Chapter 38
Theodore frowned at Asmodeus. "I would need to fight you in a few days anyway, what's the point of showing off your techniques to an enemy?"
"I'm doing this to help you, Theo." Asmodeus sighed with a shake of her head. "I don't want you to die."
"I won't…" Theodore could tell that the demon was genuinely concerned for his well-being, though she seemed to have trouble expressing that in a more 'normal' method, she was once happy and joyful but then moments later she suddenly became serious. "Okay, fine. If it will ease your mind, I will fight you."
Asmodeus readied her whip, although she didn't strike just yet. "First one to be knocked down loses, is that okay?"
Theodore nodded, and as soon as the demon got her answer, the whip flew towards him at an inhumane speed, coming straight for his neck, though he was swift to react and he managed to avoid getting hit by a hair's length.
He didn't waste any time continuing their conversation and prepared to counterattack, since he wasn't under the 'no-magic' restriction anymore, he was free to go all-out.
[Serpent Bearer's Domain: Devouring Winter.]
Asmodeus flinched and her movements halted for a moment as a burst of cold air radiated from Theodore's figure, a large blue magic circle appeared underneath his feet and the entire area began to catch frost, soon enough, a storm of cold wind began to brew around him as the flora withered away at a rapid pace.
It seemed that the demon king wasn't expecting to see a spell of this magnitude. '…Was I the one underestimating him?'
The Ophiuchus' Staff appeared into Theodore's hand, further giving him strength, his mana was recovering back faster than before and he could feel his body becoming more nimble. "You can surrender now if you want."
His remark only caused Asmodeus to smile. "Surrendering twice in a row isn't really my thing." As soon as she finished speaking, her whip would lash through the air, cutting through any ice structure that rose to block the attack, it would reach Theodore in mere seconds and seemed to be too fast for him to react to.
[The Personal Attribute 'Godspeed' has been activated!]
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[Waning! A major imbalance between stats has been detected!]
[Godspeed's buff duration has been reduced: 10 Minutes —> 60 Seconds.]
Even if he only had a minute to spend using Godspeed, it'd allow him to bring up his staff and block the whip attack with its pole.
However, this only caused the lasso to wrap itself around it, giving Asmodeus the opportunity to throw him off balance by yanking her weapon back. Theodore quickly regained his composure though and used his strength to pull his staff towards him, locking them in a game of tug of war.
Meanwhile, the two men watching the fight could only stay away from the basketball court's perimeter, the evolved Devouring Winter now became too cold for them to stand without shivering, even if the domain wouldn't view them as a target, just the natural aura was enough to ward them away.
"…She's standing toe to toe with Theodore." Eugene mumbled with a frown, staring at the scene as if he was cheering on an intense football match.
"No, how is Theo even fighting her on equal grounds? Have you seen her aura?" Merlin had a horrified expression on his face, though he wasn't doubting his best friend, he just couldn't help but feel worried that something bad would happen again.
"It's just a spar, right?" Eugene huffed without a care.
"Still, she's a demon king and has most likely lived ever since the beginning of time." Merlin leaned back and supported himself with his hands. "Theo doesn't have the battle experience like her, if it wasn't because of all the cheats he has, the fight would've been over by now."
The tug of war would soon have a concluding winner, Theodore dug his feet into the icy ground and pulled with all of his strength, slightly tilting Asmodeus forward and giving him a chance to break his staff free.
"Hm? You seemed more used to your human body than your actual form." Asmodeus spoke playfully, recalling her whip back to her. "Well, I actually know you were a human from the start anyway."
Theodore was surprised, though he kept his eyes peeled just in case the demon wanted to use this opportunity to sucker punch him. "Did my dad tell you?"
"No, I already said that I can see people's true essence, right?" Asmodeus chuckled. "I'm not that shocked to be honest, many had struck deals with the beings above before."
Theodore didn't question Asmodeus any further and resumed a fighting stance, he held out his staff and several magic circles would appear in front of him, all manifested instantaneously.
A mage could always use a casting vessel to further enhance their casting speed, although Theodore had always been a special case, even before his reincarnation, he could draw a magic circle in mere seconds, which was just as fast as using a staff at that time.
'I'm not going to use my ice spells though.' Suddenly, the color of the circles changed, from their once baby blue body to a vibrant green.
The air radiated from the magic circles startled Asmodeus, she frowned while holding out her whip defensively, the lasso preparing to strike at any given moment. 'I've never seen him use this magic before, what the hell is that?'
The aura gave the demon king a nagging feeling on her entire frame, it felt similar to holy magic yet at the same time, there was a difference between the two, though she couldn't exactly wrap her mind around what it was.
[Dragon Claws.]
Suddenly, multiple deadly claws emerged from the magic circles, they had similar scales as Theodore and the talons were tinted in a shiny gold, all six of them lashed towards Asmodeus from across the basketball court and forced her to stay on the defensive, her whip wildly striking the claws, trying to ward them away. "What is that magic!?"
