A blinding flash filled the room.
A roar, so loud it drowned out every other sound in the city.
And then, silence.
The cloud of debris dispersed, revealing the aftermath of the strike.
Along the walls and floor, a deep mark, like the slash of a claw, stretched across the entire room, interrupted only by the spot where the enemy still stood.
A long cut ran down the man's face, tracing a vertical path before continuing along his body, followed by a horizontal slash across his cheek.
The attack had connected, but it wasn't enough to kill Father Jeffrey.
The slime that had enveloped him until now briefly split, only to wrap around him once more.
A pressure unlike anything the boys had ever felt forced them to their knees.
"What the fu—"
Kevin tried to speak, but the words stuck in his dry throat.
Clack
Finally, the priest's feet touched the ground, and the pressure lifted.
However, what stood before them was no longer the same man. It was something... more primal.
Two massive black wings draped over his body.
His thick, black hair, which had been neatly cut at medium length, now cascaded to his shoulders.
Two long horns, resembling irite, jutted from the priest's forehead.
Only his eyes remained nearly the same, though now they glowed with an even fiercer crimson than before.
With disdain, the man reached up and tore the crucifix from his neck, the one he'd always worn beneath his priestly robes.
"I no longer need your faith."
The being's gaze fixed on the cross in his hand.
And then, a blue flame incinerated the object.
As if moving on its own, the black liquid pooled along Jeffrey's left arm, flowing down his forearm and into his palm.
The slime boiled between the creature's fingers, stretching and writhing in his hands.
Finally, it took shape.
It could barely be called a sword.
Something segmented, slender, yet fluid at the same time.
This was the object that appeared.
At its core, tiny reddish orbs glowed, rotating within the weapon.
And his gaze of hatred fell upon the two boys.
"You know… in my studies, I discovered countless things: lies, hypocrisy, deception... God is neither merciful nor omnipotent. He does not want to save us... He forces us to live lives filled with pain and anger... That's how I found my true god, the one who whispered sweet words into my ear."
The demon spread his arms wide in triumph.
"Is it not written that God, at Adam's pleading, created the first woman, but from filth and sediment instead of pure dust? From Adam's union with this demon came Asmodeus and countless other demons that still plague humanity today. And now, they reveal themselves through their champions. I am one of them."
With a casual motion, what remained of Jeffrey pointed his weapon at the boys.
"And now, the time has come to take my first steps."
A darkness blacker than the abyss enveloped his mortal soul.
_______________
Stoic like no other they had ever encountered, Superbus stood motionless on his square of the chessboard.
His armor gleamed in the light, which seemed to come from an indistinct point in a ceiling too high to see.
Whether it was sunlight or a spotlight, Noah couldn't tell.
With unmatched majesty, the knight unsheathed his jagged blade, bringing it to his chest and holding it upright, splitting his body as if it were a line of symmetry.
Without a word, the two youths stepped forward onto the chessboard.
Shoom
The blade moved swiftly before them, now aimed at their throats, as if to say, "Do not take another step."
"What does he think? That we're going to waste time like we're in some wizard's chess match? Hell, this isn't Harry Potter."
John muttered, confused.
"Let's end this quickly..."
His hands moved from above his head to his sides, forming a circle, and with each small motion, a tiny blue sphere materialized near him.
"Magic Missile!"
The boy shouted.
At his command, the small spheres vibrated in the air, then shot toward the enemy at breakneck speed.
And Superbus moved too.
Like a samurai, the knight raised his sword above his helm, slicing through the space in front of him.
Literally.
Before him, a tear, like one made by a painter slashing a canvas, appeared, revealing something akin to a starry night sky, where the stars gleamed in solitude.
The beams continued their advance, only to disappear into that strange universe.
The sword moved again, and the tear vanished, as if it had never been there.
"Wow..."
That was all the young man could say.
Shoom
The weapon moved again, but this time nothing changed near the knight.
Crack
Yet, a strange sound filled John's ears, like something breaking, similar to a vase shattering into a thousand tiny pieces.
His eyes darted frantically.
Right.
Left.
