It happened all in a matter of seconds as the snow frenziedly fell from the sky when Sulter appeared. Michealo still found it in himself to doubt his existence.
If something like him were to be released into the world, the number of deaths that would happen as a result would be drastic.
'I can't let a being like this set loose into the world'.
He struggled with his sword, trying to gain back momentum
"...Oh….you can still fight ?" He suddenly squeezed the hilt of the Sword, increasing the power sevenfold.
Michaelo groaned, his eyes nearly going blank in the process. 'I nearly fell unconscious…' He thought, looking up at Sulter.
"You…..why do you keep struggling". His tone came rough and arrogant and he felt disgusted at his worthless struggle.
His gaze slowly moved from Michaelo to Rachael.
Her body felt frozen in place as her eyes met his. She felt cold sweat fall down her spine with each moment and the only thought that ran through her mind was doom.
'....Michaelo…' She thought, sadness in her heart, knowing fully well what was about to take place.
Sulter felt an unprecedented situation occur. His sword was being pushed back by a human.
His gaze jumped back at Michaelo when he noticed something different about him. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and raised his sword in the air, slamming it back down faster than a person could blink.
It slammed the ground causing a loud explosion as pieces of rocks and snow floated in the air.
He grunted as the particles in the air settled down and he regained his vision.
"Tch….you don't want a quick death do you ?". He muttered glaring at Michaelo and Rachael who were currently almost a whole kilometer away from them
Michaelo panted deeply and heavily, resting slightly on his wife.
".....you talk a lot…" he muttered in between breaths, and a bulge of vein could be seen popping out from Sulter's forehead.
He took a step forward to attack them when an invisible force held him back, completely ceasing any more of his movement. He clicked his tongue once again and pointed the Sword at them instead.
"Come at me !" He cried out.
Michaelo had noticed his failed attempt to charge at them, and a smile slowly crept on my face. "Oh….Seems like you won't be able to come any closer than that…"
Sulter remained quiet, his annoyance couldn't even be expressed any more. "Are you….picking a fight with me ?". He asked slowly, dropping his sword.
"What do you mean by that ?! You're gonna kill us even if we decide not to fight". Michaelo replied with a raised brow while keeping his smile up.
His wife remained silent; she was well aware of the large difference in power, and she didn't intend to have a conversation with this being. If he so wanted, he would have killed her in a single strike, but the presence of her husband was more than enough to at least survive for a few hours.
She was concerned about the words he altered. He was clearly aggravating the matter and she didn't seem to understand why.
Her hands shook slightly when Michaelo slowly held it. She looked at him, and his expression calmed her down a bit.
"Did you force your way into our world ?" Michaelo continued as Sulter's expression continued getting darker. "I see….so if you come any farther away from the gate you forcefully opened….then you're going to lose some of your strength…."
"Hmm…..I shall erase your existence and your future lineage from this world….if you speak one more time".
He raised his sword in the air as red mana began to surge around his blade.
"I see….to get this kind of reaction…." His smile slowly faded as he took a stance. Holding his swords with both of his hands and pointing them forward at Sulter. His glow of aura receded and instead of growing wildly and ferociously…it became refined and sharp. "Then I must be right"
Sulter swung his blade down with might causing a loud supersonic explosion and a red aura with lightning sparks emitted out of his sword with breakneck speed. The trees and snow vaporized into nothingness as they floated towards Michaelo.
Michaelo's eyes dilated as a white aura began to glow out of his eyes. His wife quickly rushed out of the way to a safer distance while hoping for the best. He exhaled and the air around him seemed to have been frozen in place. "Chapter 12 of the Jun Swordsmanship....."
He swung his blade down, but nothing appeared; instead, what formed was beyond the scope of the eyes.
Atoms splits, the air splits and the red aura splits not into two but into a countless number of smaller tiny atoms.
"....Atomic Surge"
A white ball of uneven mass began to form in front of the tiny bits of red aura, and what occurred next was an event that would later strike fear in the hearts of many when they heard of the Jun.
An explosion able to flatten a whole town occurred. Blowing out the trees and snow within its range of attack reaching even the skies clearing out the snow.
Sulter's body was split into two, but it stopped at his abdomen, and it began to instantly regenerate after the attack ceased. Sulter felt mesmerized by the power. He had never met a being able to slice his body in a perfect half even on Hades. All demons except his liege were unable to even hurt him.
'And yet a human?' He thought when he felt a presence beside him.
"The more you stay on earth…the weaker you get because the gate that connects our world is too small".
His gaze slowly turned towards his right where Michaelo was preparing another attack while swinging his sword down towards his almost regenerated head.
"Next time….come prepared".
The aura around him changed as time froze.
Sulter's eyes bulged open in plain awe 'time control? A human ?'
