"There are only four of you left..."

  Almodea commented, as her spell turned another of Desmond's henchmen into falling dust. There was only him and the three men behind him left, and the girl didn't seem to want to leave them alive.

  "Who the hell are you?! That was a 5th-level spell! And the one before that too!"

  Desmond's face matched his surprised tone. Despite the defensive spells, the girl before him had killed almost all of his henchmen in one hit. He'd even tried to resurrect them as undead, but they'd been eliminated before could even move.

  "Humans are so funny when scared, you know that?"

  The demoness's words were accompanied by giggles. It was clear that she was enjoying seeing him tremble like a leaf.

  "You're just a fool!"

  He thundered, regaining his confidence, but it was a paltry amount and didn't slow his rapid heartbeat. That girl scared him, for some reason.

  "You dare call me a fool, insect?"

  "Why not? You rushed headlong into my graveyard without realizing my true strength! Behold!"

  Desmond's fear gave way to arrogance. He raised the book in his hand, making it glow with energy.

  "The Book of Life! Without this you probably would have had hope, however-"

  "Why?"

  He immediately fell silent when the girl interrupted him in the middle of his monologue and asked a question without context. Normally, Desmond would have been outraged, but his confusion overcame the irritation at that moment.

  "Why what?"

  "Why are you doing all this? The undead, the ritual...What do you want to achieve?"

  The girl's question seemed sincere, and it was asked in a calm tone—completely different from the mocking one she'd had earlier. This change sparked something inside Desmond, who decided to answer the question, internally berating himself for not taking advantage of this fleeting moment.

  "You want to know what? Fine! I’ll tell you..."

  He took a deep breath and his serious expression cracked, revealing a more relaxed and vulnerable face.

  "I've always been a normal boy, a lover of magic and a student of it. I'm originally from the Theocracy of Reia, and that's where I learned the basics of magic! However, everything changed when my mother died, followed shortly thereafter by my older brother and younger sister..."

  "Look, I asked you for your goal, not your life story!"

  Desmond frowned. Almodea's arrogance was truly wearing him thin. He took a few deep breaths and calmed down, knowing that- if the roles were reversed- he would have had the same reaction.

  He had to stay calm, otherwise he might fall into one of the girl's traps. She wanted to anger him so he would be less cautious. In a battle between wizards, every mistake was punishable with death.

  "Yes! Yes! I'm getting there! Sigh..."

  Almodea rolled her eyes at his groans. Normally, she would have listened to the story, perhaps even stopping to follow it during the narration, but she would have given her opponent a chance to tell something. But now, she didn't feel like it; all she wanted was to kill the insects in front of her and go watch the fight between her father and that sick whore of Camille.

  "I want to use the negative energy absorbed by the book to bring back my family and my beloved Isolde, who was taken from me by the Theocracy officials!"

  "A love tragedy? Really? It's so...trivial!"

  That was the last straw for Desmond- he couldn't stand this arrogant girl making fun of his lifelong efforts- he was going to teach her a lesson, right there.

  "You arrogant little grub! Go! Book of Life!"

  The tome in his hands seemed to respond to the call and began to glow with a phosphorescent green light. The hidden eye on the cover suddenly opened, as if the object was alive, with a consciousness of its own.

  -Something was called.

  Almodea turned sharply when she heard noises like the galloping of 100 stampeding horses. She opened her eyes in complete astonishment when she saw a beast, similar to a centaur, charging toward her at full speed.

  “Huh? Hop!”

  The girl didn't lose her composure and simply dodged the half-colt by making a simple dash to the side - a banal action - which nevertheless made Desmond raise an eyebrow.

  The person before him should have been an enchantress, someone who had spent her entire life mastering the arcane arts; such a level of agility would be difficult to achieve, even for a trained warrior. That—plus her extremely high magical abilities and the statement she'd just made—led him to believe the brat was telling the truth.

  Is she really a demon? A real demon with a name?

  A drop of sweat fell down his forehead, hitting the ground. If she had been a nameless Lesser Demon, he would have had a chance, but if this Almodea had a name, it meant she was at least at the Archdemon level, considered the pinnacle of demon evolution in academic circles. That was why the 12 Archdemons were called such; they were the strongest in a given territory, the pinnacle of demonic power.

  However, Desmond knew that wasn't the absolute truth. Years of study had shown that other evolutionary stages existed, far more powerful than the Archdemon. It was obvious that the academies knew nothing about them, given the rarity of such beings.

  "No! I refuse to believe it!"

  He muttered furiously, and slightly frightened. If that girl was truly a demon—even worse, if she was Archdemon-level or higher—he wouldn't have had a chance of winning, not even remotely.

