…

The more Amon exchanged blows with Diablo, the more he realized how strong the latter had become. Diablo was already strong enough to be put on the same level as the five commanders of the Pandemonium Descendants before, but he had grown even stronger.

If Amon had not grown more powerful and had made great progress in his research in swordsmanship within the game, then he would most likely be defeated right now.

Fortunately, his research was successful. Moreover, he had achieved much more than he had expected. He had to thank Lucifer for helping him perfect his special method.

Clang! Clang!

Bang!

Flashes of light continued to illuminate the dark forest from time to time as Amon and Diablo exchanged more blows.

Amon remained on his body and never walked ten meters away from his position. He had to be always on guard for every ambush that seemed to come unexpectedly all the time.

In the air, the clash between a blazing sword and shortsword shrouded with dark light lasted for an instant.

Swoosh!

A figure was sent flying black, crashing into the distant ground. That figure turned into a human silhouette for an instant before disappearing once again.

Amon was still stronger in terms of strength. After all, his class focused more on balanced statistics compared to the class of the opposing side. Adding the fact that he was close to being a True Demon, the terrifying body that was almost as strong as the physique of a physical-focused class hosted an overwhelming strength.

In a frontal clash, even someone with Berserker Class or Knight Class, who were expert at close-range combat, might not find themselves in an advantage. They would be most likely to lose if their overall stats were from something other than ordinary race or regular classes.

But when it came to speed, Diablo had an overwhelming advantage. He could use this weapon to bridge the gap between their strength. .𝒎

Diablo’s flickering figure suddenly appeared in front of Amon. Then a crescent-shaped shadow light sprayed out of the shortsword, slashing toward the neck of the latter.

The sword gleam was unbelievably fast, reaching its destination in almost an instant.

“That’s so fast!”

Amon’s pupils dilated as he found this attack much faster than the previous ones. With just one slash, he realized that Diablo was still holding back.

However, Amon was not slow to react either. He held his sword and leaped back, swinging the blazing sword once as well and slashing forth a radiating sword gleam.

Just as the shadow crescent was about to slash Amon’s neck, the radiating light surged forth and clashed against it.

Bang!

After a loud crash, the sword lights fell apart almost at the same time.

Amon’s body was sent skidding several dozens of meters while Diablo had gotten the slight upper hand due to his dominant position.

As soon as Diablo moved to give chase, however, almost a hundred blazing lights came raining down toward him like a violent storm.

Some of these slashes were fast while the others were slow. Some came straight at him while the others curved and flew toward him from different angles, surrounding him completely.

They covered such a large area to make sure that he would not be able to advance or detour around them. This left him the only choice of retreating.

‘Divine Wrath Skill: Solar Storm’

Diablo was not surprised in the slightest as he somewhat expected it. Instead, his eyes were shining even brighter when he saw what his opponent could do.

This was what he wanted when he chose to face this old friend of his.

He tightened his grip over the shortsword while switching the stiletto with a bloody dagger. He then swung them repeatedly, and suddenly it looked like the sword and the dagger had split into countless shadows that flew toward the blazing slashes.

‘Legendary Combat Technique: Darkness Excursion’

This was the skill that he had used against Shin when the latter used his never-ending chains of slashes, the ‘Infinity Edge’.

At that time, this combat technique was a combination of movement and offensive techniques. He was utilizing his insane speed to move around Shin while also attacking from different angles during the process.

But since that time, Diablo has gotten a lot of inspiration and modified this combat technique multiple times and was able to combine a few more techniques such as defensive ones and counterattacks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of explosions erupted as the powers of the two sides collided.

Diablo did not bother to look at the result as he used the momentum that he had accumulated through his actions before swinging the shortsword and dagger at a much faster rate.

He then sent a series of purple waves toward his opponent which resembled a raging storm.

‘Class Fighting Style: Shadow Cyclone’

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The wave of purple crescents flew past the epicenter of the previous clash and headed straight to Amon who was fully ready to welcome them.

He adjusted his stance along with the style of swordsmanship before swinging the blazing sword repeatedly, deflecting each of the purple waves.

‘Class Fighting Style: Evasive Flame’

Diablo ignored the raging storm of explosions as well as the violent ripples that they had as he lunged forward and dived through them.

His shadow seemed to move and enfolded himself, protecting him from those explosions. He charged forward without stopping and accelerated his speed even further.

Swoosh!

When he broke through those explosions, he suddenly turned into a purple flash of light that flew straight to his opponent.

‘Class Fighting Style: Killing Shadow’

Boom!

A sonic boom exploded behind him as the air that accompanied him during his charge formed a spiraling aura that spearheaded his charge.

‘Basic Combat Technique: Second Drive’

‘Class Fighting Style: Final Strike’

Swoosh!

With Diablo pointing the shortsword and dagger in front of him, he appeared right in front of Amon with a flickering figure.

