CHAPTER 30: DUNGEON BATTLE (7): ONE PATH TO DEATH, BETRAYAL

"HUMANS!"

The voice shook them. They could feel the hatred that it had; monstrous, devilish energy was released from the dead body, forming a mist.

Those that weren’t able to run fast from its range were absorbed into it; gruesome screams resounded in the room.

Those that weren’t absorbed into the mist began to sweat; they wondered what was going on, glad that they weren’t absorbed into it.

Matt’s body shook unconsciously; he was familiar with the level of pressure emitted by the mist. It was the same as the devil that was inside him.

"Everyone, step back now," Matt roared.

Nobody even argued; they all ran back to the beginning of the gigantic bridge, watching whatever transformation that was taking place in the devil mist.

They knew that whatever was going on in there might bring their death.

The scream stopped, everyone looked at the devil mist, footsteps echoed that shook their heart, and terror was coming.

The footsteps got closer until they saw a being coming out from it.

"All humans should die,"

They heard its cold voice, their entire body shook in fear, and they felt death was getting closer to them.

The mist rippled, twisting with dark energy before parting slowly. From within, a figure stepped out—the devil came out.

It stood tall and straight, its body shaped like a man’s, but everything about it screamed of something devilish and unnatural.

Its skin was pale, almost gray, with faint black markings that crawled like veins across his chest and arms. Small metallic thorns jutted out along its shoulders and spine, making it look eerie.

Its hair was pitch-black, sharp, and uneven, as if cut by blades themselves, with a faint silver shine running through it. Two curved horns rose backward from its temples, smooth and gleaming like polished obsidian.

But it was its eyes that froze everyone in place—twelve crimson slits glowing faintly, each one rotating slowly within his pupils like the movement of spinning blades. Those were devil eyes.

When it exhaled, the air grew heavy, filled with the metallic scent of blood. Its fingers ended in long, sword-like nails that shimmered faintly, and its shadow stretched unnaturally behind him, shaped like a writhing mass of swords.

They saw that the surroundings were rotten skeletons; they knew that those were their fellow students who were absorbed into the devil mist.

Everyone held their breath; this was beyond terror, and they didn’t dare breathe. They felt as if a blade was hanging on their neck.

"Tch, this body is too weak, such a weak strength," the devil figure complained. One could see that it didn’t mind Matt and the others; they were like ants before it.

Matt secretly checked the level of the devil with his scan; others also took the opportunity, but what they saw made them lose hope.

* ????????, Suppressed [Combat Power; Devil Spawn] *

Matt didn’t know what to do. Their body shook with fear, everyone felt weakness catch them, and they wondered how the academy would allow such a creature in this place.

How were they supposed to fight it, a being that had reached the same combat power as peak Requiem Novice?

Their lives were hanging on a thread that could snap at any moment; some of them had even urinated on their bodies due to fear.

The devil in front of them stretched its body like a warm-up. It was now that it laid its twelve eyes on Matt and the others.

The other couldn’t look into the eyes; all they saw was darkness, evil, and destruction. Matt was still looking as if he had seen such scenes before.

The devil scrutinized them; its eyes stopped when it saw Eira’s figure. She subconsciously hid behind Matt.

Matt saw this and was prepared to activate his veins.

"What rich blood!" It was surprising. "I wonder if I devoured you, would I be able to break the seal here?"

It stretched its hand, and Matt found Eira’s body drawn to the devil. He no longer wasted time, activating his veins.

The Devil turned to Matt, clearly shocked, as a milky white energy was released from Matt. When he battled the Ant Devil, he activated his Bravon and Stride Vein for combat.

But now he activated all thirteen veins, his eyes had partially become milky white, and his sixth sense had increased by a hundred times.

He disappeared from where he stood, appearing in front of Eira, hugging her so that the influence of the devil would disappear.

He brought her back to the ground. "You guys should step back a bit,"

Some of them were still in shock of Matt’s increased strength and his glowing body.

He looked at them, walking forward, standing before the Devil.

"Interesting. I don’t understand why you don’t feel much fear. Have you seen a devil being like me before?" The devil stroked its chin, thinking.

If not for its appearance, one would think it was human. When Matt heard this, he shook; he never thought that the devil would be able to guess why.

"Nah, if you had seen one, there’s no way you would be alive until this day," it chuckled.

Matt didn’t waste time; he stretched his sword to the side, it gained a milky white color, and he moved, attacking the Devil. His surge of strength wasn’t permanent.

"Why rush?" A sword came out from its body; it held the sword, attacking too.

SWOOSH! CLANG!

Their first clash, their swords blocked each other, letting out sharp sounds.

But the next moment, the sword of the Devil broke into pieces, and its hand was sliced, spilling a black blood with a hue of gold.

