Second World

1927  Chapter 1927. First Strike

Jack pointed at a location away from there. "Too many people here. Let's go there. We will have our duel there."

Satan turned in the direction Jack pointed at. It was the East. "I don't see the point, but all right."

Jack and Satan flew away. The others continued to stand there watching the two. They were unsure about what to do. Honuren was also stumped. He was debating whether he should go and help Jack. He found it hard to believe this outworlder was Satan's opponent. However, the aura Jack released when he slapped Satan was unlike any he had sensed, even among high-level natives. Perhaps Satan sensed it too. That's why the devil agreed to the challenge.

Dajja was also unsure what to think. He knew Satan enjoyed battles. Considering no one dared to challenge Satan in the underworld, this war was like a dream come true. It was not strange if Satan wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible, which included accepting a meaningless challenge from an outworlder. Still, Dajja felt uneasy. In no way did he believe the outworlder could pose any danger to Satan. Yet, the feeling was there, gnawing in his heart. He had learned a long time ago to always listen to his instincts.

Dajja was not given the chance to think for long because Tetsuo suddenly charged at him. Tetsuo used Meteor Dash. Dajja cast teleportation and vanished before Tetsuo arrived.

Tetsuo's mana sense quickly pinpointed where Dajja had teleported to. He aimed his gun and used the Gatling Gun skill.

Dajja was surprised at Tetsuo's fast action. He almost failed to erect a magic shield in time. His magic shield was reinforced by runic symbols. None of Tetsuo's bullets hit him.

Therras and Spark also took action. The battle resumed again. Members of the Council of Elpo fought the high-level demons. Honuren also acted. He went and assisted Tetsuo in fighting Dajja. Once Dajja was defeated, he would go and help Jack. He hoped Jack could last until his arrival.

*

Jack glanced back at the resuming battle. Tetsuo initiated the attack under his order. He sent that royal agent a silent command via the King Badge in his inventory. He also used Elevate Beast, Gigantify Pet, and Demonize Pet to empower Therras and give it a starting advantage in the battle. With those demons occupied, they would unlikely interfere with his battle.

Satan didn't care about what was happening. He flew following Jack's lead.

They flew past the land filled with hidden traps. Jack chose East, so their battle location was further away from the underworld forces. Those demons would have to go through the defenders and these traps before arriving at his and Satan's location.

"Here is a good place to battle," Satan said and flew down. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Jack turned to the devil. Satan landed on the ground and just stood there waiting. Jack wanted to draw Satan further away from the armies, but he guessed Satan refused to play along any more than this.

Jack flew down and landed in front of Satan. The two stared at one another. One was a titan. The other was like an ant in terms of size.

"Before we begin, let me say. You are unlike what I picture," Jack said.

"How so?" Satan asked.

"I thought you would be a bit more… devilish. Yet, I get the vibe that I am fighting a principled opponent. You know, like one who values honor and fairness. Otherwise, you wouldn't have accepted my challenge."

Satan laughed. "Harhar! To be associated with honor and fairness is a first for me. I like you, outworlder. You keep on making me laugh. Anyway, I can be devilish. I simply accept your challenge because I think you might entertain me."

"I will do my best to not disappoint, then."

"You better be. Now, I have a question of my own. Are you the strongest outworlder in this world?" Satan asked.

The thought of Master flashed through Jack's mind when he heard the question, but he answered, "I am."

"Hm… There is a slight pause in your answer. Well, never mind. If there is anyone stronger, I will meet that person sooner or later."

"You keep saying as if I am sure to lose to you," Jack said.

"I don't see any other possible result," Satan returned.

Jack grinned. "In that case, shall we begin?"

"Anytime," Satan said and folded his arms.

Seeing that, Jack asked, "Ho… Are you giving me an advantage by not using your arms?"

Satan shrugged. "I'm not giving you anything. If I feel the need to use my arms, I will use them."

"Hehe," Jack grinned again. He spoke no further. His body erupted with a strong aura. He used the Strength of Hope and War God Manifestation at the same time.

