Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 52: The Ambush!
I got 15 chapters ahead at p@treon.com/theogbasilisk. So give me your money if you want to I guess.
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- Yuuki Kagurazaka -
Yuuki sighed as he relaxed into the comfortable seat in the carriage Mariabell had supplied him with. As annoying as Tempest and Rimuru could be, he had to thank them for renovating the design of the carriages. Adding suspension was a small yet quite impacting change to the average carriage.
He thought back on the events that happened in the recent days.
He knew Rimuru had suspected him of something that was likely the reason he took custody of the children. He wished to keep them safe in Tempest, something Yuuki did not care much for.
Sure, the kids had potential; each was bound to a Greater Elemental, but he'd rather Rimuru get off his back. He was not lying when he said he was not 100% confident that he could defeat Rimuru head-on.
He had grown far more powerful after his ascension into a Demon Lord.
The Festival itself was rather enjoyable. The food was amazing. He enjoyed the Tournament as well. It allowed him to get a general understanding of the strength of some of Rimuru's subordinates.
The concert was also enjoyable; he did not think he would ever get to listen to those nostalgic anime openings again, but Rimuru proved him wrong once again.
It was also fairly amusing to watch Hinata navigate conversations with Demon Lord Felix. Yuuki thought she may have even had a crush on him, something he originally did not think was possible, at least not the Hinata from before.
Hinata had changed. She was far more understanding and casual. Yuuki could not pinpoint exactly what happened or how exactly she changed, but he felt it had something to do with Demon Lord Felix.
And then there was the attack on Tempest.
He was surprised that the Divine Empress Elmesia had offered to help Rimuru defend Tempest. It seems he underestimated how close their relationship was, not to mention the Dwarven King Gazel also assisted along with Hinata's Holy Knight Captains.
With all of those powerful individuals assisting, the attack was not as effective as it could have been.
In fact, Rimuru had delivered a speech that seemed to gather more people in support of Tempest.
He spoke about how the terrorist attack was a clear sign that they were doing something right, that there was someone out there fearful about the cooperation of Humanity and Monsters.
Yuuki thought that Rimuru had far too much charisma. Even those nobles that always sat on their asses were in support of Rimuru, though that was likely due to all the luxuries Tempest offered.
The Slime could deliver one hell of a speech, even he was almost convinced by Rimuru.
At least Laplace's ambush on Hinata seemed to have been successful; he had neither seen nor heard anyone mention Hinata's whereabouts since the night of the attack on Tempest.
He had asked Rimuru about Hinata as he was leaving, but Rimuru diverted the topic away from Hinata, which was enough to confirm his suspicions that Hinata was finally dead.
He was glad that finally, one potential enemy was taken care of. The attack wasn't a complete failure.
He was surprised at how easily Rimuru's forces were able to deal with the hordes of Otherworlders that had attacked, not to mention he heard that Demon Lord Felix's subordinates were no slouches either.
He did lose the Chaos Dragon, though, and he had no idea what had happened to it. He wanted to gain control of it after dealing with Mariabell, but no plan survives contact with the enemy.
He could only assume that either Demon Lord Felix or Demon Lord Milim took care of it, seeing as Rimuru was busy dealing with the nobles that night.
If Demon Lord Felix had been responsible, then his threat level would have increased by multiple margins. Even now, he still shivered when remembering the sheer Draconic Aura the Chaos Dragon unleashed.
It was not called the Ancestor of Dragons for nothing.
Though Yuuki was fairly confident that The Destroyer was responsible for dealing with the Chaos Dragons, Milim Nava had been spotted flying towards the Draconic Aura at the beginning of the attack.
Still, he could plan for all of these new threats once he is back on one of his bases with Kagali by his side; her unique skill was useful for such things. He would feel much more confident once all their forces were together rather than how they were currently split up.
There was Kagali, Tear, Laplace, and then the three heads of Cerberus, Misha, Damrada and Vega.
Damrada was always a good ally and a good friend to have. He had sworn loyalty to him, and he had given no reason to doubt him so far.
He did give him that artifact that was capable of teleporting through almost any kind of Barrier and Space Lock, the artifact he gave to Laplace to teleport Hinata out of Tempest so that Laplace could deal with her uninterrupted should his initial assassination attempt fail.
Yuuki had no idea where Damrada got such a seemingly powerful artifact from, but Yuuki just chalked it up to some of Damrada's connections from the Eastern Empire.
Misha was also a useful subordinate. She was a cunning woman who took advantage of her looks to accomplish what he ordered her.
Misha was born in the capital of the Eastern Empire and raised on the streets. Now she specializes in the Echidna division of Cerberus. She was responsible for taming Monsters.
Vega was perhaps one of Yuuki's most successful experiments.
He had inherited the blood of one of the experiments of the Rosso, the Magic Inquisitors. He is both a Monster and a Human at once, a true oddity.
Yuuki had modified Vega to mimic the properties of a Slime, an Imitation Slime of sorts. It was thanks to that modification that Vega had such an absurd regeneration.
They had conducted multiple experiments on him. Vega would revive even should his head be missing.
