Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

I was literally unarmed, not a weapon to my name. That didn't mean I couldn't put up a decent fight. Of course, I could always teleport away but that wouldn't solve anything.

In a flash, he was already in my face, sword swung down my left shoulder. I shifted to the right and chopped at his sword holding arm. With my hands imbued with both |chaos| and |void|, no matter what armor he wore, a single touch would damage both his soul and physical body. However, contrary couldn't be said to be true if he landed a hit on me. Unless he could damage my celestial core, I would only suffer a bit of soul damage at worst. To me, physical damage meant nothing at all.

Unfortunately, I underestimated that sword.

How did that happen!? That was dangerous! You're merciless... And here I took so much effort to make myself attractive. I want to cry... No, actually I'll save my tears for later. Gods don't cry in front of mortals!

Thankfully, my celestial core was only received minor damage. If I hadn't dodged at all, it would have been diced. 

Before I could land a hit, my torso was cleaved into eight pieces. I was sure that the dark blade did not touch me, not even a single strand of my hair. My eyes scanned rapidly for clues in my environment, anything like traps or abilities that could cut me remotely. With my celestial eyes, there should be nothing that could escape my sight.

Though, only briefly, I noticed a strange sight. My shadows were liked to diced vegetables.

It couldn't be, right?

From my past experience, abilities and traits were generally logic based. This one though, [shadow cleaver], was able to cut shadows or so it seemed. It simply didn't make sense to me how cutting shadows could cut the shadow producing body. That should have been impossible, completely impossible, straight out of fantasy world.

Tch... I better pay attention to my shadows from now on. Man! That weapon is a cheat, seriously!

This body of mine had extreme regenerative ability. Immediately after reforming my body, I tried to disengage from him to buy some time for myself. However, he was relentlessly pursuing me without giving me a chance to find a countermeasure to that otherworldly ability.

If I had to name one flaw with [creation], it would be the inevitable minute time lag to operate the menu. In addition, without the support of my fey magic and while also not in my subspace, it was a bit clunky to use. It definitely wasn't something to be used in combat without intensive practice.

I kind of wish I could have sparred with Vorte to hone my combat abilities. Oh well, sparring with the Hero King, what better opponent could I have asked for?

It wasn't like I couldn't see the Hero King's movements as he slashed and jabbed at me with his black sword. His movements were fluid like a veteran soldier. Still, as long as I kept my celestial eyes activated, he couldn't overpower me, not even in a million years.

Watching my shadows was quite easy. With a three dimensional rendering of this place within my mind, it was like I was playing a videogame.

Echo, can I get a download of sword arts? Or, martial arts of any type, really. I asked while continuously dodging the Hero King's onslaught. Occasionally he would land an indirect hit, though never fatal.

[No such package exist.]

Never mind. I'll analyze his moves.

After minutes of unable to land a direct hit on me, his movement sped up and he began including feints and tricks. However, I was completely unfazed swiftly shifting around the audience hall keeping clear of the fey sword.

Ehehe... This is actually quite amusing!

He bellowed with frustration, "Just what the hell are you? You're not a human, are you?"

I replied with a playful smirk, "That's a maiden's secret."

From his perspective, it probably seemed like I was toying with him. I had received countless indirect hits yet every time I would immediately recover. My limbs automatically reattached just like when I was in my subspace with those sprinkles of light particles. 

"You must be a demon then!"

"Buu buu, wrong! I already told you. I came to negotiate."

"Huh, you can't fool me. This isn't your real body, is it? Where are you hiding!?"

With that rough remark of his, I figured he probably thought I was using an unique ability or trait to create images of myself since magic couldn't be used in his presence.

"Pfft, let I'd tell you, silly." I replied with a wink.

I wonder if that was super cringe? I bet. All that was missing was a spark.

Regardless of what I did and said, as if to harass him, I created two holographic images of myself to mettle with his nerves. They literally couldn't be damaged yet he had to remain alert. With that as the main show, I began releasing odorless and poisonous gasses into the audience hall bit by bit.

My goal was to restrain him and take that sword, Lightsplitter, for myself. It was something worth studying. In addition, without such a cheat weapon, the heroes from the resistance would then have a chance to defeat him in a fair battle.

Mae, the female hero, was watching the duel from the sideline without interrupting us. To be honest, I originally thought she would try some sneak attacks but she never did probably because she couldn't visually keep up. That was just how fast paced this fight was.

I waited and waited while playing with the Hero King. His moves were becoming more and more predictable as our duel continued.

Why isn't the poison working?

[Heroes cannot be affected by ailments and poisons.]

Huh? What kind of cheat is that? Had no one ever tried poisoning a hero before? Is this an obvious fact? Someone should have told me... Okay, Plan B, tell me, does corrosion from |chaos| work?

[Yes.]

Alright, that's good. That just means I have to use abilities or traits directly to harm heroes. Do heroes need to breathe?

[No.]

That means they're semi-spiritual life form. That's not too different from someone like Kanoko. One more thing, am I allowed to take away a hero's |hero| trait?

[Yes.]

That was the answer I had hoped for. The only issue was now capturing the hero in front of me and whether he would regain that trait after I removed the trait.

Even without me asking, Echo responded after reading my mind.

[Qualifications are evaluated at the time of assignment.]

There was another issue. Although I was getting better at dissecting souls, I meant organizing soul energy, I still wasn't confident enough to do it blindfolded. After all, heroes were special in that their souls were shrouded and protected by the system. Seriously, even someone like me couldn't peek into their status as an administrator.

"Alright, playtime is over. If you have any special moves, this is your last chance." Those were my final words for this match between the two of us.

