The day of the semifinals came with lots of fanfare. This was because the semifinalists were not what the people expected.

The expected semifinals included the famous black bull and the Brooks sister, and even the highest ranking lieutenant Bask. Yet, three of those persons were defeated and only one of the Brooks sisters remained.

As for Roc who followed the third prince, he was a low key person like the prince himself, so not many knew about him. As such, the semifinals that was different from their expectations, now seemed far more exciting than ever.

“Ahh~. My head hurts.”

Rory said as he laid out on his stomach in the stadium.

“I told you not drink so much last night.”

Amelia said as she looked at him.

“I think it’s that whiskey that I accidentally drank this morning.”

“How do you accidentally drink a whole whiskey?”

Amelia asked.

“I mistook it for mouthwash when I was still half asleep. Once I tasted it, it was down hill from there.”

“Come, stand up. It’s almost time for your match.”

“I don’t wanna~. Tell the earth to stop spinning first.”

Rory complained.

“You know, for someone who’s a legend you’re a disgrace of a human being when you’re drunk.”

Amelia said.

“Someone has to be~. We all can’t be straight-laced like you. The world needs people like me to function.”

“I doubt the world needs someone that had a turf war with an alley cat last night.”

She replied.

“Hot! I’m so hot!”

Rory suddenly started stripping, but Amelia stopped him.

“Wait, wait, wait! Are you trying to get charged for indecent exposure?”

“I’ve committed so many crimes and broken so many laws, that I’m due for execution in at least 57 countries. You think I care about a misdemeanor?”

Rory said seriously.

“Lets now start the semifinals!”

The announcer’s voice resounded in the stadium.

“See? We’re about to start! Do you want to be disqualified for committing a crime?”

Amelia said.

“Alright, alright.”

Rory suddenly sprung to his feet.

“I’ll go. I’m sure a good workout will sober me up.”

He said.

Amelia sighed in relief.

“Seriously, I can’t believe that you were describe as a natural ruler with unmatched charisma in the legends.”

She said.

“Looks like I’m up.”

Rory said after seeing his opponent walk up to the ring.

“Good luck.”

Amelia said, as he leaped onto the stage.

“We will now begin the first match of the semifinals!”

The announcer shouted.

“These two contenders have shown pure dominance from the first stage until now, and have defeated stronger opponents one after the other!”

A spotlight shone on Rory.

“First is the powerful Rory, who ended all of his fights in less than a minute up until the last round. Where he defeated the infamous Black Bull Omar by imitating his Animus! He’s a real monster!”

The crowd cheered for Rory, while he waved at them with a smile on his face.

A spotlight also shone on Roc.

“And his opponent, the cool and mysterious Roc! Despite not having much of a presence throughout most of the tournament, he too have defeated every opponent he’s faced and with relative ease as well! There is no one who has survived more than one of his attacks! He’s a monster in his own right!”

The announcer introduced the two with an excited voice.

“Now then, without further ado…..Begin!”

The crowd cheered wildly at the signal to start the semifinals. However, they soon calmed down from the lack of action in ring. Neither Rory or Roc had moved an inch from where they stood.

“What’s going on?”

This naturally confused everyone who was watching. They were about to complain, when-

*Bam!*

An explosive sound resounded out of nowhere, and both Rory and Roc faded away into nothing.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

The explosive sounds continued to echo out as cracks started appearing in the empty ring.

*Bam!*

The sound once again rang out, and both Rory and Roc appeared out of nowhere flying back.

The two’s feet skidded on the ground as they forced themselves to a stop. They looked at each other and rushed forward like two arrows.

Roc drew his sword from under his mantle, while Rory’s hands turned metallic, as he activated iron skin. Roc swung his sword while Rory swung his hand.

*Clang!*

Sword clashed against hand, and caused sparks to fly between them. Roc pulled back his sword and slashed at Rory’s neck. Rory ducked under it and swung his hand at Roc’s chest.

Roc leaped back to avoid it, but Rory chased after him swinging down his hand at him. Roc lifted his sword overhead to block it, and then kicked Rory away.

He then rushed after Rory, thrusting his sword towards his chest. Rory didn’t avoid it and threw a punch which clashed with the tip of the sword. The two were stuck in a stand still with neither of them budging.

