"I want to make a deal."
Although I felt a bit hurt that Arthur had assumed that I was somehow working for the demons, I could understand his worry. At this point, there was no way he hadn't figured out that he was the apostle of Theia, the person chosen to save Tella from the demons.
This fact was also something I had to keep in mind, as he might be the breaking point between either of the sides winning the war. With that knowledge, the hero might be the most important thing for me to get right.
His blonde hair shook a bit, a byproduct of him flinching as he heard my words, most likely remembering the time at the survival event. At that time, I had been careless, leaving an opportunity for him to escape, unable to completely understand his personality.
Now, I got a new chance, and this time, I wouldn't let him slip away from my grasp.
Though he looked incredibly skeptical of my little proposal, he still had the decency to ask what I wanted, "A deal? What sort of deal?"
Knowing that he was nowhere near the place he needed to be to accept my deal, I still went through with it. After all, a no is only a refusal if it isn't followed by a yes.
"I want you to work for me. In return, I will make sure you get strong enough to protect everyone around you."
Even if it sounded like a simple deal, we were both well aware of how impactful it could be for both of us, although he might be in the dark about just how grand his presence would be in the future.
There had been a lot of previous work put in, a seed that I had planted a long time ago in his mind, a thought that I was somehow the one who always knew what was about to happen. Granted, everything took a bit of a left turn when my head got chopped off, but there was no doubt in my mind that he still carried these feelings.
However, and unfortunately as expected, it wouldn't be that easy, "I refuse. Even if you aren't on the demons' side, I cannot accept that. The fact stands that you threatened the entire capital of Mensch, and so I would have to turn my back on them if I accepted."
The man was still speaking with logic at heart. There were a lot of demerits for him if someone found out that he worked with me, with the biggest one being him getting executed for treason.
Leaning back on the throne, I took a second to enjoy the moment, "I see. That's a shame, but it wasn't that surprising. On another note, how's Sophie? From what I've seen you are getting along quite well nowadays."
Stupefied by the sudden change of conversation, he needed a moment before he could open his mouth again, "She is fine? A bit worried about you, but other than that there is no problem... Why are you asking?"
'Now let's see if this works...'
Standing up, I was now ready to see what would happen if I threw a bomb into the room, "Oh nothing, I just thought that it would be a shame if she got hurt just because you didn't accept my deal."
*Fwosh!*
It didn't even take a second for a golden hue to envelop the body of the hero, making him almost look like he was covered by diving fire.
"Die."
Swinging his longsword, which was also completely covered in mana, he wasn't too keen on continuing our conversation.
With his swing came a huge arc of light, quickly approaching the throne I was standing in front of.
'Dangerous...!'
*BOM!*
Gravel and debris flew through the air when my previous seat exploded from the impact of his attack, while I had to make a small dash to the side to avoid it.
Although I had the courage to let my other body get pierced by Sebastian's spear, I did not have the confidence to take Arthur's attack head-on; It was too strong.
With him having instantly activated all his enhancement skills, with [Ascension] being the main one, the man in front of me had power that suddenly rivaled mine, and I didn't feel like taking any risks that I didn't have to.
'Truly a cheat Skill...'
Sadly, I didn't have time to internally complain for much longer as the enraged man quickly dashed toward me, his sword ready to cut me down.
'[Dome of Mist]'
With mist surging out from my body, it didn't take long until I was hidden from the world, with Arthur quickly getting enveloped too.
"So you are doing this again... Ain't happening! Happ!"
The hero swung his golden sword again, this time not with the intention to hit me but to disperse the mist around him.
Sadly, what he did was completely within my prediction.
*Sss!*
At the same time that he managed to destroy my dome by launching another arc, I had already gotten behind him, my wriggling arm finding its way to his neck.
"Argh!"
"Woah!"
Feeling his neck getting bitten, he launched his sword around him, making me feel the cold steel against my neck for a second as I took a step back.
I wasn't a crazy person who would fight with him fairly when I knew about his signature skill. So, as I assumed that he would act hot-headedly as a result of my previous taunting, it wasn't hard to create a situation where I could inject my venom.
"What did you do?!"
With his eyes still glowing in gold, he still hadn't been able to identify what I did, as I had quickly transformed my arm back after I had gotten my attack in.
Sadly, he wouldn't let me answer his question as he rushed toward me again, his eyes still surging with anger.
"Such a fool..."
****
[Sebastian's Pov]
*Tang! Tang! Tang!*
'Shit! Not a single attack is getting through!*
It was such a ridiculous sight, how the demon just casually swung his farmer's tool and deflected every single strike that I threw at him, my spear getting completely overwhelmed while he just stood still like he was bored.
"[Heavy Pierce]!"
Charging my spear, I prepared myself to launch the strongest attack in my arsenal, trying my best to at least make him stagger a bit. *Bam!* Sadly, I was just met by James not moving a step, deflecting yet another attack, forcing my right arm up into the air, and making my spear follow along with its trajectory.
"Weak..."
*Bom!*
"Gah!" A heavy kick landed in my stomach, to me unknown how he could bridge the gap between us so fast, sending me flying backward, tumbling to the ground. Even though I had gotten it ingrained in my soul to never let go of my weapon, my hand still couldn't hold on to it.
Putting my hands up in order to defend myself from the inevitable attack that would exploit my opening, I got surprised by the fact that nothing came. Looking up, I felt a disgusting feeling of deja vu when I saw that the demon was just standing there, waiting for me to pick up my weapon again.
"Come on then, stand up and pick it up. This is not all that the mighty Sebastian Crawb amounts to, right?"
It was so infuriating, how the skinny man could stand above me, and look down upon me like I was a bug. What was even more frustrating was that I could do nothing about it. He hadn't even used his mist once against me, not to speak of any Skills.
The one time I had felt like this when going up against someone that was the same age as I was when I had dueled Arthur, who had used some sort of weird Skill that made it feel like he had jumped an entire rank in strength. But as mentioned, even he had used a Skill at least.
Getting on my feet, with my legs a bit shaky from the impact, I hated this feeling of being toyed with, of my opponent underestimating me.
So, I got to my spear and threw everything I had at him, knowing that if I failed, I wouldn't walk out of this dungeon alive.
****
[Sophie's Pov]
"Then what are we supposed to do?! Are we just going to stand here, and wait?!"
After Mr. Brown and Ms. Turner had entered both of the dungeon entrances, unable to find any trace of either of the two missing men, they suddenly told us that we just had to wait and hope.
My whole being felt like it had been set on fire, knowing that someone had taken what was rightfully mine right in front of my face, completely disrespecting me in every way possible.
And the worst part was that I felt like I knew who was behind all of this, the one person who would think of doing something like this.
'I swear to god! When I find you James!'