Ch.142Chapter 142. Before Things Get Bigger (4)

Fortunately, Elaine was in a place I could reach quickly.

The eastern part of the continent, near the island where I had gone to pick up Felipe.

Since it was close to the island I had visited a few days ago to get Felipe, I could reach there faster than expected.

I’m not sure how Satan had already moved to the eastern part of the continent, but it worked out well.

An uninhabited island with no one around.

It was the perfect space to deal with Satan without any distractions.

As soon as I arrived at Satan’s location, erasing my traces with wind magic, I saw Elaine floating in the air.

Seeing Elaine immediately filled me with rage, but her surprisingly composed expression helped me calm down relatively quickly.

Elaine seemed resolute, as if she had known I would come to rescue her.

Of course, she wasn’t completely the same as usual.

‘I’d like to take Elaine to a safe place first.’

I wanted to take Elaine back to our office before settling things with Satan, but the situation didn’t allow it.

The moment I rescued Elaine, Satan seemed to notice something and looked up.

Because of that, I had no choice but to charge at Satan immediately.

Trying to turn crisis into opportunity, I wanted to behead Satan in one strike, but I narrowly failed.

“Ah, what a shame.”

“How did you get here so quickly!”

Whoosh-

I swung my sword again while enjoying Satan’s surprised expression.

Behind me, Elaine started running away as if she knew her role.

Though she wouldn’t be completely safe unless she left the island, this was enough for now.

If I kept Satan occupied, he wouldn’t be able to focus on Elaine.

Whoosh- Woong-

Satan quickly adapted to my sudden attack, as expected.

I mixed in spatial jumps between regular sword strikes and moved around to confuse him, but Satan skillfully avoided my attacks.

At the same time, he occasionally counterattacked with an expression full of anger.

“You bastaaaard!!”

Crackle-

Black lightning surged from the ground with Satan’s shout.

As soon as I saw the black lightning rising from the ground, I pretended to leap into the air but instead teleported below Satan, thrusting my sword upward.

Woong-

The black lightning was redirected elsewhere by the “spatial barrier” surrounding me.

Slash-

As my sword slightly grazed Satan’s arm, I stared directly at him with wide eyes.

Spatial Severance.

Whoosh-

‘He’s quick to catch on.’

Just like when I rescued Elaine earlier, and now too.

Whether it’s a demon thing or just him, Satan quickly noticed my attack and disappeared from that spot.

That movement technique used by Satan and those from “The Nameless Organization” is quite tricky.

It’s not spatial teleportation like mine, but it’s not magic either.

“Huff.”

Satan retreated far back, and naturally, a brief lull in the battle followed.

Satan was glaring at me with deeply furrowed brows, as if he wanted to kill me.

I pretended to be unfazed as I met his glare.

“You did something to that woman.”

“Well, who told you to play so dirty?”

“…”

Satan seemed to know his methods were underhanded, as he couldn’t respond to my words.

Instead, like someone who farted getting angry first, he pointlessly gathered mana in both hands and struck the ground.

Boom-

When Satan’s mana, filled with anger and embarrassment, hit the ground, the entire island shook.

He’s ridiculously strong, that’s for sure.

‘Sigh. I came here, but…’

“I have something to ask you.”

While I was contemplating how to land my Spatial Severance on Satan, he calmly addressed me.

With threatening mana emanating from his entire body while saying he had a question, it somehow felt like I should answer everything.

“What is it?”

“You… what’s your relationship with Crescen?”

“Crescen?”

By Crescen, he must mean the founder of the Crescen Empire, the first emperor.

After all, this guy was a demon who had been sealed by Emperor Crescen.

“Are you his disciple?”

“Disciple… not really?”

“Then are you his descendant?”

“Hmm. I don’t think so?”

Although I’ve been in the Arcaria Continent for over 10 years, my origins aren’t from here.

I’ve still lived longer on Earth than in Arcaria.

“Then who the hell are you!”

Boom-

“Whoa, why are you so angry?”

Satan, displeased with my answer for some reason, released even more energy.

The overflowing energy indirectly showed that Satan was stronger than any opponent I had faced before.

