Chapter 99: 9 Heavenly Defiant Swords

Right now the two rivals were staring head first at a figure neither of them would ever be able to forget for the rest of their lives.For one it was the reanimated corpse of the being that could be called either their parent or a glance into a future that existed for them. A puppet filled with nothing but a desire of bloodshot tugged along by its strings, all in order to complete the goal of the one who called herself her one true mother. Even if the one standing was no longer the foolish Promicarus it was certainly something that caught Legions attention.Meanwhile, for the hero, it was a figure who she had been hunted by since she first took a step into the crazy world inhabited by the strong. At the same time it was a monster she couldn’t understand even if she wanted to. Clearly it wanted ‘something’ yet she was unsure of what it was at the end of the day.If it got its way she had a feeling she wouldn’t ever be able to understand why it behaved the way it did. One thing she understood for sure is that it currently needed her alive otherwise there is no way it would show itself… Though it looked far different from how she remembered it even down to the aura it emitted.Jeeves was still in its monstrous state yet now bloody flames constantly burned on its cracked frame however these cracks were the crimson ones. Instead many sickly green cracks constantly formed only to be sealed by those flames - yet the rate of cracks seemed too fast for the monster's regeneration. Boils even formed over its thin veneer of flesh & muscle and constantly popped with a corrosive fluid that burned away more at its form.While before it’s hunched over back looked menacing it now looked more like a sick dog merely awaiting its chance to be put down. Before it had no need to breathe nevertheless it was now greedily heaving its chest as if to drag in more energy to sustain itself. Still the fact that ‘something’ could reduce the all mighty Jeeves into this state was terrifying in of itself.“This is good, if this great one is able to defeat thou, this one shalt be able to fully put mine frailty behind once and for all. All those memories from my past will be nothing except a backstory which had no effect on this one. Now come at this one and allow me to show thine how weak a mere undead puppet truly is when compared to perfection!” <Legion> Legion’s fearsome aura erupted as they calmly crossed their lower arms around their abdomen while positioning their swords. Their stance was almost as if they were welcoming Jeeves to try their hand; swords held to their sides while glimmering from the sunlight now behind them. The intimidation obviously didn’t work on the supposed {Pillar of the Rogue}.“M̷̸̵̸̷͎̻̲͓̲̍͋̏̀̌-̶̷̴̵̶̩͍̪̥̳͒͑̎̂̄*COUGH*-̸̴̵̶̸̼̜͉̻̻̍̂̿́͊ý̵̷̶̸̷̡͔̹͈̗̍̆̒̕ ̷̴̴̶̶̧̢͚̰͎͐͂̀͗͝V̵̶̶̵̸̨̟̮̣̖͒̐̑̋͑e̴̷̸̵̴̟͖̙͚̺̎̇͒̍̓-̶̴̵̶̷̥̘̯̹̘͋͐̌͠͝*Wheeze*S̸̶̸̴̶͓̹̭̯̉́́̄͊ͅs̴̴̴̵̸̨̳͎͍̯͐̃͆̒̕E̸̸̸̵̸̘̬͙̫̥̊̽͛̃͝l̸̷̴̴̸̨̙̪̙̳͐̌̈́͋͑!̶̶̶̶̵̯̲̗͍̼̈́̋̏́͝” <Jeeves>Other than the coughing and weezing the voice of Jeeves was far too corrupted to be understood by even the pseudo-demon lord. He pulled back on the bloody gauze wrapped around both his left hand as well as the handle of the massive stone sword. Soon the sword was approaching him yet before it could end up in his hand he slung it upwards above his head - spinning that massive sword around like it was as light as a towel. Even in this clearly weakened state he still somehow managed to pull out this much strength while the power only grew with each rotation.It wasn’t long before the battle of titans erupted atop the mountain - starting with Jeeves sending his sword flying towards Legion who gladly received it. Crossing their massive greatswords allowed them to avoid any damage to their body however it appeared they underestimated the power a a large *DONG* echoed out. The terrifying pseudo-demon lord skidded back far further than Eel ever sent Promicaurs.Anyone watching would be able to instantly tell that Jeeves had the advantage after this initial exchange, making the beastified Eel clench her fangs. Despite that Legion showed no intentions of stepping back, not only that, they in fact seemed almost jovial. Slowly approaching the monstrous Jeeves who ran after his sword to grab it after it bounced off Legion’s guard to continue chasing after the pseudo-demon lord.In fact Legion even let a majestic chuckle leave from their mask as those black flames flared up in excitement.“Kekeke~ this one was suspicious at first yet it would appear this is truly the best moment to put thou down for good. Jeeves, thou hast ran into the master of ailments, illness, curses and plagues hast thou not? Not only that; it would appear that thy hast crossed blades for long enough to be inflicted by [Pandora’s Plague] muhaha!” <Legion>Jeeves leapt into the air only to swing his sword down to cleave Legion in half yet this time Legion didn’t try to block but instead swung their right sword to hit the side of his sword. The result was letting the massive blade explode the earth by their side however this didn’t make the soon to be demon lord flinch. Instead they followed up by seeking to separate Jeeves’ head with their left blade.The experienced monster obviously didn’t fall for this as they moved their own right hand to meet with Legions ‘wrist’ in order to halt the sword. Similar to the hero clones before this ended up being a false hope as the lower left hand moved forth to deliver a powerful blow to Jeeves’ solar plexus causing it to reel. Taking this chance the last hand moved to grab the undead by his neck before making full use of its superior height to lift them up by their neck.Holding the legendary figure in front of themselves like it was a prize - making sure to soak in the ambiance of the situation. Its tri-digited hand soon tightened around the beast's neck to cause its bones to audibly creak under its power. Even with the difference in appearance some things never changed as Legion soon took this chance to gloatingly monologue.