Theodore didn't answer and immediately activated another spell, this time it gave off a clear sinister air as shadows rose from underneath his feet.
[Shadow Warp.]
In only a second, he was standing right behind Asmodeus and was preparing to force her down with a basic Frost Spear but—
"Theo!"
Accompanying the sound of Merlin's shout, a sharp burning pain came from somewhere on his right abdomen, looking down, he saw that he'd been pierced by some sort of black spike that was radiating smoke.
Because he wasn't focused on them, the dragon claws disappeared on their own along with the magic circles, Asmodeus turned to face him with a smile as she recalled her whip into a coil. "You're not the only one with magic, Theo."
Theodore scoffed at her remark, still managing to keep his voice steady despite the pain in his stomach. "I know."
[Shadow Warp.]
Asmodues frowned as Theodore once again disappeared from where he once stood, leaving behind the purple magic circle that had a bloody, black spike shooting out from its center. "Are you running away?"
"Well, not really."
[Ice Cage: Stage III]
The spell was cast even faster because of the domain, Asmodeus didn't have enough room to react and she was surrounded by magic circles in an instant as ice rose from the ground, encasing her in a make-shift cage.
Frozen chains shot forward and grabbed her arms and legs, rendering her immobile, the restraints pressed on her dominant wrist and forced her to drop the whip, in which another chain would manifest and grabbed it before handing the weapon to Theodore as he emerged from a puff of black smoke.
The hole in his stomach had completely been healed. "Do you still think it would be a difficult fight for me? I can kill you right now if I want to."
A spark appeared in front of him as a small, golden circle manifested, it wouldn't be difficult for any demon to tell that it was holy magic.
It was 'Silent Judgment'.
Asmodeus instantly recognized the spell and laughed. "With that spell…You could kill every demon king if you wanted."
Theodore shrugged. "It's too much of a hassle, besides, you still were half-assing our fight, I'm sure the others wouldn't go easy on me."
Lust giggled. "Well~ I didn't want to leave a scar on my future hubby~"
Theo had gotten used to it at this point, he chose to ignore it and spoke about something else. "So? I win right?"
Asmodeus tilted her head. "I am kinda 'knocked down' right now, so yes, you win."
Theodore flicked his wrist after hearing the demon speak, the ice around them began to dissipate into small snow-like particles and the brewing storm calmed down until it would eventually disappear as well.
Asmodeus rubbed her wrist after the ice chains had set her free, watching the once-dead trees flourishing back to life. "…That was similar to the Sacred Wind of Boreas."
"I keep hearing that, what is it anyway?" Theodore tilted his head with curiosity.
"A god's Unique Magic." Asmodeus spoke casually, as if finding nothing out of the ordinary about it at all, Theodore on the other hand, was bewildered to hear that he'd been using something of that magnitude all this time, though he would calm down once the demon king finished her sentence. "Though, your version was definitely only a fraction of the real Sacred Wind of Boreas, for one, the scale is on a smaller side than the real thing."
"How powerful is the original spell?" Theodore couldn't help but be curious.
"Strong enough to plunge a realm into years of winter." She replied with a shrug. "It's a god's magic, so it was to be expected, who knows, maybe yours will grow to be as strong as Boreas' spell."
Theo was slightly intrigued by that idea, though the more he thought about it, the more he knew that it might not be out of the realm of possibility, after all, he was slowly becoming somewhat of a deity himself. "Are you going to head back now?"
His words caused Asmodeus to pout at him. "Eh? You don't want me to stay that badly?"
Theodore was taken aback. "Huh? Shouldn't you be worrying about your own territory?"
"Don't worry! Cyrus got this!"
He was speechless. '…I feel bad for Cyrus.'
"Anyway," Theodore waved his hands around, changing the subject. "I'm planning to spend some time with my dad, so—"
"Ah! I wanna join!" Asmodeus instantly interrupted him as she jumped closer towards him. "Please? I really, really, really want to meet with him again!"
"You're just going to coax my dad into weird things again." Theodore stared at her with a dull expression.
"No I'm not!"
[The Skill 'Lord of Souls' has peered into the Demon King of Lechery: Asmodeus' soul.]
[Her words are confirmed as 'FALSE']
Theodore narrowed his eyes after hearing the skill notification. "That's a bold lie, Asmodeus."
"Waa! I just want to get to know your dad a little better!"
"For the purpose of what?"
"…Friendship?"
[The Skill 'Lord of Souls' has peered into the Demon King of Lechery: Asmodeus' soul.]
[Her words are confirmed as 'FALSE']
"What he f*ck."
"Theo~ I don't have malicious intent I swear!"
[The Skill 'Lord of Souls' has peered into the Demon King of Lechery: Asmodeus' soul.]
