<h4>Chapter 25: The Arrival of an Ultimate Warrior</h4>
"Hmm?"
Father Albert reacted as he sensed some demonic energy from the dungeon.
He frowned his eyebrows, pondering,
''I don''t think our dungeon has demons. Are there any intruders?''
Then, he closed his eyes while standing on a greenfield.
"Huh?!"
He reacted as he opened his eyes in an instant.
"No way..."
Then, he nced toward the north and mumbled,
"What''s a Demonic Guardian doing in the dungeon?"
When he opened his right palm, his crystal ball reappeared.
He nced at the Demonic Guardian, then he realised that Ary was also there.
He sighed after seeing Ary and pondered,
''Will he be able to defeat him? His ranking is not the same as that of the Demonic Guardian.''
Then, a thought struck his head.
He smiled and focused on Erica, Mike, Emily, and Mary.
He spotted his left index finger on them and called out,
"Santika."
Then, he smiled and nced at Ary and said,
"I hope you don''t disappoint me, my child."
***
Ary was ring at the Demonic Guardian with a furious gaze, pondering,
''Demon...I will definitely kill him.''
His anger toward demons after seeing Selina''s past increased rapidly.
Mike, who was frightened to see the Demonic Guardian, pondered,
''What should we do now? A Demonic Guardian is an SSS-ranked beast. Defeating him is impossible for our group.''
Then, his eyes shifted to Ary. He mumbled,
"Will Ary be able to take him down...?"
Emily and Mary were scared after the appearance of the Demonic Guardian. They were both shivering in fear.
While Erica, on the contrary, nced at Ary and pondered,
''Will we be able to defeat him together...?''
"Ding!"
Suddenly, Almita made a dinging sound.
"Hmm?"
Ary reacted as his gaze shifted to Almita.
<Demonic Guardian is found.
Rank:- SSS-ranked beast.
Weakness:- Unknown.
The chance of winning is 5%.>
Almita reported.
"Tsk!"
After hearing the rank and the possibility of winning, Ary clicked his tongue.
He thought that the rank would be SS-ranked, but it was greater than that.
Also, the possibility was low.
"Status Gawking eyes."
Ary called while ncing at the Demonic Guardian.
It showed one million.
"Wha?!"
Ary was left bbergasted after discerning this.
"What is he doing?"
Shikh mumbled after seeing Ary ring at him.
"Guys, stay back."
Arymanded.
"What?! But Ary-?!"
Before Mike and others could react, while tightening his des, Ary ran toward the Demonic Guardian.
"Haaaaaaaaa!!!!!"
He yelled while running.
Actually, yelling was unnecessary, but he did that because it gave him the vibe of his favourite Shounen Manga.
"Heh."
The Demonic Guardian smiled after seeing Ary''s stupidity.
"ZIIIIIIZZZZZ!!"
"Wha?!"
Ary jumped back as a snake of the Demonic Guardian darted at him.
"Hehehehe. What a fool, human."
Shikhmented as he shrugged his shoulders, adding,
"Did you think that you''d defeat me just because you have a sword?"
"Hmph. I know I''ll defeat you."
Ary replied.
After seeing his confidence, Shikh smiled more and said,
"Well, then."
Snap!
Then, he snapped his fingers and some packs of demonic wolves appeared from behind him.
"What?!"
Mike and others were left terrified after seeing the appearance of the demonic wolves.
"Grrr!!!"
While howling, the demonic wolves stepped forward.
Ary shifted his attention to the demonic wolves.
Swish!
"Hmm? Ngh!"
Suddenly, a sharp arrow darted at him, but luckily, he dodged it.
"You!"
Ary bellowed as he saw that it was Shikh who fired it.
"Hehehe. I''m your opponent. Don''t forget that."
Shikhmented with a smirk.
The demonic wolves ran towards Mike and the others.
"Huh?!"
Ary reacted with a worried expression, but he wasn''t able to protect them since Shikh was there.
"Don''t stress, Ary."
Emilymented.
Swoosh!
Then, she fired an arrow at a demonic wolf and added,
"Focus on your battle with that demon over there. We are strong enough to talk down these beasts."
"Ah, okay."
Ary replied. He wasn''t sure whether they defeated them or not, but he believed in them.
He shifted his attention to Shikh, and he tightened the grip of his de and frowned his eyebrows.
"Well, well. To think that a mere human like you would have that much courage is absurd. I must say I''m unimpressed."
Shikh added with a creepy smile.
Ary didn''t respond, but with a swift speed, he shed at Shikh.