  The only thing keeping him firm and confident that Almodea was just a bluff was her appearance; it could very well be a trick or an illusion, but why keep it that way even after revealing her true nature? Something wasn't right, but it didn't matter, not now that Desmond had deployed one of his most powerful creatures: the Masked Beast.

  "Wow! I see you've chosen a pretty nice pet..."

  Almodea commented, taking a closer look at the infamous Masked Beast.

  At first glance, it might have looked like a centaur, despite only having two legs. It had a sharp tail and a humanoid body, approximately 12 feet tall, deformed so that the skin formed various face-like shapes on its chest and thighs. The name of this level 58 monster, Masked Beast, wasn't exactly correct; in fact, its face, devoid of any facial features, was covered by a sort of spiked mask. Could a mask be considered such if it hid nothing?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Why does everything always have to get complicated?"

  Almodea snorted, quite bored.

  The presence of a monster like the Masked Beast wouldn't have been a problem by itself, but that didn't apply to the three-faced staff the creature wielded. It granted complete immunity to spells of a certain level. No matter what happened, the demoness would have to do what all eighteen-year-olds hate: commit.

  As she pondered what to do, Almodea heard Desmond's laughter. His attitude seemed more direct and courageous, it was clear that the presence of the Masked Beast had given him confidence and hope.

  "The Masked Beast is an extremely powerful monster! Total immunity to magic and high mobility! A creature against which no spellcaster can do anything!"

  Almodea simply snorted at those words full of false consistency.

  "Total immunity? If you say so..."

  You're just an uninformed idiot.

  She took her cloak and wrapped it around the iron staff she used when she was Alcina. Normally, the staff only served to increase her energy if a spell hit, but against the Masked Beast, it would be more useful as a crude mace.

  "Then I'll do it my way!"

  Having said this, Almodea began running towards the beast at an astonishing speed.

  The masked monster remained unmoved and raised his scepter, swinging it like a club. It was a missed shot.

  The demoness dodged the attack easily and used her staff to strike the creature in the belly, with enough force to send it flying behind Desmond—straight into the upper part of the entrance to the central mausoleum. After the initial impact, the beast fell to the ground, along with several pieces of the entrance that crushed it, temporarily immobilizing it.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "But...But how?"

  Desmond was astonished. No longer just by the girl's agility, but also by her sheer physical strength. Even an Emerald-ranked warrior would have had difficulty accomplishing such a feat. He immediately turned to Almodea, his look of surprise and confusion returning.

  "Can I ask who you are?! An Emerald-rank adventurer?! Or…"

  His face filled with terror.

  “…One of the legendary Diamond-rank adventurers?!”

  If that girl was truly Diamond rank, then he had very little hope of winning.

  "None of that. I already told you! I'm a demon! What do I have to do to make you understand?"

  "Stop lying to me! You're a demon? Yes, of course! Then I'm undead!"

  "Sigh! You humans are so emotional and blind! You don't believe the truth even when it's right in front of you for fear it will hurt too much! Isn't that right, scribble?"

  "S-Scribble? This is the last insult I'll swallow by staying silent! Masked Beast!"

  Desmond turned to face the monster, still damaged from the previous blow, but alive and well. It would take much more to defeat it.

  "Life Over Death!"

  "Uh...?"

  Almodea was surprised when she saw a green beam emanate from Desmond's book. The stream struck the Masked Beast squarely, regenerating it and restoring its strength.

  Huh? Is he treating it?

  The surprising thing was that the spell had worked, so there were two possibilities: either it was a spell of level higher than 5, therefore it could bypass the immunity of the beast's scepter, or the magic of the book was capable of bypassing barriers and natural defenses regardless of level.

  Immune to magic my ass!

  The demoness decided to keep an eye on the object – she should probably study it or save it for the future, after she recovered it from Desmond's corpse.

  I'll keep that as a gift for Dad!

  “Reinforced Armor! Resistance Plus! Hell Flare!"

  She watched as Desmond used empowering spells on the Masked Beast. The first two were low-level and granted a percentage boost, so their strength was directly proportional to the target's base stat. The third spell-Hell Flare- was a level 4 spell and awarded a sort of purplish aura on the target, causing anyone who came into physical contact with it to take enhanced burning damage.

  "Reinforced Armor! Resistance Plus! Absolute Defense! Greater Sustain!"

  Almodea also began casting some buff spells, although it wasn't her style to use such basic and-especially-defensive magic. She wanted to avoid as much damage as possible.

  If you're going to cheat, then I will too, Masked Beast!

  She wanted her victory to be overwhelming, to impart the greatest psychological trauma. However, Almodea felt that Desmond hadn't reached his peak yet—she would have to wait a little longer.

