I. Descend.(3)

Morgan.

As the third raid boss among the demon executives that players would fight, she was known as the “newbie slicer” among level 97 users.

Why was Morgan called the newbie slicer? The reason was none other than those five demon swords she possessed.

Clang───!!!

“Ahaha! If you can’t kill me in one hit, you can never win?”

“Ha, I already know that.”

The effects of the five demon swords Morgan possessed were “Enhancement”, “Blood Absorption”, “Curse”, “Recovery”, and “Instant Death” respectively.

The Sword of Enhancement literally greatly enhances Morgan’s physical abilities and makes each strike heavier.

The Sword of Blood Absorption promotes bleeding from the opponent’s wounds whenever it cuts or clashes with them, and absorbs that blood to recover Morgan’s health.

The Sword of Curse absorbs mana and vitality through wounds inflicted on the opponent and converts them into her own, while the Sword of Recovery recovers all damage taken up to 10 times when drawn.

Lastly, the Sword of Instant Death instantly kills the opponent it touches when swung at an enemy who has taken 100 hits, regardless of their defense.

In other words, to put it simply, she’s a boss with a dirty pattern that continuously recovers, instantly recovers, and if the fight drags on, immediately pulls out the Sword of Instant Death.

This was why Morgan was called the newbie slicer, and in fact, when I first did the Morgan raid, I struggled immensely, trying about 30 times.

To begin with, raiding with other users I’ve never met before meant our coordination was off, and even if we managed to deal damage, she’d instantly recover with the Sword of Recovery.

So when we tried to approach, we’d get instantly sliced up by her dual-wielding of the Swords of Enhancement and Curse, and if we kept our distance, we couldn’t deal proper damage, just wasting time until we died to the Sword of Instant Death.

‘It was the worst.’

Morgan, a vicious boss that would make you call it a trash game.

She was undoubtedly a vicious boss that I probably cursed hundreds of times, but this was a story from over half a year ago, when I had just started developing Aria.

By the time I was developing Yujia, my sub-character, Aria had reached specs that could be called endgame and could take down all demon executive raid bosses within 5 minutes.

As proof of this, I now had the leisure to casually exchange attacks with Morgan for about a minute, observing her openings.

“Hmm.”

Clang──!!

I lightly blocked the sword that was aiming for my neck but curved its trajectory towards my head. But even so, as expected of an executive, a weight about as heavy as a basketball pressed down on my wrist.

Of course, it wasn’t anything that could be called damage, so I shook off Morgan’s sword and jumped back slightly to create distance.

Morgan also seemed to have consumed considerable stamina from her recent series of attacks, as she put away the Sword of Curse and drew out the Sword of Recovery.

And recalling the sword I had just clashed with and her appearance, I let out another thoughtful sound.

“Hmm, it’s strange indeed.”

“Strange? What’s strange?”

“That you’re much weaker than I expected.”

Crunch──

Morgan gritted her teeth, seemingly quite angered by my words. However, there was nothing particularly to be afraid of, so I showed a genuinely puzzled expression.

“I expected you to last about 3 to 4 minutes even if I fought with full power.”

The shortest time I had taken to defeat Morgan in the game was 4 minutes and 34 seconds. It was quite a high-ranking record.

But for some reason, now that I was exchanging swords like this, my body, Aria’s body, was shouting. That it could end this right now if it wanted to.

Aria’s body knew which openings to aim for and how to act against Morgan’s attacks.

And only after realizing this did I understand the reason. How Aria, who originally needed about 5 minutes to kill demon executives, could kill Morgan in just one exchange.

Of course, because games and reality were different.

‘I had been using Aria and Morgan from the game as my standard until now, so that’s why.’

The question that was finally solved. And the answer to my question was converted into the most optimal form from Aria’s mouth and reached her ears.

“I expected more from a demon executive… but you’re completely weak.”

The moment I uttered these words, I felt as if I heard something snap inside Morgan in front of me.

Indeed, the filtering performance is certainly effective.

It seemed like it would be fun.

Because as fellow sword users, we could exchange blades. Of course, she uses a knife, but what does that matter.

Anyway, until she crossed swords with her, Morgan only thought it would be fun.

She didn’t think she would lose.

Because she was strong. Because even if she fought, she could beat Ar, who was considered the strongest among the executives.

It would be difficult, but in a one-on-one fight, she could win at least. That’s how confident Morgan was in her own strength.

That’s why she intended to play with this swordswoman she met after a long time, matching her skill level appropriately and toying with her until only bones remained over the course of an hour. Morgan had certainly entered the fight with such thoughts.

