He flew up immediately to a certain height and placed his violin at his shoulder before he immediately drew the bow across the strings beginning his performance, as I was about to make my move as he was starting, multiple gargoyles appeared at the balconies and boxes.

But what was strange is that they weren’t armed with swords, spears, bows and arrows but were holding cellos and violins, like an orchestra.

As they flew high above me, they took a formation with the already playing devil at the front and center, as soon as they finished forming their formation the gargoyles played in harmony with the devil, playing the masterpiece that he played to before but this time more powerful and had more of an impact than before, destroying all of my skeleton guards in the process, leaving me all alone.

In my thoughts I was thinking of a battle plan, if they were playing what he played earlier that would mean that I still have time before the dramatic change of the piece, there are crisp and energetic parts and then there are dramatic parts.

He is using Music as a weapon, he showed me first hand his abilities with music and it mesmerized me and if he played it now, I would’ve obviously died, but since he played it earlier it meant that he showed me his true power.

Finally coming up of a plan and theory of his attacks, I pulled out my pistol and started shooting at the violin orchestra, I didn’t target the devil at the center first but the gargoyles first.

As the bullets exited the barrel and flew up to the sky and was about to hit a gargoyle it was immediately blocked by some sort of force, like a wall it blocked and leveled the bullet into nothing more than a coin lookalike.

What!? wind magic?!

I asked, before the piece that they played turn into the crisp and energetic part of the piece, as they played that the ground trembled and a hand covered in furs was erected from the ground, the problem was it was alive not dead.

It climb atop the stage and destroyed the floor beneath the stage, it showed it self having the skull of a human but the body of an ape, he climb immediately and as the music played he charged it me quick and fast, giving me little time to react.

As soon as it reached me it slammed me using its furry hand and I was flown over to the walls immediately making a hole or crater within the wall almost knocking me out, but it didn’t stop as the gargoyle and the winged devil kept playing the ape kept continuing its attack.

I tried evading as best as I can and tried to find an opening to shoot its body but there was no nothing I could see, its move was precise and every time it gave a blow it was purely concentrated with brute force, enough for me to fly again.

But I noticed something, he acted by what he heard, like a puppet, if the music is crisp and energetic, he moves quick and energetic, if the music is sweet and relaxed, his moves turn into a more elegant and well-coordinated attacks in exchange for the brute force he uses when the music is energetic.

This meant there was no way for me to use it against him, the music commands him, I can only kill him if I stop the musicians but I can’t get the musicians if this thing is following me, killing it must be top priority but I can’t.

Think! Theo!

Magic was out of the question, time was too long to use and my reserves are near depletion I need to kill it alone I can’t summon my familiar I must also think that he is a trump card, I can’t waste him.

Relying solely on speed and execution is important for me, he is controlled by the music, that is a theory since his attacks aren’t that of an unintelligent being, instead he attacks far quicker than me, it’s like he has already fought on the battlefield.

As it was about to give a punch to where I was unable to evade I decided to do use [Shadow Cloak] since it has the ability to make the caster pass physical objects like the ape right here, the problem is the mana, my guards are dead and I can’t waste anymore, but just because I defeated one of them doesn’t mean I win.

“Cast [Shadow Cloak]!”

As soon as casting that the punch went through me and I went backwards before dispelling [shadow cloak] and shooting it at its chest, disable its movements with just one bullet.

As it was shot it fell down the ground and trembled in agony, at first, he was winning, now because of [Shadow Cloak] I was able to win, for an ape to give such an attack, this gun acts like a taser at most it can disable the opponent while killing them slowly but it technically prolongs life for suffering.

But the probl-

I suddenly saw an arrow pass by my cheek, by how far it was to me just a little more to the right could’ve killed me from the start, I looked behind me and noticed an Elf with dark blue armor and light blue eyes, his bow was carved in ice, in my thoughts I knew it was an ice attributed weapon.

I looked near his surroundings as I saw another hole on the ground, this time a smaller one compared to where the ape exited from, by what was happening it seemed as though they summoned their fighter’s using both summoners and or the music their playing.

If one dies another takes its place, their attacks are also controlled by the flow and state of the music, but right now, my mana is low I can’t fight a summoner as a summoner also, my bullets are limited and I can’t do jackshit once my mana runs out.

I had to make my bullets count, one shot was enough to disable and technically kill them anyways, it wouldn’t matter to me as long as they are unable to attack.

After thinking of a plan and my enemies theory of attack, I did what I needed to do, I killed whatever they sent me, it felt like hours that I practically almost lost my mana reserves to the point I coughed blood and the [Chains of Despair] finally reappearing after a long time.

