The colossal sword was akin to an unstoppable force as golden radiance coiled throughout its body, intending to smite the great demon Ekress.

Seeing the incomprehensibly powerful attack, Ekress' face turned solemn. "Legendary skill?!"

As if answering his question, the [Sundering Heavens] engulfed his whole being as the skill collided to the demon.

BOOM!

[You have dealt 486,500 true damage to the target!]

"GRUAAAA!" howled Ekress as his body was flung away hundreds of meters away like a dead fly. Cuts and wounds could be seen throughout his body as he landed in the ground wobbly, trying to regain his footing.

Of course, Jaden wouldn't even give him a time to catch his breath as he lunged forward, dashing swiftly towards the demon.

With blood trickling down his lips, Ekress roared ferociously as he conjured terrifying flames and shot them to the incoming human

Brandishing Forsaken, Jaden didn't even use Fleet Footwork to dodge the blazing projectiles as a golden aura encompassed his sword.

"With Fighting Aura, I can slice apart nearly all skills there are, of course, only if the spells are not leagues above stronger than me," muttered Jaden as his golden Fighting Aura circled around his body.

Akin to a golden divinity, Jaden swung his sword repeatedly, cleaving apart the gigantic flames that sought to burn him to ashes.

One must know that these flames aren't just ordinary flames, but that of a Great Demon's!

Despite dismantling the fire spells, residues still tried to touch Jaden's body, only to be devoured by the golden Fighting Aura.

"First a legendary skill, and now Fighting Aura?!" Ekress' crimson eyes were filled with astonishment with a hint of dread.

Turning serious, Ekress stomped his foot on the ground and disappeared from his spot.

A moment later, as if he teleported, the great demon appeared on Jaden's right side as it swung its hulking arm with ferocity.

Thanks to Jaden's innate instincts and high perception stats, he was able to sense the demon's location as soon as Ekress appeared close to him

Jaden's pupils shrunk as he tilted his body and slashed his sword towards the demon; all this action too less than a second.

Bang!

[You have suffered 6,800 damage.]

[You have dealt 11,320 damage to the target.]

Jaden's body was blown tens of meters away as his back hit a tree.

'Thank god my Fighting Aura repelled and cushioned most of the damage...' thought Jaden as he glanced at his HP.

_______________________

HP: 8,892 / 15,692 (57%)

_______________________

As if returning the favor from earlier, Ekress once more appeared in front of Jaden in a blink of an eye.

The demon's skeletal wings were blazing with flames as it towered over Jaden with its enormous physique.

[Accelerate]!

The incoming flaming fist suddenly slowed down in Jaden's perspective, as did the rest of the world.

With the activation of the skill, [Accelerate] that was already level 3, Jaden can now fight with much more ease as he moved sideways to dodge the fist.

Bang!

The tree behind Jaden was split apart as a gigantic hole of a fist could be seen on the tree, alongside the demon flames crawling all over its trunk.

Ekress was surprised when he saw his attack miss. 'The speed and agility of this avatar's body are already nearing to that of the [Emperor] rank, yet this measly warrior that's barely touched the threshold of a [Royal] ranked warrior could dodge my fist?'

"Ohoh? How lucky you are to dodge that attack. That fist would've blown you to bits if it landed."

Ekress attacked once more yet Jaden once again dodged it with ease. Frustrated, he attacked again and again as Jaden ducked, fend off, parry, or evade, time and again akin to a slippery snake.

Within this short exchange of combat, the demon's health had already started dwindling rapidly as Jaden kept retaliating and countering after Ekress' every strike.

ROARRR!

Howling out of frustration, Ekress suddenly slammed his fist on the ground as magic formations made up of his flames suddenly formed.

Sensing the activation of a wide-range AOE spell, Jaden immediately used the [Warlord's Challenge] which increased his magic resistance by 20%.

In an instant, roaring flames rose up from the ground, 50-meter radius around Ekress.

[You have suffered 500 damage.]

[You have suffered 500 damage.]

[You have suffered 500 damage.]

[You have suffered...]

[You have...]

[You...]

[...]

As the system announcement repeatedly resounded in his ears, the surrounding forest had already turned to that of a place of destruction as all the nearby trees and plants have been turned into ashes.

"I need to get out of this skill's range," muttered Jaden as his health rapidly decreased.

Waving his hand, a glass bottle suddenly appeared in his grasp as he raised it to his mouth, drinking the red liquid within.

[You used a basic health potion, +3,000 health points!}

It was a basic health potion that he bought in the city, he had bought a total of 50 potions with the remaining gold that he had.

Boom!

The ground shook when Ekress stepped forward, his black aura terrifying to the extreme.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The demon ran with barbaric wildness as Jaden felt the earth vibrate continuously.

As Ekress stepped forward, the flaming magic formation beneath followed him, alongside the fire domain that had caused destruction in the surrounding forest.

In a blink of an eye, Ekress appeared before Jaden as he raised his hulking and blazing fist and slammed it toward Jaden.

As if the wind was crying, a tearing howl could be heard as the flaming fist burned the surrounding air and space, reaching Jaden in a matter of a second.