Amon knew that he was in trouble the moment when Diablo started using his signature combat techniques, which were much different and stronger than what he could remember.

But he was also not the same as before. He had improved and grew stronger since the last time they had fought.

If there was something that he had to take Diablo for, then it was the two consecutive defeats that he had suffered during the previous fights that they had.

Because of those setbacks, he grew at a rate that he did not expect and became what he was right now.

He held the battle sword with both of his hands and raised it in the air.

A huge sword gleam was descending at Diablo when he appeared in front of Amon. This attack resembled a bolt of divine lightning as it fell toward him.

‘Class Fighting Style: Divine Wrath’

Diablo could feel that this move had locked onto him. No matter how he tried to dodge it, the sword gleam would come right at him and cleave him in halves.

Since it was impossible to evade it, Diablo could only face it head-on.

He slightly adjusted the course of his attack directed it at the descending sword and clashed at it with all his might.

Boom!

The entire forest shook as the two sides clashed against one another. The aftershock that it had blew the surrounding trees while shredding them into pieces.

When the chaos settled down and the dust cleared, Diablo and Amon appeared again in the view, revealing their figures.

Both were in a sorry state.

They might not be able to land a clean hit at each other, but the impact of their attacks dealt quite a lot of damage on each side. Their respective health bar suffered quite a lot of damage, almost reaching their bottom line.

They were left in a sliver of health.

Amon was slightly better due to his superior stats when it came to VIT and STR, but Diablo, who had a slightly inferior side in these aspects was in a much sorrier state.

But due to the previous protection that he had sent up before the direct collision, he was able to survive, although barely hanging on it.

Their states lasted only for an instant as both sides consumed high-quality Elixirs and Master Class Potions to restore their respective health bars to a healthier state.

Then the two resumed the battle right in that instant.

The next exchanges reached an extremely high intensity as they showcased their respective skills and styles.

Diablo cycled more of his in-game skills perfectly and executed them in a manner that broke the logic of the game.

He was usually able to perform this well only when his ‘Demon Eyes’ were at the fourth or fifth phase. But after his treatment, his body had reached a much healthier state. This made his mind to perform better.

Despite him only utilizing the first and second phases of the ‘Demon Eyes’, he was able to achieve a result that was impossible before. This clearly showed how much growth he made and how high his proficiency in using these skills was when he was healthier.

He was close to reaching the level of a great Martial Artist or a skilled Mentalist utilizing a Reality Manifestation within the game.

He might still be a little far when compared to supreme geniuses like Shin, Arthur, and Zero when he was in this state – if he did not include their current forms and styles. But he would be comparable to them if he increased the phase of his ‘Demon Eyes’ further.

On the other hand, Amon was slowly become more troubled as the battle progressed. He knew that this battle would only lead to his demise if he continued to let things go like this.

Diablo would only analyze his styles and skills further if he did not find a way to break free from the current deadlock.

He had only used a single style of swordsmanship up until now. It would only take time until Diablo had fully analyzed it and found counters in his every move if this continued.

He had already expected this to happen, but he did not know that he had to use his second style this soon. It seemed like he still underestimated Diablo despite all the cautiousness that he had shown up until now.

He had already heard it from Lucifer before, but it seemed like Diablo had truly become a ‘Demon’ that the Pandemonium Descendants could not afford to take easy.

He then suddenly reminded that Diablo seemed to have a slightly good relationship with the members of the Empyrean Talons.

When he thought about this, the expression on Amon’s face suddenly turned darker. It seemed like the ‘problems’ that the Pandemonium Descendants would be facing in the future would be more troublesome than they had expected.

If these obstacles gathered around and became a stumbling block so large enough to become a tall wall in front of them, Amon had to admit that they would be hard to overcome.

“What you have said at that time may be true,” mumbled Amon, attracting the attention of the opposing side.

Diablo had no plan of listening to whatever Amon wanted to say, but it felt like he had to hear it somewhat.

But despite having those thoughts, he refused to lower the intensity of his attacks.

Amon did not mind and continued to defend himself while throwing a couple of counters from time to time. “It may be true that the current Pandemonium is holding us back. Or at least for someone like you, who is always looking for something.”

“But unlike you, we choose to stay because we want to follow him. We all believe that he will be the one to make our goal come true,” he added as he distanced himself away from Diablo before taking a new stance.

Seeing Amon taking a new battle stance, Diablo knew that he was about to use a new swordsmanship.

He switched the dagger on his left hand with the stiletto once again as he took his stance. He said. “No. You’re wrong. He is no longer the same as before. He becomes blinded by power. He is no longer the same leader and friend that we used to know.”

“He has become someone else since that time,” he added as a purple flow of mana covered his entire body.

“So there is no need to stay together since our goals are no longer the same.”

……

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