Guildless

Grysaal Manor [Chapter 85]

I dash into the castle, sword drawn. I enter a large room, doors line both sides of the walls and two spiral staircases going up and down sit in the middle of the room. A strange man stands shortly in front of me. He has messy black hair and a black suit. His eyes are closed, but he waves at me.

"Welcome to Grysaal Manor. May I ask why you are trespassing on master's territory?"

He asks, almost cheerful. I glare at him and speak up.

"Where is your master? Is he on this floor, or above us? Maybe below us?"

I slowly walk towards the guard as I hear Vex and everyone else enter the room behind me. The man laughs slightly.

"He is in the throne room above us, but I'm sorry sir. I will have to ask you to leave, before I remove you forcefully."

The man walks towards me and pulls on some snow-white gloves. He reaches out for my shoulder, but I quickly pull my sword back.

"Flurry: X84."

I slam my sword through him, cutting him to pieces with almost no difficulty.

[Skill Evolved!]
[Flurry X84 > Flurry X168]

I smile faintly and step over the body. Vex growls behind me, but doesn't say anything. I run up the stairs and pass several more floors before entering a massive room with stained glass on the back wall. A large black throne sits feet from the window, facing outside.

"Hm?"

I hear someone mumble from the throne.

"Oh, a pest."

A man stands up and moves from the throne, slowly walking towards me.

"Oh! Not a pest afterall, you do have a vast amount of strength."

He mumbles, barely loud enough for me to hear. I hear everyone running up the steps as I look closer at the man. He has black dress pants and a black shirt on, but they're mostly hidden underneath his platinum like greaves, knee-guards, bracers, and shoulder-plates. Long silver hair falls down to the middle of his back and glowing golden eyes seemingly pierce the darkened room.

I quickly dash towards him, everyone else reaching the peak of the stairs and seeing us. I slam my sword through his throat and pin him to the ground. The man coughs up blood and stares at me, seemingly bored. His eyes slowly close and I rip my blade from his throat. Vex speaks up.

"Dante!"

I roll the man over, finding a short sword on his back. I reach for it, but Vex appears at me and grabs my wrist. Vex says nothing, he only glares at me and breathes angrily. I rip my hand away as the man yawns and stands up beside us.

"So you aren't working together? A shame, with his army and your strength, you could make a truly devastating force indeed."

I quickly look to the man, the same I could've sworn I just killed. Before I can speak, Vex covers my mouth.

"What do you mean, 'Army'? What can you see."

Vex asks, clearly hesitant of the man. He reaches back with lightning fast speed and draws his sword.

"I doubt I could kill either of you, but since you cannot kill me either, I feel as though we should chat. While enjoying the rush of battle, of course."

He tilts his sword slightly, the blade suddenly glowing bright silver. I slap Vex's wrist away, but accidentally break it. Vex doesn't react as though he's in pain, but instead keeps his focus on the man in front of us. I quickly step forward, swinging my sword towards the man's throat. He doesn't even attempt to block it, his head being severed from his body.

His head starts to fly off from the impact, but he quickly reaches up and grabs his decapitated head. The man pulls it back down and sets it on his neck, a strange golden glow sealing it back on. As he pulls his hand, I see no scar or mark as though he was even cut.

"Impressive power, but it seems that's all you are. If you do have any other tricks or techniques, I would like to see them."

The man points his sword straight towards me, then flattens the blade. I laugh proudly.

"You are tough, but I doubt you have any attack that can even scratch m-."

"Pierce the void."

In the blink of an eye, a hole rips through my chest. For a split second, I'm stunned. Within that brief time period, the man moves to me and grabs my heart from my open chest. I feel a numb tingling through my whole body as the man opens his mouth, revealing two teeth on the top and bottom of his mouth that are sharper and longer than the others.

I remain frozen in place as he bites towards my heart, a jolt of tension ripping over me. Vex slams his sword through the man's cheeks and pulls his hand from my heart.

"Damnit Dante! How can you act so big then get defeated so easily!"

I stand, frozen in place. I grit my teeth and try as hard as I can to move, but pain rolls through my body. I shout as I force my body to move, a strange pain shooting into my every inch of my body, as though glass is shattered in my veins.

[-1,000,000 HP]
[+200,000 HP]

I feel myself start healing back and ready my sword. Sweat rolls down my cheek as I see the man jump away from Vex and use the same ability he used on me. Vex suddenly freezes as blood explodes from his chest and back. The man drops down and starts moving to Vex. Azeroth and Blankk rush towards Vex, Azeroth shouting.

"Vex!"

The strange man suddenly pauses then looks back to them.

"Oh? So you know me?"

He turns his attention from Vex to everyone else. I dash towards him and slam my sword down towards his head. He doesn't dodge, letting himself get cut in half. He heals back almost as fast as I cut through him. Azeroth shakes his head.

"We don't know you."

The man steps onto my sword as it rips into the ground then pushes his sword through my shoulder.

"Kneel."

I feel my knees become weak as my body becomes heavy. The man looks back to Azeorth.

"You are in the castle of Vexien Grysaal. Vex, for short. I'm known across the continent as the Lord of The Shadows."

I look up to him and notice his clothes aren't even damaged from me cutting through them. I grit my teeth.

"Damnit."