Reborn In Another World As A Spirit Familiar-Chapter 240: Cloak and Dagger

Things were taking a turn for the worst. I was out of mana, which was kind of a first, and only had one |Crescent Slash| left in the chamber. There was also the part where Belrick was basically on roids with a new sword with blade hooks on the edges. In other words, it is a nine branched sword if I counted correctly.

("How am I going to win this one?") [Solace]

We were still in Belrick's |Spirit Field| that somehow changed into a wetland into a volcanic region. It was sweltering hot, but it didn't seem to bother Belrick.

"Alt, what do you think of my newfound power?" [Belrick]

"I think it's a great change. I'm still going to win though." [Solace]

Seeing my confidence, Belrick grinned.

"Well don't you look swell?" [Solace]

"Do I?" [Belrick]

He then began to approach me, ignoring any lava splashing on him.

("Oh, great. He's immune now.") [Solace]

"I'm still mad that you've betrayed us, Alt. It's just that I'm finding this way too enjoyable." [Belrick]

With a lurch forward, Belrick made a powerful lunge towards me.

("He's fast-!") [Solace]

I barely managed to block a horizontal slash of his with my spear. However, I found that I was beginning to lose in terms of strength.

"What's wrong, Alt?! Feeling tired?!" [Belrick]

He pushed harder, causing me to stick a leg back to add more support on my spear.

"Is that all you've got?" [Solace]

Belrick's grin grew wider.

"Of course not." [Belrick]

Angling his grip, Belrick slipped my spear handle into one of his sword branches.

("He's not going to-?!") [Solace]

With a flick of his wrist, Belrick locked my spear to his sword and shoved it down into the ground.

"|Repulse|." [Belrick]

One of the branches shone, blasting me away while tearing my spear from me.

("What kind of skill-?!") [Solace]

I was now flailing above open lava, without any mana to cast any skills to save me. Luckily for me, I could see Belrick aiming my own spear at me from the corner of my eye.

"|Aero Boost|!" [Belrick]

He threw my spear at me at blinding speeds, so fast that it was almost impossible for me to catch. "Almost" that is.

("It's all or nothing!") [Solace]

I snatched the spear out of the air, turning so that it wouldn't pierce me and that I could gain control of the momentum.

"What?!" [Belrick]

Once that was accomplished, I faced the lava below.

"|Crescent Slash|!" [Solace]

I unleashed my last |Crescent Slash|, splitting the lava apart and revealing the solid ground beneath it. I fell into the opening, leaping with all my strength to get out before the lava filled the gap back in. It was a wild gamble, but I was relieved when I finally landed back to where I started.

"You... Huh...?" [Belrick]

He looked to be in awe or shock at what I just did.

"You're not the only one who can do a few tricks." [Solace]

Belrick snapped out of his amazement once I spoke.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be a challenge otherwise." [Belrick]

He really likes to talk big game doesn't he?

("Let's reassess the situation.") [Solace]

First of all, I have no mana. Second of all, I still have my spear. Third of all, I have no more |Crescent Slash| charges. Fourth of all, Belrick still has mana and is much stronger than before. Fifth of all, his sword branches glow whenever he uses a skill.

("I can assume that every branch must use a different skill then.") [Solace]

As I was analyzing Belrick, he appeared to be doing the same.

"Surrender, Alt. I can see the state that you're in. You can't win anymore." [Belrick]

I started walking sideways to size him up. In response, Belrick did the same.

"Didn't you say something about me being a challenge? You want to end it this quickly?" [Solace]

"I'm a pacifist." [Belrick]

"With the way you immediately adapt to combat? Bullshit. You're enjoying every second of it." [Solace]

Belrick shrugged.

"My life before meeting you was fighting or sparring people far weaker or less talented than me. It was boring if anything. As for you, you're different. From what I've learned, the stronger my opponents, the stronger I get." [Belrick]

I can't lie, that does seem true. As long as those eyes of his continue to shine gold, his improvements will be endless.

"You're really going to insult your brother here? Mentioning the untalented and stuff?" [Solace]

"Family excluded." [Belrick]

Is he being hypocritical? Or is that just selfish?

"I'm still not surrendering. Even if you defeat me, there's my allies inside the throne room." [Solace]

"Really? How strong are they compared to you?" [Belrick]

"They're... Oh..." [Solace]

Now that he mentions it, they probably wouldn't stand a chance against this monster of a talent.

("...Shit. I REALLY can't lose to this guy.") [Solace]

I thought of a quick plan. It was really simple in fact. Survive until I have enough mana to activate |Item Box| and take out a mana potion. The question is, will I be able to survive long enough?