Satan was taken aback by the sudden intensity of Jack's aura. He couldn't believe such a drastic augmentation of power to exist.

Satan failed to react in time despite sensing the change. This was mostly due to Jack's power-up far exceeding his expectations. Both the Strength of Hope and the War God Manifestation could be considered a buff at the level of a divine skill. Jack used both at the same time. With his already high stats, it was no wonder even a devil like Satan was caught off-guard.

Jack also activated Demonize Weapon. Since he was in beast form, the one that transformed was his claw. His right claw enlarged and was covered in metallic crimson scales. He added his weapon boost by activating Overlimit. His claw shone accompanied by black lightning sparks.

Jack blitzed to Satan's head and used Flame Strike. The same skill struck Satan for the second time at the same spot. The result couldn't be any more different. If the earliest strike was considered a slap, then this one was akin to getting whacked by a sledgehammer.

Satan's head jerked downward from the impact.

Jack didn't waste this first strike. Before Satan recovered from the shock, Jack activated Dragon Eye and cast Superior Acceleration. Under the enhanced speed, he cast Time Stop. Everything else stopped moving. Jack followed up by casting his mega spell.

The Superior Acceleration was still active when Time Stop took effect. This stretched Time Stop's 5-second duration to 100 seconds in Jack's perception. It was more than enough time for the mega spell to be completed.

The Wrath of the Ancient Dragons was unleashed. The seven elemental dragons advanced toward Satan without any obstacles. Utilizing the time stretch to full, Jack also used his rune technique and his second mega spell, Storm Wrath.

Just as Time Stop ended, Jack used Time Lock. Everything else moved again, except for Satan. He was frozen in time as Jack continued to dish out assaults. The ten golden weapons from the aureole on his back joined in on his assaults by performing Formless Flowing Sword Style. All his attacks were empowered by mana manipulation.

Jack cast Time Realm to stretch the time Satan was under Time Lock. He then used the offensive skill of the Fallen Apostle's Longsword, Scourge of Demon Swords. This skill was similar to the Realm of Sword God, which conjured a large number of swords that hit targets in a large area.

However, there was one key difference. While the Realm of Sword God was a pure AOE skill, the Scourge of Demon Swords was more flexible. When an enemy was attacked by the Realm of Sword God, he was only struck by one sword every second as long as he stayed in the same position. The demon swords from the Scourge of Demon Swords were different. They were as if sentient. If only one enemy was in their AOE, all the swords would swarm that enemy.

A hundred demon swords pierced Satan repeatedly. At exactly ten seconds after Jack used Scourge of Demon Swords, he used Demon Souls Turbulence, the offensive skill of his Fallen Apostle's Mystic Staff.

Since the duration of Scourge of Demon Swords was thirty seconds and Demon Souls Turbulence was twenty seconds, they both ended at the same time. Both skills delivered a finishing explosive blow when they ended. The one hundred demon swords crashed into each other while the demon souls converged. Both resulted in a huge explosion.

At the exact time this explosion happened, Jack fired Soul Breath, War God's Light, and Magic Bombs. Due to the Monarch Form, the soul breath of his supreme dragon form had undergone an upgrade. It was now Divine Soul Breath, the same level as Eoranth's breath attack.

These three explosive attacks synchronized with the final explosion from the skills of Fallen Apostle's weapons. This combination of assaults boosted the damage.

When the explosion receded, Satan was finally free to move again. Jack moved away. Satan looked at his body. Although Jack had stopped attacking, the effects of his rune technique and mega spells were still ongoing. The Infernal Cleansing Flame was burning Satan, as with the Storm Wrath, and the seven elemental dragons that were now ravaging from inside Satan's body.

In the previous battle, the highest damage inflicted on Satan within a short instance was from Thanael's Purifying Heavenly Decree. The true angel managed to reduce Satan's HP by almost ten percent using that skill. However, that was also because the skill caused a double effect on demons.

At this moment, Satan stared in disbelief at his HP bar, which had reduced by more than thirty percent in a bit over a minute since the battle started!

"Hehe, still find me entertaining?" Jack asked.