Space stretched infinitely before him, as the foundations of everything he knew was challenged.
Up turned to down, vertical turned to horizontal, his perception was toggled on and off, like a switch.
Leo was brought through the folds of space at unknown speeds.
After what seemed like eternity, but was in reality just an instant, Leo regained his bearings.
"Ugh..."
The sheer uncomfortability of space travel messed up his body system, and he couldn't help but get down on all fours and dry heave. He massaged his temples, as a migraine surfaced.
Half a minute later, the headache finally subsided, and Leo rose up his head to observe the surroundings.
At first glance, everything was green, perhaps a bit too green, and he guessed that he was in some sort of forest.
Picking himself up, he leaped on a nearby tree, and climbed with superhuman dexterity, intending to scout his immediate environment.
When he reached the top of the tree, he made a 360 degree survey of the surrounding area. When his eyes turned to the northwest direction, however, he was dumbfounded.
About forty miles away, he saw four floating structures, so pristine that they seemed to be shaped by the Gods themselves; and indeed, they were.
He couldn't see their appearances clearly, due to the distance, but the waves of power emitting from them was unmistakable.
The pure majesty of this sight was heavenly, enough to move the observer to tears, as the cities alone illuminated the sky, the lack of a sun being noticed by Leo.
Each of them let out a different colour of light, further reinforcing his belief that these were forged of the four GodKings.
"The Strongholds..."
Leo muttered under his breath, excitement, showing on his features.
Without further ado, he leapt down from the tree and prepared to go on the journey.
However, he had barely taken a few steps when something came out of the surrounding buses.
Leo met his first Devil!
A five meter tall grey skinned humanoid, wearing armor of unknown materials, and wielding a great sword the same size as itself.
On its face were several purple patterns, emitting an aura of decadence, which Leo assumed to be Devil Marks.
The Devil cracked a terrifying smile at Leo, showing its excessively canine dentition, thinking of him as prey.
Unaware that the 'prey' was thinking the exact same thing.
The look in Leo's eyes was as if seeing walking Energy Points.
'Hello, precious...'
...
*BOOM*
Leo and the Devil separated from each other.
His eyes were trained on the Devil, while his mind ran in overdrive trying to analyze this opponent.
'It has terrifying physique.' Was his first conclusion, followed up by the second one.
'And the technique to match. All in all, it's a beast in close combat.'
Upon these thoughts however, a wide smile was plastered on his face, battle intent swimming in his eyes.
The Devil, which actually had a name, caught this and immediately roared angrily,
"Pesky Human! You think you can defeat me, the great Kóñrak? I will eat your flesh and drink your blood!"
The Devil language communicated on the level of the soul, so Leo could understand.
[A/N: Only beings on the level of Gods will get special treatment on their dialogues.]
Following up on his words, the Diavolos Essence in Kóñrak stirred and enveloped his sword as a thick, purple energy.
He swung it straight at Leo, and it detached and formed a thirty meter wide sword aura that erased the distance between the two. All the trees in between were cut in half.
Leo sneered, his Martial Spirit appearing behind him.
{SPIRITUAL OVERLORD TECHNIQUE: Ferocious Tiger - White Cloud Claw}
The Martial Spirit mirrored Leo's movements, a ten meter wide claw shaped cloud appearing from nowhere and ripping the sword aura to pieces, dissipating in the process.
{SPIRITUAL OVERLORD TECHNIQUE: Dragon Snake - Snake Tail Whip}
Leo attacked again, the previously mundane move now exhibiting great power as an air column reminiscent of a snake's tail whipped towards Kóñrak.
Kóñrak hurriedly condensed Diavolos Essence into a shield several meters thick, and blocked the attack, but the shield broke as a result.
However, Leo took the chance to get closer.
{SPIRITUAL OVERLORD TECHNIQUE: Fire-Bird - Extreme Flame Palm}
A palm burning in red flames rapidly enlarged in Kóñrak's vision.
And then...
***
A/N
Thanks for being patient with me these past two days. I was working on this chapter.
The Devils are not simply mindless beasts! They are an intelligent race even moreso than humans. They are going to come up a lot later on in the story, so I feel the need to address this.
A new chapter is coming tomorrow!
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