Devon's eyes widened when I closed the distance between us in what seemed like a second to the human eye. With my dagger cackling with energy, I delivered a life-threatening blow when I plunged my weapon right beneath his rib cage.
I got a scream out of him and an even louder one when I twisted the dagger and let all the star energy explode from the weapon. The blade detonated into a rain of sparks as soon as its purpose had been accomplished.
[Your item has been destroyed]
Nico, who was behind me appeared right before Devon. His hands cackled with magical power as he delivered a powerful blow in the exact spot where I had struck with the dagger. Blood splattered across the black statue.
The system didn't announce the kill so the obvious answer was that our enemy hadn't gone down yet. I didn't hesitate to command my clone to attack right away.
Nico on the other hand summoned ether grenades and tossed me one. I grabbed hold of the bloody weapon and turned my back to where Devon was. He was already fighting against my clone despite his physical condition.
"We have to end this here. Devon was given Demon blood, an S-grade potion. His bloodlust is intense because of that potion, so don't you dare flatter in his presence. Remember, it's either us or him. I choose us."
His glasses were cracked and his face was covered in black soot, cuts, and blood. He looked at me with absolute confidence right before he turned his trembling gaze back to Devon.
My clone was already battling against his ether tentacles without a weapon of its own. The intense battle had left its body with hairline cracks as if it were made of glass or hard plastic. It was already on the verge of getting destroyed.
Devon, however, was still standing. His red eyes were hungry for blood. The deep wound under his right ribcage didn't seem to bother him as he used more of his uncanny powers.
Then, in one final desperate move, he grabbed my clone by the neck and snapped it with frightening ease. Then let out a vicious roar that almost sounded primal.
"I choose us too," I replied to Nico after almost recoiling at the scene.
With that, we both burst into action. Having known Nico for a while now, we didn't need a plan to know what the other was going to do next--our goal was one: to get out of Nether. I supercharged the grenade with my own ether till it was emitting a gentle warm glow. Then, in a desperate throw, I launched it at Devon.
"You think little tricks will stop me?" I bellowed as he stopped the ether grenade with one hand and tried sucking out the ether. Unfortunately for him, that triggered the timer and the grenade blew his entire hand off in an unpredicted explosion.
Using the opportunity, Nico also threw his and the explosion pushed our adversary back by a great deal.
'This is it. We have him.'
I appeared in front of him and threw the first punch. it was a skilled one, but my fist was coated with star energy so I barely felt the pain of hitting someone like him and the effect was much more powerful. I then launched another fist right under his chin. The force alone sent him stumbling back.
Before he could recover, Nico delivered a rain of multiple punches that were so fast they looked like they were coming from every direction. He must've found one of Devon's victims because each punch was intended to kill.
But he stopped after seeing he was going too far.
There was a brief moment silence when he stopped. The three of us remained silent in the throne room, our breaths sounded amplified in the silence.
Devon laughed, revealing his bloody teeth. "What? You can't kill me? I always knew you were a weakling, Nico. Ah. Defeated by a nobody is really bad for my Hunter reputation."
He faced Nico in the eyes and spat blood on my partner's face.
Nico, however, didn't react to Devon's disrespect. He remained with the calm expression he usually carried.
"What? Kill me already and consume this level two soul for yourself. When you're out, you will join The Blood Monarch and get to live on Her side of Beta #3. If you follow Astrid, you will share the same as me…a servant."
I stayed quiet as I was all of this unfold. I didn't know the first thing about being a monarch so I had no way of reacting to all of this. What did he mean by Nico becoming a servant? I didn't know the first thing about creating a domain in the first the place.
Finally, Nico broke the silence and said. "I just want to leave this fucking place. Killing you is not in my best interest. I used to admire you. But now, seeing you in his pathetic state has reminded me that scum will always exist in this world. Even that scum is made from a laboratory."
"How poetic. The Monarchs aren't going to be happy about her I tell you. There is a reason why there are only four of them in humankind, maybe even the universe."
"What reason might that be?" I suddenly asked, my voice was like a sharp blade. I was also surprised.
"Balance of course. The four pillars of humanity are only four because that's how balance works. If I became a monarch, I was going to serve the blood monarch to not upset the sacred balance of our universe."
'Balance?' I mused. Much as I wanted to know more, my levels of curiosity weren't as high at the moment. I had made up my mind to live on and see where this takes me. Turns out, when death finally came, I realized I never wanted to die. I just wanted freedom.
Devon was the key to my freedom, according to the Dragon Monarch.
I looked at Devon for a short while. It was insane to think that this was actual personality. There was a high chance Bloodhaul did this to him against his consent and that this version wasn't the real Devon, but a product of years of brainwashing.
'Well. Whether real or not, it's either me or him.' I thought to myself. I sighed and approached Devon with silent resolve. My expression turned dark and in my right hand, sparks of star essence began to form.
Unlike Nico who had moral standards that held him back from killing people, I was different. Sure, human life was precious. But were we even human? We were clones. We were born from a test tube for all that I care. They could make another us and send them to this Nexus event because they could. We had no parents to guide us, no dreams to encourage us, no purpose.
Devon stared at me. I could see my ice-cold expression reflect through his eyes as the sparks grew more and more vicious, turning into tendrils of electric blue. This was a trick I learned after seeing how the glove he used created the same thing. It was crazy I was able to master it this fast.
"This is for Tyris and everyone else you've killed, brother."
Devon sighed and looked at the floor. "You've grown strong, sister. But mark my words, Astrid. You will regret this..."
I didn't even bother giving him a response. I let the tendrils of energy explode out of my hand and eat up Devon, who was on his knees at the time. The electricity was meant to mimic both fire and electricity. So it electrocuted him while it ate away his flesh at the same time.
His screams came too late as the agonizing pain grew more and more till there was nothing left. As soon as his final breath left his lungs, my ears were bombarded by the system's messages….
[You have slain a Dormant Human]
[You have acquired a Level 2 soul]
[you have acquired a new item, Blood Demon]
'Blood Demon? That sounds interesting.'
[Your Nexus status has evolved to Nexus Being.]
[You are evolving]