Even the body parts that were already cut off would regenerate, creating a Physical Body with no Soul. They were practically Monsters with no sense of self.
They were hollow bodies that could be used to successfully incarnate Daemons theoretically.
Indeed, Vega was a truly interesting being with untapped potential.
His mind then wandered back to Mariabell, the greedy. Or should he call her the fool?
He was quite surprised when she told him that he would be accompanying her back to the Western Nations. Seeing as she believed he was still under her control, he decided to comply. It's not like any of the guards Mariabell brought with him could actually threaten him, and he was not ready to reveal his hand yet and get rid of her.
He was hoping to meet up with Laplace, but it seems he will have to wait. Kagali should already be at their new hidden base which was where he was going to be headed after Rimuru dropped him off back at the Free Guild, but instead, he was tagging along with Mariabell.
Still, he was quite curious as to what Mariabell wished to discuss. It must be something important, seeing as she seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.
Through one of his spies, he had learned that Mariabell had sent word back to invite Tempest to the Council of the West. He assumed that since this scheme of hers wasn't as successful as she hoped, she had come up with a new one. A scheme that involved Tempest joining the Council of the West.
It wouldn't surprise him if that was what she wished to discuss with him. In fact, he was fairly confident that was the reason for her ordering him to accompany her back to the Western Nations once he deduced that he was able to relax in the carriage far easier.
It seemed Mariabell's plan to take control of Demon Lord Felix had failed. It seems she was not found, though, or else he imagined Demon Lord Felix would not have allowed Mariabell to escape in the first place.
No, she must have noticed the attack was not going as planned and decided to abort the plan, a decision Yuuki thought was wise.
Though he did have a bad feeling for some reason, he decided to just ignore it and assumed he was just feeling under the weather.
He was a genius, after all. He had accounted for everything possible.
Perhaps he will take a nap.
- Felix -
I spread my demonic wings and ascended to the sky. My wings were unnecessary to fly, but they did add more maneuverability, and they also added a whole lot to the presence.
My demonic wings are fairly similar to Diablo's in appearance, according to Diablo.
I flew over the branch of the Western Holy Church located in Tempest as I prepared to ambush Yuuki.
Luminous had sent Louis to calm Hinata's subordinates down, but they were quite antsy due to her disappearance. However, the appearance of the pope of Luminism seemed to have calmed them down.
I sensed that Mariabell and Yuuki were now far enough away. No one else was on that road at the moment but them.
Of course, Mariabell still had her escorts. Yuuki had come to Tempest with Rimuru's help through teleportation. The current carriage Yuuki was in was one Mariabell had loaned him.
I sent out a Thought Communication, letting everyone know I was going to be out. I didn't know how long this was going to take. I might decide to toy with my prey a bit after all and test the limits of Yuuki's Anti-Skill.
"I'll be out for a little while taking care of a… bug, yes a bug."
"I see. If someone has displeased you, My Lord, it would be my honor to take care of them for you!" Said Arcueid.
"I would be much more suitable for such a task, My Lord!" Protested Megumin.
"Feel free to make use of my body Master~! It does not matter if it is to sake your lusts on me or to use me as your tool!" Said Lalatina.
"Stop it, you three! If Felix-sama wished for us to do something for him, of course, he would tell us! I'm sure there is a reason he is going himself, right Felix-sama?"
"Th-That's right, Saeko, I didn't expect that from you."
"Hmph! As Felix-sama's first secretary, I must always know what you wish for!" Said Saeko.
"I don't think that's how it works, but okay then. But you guys all heard what Saeko said. I need to take care of this personally."
"I apologize for overstepping my bounds, My Lord!" Apologized Arcueid, Megumin, and Lalatina soon followed.
"It's fine. I know you were just trying your best. Anyways, I'm off."
Everyone wished me luck. I suppressed my presence completely and snapped my fingers appearing above two very fancy carriages being pulled by horses.
There were guards stationed on all sides of the two carriages. I'll have to bring everyone with us so as to not cause suspicion. If these guards blab too much and say that Yuuki and Mariabell were teleported right outside Tempest, that could paint a pretty bad picture.
I'll just dominate them with Spiritual Domination. I can use them to point fingers further towards a monster attack being the cause of death. According to Mariabell, there would be various Monsters and Magic Beasts at the location she told me of, I can just use them to frame the attack.
'Odin, dominate them.'
'Affirmative.'
It didn't take even a moment for me to gain complete control over the guards. I'll try my best to make sure they don't die. They are just doing their jobs, after all.
Actually, I have a better idea.
I quickly teleported behind each and every guard, as well as the two Humans driving the carriage, and immediately stored them in my Infinity Space. That would be the best way to make sure they remain protected.
Once that was done, I snapped my fingers and bent Space itself to transport us to the coordinates Mariabell had relayed to me.
I could sense that Yuuki had come along, which I hadn't doubted.
"Come out Mariabell." I voiced out.
The door of the lead carriage opened, and out came Mariabell.
"Lord Felix." She greeted.
I walked towards Mariabell. "Well done, Mariabell, you got the job done."
