The gap between ranks was something that could never be compensated for unless the fighter had… other ways to make up for the difference. 

In the case of John, he had extensive knowledge of various styles of swordsmanship and was well-versed in the art of war. 

And thanks to his abnormal physical attributes (even at present), he was actually much stronger than his indicated rank. 

But no matter how much he believed he could do, John would never be able to truly defeat an A rank demon. Much less Varnier. 

"Is that it, human?"

John's blood turned cold the moment he heard Varnier. His voice seemed… healthy. As if the beatdown he had been given earlier hadn't even happened. 

"I was hoping you'd be able to make me feel something else besides the vibrations from your strikes, but I guess not."

Slowly, Varnier rose up from his place underneath the rubble. Dust scattered in all directions, revealing his hulking, and somehow majestic stone figure. 

"I will admit. Your initial attacks surprised me. I kept asking myself how a C rank could perform such intricate moves. These sort of techniques would only be available to those who studied the way of the sword."

"Which is why I have to kill you."

***

There was only one thing flowing through the minds of the twelve demonic generals. 

It was anger. 

Not the sort of anger one would experience when feeling hurt or offended, but the sort of anger that would arise from seeing someone at the top of the world

Because that was Nomadian. 

"Had enough yet, demons? Or are we still going to keep on dancing?" 

"Don't spout nonsense, human! This domain will be the last one you create!"

"Watch your hard work shatter before your eyes. See for yourself the combined power of the twelve demonic generals!"

And as if on cue, the generals scattered in multiple directions. They all were heading for one person, Nomadian.

"Ah, the H.A. better thank me for this… this is much more than what I was told to do. Do heroes get bonus paychecks?"

It wasn't long before the generals were nearing Nomadian. They concentrated their powers each, preparing to fire multiple devastating attacks.

"Eh, whatever."

The time was now. The generals simultaneously released their attacks, all of them appearing as dark beams with small modifications to their structures. 

That wasn't all, though. Once they had fully released their moves, they all charged toward Nomadian. 

The fight instantly turned close-range at that. With twelve demons attacking him at the same time, even Nomadian found it hard to stay unscathed. 

What's more, the generals' attacks seemed to complement each other. Whenever one of them would overextend slightly, another would unleash a blow that allowed the other to recover. 

It was the perfect image of a fighting force working together as one. But being cooperative wouldn't be enough to best Nomadian. Especially since his specialty wasn't at all ranged attacks. 

His true power would only show once he was right in front of his enemies. 

"Damn, twelve versus one really IS too much. Let's make it fairer, shall we?"

And now, it was time for Nomadian to reveal another one of his abilities. 

In just a split second, he turned his eyes to the twelve dark beams that were still traveling towards him. Surprisingly, they had not yet made contact with him. 

Which was perfect for his next course of action. 

In one swift motion, Nomadian opened and stretched out his left hand in the direction of the beams. Then, he closed it. 

And almost instantaneously, the beams disappeared. 

The generals didn't miss this. They knew that Nomadian would most likely use it to return their own attacks back at them at more than twice the power. 

Even they knew that they wouldn't emerge without a few scratches if they were hit by their own strengthened attacks and as such, increased their speed. The assault was still on. 

Unfortunately for them though, Nomadian had different plans. 

As if the power he absorbed was directly inside his enclosed hand, Nomadian pointed it toward the demons. 

"He must be planning to return our attacks. Let us evade it and unleash punishment on his ignorant mind!" One of the demons transmitted a mental message to the other eleven. 

No one was opposed to it. The moment Nomadian opened his hand and black light began to gather, the demons heightened their speeds and moved to Nomadian's sides.

Alas, the generals' hastily made excuse of a plan was proven to be useless by their opponent the moment they saw his eyes follow them and his smile grew slightly wider. 

In the next moment, the entire area around Nomadian was engulfed in a deathly dome crafted from Devil Ashra, and the generals' specialized affinities.

***

She had to admit, he was pretty interesting. The way he fought itself was brutish and lacked flair, but there was something with the way he used his magic that was majestic. 

So to see Wang Jin's lifeless body sprawled across the floor did shock her. 