“If this one kills off a hero this one will achieve the fabled demon rank of ‘Demon Lord’ so if this one grants both a hero and a fallen undead Hero… Perhaps this one will be able to instantly become a Demon Sergeant if I pledge mine allegiance to the empress? This one may even be able to convince the demon monarchs & gods to seek vengeance upon the entirety of the {Mortal Realm}!” <Legion>How could it be so easy to kill Jeeves though?Letting go of his own sword a blood red aura formed around his left hand which he used to hack the lower right hand off thus letting them fall to the ground. The pseudo-demon lord was clearly surprised by the loss of a limb thus also stepped back, Jeeves promptly jumping forward once more to shoulder barge the giant. Taking both of them down to the ground.Climbing onto Legion’s waist he attempted to launch a flurry of blows to completely mawl the faux demon’s face. Similarly though, Legion also wasn’t an easy person to deal with, having their other lower hand grab one of the bladed wings from it’s back, Promptly a green aura surged out from the sword before they called out their move with confidence.“[9 Heaven Defiant Swords - .5th Form - Key To Prosperity]!” <Legion>A profound aura erupted in full view of Eel who only now understood how foolish she was for thinking herself far along the path of the sword. Forming behind Jeeves was a faded gigantic gate while the aura from the sword formed into an equally illusionary key which soon Legion thrust into the hole. Twisting it once to unlock the door which coincided with the suffering screams of the demon's opponent. An ear piercing screech soon called out as the sword went right through the monster. The move also delivered a mighty amount of force which resulted in Jeeves flying up along with the green sword aura produced. Legion was hardly done as they calmly rose onto their feet with elegance before taking a stance with its welcoming stand with all three swords as the key & door dissolved.“[9 Heaven Defiant Swords - 1.5th Form - Patricide of Necropolis]!” <Legion>Swinging all of its swords together into guillotine especially made for their own father who had no way to seemingly dodge the move. The aura formed into a set of skeleton executioners who each swung an implement for execution - an axe to remove the neck as well as half of a spear to puncture between the rib cage. The faint wisps of what seemed like a cross appeared behind Jeeves yet clearly the lack of a hand impacted the final result of the form making Eel wonder what it would look like if both moves were done at Legions full strength.Sure enough the undead being who had been plaguing her wasn’t able to dodge the attack as they soon plummeted into the ground in front of Legion. Something to note was that the head ended up landing a few seconds before the body.“So it has emerged that this is all thou was capable of in the end. Even as a mere imitation of the real thing this one can’t help but feel thine strength severally… Disappointing. It would appear that if this one wishes to test mine newfound power the only target I can point my blades to would be Munzumira, Mother or others Archons since Topplers are only this.” <Legion>With that the demon lord turned away from the corpse oozing blood red fire; instead stretching out their damaged limb to its severed hand. Black ooze gushed out to consume the hand before retreating back to the wrist. Instead of slinking back into its metallic hide, it took the form of the hand it just ate before appearing to ‘become’ that hand in a mere moment later.Flexing it’s fingers for a second before that hand too reached back to grab a sword from its blades wings before turning towards Eel. Its crimson cape fluttered in the air behind itself while those black flames seemed more subdued due to its disappointment. Eel wished to complain about how her supposed rescuer turned out to be a sick and dying monster yet there was no time for that. Using her spear she rose to her feet once more while summoning her sword in her right hand to gaze down at Legion.“Shall w-” <Legion>They stopped mid sentence upon feeling a hand grip their shin from behind only to find the headless corpse of Jeeves pulling them back. The headless monster shot a powerful punch to the back of the back leg yet Legion wasn’t playing games anymore. Despite losing their balance a bit they swung their bottom left sword back to leave a powerful slash down Jeeves’ side.That did little to make Jeeves let go however.“Í̵̴̵̸̸̢͉͕̳͙͗̀̊̋ ̷̸̴̵̷̨̥̯̟̼͂̀̈́̀̾c̸̵̴̶̴̢̣̝̙͂͌͛̀̌͜*Wheeze*å̵̷̶̶̸̭̳̩̍̈́͊̉͜ͅn̷̶̵̶̵̛̖̫̜̗̟̽͛̋̓'̷̷̵̴̴̡̡͍̗͓̒̆̔́͝t̸̸̶̶̷̡̫̠̰̗̀̎̍͘͝ ̴̵̵̷̴̧̯̺͑́͑̅̄͜ͅd̶̵̸̴̵̛̲̗̥͔̟̒̐̅̚i̸̶̶̶̸̻̱̤͍͉̊͂͆̀͛ę̸̷̷̴̷̛͙̹̪̬̍̑̚̚!̸̸̸̷̶̙͙̻̩̩̑̿͗̓͠” <Jeeves>“[Spear of Light]~!” <Eel>Additionally the hero who Legion turned away from wasn’t one to let go of a chance to attack and sent a spear of life to slam into the pseudo-demon lord's face.“Pests should learn their place…” <Legion>Legion enunciated with seething rage despite seemingly being completely unharmed.