War Paint. Bright markings can be used to identify the champion and symbolize their power. War Paint can give the champion physical and mental strength and increased durability.
The demons stared at the mysterious champion in the yellow pillar. The War Paint on Liam's body was all over his arms, legs, torso, and running up his cheeks, eyes, and one running up to the right side of his forehead.
The demon magician gritted his crystal-like teeth and glared at him.
"DOES ANYONE KNOW THAT CHAMPION'S NAME!" He yelled at the others. The other demons shook their heads, making the demon magician growl loudly and began pounding the ground with his staff.
War paint can also identify the champion's name based on what the markings symbolize and its power.
Liam slowly descends to the ground and then exits the yellow pillar before it was sucked into his body and lit on fire, forging the War Paint onto his body.
He was hunched over and then slowly rise to look at his enemies in front of him. His hand move to the side as if it was grabbing something until a yellow aura started forming into a shape of a short sword. Revealing all black knuckle-duster short double edge sword with ancient yellow writings on the blade
"Get him!"
The demons from the demon magician squad charged at him. Liam slowly scans his surroundings, analyzing his opponents in slow motion. Then, he flickered after a yellow trail passed by them and back to Liam. Moving too fast for them to know what happen as they slowly evaporated into the air.
"That damn Guardian Mode!" Guardian Mode is a temporary self-defense mechanism for newly born Champions, granting the enemies an illusion of a mastered Champion due to their combat abilities and the utility of their power.
Liam turned his eyes on the magician and didn't hesitate to try to go after his head. The magician barely moves his head just in time, slicing his right cheek and smiling.
"Even though you're a Champion, you still can't hit me-" Liam shuts him up by hitting his face with the knuckle duster and creating a shockwave. The demon's eyes went blank and his mind can barely maintain his consciousness.
Not only that, it lifted him off the ground, giving the perfect opportunity for Liam to open up his abdomen before withering away.
He began scanning his surroundings again and find a boy in the same spot.
"Th-Thank you!" The boy cried in tears. Liam didn't react because he was still in Guardian Mode. Instead, he looks behind the boy and sees the battlefield before heading in that direction at blazing speed.
...
On the battlefield, Aniya was fighting for her life. She had to team up with four soldiers to take down one demon, and yet it felt like the fight had been going on for ages.
Aniya blocked the demon's attack from above, bringing her to her knees and fighting back its strength. She gritted her teeth and had to parry its attacks or dodge them.
One of the soldiers slashes its back while it was distracted, but it didn't deliver serious damage to the demon's body to be considered a killing blow. It caught the demon's attention to turn around and grabbed him by the throat before biting and ripping his face off.
Aniya quickly took this opportunity to deliver a killing blow by stabbing its lower back before slicing up to the chest and digging her sword deeper into its chest, exiting on the other side. The demon halted its action and slowly struggled to support its weight until it withered away.
Aniya sighed in relief for a quick moment before turning her attention to the other three demons who were ready to strike her down. She gripped her sword tightly and stood her ground, waiting patiently for one of them to screw up.
She ignored the yellow pillar in the background that made the ground rumble. One of the demons started charging at her, and Aniya dodged to the side and counter its attack. The demon blocked her attack coming from her right and tried to grab her until she jumped back to avoid the carnage from its squad.
Aniya does not want to be in the middle of that or else she would be in big trouble. She continues backing up and staying close to her squad as they face them.
It's an even number, but Aniya and her squad were out of their league when it comes to physical strength and speed. There's no way they can fight them one on one. Aniya and her squad waited patiently for one of them to screw up their attacks. That's the only hope they have to win this fight.
The demons leaped toward them and they jumped back with Aniya and tried decapitating their heads at the same time.
Aniya landed and stood in front of her squad. Holding her sword out in front of her with the blade gleaming in the sunlight. She needs to be careful of her actions or else she would mess it up and get herself killed. She slowly stepped back to her squad, keeping her eyes on her enemies and watching their movements.
Then, something came thundering into the battlefield from inside of the walls in a flash of yellow light. Some of them stop fighting and think that one of the gods has arrived, but it wasn't them.
Aniya squinted her eyes as the dust began to fade away. Only to find Liam, standing there and hunched over with his sword in his hand before slowly raising his head to gaze upon the battlefield with his new look.
Aniya gasped when she saw the markings on his body and realized that he is a Champion.
"LIAM?!" She shouted in shock. Liam didn't respond to her. Instead, he let out a battle cry to catch every demon's attention, taunting them and telling them to attack him only. However, the demons ignored him and continue their action.