It felt like Satan’s aura alone was stronger than the monster army I had encountered recently.

‘As expected, he’s the main force of Satan’s power.’

Satan’s power level was still at 84%.

I thought it was strange that his power barely decreased despite killing so many monsters.

Looking at him now, it seems Satan himself accounts for at least 70% of the total power.

“Die.”

Crackle-

He asked questions on his own terms, and ended the conversation just as arbitrarily.

I was trying to buy as much time as possible for Elaine to escape far away.

Satan charged at me with black mana covering both hands, making crackling sounds.

Last time he was extremely reluctant to fight me, but now he’s charging in first.

Thinking he must have some ulterior motive, I sharpened my gaze.

Ready to sever the space where Satan was at any moment.

Woong- Crack-

As soon as my gaze fell on him, Satan changed his trajectory while avoiding my eyes.

As expected, landing a direct Spatial Severance like this was nearly impossible.

I could follow Satan’s movements with my eyes, but it was difficult to keep him in one place for more than two seconds.

Like me, Satan seemed to have learned something from our previous battle.

With black magic covering both hands, Satan attacked me like a martial artist.

It was the complete opposite of his previous combat style, where he fired various spells from a distance while avoiding my gaze.

And Satan’s changed combat style was surprisingly difficult to deal with.

Clang- Claaang-!

The sound of Satan’s fists being blocked by my sword rang out clearly.

Satan’s fists, covered in black magic, were strong enough to withstand the edge of my Black Shadow Sword, which had become much darker than usual.

‘I thought close combat would be advantageous for me.’

I thought having Satan close would make it easier to land a Spatial Severance, but I was wrong.

I couldn’t focus my gaze on one spot while blocking his quick hit-and-run attacks.

I was using spatial teleportation to dodge attacks and counterattack, but Satan blocked all my attacks.

I thought he was a mage, but it turns out he’s a fighter.

Claaang- Clang-!

It was an even match.

I dodged Satan’s punches while counterattacking, and Satan dodged my sword while counterattacking.

Honestly, in terms of pure physical fighting skill, I was slightly inferior, but spatial teleportation made up for it.

It was fortunate that we were fighting in an open plain.

I didn’t have to worry about avoiding obstacles like trees or rocks, so I could teleport much faster than usual.

The problem was that despite this, I couldn’t see an easy way to defeat Satan.

Perhaps I should have considered Yuria’s suggestion to gang up on him.

I was starting to regret deciding to handle this alone out of concern for others’ safety.

“You’re still far from ready, I see.”

As Satan spoke again, another lull in the battle arrived.

Despite exchanging numerous blows, neither Satan nor I showed any signs of fatigue.

Perhaps this fight would drag on for quite a while.

“To have such abilities and yet be only at this level.”

Satan muttered to himself as if genuinely disappointed.

That comment hurt my pride, not subtly but quite directly.

I consider myself quite strong.

“It must be frustrating to be defeated by someone of ‘this level’?”

Unlike Satan’s plan, I had ambushed him first and expected him to be flustered, but Satan regained his composure too quickly.

He was only surprised briefly when I first appeared, then immediately fought calmly, which was annoying.

He’s not called a demon for nothing.

“At this rate…”

Satan muttered to himself again.

Then, with a solemn expression as if he had made a decision, he stared directly at me.

Shiver-

For the first time in a long while, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Satan’s eyes, which were locked with mine, began to turn black.

It started with his eyes.

Beginning with his bizarrely blackening eyes, Satan’s face gradually turned black.

More precisely, it was covered in a black energy.

Woong-

At that moment, I cast Spatial Severance on the stationary Satan, but he dodged as if he had already predicted it.

Satan avoided my attack by jumping sideways while continuing to transform.

And when Satan reappeared before me, the Satan I had seen moments ago was gone.

“Hey, what is this…”

<I will kill you soon>

Satan had transformed from a human form into a truly beastly form.

His voice didn’t come through his vocal cords.

The meaning was transmitted as if resonating inside my head.

Whoosh-

Satan, now a beast, charged at me with terrifying speed.

So fast that I almost couldn’t dodge with spatial teleportation.

‘This is getting intense?’

Boom-!

I barely dodged it.