109 A New Hope

We then engaged in fisticuffs, our only weapons were our fists, a true battle of strength. The boxing match was brutal and savage. We both had so much strength behind our attacks, they were bone-crushing. Each of us would send very powerful punches to the other, while the other dodged or parried.

"Good match, mon. Now I take it to the next level!"

\u003cTroll Berserker\u003e

The troll transformed from his normal 9-foot tall stature to an all green 15-foot tall hulking Goliath. His muscles were bulging with vascularity after his transformation. He even grew two large tusks in front of his face. Now Seji had turned into a real monster.

"RAWRRR," roared Seji after he hulked out.

I dodged his first attack as he shattered the ground with his fist creating a crater. He had grown in strength with this new form. His strength had reached the level of a Viscount!

This form was not without drawbacks, however. He was much slower. I had no idea how long he could maintain it, but I knew I wasn't a match for this beast.

His onslaught in this form continued, as he destroyed the ground of the arena chasing after me. I couldn't duel this new hulk with my bare hands. I looked across the arena to locate Judgment. It was way too far to reach.

His speed was increasing slowly as he fought, there was no way I could head all the way across the arena and reclaim Judgment. The battle had become dire. I needed a weapon but was now defenseless. Lokkar wouldn't be powerful enough to pierce his regenerative hide.

I had to do something I had only theorized before. It was time for me to show this damned troll the true power of Curses!

I crossed my arms, channeling my Curse, Soul, \u0026 Electric essence within my hands.

"Destiny \u0026 Freedom, by our eternal contract I summon you forth. Come and serve your master!" I said as I connected to my Curse Bound Weapons through the void.

\u003cWeapon Summon\u003e

'Is it working?' I thought as I saw my empty hands.

Summoning Destiny \u0026 Freedom was something I had only theorized about before. With our contract, they should be able to travel through the void and appear by my side no matter where I was. In the middle of battle was the worst time to try this theory, but I had no choice. If I didn't get a weapon in my hands this battle was over.

The troll hulk did not relent when he saw my skill. He came at me with a powerful punch winded over his shoulder and sent it straight at me!

'Come on, damn it work!' I thought as I saw the fist barreling towards me.

~~~

In the Earthen World.

"Master… Needs… Us…" said Destiny as he awoke from his slumber.

"Something… Blocking…"

"Must… Pierce… Barrier…"

Destiny engulfed himself within an inferno as he channeled all his power through the void to reach his master.

Within the oceans of the Earthen World, a storm was raging over the sea. This area had become a forbidden ground where no one would travel because of the constant thunderstorms.

"Massa needs a me!" said Freedom, who was in the middle of the storm.

Freedom was ready to head out! He had no choice but to heed the call of his Devil Lord.

"Massa calling! Messa slice void!" said Freedom. Freedom would make it back to his master in time!

\u003cRide The Lightning\u003e

A giant thunderbolt hoped the void then sliced directly through the headquarters of the Templars of Flame.

"The Wanders of Lightning are attacking!" said one zealot as he watched the bolt cut through countless dwarves.

"Lessa Go, together! Yussa too weak to make the jump," said Freedom as he appeared beside Destiny and sent out arcs of lightning.

"Damn… Merfolk…" said Destiny as he began to channel his flames with Freedoms lightning.

After a while of channeling together, they finally breached the void!

~~~

I can feel my weapons coming. Here they come, Freedom and Destiny. I jumped in the air. Thunder rain down from the void onto the blue barrier, shattering it.

Soon the two weapons materialized in my hand. Destiny in my left and Freedom in my right. I slashed forward, countering the vicious attack.

I knocked the troll back! Destiny and Freedom had become powerful in their time within the Earthen World. These two Cursed Weapons were fully merged with my Dao. It felt like I was welding two extra arms.

Unfortunately, I wasn't powerful enough to summon their bodies through the void. But I succeeded in \u003cWeapon Recall\u003e. Now I had another hidden card up my sleeve.

'Use… My… Flames…' said Destiny.

'Messa stronger than Toasted Dwarf! Ussa me! Ussa me!' said Freedom.

"I need you both, let's defeat this troll. Your master's pride is on the line!" I said.

"You may be stronger, faster, and more experienced in battle troll. But there's one thing a devil always protects," I said, giving him a momentary pause from dramatic effect.

The hulking troll ignored my words and came back after me.

"His prideeeeee!" I screamed as I began running around the battlefield slashing left and right dual welding Freedom \u0026 Destiny.

A fire pillar would be created every time I swung Destiny. A thunderbolt would lash out whenever I swung Freedom. I was entirely engrossed in the battle. I pushed my body to its limits.

I had to finish this fast; the pain from his curse was becoming unbearable. As I unleashed my volley of onslaught, I forced the troll to defend himself.

