Online In Another World

Sparks of cyan electricity were left in the wake of the Speed Demon's movements, coiling around leaves and sparking against the soil. This constant static encircled Asher as he picked himself up, attempting to take a step forward before–ZAP.

"--!" He recoiled.

The air itself had been electrified by the Speed Demon's constant movement, creating a painful veil around the air like a shining, malicious mist.

Every minuscule movement that Asher tried to make resulting in being bitten by the electricity that inhabited the air, shocking him and leaving him defenseless as his enemy took advantage of this helplessness:

"Slow!"

A set of powerful blows slammed against his right side, colliding with his cheek and causing the Devilheart to stumble to the right, being shocked again.

"Ngh…!" He winced.

"Slow!"

Another barrage of blows came from his left, coming in much higher numbers with less force, but perhaps even more stinging as they slammed against his ribs.

"Nngh!" He gritted his teeth.

Everything happened too fast to leave him even a second with his own thoughts, attempting to raise his arms, though he found himself electrified again, leaving him completely open once more:

"Slow—!"

This time, the successive punches came from the front, repeatedly impacting his chest and abdomen as the breath was knocked out of his lungs.

Bruises formed along his body; the state of the Devilheart's body was already questionable at best as his arms were heavily bruised from his consecutive usage of [Sonic Impact]--still, he found his moment to launch his counterattack.

He reinforced his armor, imbuing it with a new property: [Electric Conduction], allowing himself to move without any hindrance of the sparks as he heightened his focus, staying still as he waited for the Speed Demon to come within distance.

Subtly, he expelled an unseen veil of devilish particles around himself, extending it like a sixth sense: [Devil's Sixth Sin].

Each and every one of the particles acted like an extension of his own senses, making it dozens of times easier to react to whatever touched them.

'Just a bit more…I can't see him, but I can feel it. It'll need to be perfect, but if I can land it, then–' He thought, though was interrupted by something else occurring.

"Hyaaaah–!"

"Huh?"

Jumping from behind a bush was a familiar, young man with silver hair and sparkling, emerald eyes, swinging his sword without any thought and letting out a warcry while doused in nervous sweat.

'...Joel?' Asher recognized.

The silver-haired man jumped in, wildly swinging his sword and hitting nothing but air before–ZAP.

"Yowch!" Joel jumped out, yelling out from the shocking pain.

It was what Asher feared from anybody coming to help him–the electrified environment made for an impossible painful place to traverse, leaving one helpless inside of it.

At the very least, it seemed the arrival of Joel kept the Speed Demon passive for the moment as it continued encircling the area rapidly, watching the new arrival to the battlefield.

Joel continued being shocked as his body moved from each bit of pain, leading him being repeatedly struck.

'Crap…!' Asher thought.

As he rushed over to the aid of Joel, he found himself immediately intercepted by the Speed Demon, who swiped its nails against his chest, cutting through a portion of his armor and leaving light slashes on his chest.

"Ngh!" Asher winced, but continued moving forward.

Racing towards his comrade that continued to lay helplessly on the ground, being shocked continuously, he could sense it through [Devil's Sixth Sin]: the Speed Demon was honing in on Joel.

There was only one option left for the Devilheart as he knew that Joel, unprotected by a System or magical reinforcement, would be obliterated by the Speed Demon's assault.

"Joel! Give me your hand!" Asher yelled out.

Joel looked confused for a second before obliging, raising his hand as it twitched from the continued electric shocks.

Their hands met, clasping just before the speedy fiend arrived; the pitch-black substance that the Devilheart had authority over extended a portion of itself over Joel's hand, stretching over his arm and his body.

A minimal, jet-black armor wrapped around Joel's body, encasing him in its protective layer just as the Speed Demon swept by.

"Woah!" Joel reacted.

The blows swept by, but Joel was only knocked back, without breath for a few moments, but overall seemed fine.

"How did I…? What is this?" Joel asked, looking at his hands which were covered in the sable armor.

Asher breathed out, "I lended a portion of my power to you. That armor will protect you and boost your physical capabilities all around."

"Oh?...Awesome!" Joel clenched his fists, "Let's do this, then!"

Standing side-by-side, the two guided by the Devil Force awaited the swift enemy, who continued racing around the area with that blinding, arrogant speed.

"Where are the others?" Asher asked, keeping his guard up as he watched the foliage, hearing the wind whistle and electricity spark as the Speed Demon continued running around them.

