Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty Eight
You heard out what the Master had to say about himself and his history with the current Demon King, how he hoped to change the Makai for the better and how he failed to do so.
But something doesn't seem to add up to you. Call it a hunch but you don't fully trust the guy.
He clearly practices what he preaches and as such you can't get a good read on him, since he has such a great control over his emotions.
Now you stand there, staring him down, wondering what to do next.
"Say... I have Sala here.
I promised her that once I leave this place I could take her with me.
Would you be interested in something like that? Being here... in a place full of reminders must be pretty depressing."
The Master pauses for a moment and thinks through your offer.
"A tempting offer but alas, I have no interest in the human world."
You shrug.
"As you wish.
But this makes things a bit awkward."
"Hmmm?"
"I was hoping you'd accept so as payment I could ask you to spar with me.
Now I just have to ask you nicely."
You assume your fighting position to which the demon in front of you raises an eyebrow.
"You're very persistent, aren't you?"
"One of my better qualities I'd say."
He closes his eyes and then takes a deep breath.
"Very well... I'll test that resolve of yours.
And see if you're indeed worthy."
Raising one of his legs the Master proceeds to balance on one while using his spread out arms almost like wings.
His whole posture seems a bit... familiar to you.
"Heh. Everybody loves kung fu fighting apparently."
The air begins to vibrate between the two of you as your enemy begins to get serious.
His power begins to radiate around him and you've honestly never experienced anythig like it.
Despite being calm at first sight the truth is that his emotions are raging inside of him, resulting in his aura feeling quite... murderous.
In that moment you realized the true meaning of his words.
This demon is not like Sala. At all.
He is a mad, raging lunatic. With an ungodly amount of self control.
And you get to experience it all first hand.
The demon kicks himself off the ground and soars through the sky like an eagle on the hunt.
He drives his foot firmly into your forearm and you feel your body being pushed back effortlessly as the calm demon looks down on you.
"What's wrong?
I thought you are eager to fight with me."
"HNNNNNNNNG!"
You grunt as you struggle to retaliate. This "Master" really doesn't hold back against you.
"YEARGH!"
With a burst of energy you create an explosion and push him back.
As he lands he doesn't break his stance even for a moment. Meanwhile you are panting, not because of the exertion but because somewhere deep down... you feel scared.
This might be the first TRUE demon you faced. All the others, they felt just like anyone else.
Beings with more or less power but still mortal. But he... he is the first genuine thing. A monster spawned in the blackest abyss, a real living nightmare.
"Heh... okay. I get it.
Not good. Lawful evil... got it."
You assume your fighting stance and prepare yourself.
You raise your hands into the proper stance and look your opponent directly in the eye.
He may be scary. But so are you. It has been proven to the Makai over and over again.
Now it's his turn.
Carelessly he charges you with another flying kick but this time he sees you vanish without a trace.
He looks around with a worried expression as he couldn't even read your movements with his ki sense.
But as he's frantically searching for you, he gets a punch delivered straight into his stomach.
"UAAAAGH!"
Involuntarily he spits out liquid as he gasps.
You pull back your hand and he reaches down for his chest.
Panting and drooling he looks up at you.
To his credit he doesn't loose his composure at all nor does he ask you what the hell just happened. He seems content figuring it out on his own.
His power flares back up and he leaves behind an afterimage as he moves behind you.
Attempting to strike you in the back he instead finds your leg firmly lodged in his side as you time-skip once more.
He reels back, unable to figure out what's going on.
"Attacking someone from behind?
That's dirty."
"There is nothing dirty about it...
In a fight it does not matter who is righteous or not. Only who wins or looses."
"So the ends justify the means?"
"In a fight to the death those that are restrained by things like morals and standards are at a disadvantage.
That's a fact!"
He charges you once more with reckless abandon.
But this time, when you attempt to strike him with Time-skip he manages to block you by prematurely raising his guard.
Your fist slams into his as he lets out a coy little smile.
Then you reward him for his troubles by time-skipping again and punching him in the face.
"But those that can afford such restraints are the truly strong ones..."
You respond.
"With help.
Both from my teachers and those I call my companions, my friends.
Were it not for them I wouldn't be anywhere near this strong. Hell, without them I wouldn't be here."
"Nonsense!
Relying on others is weakness! Not strength!"
"You're wrong.
You can act as a badass all you want. But in the end you are alone.
When I can draw power from more places it doesn't matter how weak I am."
You walk over to him and look down at the demon master.
"I managed to tear my way through your entire realm.
If you Demons weren't busy being obsessed with yourselves and instead worked together I wouldn't have gotten nearly this far.
Face it. Your whole logic is flawed. Because you aren't trying to fix a mistake, you're trying to exchange it for another one!"
The Master stands up.
Looks like he's not taking your insults very well.
The "W" like mark on his forehead begins to contract and shift as his power rises.
"I thought you'd understand... I thought you might be capable of stopping him...
But I see now that I was foolishly optimistic. You don't understand.
You don't understand what makes one powerful at all.
But it's okay. I'll show you."
His hair starts to stand up and takes the shape of horns while his eyes start glowing with a red light and his skin turns a darker.
The marking on his forehead finally finishes shifting and it looks like a very curly "M" now.
With a deep and menacing voice he speaks up and the cavern trembles with each word.
"This... is the power of a true demon.
The demon king!"
Sala and Ken are being blown back by the sheer amount of power he is radiating with.