  "Come on! What are you waiting for, Masked Beast?! Destroy this insolent creature!"

  As soon as it heard those words, the summon immediately lunged at Almodea, swinging its scepter to strike her. She managed to avoid the blow and attempted a side attack, but this time she was blocked by the monster's pointed tail, which pushed her back, forcing her to retreat. The counterattack didn't stop there—in fact- the beast raised its scepter and managed to strike Almodea in the side, knocking her back and activating the effect of Hell Flare, which was partially negated by Greater Sustain.

  Normally, Almodea wouldn't take damage from spells lower than level 6, but she was pretending to be weak at the moment, so she had disabled some of her passive abilities, such as the one that gave immunity to fire or low-level spells.

  "Ice Spear!"

  “Huh?”

  She turned to Desmond and noticed that he had taken advantage of that little moment of distraction to attack her with an ice spear. It would have hit her full force; she had no time to dodge.

  However, the spear shattered into a thousand pieces against her skin without causing her any harm, all thanks to Absolute Defense, a spell that temporarily blocked any incoming attack.

  "Defensive magic? Damn you, you dirty bitch!"

  "What did you call me, human trash?! Dark Renewal!"

  In response to the insults, Almodea attempted to hurl a dark ray at his opponent. It was a level 5 spell, but it dealt severe damage to not-dark energy creature. Had that one hit, it could have caused Desmond a great deal of pain without killing him, but the beam of black energy was blocked by the Masked Beast's scepter, which stepped between them to protect its summoner.

  "My patience has limits, you scraggly guy! Get yourself killed and don't waste my time!"

  Almodea cried, now almost devoid of willpower and patience—not that she had much to begin with. She was following her father's advice, but the anger was getting the better of her. She was tired of holding back.

  “I want to hear you scream! Beg for mercy! You've seen how the Masked Beast isn't strong enough to beat me, so give up! You don't stand a chance against me!”

  The demoness's words pierced Desmond like a javelin, but instead of hurting him, they only infuriated him- not only because of the insults- but also because the claims were true; it was clear that the Masked Beast wasn't enough to defeat Almodea. It was obvious, only a fool wouldn't have noticed. And Desmond was no fool.

  "Okay, you cheeky bastard! You're going to see all my power! I was saving it in case any Diamond adventurers showed up, but you've proven yourself worthy! And by worthy, I mean annoying enough to make me want to go hard on you!"

  Desmond turned to his only remaining subordinates: the three men holding the three masks. These subordinates were clearly under hypnosis, having remained indifferent to everything that had happened up to that point.

  "Wear your masks!"

  Desmond thundered, and the three men obeyed. They placed the masks over their faces, which began to take effect, causing obvious pain to their wearers. The hypnosis had broken, but it was too late.

  “Look, little girl! You managed to get even with the Masked Beast, but how will you fare against an even stronger monster?"

  The man turned the page and began performing another ritual. In a matter of seconds, the three masks behind him reduced their wearers to ash, transforming them into dark energy, forming a giant body, slightly taller than the Masked Beast, but of the same color.

  The bones of the sacrificed men formed its armor and the three masks were positioned on the upper part of the beast: the happy one straight on the face, the angry one on the right shoulder and, finally, the sad one on the left shoulder.

  "Here you are, Des Gorgitus! The Supreme Masked Beast!"

  Almodea opened her eyes in shock. She knew the name Des Gorgitus, but she had never faced him. He was one of the most powerful level 67 monsters, also immune to spells—but only up to level 7.

  Despite facing such a powerful opponent, the demoness felt no fear, but rather fervor and excitement. Desmond had finally gone all out; now she could do that too.

  "This is getting fun!"

  Almodea chuckled as she happily watched the two powerful monsters that she would soon be killing like flies.

  "Des Gorgitus! Destroy her!"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The earth shook under the blows of the two mighty swordsmen. The black knight possessed overwhelming strength, capable of destroying entire mountains with a single blow, while his opponent was as elusive as the wind.

  No one was witnessing their fight, but anyone would have recognized that both of them were on the level of Heroes of legend.

  "Wow! I admit you're more interesting than I expected!"

  Camille laughed. Her words were one lie after another—that knight was nothing special to her.

  He has brute strength that shouldn't be underestimated. If he manages to hit me, he'd probably be able to inflict heavy damage, but I'll still win this fight!

  "You have enviable physical strength, I admit! But listen..."

  The amused grimace he had maintained until then collapsed, suddenly becoming irritated.

  "Are you retarded by any chance?! No, because you are just swinging your sword around like crazy! Do you know any Battle Arts or not? I'm getting bored here!"

  "Unfortunately, I'm very ignorant of battle as a warrior. However, this fight is extremely instructive…mhm?"

