A hurricane like winds surrounded us as I attacked devil with ferocity. Countless of moves in a single second and yet... and yet none of my hits have managed to reach him. Even with the limit break at the fourth stage, I couldn't do anything. His speed wasn't faster, if anything, he was actually a bit slower than me, though I am sure that if he wanted, could surpass me at any moment.

There was no need... Before I even started my attack, he was already making a move to dodge, and any changes I made to correct that, meet the same fate. Predicting movements of an opponent is the core of my martial arts, yet our roles were somehow completely reversed. There was also something unnatural about the way he moved, though I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

I now knew how others felt fighting against me. I never thought I will meet someone other than my father better than me at this, much better... this wasn't even his real body.

"Hmm, to think I changed into this ugly form just for this..."

I also couldn't stand his bored expression, it was so humiliating. He was standing calmly with both hands behind his back. Not even once he used them to block me. I felt like a child fighting against an adult.

If technique alone isn't enough then I will overcome it with speed!

I increased my pace to the limits, and very quickly some muscles were torn from the strain, nothing my regeneration can't handle.

More!

Limit Break reached level 5. Though Acceleration reached level 7.

With a new burst of speed, I finally forced him to use one hand to block my attack.

I immediately grinned in my mind. Let's see how you fare against my 'devour soul'... though my grin quickly turned into a frown when there was zero effect. I probably should have expected this, but still, to completely negate it...

I quickly recovered from the shock and realized that what I feared is about to occur. For the first time, when this farce of a fight has started, the devil has decided to attack me as well. I quickly moved my hand to block and...

"Gah!"

...was sent flying. A few creatures of stone were shattered on the way with my body. I summoned my full form of phantom beast and stabbed claws with the tail into the ground to stop myself.

After leaving a long trail on the ground, I finally did so. My real body was in terrible shape, and even my 'unbreakable' bones were cracked in many places from the impact, if someone else was in my place, they would be dead.

What. Was. That?!

Why has my block missed?! I moved perfectly to intercept that attack, but... it was as if I made mistake in calculating the path of his arm. Illusion? No. Some sort of technique. The way he moved... it probably confuses perception of the enemy... so this is what was nagging me all this time. Why have I noticed this only now?

I canceled my phantom beast form and started aiding my regeneration with body manipulation.

I had no plans of using phantom beast to attack him, it wasn't because of a pride or anything of that sort. At some point, I did try to do that. Without dungeon boost, my phantom beast form was only four meters tall, a size of an ant if compared to what it was in the battle with Harbingers, but I could be quite dangerous even like this, but...

When the devil changed his form to look just like my phantom beast, I changed my mind. It wasn't some ghostly projection taking a form of a beast, his body was real, flesh and blood. At that time I realized that If I he managed to hit me with 'those' claws, even regeneration wouldn't save me. Luckily he changed back to cat beastkin when I canceled my.

Yes, I might be losing anyway, but to fight against 'that' would be a suicide. Now that I had a taste of his power in cat beastkin form, I am sure of that as never before. My martial arts aren't meant for the form of phantom beast, but I suspect that wouldn't be the case for the devil.

I don't know how to escape my predicament, so for the moment, I distracted myself by using this as a chance to improve my martial arts. With my enhanced mind, it should be possible. Others waste years to learn skills I did in just a few days, and now my enhanced mind is even at higher level.

I attacked him again, while closely observing every little detail of his moves. At the moment his body is that of a cat beastkin. His movements are perfect and should allow me to develop my martial arts even further.

Once again I was attacked in return, one hand still behind his back. This time I simply activated my phantom shift to let his attack pass through me...

"Euhh!"

...and was sent flying anyway.

"How?!" I asked while rising from the ground.

"Hmm? Was this supposed to stop me?" he asked while tilting his head to the side.

Uhh. He is right. I should have guessed this when he tried to rip out my soul while sitting in this world, hiding in another plane was hardly a clever move.