“Heh.”

Rory smirked, and anima suddenly started pouring out of his fist. Roc eyes widen when he saw this.

He leaped to the side and avoided burst of an anima, which blew up the spot he was just standing on, leaving a hole in the ring.

Rory immediately rushed after him with a kick. Roc jumped over it and opened his mantle. Dozens of daggers flew out and charged towards Rory.

Rory jumped back to avoid them and gathered anima in his palm. The anima then condensed into the shape of a lance, and threw it at Roc, who deflected it with his sword.

However, after the lance was deflected Rory clenched his fist and the lance separated into dozens of daggers. Rory swung his hand and the daggers all charged towards roc.

Roc was surprised by this, and desperately deflected every one of the daggers while falling back to the ground. The moment his feet touched the ground, Rory was already in front of swinging his fist.

Roc quickly put his arm in front of him to block it.

*Bam!*

Roc’s arm started bending oddly after blocking Rory’s punch. Seeing that, he ceased trying to prevent himself from being blown away by the force of the punch, and allowed himself to be sent flying a couple meters.

He landed softly on his feet, and stood with one of his arms swinging.

“W-Wha…”

The announcer’s voice could be heard once again.

“What an amazing exchange of skills!”

His shout woke up the shocked crowd, who started to cheer wildly.

“We weren’t given any time to breathe! In fact, I think I just broke my record for holding my breath! My God, I have a boner! Alright! I won’t let the missus sleep tonight!”

He started to shout weird things, but because the audience was so excited they didn’t seem to hear him and continued to cheer.

“Ah, my eyes hurt because I forgot to blink!”

He shouted again.

“Rory and roc have displayed some impressive skills just now! But it seems that Rory has the advantage!”

“Woah….He can actually keep up with Rory…”

Amelia was shocked. This the first time she’s ever seen anyone go toe to toe with Rory like Roc has. However, somewhere in her heart she believed that neither of the two had been going all out.

“As I thought, you’re using the boomslang style martial art. A martial art that mixes optical illusions, weapon concealment, swordsmanship, and assassination skills; practiced by the Boomslang Ninjas.”

Rory said with a grinned.

“To think that you people still exist even now.”

He cracked his ten fingers one by one while showing a huge grin.

“I’m even more interested in fighting you right now.”

The air that he gave off was different from his usual carefree self. He now looked like a child eager to test out his new toy. A very dangerous atmosphere.

“You….How do you know about us?”

Roc asked with a glare.

“You can even use our Mirage Step and our other techniques. Just who are you?”

“Rory.”

Rory gave a simple answer. However, that answer was like a bomb in Roc’s head.

‘I thought that it was just someone with a similar name, but…..’

Roc looked at Rory again.

There was a very terrifying aura surrounding him, as he gave off a dangerous vibe. He could even see the image of a demon behind him.

‘There’s no mistake about it. That’s the real Devil King.’

He thought to himself. He showed a wry smile.

“I’ve really gotten myself in some deep shit this time.”

He said.

“This isn’t no longer a match, this is a battle for my survival.”

He removed the mantle and let it fall to the ground. When he took off the mantle, countless weapons could be seen attached to his body in all kinds of ways.

“The opponent is the leader of the infamous Pandemonium. If the rumors are true, his strength should be around a Lieutenant General in the Sacred and Night Army, meaning that his strength would be ranked at the third highest level in both races outside of their royal families.”

He tied a chain around his arm, real tight to keep it in place.

“Which means that I should expect him to be able to use at least 3 of the 4 Regal Powers. He’s also known for his cruelty, so he definitely won’t let me go after he set his eyes on me. Long story, short…”

He showed a dry smile.

“I’m so fucked.”

“Lets go!”

Rory rushed towards him and activated his new technique Black Orochi. The eight snakes grew to size of trucks and charged at Roc.

Roc eyes started glowing as they and Rory approached him.

“Huh?”

This was noticed by Amelia.

Roc kicked off the ground and charged towards the snakes with his sword in his hand. The eight snakes attacked him from different directions with the intent of devouring him.