The eyes of the Devil turned serious. "It seems that I underestimated you," it snorted.

Matt didn’t say anything; when he looked at where he wounded it, there was no injury.

Matt’s expression turned serious; he felt that the regeneration speed of the devil would be a problem for him.

He launched another attack: "Sword Combat Skill: Slash."His figure disappeared, their battle continued,

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The other students watched this; they couldn’t follow their speed; all they could see was their weapons clashing.

Matt kept on wounding the Devil, but the regeneration speed was faster than when Matt injured it. He kept on rushing, trying to kill the Devil, but he was helpless.

"Oh, it seems your power isn’t permanent," the devil said amusedly.

This made him panic, which was caught by the Devil.

"I wonder if I kill your friends, what would you do?" This word caused Matt to shake; he was vigilant.

"Are you afraid? How can you fight so dishonorably?" Matt said righteously.

The Devil burst into laughter when it heard this: "You are too childish, young boy. Have you forgotten what I am?"

When Matt heard this, was when he remembered what was before him was a true devil.

The Devil took advantage of Matt’s thought to attack him. Matt noticed this in time, dodging to the side, avoiding the attack narrowly.

He heard a scream of pain; when he looked back, he saw an explosion.Everyone had been sent flying, wounded; some of them had their bones broken.

The first thing that came to his mind was Eira’s safety; he turned, and she wasn’t harmed much by the attack.

He never thought the Devil had realized the double attack, one against him and the other against the other.

"Help!" He heard a cry for help; he turned to see Brad almost falling off the bridge. He was holding the edge of the bridge, but his hands were slipping..

Matt rushed towards his direction; it didn’t stop him, its gaze on Eira.

When Brad thought his hand would slip, Matt appeared at the right moment; he held his hand.

With a grunt, he pulled him back.

After Matt had saved Brad, he looked for the devil, trying to find its figure, only to see it in front of Eira.

Panic ran throughout his entire body; his adrenaline surged as he disappeared.

The devil looked at Eira. "Tch, if not for this weak body, I wouldn’t have resorted to such means."

A sword appeared in its hand. "Die,"

Fear filled Eira’s mind; she had never witnessed such a scene. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the scene of how she died.

PUCHI!

She didn’t feel any pain, only something wet touching her leg.

She opened her mouth to see Matt in front of her; she was elated before she thought of something that made her panic.

Her gaze scanned Matt’s body, only to see that a sword had stabbed inside Matt’s body. Her body shook, she started crying, and fear crept into her heart—fear of losing Matt.

"Don’t cry," Matt chuckled. The injury was not to be a big deal. He had been stabbed there before, and also the pain was reduced.

The Devil frowned at this, removing its sword, causing more blood to spill Matt held his sword, slowly standing up. If one looks closely, his injuries were already healing.

"No wonder you took the sword," the devil noticed his healing.

Matt raised his sword, planning to attack, but nausea and weakness came.

"Not now," Matt roared internally, his body failing him as he used his sword to hold himself.

The Relapse of activating his veins.

"Oh, it seems your little surge of power has disappeared," the devil laughed darkly.

When everybody heard this, their bodies shook in fear because they had put their hope in Matt.

Eira’s body shook, also realizing the danger that Matt was in.

Matt looked at the Devil but didn’t waver because he knew that Eira was behind him.

The Devil laughed out when it saw this, "You are still a child, young boy."

It appeared in front of Matt, slapped him, everywhere was a blur for a moment.

Even with this, Matt didn’t move from where he was. One could see that he was protecting Eira behind him.

Eira behind him couldn’t stop herself from crying.

With the slap given, Matt was close to losing consciousness, but remembering Eira was behind him, he didn’t dare lose consciousness.

The devil held Matt’s head, its right palm on his head. Matt was helpless before it.

The devil lost interest in Matt flung him away.

Matt’s body rolled on the ground, getting close to the sides of the bridge.

Everyone was shocked by this. Eira cried out, "MATT!" Her voice carried her pain.

He fell off the bridge. Brad, who was close to the scene, walked to check. No one knew why he did so,

He looked and saw that Matt hadn’t fallen off the bridge; it turned out in the last moment, Matt gained himself, holding a part of the bridge, but he couldn’t last long.

"Help me," Matt muttered in a weak voice when he saw Brad.

Brad stretched his hands, and Matt quickly caught hold of them. He expected Brad to drag him up.

"In your next life, never get close to her again; trash like you isn’t worthy of her," Brad whispered.

Brad released his hands, in the last moment. Matt didn’t expect this; he never thought someone he regarded as his friend would betray him because of a girl.

He looked at Brad’s malicious face as he free-fell. The shock caused him to lose consciousness.