Freedom and Destiny were two miraculous weapons. Fully merged Curse Bound weapons were powerful. They were much more powerful than Judgment.

By itself, Judgment was a more potent weapon, but these weapons had something that Judgment lacked. It was sentience, these weapons were alive!

This battle was no longer one versus one. It was more like one versus three, now that I had my Curse Bound Weapons at my side. All I had to do is swing and Freedom \u0026 Destiny would unleash a Dao attack without my input. I focused on moving my feet and dodging the hulking trolls' brutal strikes, while they handled the offensive.

\u003cLighting Steps\u003e

\u003cDestiny Slash\u003e

\u003cFreedom Slash\u003e

I got into a rhythm on the battlefield. Dodging the hulks attacks, then countering with my own.

"Rawrrr!" Roared Seji. He was fully enraged at the turn of events. He wanted to smash me. A puny insect. Yet I kept my distance with incredible speed while lobbing powerful attacks one after another.

His troll physique couldn't take the strain of this continuous barrage. Even in his berserk form, my attacks were wearing him down. No longer could he just ignore the burns and regrow new skin. They were stacking up!

"Troll Smash," said Seji as he realized he couldn't catch me in such a hulking form.

\u003cTroll Smash\u003e

He balled his fists together and attacked the ground beneath his feet. The arena was torn asunder from the weight of his fists. A fast-moving crack headed right towards me as the earth split open. I jumped in the air to avoid the shock wave.

\u003cDestiny Slash\u003e

\u003cFreedom Slash\u003e

I sent two attacks right at him as I somersaulted through the air towards him.

"My servants, lend me your aid so we may vanquish this foe once and for all," I said.

'Inferno…' said Destiny

'Messa go pew pew,' said Freedom.

My left hand glowed entirely red as Destiny released everything he had, while my right hand lit up with blue lightning as Freedom went pew pew.

I crossed both my arms over my shoulders, then slashed forward with all my might. This attack used my devilish strength along with the power of Electric and Fire Dao all at once.

\u003cTri Slash\u003e

A giant red and blue slash torpedoed at the troll!

This attack was more powerful than my \u003cJudgement Slash\u003e, as I had two helpers assisting me to deliver the blow.

The combination attack bisected the hulking troll in two!

'Oh shit! I hope he can heal from that.' I thought as I watched the two half's of the troll fall apart to the ground.

"Oh mon, we get to go all out!"

"Yeah mon, we haven't gone all out in a long time."

A red troll grew from one side of the sliced up hulk, while a blue troll grew from the other side of the hill.

"Se," said the red troll.

"Ji," said the blue troll.

"Together we are Seji," they said in unison.

I looked in awe at the two trolls. This was supposed to be 3 versus 1, did it just become 3 versus 2?

"What is this ability?" I said as I took a breather, staring at the new trolls before me.

"This is our true form, mon," said Se.

"We are two halves of one whole, mon," said Ji.

"I encompass our boundless Strength Dao," said Se.

"While I encompass our mastery of the Curse Dao," said Ji.

"You should be proud, mon," said Se, as he disappeared before my eyes.

\u003cKidney Punch\u003e

My entire body froze as a red troll appeared by my side with his fist shoved right into my kidney.

\u003cPetrify\u003e

"With those weapons, you meet the minimum requirement to be a Battle Master," said Ji, as he channeled \u003cPetrify\u003e crystallizing my skin.

"Unfortunately, mon. Your opponent is me, Seji," they said in unison.

Those were the last words I heard before I blacked out as Se hit me behind the head, knocking me out cold.

In his ultimate form, I was defenseless. I was like a baby in front of him. He defeated me without me being able to put up an ounce of resistance.

I was not upset about my loss, on the contrary, I was ecstatic! The whole reason I came to the Cove of Death was to become a Battle Devil. Now I was initiated, another Battle Master had signed off on my prowess!

I could now focus wholeheartedly on mastering alchemy in the coming years, so I didn't end up on a platter.

I woke up a bit later flat on my ass with a phallus above me.

"You alive there, devil?" said the Satyr announcer as he jingled his bells above my head.

I threw up in my mouth. That was possibly the most disgusting thing I had ever experienced.

"Good, the shock treatment was a glorious success," said the shameless announcer as he scuttled away.

'Damn shameless Satyrs, my mouth was open' I thought, as I wiped off my mouth.

"It's good you're okay. Seji said since you gave him such a good fight he'll let you have rights to 'The Champ', but that he won your points fair and square so don't come looking for him again unless you have another 500 to put up," said the Satyr.

'So that's why Seji hasn't gained the collective ire of the masses,' I thought.

When he wins your points, he gives back the rights to whatever he goaded you into betting against him for. What a fucking troll! He never even cared about 'The Champ' one bit, but still scammed me out of 500 points over it!