
Clyde let go of the power as he got the hell away from Satan. Elsado grinned.
"If you had more time to control such incredible power, I'd be the worm," the shadow man said. "So much damage dealt—you're more of a monster than I am. But any longer and that would've ground your bones against your skin."
The shadow man aimed a hand at Clyde.
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
The party dodged, though Clyde felt shrapnel from the damaged sidewalk hit his cheek.
[HP: 40%]
[MP: 32%]
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
[Elsado activated Double Shadow end blast.]
[You activated you Tier 2 skill: All mighty shield.]
The dark magic death blasts were all aimed at him. It was as if he forgot Natalia existed. Had Clyde not put up the all mighty shield, Elsado would've got her without even meaning to do so.
"What's the matter, human? Where is your spark? Do you not wish to challenge me? How can someone like you possibly have convinced Lady Alice to join you?"
Clyde found himself panting a little, but not because of exhaustion, he had too much endurance. This pant was of excitement and nervousness. Natalia finally, for the love of everything, outstretched her arms, rapidly spinning golden aura striking all over the place like lightning.
"Hey Elsado," Clyde said, to hold his attention. "Alice and I had enough sex to make even Hades blush. So tell him I've been inside, all around, and she's mine."
Elsado grimaced.
"You insolent fu—"
[Natalia activated GODDESS TIER SKILL: Goddess Venus's Eternal Love Becomes Heartbreak.]
The entire area briefly lit up with golden light before Natalia unleashed what Clyde could only describe as a planet-sized golden Kamehameha wave. His eyes widened at the prompt.
[Elsado has been vaporized.]
[Elsado's soul has been destroyed.]
[Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 250,000 EXP and $100,000. You learned Tier 2 skill: Neptune's Water Edge.]
The loli-witch started to collapse but Clyde caught her in time. As he surveyed the area, Clyde couldn't help but be amazed that nothing was damaged. People continued to go about their day without a care in the world. The young man looked down at the witch who, despite having the body of a fucking ten-year-old, was in fact, older than he. Or was she? Sometimes he didn't feel convinced. She had her serious moments and childish moments.
"Damn," Clyde said to her. She smiled weakly.
"Aren't you glad you didn't fight me seriously? I'm the best you know."
He laughed.
"That was some next-level shit, but next time, find something faster. I almost had a heart attack when he nearly hit you with his magic."
Natalia giggled.
"Someone actually cares."
[Your relationship with Natal—]
He cut off the prompt with a mental glare. Remember what I said, System, he thought. Robo-cops.
"New idea," Clyde said as he lifted Natalia to princess-carry back into his apartment. Everyone looked at him. "Fuck Hades. I will not be facing him in his place of power. Instead, we're going to utilize seven magical girls and a super buff to strike against the palace from afar. Hades will have to come out sometime. Also, warn Tear, your supporters, Melody, whatever. We're blowing his shit the fuck up. He'll learn what it means to be fucked like this."
No one objected. Beaten up and tired, the party looked forward to the distant attack.
Clyde was taken aback at what he saw. A…thing. A pale-faced man, covered in flowing and oozing blackness, ripped himself out of a giant glowing gold net. That had to be Natalia's doing. Her smug smiled confirmed as much.
So, this was Elsado. Clyde analyzed him. People around cleared the area, walking on other streets, not looking. This phenomenon still unnerved the young man.
Elsado, Shadow Eye of House Hades.
Level: 80
Type: unknown.
Work under: demon lord.
Special: Shadow-walk.
Weakness: holy x 2, spiritual, light x56.
Resistances: dark, shadow x infinite.
Secret: was once human before dying and being sent to a place of torment for committing great crimes. Drinking from a cup of shadow brought him a dark rebirth.
"I'll make you suffer for playing games with me, pup witch," Elsado snarled. "And you, Lady Alice, Lord Hades requires your presence at the palace."
"You watch your tone," Natalia snapped.
"Likewise," Elsado said. "Perhaps this isn't the time for talking."
The creature formed a scythe from pure inky blackness. Black aura poured from him to form wings of shadow. The thing looked damned intimidating.
"This has been one hell of a Monday so far," Clyde said. Alice laughed.
"Come on, my heart, Father has challenged us. Just wait till he finds out who's my life mate."
Elsado frowned.
"You crashed the ceremony, which was wise. But without a ceremony, you're free for the taking. And I shall arrange you to someone of honor. Maybe your childhood playmate."
A flash of panic rushed into Alice's eyes.
