Galaxy's First Ruler

Chapter 175: One Step Shunpo

The Devil had been truly shocked by El Cid's use of One Step Shunpo.

Only a small trace of an entire Will of Devil possessed Aldrich. And without the full transformation, the real Will couldn't occupy the body. The Devil's actual memory wasn't perfect, but from the things he could remember, it was near impossible for a Count to use this Skill.

One Step Shunpo was neither a Skill rewarded by the RECORD nor was it an Ancient Saying. There was only one way to describe it, and that was a side effect. A side-effect of Attributes crossing a limit. But no Dreamer could focus on one Attribute and remain alive to cross that limit by the Rank of Count. Even more than the Rank of El Cid, what shocked the Devil the most was the fact that he had seen the Boss's Stats and they weren't enough. He did not know how Aldrich got this Skill, but it was working wonders for him so far. There was no reason for him to doubt it until now.

"What's going on?!"

The Devil stood up and turned around. El Cid was hovering amid air dozens of meters away from him. The Boss' body seemed tiny compared to the Devil's handless figure.

The Boss Crawler spoke as if guessing the Devil's questioning gaze.

"You think too little of me, Devil."

The Devil narrowed his purple eyes and saw the Boss again reaching for the two swords at his waist.

He he HAHA!

"Brilliant! It seems like I have been away for too long I will make sure to sprinkle salt before devouring you."

Two bat-like wings came popping out of the Devil's back and he dived from the top of the pillars towards the bottom of the crater.

Shuuuuu!

A ripple originated in the plaza's space, and the Devil felt another blur. By the time the familiar 'tink' sound of sheathing the swords reached his ears, the wings had been cut off. The wings turned to shadow blobs and melted into this body. The Devil didn't care as he kept falling, ignoring the Boss coming again for him.

Shuuuuu!

Arghhh!!!

A painful grunt escaped the Devil as the two swords passed through his waist, almost cutting him in half. The unbearable heat and the frost kept the wounds from healing. The Devil sensed the Boss hovering above him and reaching again for the two swords, and saw his hands laid into the shadow of the pillar at the bottom of the crater. The familiar sound echoed in the Devil' ears, making his purple eyes give a brilliant flash of light.

Shuuuu!

One Step Shunpo wasn't just a mere agility-based technique. It relied on shrinking the distance in one direction and taking a step. There was nothing faster than it, not even a Skill given by RECORD, under the Rank of an Earl. But in that fraction of a second, the Devil had vanished. And the swords, missing their target, struck directly into the Pillar of Footprints.

BOOM!!!

The greatswords that had cut open the Devil's hands and had almost cut him in half couldn't even leave a scratch on the pillar. The Boss coughed out a mouthful of blood from the recoil and got thrown hundreds of meters away from the sheer impact. But before the Boss could hit the ground, the Devil came out of the shadows and he wasn't handless anymore. The Boss tried to put the swords in the sheath, but the Devil had already grabbed the two swords.

The Devil lifted El Cid and brought him to his eye level. For a moment, it was even hard to tell who was the Crawler and who was the Dreamer from their appearance. The Devil's long tongue came out and licked El Cid's helmet. A calm but out-of-breath voice came out of El Cid and the question that had perplexed the Devil moments ago was now on his mouth.

"You tricked me! You weren't going towards your arms, and you had a way to dodge even One Step Shunpo. From the start, you wanted me to crash into the Pillar. But how"

Hahaha!!!

A low chuckle came out of the Devil's mouth as he turned his head to look at the red greatsword. Its hilt was like a cross and there was an engraving of a golden crown on both sides. The heat coming out of it even tried to incinerate the Devil's hand from existence.

"TIZONA - The Firebrand, quite a nice Count Ranked Greatsword. It can burn all that is alive and evil"

The Devil turned his head to look at that icy greatsword that was trying to freeze his entire hand.

" COLADA - The Great Frost Steel. If wielded by an unworthy warrior, it can freeze him into a block of absolute ice."

ARGHHH!!!

For the first time, the Boss gave out a hint of panic and tried to snatch away the swords from the Devil's grip. Frozen and burned, purple-red blood dripped from the enlarged Devil's hand, but the evil smile on his face didn't go away.

"I can feel that these swords contain the Laws. So that's how it is? You have learned how to use the Law of Fire and the Law of Ice to imitate the One Step Shunpo. Quite Impressive! But what would happen if the swords weren't able to use the Laws?"

The Boss gave up on moving away from the Devil and laughed, "Haha! For millions of years, I have been using these greatswords. The Laws can't be"

"Kid" The Devil cut off the Boss' words, and the grin on his face vanished. He brought his enormous face near the ears of the Boss. His hoarse voice turned into incoherent whispers, making El Cid see an illusion of thousands of mile tall purple-haired Devil. And it felt like the entire world was mumbling in the Boss' head.

"You wanted to know how I dodged your Baby Step Shunpo, didn't you? You told me I think little of you? That's right! The truth is You aren't even equal to a hair on Aldrich's balls..."

" Law of Fire. Law of Ice; BANISH!"