"Everything was as you willed, Lord Felix."
As Mariabell and I were conversing, I heard the door to the second carriage open behind me.
"Demon Lord Felix, huh? I had hoped that my gut feeling was wrong, but of course, it wasn't." Said a lanky-looking Japanese man.
I turned around to face him. "Yuuki Kagurazaka, just the man I wanted to meet."
Yuuki nervously rubbed the back of his head. His act was almost perfect, acting as if he was genuinely confused. "If you wanted to meet me that bad, you could have just scheduled an appointment with my secretary." Yuuki joked.
"Your secretary? That's Kagali, or rather Kazalim right?"
Yuuki's eyes widened slightly, hearing me before he sighed. His awkward body language instantly vanished, leaving him standing in what appeared to be a confident stance. "So you got Laplace then, huh?"
I raised my brow. "Or I could have found out from another source."
Yuuki shook his head. "That is not possible. I made sure that no information about Kagali's true identity would be revealed, no, you must have somehow learned that information from Laplace."
"That's quite arrogant of you to believe that you have everything covered." The only reason that I'm acting as relaxed as I am is due to Odin helping me create it.
"Arrogant? Perhaps, but I am not wrong, am I? You must know quite a bit then..." Responded Yuuki. He was probably secretly trying to pry for more information.
"Nope! Laplace is as good as gone." I said cheerfully.
An expression of rage appeared on Yuuki's face before he quickly regained himself.
"I've taken out three of your friends now, huh? Footman, Clayman, and now Laplace." I said with a smirk.
Yuuki's eye twitched, but his control over his own body was good enough that he didn't let the rage show. Just a pure poker face. I had to hand it to him, Yuuki could bullshit like no one else. "I assume you managed to get Laplace to spill everything somehow?"
I didn't bother answering. Seeing that, Yuuki sighed and asked his next question.
At this point, I was just humoring him, curious to see what he was up to. I had already placed multiple Barriers, one that was meant to block off all communication from the inside.
I smirked when I sensed Yuuki sending out a signal through some artifact. It seems he was attempting to call someone for assistance, little did he know his little message wouldn't be reaching anybody.
The artifact was powerful and is capable of penetrating through practically all signal blocking Barriers. Unfortunately, this was a Barrier Odin designed. One would need to be at least at the Ultimate level to bypass it.
Yuuki was strong due to his Anti-Skill, but he was not at the Ultimate level.
Yuuki's gaze then shifted to Mariabell, trying to win some time for reinforcements by making conversation. "I am surprised that you managed to get her on your side. I have never seen her acting so submissive to anyone else before."
I shrugged my shoulders. "What can I say? It seems she can understand my greatness, isn't that right, Mariabell."
Mariabell nodded with a deadpan expression, her eyes hollow as she answered. "Of course, Lord Felix."
Yuuki looked at Mariabell oddly. "How fascinating. Have you managed to control her? How amusing for one such as her to fall to her own games."
"Oh? So you do know about her ability as expected then."
Yuuki nodded while looking down at Mariabell. "She truly was far too arrogant. Her Greed was far less than mine. How foolish of her to attempt to dominate one such as me."
Her Greed was less than Yuuki's? What does that mean?
'Notice. It is theoretically possible to resist and slightly reverse the effects of Greed back onto the user should the person Greed is being used on have a greater level of Greed than the original user of Greed.'
Of course. It doesn't surprise me that a Sin Series Skill would be treacherous to its own master, allowing itself to be used against its master.
'What kind of reversal effects are we talking about? Could he be capable of accessing all of Mariabell's memories? In that case, this plan might already be compromised, and I'll have to act quickly.'
'Negative. It only allows one to slightly guide the actions of the host of Greed.'
I see, Yuuki must have nudged Mariabell in certain directions then.
"I assume that you have placed a Barrier up to prevent me from escaping?" Casually asked Yuuki.
I rolled my eyes. "Why would I tell you? I'm not some comic book villain."
I had indeed placed multiple Barriers around the area. Of course, Anti-Skill should be capable of getting through them, but that didn't matter much as, from what I know, Yuuki is not capable of long-distance teleportation, and he would need to directly touch the Barrier to negate it, with my speed it was practically impossible for him to arrive at the edge of the Barrier I had placed before I interrupted him.
I also do not sense any sort of artifacts that are capable of interfering with Space so he should not be capable of teleporting away from here.
The artifact that was given to Laplace by Yuuki was a one-time Spatial interference artifact that allowed Laplace to teleport Hinata and him a good distance away from Tempest.
Laplace said he had no idea where Yuuki had gotten such an artifact from, but that Yuuki likely did not have such an artifact readily available, or he would have made use of it far more.
From what I could understand, it was a powerful artifact, one that allowed one to ignore Tempest's Barriers is bound to be.
Odin thought that the person who created it likely had at least Spatial Domination, even I did not have Spatial Domination until my Harvest Festival, so whoever Yuuki got it from was strong or had connections with someone strong.
Still, as far as I know, Yuuki was just a cornered rat now.