Nothing.
Then something clicked in his mind.
Instinctively, John leaped backward, then to the side.
Pshoom Pshoom Pshoom Pshoom
Like comets, a series of beams rained down from above his head.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of what had happened: just like before, a tear in space had appeared a few meters above the ground, right where the two boys had been standing moments earlier.
So he can make them appear anywhere in this space... and if the chessboard is the exact size of his range?! Crap! We have no way out!
Superbus' sword began slashing through the air faster and faster, creating dozens of portals around him.
With each portal, the beams were absorbed, only to be spat out at another point.
The most terrifying part was that the knight had yet to move from his square.
"Damn it!"
The two scrambled across the chessboard, desperately trying to dodge the attacks.
"Death Flame!"
Noah roared, creating a wall of black fire in front of his body.
"And what about me?!"
"Your spell, your problem."
He replied lazily to his companion.
"Damn! Damn it! Dark Wall!"
Copying Noah, John focused his mana, summoning a fortress of darkness that absorbed one beam after another, deflecting his own projectiles.
"Okay, lesson learned... no more firing random spells."
"Not necessarily... Blink!"
Instantly, Noah seemed to evaporate into the atmosphere like steam, reappearing behind Superbus.
With fierce intent, the young man clenched his fist, ready to strike the monster's side.
But something else happened.
The knight's sword slashed again, and the fist disappeared into the void, only to reappear inches from Noah's face.
Boom
He couldn't stop it.
The knuckles struck his face, sending him crashing to the ground with enough force to make him bounce.
"You know what... maybe you were right, John."
Noah groaned, slowly picking himself up.
_____________
His face still burning from the punch he'd inflicted on himself. His right cheek, where the fist had hit, felt like it was on fire, and a faint greenish bruise now marked his face.
Defeating Superbus would earn him enough experience points to reach level 20.
And that's where the true potential of a Job would shine.
Noah focused for a second, which, at the speed he processed information, felt like an eternity.
Everything we throw at him gets sent back... and there doesn't seem to be a limit to how many times he can use it... damn! How broken is this ability?!
Maybe if... of course!
A plan began to form in his mind.
"John, hit him with everything you've got."
"But that'll just put us in the same situation as before!"
"Trust me."
An expression John had never seen before appeared on Noah's face. Suddenly, the boy seemed older, his shoulders broader, and his gaze unshakable.
A regal confidence.
John couldn't help but gulp.
"Alright, I trust you."
He closed his eyes.
Small static sparks surrounded the young man as he gathered every ounce of mana in his body.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
Within his irises, a thin white ring appeared.
"Magic Missile."
He commanded in a tone of authority, like an emperor issuing an order.
And then, hundreds, thousands of tiny spheres of light surrounded him, lighting up the room like a miniature sun.
"Now charge him!"
Noah shouted, doing the same.
The beams, which had hung motionless in midair, shot toward Superbus, flying past the boys and converging in a single point.
"I see you've figured it out."
"Of course, I'm not stupid."
The knight's sword slashed through the space, swallowing the attack.
"Now!"
Noah yelled, pulling the scythe back behind his shoulders.
And they closed the gap with the monster.
_____________
Why isn't he moving?
That's what Noah had wondered.
With such a powerful ability, Superbus could have obliterated them from the face of the earth if he had just used that power against them directly.
So why hadn't he?
Because he couldn't.
That was the truth.
Every ability had its balance.
For John, the immense amount of mana required to cast them; for Noah, the need to kill his prey and the limited number of slaves he could control.
And for Superbus, it was the inability to move while using his power.
Just like in chess, when a king is forced into a corner, the piece becomes vulnerable.
Noah knew that with a single strike, the monster would be forced to choose where to direct its attack, making itself vulnerable.
And why not use a single spell?
The answer was simple: a larger spell would require a broader movement from the creature, limiting its ability to defend.
Noah looked up.
Above him, a starry rift stared down, and within it, an enormous light blinded him.
"Your turn, John! Kill this bastard!"
Boom
And so, the beam hit him.
A light.
And then, absolute nothingness.