Helial continued undaunted to accuse Comodo, to hurl accusations at him: "You are weak, a weak one who has caused the death of many people more deserving of you. You're going to get punished, Comodo, I assure you. You're a monster who's just able to feel hate and crawl in search of power, nothing else."

Comodo gritted his teeth, furious beyond limit.

A monster that knows only hate? A weak hungry for power? What did that little boy know about his life, how dared he say those words to him?

What did that brat know about all the uncertainties he had had to live in, always in the shadow of the great warrior, who was honored with every possible honor, that was his father. Always under the stern gaze of the court, Comodo should have proved that he was worthy of Aure; but the Affinity with the Poison Mana had not been liked by one of the two great heroes of Orma. Perhaps Aure had never loved his son, indeed, all of a sudden he had even begun to despise him.

Aure was very progressive in some ways, but not when it came to combat skills: warriors had to be warriors. Comodo could never have taken control of the Sect of the Worthy if he had continued to dance and cowardly dodge the blows of his opponents, then launch surprise attacks. Only someone soft and an effeminate fought like this.

Despite this, Comodo had continued on his path, convinced that one day he would make his father change his mind, he would make him proud of him. His talent wasn't mind-blowing, but the effort he put into training was almost enough to make up for his shortcomings - and his results were admirable. Even when undeniable talents of the caliber of Pseudonym or Circe had made their appearance in the Colosseum, leaving everyone speechless, Comodo had continued to train more than before. Faced with each improvement, Aure reacted with a scowl and a sharp hiss, as if poison permeated his words: Can you do just that, with your cheap tricks?

And then Comodo had begun to feel an envy and hatred without equal for every warrior of Orma belonging to the Guild of Life and Death or to the Clan of the Sacred Eagle. No one in the Sect of the Worthy had the courage to openly insult him, but in the other Clans Comodo was a target to strike and insult for his cowardice and lack of talent.

Only after challenging several warriors in fights to the death had he finally been able to have some peace.

Hoping every day to be loved by his father and receive only contempt had generated an irreparable wound within his heart. If his efforts to become a warrior worthy of Orma were not appreciated, then Comodo would resort to any method, to be noted, in order to get higher than all. The more despised he was, day after day, the more a path of darkness was formed in front of him, impossible to notice, longer and longer, darker and darker, more and more inviting.

Comodo had done nothing but take that path, which seemed to have been created expecially for him. He knew that so, at least, he would achieve some of his goals. He thought that would be the only way to emerge.

The Goblin never left anything to chance, during his fights, he was precise, he never gave others a chance, he did not miss a moment to make the right and most ruthless move.

If Vlad had been the lion with his paw on his head, Comodo was the serpent who had waited for the right moment to bite him and snatch his life from his hands, just as he believed he had the fight in his hand. This was Comodo, a snake capable of winning when his enemy was now certain to have him in his hand.

He had not lost many battles and had always managed to seriously injure anyone who had turned against him.

He had no honor, no dignity, but he had an opportunity to become the strongest and he would take it at any cost.

What could Helial know about the struggle that every day upset Comodo's stomach? Helial was nothing but a child. Surrounded by the romantic idea of heroism, Helial had grown up believing that he could face any enemy head-on, something that not even Iblis had ever done, so stupid it was.

His naivety was taking him on the same path as anyone who set himself up against Comodo.

In the eyes of the Human's companions there was only contempt for Comodo and approval for Helial. Circe was the only one with frowning eyebrows and seemingly worried.

"Don't underestimate him!" she had even perhaps yelled at one point.

But Helial was too absorbed by the feeling of power that pervaded his body, as he was about to crush the head of that snake that was believed to be incredibly strong.

And even if he had heard it, he wouldn't have paid any attention to it.

Helial had struggled hard to deserve what he had. He had proven to be strong even without Statistics, even with Mana Pistol. He had fought the Spider Queen, the Revenant with his bare hands, he had also put that cursed monster of Pseudonym in difficulty; who knows, if they had faced each other now, he and Pseudonym, how it would have gone. Helial hoped that the black-armored warrior would not be too far behind him.