"Comic book villain? I see. Are you an Otherworlder too, then?" Asked Yuuki.
Seeing no harm, I nodded.
"An Otherworlder that became a Daemon then? How odd. I have not heard of such a thing before." Yuuki mused out loud.
It was fairly amusing to me that Yuuki was still acting confident and prying me for information; he likely thought Anti-Skill was enough to take me on.
Oh, how wrong he was.
"Now that you've asked your questions, I'll ask you some of mine. What was your reason for all this? Pushing Falmuth to invade Tempest, having Hinata killed, assisting Mariabell, what was the point?" I knew Laplace said he wished for world domination, but perhaps he would give me a different answer.
"For peace, of course!" Yuuki answered as if I was asking a simple question.
"Peace?"
Yuuki sighed. "Look at the world around us, Felix!" He pointed to Mariabell. "This little girl is capable of deciding the fate of millions! A girl who does not care for the common man, who is only out for her own selfish gain! Even then, there are so many tyrants out there that can do what they wish for, that can destroy families without any consequences!"
He did make a good point. "Indeed, the current state of this world is not ideal, but it's the world we have."
Yuuki nodded. "Indeed, it is the world we have. But I am not going to stand by and watch as people are torn about by their so-called betters."
"So what? You're going to change the world by destroying even more families? You must be aware of all the lives the Falmuth Invasion claimed, even if they were revived due to a fortunate series of events. I'm not some goody goody guy, but I can at least admit that to myself."
I wasn't the gold standard for a perfectly moral person, but I liked to believe that I wasn't hypocritical and lying to myself.
Yuuki shrugged his shoulders. "Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good."
Oh god, he is the type to say he is doing bad things for the greater good. Maybe his title should be Yuuki, "We live in a society," Kagurazaka.
"And who are you to decide who gets to be sacrificed." I asked, mostly out of curiosity. In this world whoever is strong is right, if Yuuki was the strongest then theoretically he could accomplish his plan. I was curious what his reasoning would be, by this point my hate for him had mellowed out. He would die, no matter what. What was the use in hating a dead man?
In fact the only reason I enjoyed bullying Yuuki was because he made it personal, otherwise I likely wouldn't have interfered with him until his plans started to cause me trouble.
I normally wasn't one to bully others unnecessarily, I didn't get my rocks off by holding my power over the weak. I didn't need the fear and awe of others to feel good about myself, but fuck Yuuki in particular.
"I'm the only one who is pushing to change things; it is up to me to decide the best way to achieve my goals."
"Seriously? That's your excuse."
I wouldn't be put off by Yuuki if he admitted he was doing what he was doing for his own selfish gain. I could understand being selfish. I was selfish. People had their own goals and desires. Some wanted power, some wanted freedom, and some wanted adventure and everything else in between. But framing it as him doing the noble thing, as him "saving" Humanity?
That was just bullshit.
"Your logic is horrible." I admitted.
"You may think so, but I know I am doing what is right, I am doing what I must to create a world where my friends and I can laugh without worries." Yuuki responded, a small smile on his face.
I scoffed. "Your friends? Who do you even have left anyway? I've already killed three of your so-called friends."
Yuuki's fists clenched, the facade he was putting on cracking for a moment.
Yes, suffer more Yuuki!
"They knew what they were getting into, but the blame does lie with me. Perhaps I could have tried to convince Rimuru to my way of thinking, but it is too late for that now." Yuuki sighed.
"Indeed, it's too late."
Hmm, I think I will be toying with Yuuki. I want to crush his hopes. That is the very least he deserves for causing Saeko's and Hinata's death. I'm sure he's ruined other lives, and while I wasn't doing this for them, I'm sure those whose lives he has ruined would be grateful.
Yuuki's death will not be peaceful.
- Yuuki Kagurazaka -
Yuuki knew he was having a bit of a problem. When he imagined Demon Lords, he imagined a being that radiated a fearsome Aura, but the being in front of him was radiating absolutely nothing. Every single being radiates some Aura passively. It was just not possible, to his knowledge, to completely suppress one's Aura to zero.
Sure, it was possible to minimize leakage and make yourself undetectable until someone manages to physically play eyes on you.
But Yuuki was looking the Demon Lord dead in the eye, and yet he was having trouble believing the Demon Lord was actually in front of him, and that scared him. Even Analytical Appraisal failed to detect him.
In fact, it reminded him of something from a manga he had read. In Bleach Transcendent, existences are unable to be sensed by inferior existences, but such a thing is not possible.
This was no manga world, no, Yuuki just assumed that the Demon Lord had some Skill that allowed him to completely suppress his presence.
Rimuru also did not release any Aura, but Yuuki knew that was an effect of the Anti-Magic Mask Shizu passed on to him, even he managed to replicate the mask's effects to a limited extent.
He observed the Demon Lord in front of him closely. His whitish silver hair and his piercing blue eyes that seemed as if they could see through the Soul itself gazed down at Yuuki arrogantly. As if he was below his notice, something that angered him.
He suppressed the overwhelming rage he was feeling; hearing about Laplace's death was… not fun. But there was no other explanation as to why Demon Lord Felix managed to find out so much about him.