("Man, I really don't want to die...") [Solace]

Realistically, I can revive myself. I just really don't want to receive the penalty for my deaths. Also, the |Insanity| part concerns me. I still can't notice the difference of when my |Sanity| drops, but I'm not going to try and find out.

"Enough talk. Let's finish this." [Belrick]

He slipped into my range, sword lowered into an upward slash.

("I really have no choice do I?!") [Solace]

I blocked the slash with my spear and tried to strike him with the end of my weapon. Of course it was easily deflected by a simple nudge of Belrick's free hand, which ended with me swinging my spear instead.

"Too slow." [Belrick]

He ducked under my swing, giving him a small opening to two-hand his sword and attack.

"Nope!" [Solace]

I raised my foot last second, stepping on the pommel of his sword before Belrick could enter full swing. Seeing that, Belrick retreated half a step before re-engaging.

"|Splitting Thunder|!" [Belrick]

He left an afterimage of lightning, reappeared by my side.

("Are you serious?!") [Solace]

The afterimage exploded with a flash of light, blinding me as Belrick struck my side.

"Ack!" [Solace]

I could feel the tip of his sword stabbing me, so I leapt in the opposite direction to keep it from going any further. I also spent this time rubbing the white lights out of my vision.

"You think I'd let you get away?!" [Belrick]

He put pressure on me. This was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to win against me so he gave chase.

"Oh, winds carry me! |Caressing Breeze|!" [Belrick]

Belrick sped up, sticking to me like glue and forcing me to contend against his sword with my spear.

("This isn't looking good!") [Solace]

I could see the branches of his sword lighting up one by one. From what I've noticed, every new element lit one up.

("I bet he's going to conjure up something bad for me if they all light up.") [Solace]

Call it a gamer's intuition. I was bleeding from my side, out of mana, and definitely losing in strength. My hands were going numb from trading blows and I was sweating in the blistering heat of this volcanic region.

"Alert: You have gained |Experience|. |Experience| limit reached. |Heat Resistance| has gained a level." [Spirit Guide]

Not bad, but I would prefer a full level up. It would've restored my health and mana.

"Descend from the heavens, |Starry Day|!" [Belrick]

Another branch lit up, summoning several burning orbs around me.

"Ah, shit." [Solace]

Within an instant, they exploded.

"Urgh!" [Solace]

I closed my eyes and grit my teeth to receive that blow. Luckily, my |Fire Resistance| was at level 10 so I came out with minor burns. The bad news was Belrick now had four out of nine branches glowing.

("I could've sworn it was only three moves though...") [Solace]

One of them must've been the lightning move. It would make sense since I wouldn't be able to count it when I was blinded.

"...I feel that it's near impossible to underestimate your durability." [Belrick]

"Don't worry, you're as surprised as I am." [Solace]

This time, I made the first move. I rushed in, fully intending on attacking his sword disguised as attacking his torso. Belrick guarded with his sword, as expected, so I twirled my spear around one of the branches to force both our weapons into the ground.

"You-?" [Belrick]

Before he could think of a counter, or slip away, I stepped onto his sword and unleashed the meanest uppercut I could muster. I felt my fist connect with his chin, resulting in a loud clang.

"...Clang?" [Solace]

Upon closer inspection, a transparent barrier obstructed my fist just below Belrick's chin.

"You're fucking kidding... Automatic defense?" [Solace]

Out of the corner of my eye, another branch lit up.

"Don't worry, you're as surprised as I am." [Belrick]

Not only did he copy my words, Belrick also copied my uppercut. Except that I don't have an automatic barrier to defend against it.

"Agh!" [Solace]

I was hit so hard that it nearly threw me off the ground, not to mention off our weapons. Matter of fact, this was when I lost my spear while Belrick got to keep his sword.

"You almost got me there." [Belrick]

He yanked his sword out of the ground as I recollected myself.

"Yeah, almost. Be honest, how many trump cards do you have?" [Solace]

"Beats me. I'm figuring it out as we go." [Belrick]

Chat, is this plot armor?

"Alt, you know you can still surrender. You're bleeding out." [Belrick]

I looked a little below my ribs, revealing a little bit of blood still seeping out.

"'Tis but a flesh wound." [Solace]

"...What?" [Belrick]

"You wouldn't get it." [Solace]

Belrick assumed a battle stance.

"If that won't get you to surrender, I have no other choice than to cut off all your limbs." [Belrick]

"Uh...I don't know what to say to that." [Solace]

You know, it's kind of nice that he still cares enough about me to want to spare me. However, it's still a little terrifying that he wants to cut off all my limbs. Then again, I was trying to do the same thing.