Michaelo's sword emitted a colorless aura that could only be identified by the strong vapors it emitted.
He swung it down and yet again "Chapter 12….Atomic surge".
The white ball formed in an instant as the same explosion occurred completely sweeping everything in its presence. The forest that was once blooming with trees now turned into a wasteland with craters large enough to form rivers.
"Oh…I like you…I like you alot" Sulter's once arrogant tone turned into an excited little child as Michaelo turned toward his right. Far away from him, almost a kilometer away, an eye floating in the air began to regenerate and slowly formed the whole of his body. "I don't know who you are on Earth, but I'm taking you back with me to Hades! I need you to become a demon so I can fight with you again !" He cried out with laughter as his sword appeared in his regenerated hands. "Yes ! You're right. I have less than seven minutes on earth ! But how long do you think you can last".
Michaelo disappeared from his position causing a depression on the ground as he appeared before Sulter swinging his sword at the same time.
"It won't work a third time!" Sulter cried out as their blade clashed.
The force of their strikes caused a great vibration on the earth, shaking the forests with great might.
"Is this all you got ?!" Sulter cried out laughing with an excited expression.
Their blades struck again causing the same effect as the speed of their attacks increased and the power escalated explosively.
If a normal human were to be in the presence of their battle, they would surely dissolve into the air like nothing.
A clock sign appeared in Michaelo's eyes, freezing time once again.
'This again ?' Sulter thought. He was unable to move but his line of thought was still in place.
Michaelo swung his sword towards his neck when he felt a crack to the time he had paused, causing a swelling pain in his guts. He ignored it, and before he could cleanly slice it off, Sulter broke free and blocked his attack, causing blood to spew out of Michaelo's mouth.
"Huh….can't you not use petty tricks ?" Sulter said as he grabbed Michaelo by his leg.
He slammed him on the ground, causing a depression, and swung him to the other side, slamming him again.
He attempted to slam him on the other side when he felt his presence disappear. "Oh….so this is how you escaped…not only time….but space as well ?". He slowly lowered his sword as Michaelo appeared above him, swinging his sword down.
"Not exactly," he said as he sliced through the air and landed behind him.
'Hm ?' Sulter thought, turning around to swing his blade at him when his hand suddenly fell off, and blood began to spill to the ground. "Huh ?"
"Oh ! It seems you've spent too long….your regeneration isn't working anymore". Michaelo hardened the grip on his sword and raised it. He sliced his other hand off causing a gush of air to blow out at the end of his attack.
Sulter felt bedazzled. 'He cut off my arms ?'. A snickering smile grew on his face as he jumped away, preventing Michaelo from attacking any further.
"It seems…I may not be able to take you with me this time….I still have four minutes left….but the attack I'm about to use will most likely pull me back to Hades forcefully". He sighed. "Why don't you just come with me ?"
Michaelo took a step forward."I will have to decline your offer….I have a wife and kids waiting for me you see"
"Oh….that insignificant woman standing next to you…." He asked with a solemn expression. "I must apologize as well….to think I would have provocative thoughts with your wife….I must have been a fool"
Michaelo felt taken aback by his words. He raised a brow. "Why would you apologize ?"
"I am a devil. We respect the strong and all those who follow the strong. If you were a demon. You would surely surpass me in terms of destructive powers…..but it's a shame….you were born as a human".
Michaelo could not find the words he could use to reply to his remark. It was something he heard for the first time and, nonetheless, from a demon.
"Humans use political power to control the masses….something like that shouldn't be allowed. We demons shall come to claim your land and rule you properly not by social power or money but by absolute strength"
"...but why are you telling me all this ?" Michaelo asked. He couldn't find a reason why he would tell him so much about their plans.
"If you survive this attack…..then fight with me during our invasion. It shall occur ten years from now when the sun and moon meet and the gates weaken then the demons shall tread upon the earth"
Michaelo sighed. He had no intention whatsoever to let himself die now. He still had children to protect and a wife to love. There is more to this world than just power, especially when you've found Love. "Even as a human, I am stronger than you".
"Oh…" Sulter sighed as a ball of black mass began to form over his head. It grew exponentially in size, forming a perfect sphere as tiny red balls began to emit out of the black ball and surround it forming two rings opposite each other. "Why do you say so ?"
Michaelo's body began to emit a colorless aura. Something similar to steam. "The Will to protect those you love…."
"Black atom…." Sulter said as the ball speedily floated over towards Michaelo in an instant. "Will you protect those you love ?" He laughed out loud. "Let's see how far that kind of strength can last against me"
"You see…." Michaelo split the air and a thin line formed and slowly opened up like a zipper. "....if you don't have that…how do you intend to be strong ?"
The line formed a pathway to a dark-filled space with tiny bits of light as it swallowed the ball in a heartbeat.