Kagali would not be happy.
Laplace was one of them.
He was the rock everyone could lean on in their troubles.
Still, he could worry about that later. He had to worry about successfully making it out of this situation first, as survival was his current priority.
He was planning to stall, that was the reason he was asking the Demon Lord in front of him so many questions. He had sent out a signal with his location asking for help, a signal that was designed to penetrate through all Barriers. Kagali should already be on her way. He just needed to stall.
Once Kagali brought enough reinforcements, they should be able to, at the very least escape, if not stall.
Vega, Tear, Misha, and her tamed Monsters would all be a formidable force to deal with at once.
Kagali herself could only exert an amount of power equal to that of a Greater Majins, but even that would be helpful.
Yuuki believed himself to be unbeatable. He was confident in his strength. Even to those Demon Lords at the top of the world, he felt he would be capable of challenging, and reinforcements were just his insurance.
He had defeated Laplace, after all, and Laplace was no slouch. His status as a Former Hero could attest to that.
"Indeed, it's too late." Said the Demon Lord. Yuuki knew he had to do something to stall further.
"Now, now, why don't we team up instead? I'm willing to give half the world to you. A Demon Lord that owns half the world would be pretty sweet, right?" Offered Yuuki.
Yuuki tried to put on a friendly tone. That's how he negotiated. This was his style of negotiating. He would usually throw out a wild statement to get a reaction, in an attempt to gauge his enemies' true intentions, and it would usually work.
Demon Lord Felix seemed to be here for something important. He would not have ambushed him with Mariabell's assistance otherwise.
Yuuki assumes he was here to get some form of revenge, perhaps for Hinata's death? The Demon Lord did seem awfully attached to her, Yuuki assumed it was his past as a Human that allowed an evil Daemon to grow attached to someone.
He was a Daemon now, and it was in a Daemon's nature to be evil, but he supposed that being a former Human was able to temper Demon Lord Felix's more destructive impulses.
"Negotiating, huh? Unfortunately, I'm not interested in half the world. It sounds like a lot of work to manage all of that." Yuuki supposed that the Demon Lord was right.
If one wished to effectively rule half the world while guaranteeing prosperity, it would be an incredible amount of work.
Still, it did give Yuuki some insight into Felix's character that he would even bother considering the responsibilities a good ruler has.
With that kind of thinking, he can reassure Kagali that her former citizens are likely not being treated terribly.
"That's fair enough. May I ask why exactly you have done this?" Knowing his exact intentions would help.
Yuuki could tell the Demon Lord was not taking him seriously. If he was, he would have finished him off before Yuuki could even call for reinforcements.
The Demon Lord looked at him with amusement, still looking down on him. "Oh? You don't know huh? Well, there was you causing the death of my Saeko, then there was the fact you attacked my best friend's Nation, then there is the fact that you killed Hinata."
"...I see."
All of a sudden, a storm started gathering around him. The wind was picking up, clouds were forming above them, and rain was beginning to fall.
Yuuki did not think it was possible to manipulate the weather to this extent without any difficulty.
He had no doubt that Felix was behind this sudden shift in weather.
Yuuki did not think there was a way to peacefully resolve this conflict. If Demon Lord Felix knew about his activities, then it would be safe to assume that Rimuru did as well.
Once he escaped, he would likely have to abandon his position as the Guildmaster of the Free Guild and flee to the Eastern Empire.
Cerberus already had a base of operations in the Eastern Empire, and he already had a plan ready. Yuuki planned to join the military and rise through the ranks. He had many resources in the East. He had helped funnel many Otherworlders there, after all, many who were in high-ranking military positions and were still loyal to him.
He would use all those resources to stage a coup and become Emperor of the Eastern Empire, giving him a foothold in a large portion of the Main Continent.
The Demon Lord looked to Mariabell. "Why don't you go wait in the carriage? Try not to die; don't expect me to save you. You no longer have any use for me, Mariabell."
How cruel.
Mariabell nodded. It seems the Demon Lord had some sort of domination over Mariabell. Yuuki could not see how the normal Mariabell would casually ignore someone, proclaiming that if she died he would not care.
The blatant disregard Demon Lord Felix has shown for Mariabell would be enough to set her off.
A mind control ability then, perhaps something similar to Clayman's.
But it seems negotiations broke down then.
His gaze focused on Mariabell. He eventually planned to kill Mariabell. He even had an idea as to how to acquire her Unique Skill. It seems he would be testing that idea now.
She was far enough away from the Demon Lord that Yuuki felt he could safely get to her before the Demon Lord could do anything.
"It seems our conflict is inevitable then. Don't mind me. I wish to see how strong one of the Demon Lords is." Said Yuuki with an arrogant smirk. He quickly dashed at his top speed, leaving an after trail, and dirt kicked up behind him. He pierced Mariabell's chest with his Fighting Spirit coated fist.
He laughed as he finally dealt with Mariabell; he had a lot of grievances to work off for her. "Your Greed was strong, Mariabell, but mine was stronger." Yuuki laughed smugly.
