In the presence of the vile demon, the crowd became silent. The presence of the beast was just too suffocating….
"Shit, This guy is cooked!" A man whispered from somewhere close to Esme.
Esme looked at the stage, her hand tightening around her shirt.
Compared to the other beasts and demons they had seen throughout the fight, this one was several times worse.
Demons had a ranking system of their own and although Esme did not know that ranking, she knew that the power of a demon could be measured by its presence.
The stronger the presence the more dangerous the demon.
A demon capable of giving this blood thirsty crowd a pause…
She immediately turned to Daphne. "What are we going to do?" She asked, only to see Daphne half asleep, resting her head on Freya's shoulders.
The latter was munching on snacks as she watched the battle in anticipation.
"Whooo! Get him!" She screamed.
"Heh?"
Freya noticed her stare and turned to her. "Are you okay? You seem a little pale."
"Oh… it's nothin— actually, shouldn't we be worried?"
Freya almost laughed, she grabbed Esme by the shoulder and pulled her closer, before whispering in her ear.
"Did you forget that Wise is a dragon?" She asked before letting go of her.
'A dragon…' Esme thought. 'Will that be enough though?'
Down below, the match had already started.
The demon stared down at Wise, completely still just before it unleashed a devastating strike, one so fast that those who blinked missed it.
Clang!
The wind around the two tuned turbulent just from the strike alone, the dust was scattered and the clandestine metallic sound filled the air.
Wise had brought his blade up just in time to block the devastating blow.
He pushed back the demon, making sure to not use his full strength and then slashed at its feet.
The demon was swift, it immediately jumped over his attack, slashing its sharp wings at Wise's head.
Wise sidestepped the attack and grabbed onto its feathers, ready to pull the beast to the side but when the pulled, all that came was a hand full of feathers
Booom!
Moving at breathtaking speed, the demon spun and dug its foot in Wise's gut, blasting him to the other end of the arena.
Wise's body flew backward, crashing against a wall—the wall cracking from the impact.
But just as his back bounced against it, as though the attack was nothing more than a playful tap, Wise darted forward, meeting the beast with a devastating strike.
His sword shone, reflecting the light as he unleashed slash after slash at stunning speeds.
The demon was moving just as fast, meeting his strikes with its sharpened wings.
The two of them stayed at the center of the stage unleashing blows with utmost concentration.
The red gleaming eyes of the demon were locked on every single part of Wise's body.
It was taking note of even the slightest muscle movements, using them to predict his strikes and launching its own counters.
The two of them split apart, just to collide in the middle once more with a bang.
Wise darted forward and then the demon thrust its wings, only to reveal a long straight sharpened claw, very similar to a blade.
The claw was moments away from splitting his head apart when he knocked it downwards and rolled over it, landing at the other side of the beast.
Grabbing onto its waist, a dark smile appeared on Wise's lips as he lifted it up, driving its head into the concrete in one bone crushing suplex!
The crowd went wild. Their screams, cheers and echoes were so loud that they could be heard in all parts of the city.
The commentator leaned forward, removing his glasses to get a better look at the battle.
He fumbled a round for his voice amplifier and brought it to his lips.
"It seems Xanthos is no mere newbie! He is taking on the demon as though they are evenly matched."
"As the battle rages on, will Xanthos remain stalwart? Or will the mocking bird have its vict—"
Boom!
A miniature sounwave exploded, causing the ground to crack.
Wise stood in front of the beast, locked in a never ending battle.
At this point, their movements had become so fast that it was difficult to keep track of every single move.
It was as though they were in the middle of a deranged sword fight, with the demon using its claw and Wise spinning his steel sword.
The feints were inumerable, the multitude of attacks and tactics difficult to detect by an untrained eye.
Flapping its massive wings, the birdman flew backward and then slashed right towards Wise's face.
Suddenly, invisible slashes whistled past his ear, tearing through his cheeks and exploding against the wall behind them.
Wise cleaned the blood with his hands and smirked. 'Pressurised air huh? Not bad.'
The demon unleashed more invisible strikes but Wise simply side stepped every single one of them and appeared in front of the beast.
Boom!
He unleashed a hellish uppercut to the demon, sending it spiralling high up into the air.
Shaking its head to clear out the cobwebs, the demon let out a guttural shriek and spun its wings forward.
This time it was not wind currents that came down, no, it was something far worse—
Multiple of its dark wings suddenly detached from its body, each one sharper than a dagger.
The wings accumulated in the sky like a storm of blades, right before they plummeted down at him.
Wise spirited backward, but the wings simply curved and chased after him.
Clang!
His sword clashed against the first feather, he twisted his body to avoid the next, backflipped to avoid a few more and slashed forward with so much force that the wind shook, scattering the rest of the feathers.
"Not bad, I'm impressed." Wise said as he took a step toward the position the demon stood in the air.
"But you're going to have to do much more than that."
He glanced at this sword, noticing how chopped the blade was, it was moments away from breaking and so he split it apart himself.
He grabbed the top of the sword and broke it off—
Whoosh!
Wise launched the sword tip right at the demon which was still in the air. The demon tried to evade it, but it had not expected the strike.
The sword rip through its wing, spewing black blood.
Its balance was lost and with one damaged wing the demon began to descend— just as it did, it suddenly gave off a disturbing laugh.
It curved its wings around its body and began to spin around, soon, its body blurred as it began to spin at an intense speed.
Wise didn't run from the point of impact, instead he pushed his hand backward, and just as the beast was seconds away from slamming into him…
He unleashed a hellish blow!
Boom!
The earth trembled, the ground beneath them caved, creating a small crater as well as releasing a large cloud of dust, and the barrier protecting the people shuddered.
The queen smiled as she watched the carnage, the crowd was left speechless and the announcer sat down exasperated.
When the dust settled, Wise was seen walking away, half of a bloody sword in hand.
As for the demon…
It's head was laid by the side of its body, completely severed from its spine.
He had defeated the demon, without using a single skill.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"Demon Slayer! Demon slayer! Demon slayer!"