And as he reached in front of him, hended a slice attack.
Unfortunately, Shikh''s appearance vanished like smoke.
"What?"
Ary reacted as he didn''t understand what just happened.
"Over here, human."
"Hmm?"
Ary reacted as he turned around and saw him standing about a mile away from him with the same creepy smile.
"When did he..."
Ary called out, but suddenly,
"Ding!"
Almita made a dinging sound, reporting,
<A skill of the Demonic Guardian is Found. Mirror imaging.>
"Mirror image? Damn!!"
Ary cursed after hearing about the mirror images.
He realised that it may be a problem.
But without any second thought, he darted toward the Demonic Guardian again.
"Hehe."
With a smirk, Shikh jumped, and suddenly, three more clones, mirror images of him, appeared around him, and they all darted their snakes at Ary.
"Dark Scare of Death!"
With a swing of his de, Ary decapitated every snake.
Shik''s mirror images disappeared and he jumped backward, saying,
"To think that you''ll decapitate my snakes is quite disappointing, I must say."
Unexpectedly, the heads of every snake grew up again.
"What?! They regenerated?!"
Ary reacted while widening his eyes after glimpsing them regenerate.
Shikh opened his right palm and a crop cutter-like de appeared in his arm.
He nced at Ary and said,
"Let''s get serious now."
Then, with a swift speed, he flickered at Ary.
His speed was so hyper that Ary didn''t notice when he arrived in front of him.
Heunched a slice attack at Ary, but luckily, Ary defended himself with his de.
With a creepyugh, Shikh thrust Ary backward, saying,
"You know, kid."
Then, he forwarded his face, saying,
"In battle, focus matters a lot."
"GWAH?!"
Unexpectedly, he kicked at Ary''s belly, and with a quick speed, Ary flew away in the air.
"Ary!"
Erica called out, but she failed to go since demonic wolves were circling them and Mike and Emily were protecting them.
With a maniacalugh, Shikh ced his left palm over his face, saying,
"How weak he is. I thought I''d face some strong warriors, but who would have thought that I''d end up facing a kid. Hahaha."
Cough! Cough!
While coughing, Ary got up, shivering due to pain. He felt a sharp pain in his left rib.
"Grrr...why is it hurting that much?"
Ary mumbled while gritting his teeth.
"Hey, kid."
Shikh, who was standing some distance away from him, called while stepping towards Ary.
Ary nced at Shikh.
"Are you really a warrior?"
He poked fun at Ary.
Ary didn''t reply.
He picked his de from the ground and while tightening the grip on his de, Ary finally said,
"Yes, I''m a warrior, Ary Inochi."
"Huh?!"
Shikh was left terrified after hearing the surname "Inochi."
He red at Ary and asked,
"You''re...an Inochi...?"
Ary realised that Shikh might know about the first Warrior.
He nodded and darted toward Shikh, yelling,
"Yes, I''m!!"
"Nightmare Assault!!"
Then, heunched a dark shockwave at Shikh.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion happened.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Ary started panting. He was already fragile from the Shikh attack, but he tried his best to knock Shikh down.
However,
Swish!
"GAH?!"
Unexpectedly, an arrow pierced through Ary''s chest at a swift speed.
Ary, with a bbergasted expression, looked at his chest.
Ary knelt while holding his chest.
"Ary!!!"
Erica became worried after glimpsing Ary''s condition.
"Your surname might be Inochi. But you''re not that Inochi."
As the smoke disappeared, Shikh was seen standing there while lowering his gaze.
Then, he red at Ary, and with hyper-speed, he ran toward Ary tond a finishing blow.
"Die!!!"
Shikh yelled and swung his de at Ary.
sh!
"Wha?!"
"Huh?"
Both Shikh and Ary were left bbergasted and perplexed as Shikh''s right arm got cut off and flew away toward the sky.
Shikh jumped back as he realised the presence of someone stronger.
Swish!
With a swishing sound, a ck-suited man appeared in front of Ary while holding a blue de in his right hand.
"Huh?"
Ary reacted after glimpsing this.
"Huh...?"
Mike, Emily, Erica, and Mary responded after seeing the appearance of an unknown person.
"Are you okay, kid?"
He asked. His voice reflected a sense of caring.
"Um? Y-Yeah."
Ary replied.
"Um, Wh-Who are you?"
Ary asked, trying to stand up.
That man grabbed Ary''s hand and supported him to stand and said,
"I''m Kashi Tachibana..."
Then, he nced at Shikh andpleted his words,
"An Ultimate Warrior."