But I will not give up! Even if it's the last thing I will do, I will force him to fight me with both hands!

I attacked him once again...

*

Though Acceleration reached level 8. Regeneration reached level 9. Unknown Martial Arts reached maximum level.

Even with martial arts now at maximum level, he was still playing with me like with a child using only one hand to block or attack me. But I didn't let that to discourage me, it only means there is still much to learn. I attacked him again trying to mimic his own moves and was sent flying shortly.

I got up and charged at him again, and again, and again...

*

Unknown Martial Arts has evolved into Martial Arts Sealed Illusion. Though Acceleration reached level 9. Regeneration reached maximum level.

I smiled while rising from the ground, and even shrinking hole in my chest couldn't wipe the grin off my face. Bones broken hundreds of times, every statue around us destroyed with my own body... but I finally did it! I finally learned the secret behind his technique.

It was achieved with a bit of mana and complicated movement of muscles.

Even if your opponent is a master of martial arts, once you take away his ability to correctly judge the direction of attacks, the result of a match is set before the battle has even started.

Things should get interesting now...

I charged again and then mid-sprint activated teleportation. I attacked him from behind but a hand was already heading my way to block. I teleported again from his side only to find an empty space in front of me. I quickly turned around to block his attack.

Its movement was just as before, but now I could judge it correctly and prepared to block it... suddenly his hand changed into two and two into four. I managed to block two of them... or so I thought. Both of them turned out to be some sort of illusions, maybe even something more. Before my hands passed through them, I was certain they were real. Body heat, mana flow, none of the details indicated them as fake...

In the meantime, the real hand of the devil hit me in the chest and I was sent flying once again. I have already lost count how many times he did that to me.

Doesn't matter.

I teleported mid-flight high in the air and looked at the devil with great interest. That move just now... is this still the same technique? I thought that the name sealed illusion was implying misleading movements, but there is much more to it.

I... I have to learn it all!

Even with enhanced mind, it was tough. Creating illusion was one thing, my knowledge about mirage in the desert helped with this a bit, but making it look like a real thing even with high mana perception was another thing entirely... though as I later proved, not an impossible task.

I attacked him with a sweep of my leg and just as he was about to block it, teleported to the side resuming the sweep. My leg split into two, but devil showed no reaction and my attack passed right through him. Illusion!

"Not bad." I heard the devil from behind. "For a mortal."

"Why you keep calling me a mortal?" I looked at him annoyed.

This isn't the first time he masked his teleportation when I activated mine.

"No? Just because you don't age doesn't make you immortal."

"Then what about you?"

"Do you even need to ask?" he looked at me with a sneer.

"I am not so sure. In the world you kidnaped me from there are stories about the god of chaos. Some say that he left the world after his plan has failed, but many claim that he was actually defeated by the Goddess."

"ZareDhaL!" roared devil with boiling anger and his body started to change back into his original form, this time much bigger.

Wide cracks appeared on the ground and strong pressure radiating from his body was threatening to send me flying. I fully summoned my phantom beast and stabbed claws and tail to the ground. Even with this, I was constantly pushed away leaving a long trail on the stone.

Eventually, he calmed down and his body changed back to cat beastkin.

"Someone you knew?" I asked while looking at the destruction around us.

Every statue within radius of few kilometers, be it a tree or animal, was shattered and only golems were still intact, runes glowing over their bodies indicated it wasn't without effort. Zaredhal. I never hear this name, is this really the same god from the stories? Even in books, he was referred only as 'God of Chaos'.

"Yes... There is only one god with the aspect of chaos. And I can assure you that your Goddess has never defeated him. She let him do as he pleases, and acted only when he left... If only I did so as well. Your world wasn't the first he visited... nor the last." as he said that scenery around me started to change.

Suddenly the world around me burst to life. Humanoid creatures, just like from statues, were working in fields, others hunted animals, trading. A usual life of any civilization.

This wasn't an illusion, more like a worldwide hologram. If concentrated I could still see the real world behind this.

