Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

A single demon walked along the empty street, standing out immensely. Seran first saw this demon as a ghost. A vengeful ghost, carrying two swords.

A sword was arguably the most common weapon used amongst all of humanfolk, but demons weren’t exactly known to rely on weapons whatsoever, and someone using swords was even rarer of a case.

“With all that hostility oozing out of you, you’re incredibly easy to pick up on even in this town, my guy. Why don’t you stop right there? And what’s your goal here.”

They were a solid ten steps away, and yet Seran entered his attack range just barely so that he could attack at any moment. The demon stopped in his tracks and then directed his gaze at Seran.

“Human. Are you Seran?”

A flat voice with no emotion came from the demon’s mouth like he had lost all reason.

“So what if—”

I am—Seran wanted to continue, but the demon acted first. And in an instant, the demon stood right in front of him. It was close to instantaneous transportation, but because of this ridiculous speed, Seran realized that this was an illusion. A slice from the illusion aimed directly at his neck. It took a lot out of him, but Seran barely managed to intercept this strike with his own blade. It was a result brought about by Seran moving faster than his mind could think, but it was too close for comfort. The blade had even slightly bit into his neck.

The demon then continued his offensive, throwing jabs with the tip of his left sword at Seran’s head. He managed to evade this onslaught just barely, but he could feel the blade connecting nonetheless. Of course, he couldn’t let himself be pushed onto the defense forever, so he began fighting back. While he lost his balance, he sent off a kick. But as expected, the demon evaded with ease, as they both took some distance from one another. Urza and the others behind Seran only now realized that he had been attacked. This whole exchange happened too fast for them to realize.

“Been a while since I felt this close to death.” Seran realized that he was faintly out of breath, paired with a cold sweat running down his back.

He had forgotten how it felt to have your mental stamina be drained this much in a single exchange. His body moved by itself twice there, so being alive was already a miracle.

“I had thought you might be him…but considering you’re not dead after that exchange, you must be him.”

“What kind of test was that supposed to be…”

Seran wanted to appeal to common sense and worry about the innocent person the demon might have cut down instead, but the killing intent he received from his opponent made him shut his mouth.

“Seran!”

“Stay away!”

Lieze and the others were about to step in to help, but he immediately shut them down with a harsh warning. Despite having known Seran since they were little kids, Lieze had never heard such a voice from him, making it clear just how dire the situation was.

“Crazy that they still have monsters like him up their sleeve…So, what’s your name? You must be one of the black-winged demon’s underlings, yeah?”

“Something like that. But my aim…is only you, human.”

“Me? Did I do something to get on your bad side or something?” Seran kept his nonchalant tone, but his focus was at its height while he tried to figure out who he was dealing with.

“You struck down Three-Arms. That’s all the reason I need.”

“Ah, right…So you his family or something?”

The moment Three-Arms popped up, the emotion in the demon’s gaze changed drastically. It carried a different level of negative emotion, something different from just hostility.

“Oh yeah, I do remember him having a disciple using swords to fight,” Flame-Eye added.

“Disciple? That’s a thing?”

“Of course. And Three-Arms was very happy about him, saying he might be the one to kill him one day.”

“That guy’s only brain cell only thinks about fighting…”

Raising a disciple that could kill him one day—that was very fitting for Three-Arms.

“So he’s out for revenge?”

Met with Seran’s exclamation, the demon scoffed at him.

“It’s not unreasonable to consider as a human, right? But my one goal was to surpass him. I was dead set on defeating him one day. But with him gone…I’ll only be able to measure my strength by killing you and the other human.”

“I see, I see…”

“It was a rightful battle, so if that woman remained Demon King, I wouldn’t have been able to fight you. So that’s why I accepted that guy’s invitation. I now get this chance.”

“You followed the black-winged one to kill me? You’re an awfully upright guy, aren’t you? Must be Three-Arm’s influence.”

Seran remembered Three-Arm’s righteous way of fighting. It was no surprise that his disciple had similar thinking. That said, knowing his opponent’s identity didn’t help much. He was still dealing with a warrior who was faster and more skilled than him. And yet…

“Now then, what to do…” Seran flashed his trademark smug smile.

He knew he was just putting on airs, but defeating an opponent like this was one of his biggest joys. But even before that, the situation didn’t even allow him that.

“Luiza-sama better be safe!”

“Wait! I’ve got something to ask! Why is Ju…Why is a dragon siding with a demon?!”

“Hey, when did they invite you? They never approached me at all!”

“I told you to stay away!” Seran screamed, but nobody bothered listening.

The demon must have realized that he would not be allowed his duel at this rate, so he took some distance to Seran and put his swords away.

“I’ve had it. The next time we meet, I’ll kill you,” he said and turned around to walk away.

Seran’s reflexes almost urged him to chase after that back, but it was clear his opponent was much faster. And considering the possibility of a trap, he could only watch him walk off.

“What a troublesome foe…Can’t Kyle catch up already? I wanna go after him.”

“Didn’t expect you to get all weak like that. Did you eat something bad?” Lieze threw in a comment.

“Hell no! Normally, I wouldn’t say crap like this.”

“Right…” Lieze must have understood what he was trying to say, so she didn’t press the matter any further.

Usually, Seran would enjoy fighting a strong opponent, but the situation didn’t allow for it. Their goal was to save Luiza. And with Kyle not here, they couldn’t act carelessly.

“And yet, we still have to go…Man, what a pain,” Seran sighed.