Meanwhile you are standing still, watching him transform.
"Are you done?"
"Yes. And so are you."
He disappears in a flash. Looks like his power has been magnified several times over.
Now he can easily keep up with you and your time shenanigans.
He continuously assaults you while also hurling insults in your face.
"Do you even hear what you're saying?!
Cooperation? Trust? Friendship? Those words have no meaning here!"
"Wasn't that the exact thing you wanted to change?"
You respond to him while dodging his blows.
"H-Huh?"
"I thought you wanted to change demons to be better.
To not stab each other in the back all the time. Were you lying to me? Or yourself?"
"Be quiet!"
He throws another punch but it's slower this time than the last so dodging it is no challenge.
Using time-skip you get clear of the guy and stare him down.
You let out a little smile.
"If you still don't get it... then how about I give you a demonstration?"
Clenching your fists you let out a pained shout as the power in your body explodes.
"YEARGH!"
Now your body brimming with Ki as well as psichic energy you extended a welcome to your opponent.
"Come at me!"
He obliged and with anger in his eyes he charged you.
Judging by his movements he was expecting you to use time-stop, since his blocking was random and frantic and often interrupted his attack sequences.
But you didn't need to rely on it this time.
Tossing your own body around like a rag doll you managed to move in such a way that's very hard to respond to.
And when needing to attack you not only used that velocity but also mustered every ounce of strength you had.
A punch with the perfect balance of speed and power was enough for you to effectively take the Master out of the fight.
Slamming into his gut you almost saw your hand poking out at his back as he leaned forward.
But being a stubborn demon he does not give up and attempts to retaliate with a barrage of punches and kicks.
Even when you cross your arms and refuse to properly block or counter him he simply refuses to acknowlede the difference between the two of you.
Eventually however he tires out and looks at you in utter confusion.
"How... How is this possible?
First Abraka and now you... Even after stealing a portion of the Majins power I am still this weak?"
You fly backwards a bit as you look at him.
"That's your problem.
That "power" may be a lot but it's all stolen.
Power given is quite different from power taken.
Watch."
With quick sleight of hand you raise your right arm and form a sideways V pointing at your eyes.
The Master watches as they slowly turn black and red. Suffice to say, that shuts him up real good.
"H-HOW???"
He struggles to speak.
"N-Not even I... could manage it like that!"
"Neat trick huh?
Haven't found much use for it yet.
But this is the difference between you and I."
You cross your arms as your eyes go back to normal.
"I sure hope you're taking notes."
"Then... you mean to tell me-"
"Yes!
Your way. Does. Not. Work!"
You uncross your arms once more and pull back one of them to throw a punch.
"But if you still need some convincing... HERE IT IS!"
Starting slowly with just a bit of noise you slowly work your way up until you are shouting at full volume.
Your muscles swell and the air begins to shake as you charge up more and more energy.
As finally arcs of energy crackle and fly off your arm you unleash it all with a mighty punch.
Carefully aiming so you don't strike him by accident you whiff on purpose.
He watches as your fist flies past his head and then as the ceiling of the cave and the entire rest of the mountain above it is sent into the upper parts of the Makai as rubble.
He falls to his knees and shakes in fear.
"I-Incredible! Y-You definitely, definitely can stand up to Abraka...
I can't believe it!"
Sighing with relief you respond.
"That's good to hear.
Glad all that hard work paid off."
Turning your back to him you continue.
"Are you just gonna stay there?"
"Yes."
He answers you as his form returns to how it was before.
"I... need some time to think."
"Think about what you just heard.
Once you figured it all out, I'm sure the demon world will be better off."
Sitting down the man entered the lotus position and began meditating.
"Yes... I suppose that will be for the best."
He then hesitates for a moment before speaking up.
"One more thing outsider...
Watch out for the kings spit."
For a second you don't know what to make of that comment but in the end you suppose you'll find out.
So nodding in thanks you left what remained of the now very much open "cave".
On the way out you hear Sala commenting on the trashed place.
"Hey, at least you did a nice job remodeling the place.
Pretty sure you just increased the value of the property by a bunch, now that the temple is on the top of the mountain and not in it."
"I suppose.
What are the odds that demons would now come here to get trained?"
"Slim to none."
Sala answers your question.
"Hmmm."
Ken also nods.
"Well... at least it looks pretty now.
So. All that's left is the king now huh?"
"Yeap."
"Hmmm."
"Good."
You crack your knuckles.
"Time to raise some Hell!"
With every source of power and practice exhausted in the Makai there is nothing left... but the big finale.
Using the help of your two aides you headed straight for the palace of the Demon King.
Unsurprisingly the small nation as well as the army meant to protect it didn't as much as DARE to stand in your way.
Having even your silhouette make demons shit themselves certainly has its perks.
You take a deep breath as you revel in the sensation.
"Aaaaaah.
I'm gonna miss this place."
"Seriously?!
Huh. Never thought I'd ever meet someone who likes being in Makai."
"Well... Up there I'm just a small fish in a big pond.
It felt nice being the big bad for once. But I must get back..."
You look up at the towering castle before you as a sea of demons surrounds you but dares not to attack.
Looking over the thing you are overcome by juvenile joy.
"Heh. By the power of grayskull.
Well at least I can give the guy credit for his taste in decor."
Slamming your fists together you get yourself pumped.
"Time to wreck this guys world!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone