"Hmm?"
Father Albert reacted as he sensed some demonic energy from the dungeon.
He frowned his eyebrows, pondering,
'I don't think our dungeon has demons. Are there any intruders?'
Then, he closed his eyes while standing on a greenfield.
"Huh?!"
He reacted as he opened his eyes in an instant.
"No way..."
Then, he glanced toward the north and mumbled,
"What's a Demonic Guardian doing in the dungeon?"
When he opened his right palm, his crystal ball reappeared.
He glanced at the Demonic Guardian, then he realised that Ary was also there.
He sighed after seeing Ary and pondered,
'Will he be able to defeat him? His ranking is not the same as that of the Demonic Guardian.'
Then, a thought struck his head.
He smiled and focused on Erica, Mike, Emily, and Mary.
He spotted his left index finger on them and called out,
"Santika."
Then, he smiled and glanced at Ary and said,
"I hope you don't disappoint me, my child."
***
Ary was glaring at the Demonic Guardian with a furious gaze, pondering,
'Demon...I will definitely kill him.'
His anger toward demons after seeing Selina's past increased rapidly.
Mike, who was frightened to see the Demonic Guardian, pondered,
'What should we do now? A Demonic Guardian is an SSS-ranked beast. Defeating him is impossible for our group.'
Then, his eyes shifted to Ary. He mumbled,
"Will Ary be able to take him down...?"
Emily and Mary were scared after the appearance of the Demonic Guardian. They were both shivering in fear.
While Erica, on the contrary, glanced at Ary and pondered,
'Will we be able to defeat him together...?'
"Ding!"
Suddenly, Almita made a dinging sound.
"Hmm?"
Ary reacted as his gaze shifted to Almita.
Rank:- SSS-ranked beast. Weakness:- Unknown. The chance of winning is 5%.> Almita reported. "Tsk!" After hearing the rank and the possibility of winning, Ary clicked his tongue. He thought that the rank would be SS-ranked, but it was greater than that. Also, the possibility was low. "Status Gawking eyes." Ary called while glancing at the Demonic Guardian. It showed one million. "Wha?!" Ary was left flabbergasted after discerning this. "What is he doing?" Shikalah mumbled after seeing Ary glaring at him. "Guys, stay back." Ary commanded. "What?! But Ary-?!" Before Mike and others could react, while tightening his blades, Ary ran toward the Demonic Guardian. "Haaaaaaaaa!!!!!" He yelled while running. Actually, yelling was unnecessary, but he did that because it gave him the vibe of his favourite Shounen Manga. "Heh." The Demonic Guardian smiled after seeing Ary's stupidity. "ZIIIIIIZZZZZ!!" "Wha?!" Ary jumped back as a snake of the Demonic Guardian darted at him. "Hehehehe. What a fool, human." Shikalah commented as he shrugged his shoulders, adding, "Did you think that you'd defeat me just because you have a sword?" "Hmph. I know I'll defeat you." Ary replied. After seeing his confidence, Shikalah smiled more and said, "Well, then." Snap! Then, he snapped his fingers and some packs of demonic wolves appeared from behind him. "What?!" Mike and others were left terrified after seeing the appearance of the demonic wolves. "Grrr!!!" While howling, the demonic wolves stepped forward. Ary shifted his attention to the demonic wolves. Swish! "Hmm? Ngh!" Suddenly, a sharp arrow darted at him, but luckily, he dodged it. "You!" Ary bellowed as he saw that it was Shikalah who fired it. "Hehehe. I'm your opponent. Don't forget that." Shikalah commented with a smirk. The demonic wolves ran towards Mike and the others. "Huh?!" Ary reacted with a worried expression, but he wasn't able to protect them since Shikalah was there. "Don't stress, Ary." Emily commented. Swoosh! Then, she fired an arrow at a demonic wolf and added, "Focus on your battle with that demon over there. We are strong enough to talk down these beasts." "Ah, okay." Ary replied. He wasn't sure whether they defeated them or not, but he believed in them. He shifted his attention to Shikalah, and he tightened the grip of his blade and frowned his eyebrows. "Well, well. To think that a mere human like you would have that much courage is absurd. I must say I'm unimpressed." Shikalah added with a creepy smile. Ary didn't respond, but with a swift speed, he flashed at Shikalah. And as he reached in front of him, he landed a slice attack. Unfortunately, Shikalah's appearance