But there was something I noticed, they had been playing the same song over and over, the Devil Trill’s sonata, but it felt as though their speed and tempo was changing, their tone was also changing, from a once energetic tune it slowed down to the point I noticed the drastic change within it than what I had heard earlier.

Then after a few more minutes, the gargoyles that played the violins and cellos as they flew high above the stage, started shattering and fracturing themselves to the point they broke and fell to the stage.

Then I also noticed, just like me, they we already near their toll, the demon’s numbers dwindled and the summons they sent at me became weaker and weaker, before when they were still at full force they sent me strong opponents, an ape with a human skull, an elf with a rare ice attribute, a golem that had the ability to use fire magic, an orc that had skin as hard as steel, a demon centaur that can use magic, they were all powerful beings but all it took was one bullet for them to fall to the ground and suffer pain more excruciating than death.

In fact, all of their summons are still here alive, right now they are still trembling on the ground, disabled and unable to move, while their other comrade summons also joined them not long after their summoning.

After a few more minutes or so, the final gargoyle collapsed and the winged-demon was the only one playing the violin, he flew atop the stage and kept playing vigorously, though it may seem as though he can still fight, his body has already reached its limit.

And as I was about to shoot him from the air, the hair of his violin bow broke, abruptly stopping his performance, as he stopped, he took off the violin from his shoulder and rotated his head down, from there I could notice its intense breathing.

Then as he had his head down, his eyes looked at me, making our gazes meet, as our gazes met the summons from the floor started disappearing one by one, they disappeared as their body was engulfed by a white colored essence.

“You win… Human…”

As he said that his body gave away and he immediately fell to the floor, crashing onto the stone stage and releasing a powerful dust storm as the dust from the stage and rocks exploded.

After the dust cleared, the demon with a red colored skin and body in a formal attire was finally shown, I initially thought I’d see him again in his dark form, but now, all I saw was a demon in a formal attire, like a man that is about to attend an orchestra.

He had a muscular red body, red long horns, his wings were also red yet they were slowly withering away, and his face showed pure satisfaction.

Like the solider I am I didn’t try to give him an immediate opening and aimed my gun directly at his head, I acted with a resolve and was ready to execute that resolve, even he sensed what I was about to do, noticing this, the demon gave a laughed before saying.

“I wanted a quick performance but you gave me an acceptable concerto, never have my entire life as both a general and musician been so fond of such little time, human, the time you have given me is something I cannot forget, it has been so long since I played that vigorously, even reaching my limit.”

He looked straight at the ceiling and announced.

“I am the 4^th Member of the Demonic Legion of Hell, Klosikus sidion, Eternal Servant and Aide to his Almighty Majesty, Lord Axparixkus, King of all demons, and as a General, I, Klosikus Sidion, concede defeat to my enemy!”

He yelled before looking back at me with a casual glare.

“Human, your strength is not to be underestimated nor overestimated, if my guess is right you have given me a handicap yet I still lost, I have never been so insulted yet satisfied at the same time, I am not a high demon or noble demon, I am just a demon that loves music I don’t care whoever defeats me.”

he said before adding.

“You have given me the time of my life, playing a concerto and seeing a human decimate all of my highest-ranking summons with ease…”

I could tell by his breathing and pronunciation that he was slowly dying, he decided to get to his point.

“I concede defeat already, you may kill me for I will not have any regrets in this world, I wanted to play for one last time before I inevitably get conquered… I have never doubted that such a day will come…”

He said to me before finally closing his eyes and waited for me to kill him.

I killed him as soon as he went silent, making the entire room rang out with a powerful bang, immediately going silent a few seconds later.

I looked at his body and took his soul which was a red glowing orb that was the size of my palm, there I saw a ghost like figure playing the violin gracefully, I looked at it and said.

“That was also a magnificent performance, I wish I could ask for an encore… [Soul Devour]”

[Hero has gained exceptional skill [Illusion Domain]]

[Illusion Domain]- The power to trap your opponent in a domain created by your mind for a limited time at the expense of your mana, has the power to break the mind of the opponent. Caster also has the ability to interfere and edit the illusion and interrogate the casted, depending on how long or how powerful the illusion's effects is, casted may answer all questions with truths, if mana has reached a scarce point, [Illusion Domain] will immediately cease its effects.]

[only three users and types has been identified, Hero has gained the [Demonic Illusion Domain] increasing the effects and duration of effects by 2X]

“I see, so you also gave me a handicap… I guess that both makes us ‘insulted yet satisfied at the same time’”