("Here he comes!") [Solace]

Belrick lunged at me, stopping just outside of my range for some reason. Seeing that, I stepped forward a bit and swung.

"Ah." [Belrick]

He looked a tad surprised when I did that. In truth, it slowed his reaction time. Allowing me to punch his transparent barrier again.

"Oh c'mon..." [Solace]

I retreated a step again, still wondering what that movement was all about. Then a possibility clicked in my mind.

"...Did you think I was going to swing prematurely?" [Solace]

Belrick looked embarrassed.

"Wow. Seriously? You know I excel in fist combat right? You really believed that you could bait me into attacking when I'm in a defensive position?" [Solace]

"Shut up." [Belrick]

This time, he attacked for real.

I weaved past two slashes and tried to disarm him with joint locking techniques. Unfortunately, Belrick would slip out of my grasp before I got a good hold on him, or switch the sword to the other hand to attack.

("I can't disarm him, and I can't hit him.") [Solace]

|Piercing Blow| would be so good to me right now.

("Just hold out a little longer... Just enough for that |Item Box|.") [Solace]

Belrick went on the offensive, unleashing a flurry of slashes. I ended up having to rely on the sturdiness of my gauntlets to block or deflect the attacks. If I was lucky, I could dodge it. Then, I saw a moment of weakness.

("He's swinging wide?!") [Solace]

A wide vertical swing with two hands? Perfect for disarming. I went in fully committed to a grasping technique, whereas Belrick immediately switched to catching my right forearm in one of the branches.

"|Golden Revelation|." [Belrick]

Just as I saw another branch light up, my vision was blinded by an influx of... information? It was like watching a slideshow of history, cultures, random techniques, equations, and more at super speed. Like, did this guy just flashbang me with knowledge?!

"Wha- What the fu-" [Solace]

I was momentarily stunned enough to be thrown into the ground, face straight into obsidian. If not from my |Heat Resistance| and tough body, I'd most likely get cuts on my face while burning alive.

"This is one arm." [Belrick]

With a twist of his sword, I felt my right arm bend the wrong way.

"Gah!" [Solace]

He made sure to break it at the elbow because my gauntlet was reinforcing my forearm. Smart, yet ruthless guy.

"Will you surrender?" [Belrick]

("...Well, that arm's done for anyway.") [Solace]

I turned sideways, twisting my arm even more. In return for that sacrifice, I kicked the side of Belrick's knee to throw him off balance a bit before repositioning myself into an upside down leg lock around Belrick's neck.

"What are you-" [Belrick]

Using all the might of my core muscles, I flipped Belrick on his head. It was so explosive and sudden that his horns got stuck in the obsidian floor while also releasing my broken arm from his sword.

("Oh, this is really fortunate!") [Solace]

I picked myself up to make use of this little time I had to myself.

"|Item Box|." [Solace]

Originally, I was going to just take a mana potion. Even so, I took out a health potion while I was at it.

"That's cheating!" [Belrick]

I drank the health potion first while Belrick struggled to free himself. Though I would've drank them both at the same time, I was afraid they'd mix and give me a different effect. Either way, my arm fixed itself and my side wound closed.

("Now for the mana potion.") [Solace]

Just as I popped that bad boy open, my surroundings shifted.

("Not again...!") [Solace]

I was suddenly thrown into the air, spinning and spinning until I realized I was in the middle of a tornado.

"Aaah!" [Belrick]

Pardon me, I meant "We" were in the middle of a tornado. There was a large amount of debris floating with us over an endless void, several big enough to stand on and some small enough to be sand.

("I have to drink my potion now!") [Solace]

As I brought the glass vial to my mouth, a small piece of debris shattered it.

"..." [Solace]

I was so speechless I literally had no thoughts for a moment.

("I'm genuinely about to start tweaking.") [Solace]

You know, I never noticed how pretty the blue liquid of a mana potion was until I saw it flying away from me in that tornado. Anyway, I was then thrown into a nearby floating piece of land.

"Oof!" [Solace]

From afar, I could see that Belrick had the same fate. I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the ridiculousness of our situation. At the same time, I saw Belrick try to say something to me. It's just that the roar of the turbulent winds was too loud to hear anything.

"What?! I can't hear you!" [Solace]

Belrick mouthed some more words that also seemed to be similar to what I said. Either that or I suck at lip reading. If that's true, I might as well slip something odd in while I'm at it right?