"And that traitor will be reminded that I don't swing that way," Alice said with ice in her voice. "Anyway, you won't get the chance to summon her."
Elsado's laugh rang deep, evil. Clyde wondered if the thing that stood before them was actually Satan himself.
"Prepare yourself, especially you, disgusting beast kin."
[Your party has entered a death sentence!]
"Are you shitting me?" Clyde hissed. "Alice, I'm not sure about this. You know I can see extra properties. And this guy is bad news."
"Natalia, don't hold back—this rides on you," Alice said softly.
Elsado oozed forward, an unnerving glide with wings that didn't flap. He simply hovered, if one could call it that.
"Come, worms. Make the first move."
[You invoked Mystic wrath!]
[Your transformation has been cancelled.]
[Elsado's presence negates all transformations!]
Clyde's eyes widened. Fine, he didn't need it anyway. He unsheathed Ludacris.
"Ah, the Ashfall legendary sword," Elsado said. "Come."
[Neko activated Holy lance.]
[Elsado activated Shadow-walking]
The man merged into the shadows of a street light. Neko's blade of pure while light sailed past him. Natalia chanted line after line, golden aura surrounding her.
[Party loyalty has triggered. Any companion in the area will be notified. Bonus stats will be awarded to them if they're able to provide assistance.]
"Shit," Clyde said. He didn't want Harumi to join at the wrong the time. He'd have to keep Elsado's attention—the pink-haired girl would surely rush from her apartment.
The shadow man returned from the ground, smug grin on his face. But Clyde immediately knew that the shadow ability wasn't as broken as it seemed. He had a time limit. Thank god he had limits.
Clyde rushed forward, Alice flanking to engage the demon. He blocked both Clyde's sword and Alice's then bashed them backward with a black light. Painful black light and hot wind. So much blackness—there was no way they could've seen such a quick-casted attack coming. The yelling of Neko and Yuki sounded very far away.]
[Elsado used Tier 1 skill: Silent Reaper Dark wave.]
[Your Hp has dropped to 1%]
[You've been inflicted with Death blight.]
[You are dying…]
Clyde fell, blood gushing out of his mouth. Here we go again, he thought. Take one step forward, then fall five steps back.
[Alice's HP has dropped to 0.5% Warning, your life mate is dying. Warning!]
Alice…dying…even though she had a natural shield. Demon Lord Hades was stronger than this? This shadow man was level eighty. Much higher than him—yet…he began to reach for the power. Sudden warmth stopped him.
[Harumi activated skill fusion: Double Grand Heal + Refresh.]
[Your HP and MP returned to 75% All status alignments, hunger, and thirst, and exhaustion removed.]
[Alice's HP and MP returned to 75% All status alignments, hunger, and thirst, and exhaustion removed.]
Clyde looked toward Alice, but the demoness was already standing. He turned to Harumi.
"You saved our asses."
"Who is he?" Harumi said.
"Hades's dog," Yuki said.
Elsado chuckled.
"It is remarkable to see the wheel of luck spinning for such fools. To survive that, I'm impressed. Your power level must be at least over forty or so. Well, it doesn't matter. Come, the dance has just started."
"This is not one of my better ideas," Alice said with a chuckle. "Nobody in the palace would've guessed he was this strong."
Elsado held up a hand. Pools of his blackness began to ooze around pale fingers.
Clyde didn't hesitate, not wanting to fall close to death again. He'd have to keep the fear out of his head, think of this as simply a super challenging boss fight and not a death sentence.
[Clyde activated Spirit wave.]
Elsado clearly had no idea what was coming for him as he simply laughed.
"Your weak and path—agh!"
[Weakness exploited! No damage dealt due to Shadow shield.]
"He has some shadow shield," Clyde said.
"Natalia hurry up," Alice urged. The loli continued to chant, faster with more passion and song. That only pissed off Clyde—the worst trope at a time like this. The attack move that took fucking forever to launch.
Elsado looked pissed as he recovered. Clyde and Alice had no intention of going near him again.
"So you know of holy and spirit," Elsado said. "Too bad magic is useless. If only you had something else. Oh what's that? Don't want to rush headstrong for a pathetic physical attack?"
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
His aim was at Natalia, rightfully so. Clyde hopped in front of her and put up a Spirit shield. The attacked rocked him, but he held his ground.
[Your HP has dropped to 44%]
[Your MP has dropped to 60%]
He panted a little, catching his breath from such power. A prompt remained on the corner of his eye—one he forgot to check the previous night. Battle wasn't the right time—but he did so anyway without taking his eyes off the stationary opponent.
