Black String of Fate

'Dance of the Blood Moon? Was there such a move in the Art?'

Xavier was confused about the new technique, but he didn't have time to contemplate it. The heavenly demon had already rushed in, his sword now gleaming with both red and white-gold.

Xavier took a defensive stance as he attempted to deflect the attacks, but it was futile.

*CLASH*

The first hit had broken his defense and made him slide back, but the assault did not stop there. The heavenly demon danced with the blade, relentlessly attacking Xavier with absurd angles. The dance left many visible openings, but the strength of the attacks made him unable to capitalize on those opportunities.

Xavier could only helplessly defend.

"Witness, arrogant child. This is the True Demonic Arts! How dare you attach a preposterous label such as 'Supreme' to your crude sacrificial arts?! I'll not kill you so easily, I'll burn my legacy into your very soul!"

Xavier could no longer properly hear whatever the heavenly demon was saying. His attention was all on preventing himself from getting irreparably injured from this god-forsaken dance.

'I can't attack, he's not giving me any opportunity to. How? How can I be suppressed to such an extent? He's not superior to me in rank right now, he's even a whole realm inferior to my past life. Yet how can I be so helpless against him?

Is this it? Is this what my talent amounted to? Is this what my life as a Demon King could give me? Is this my natural limit?'

Xavier, who was defending against the sword strikes, was suddenly kicked in his guts. Spit came out of his mouth as he was launched back and tumbled against the ground.

He shakily put his hand on the ground as he tried to rise up, but the heavenly demon flickered and stepped on his head, preventing him from standing up.

"I must say, the fact you're even alive right now is a miracle. Your tenacity and grit are praiseworthy, but this is the end. May we fight another great battle in our next lives."

Even though Xavier could not see, he could feel the heavenly demon raise his sword above his head, preparing to guillotine it down.

"...Not like this… I can't die like this… I can't accept a fate like this…"

Xavier did not give up his struggle, but the heavenly demon looked down apathetically. He also had to finish this battle soon, his bloodline had its limits too.

"If you were fated, you would not be lying beneath my feet in the first place. I shall remember your name, Xavier, the arrogant demonic swordsman."

The heavenly demon swung down his sword, but at the last moment, Xavier blocked the hit with his sword. Due to the poor stance and the already heavy hits the sword had seen, it shattered with this blow, signifying the final resistance it could provide.

"Argh, just die."

The heavenly demon, out of irritation, charged his sword with more Force than normal and swung down hard, aiming to incapacitate him once and for all.

*CLASH*

"...What?"

He looked down, just to see an apparition of a sword made from Force blocking him. It looked flimsy, nothing like the dense and potent Force of Xavier, but it completely nullified the charged attack.

Xavier, with a shaking hand, slowly pushed back the sword and got up, pushing away the foot that was stomping him.

"I… can't… lose like this."

Soon, Xavier was once again face-to-face with the heavenly demon. They looked into each other's eyes, but the one to be affected the most out of this confrontation was the heavenly demon.

'What is that madness in his eyes?!'

There was no focus in Xavier's eyes, just sheer will. In fact, looking at his hazy eyes, it was hard to call him conscious. He wielded a silhouette of the weapon he used to wield in his prime, a katana called the Soulblade.

The heavenly demon, seeing the hazy eyes and the weapon silhouette, quickly realized what was going on.

'Enlightenment? This brat achieved enlightenment in the midst of this battle and touched upon the realm of Weapon Manifestation? Just what is this ungodly talent?!'

While the heavenly demon was analyzing the situation here, something else was going on inside Xavier's mind.

********

"We are weak."

In an empty expanse of white space, Xavier stood with a broken sword in hand and a cut-off arm. In front of him was also Xavier, but this one was grown-up, fully kitted out in the armament of his previous life, and punctured with multiple weapons from the hero's party that killed him.

"We always were, but our talent and might helped us hide that. We became the strongest purely through strength."

"Once again someone is stepping on us and calling it fate."

"It's not a new thing. Aren't we used to that?"

"Yeah, but this time it's different."

"How so?"

"You already know."

The Demon King smiled as he approached Xavier and put his hand on his shoulder. His avatar started glowing and fading away, leaving one last message to his fateless counterpart.

"Surpass me, Xavier. I know we are not meant for the measly summit of the Demon King. Surpass me, and surpass fate itself. This chance we are given, use it to the fullest. You are no longer me, but I am just a small part of you."

The Demon King completely faded into small motes of light and got absorbed into the current Xavier. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, living through his memories of his life as a terrifying world-class calamity.

He opened his eyes to the real world, only to find the heavenly demon completely battered with wounds and sword marks. There was an expression of disbelief in his eyes, but Xavier was not surprised to see that once the memories of the battle rushed into him.

He calmly looked into the eyes of the heavenly demon as he said,

"You know, while you have your legacy to honor, I have the fear of the world to justify. What you'll be facing now won't be the upgrade of the Demonic Sun Cult Arts, but the Supreme Demonic Arts of the Demon King."