"By the way, you're a stupid piece of shit!" [Solace]

Belrick blinked as if he was in disbelief.

("...Now that I think about it, would his golden eyes teach him how to read lips?") [Solace]

He suddenly looked pretty pissed and another branch of his sword illuminated.

("I think I got my answer.") [Solace]

It took only a split second for him to jump to me. I crossed my arms to block his strike, slamming me into the debris I stood on.

"You think I'd just take that insult lying down?!" [Belrick]

"It was a joke!" [Solace]

As his sword grinding against my arms, I quickly counted the lit branches.

("Eight out of nine?!") [Solace]

I was so cooked.

"Too bad you healed because now I have to take your arm again!" [Belrick]

He tried to lock my arm into one of the branches again, so I straight up just grabbed the sword.

"I'll pass on that!" [Solace]

I started pummeling him, which amounted to literally nothing against that transparent barrier. Oh how I wish I drank that mana potion earlier.

"That's enough!" [Belrick]

Belrick headbutted me as hard as he could, which seemed to hurt me a bit more than him.

("Ow! Those goddamn horns!") [Solace]

I reeled back, then made a comeback by slipping behind him and locking my arms around his neck.

"Smart move." [Belrick]

It wasn't until I heard the sarcasm in his voice that I realized the transparent barrier created a space between me and his neck, allowing him to breathe just fine.

"Get off me." [Belrick]

Jamming his sword between my arms, he pried me off before kicking me into the storm. I was then sent spiraling until I hit another large piece of debris.

("Ow...") [Solace]

As I relocated Belrick, I saw him standing there with his sword raised high.

"Ah... crap." [Solace]

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The utterance of my words were drowned out by the wind as I stared at the illumination of Belrick's ninth branch.

"Form, mind, and matter... Life, death, and fate..." [Belrick]

His voice echoed clearly, even among the roaring winds.

"Bearing fruit of all creation... |Embodiment of Existence|!" [Belrick]

The sword radiated with power that made my skin crawl, my hairs stand on end, and thoughts of resistance vanish. I could have sworn that all he wanted was to cut my limbs off, yet all I felt when he brought down that sword was... obliteration.

"Alert: |Blooming Undying| activation confirmed. All debuffs have been dispelled. Health and mana have been restored. All stats increased by fifty percent. Sanity has dropped by ten percent." [Spirit Guide]

I awoke with shivers running down my spine. No clothes, and definitely no surroundings. That one move had erased all debris on my side of the tornado. Even the wind was gone. All I was doing was floating... like in space.

"You... Huff... You survived...?" [Belrick]

Belrick was clearly out of breath from that one move. As expected, it was too powerful of a skill to not have a large consumption of mana.

"|Item Box|." [Solace]

I reclothed myself with the blue cloth armor Nakros gave me. Thank goodness for that.

"As expected, it's difficult to underestimate your durability." [Belrick]

Having run out of energy, Belrick's |Spirit Field| could no longer sustain itself. Thus, returning us to the stairs before the Demon Lord's throne room.

"...So, do you want to keep going?" [Solace]

Belrick tried to lift his sword, but it began to vanish much like his |Spirit Field|.

"...I'll admit it. It's my loss." [Belrick]

Lowkey was surprised that this stubborn demon was willing to surrender. I really didn't want to kill him.

"It's just... Can you tell me one thing? Truthfully?" [Belrick]

"You want to know how I survived?" [Solace]

Belrick shook his head.

"Can you tell me your real name?" [Belrick]

I paused for a moment. Inside my mind, I knew it wouldn't be a very good idea. On the other hand, my heart yearned to reveal it.

"...Fine, you win." [Solace]

In the end, the matter of the heart won over the mind.

"My real name is Solace." [Solace]

Belrick smiled.

"It's a good name-" [Belrick]

Just as he finished his sentence, a spear pierced through his chest.

"A-Ah..." [Belrick]

"Belrick!" [Solace]

He reached out to me, eyes rolling back before going limp. From behind him a figure emerged from thin air, hidden from some kind of invisible cloak.

"Solace, is it? A good name." [???]

"You...!" [Solace]

Anger bubbled up inside me as I recognized the figure. It was that hero I released the day the royal guards were defeated. I believe his name was Edwill.

"It's been a while, demon. Or rather, Solace. I didn't know you were a human in disguise. It makes sense that you tried to help my party and I out." [Edwill]

I clenched my fists.

"That was never my intention." [Solace]

"Really? What is your intention?" [Edwill]

I let out a stressful and rage infused involuntary giggle.

"Killing you." [Solace]