vanished like smoke. "What?" Ary reacted as he didn't understand what just happened. "Over here, human." "Hmm?" Ary reacted as he turned around and saw him standing about a mile away from him with the same creepy smile. "When did he..." Ary called out, but suddenly, "Ding!" Almita made a dinging sound, reporting, "Mirror image? Damn!!" Ary cursed after hearing about the mirror images. He realised that it may be a problem. But without any second thought, he darted toward the Demonic Guardian again. "Hehe." With a smirk, Shikalah jumped, and suddenly, three more clones, mirror images of him, appeared around him, and they all darted their snakes at Ary. "Dark Scare of Death!" With a swing of his blade, Ary decapitated every snake. Shikala's mirror images disappeared and he jumped backward, saying, "To think that you'll decapitate my snakes is quite disappointing, I must say." Unexpectedly, the heads of every snake grew up again. "What?! They regenerated?!" Ary reacted while widening his eyes after glimpsing them regenerate. Shikalah opened his right palm and a crop cutter-like blade appeared in his arm. He glanced at Ary and said, "Let's get serious now." Then, with a swift speed, he flickered at Ary. His speed was so hyper that Ary didn't notice when he arrived in front of him. He launched a slice attack at Ary, but luckily, Ary defended himself with his blade. With a creepy laugh, Shikalah thrust Ary backward, saying, "You know, kid." Then, he forwarded his face, saying, "In battle, focus matters a lot." "GWAH?!" Unexpectedly, he kicked at Ary's belly, and with a quick speed, Ary flew away in the air. "Ary!" Erica called out, but she failed to go since demonic wolves were circling them and Mike and Emily were protecting them. With a maniacal laugh, Shikalah placed his left palm over his face, saying, "How weak he is. I thought I'd face some strong warriors, but who would have thought that I'd end up facing a kid. Hahaha." Cough! Cough! While coughing, Ary got up, shivering due to pain. He felt a sharp pain in his left rib. "Grrr...why is it hurting that much?" Ary mumbled while gritting his teeth. "Hey, kid." Shikalah, who was standing some distance away from him, called while stepping towards Ary. Ary glanced at Shikalah. "Are you really a warrior?" He poked fun at Ary. Ary didn't reply. He picked his blade from the ground and while tightening the grip on his blade, Ary finally said, "Yes, I'm a warrior, Ary Inochi." "Huh?!" Shikalah was left terrified after hearing the surname "Inochi." He glared at Ary and asked, "You're...an Inochi...?" Ary realised that Shikalah might know about the first Warrior. He nodded and darted toward Shikalah, yelling, "Yes, I'm!!" "Nightmare Assault!!" Then, he launched a dark shockwave at Shikalah. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! A massive explosion happened. "Huff... huff... huff..." Ary started panting. He was already fragile from the Shikalah attack, but he tried his best to knock Shikalah down. However, Swish! "GAH?!" Unexpectedly, an arrow pierced through Ary's chest at a swift speed. Ary, with a flabbergasted expression, looked at his chest. Ary knelt while holding his chest. "Ary!!!" Erica became worried after glimpsing Ary's condition. "Your surname might be Inochi. But you're not that Inochi." As the smoke disappeared, Shikalah was seen standing there while lowering his gaze. Then, he glared at Ary, and with hyper-speed, he ran toward Ary to land a finishing blow. "Die!!!" Shikalah yelled and swung his blade at Ary. Slash! "Wha?!" "Huh?" Both Shikalah and Ary were left flabbergasted and perplexed as Shikalah's right arm got cut off and flew away toward the sky. Shikalah jumped back as he realised the presence of someone stronger. Swish! With a swishing sound, a black-suited man appeared in front of Ary while holding a blue blade in his right hand. "Huh?" Ary reacted after glimpsing this. "Huh...?" Mike, Emily, Erica, and Mary responded after seeing the appearance of an unknown person. "Are you okay, kid?" He asked. His voice reflected a sense of caring. "Um? Y-Yeah." Ary replied. "Um, Wh-Who are you?" Ary asked, trying to stand up. That man grabbed Ary's hand and supported him to stand and said, "I'm Kashi Tachibana..." Then, he glanced at Shikalah and completed his words, "An Ultimate Warrior."