He noticed Felix was curiously watching their interaction. He truly did not care for Mariabell's death then.
Good, that gave him some time to enact his plan.
He looked back down at Mariabell with pure disregard. "I did not even need to use my Anti-Skill to defeat you. How pathetic."
Mariabell did not react to any of his comments. How annoying.
He quickly dealt the final blow and began absorbing Greed by showing that his Greed was the greatest in the world. Mariabell's power began leaking out, Yuuki greedily absorbed it all.
"Ooh! Is this your Shonen powerup, Yuuki?!" He heard the Demon Lord question in a mocking tone.
Yuuki ignored him. If he was aware of the Shonen trope, he should have dealt with him before he received his so-called Shonen power-up. He clearly was not cultured enough.
Pathetic.
After a few moments, Mariabell's eyes finally closed, she was dead. "Had she been born even a decade earlier, she probably would have been dominating the world." Commented the Demon Lord.
Yuuki found it difficult to disagree. Back then, he wouldn't have had the resources in the Western Nations to counter her. "Indeed." He then tore his hand out of Mariabell's chest, blood splashing against him. He ignored the blood and flexed his newly gained power.
He had more desire than Mariabell. The Sin Series Unique Skills were among the most powerful in the world, as he had just learned. He had more desire, and so Greed chose him.
"It seems you absorbed Mariabell's power. Do you have Greed now? Well, either way, that is far from enough to defeat me."
"We'll see about that." Responded Yuuki.
"Still, it is quite interesting that you were able to tear Greed away from Mariabell. Perhaps your Unique Skill allows you to steal Skills. How interesting."
Yuuki did not bother responding to the Demon Lord and quickly got into his combat position.
He was a master at Martial Arts, even Shizu-sensei had to admit defeat against him when it came to pure martial prowess.
The Demon Lord then cracked his neck. "Well, not like that is going to be enough to beat me, but let's see what you got."
Yuuki was confident he could beat anyone in a one-on-one fight, so he made the first move.
Lightning was beginning to strike all around him, but conveniently did not touch him.
He quickly set the area around Felix on fire with but a look with his inborn ability, psychokinesis hoping that on the off chance the Demon Lord may be wounded by the fire. The rain was not capable of subduing the fire he had created.
Then, he launched a kick at Felix, one that Felix easily avoided.
His plan was to make physical contact with Felix and then suppress the Daemon's Skills, if possible, with Anti-Skill.
Unfortunately, it seems his goal will not be as easy as he expected.
Felix took a step backward and somehow appeared 20 feet away, seemingly unaffected by the flames.
"Hmm, what an odd ability of yours. You used it to set the area around me on fire, right? It didn't seem like a Skill, oh well, not like it matters." Said Felix.
The Demon Lord snapped his fingers and created spheres made out of Space itself all around him, and then sent them towards Yuuki.
Yuuki sensed an incredible amount of power in each of the spheres, but thankfully Anti-Skill was easily able to nullify the Spatial spheres.
"Your Anti-Skill negates almost all Magic and Skills right."
Before Yuuki could prepare himself, Felix clapped his hands together in front of him so hard that it released a shock wave. The shock wave disrupted the earth beneath him, sending fractured pieces of the earth to fly towards him at speeds no normal Human could avoid.
Yuuki, however was no normal Human. He poured his Fighting Spirit into his legs and jumped, easily avoiding the aftereffects of Felix's clap.
Yuuki safely landed 10 feet away from his previous location. He exaggeratedly sighed. "Man, what kind of physical strength do you have?!"
Even if Yuuki had exaggerated his surprise, he was still shocked at how much physical power was contained in Felix's body.
An incredible amount of force was needed to create a shockwave from a mere clap.
"Are you going to ask questions or fight? Come on, I'm getting bored here." Said Felix, putting one of his hands in his pockets and yawning.
"You're really looking down on me, aren't you? Well, I'll show you why that's not a good idea." Yuuki grunted as he dashed towards Felix breaking the sound barrier once again whilst simultaneously using his psychokinesis to attack Felix's mind.
What he didn't expect was for Felix to appear right beside him and trip him before he had a chance to react, sending him flying into a grove of trees. He could feel some of his bones shatter from the impact, but he pushed the pain aside.
He hadn't even seen him move! The wind hadn't even rustled, and no dirt was kicked up behind him. It was as if the Demon Lord had just appeared next to him, which, for all Yuuki knew, he might have.
Yuuki felt humiliated but quickly recovered. He had long since given himself a healing factor with his Unique Skill: Creator so he quickly healed from his injuries.
"Though I was not aware you were capable of performing mental attacks, they were even somewhat strong. I imagine you would have destroyed a normal Human's mind easily." Commented Felix.
"But, you know, if I wanted you dead, I would have sent one of my Primordial subordinates. Perhaps you could have served as a good stepping stone for one of them, but I didn't. I wanted to deal with you myself. I wanted to see you attempt to fight for your life and fail." The Daemon mocked cruelly as red lightning began flashing around him.