"Weird… why am I shaking? I don't even know this person…"

But Kruos wasn't one to allow his prey free time. In the next moment, he shot towards her. 

In response, Donna pulled out her sword, and just barely deflected the thrust aimed at her head. 

The force behind the blow was more than enough to send her a few ways back. 

"Get back here!" 

In front of her, Donna noticed Kruos' mist-like body propelling itself toward her. 

She acted quickly. Her trademark magic would now reveal itself. 

"Room." 

In an instant, a large, almost transparent globe was erected around Donna. 

"Protection magic…? Let's see how you'll handle being inside the mist." 

Thinking of it as a skill that protected Donna, Kruos began releasing an unearthly amount of mist inside through a hole he had cut up with his machete. 

The interior of the globe began to fill with mist until Donna could no longer be seen in the middle. 

"I can't… see."

From Donna's perspective, she was once again surrounded in an impenetrable wall of mist. 

"This will be your grave, girl. You shouldn't have followed Wang here. Now you'll die just like him." 

*whoosh*

"Behind!" 

Thanks to her enhanced senses, Donna was able to perceive the attack coming from behind her and react accordingly. 

"Ooh, nice block. Let's see if you can keep that up." 

Once again, Donna heard the slight movement of the wind. But this time, she wouldn't be on the offensive. 

"Hryaa!" Donna swung at the mist preemptively. 

"Whoa, almost got me there." Kruos yelped, before disappearing back into the mist. 

"But you see, girl, I'm bound to get bored of this. And since I have no reason to stay here as long as I should, this battle needs to end."

Another movement in the air. As Donna prepared to attack again, her senses screamed at her to duck. 

Alas, she was too late. An agonizing pain assaulted her back. 

"You…"

"What? You thought I was going to keep doing the same thing? Alright, then, how about this? I'll tell you from which direction I'm going to attack next. It's up to you to trust me or not."

"Here we go." Kruos disappeared back into the mist.

"Right." 

"Should I trust him? No, he's too…"

"Too slow!" Kruos struck. 

"Gaaah!" 

Blood spurted out from Donna's arm. Her grip on her sword visibly weakened. 

"Left." 

 This time Donna didn't think twice. She raised her sword in the direction of Kruos' voice. 

And just as he had said, Kruos appeared, unleashing a devastating blow on her sword. 

"Whoops, careful there. Your weapon's going to break."

"Behind."

*thwang*

"Forward."

*thwang*

"Left." 

*thwang*

"Behind."

*thwang*

"Front."

*thwang*

The whole sequence of events kept on repeating. And every single time, Donna had prevented herself from being sliced to ribbons. 

But she could tell. Her sword was nearing its breaking point. Cracks had long since formed on the blade, traveling all the way to the hilt. 

It was only a matter of time before it would be useless. 

"Right." 

Donna raised her sword to deflect the blow coming from her right side. 

Unfortunately, the sound of metal hitting metal did not ring throughout the area. But instead, it was Donna's screams of pain. 

"Heh. Good job holding out for so long, I guess."

"It's time to end this."

Reaching behind him, Kruos pulled out the one weapon he hadn't bothered to use this whole fight. 

It was the small handgun that was strapped to his clothes. 

The sound of Kruos pulling the slide filled the area. He raised his hand up, the gun in his hand. 

But Donna wasn't planning on going down without a fight. All this time, she had never gotten to use her chamber magic due to Kruos' constant attacks.

She wasn't allowed to breathe once. But the short time between Kruos' last strike and his pulling out of the gun allowed Donna to regain enough composure to make use of her ability. 

"Goodbye, girl." 

*bang*

Time seemed to slow down. What looked like a distance that the bullet could cover in an instant took more than a whole minute in Donna's eyes. 

Using all her built-up focus, she pulled back on the bullet. 

This was her arena… she controlled everything. She controlled anything inside it. 

But… not the bullet?

Seeing that she couldn't stop the bullet, Donna closed her eyes. There was nothing left she could do. 

…but it never came. 

Slowly, Donna opened her eyes. The smell of smoke entered her nostrils as she struggled to adjust to the sight in front of her. 

It was Wang Jin, and he had caught the bullet in his fingers!