‘…Huh?’

But the moment she exchanged the first blow with her, with Aria, Morgan felt that something was off.

‘Heavy…?’

It should be a knife, not a sword. She should be smaller in build than herself. Yet it was strangely heavy.

It was just the first exchange of knife and sword clashing, but that alone was enough to make her acutely aware of the difference in strength between herself and Aria.

That’s why Morgan unconsciously immediately drew out the Sword of Enhancement followed by the Sword of Curse and swung them at her.

She realized that Aria’s skill was not to be underestimated. That’s why she used dual-wielding, which she had intended to hide to enjoy the fight. And not only that, she actively utilized the Sword of Recovery and the Sword of Blood Absorption as well.

It was about 80% of her full power, enough to easily slaughter ordinary demon army commanders.

However, even so, she couldn’t touch her.

Aria effortlessly blocked the hundreds of slashes aimed precisely at vital points, as if they were predictable.

Then, in turn, she found openings between Morgan’s attacks and wedged her knife in.

Compared to her own hundreds of slashes, Aria’s attacks weren’t even ten times.

But each and every attack Aria launched had power comparable to the hundreds of slashes Morgan had unleashed.

“Ahaha! If you can’t kill me in one hit, you can never win?”

That’s why she disguised it with bravado. Showing off her tenacious vitality through the Sword of Blood Absorption and the Sword of Recovery.

And while putting on such a bluff, the thought that occurred to Morgan was one that would leave a huge scar on her own pride.

…Should I use my full power?

Against mere humans? Me, who could be called the strongest among the demon executives?

No, that’s absolutely not allowed. I’m just falling behind because I’m not used to it yet.

Morgan barely pushed away the ridiculous thought of using her full power from her mind with the excuse that she wasn’t used to it, and drew out the Sword of Recovery.

The single blow she had just received from Aria had slightly ruptured her internal organs. Despite blocking it, she had suffered considerable internal injuries from the shockwave, to the extent that she needed to recover with the Sword of Recovery.

“Phew…”

The sensation of massive demonic energy permeating and her body fully recovering as soon as she drew the Sword of Recovery.

Her exhausted stamina and injuries recovered in an instant. With this, the remaining uses of the Sword of Recovery were 9. If she could understand Aria’s fighting style well before these uses were all gone, she could kill her like playing with a toy.

Morgan thought this and tried to calmly observe her, intending to put away the Sword of Recovery and draw out the Sword of Curse again.

Just.

If only Aria hadn’t said what she said next.

“I expected more from a demon executive… but you’re completely weak.”

Crunch. As soon as she heard those words, her teeth gritted without her realizing it.

Although she’s strong, how dare a mere human disrespect her? This Morgan? Such a lowly human?s were a race destined to be exterminated by the hands of demons anyway. Even if she’s sufficiently strong, in the end, Morgan would win using only 80% of her power.

However.

“…I’ll kill you.”

Morgan no longer had the option of not using her full power.

It felt like only by using her full power to tear that sneering face, that contemptuous attitude to shreds, and crushing and chewing the head that only retained consciousness with her own mouth, would this anger be resolved.

Morgan decided to show how greatly the act of disrespecting her would snowball and come back to haunt her.

“I’ll show you exactly what the price is for climbing up here!”

That’s why Morgan gripped the Sword of Enhancement and the Sword of Curse firmly and charged at Aria, and.

“…Cough?!”

She coughed, feeling something wrong with her body as she stopped with Aria right in front of her.

No, blood is mixed in the cough.

Not red blood, but purple blood. Morgan’s own blood.

Why?

Morgan was questioning the unexplained blood she was coughing up when she suddenly realized her hands felt light and looked at them.

Empty.

Her hands, which should have been gripping two demon swords, were curled up and completely empty.

The question of why they were empty was needless to say. And at the same time, the reason why she was coughing up blood just now was the same.

“In the end, you’re nothing without your demon swords. I couldn’t do this back then, but it’s possible here.”

Two demon swords stabbed into her own abdomen. The demon swords Morgan had been holding just moments ago.

It meant that in the moment she charged at her, Aria had snatched the swords she was gripping tightly and stabbed them back into her stomach.

She didn’t understand what Aria meant by “back then,” but she could understand at least one thing.

From the very beginning, even if she had used her full power, she would never have been able to touch her.

“I’m also… so stupid…”

To fall like this without even enjoying it properly.

How foolish indeed.