  Camille noticed that Amon had turned toward the place where Desmond and Almodea were fighting. There were loud thumps and giant beasts could be seen.

  I wonder what Amon is feeling right now, knowing his daughter is being swatted like a fly! I can't wait to witness his desperation!

  "The Masked Beasts duo, huh? Is that why Almodea can't win?"

  "Exactly!"

  She tried to hold back her laughter. She expected the knight to lose his composure at any moment, and she couldn't wait to savor his desperation. She even considered asking Desmond to keep Almodea alive so he could torture her in front of Amon.

  Or I should have her turn in an undead! That would be awesome!

  She smiled even wider, so much so that her cheeks hurt. She eagerly awaited Amon's desperation.

  And yet...

  "Okay, then. I think we should get back to our fight. You were useful, but also disappointing..."

  He responded calmly.

  "D-Disappointing?!!!"

  The smile on Camille's face immediately broke.

  "Exactly. You say you're on a higher level, but you don't seem all that great to me..."

  How dare he?! Not only is not begging for his daughter's life, but he's even taunting me? Who does he think he is!?

  She felt like she was about to explode with rage. No one had ever treated her like that: the illustrious Camille, the Twin Daggers.

  "You're just an idiot! Now I'll show you what happens to those who dare to face the most illustrious Camille!"

  Camille roared, lunging at the knight at inhuman speed.

  “Die! Die! Die!!!!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "She finally got angry. I was just waiting for this..."

  Almodeus commented in a low voice, observing Camille's expression, visibly irritated and on the verge of hysterics.

  I love all of this.

  He had finally managed to anger his opponent, making her give her all .

  Soon her determination will be the anchor that will drown her in the abyss.

  "Up until now you've just been dodging. Tell me...will you do something else?"

  At that brash comment, Camille shot him a disdainful look. She drew one of her daggers and began moving toward him.

  It's fast, but not fast enough!

  He prepared to receive it, raising his sword in a defensive stance.

  "I'm coming! Accelerate! Flow!"

  The girl lunged at Amon with a disarming speed, achieved through her Acceleration and Flow Arts. But even with such agility, the knight still managed to spot her.

  It will be an easy counterattack...

  "Insurmountable fortress!"

  A red aura surrounded Camille.

  What? Another Battle Art?!

  His sword was blocked by the woman's dagger. More than a person, he felt like he'd hit a wall—except that, normally, it would have collapsed given the force unleashed.

  She blocked me, even though I used enough force to break through a wall… Interesting.

  "You're exposed!"

  Camille managed to use the recoil from the previous attack to hit him in the thigh, where the armor was less present, but she didn't inflict any real damage.

  "Damn! How fucking strong is it?"

  Camille groaned as she backed away from the knight—visibly displeased and disappointed by her own assault. It was clear she was expecting more damage from her own attack.

  "Even the best of us fail to get something right the first time."

  "Shut your mouth, you piece of shit!"

  "What a temper! Is something wrong, Your Excellency"

  He asked ironically.

  "Shut up! You're making me lose my patience! You don't even know a decent Battle Art, and you call yourself a warrior? You're a disappointment! Now I'm tired of playing!"

  Camille threw one of the two daggers at the knight's feet, near his right boot, with a precision that would be an understatement to call surgical.

  "You'll die, bastard!"

  The girl charged as before, but this time she was clearly going for the left flank. Almodeus, unable to read or write, decided to raise his sword, preparing to strike.

  "Shunpo!"

  As soon as he heard those words, he lost sight of Camille, who had teleported to his right, to the exact spot where the Dagger had been, which was now approaching the helmet's eye opening.

  Almodeus moved his head back slightly, taking a glancing blow. A normal human would have lost an eye, but he hadn't suffered any damage.

  "Hmm? I thought I hit you! Defensive Battle Art? Like Fortress or Delay Damage?"

  Camille walked away again, slightly surprised rather than annoyed. It was rare for anyone to survive her Shunpo .

  "You'll be surprised to know I didn't use anything. Anyway—"

  I think we should end it here.

  The Absolute Lord turned toward Almodea's position; he couldn't see her, but he knew his little spot was doing great. He wanted to let her play a little longer, but the crows he'd scattered throughout the area signaled a large number of soldiers approaching the cemetery entrance. They had to close quickly before the authorities arrived.

  Glory awaited them, and with it, revenge.

  "- Almodea! Stop holding back! It's time to show what true terror is!"

  Almodeus thundered, his voice echoing throughout the cemetery.

  "Hmm? What are you saying?"

  "Nothing that interests you. I'd say we end the fight here."

  He raised his sword towards Camille, defiantly.

  "Let's see if you're strong enough to face fear itself!"