As I sent my clone through Belia's portal...it turned out to not be a trap. The sight I saw through my clone's eye before walking through wasn't an illusion or anything, it was definitely happening...a blonde guy with a sword, which was raised up and glowing, was fighting Persia and Fuo, it looked like he had taken some damage, but it was also clear that the two of them were on the defensive.

Wonder if he was also summoned from another world like those twins I fought...well, it really doesn't matter to me whether he's pure evil or has a heart of gold, or whether he's being manipulated or not, all that matters is that he's on the side of my enemies, which makes him my enemy as well.

​​

I then swiftly rejoined with my clone and entered Lazarus Mode right as the portal closed, took aim and flung one of my new blades at his face with as much speed as I could generate without sacrificing accuracy, to which he responded by swiftly springing back, narrowly evading the blade.

Okay, from that reaction time, there's no doubt that this guy is seriously strong. He'd probably have been on par with me a few minutes ago, but now that I'm stronger thanks to these new weapons, he's no longer a threat to me.

I held my hand out towards the blade I threw as I stepped out of the alley and into the open, the blade flying back towards me. Talk about convenient, I can get used to this...sucks that the blades aren't black, but it's whatever. The blonde guy then turned his gaze towards me with a frown, before his attention shifted to my new blades...

"Th-those are-...you bastard, where did you get those swords!? And how can you even hold them!?" He exclaimed, his eyes widening in horror and disbelief.

Looks like I was right, he must have been summoned along with those twins, and there's likely more of them that were summoned too. I think I'll provoke him a bit, really play up the bad guy role...that's more fun that trying to convince him that we're actually the good guys and that he should join us or whatever, nah, screw that...and besides, from the rage in his face, those twins are probably his friends, and since I just killed one of them, that ship has sailed...

"Hm? Oh, someone broke my weapon, so I crushed their head and took these-...," I remarked with an icy smirk, before trailing off and correcting myself, "...no, wait, it was the other one that broke my weapon, but these are more my style that the hammer, so...oh, hey, nice sword you got there."

"N-no, that can't be, y-you couldn't have-...I-I refuse to believe it! Damn it...damn it...you bastard...I'll kill you!" He exclaimed in fury, sprinting towards me rapidly with his sword poised.

As he closed in on me and sprang forward, raising his blade, I fired out a sticky spiderweb net from my mouth, he quickly swung his foot out to his left, kicking the air and sending himself flying off to the right, narrowly avoiding getting ensnared in it as he landed back down.

His gaze suddenly shifted towards Persia, and he shot towards her with a yell, his blade poised to swing horizontally across. I used Teleport to appear in front of Persia and blocked his swing with one of my new blades, stopping his attack. That was pathetic...I definitely made the right call in deciding to consider him an enemy instead of trying to get him to switch sides or whatever...

"Why, you-...!" He began with a furious look on his face, before he was interrupted as Persia leapt up behind me and fired out a powerful wind blast from her mouth at him, sending him flying back and crashing and skidding along the ground, a groan of pain escaping his lips as he began to stand back up.

"Nice, Cat Girl...now get out of here, find any lingering enemy troops. Hey, you too, Fuo," I called out, as she swooped down towards us, "You two go take care of things elsewhere, I'll deal with this guy."

"Right, you got it," Replied Persia affirmatively as Fuo nodded, before the two of them left.

The blonde guy then stood up with a growl, trembling with rage as he picked up his sword and locked his sights on me. He's easily provoked, I see.

"You should run away while you still can," I warned him with a taunting smirk, before adding condescendingly as I opened my third eye, "Because if you fight me...well, let's just put it this way, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for death."

"I'll make you eat those words, you lowlife son of a bitch!" He snarled in reply, zipping towards me at top speed.

He swung his blade up at me as he closed in, which I evaded and countered by driving one of my blades at his face, which he narrowly dodged by tilting his head out of the way, before swinging his blade straight back down, grazing my clothes and leaving a small cut.

He then slashed at my waist, which I evaded by springing back and flinging one of my blades at him, which grazed the top of his ear as he quickly moved his head out of the way. He then slashed at me a couple more times, which I evaded easily, frustrating him.

He let out a roar as he drove his blade straight towards my midsection, which I jumped over, placed my palm on the flat of the blade before swinging my foot at his face, kicking his mouth and sending him flying back and crashing onto the wall of a building, coughing out blood as the wall cracked and shook slightly, the glass on the windows shattering upon impact.

I then reached out for the blade that I flung, retrieving it as it flew back to me, grabbing the handle. He has strength and speed, plus decent swordmanship, but not much else. Aw, man, I bet that if I'd gotten his sword instead of these two blades, the boost I'd have gotten would have been even greater...well, no need to get greedy, I guess.

"Is that all you've got?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow, "Alright, then...now it's my turn."

I used Teleport to slip behind me, he began to spin around, his grip on his sword tightening, before getting sent flying forward as I struck his back with Repulsion, falling face first onto the ground before hurriedly getting up and jumping away, before abruptly halting as I formed an Absolute Defense barrier behind him, his back slamming onto it.

My Crosses are activating faster now, the Absolute Defense barrier I formed just now manifested almost immediately...looks like I got more than just a physical boost from these swords.

I then zipped towards him at top speed, and as I closed in on him, he swung his blade down at me, which I dodged and countered by slamming my knee onto his midsection, sending him flying back and up into the air, blood spraying out of his mouth. His movements are getting sloppier...looks like I poisoned him when my blade cut his ear earlier.

I then used Teleport to appear above him and balled my fists together, slamming them onto him and sending him flying down at a breakneck speed and crashing onto the ground with immense force, which cracked and broke apart as a large dust cloud rose up following a shockwave.

I shot down towards him as he let out a groan and began to try and get up, before coughing out blood as I closed in and slammed my fist onto his midsection, feeling his armor getting dented in and his ribs breaking upon impact.

Not bad, that attack would have definitely punched a hole through most people, but his body is really tough...that said, I did just crush several internal organs and break most of his ribcage, so he's not gonna be doing much more moving around, that's for sure.

"You know, it's funny, you would have actually been a match for me before I got this power up from your friend's weapons...thank her for me in the afterlife-...nah, that's a stupid thing to say, I know from experience that there's no such thing as an afterlife, so what I meant to say was-...you know what, never mind, I don't care...just die now," I remarked, plunging one of the blades down towards him...

.

.

.

.

.

But instead of piercing through his neck, the blade went through the air, as he lost consciousness and a portal opened above his neck.

"...really? Again!?" I sighed in exasperation, "For someone who claims to like chaos so much, you sure do interfere fast when things don't go your way, don't you?"

"Ouch, I can't even say anything to that, because you have a point," She replied with a wry smile, as she took him away, "I'm just trying to ensure that I have enough toys and pawns to cause even more chaos next time. I mean, think about it, imagine how much chaos is gonna arise thanks to his rage from the humiliation he suffered today! Oh, and I don't 'like' chaos, I am chaos itself!"

"You say that, but you sure fell for my Chaos Magic spell pretty badly last time. Huh, maybe I should have just tried to traumatize this guy with Chaos Magic too...I can tell that you're making an effort to not look into my eyes," I remarked in a taunting tone.

"Chaos Magic doesn't really have anything to do with chaos, sure, it's pretty chaotic in nature, but-...never mind, I should go now. I have to admit, even I'm a bit disappointed in myself at how many times I interfered in others' battles today, but it'll be worth it...you see, for my next step, I'm going to set things up for a chaotic explosion, figuratively-speaking, and once they're set into motion, things are going to change...I can't wait for you to see those changes, Kuro! Well, till next time...bye-bye!" She waved cheerfully, before her expression turned into an icy smirk as she disappeared and the portal closed.

I don't like the sound of that...I have no idea what she plans to do next, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about this...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP