Chapter 18: DESTROYER
Forfeit now and run away?
That thought never crossed his mind. He was up against an Authority Devil he had no experience with, and he couldn’t rush in without a plan. He was only pacing around in search of any hints regarding the Authority Devil he was facing, as each possessed a distinct ability tied to their rank.
"I know enough to know they’re part of the main storyline. Am I right?" Arc said out loud as he hid Cerberus’ Cursed Fang in his blazer’s front pouch, concealing it with his hands tucked in as well.
The Crimson Goblin King Shaman had recognized the weapon’s rank with a single look, but he had greatly underestimated Arc’s ability to wield such a weapon to its full potential.
The Authority Devil might not be so naive. They would surely perceive the presence of a hidden weapon, but not its rank. By hiding the weapon in his pocket instead of his Inventory—where it would be completely concealed—the Authority Devil was in for a surprise.
He didn’t get another reply from the voice, but he didn’t dwell on it.
He waltzed toward the grand door and used one hand to push it open with a loud creak. It raised a cloud of dust as he walked inside, and just as the dust settled, the next room came into view.
It wasn’t anything special, but rather an identical cavern to the previous room. Except, this one had construction ladders lined up against the walls, and from the looks of it, the Crimson Goblins were either mining there or carving something into the stone. It was most likely the latter, as Arc could make out distinct humanoid shapes.
But what instantly caught his attention wasn’t the abandoned construction, but the lone figure in the vast cavern.
They were suspended in the air with their back to the entrance, their hands clasped behind them. Exuding from their entire being was an aura of absolute authority.
Pride.
Arc didn’t need any more details to tell that this was the 7th Authority Devil in the chain: Pride.
[DESTROYER (INSTIGATOR OF PRIDE) | ***]
’The strongest out of the bunch... just great,’ he mused to himself sarcastically.
"I SEE YOU MADE IT THIS FAR." The words of the Destroyer boomed across the cavern, bouncing off the walls. Yet, his voice remained calm and unbothered.
He slowly turned around like a mannequin on a roller.
"YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF WORTHY TO STAND BEFORE ME," the Destroyer stated as he completed his rotation to face Arc.
He was humanoid in nature and looked like a man whose build alone would make every gym lover green with envy. But everything else about him told Arc he wasn’t human, nor was he familiar with such a race—as there were simply too many with identical humanoid features.
"I HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR YOU," the Destroyer began. "PLEDGE YOUR FEALTY TO ME AND I’LL SEE TO IT THAT YOU MAKE IT OUT ALIVE TO SERVE MY PURPOSE." He spoke with the kind of confidence that made Arc hesitate.
It wasn’t because he was considering the offer for even a moment, but simply because he was in awe of the sheer audacity required to make such a statement without cringing at one’s own words.
"That’s a lot of big talk for a lesser demon like yourself," Arc said in amusement. "How about we do this instead: why don’t you come down here and say that to my face this time around? Then maybe we could come up with something that might benefit the both of us. Don’t you think?" he asked in a mocking tone.
The Destroyer laughed out loud, his deep voice bellowing across the cavern and rattling Arc’s eardrums.
"YOU SEEM TO HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD ME. I WASN’T MAKING AN OFFER. I’M NOT ASKING. THERE ARE ONLY TWO WAYS THIS COULD GO: YOU DO AS I SAY... OR I MAKE YOU DO WHAT I SAY." As the Destroyer spoke, the room’s temperature immediately plummeted.
Arc slowly exhaled. "Fine... I’ll drag you down myself."
Just as those words left his lips, the ground beneath his feet cracked and his calves flexed. He shot forward from the spot like a cannonball, closing the distance between himself and the Destroyer in moments and appearing before him with a clenched fist.
The Destroyer’s brows furrowed slightly, clearly surprised by his speed. However, he simply raised his palm, predicting the trajectory of the fist.
It all happened so fast that it would be impossible for Arc to retreat now. But then, retreating wasn’t on his to-do list.
All this while, Arc had been holding Cerberus’ Cursed Fang in his pocket with one hand while throwing out his other fist. He knew all too well that the Destroyer was aware of the hidden weapon and was cautious of it. Furthermore, if Arc had walked in with the weapon in his inventory, the Destroyer would likely still know he was hiding a weapon—just somewhere unknown—to have made it this far.
Which was exactly why Arc had hidden the weapon somewhere obvious, ensuring the Destroyer would track it and keep an eye out for it, allowing him to execute this exact move—
Just before his fist could collide with the wall of the demon’s palm, he recalled Cerberus’ Cursed Fang into his inventory using the hand already resting on it. He immediately summoned it to his other hand with a flick of his wrist. The flying fist was now wielding a blade, and its long tip was already sinking into the palm like a hot knife cutting through butter.
The Destroyer’s eyes widened in genuine surprise, and his passive expression shattered like glass. He wasn’t fast enough to pull back his hand before the blade buried itself up to the hilt.
Before the demon could recover from the shock, Arc’s other fist was already flying toward his unprotected face, a wide grin playing across Arc’s lips.
But he, too, had greatly underestimated the Authority Devil.
In that split second, the Destroyer’s eyeballs moved from his incapacitated hand to Arc’s oncoming fist, which he knew wasn’t a feint. He instantly felt humiliated at being bested by such a low-level being. In a fit of rage, he completely disregarded his injured hand and threw a punch of his own, his fist covering the distance to Arc’s face in an instant—before Arc’s fist could even land.
Arc’s eyes widened. He could tell immediately the staggering difference in speed and strength, and he knew that if their two fists collided with their targets, his own might not do much damage. The same couldn’t be said for the Destroyer’s punch.
In that same fraction of a second, Arc immediately dumped his 30 free attribute points from Level 15 to Level 20 entirely into STRENGTH. He did so with a mental speed so intense it made his head ache, as if he were suffering from a severe brain freeze.
The Destroyer’s fist collided with his jaw first, but almost simultaneously, Arc’s fist smashed into the demon’s jaw. For a brief moment, the concept of time ceased to exist.
Before—
BOOM!
Ripples of shockwaves erupted from the point of impact, rolling through the cavern, shaking it to its core, and sending both parties flying in opposite directions.
At that exact moment, a red-haired figure stepped through the grand door.