Roc speed suddenly increased. He cut the head off of one of the snakes that attacked him from the side, and then jumped over one that attacked him from behind and chopped the head of two that tried to ambush him together.

He jumped from snake to snake avoiding their attacks with minimal movements, while beheading them. He even attacked them from their blindspots the moment they regenerated.

No matter where or how the snakes attacked him, he would avoid and destroy them.

“It’s like he’s reading their movements.”

Amelia said while watching him fight the snakes.

“That’s because he is.”

Allen appeared at her side and said.

“Actually, he’s seeing their future actions and countering them.”

“That’s possible?”

Allen nodded.

“Yes, if you use one of the 4 Regal Powers, Future Sight, that is.”

He said.

“Regal Powers?”

Amelia was confused by the term she never heard before.

“Have Rory explain them to you. I’m sure he has his reasons why he never mentioned them.”

Allen replied.

“But let me say this, the Regal Powers are essential to reach the top of this world. If you master them, the path to godhood will open up for you.”

“??”

Amelia was once again shocked by what she heard. She looked back at the ring, and saw that roc had past all the snakes, and was approaching Rory.

Rory smiled and deactivated his Black Orochi.

Roc leaped into the air and something strange happened in front of everyone’s eyes. It was like time had slowed down with Roc in the air. As he advanced toward Rory, he left several after images behind him. It was a strange scene.

“Heh.”

Rory smirked as he watched Roc’s sword thrusting towards him in slow motion.

“Your use of optical illusions are pretty impressive.”

Rory jumped and shockingly past through Roc and grabbed his afterimage in the back and landed on the ground, while holding him by the neck.

“Deceptive Strike. The user uses his anima to create the illusions of afterimages to make the target misjudge their attack. The solid looking one is the fake, while the 4th afterimage is the real one. It’s perfect for killing a cocky target who’s confident in their skills and will try to deflect your attack. They’ll die after leaving themselves open after attacking an illusion.”

Rory grinned.

“Unfortunately for you, you picked the wrong person to use it on.”

He said.

“I know. That’s why I used it.”

Roc replied with a grin.

“Hm?”

Rory looked down and saw several blades sticking in his body.

“Animus: Concealed Danger.”

Roc swung his leg and kick the handle of a sword sticking into the Rory, and sunk it deep into his body until it stabbed right through him and peeked out of his back.

When that happened, Rory let go of roc, who quickly retreated and threw a couple knives to the hit the weapons stuck in Rory and forced them deeper into his body.

“Rory!”

This time, even Amelia was worried after seeing so many weapons lodged inside of him.

“How’s that, Devil King?!”

Roc shouted.

“Not bad actually.”

To everyone’s surprise, Rory responded with a casual tone.

“Impossible!”

“No, look again.”

Rory pointed at himself. That’s when Roc realized something.

“There’s no blood….”

That’s right. Despite being stabbed multiple times, there was no blood.

“I fought against the creator of your Boomslang Martial arts, a lot of times in the past. The bastard almost killed me a few times as well. Eventually, I killed those who hired him and paid him what they promised him. After that we became good friends. He even taught me some of his martial arts.”

Rory said.

“As a disciple of his, you should’ve heard about it.”

He pointed at Roc’s body. When Roc looked down, he saw all of his weapons stabbed into his own body. He looked back at Rory and saw that he didn’t have a single weapon lodged inside of him. Even the daggers roc threw earlier were on the ground.

“T-This is Absolute Deception.”

“Bingo. The strongest of all of your martial arts deceptive techniques. It messes with your perception and make you believe you were attacking something when in actuality you were just harming yourself.”

Rory smiled.

“It seems that your Animus allows you to conceal weapons to the point that your opponent won’t feel them stabbing into to their bodies. You sealed your defeat the moment you tried to use it on me. You couldn’t even tell that you were harming yourself because of it.”

“H-How did you know what I was up to?”

Roc asked as his face paled.

“How? Because the progenitor of your martial art was a part of Pandemonium(The Demon) as my ears, that collects all kind of information secretly. I’m used to his superior assassination skills, so how would I lose to yours?”

Roc was shocked for a bit, but he immediately tumbled over and laid out on the floor.

“W-Winner Rory!”

The announcer’s voice ended the match.