...

Inside Helial's Soul

"He's taking quite a lot of time, " mumbled Alexander, tempted to give things a quick start.

Iblis glanced at the black armor that stood near the lawn, supported by wooden poles, as if it were an exhibition piece.

"Since he no longer has the armor he is much faster. He should be here soon."

"I don't know what story he made up about his origin," reflected the Devil, who was quite concentrated, "but this steel was forged with Jeanne's help. It is not indestructible, but it definitely has more than one function. It can cover his whole body without any problems, but the weight and energy field within it prevent a correct Circulation of Mana. I used armor like that to train some destruction warriors, but they were limited to training: carrying it into battle was a kind of suicide. But, considering the poverty of this planet, I can understand his choice. And yet, if I'm not mistaken, the armor should have brought its actual combat skills down two-thirds, if not more."

"A great show awaits us," Alessandro commented, finally stretching his pop-corn towards Bucefalo.

...

"You have renounced decency, you have marginalized yourself from anyone who might influence you positively. A despicable being like you just has to die. Frankenstein, Vlad, Francesca, Sidra, Lev, Zion, all of them died because of you. If you hadn't allied yourself with Hades, you would never have brought this calamity down to Orma. You know, you know you could have prevented the destruction of our city if you'd just decided not to indulge that bastard? Hades would never have attacked directly with his men for no real reason, he could not."

Helial was with open arms, with Curse of the Demon in one hand, and approached Comodo more and more.

A poisonous smile appeared on Goblin's face, as tiny particles of purple Mana began to coalesce within his body. A purple thread was formed, very thin and almost invisible, which began to accumulate in the Meridians of his hands.

The only one noticing a change in Comodo's face was Circe.

"NO!"

Circe's scream rose in the void of the half-destroyed city, and along with it the girl also darted towards Helial.

Comodo raised his head and looked the Human in the eye. "You would have had a very good future as an orator."

Skill Activated:

Hydra's Curse [/su_note]

A purple ray, as big as an arm and very bright, catapulted towards Helial. The young man remained motionless, ready to receive yet another attack and then end the life of that serpent.

The lion looked contemptuously at the serpent's wide-open jaws, convinced that he was the King of the forest, invincible.

A lion must never bite a snake, it just has to wait for its attack and kill it.

But a lion cannot, must not, ever underestimate a serpent.

SWOOOSH

Circe threw herself on the trajectory of the purple lightning, intercepting it. She was struck and passed from side to side by the beam, but her gesture had not served much purpose.

The raven, dignified in its full and slender forms, fell onto the helpless road.

"Circe!"

What was going on? Why didn't he realize what was going on? Why didn't he feel any change in comodo's Aura? Why did Circe decide to get that blow for him?

What remained of the purple ray reached Helial in the chest, even before the boy could realize it.

The destructive and corrosive power of this poison was infinitely greater than the previous one. The young man felt his breath falter and his vision darkened, as he tried to use Flame of the Qilin to disperse as much as he could the poison that was beginning to burn in his chest.

Comodo inhaled deeply and stated the Cast of yet another Skill.

Lumia and Snowflake jumped forward to save Helial and Circe.

It would take several more seconds for Comodo's second bite to start, but it wouldn't be enough to retrieve their friends and attempt to escape.

Circe was lying on the ground, motionless.

Helial was slowly losing consciousness, he could not help them.

Lumia and Snowflake lined up in front of Comodo.

The girl was ready to destroy the Goblin's Skill with Lunar Sickle and Snowflake to rescue Helial and Circe.

But the unthinkable happened.

Just as Comodo was about to launch the Skill, a shadow too fast for all of them threw Snowflake and Lumia away from Comodo, shouting in a ringing and clear voice: "Escape to the Human capital! There are no more patrols, I will take care of the brat!"

Comodo's jaw dropped.

And now, who the hell was this...

Turning his face immediately towards Aure's son, the blurry figure said, in a voice that seemed amused: "But how, do you not recognize the great Legend of Orma?"

- END OF BOOK TWO -