[Her words are confirmed as 'FALSE']
Theodore sighed and turned to walk away, ignoring the still-pleading Asmodeus that was following behind him. His friends looked at each other for a moment but then started walking too.
Merlin jogged up next to Theo. "Hey~ I think it should be fine taking her with you, right?"
"What? You're coming with me or something?" Theodore raised an eyebrow at his best friend.
"Ah, no. I don't want to interrupt you, I mean, you need to introduc—"
Merlin promptly got smacked in the face by the back of Theodore's hand and was forced to stop in his tracks, covering his face with his hands while Eugene cracked up at the sight, staying behind to check on the ginger's condition.
Theo didn't bother to wait for the two of them and headed back into the palace. Asmodeus whined before bolting to cut off his tracks, standing in front of him. "Are you really mad at me?"
Theodore looked down at her, just noticing that Asmodeus was barely able to reach his shoulders. "Well, you did lie to me three times in a row."
"I'm sorry!" Asmodeus clasped her hands together in an apologetic gesture. "I…I just wanted to…I just want you to like me back…" Her voice went low near the last part of her speech, it would've gone unnoticed if not for his good hearing.
'…How can she like someone so easily?' Theodore sighed, he didn't really believe in love at first sight, mostly because he tended to think too logically and always concluded that those types of relationships would more often than not end up in disaster.
"You wouldn't understand~" Asmodeus crossed her arms with a pout, she spoke as if she'd just read his mind. "Imagine having to live all your life faced with insincerity!"
"What does that have to—" Their conversation would be cut short though when Theodore noticed Lawrence heading towards them.
"Hey, what are you two doing here by yourselves?" His father spoke as soon as he was close enough for them to hear him, he had a bright smile on his face like he'd just heard a funny joke. "Are you two dating?"
"No."
"Yes!" Asmodeus was somehow already standing in front of Lawrence, her eyes practically sparkling as she spoke. Though her voice would go low and her shoulders slumped down almost immediately. "…Actually, we're not."
Lawrence frowned towards Theodore. "Did you break up with her?"
"Dad, we were never dating in the first place."
The man laughed as he playfully ruffled Asmodeus' hair. "I know, but maybe you should give her a chance, it's not like no one else would be willing to ask you out anyway."
Theodore didn't know how to feel about that remark, whether he should take it as an insult or just simple advice, though he most certainly knew that he felt irritated. "I'm not that interested to be honest."
"Eh!?" Asmodeus turned to face him with a sad frown. "Why though…?"
Theodore shrugged. "…You're not very likable."
"Hah!? I'm likable though~"
"I just said—" Theodore didn't bother finishing his sentence as he let out a short sigh. "Look, maybe some distant future I might consider, but now? I prefer not adding more people to the list of people related to me."
Asmodeus blinked quietly at him for a moment, not expecting that to be his answer. "…Why? Haven't you already concluded your revenge?"
Lawrence spoke up next with a tilt of his head. "Yeah, you gave Rhys quite the fitting punishment, is there anything else to do other than that."
"Theo, if you're worried about the fight—"
"It's not that," Theodore waved, cutting Asmodeus off. "I might not be as angry as I was with Rhys, but the others were still related to my death, I still have unfinished business to wrap up."
Lawrence gave a concerning look towards his son. "…You will stop right after, right?"
Theodore blinked, slightly confused what his father had meant for a moment, but when it clicked, he gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going to keep doing this forever, I just won't rest easy knowing that the perpetrators are still out there."
Asmodeus looked back and forth between the two of them, she'd kept silent this whole time and was listening to them talking, feeling slightly jealous that she'd never had the chance to have a family to talk to so casually. "So…You're saying that you might give me a chance after you're finished with your revenge?"
Theodore huffed, rolling his eyes at her undying tenacity, he will give it to her that she still persisted even though he wasn't responding well to her feelings, he'd thought that by acting this way he might be able to make her give up. "Well, maybe."
That response was enough for Asmodeus, her eyes lit up once again and she giggled to herself joyfully. "Yes! I can't wait for the day you finally confess to me!"
Theodore sighed while shaking his head. 'Seriously, what's wrong with her?'
Lawrence let out a wholehearted laughter as he gave Asmodeus a few pats on the head. "Nice job, dear, just keep working hard and you'll earn my son's heart in no time!"
Asmodeus looked up at the man with an expression filled with determination. "Mmph! There is nothing that I, the Demon King of Lechery, cannot achieve!"
Theodore watched the two of them continue to laugh and talk to each other, deciding not to indulge in the conversation for any longer. He let out another tired sigh as his gaze wandered towards the palace's high ceiling, studying the beautiful art that'd drawn above.
It was recently drawn, judging from the drawing's context; An army of mermaid-like demons raising their weapons while following a large serpent into battle with another group of demons, it was the rebellion. The painting reminded him of the battle that's to come in about a week from now on.
'…When that's over, I'll have to kickstart my revenge plan again, huh.'