Chapter 90: Swordsman vs Spearman

Daemon got back up painfully, spitting a spray of blood.

"And here I thought you’d unlock some mysterious power like the other idiot, you’ve just got a weird spear..." murmured Daemon in a pained voice. He pointed his katana at his opponent’s weapon. "Looks like this Vamp really handed out gifts everywhere just to piss me off..."

"Vamp? How do you know him?" asked Kellen, his voice suddenly higher.

Daemon stayed silent, carefully observing his enemy’s reaction.

’Just as I thought, Kellen knows Vamp. But getting information out of him is a lost cause.’ thought Daemon. He knew that in the current state of things, dialogue wouldn’t lead to anything constructive.

Kellen left no dead time...

He used his < Second Sense of Spear : Space Scent > to map every particle of Chi around Daemon.

Within a fifty-meter radius, nothing escaped his superhuman senses. He perceived Daemon’s heart rate, the contraction of his muscle fibers, and even the exact angle of his inclination. Kellen projected himself forward, his spear tracing a series of rapid arcs.

Daemon tried to dodge by pivoting on his left foot, seeking to get out of the attack axis. However, Kellen seemed to have anticipated his movement even before it was initiated. The tip of the spear pivoted in the air with supernatural fluidity.

The heir of the Spear Clan didn’t even need to look at his target; he felt it vibrating in the space he now controlled.

Realizing that evasion had become impossible against such detection precision, Daemon decided to change strategy.

At the last moment, instead of backing away, he chose to block the attacks. He activated his < Second Sense of Sword : Steel Breath > to reinforce his forearms. Daemon felt the power of the impact propagate through his bones.

’Damn it, he’s really strong. Did this Vamp give him a power like Conrad?’

To tease him and hope to distract him, he threw out with a mocking smile: "This Vamp, is he your new stepfather?"

Kellen’s face turned red under the effect of the insult. "Son of a bitch!" he roared, injecting even more Chi into his weapon.

’Why did he get so angry over some random tease?’ wondered Daemon while parrying a vicious thrust toward his throat.

Daemon had to go all out. He blocked the successive attacks and tried to counterattack with rapid cutting strikes, but Kellen’s dodges were simply too fluid.

"Your mother killed my father and now you’re joking about his death? Those bastards from the Sword Clan really have no honor?" yelled Kellen. He spun his spear above his head before bringing it down in a devastating vertical motion.

Kellen’s attacks became more and more ferocious, each blow impregnated with pure murderous intent. The stone ground cracked under the pressure of his Chi. Daemon retreated step by step, his bandaged arm starting to hurt him violently because of the constant effort.

"Killed your father!?" exclaimed Daemon.

’Persephone always puts me in impossible situations. Always absent but causing shit! Now I’m being hunted because of her who keeps killing nonstop!?’

Daemon was frankly fed up. All the troubles that had come his way since his banishment, all the pains he had had to endure, seemed to have a common origin: that hysterical madwoman who served as his mother. He suddenly recalled his uncle’s words about the fact that Roland Strain had been by mistake with the Sword clan.

Kellen followed up with a series of three rapid thrusts. < First Sense of Spear : Range Reading >. He perfectly evaluated the distance so that Daemon couldn’t back up any further against the wall. The first tip tore Daemon’s left sleeve, the second opened a superficial cut on his flank.

"Damn it!"

Daemon groaned and struck with the pommel of his katana to deflect the third attack.

"She left me nothing but enemies!" shouted Daemon, pushing Kellen back with a shoulder charge loaded with < Steel Breath >. The impact made Kellen retreat two steps, but the latter recovered instantly.

"All swordsmen must die!" retorted Kellen. He raised his spear, the red tip glowing with a sinister light. The air around the weapon began to twist. ’The Spear of Destiny demands only blood’

Kellen used the length of his spear to keep Daemon at a distance while striking rapidly. < Space Scent > allowed him to sense the slightest opening in Daemon’s guard even before the latter realized it. He slipped toward the back and aimed at his legs, forcing Daemon to jump, then followed up with a circular shaft strike that hit Daemon square in the middle of the back.

Daemon was projected forward, nearly sprawling on the ground. He recovered with a roll and got back up, short of breath. His Chi was starting to deplete dangerously. He felt the Mark of the Beast stirring under his bandages, a burning heat sensation rising up to his shoulder.

’... I must not lose control...’ he thought, clenching his teeth. He had to finish this fight with his own swordsman strengths if he wanted to stay human, if he gave in to his impulsiveness every time, slips like attacking Victoria would become more frequent.

At the last moment, following a false move caused by a sudden cramp in his left leg, Daemon left a gaping opening. Kellen, whose < Space Scent > had already mapped the flaw, didn’t let the chance pass.

He pivoted on his supports and, with a devastating rotational movement, sliced his torso. The blade of the spear tore the black fabric and the flesh, leaving a scarlet trail blooming in the air. Daemon didn’t even have time to retaliate. Kellen immediately followed up with a series of fluid and rapid cuts that shredded his arms, thighs, and flanks. To finish this bloody combo, the heir of the Spear Clan sent him a violent knee strike square in the thorax, breaking the last intact ribs of the young Dagon.

Daemon was sent flying across the room, his body bouncing twice on the stone before immobilizing against the base of a pillar. He was in a pitiful posture... His body was nothing more than a mass of gaping cuts that let a constant flow of purple liquid escape.