[Ki increased! Strength is at 1. Passion is at 1. Energy is at 1.]
[Ki increased! Soul is at 1. Command is at 1. Radiance is at 1.]
Oh, Kitome and Alice. Now wasn't the time to think about that—he just didn't have enough Ki or any Ki-based skills to make use of the gains.
Natalia continued to chant, her voice seeming to be coming to a conclusion. If this failed, they were through.
Clyde won a death sentence before. He'd win again. The Fireside girls should be dressed up sexily and painfully smiling as they served food to their customers.
[Neko activated Holy lance.]
[Alice activated Targeted raid ender.]
[Harumi activated Feral fire wave]
All of their magic missed.
[Elsado used Shadow-walking.]
He emerged from the ground seconds later, chuckling deeply. His chuckle became a full-on dark laugh.
"The daughter heir is but a worm to my feet. A shameless slut human lover."
Clyde shook his head.
"Elsado, you want to know what true fear is?"
Elsado laughed harder.
"A human, a lowly maggot spouting out words like this? This is rich. I'm going to enjoy eating your soul."
His eyes widened when Clyde was already there, hand holding his heart. The young man shoved it out and crushed it.
[Elsado's HP has dropped to 33%]
[Warning! You do not have access to this system!]
Clyde felt the strain, the pain but ignore it. Practice made perfect. Elsado still laughed.
[Elsado activated almighty-tier skill: Son Tan YU regeneration.]
[Elsado's HP has fully restored to 700%]
[You activated Flash step.]
Clyde let go of the power as he got the hell away from Satan. Elsado grinned.
"If you had more time to control such incredible power, I'd be the worm," the shadow man said. "So much damage dealt—you're more of a monster than I am. But any longer and that would've ground your bones against your skin."
The shadow man aimed a hand at Clyde.
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
The party dodged, though Clyde felt shrapnel from the damaged sidewalk hit his cheek.
[HP: 40%]
[MP: 32%]
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
[Elsado activated Shadow blast.]
[Elsado activated Double Shadow end blast.]
[You activated you Tier 2 skill: All mighty shield.]
The dark magic death blasts were all aimed at him. It was as if he forgot Natalia existed. Had Clyde not put up the all mighty shield, Elsado would've got her without even meaning to do so.
"What's the matter, human? Where is your spark? Do you not wish to challenge me? How can someone like you possibly have convinced Lady Alice to join you?"
Clyde found himself panting a little, but not because of exhaustion, he had too much endurance. This pant was of excitement and nervousness. Natalia finally, for the love of everything, outstretched her arms, rapidly spinning golden aura striking all over the place like lightning.
"Hey Elsado," Clyde said, to hold his attention. "Alice and I had enough sex to make even Hades blush. So tell him I've been inside, all around, and she's mine."
Elsado grimaced.
"You insolent fu—"
[Natalia activated GODDESS TIER SKILL: Goddess Venus's Eternal Love Becomes Heartbreak.]
The entire area briefly lit up with golden light before Natalia unleashed what Clyde could only describe as a planet-sized golden Kamehameha wave. His eyes widened at the prompt.
[Elsado has been vaporized.]
[Elsado's soul has been destroyed.]
[Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 250,000 EXP and $100,000. You learned Tier 2 skill: Neptune's Water Edge.]
The loli-witch started to collapse but Clyde caught her in time. As he surveyed the area, Clyde couldn't help but be amazed that nothing was damaged. People continued to go about their day without a care in the world. The young man looked down at the witch who, despite having the body of a fucking ten-year-old, was in fact, older than he. Or was she? Sometimes he didn't feel convinced. She had her serious moments and childish moments.
"Damn," Clyde said to her. She smiled weakly.
"Aren't you glad you didn't fight me seriously? I'm the best you know."
He laughed.
"That was some next-level shit, but next time, find something faster. I almost had a heart attack when he nearly hit you with his magic."
Natalia giggled.
"Someone actually cares."
[Your relationship with Natal—]
He cut off the prompt with a mental glare. Remember what I said, System, he thought. Robo-cops.
"New idea," Clyde said as he lifted Natalia to princess-carry back into his apartment. Everyone looked at him. "Fuck Hades. I will not be facing him in his place of power. Instead, we're going to utilize seven magical girls and a super buff to strike against the palace from afar. Hades will have to come out sometime. Also, warn Tear, your supporters, Melody, whatever. We're blowing his shit the fuck up. He'll learn what it means to be fucked like this."
No one objected. Beaten up and tired, the party looked forward to the distant attack.