Joel kept himself focused as well, standing back-to-back with Asher now, "I think they ended up in some sort of castle…We all got separated, but I found you before I found them–so I'm here now."

"Hm," Asher looked around, "Then let's finish this then go help the others."

"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Joel passionately exclaimed.

–Just then, the Speed Demon appeared, though the two men were ready for it as the sense-extending veil connected both of their senses as well, allowing them to react to its incoming attack.

'I can feel it!' Joel thought.

Both of them slashed their blades forth, catching the electrified, four-horned demon by surprise as it leaned back to dodge Asher's strike, but was instead struck in the stomach by Joel's slash. What was surprising to Asher was the seamless usage of the Devil Force that Joel called upon, using a burst of darkness with his slash that blew across the fiend's body.

"Hrgh?!" The Speed Demon let out a pained echo from its metallic shell.

Rather than be a dreadful injury, the successful blow seemed more impactful on the mentality of the speed-arrogant fiend, who was shocked at the very concept of being hit so abruptly.

Joel looked confused for a moment before smiling, "Hell yeah! I hit it!"

"You did…Nice one," Asher complimented.

A smile formed across the lips of the silver-haired man as he flexed his body, feeling the power of the Devilheart System's lended portion flowing through him like a leyline of energy, "I can get used to this."

"Don't," Asher told him.

Just then, the Speed Demon, whose grinned twisted into an expression of anger, attempted to tear Joel's neck from his shoulders–by some miracle, Asher managed to intercept it, blocking its steel-like claws with his claymore.

Forcing the electrified entity back, Asher witnessed it vanish again, whirling around the two with incredible speed that blurred the scenery around them, providing a constant hiss of voltage.

"Joel," Asher quietly called out to his comrade.

"Yeah?" Joel kept his eyes peeled, holding his sword up as the enemy continued circling around them.

Repeated taunts came angrily from the mouth of the Speed Demon now, howling like maledictions: "Slow! Slow! Slow!"

"Imagine your sword will produce a powerful adhesive when it strikes," Asher instructed.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Joel asked.

"Just do as I say," Asher said stoically.

"...Alright," Joel nodded.

"Good," Asher said, reinforcing the armor around himself, "Strike when you feel your senses tingle. I'll handle the follow-up."

While the "plan" was too vague for Joel to really understand what was going on, he chose to place his trust in the quiet, less-than-affable figure as he clenched his muscles to summon the strength gifted from the Devilheart System.

"Bring it on, you speedy fuck!" Joel yelled out in a taunt.

At the same time the invitation was extended from Joel to the Speed Demon, Asher focused on extending the reach of the sixth sense of particles around the forest clearing, maximizing the sense they had on the enemy.

'A taunt? Good thinking, Joel. If there's one thing the Speed Demon wins at besides speed, its arrogance,' Asher thought.

The trees were ripped from the soil by the thunderclaps that followed in the wake of the electrified, black-steel demon as it ran through at speed that surpassed the touchdown of lightning from the heavens.

"Slow!" The Speed Demon howled.

Just before it reached Joel, the silver-haired man felt the sixth sense of [Devil's Sixth Sin] activate, causing his arms to move as he carved his sword forward without even first seeing the blurred enemy.

'C'mooooon! Sticky! Adhesive! Glue! Whatever!' Joel thought.

–It missed.

The Speed Demon chuckled as it sidestepped the sword swing, though something else shot out from the weapon wielded by Joel: a sticky form of the black substance of the Devil Force, splashing out and hitting the fiend.

"Hhrgh?!" The Speed Demon let out, confused.

The substance quickly solidified, causing the slippery demon to be anchored to the ground as the adhesive connected its body to the soil below.

"--I did it?" Joel let out in disbelief.

Dashing by, Asher Devilheart already had his claymore prepared to swing, engulfed in a condensement of his Devil Force, "Good job, Joel. You're a reliable guy."

Unable to dodge, the Speed Demon witnessed Asher close in, staring down that skull-faced helm before the claymore curved through the air, heading straight towards the neck of the infamous demon:

[Devilheart: Abyss Execution]

The condensed aura of darkness that clung to the length of the blade was imbued with the property of absolute sharpness, allowing for it to seamlessly cleave through the sturdy neck of the demon.

There was no hesitation from Asher in committing the fatal attack, sending the head of the arrogant demon straight off of its shoulders with a picture-perfect arc of darkness.