Knowing that he couldn't keep running away, Jaden moved sideways as the ferocious fist swept passed him by a hair's breadth. As he felt the searing flame that burned near his face, Jaden swung Forsaken as a blue light radiated from it.

[Chop]!

[You have dealt 65,990 damage to the target]!

Ekress cried as soon as the sword landed on his extended arm, leaving behind a large gash of a wound.

Right as Jaden struck the demon, a decent amount of health returned from him.

[9,890 HP has been absorbed!]

Jaden laughed at that system prompt. 'This is the first time that I've used Lifesteal from the Sword of the Forsaken.'

This meant that this had been the first time that he had been damaged since all the monsters that he had slain before merely lasted a few seconds before dying under one attack or more.

"Come to think of it, I should upgrade this sword..."

Putting everything on the back of his mind, tilted his head to the right, effortlessly dodging the dangerous fist that could've destroyed his head with ease.

And just like that, the two went back and forth, exchanging attacks for quite a while.

Bang!

[You have suffered 5,590 damage.]

Slash!

[Due to the Duelist King's Battle Gloves' effect, the target has been stunned for 1 second.]

[You have dealt 13,390 damage to the target.]

[Lifesteal: 2,008 HP has been restored.]

Stab!

[Due to the Duelist King's Battle Gloves' effect, the target has been stunned for 5 seconds.]

[You have dealt 9,180 damage to the target.]

[Lifesteal: 1,337 HP has been restored.]

Swipe!

[You have dealt 21,511 damage to the target.]

[Lifesteal: 3,226 HP has been restored.]

Roar!

[You have suffered 11,222 damage.]

[Lacerate]!

[You have dealt 44,622 true damage to the target.]

[The target suffers "Fatal Wound" effect.]

Ekress exerted all of its [King] ranked pressure and bore it down upon Jaden, only to see that the latter didn't even feel a hint of panic or fear from his face. 'Damn it! How can this human endure the pressure of a [King] ranked demon, and a Great Demon at that!'

At this moment, Jaden was in a battle trance as his 100% focus was on the demon before him. As the battle raged on, Ekress' fire domain had finally disappeared yet his health was still aplenty.

This was all thanks to his insane senses and instincts, and the passive skill [Lifesteal] from the Sword of the Forsaken.

As they continued clashing, Jaden sensed the rhythm of the battle and went along with the flow. Adapting, no attack could land on him except for the AOE spells which he simply ignored since he can just restore the HP in a matter of seconds.

**********

At this moment, a few hundreds of meters away from the two battling maniacs, there were two figures standing in the sky, spectating the battle.

One was a handsome white-haired man clad in a lustrous golden armor while the other was a blond man wearing ordinary clothes with a sword strapped on his back.

The former had a regal aura around him, and as he stood in the air, one could feel a suffocating pressure coming from him. As for the latter, his expression was carefree and his aura was ordinary, there were no sharp presence or powerful pressure coming from him as he stood in the air with his hands clasped behind his back.

They were Roland and Fang!

"Hmm, it looks like those demon kings from the abyss are getting restless as the day passes huh." laughed Fang as he looked at the Great Demon Ekress.

Roland nodded his head. "It seems that the Chaos Gods are getting active as well." as he said that, he glanced at another direction, his eyes seemingly capable of peering through anything no matter the distance.

Fang looked at Roland before glancing in the same direction. "Hopefully the dragon race won't submit to the temptation of the Chaos Gods."

"You think too much." Roland chuckled. "The dragons are a proud race, each of them capable of slaying gods and devouring devils. There are some that even possesses knowledge, power, and wisdom beyond that of gods and other divine creatures, nearing to that of the supreme rulers in the Eternal Domain."

Fang remained silent. "It's a pity that the Dragon God died in the War of Eternal." his eyes suddenly shone as he stared at the same direction, his gaze seemingly able to see through any secrets of the world. He asked. "Do you think a new one would rise up from?"

Stroking his chin, Roland pondered. "A new Dragon God huh? I have no idea, but I sure hope so. We will need someone with such strength for the upcoming calamities."

Fang laughed loudly for a few moments before looking back to the Devilwood Forest. "You know that your disciple will suffer from that 'curse' once he kills that measly demon's avatar right?"

"No worries," responded Roland as he stared at the battle, his eyes sharp. "That will be a part of his training that he must overcome by himself. Of course, if that demon goes too far, I'll drag him out from the Abyss realm myself and kill him which in turn will dissolve the curse."

"You really spoil that child huh?" chuckled Fang.

"Have you ever seen or heard of a kid that's not even in his 20s yet had already comprehended and created his own legendary skill and can practice Fighting Aura?"

"True, that kid's talent is really the first of its kind that I've encountered. His talent and affinity with the sword, however, is what I'm the most surprised of. He's simply too monstrous! I've roamed this boundless continent nearly all my life, meeting and fighting all kinds of warriors and geniuses of the sword path, but I've never seen someone like him before."

Fang took a deep breath before he continued. "People say that my talent for the sword is unparalleled and unrivaled, but in truth, there is actually someone that is much more than me, right before my eyes! They call me Sword Demon but that kid, he should be the one to bear that title."