Chapter 362 Devilheart Union

Sparks of cyan electricity were left in the wake of the Speed Demon's movements, coiling around leaves and sparking against the soil. This constant static encircled Asher as he picked himself up, attempting to take a step forward before–ZAP.

"--!" He recoiled.

The air itself had been electrified by the Speed Demon's constant movement, creating a painful veil around the air like a shining, malicious mist.

Every minuscule movement that Asher tried to make resulting in being bitten by the electricity that inhabited the air, shocking him and leaving him defenseless as his enemy took advantage of this helplessness:

"Slow!"

A set of powerful blows slammed against his right side, colliding with his cheek and causing the Devilheart to stumble to the right, being shocked again.

"Ngh...!" He winced.

"Slow!"

Another barrage of blows came from his left, coming in much higher numbers with less force, but perhaps even more stinging as they slammed against his ribs.

"Nngh!" He gritted his teeth.

Everything happened too fast to leave him even a second with his own thoughts, attempting to raise his arms, though he found himself electrified again, leaving him completely open once more:

"Slow—!"

This time, the successive punches came from the front, repeatedly impacting his chest and abdomen as the breath was knocked out of his lungs.

Bruises formed along his body; the state of the Devilheart's body was already questionable at best as his arms were heavily bruised from his consecutive usage of [Sonic Impact]--still, he found his moment to launch his counterattack.

He reinforced his armor, imbuing it with a new property: [Electric Conduction], allowing himself to move without any hindrance of the sparks as he heightened his focus, staying still as he waited for the Speed Demon to come within distance.

Subtly, he expelled an unseen veil of devilish particles around himself, extending it like a sixth sense: [Devil's Sixth Sin].

Each and every one of the particles acted like an extension of his own senses, making it dozens of times easier to react to whatever touched them.

'Just a bit more...I can't see him, but I can feel it. It'll need to be perfect, but if I can land it, then–' He thought, though was interrupted by something else occurring.

"Hyaaaah–!"

"Huh?"

Jumping from behind a bush was a familiar, young man with silver hair and sparkling, emerald eyes, swinging his sword without any thought and letting out a warcry while doused in nervous sweat.

'...Joel?' Asher recognized.

The silver-haired man jumped in, wildly swinging his sword and hitting nothing but air before–ZAP.

"Yowch!" Joel jumped out, yelling out from the shocking pain.

It was what Asher feared from anybody coming to help him–the electrified environment made for an impossible painful place to traverse, leaving one helpless inside of it.

At the very least, it seemed the arrival of Joel kept the Speed Demon passive for the moment as it continued encircling the area rapidly, watching the new arrival to the battlefield.

Just then, the Speed Demon, whose grinned twisted into an expression of anger, attempted to tear Joel's neck from his shoulders–by some miracle, Asher managed to intercept it, blocking its steel-like claws with his claymore.

Forcing the electrified entity back, Asher witnessed it vanish again, whirling around the two with incredible speed that blurred the scenery around them, providing a constant hiss of voltage.

"Joel," Asher quietly called out to his comrade.

"Yeah?" Joel kept his eyes peeled, holding his sword up as the enemy continued circling around them.

Repeated taunts came angrily from the mouth of the Speed Demon now, howling like maledictions: "Slow! Slow! Slow!"

"Imagine your sword will produce a powerful adhesive when it strikes," Asher instructed.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Joel asked.

"Just do as I say," Asher said stoically.

"...Alright," Joel nodded.

"Good," Asher said, reinforcing the armor around himself, "Strike when you feel your senses tingle. I'll handle the follow-up."

While the "plan" was too vague for Joel to really understand what was going on, he chose to place his trust in the quiet, less-than-affable figure as he clenched his muscles to summon the strength gifted from the Devilheart System.

"Bring it on, you speedy fuck!" Joel yelled out in a taunt.

At the same time the invitation was extended from Joel to the Speed Demon, Asher focused on extending the reach of the sixth sense of particles around the forest clearing, maximizing the sense they had on the enemy.

'A taunt? Good thinking, Joel. If there's one thing the Speed Demon wins at besides speed, its arrogance,' Asher thought.

The trees were ripped from the soil by the thunderclaps that followed in the wake of the electrified, black-steel demon as it ran through at speed that surpassed the touchdown of lightning from the heavens.

"Slow!" The Speed Demon howled.

Just before it reached Joel, the silver-haired man felt the sixth sense of [Devil's Sixth Sin] activate, causing his arms to move as he carved his sword forward without even first seeing the blurred enemy.

'C'mooooon! Sticky! Adhesive! Glue! Whatever!' Joel thought.

–It missed.

The Speed Demon chuckled as it sidestepped the sword swing, though something else shot out from the weapon wielded by Joel: a sticky form of the black substance of the Devil Force, splashing out and hitting the fiend.

"Hhrgh?!" The Speed Demon let out, confused.

The substance quickly solidified, causing the slippery demon to be anchored to the ground as the adhesive connected its body to the soil below.

"--I did it?" Joel let out in disbelief.

Dashing by, Asher Devilheart already had his claymore prepared to swing, engulfed in a condensement of his Devil Force, "Good job, Joel. You're a reliable guy."

Unable to dodge, the Speed Demon witnessed Asher close in, staring down that skull-faced helm before the claymore curved through the air, heading straight towards the neck of the infamous demon:

[Devilheart: Abyss Execution]

The condensed aura of darkness that clung to the length of the blade was imbued with the property of absolute sharpness, allowing for it to seamlessly cleave through the sturdy neck of the demon.

There was no hesitation from Asher in committing the fatal attack, sending the head of the arrogant demon straight off of its shoulders with a picture-perfect arc of darkness.