Aniya widened her eyes when she saw the sword coming from her face until Liam zoomed from his position and stab the demon on its right side. The demon gagged and slowly let go of its weapon. Liam chuck him towards other demons who were about to attack other soldiers at blazing speed, knocking them out of the way before the carcasses faded away.
Liam turned his attention and dodge one of the demon's attacks. He pinned its sword to the ground, tossing his sword up in the air before performing a 540 kick to its head with his left leg and grabbing his sword with his right to decapitate its head. He tossed his body to the other demons again as Aniya stare at him in astonishment.
His shirt was all torn up and stained with his blood. What surprises her the most is how shredded his body looks. He wasn't this shredded, not even muscular to begin with. And with the immense physical strength, he just displayed was something not a human being can do.
Then, every demon started going after him because he showed them who is the real threat. Liam lazily turned his attention to the closest demon, turning his body to the side and watching its sword going down in front of his face before pushing him to collide with other demons.
Liam grabbed the other demon's weapon who was coming in for an attack before stabbing him, slicing its friends around him, and crushing one of the demon's toes. The demon howled in pain, and Liam shuts the demon up by cutting its face.
Aniya was still shocked and her face is starting to hurt from widening her eyes and having her jaws to the floor. Watching Liam fight the demons is like nothing she had ever seen before. It's like she was seeing him at full potential because he was not only using his sword, but his fist, elbows, knees, and feet along with excellent reactions.
He was sending unpredictable attacks to set up a killing blow, shocking the enemies during the process to be easily defeated by an unordinary human being.
Liam jumped back and stare down at the horde coming toward him. He put his sword to the side to prepare an attack and then muttered.
"Cosmic Gash."
And then, he slash his sword from his right, sending a yellow flying slash that started to extend the battlefield. Most of the demons were decimated by his attack while some of them duck or jumped over it as the attack slowly faded away as it gets farther from the battlefield. There are only about twenty demons left on the battlefield.
Liam wasted no time and charged in to jump kick one of the demon's head, whiplashing it before slicing the body in half from above. He continue making unpredictable setup attacks again on the others and finally ended up with him facing five other demons.
One of them began to approach him slowly with a smile on its face.
"Not bad, now what," said the demon curiously. Liam feints his stab and then threw a blazing left hook to the demon's face, sending him flying in slow motion. Liam quickly front kicks its stomach before switching his leg to knee strike its face again.
Liam was about to deliver a killing blow to its body with his sword coming in from his right, but then the demon blocked his attack with his weapon and slowly gaze at him with a blank expression.
The demon groaned in anger as it slap his sword from its weapon, and Liam forestall the demon's attack from left and right. This demon was much stronger than the demon magician. It was able to block and take some hits from Liam's unpredictable strikes. The demon locked its sword with his and whistled as the remaining demons jumped in. Liam pushed kick the demon and jumped back.
"Deceiving Assault." Then, five yellow clones appeared from him and start attacking the demon. Each attack blinks three times when they block their attack and counter them until Liam rushed in as the clones disappeared, striking one of the demon's stomachs. Twisting it and yanking his sword out.
The unholy being drop to its knees and withered away. Liam turned his attention to the others, only to realize that he was not the only one who was strong.
One of them manages to disarm him by manipulating his sword with theirs and amputating his hand. Liam grabbed the demon's face with his other hand and threw it against the other demons like a ragdoll. He choke the demon who sliced his hand with one hand, lifting it to the air as his hand regenerate, then constructed his sword.
Liam quickly finish the demon off in his hand by separating its head apart from itself with his sword and charged through its withering corpse. Closing in the distance with the other demon, spun around to face its back and slammed the demon's head to the ground before consecutive stabbing its right side of the body.
Liam performs a side spin, sending a Cosmic Gash to the left demon and charging to the other one. He lightly taps its weapon, feinting his attack, and grabs its arm to yank the demon to its fellow partner. Liam leaped forward and sink his sword through both of their bodies. He pulled his left hand back and slammed it to the bottom of his sword handle to push his sword deeper, making them explode into the air.
Meanwhile, Aniya stared at Liam in amazed as his War Paint glow brightly in the sun rays while remaining in his position. He slowly lower his arms and stare at the sky with heavy eyelids before the War Paint faded away, and Liam collapsed to the ground with a heavy weight on his body.
The last thing he heard was Aniya calling his name.