Yuuki had not seen this side of Felix before. Even when they had met for that meal with Hinata, and Rimuru, back then Felix had acted very… Human. He was friendly and amicable, but now he was acting like a true Daemon.
Yuuki wondered which side was his true face.
All of a sudden, Felix raised two of his fingers and swiped down in a cutting motion. Yuuki felt all of his senses warn him of an incoming danger, but before he could react, he felt his left arm be cut off.
"Gah!" Yuuki groaned as a geyser of blood erupted from his arm. He immediately began suppressing the wound in order to make sure he did not die due to blood loss.
He was quickly able to suppress the pain he was feeling and focus on the Demon Lord in front of him.
"Anti-Skill is not capable of nullifying an attack that has come from two different sources, like a Skill and Soul Magic." Felix spoke out loud as if he were educating him.
Damn it! He had hoped Felix would not catch onto Anti-Skill's one weakness.
When one used an attack with two different sources, like a Skill and Battlewill, he could not nullify both at once with Anti-Skill.
And what did he mean by Soul Magic? Yuuki had not heard of that kind of Magic.
"Anti-Skill is useful to tear through one's defenses, but it is not very good on the defense itself, huh?" Commented Felix. Yuuki hated to admit it, but he was right.
Anti-Skill was incredibly versatile when facing Skills, Magics, or Battlewill separately. However, when one merged them, it proved to be ineffective.
Thankfully, not many people seemed to know how to combine multiple systems, or so Yuuki thought. But it seems Demon Lord Felix was capable of such a thing.
Yuuki was feeling his chances of making it out were becoming slimmer and slimmer. He could only hope Kagali made it here in time.
He began analyzing the situation, desperately hoping to discover a way out of this predicament.
The only plus side he could think of was that Felix was looking down on him. He was underestimating Yuuki, which could be used to gain the advantage at some point.
He began going through his abilities, hoping to find a way out. He had his newest Unique Skill, Greed, and then the Unique Skill he received upon crossing into this world, Creator.
He had various other abilities he was able to acquire through Creator over the years, but they would be useless in this type of fight.
Thanks to Thought Acceleration, he was able to acquire a moment to think.
He focused on Greed and came up with an idea, a last-ditch attempt before his true last-ditch attempt.
He raised his palm in the direction of the Demon Lord. "Take this! Death Wish!" A wave of darkness was released from his palm and quickly made its way towards Felix. This was his fastest attack so far. If Felix could dodge this then none of his future attacks would be capable of reaching the Demon Lord.
Death Wish was an Art he had just invented using Greed. No one could deny that he was a genius, creating an Art for a Skill he had for only a few minutes.
Death Wish converted the user's will to live into the will to die.
In front of Yuuki's eyes, his hopes were crushed, not because the Demon Lord had moved out of the way, but because he stood there uncaringly and watched as the attack completely circled around him.
However, Death Wish did not do what it was meant to, as the Demon Lord was still standing in front of him, seemingly perfectly okay.
"That is an interesting way to use Greed. Now, do you have anything more to show me? I'd like to crush your hopes and dreams some more." The Demon Lord said with a happy smile, causing Yuuki to shiver.
He could only hope and pray that Kagali was almost here, but perhaps that was cruel. He was not sure if even all his forces would be able to take on this… this Daemon.
"I bet you're hoping your allies are on their way, huh? Well, unfortunately for you, I prepared for that ahead of time. I created a Barrier around the area that blocked the signal you sent entirely. As impressive as the artifact you used was, it isn't enough to break through a Barrier I set up.."
Yuuki felt his blood turn cold after hearing that statement. He… he was truly on his own, wasn't he?
Perhaps he could attempt to run away and use Anti-Skill to tear through the Barriers that the Demon Lord placed.
But he quickly discarded that idea. He was incapable of teleportation without making preparations beforehand, not to mention the Daemon won't allow him to get far enough away from him to even use Anti-Skill to break through the Barriers.
From the feats that Felix has shown so far, he was almost certain that Felix was faster than him.
"I still have one more move." Yuuki grit out. His only hope was that this gamble of his would work. The Demon Lord was foolish for allowing him to do what he was about to do.
"Oh? Well, show me then." Ordered Felix.
He concentrated all his power on his one desire, on his desire to rebuild his body, to create a body that would allow him to defeat this Daemon. Through Creator, such a thing was possible. He absorbed all the surrounding Energy and felt himself evolve from a Human into an Enlightened, and as he began evolving into a Saint, Yuuki closed his eyes and ventured deep into his heart. He reaffirmed his desire to conquer the world, to create a world where he and his friends could truly laugh.
He felt someone or something offer him power.
'Take my hand, I will give you the power to defeat the Daemon!'
Somehow, Yuuki knew that if he accepted that offer, he would lose himself. He refused to let such a thing happen.
Who was this being to offer him power? Since when had Yuuki ever been given anything, he had worked himself to the bone for the power he had now, and it was still not enough.
If it was not enough he would just have to snatch more.
His wish was brought to the forefront of his mind, he refused to die here, he would win.
