{[Cobra Empress's 4th Demonic General]}
[Cultivation: Early Soul Formation Realm (Artificial)]
[Age: Inapplicable]
[Main Technique: Puppet Symphony]
"Ho?" Knox mused, interest shining in his golden eyes. "I had no idea that one of those Demonic Generals would be tagging along. But now that I do, I can't wait to see what will happen if I were to poke a few holes in it—whatever it is."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself!?" roared the Bear King, his booming voice creating ripples in the space around them. "If not, then on the order of Her Majesty, the Cobra Empress, prepare to face serious consequences when we return to the castle! Her Highness has personally requested your presence in her chambers, so don't expect to have a good fate!"
Knox raised a brow, licking his lips. "A personal invitation by that fine piece of ass?" he remarked. "Yum, yum, count me in!"
Bear King exploded in rage as he brandished his two double-sided axes, splitting open a very large mountain as a warning.
"Open your mouth one more time, and it'll be you getting split open next," he said in an oh-so-scary tone. "Stop playing around and allow yourself to be arrested!"
"Woah, man, there's no need to be so touchy," Knox said as he automatically absorbed all the Attribute Orbs dropping from Bear King. "Just because you can't tap that doesn't mean no one else can. But don't sweat it—I don't mind if you watch while I show you what a real man looks like. No need to thank me."
OOOM!
"YOU FUCKER!!!"
*Fwooop—!*
Bear King blitzed forward at several times the speed of light, holding his axes high above his head. The exotic metal they were forged from shimmered under the glaring heat produced by the three suns of Pandora.
As the axes shattered layer after layer of space in order to reach him faster, Knox smirked. Then he effortlessly sidestepped the rash attack. He noticed many openings in Bear King's form, and taking advantage of one, he stabbed a newly materialized Intent Sword into his side.
*Kuk!*
"My King!"
"How dare you, human!!"
"Do… Do you have any idea what you've just done!?"
Knox spawned another Intent Sword and lodged it close to the first one he left in the Bear King. Then, he cocked his head back and sadistically grinned.
"You speak of what I've just done," he said. "But what you don't understand is that you should be far more worried about what I'm going to do next."
*Cough! Cough!*
The Bear King violently coughed blood as he unleashed enough Innate Energy to push away, sending himself spiraling into a mountain's summit.
"...Y…You'll pay for this, you bastard," he angrily muttered while pulling out the Intent Swords with a pained and wrathful look on his face. "YOU'LL PAY!!"
Following his bellow, a reaction occurred in the once-still Demonic General. It began to move upon receiving the word from the Bear King. Its glowing red eyes then shifted toward Knox—an eerie action that was immediately followed by it blurring.
In a fast sequence of extremely bizarre movements, it crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Wielding a set of shadowy, jagged daggers, it slashed at Knox's legs—obviously attempting to render him immobile.
Knox had a -bruh- moment when it did that. Why? Because they were f*cking flying!
"What the hell will cutting my legs do?" he asked as he kicked out, knocking the mindless Demonic General off balance.
He rushed forward, a new Intent Sword in either of his hands. He parried the counterattack the Demonic General shot off as soon as its core balance was momentarily compromised. It thought it was smart, following up with a double dagger slash when it saw him going in for the kill.
However, anticipating that move, Knox ducked, then side-swept.
*Clang! Clang!*
The Demonic General dodged, following through with a right-handed dagger slash that clashed with Knox's right-handed Intent Sword. It wasted no time slashing out with its left dagger, but Knox thought and moved faster. He leaned his head to the left at the last possible moment; a nick emerged on his cheek.
Ignoring the slight pain, he let go of his right Intent Sword. Then, he landed a solid punch on the Demonic General's hard, metal stomach. A dent formed as it shot backward like a shooting star, crashing into the mountain adjacent to the one the Bear King was recovering on.
The Cobra Empress's 4th Demonic General was not much larger than Knox—pretty lean as well. If he had to describe it in a few words, it was like a possessed knight—one with ominous tendrils of greenish-black energy seeping out of the crevices in its armor.
"Overall, it makes for the perfect sparring partner," Knox said as he cracked his neck, preparing himself for the true fight. "It wasn't going all out previously, but now… Well, let's see what it'll take to pummel something that artificially achieved the Soul Formation Realm."
BOOOM!
The 4th Demonic General shot out of a crater in a mountain, creating an even larger crater that reduced the entire peak to a pile of rubble. The Demonic General's daggers had combined, transforming into a demonic-edged katana.
That very same katana was mere centimeters away from decapitating Knox.
SHA! SHA! SHA!
SHING!
And then their swords clashed as they zipped through the skies, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Whether it be mountains, Beast-kin, regular animals, or monsters—no matter what it was, all of it became casualties to the dazzling spectacle that was their fight.
— Some time later —
Rayzer: "...."
Six-Winged Seraphim's Eye: "...."
"You weren't too bad," Knox commented casually as he flicked the greenish-purple blood off his cracked Intent Swords. "For a puppet, that is."
The reason his subordinate and the giant floating eye in the sky were so silent was not because he was now standing triumphantly above the obliterated Demonic General. Rather, it was due to the fact that he was more blood than human at the moment.
Half his head had been melted off. An arm and a leg were missing, his remaining eye was mangled, and just about every bone and organ in his body was broken or damaged in some way.
He looked like something from a messed-up serial killer's wet dream.
Knox wasn't looking his best—that was for sure…