"You probably already guessed this, but a long time ago I was a god of this world. When Zaredhal appeared I decided to confront him. I already saw what he did to others. This was MY world, and no one messes with my things if I can do something about it!"

The scenery changed imitating an endless white plane where the devil faced a massive cloud of black smoke. Three sources of red light glowed deep from within, eyes of Zaredhal.

For a while, they only stared at one another, then the devil started to attack. Space itself distorted as a transparent sphere of power slammed into the creature of smoke, without any effect.

Devil didn't stop there and each of his snake heads launched bolts of energy. Even a nuclear explosion would look like a fart if compared to explosions that followed. Though even that did nothing to him in the end. One of the snakes started to change in size, and very quickly became at least twenty times larger than before. After sweeping at Zaredhal, it managed to swallow most of him.

At first, it looked like his victory but very quickly the snake swelled up and ruptured apart. The amount of smoke was even larger now, and the smoke started to surround the devil. A glowing barrier emerged around him to block it, and a new snake already grew back to replace the missing one.

Suddenly the smoke attacked him from all directions and I managed to see the barrier shattering like a glass. A few beams of energy fired from within, revealing the struggle of the devil and then everything went silent.

As Zaredhal left, there was nothing left of the devil.

"It took me some time to 'recover'. And Zaredhal was long gone by the time I did... but not his mark on my world."

The scene changed showing an army of humanoid creatures fleeing from a sea of monsters. They were outnumbered one to twenty and that was steadily changing as pursuing monsters killed those behind one by one. Their retreat stopped to a halt when even more of monsters blocked them from another side. A massacre quickly followed.

"At this point, it was too late to save my world by summoning Champions..."

A sight changed again showing many cities in ruins.

"But I refused to abandon one of my worlds in the time of need. Even knowing that by doing so I break taboo, I descended into the realm of mortals..."

The scenery changed once again.

Clouds in the sky started to spin into a whirlpool, lightning striking all around, and a large crack in the space appeared in its center. Six large hands pierced from within and then tore the rift even wider, revealing pitch black abyss on another side. A moment later a familiar form of the devil emerged from beyond, levitating in the air, snake-like tentacles on his back spread like wings. His body was much bigger than what he used in front of me.

He then released roar with all of his mouths and every monster within the radius of hundreds of kilometers turned into dust. The view has changed showing various places where monsters turned into stone as if some invisible wave of death was spreading through the world.

Only monsters were killed, while animals, plants, and humanoid creatures weren't affected by it in the slightest.

"But Gods were never meant to enter the realm of mortals, by doing so I was bound to this world and could no longer return, not without the help of other gods... all of them have turned their back on me."

The scenery started to show life returning to the world. People were rebuilding their cities and with time everything returned as it was... almost. Everywhere the devil went, he was worshiped by his people.

"It wasn't meant to last. Little by little I started to lose control over my aspect as the god of alchemy. It wasn't long before everything around me started to turn into a stone, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Eventually, the whole world has died... by my own hands."

The scenery now showed a sight of fleeing animals, and people. Oceans, lands, forests, everything behind them was slowly changing into a stone. At first, they were able to outrun it, the devil wasn't attacking them on purpose. But with time the speed increased and eventually everyone met the same fate.

Suddenly the world returned to how it was, the show was over.

"Enough about the past, we should talk about your role in the coming war."

"War?" I asked surprised.

But I thought that it was Mardeal who was behind incident with Harbingers... Or does he mean something else entirely?

"Yes... War." suddenly both of us were teleported to a different place.

We were still in the same world, but now an infinite army of golems stood in front of me as far as I could see. There were probably millions of them. Some were four to five meters tall, just like those I saw when I got there, but those were just the smallest among them. My gaze was glued to four 'Titans'. This was the only word that came to my mind when I saw those colossal spiders. They were enormous, an entire city could easily fit on their back.

"When I was bound to this world, some gods had the nerve to steal what was mine, soon all of them will learn what it means to mess with the devil!"