Return Of The Strongest Player

As the smoke and dust subsided, Arthur's eyes were free to explore the destruction. His gaze darted from place to place, observing the decimation with narrowed eyes. Yet, internally, his shock was beyond belief.

However, despite the ruin, Arthur's heart was as tranquil as it could be. The Spirit of the Blade Sovereign promptly disintegrated into white particles, merging with the atmosphere while displaying a melancholic expression. 

Arthur plopped down atop a rough patch of dirt, assuming a meditative stance as calmed the raging energies swirling around within his body. Once he was done, a sense of exhaustion assaulted him.

'I can use this ability once, maybe twice a day,' Arthur concluded, leaning on a nearby boulder. He'd only performed the first movement, yet the headache that arose shortly after was practically mind-numbing.

Suddenly, the falchion stripped of Skofnung's soul began vibrating, spilling a dark red aura that seemed to dye the ground in a malevolent hue. An unpleasant noise arose from the falchion's blade, followed by what could only be described as a demonic explosion of light.

Arthur's eyes stung. The falchion burst into dark flames, after which it silently and gently landed into Arthur's hands.

[The Demonic Blade 'Skofnung' greets its master.]

[The Demonic Blade 'Skofnung' reveals its true power, thanking its master for awakening it.]

[The Demonic Blade 'Skofnung' advises its master to provide it with blood.]

'It awakened…'

As Arthur muttered those words internally, another string of information entered his mind, and an explanation of Skofnung's ability was instantly comprehended by his brain. 'The ability to summon Devils from the realm of Hell…'

Arthur's eyes lit up and his expression brightened significantly. So this was what a Demonic Blade was capable of. But, what grade would the Devils be, even if Skofnung could summon them?

Also, would they be subservient to him?

'Also, you referred to me as master! You used to call me wielder,' Arthur remarked, smirking at the falchion.

[The Demonic Blade 'Skofnung' blushes, insisting it did nothing of the sort.]

[The Demonic Blade 'Skofnung' snorts at its 'wielder,' commenting on his sheer immaturity.]

Arthur let out a chuckle. 'Shall we test it out?'

[The Demonic Blade 'Skofnung' insists that its wielder attempt it. It insists on consuming the blood of the Devils.]

'All right,' Arthur muttered internally, activating the ability. Miasma escaped Skofnung's blade, following a shrill scream capable of tearing a regular human's eardrums. The miasma condensed, forming what seemed very similar to a human, but not quite.

Devils were the inhabitants of Hell and were considered the Servants of Demons. Although that was sometimes the case, Devils usually preferred isolation, while Demons did not insist on slaving them.

Devils were a ruling species, and much like humans of the tower, enjoyed battle and increasing their power. They even held tournaments in which the strongest Devil would rule over the other Devils. Although, not many winners maintained their platoons, and usually abandoned them.

They were also very prideful, lustful, wrathful, slothful, greedy, gluttonous, and envious.

What stood before Arthur was a humanoid with a stature of about seven feet. Its body was a deep shade of scarlet, with many dark tattoos plastered over his skin. With a rather muscular build and only a piece of fabric masking his family jewels from the rest of the world, his species seemed rather primitive.

But that couldn't be father from the truth.

His head was bald, while he possessed abyss-like, dark eyes that gazed directly at Arthur with arrogance. With a rather edgy smile and a massive axe clutched between his fingers, the Devil was also rather confident.

"Human?"

'Hmm, the translators seemed to be working,' thought Arthur. Most languages could be translated by the tower's system, and considering the Devil Language was quite commonly used, it was translated well.

The Devil before Arthur was classified as a 487 Beast Mark Novice Beast that could potentially match up to the weakest of Elite Rankers.

Arthur glanced at Skofnung. 'If Divine Heavensplitting Resonance Art is not enough to kill a weak Elite Ranker, I'm fucked.'

"You have summoned me…" The Devil muttered in an uncertain tone, observing his surroundings in confusion. "I don't recognize this place. Is it the tower I've heard about in the myths? Are you powerful, human?"

The Devil's voice was rather croaky but contained immense confidence, either in his appearance or his power.

"This is the tower," Arthur replied. "You're standing on its 9th floor."

The Devil nodded, seemingly satisfied by the human's answer. "Bring me some liquor, human."

Arthur's expression turned complicated. "No? Why would I bring a Devil liquor? Are you subservient to me or not?"

"Subservient to you? You're supposed to be subservient to me!"

"What?"

Silence descended upon the decimated space while Arthur and the Devil simply stared at each other, dumbfounded by what was occurring. Suddenly, they rushed forward, sword and axe in tow.

"I summoned you! You're my slave!"

"Back in Hell, humans are nothing but floormats!"

Shouting those phrases, the two collided. Shockwaves formed as they collided, their clash blowing dust for miles upon miles. Arthur–as soon as Skofnung collided with the axe–withdrew his blade.

Then, turning his body, he produced momentum before swinging vertically toward the Devil's abdomen. 

"Humans are weak," the Devil hissed, forming what seemed like a malevolent energy in his palm before tossing a condensed sphere toward Arthur's face. Sensing danger, Arthur avoided the sphere by simply turning his head.

At that moment, the sphere of malevolent energy exploded, spraying dark particles that cascaded down like hail. Arthur used [Divine Sense] and [Ethereal Glide] to evade all the particles.

As they landed on the ground, the dirt disintegrated.

'Yeah, they had those abilities, too,' thought Arthur, sensing an approaching headache while repeatedly clashing with the Devil. It was obvious he was losing in terms of raw power… He simply needed an opportunity to unleash Heaven's Echo Strike.

If he received such an opportunity, he could play a gamble.

Whether he won or not depended on said gamble.