'Come! Give me your power!' He began stealing power from the mysterious entity inside of him. An entity he had discovered was his newly acquired Skill.
'Stop!'
All of a sudden, he felt a voice resound in his head.
Confirmed. Conditions satisfied. The Unique Skill: Greed will evolve into the Ultimate Skill: Mamm-
All of a sudden, Yuuki felt a hand pierce his heart. His blood went cold, feeling all of his instincts screaming at him to run.
"Wh-What?! Y-You said!" Yuuki whispered, trying to speak through his destroyed lungs.
"Well, I lied. Like hell am I going to let you get your real Shonen power-up? I mean, what the fuck even was that?! You almost instantly became an Enlightened and began becoming a Saint, and then on top of that, you began evolving one of your Unique Skills into an Ultimate Skill?! I mean, what the fuck dude?!"
An Ultimate Skill? Was that the power he was going to acquire? He felt his hatred for the Daemon rise. This Daemon prevented him from receiving his rightfully earned power.
The World itself agreed with him! And yet… and yet this Daemon took it all away.
He couldn't even activate Anti-Skill in the hopes of getting out of this predicament. His Physical Body was in the midst of being reconstructed, making Anti-Skill temporarily inaccessible.
He felt a mysterious Energy seep into his body, rapidly invading his Spiritual and Astral Body.
"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"Are you done with your tantrum now?" Mocked the Demon Lord, who still had his fist in his chest.
He attempted to extract himself, to free himself and flee somehow, but Felix had somehow prevented him from moving.
All of a sudden, he felt a Soul agonizing pain. "Gahhhhh!"
The pain only grew stronger and stronger as he felt someone squeeze down on his very Soul.
This continued for a few minutes before Yuuki gave in.
"Sh-sthop!" He felt the pressure on his being loosen, allowing him to sigh in relief.
"Who knew squeezing one's Core, to the point of almost bursting, could cause that much pain? Good to know." Commented the Daemon uncaringly, as if he was not the one who had tortured him.
"Hmm, perhaps I should have allowed you to send that signal. I could have taken care of Kagali and all of your friends all at once. Doesn't that sound nice? You could all die together."
"S-Stay away from them." Yuuki grit out.
"Oh? And who are you to ask me anything? You guys have committed many deplorable deeds, slavery, murder, kidnapping, Otherworlder Summonings, and many, many other things. Like hell you deserve mercy. I'm not some enforcer of justice, but one thing I hate is hypocrites, and you, Yuuki are a hypocrite."
Yuuki closed his eyes and sighed. He knew this was his end.
He had failed. His dream would not come true.
He thought back to Kagali, his ally from the start. He may have taken pity on the wandering Spirit at first, but he had grown to genuinely care for the woman.
Then there was Clayman, the friend whose death he caused. He would never free himself from that sin.
Then there was Footman, who died completing Clayman's orders, and Tear, who barely made it out alive.
He thought back to Damrada. He wished he had taken that artifact of his, perhaps it would have allowed him to escape unharmed.
He thought back to all his friends and felt his eyes begin to tear up. He could only pray that they would stay away, that they would stay out of this monster's path. He wanted them to live a long life after all.
And then he thought back to a certain Slime. He had never hated Rimuru, even after all this. This Daemon's actions were solely his own, he knew he was in the wrong after all.
I'm sorry, Rimuru… Maybe in another world, we could have worked together. We could have built a world in which we could smile…
Clayman… I should have stopped you. I saw you losing yourself, and I let you…
Footman… you always protected everyone, and I failed to protect you…
Tear… you are gonna cry, aren't you? I'm sorry… I really wanted to make things better for you.
Laplace… you always were the most reasonable one out of us… always hiding your strength… you really took our burden. You always made sure to take the blame when things went wrong…
I'm sorry, Kagali… I should have been more careful… I should have…
Before he could even finish his thoughts, he felt his mind going dark. So with the last of his strength he sent one final message.
Take care of Tear, won't you? Make a world where the two of you can smile.
"Well, I've wasted enough time here. Don't expect to be reincarnated. I'll be eating your Soul. Nighty night."
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Author's Note:
Hey everyone, this chapter has been coming for a long time. I've pictured this moment for months.
Yuuki, in canon, is a very mixed character. He is a villain with good intentions sort of. That doesn't make me like him, though as I'm sure you can see above. However, even I'm beginning to feel bad after writing that. Felix absolutely destroyed him. For those of you who think this is not in character for Felix, it most definitely is.
Felix is generally a nice guy, but if you cross his bottom line, he will have his revenge. And Yuuki crossed his bottom line multiple times, and so he was dealt with.
And I know Yuuki seemed like fodder based on this fight, but I wanted to emphasize that he was anything but fodder. He is a master martial artist and was bullshit enough to evolve greed right after getting his ass handed to him by Guy, not to mention how easily he became a Saint.
Yuuki is certifiably bullshit. Felix is just more bullshit.
Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed, peace.
Support me if you want to read ahead on pat reon *.com* / theogbasilisk
Shoutout to the real 30 under 30 media luminary @Bonvoyage for helping beta this chap. Go check out his story.