If it wasn't for that sword, this match would have been an easy win for me. Now that we had played for long enough, there was no long any need for me to hold back. All his attack patterns were already analyzed by me. His special moves? I had yet to see any. If he had used any, well, I certainly didn't experience it except for that magic sealing ability.

"You, how dare you mock me?" His expression enraged, his techniques slowly disintegrating influenced by his emotions. That being said, his usual composed self was beginning to come apart as tyrannical energy oozed out from his very being.

Perhaps you used to be righteous, but now you're just a tyrant pretending to be righteous.

"This is the end for you."

"No, not yet, I will take you down even at the cost my soul."

His expression was solemn when he said that. Suddenly, his aura dissipated, no, completely absorbed by the black sword gripped tightly in his hands as he raised it up above his head in preparation for a downward slash.

Even if I didn't know what the consequence was, there was no way I would risk it. I wasn't going to raise my death flag by allowing my opponent to use a suicidal move. With that much soul energy and how abnormal that sword was, I wouldn't be surprised even if half the city got swallowed up and sent to another dimension. Certainly, the description of an object in the status never lied.

However, I kind of felt bad about ruining the climax of his lifetime.

Here I go.

In preparation for the worst case scenario, a void barrier surrounded the audience hall. Since I hadn't prepared a replica in advance, this was the next best thing.

Anyway, the Hero King simply had too many openings when using his finishing move.

Before he could unleash his ultimate attack, with a single void blade, I severed the energy link between him and the sword temporarily stopping the flow of soul energy.

At the same time, I didn't hesitate to sever his hands from his wrists with another void blade while trapping his soul core within a tiny void barrier.

Void blade wasn't truly a blade, but rather a flat transparent null space. I shaped them into sickles as they made their way toward their targets. In fact, I could also shoot void beams, or basically any shape I desired.

Concurrently, I had to pay attention to Mae. She tried to stall me. The key word was "tried". I had her locked in place immediately the moment she made a move.

Not on my watch, girl.

All that preparation happened in merely a split second. The toughest part was probably capturing the guy's soul. Since he originated from one of the mortal races, he didn't have a fey core or whatnot. He only had soul core which was mostly intangible and soul energy which was his basically his soul. Because of that, I had to briefly activate |dedicated one| for its outrageous calculation ability to locate all of his remaining soul energy, clump it together and capture it. Otherwise, I would have to trap his entire being inside a void barrier.

Anyhow, the truth was, the sword had already absorbed more than enough soul energy. I had only prevented the worst case scenario by severing its energy source, the Hero King's soul. Truly, the Lightsplitter was a devilish weapon.

Without wasting another precious moment, I sent the Lightsplitter along with his hands into an empty area within my subspace before I closed the portal.

"Sorry, that weapon is just too dangerous. But, you know? That was quite interesting. We can spar another time if you like." I flat out said to his face unapologetically. In all seriousness, the battle was won before he drew his sword.

Thump.

Jaco, who had gone limp, was bleeding out on the floor. His face was as pale as a ghost. His eyes were like that of a zombie. It was understandable though. He had lost a good chunk of his soul, and the battle was lost. The mental shock he just received must have been tremendous as well. Unfortunately, no one was here to pity this fellow.

"I'm terrible with healing magic, not that I can use magic with you around. Hmm... I doubt that female hero can do anything either. How troublesome... I guess a bit of first aid will do for now."

I released the female hero first and ripped off her sleeves, to her absolute astonishment. Really, she stared at me like I was a some kind of savage.

Since I disliked that look from her, I responded in earnest, "Look there, I need some cloths to stop your king's bleeding. Also, don't try anything funny or I might have to break a few more bones."

Stopping bleeding was easy, I just had to tie the cloth super tight. In the future, just like his people, he could use magitech prosthetics. I had no intention healing him in the first place.

"Why..." His voice was raspy.

"I have already shown you the power difference between us. I ask that you abdicate your current position with this opportunity. Tomorrow, allow the Hero King selection tournament to go on without interference."

He swept his bloodied arm, pushing me away.

"Never... Never! My ambition, my dream cannot end here... You! Who are you!? You're not a demon, are you. You must be..."

Since it's come to this already, I'll just be blunt and honest with him. If he can be reasoned with, so be it. If not, he'll perish. I can always become a proctor in his place for the tournament. Let's hope I don't have to play his double. It's too much work.

"I'm an administrator but unfortunately I cannot tamper with the system that you so desired to do. The most I can for you is to remove your |hero| trait. Of course, you will regain it if you meet the qualification after it's removed."

"Why!? Why!" He tried to grab my arms with stumps since he had no hands, sullying my gown with blood in the process.

I flicked his arms away and reply, "Look, I don't care about your reason or your ambitions. You have already forfeited your chance to negotiate. I gave you choices. Name a successor through a fair tournament or die here. Either way, your |hero| trait will be removed. Try anything funny and you'll disappear permanently."

"This isn't fair!!" He howled with tears in his eyes, "I didn't come to this world only to die a dog's death! This isn't how it's supposed to end! I was going to liberate mankind."

"Seriously, hurry up. Choose!"

"I... I will name a successor."

"Good. I'll drop by later to see how that goes."

I turned around to speak to the other hero. "Mae, that's your name, right? You heard things you weren't supposed to hear. I hope you can keep your lips sealed."

"I will, without fail."

"Great, go see a healer for some treatments. I can't really heal you all when you have that magic sealing trait active, you know? Anyway, I have work to do, see you soon. Oh right, here's a temporary sword for you to use if any demons show up."

Using |void| and |creator|, I generated a similar sword using the material I had stored in my subspace. It wasn't a fey sword or anything special. It was just a regular steel sword with edges imbued with |void| trait capable of slicing any object in existence. This should put it on par with [absolute severance] and |nether edge|.

Before I left the audience hall, I didn't forget to remove the poison I had previous released into the room.