Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 84 – Floor 9: Part 5

“You truly are a Demon.” The young man said quietly. His eyes never left Mathew’s, even when his sister let out a faint groan and tried to get up from the toppled throne. He watched every movement of the Demon Lord in an effort to gauge his abilities but was forced to give up.

Still, he wasn’t one to run away from a fight. His sister was too brash; she should have held back to judge this Demon better. Instead, she wanted to make a show of force to impress their grandfather.

“If you say so.” Mathew responded with a smirk and a shrug.

“Nathaniel, of the Aeolian Lineage.” The young man introduced himself as he pulled a small dagger from his inventory. Mathew observed the blade, studying its explanation before nodding.

“Pleasure to meet you.” The Demon greeted politely.

They could have been two young men meeting casually if it wasn’t for the air of danger and the fact that the Demon now wielded his sister’s sword. The Demon gave it a few practice swings. The blade made a whistling sound as it moved.

“This is a nice weapon, I think I’ll keep it. I don’t think she’ll mind, don’t you think?” Mathew asked, his eyes flickering to the young woman. Not waiting for a response, the sword disappeared into his inventory, and Nathaniel’s eyes widened.

He wasn’t aware that Demons had the same abilities as those of the Lordly Lineages. He was right to be careful. If he hadn’t just witnessed his sister’s defeat, he may have still been under the mistaken assumption that he was dealing with another Lord.

But someone this powerful would have drawn attention ages ago. Only a Demon would appear out of nowhere and claim a territory.

“That sword belongs to our lineage, Demon.” Nathaniel commented, a frown creasing his perfect features. The Demon frustratingly smiled at the words.

“It seems to like me more. It does seem to be a bit lonely; I’ll have to add that dagger to my collection as well. What’s a Demon Lord without a horde of magical weapons squirrelled away.” Mathew joked, laughing at his declaration.

Nathaniel didn’t respond. He set himself into the proper stance for his attack. He had seen how quickly the Demon had moved. His agility and strength could be matched only by their Lord Grandfather. But Nathaniel wasn’t cowed. He had sparred against their grandfather to learn how to counter such power.

While the Demon was laughing to himself, outwardly off guard and unprepared, Nathanial struck.

“Blessing: Blink.” He whispered, driving the mana inside his body to cycle from his chest and into his legs. He propelled himself forward, and to all outside observers, he disappeared for a moment. To Nathanial, the world shifted in an instant, and his vision changed from having the Demon lord standing in front of him to seeing Mathew’s unprotected back.

Mid-air from the transition, Nathanial was about to plunge the dagger down when the Demon blurred. Where there had been a young man, chuckling to himself, now was a shapeless blob, wavering and shifting as if in a haze of heat in the desert.

Nathaniel had been positive of the Demon’s location when he had blinked, and his confidence led him to strike at the center of the moving mass. To his shock, his dagger struck nothing but air as his momentum carried him forward.

He rolled across the ground as he landed, twisting as he did so to come face to face with the Demon once more.

“Blessings…so I was right. You are the descendant of a player.” Mathew whispered, letting the blur ability fade again. He wasn’t worried about Nathaniel. Even with Blink, he had been painfully slow. The siblings were stronger than normal people, but not by much.

Without their lineage's magical weapons and Blessing, they wouldn’t be a threat, especially when compared to an actual player.

Mathew’s voice was too soft to carry to Nathaniel’s ears. As he regained his feet, the young man was about to dash forward when the Demon Lord made a curious gesture with his finger. The throne, heavy and made of black wood and stone, hurtled from the ground towards him.

Nathaniel leapt out of the way as the throne sped past him, landing on the ground with a crash. He let out a relieved breath of air. If he had been struck by that, it would have broken a bone at least. He spun around to see the Demon Lord flicking his fingers again, this time in the direction of his prone sister.

The young woman shot toward Nathaniel with a strangled shriek at the rough treatment. Not thinking, Nathaniel dove toward her to catch Natisha in his arms. She struck him with the force of a hammer blow and he skidded across the ground with his sister gripped securely.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“Impressive. That’s the first time I’ve had the chance to try that Blessing on a person. It used to only work on inanimate objects, but it's been improved since I first got it. It’s also one of my less lethal Blessings.” Mathew said, stepping towards the siblings while his clapping echoed off the hall's walls.

“But, that’s enough playtime. You may leave Reesh with your lives. Tell your Lord that this area is mine now, and if he has a problem with it, I’m more than happy to discuss it with him. Although I think the Lords and Ladies of this world will have more troubles than just me taking over this little backwater.” Mathew said, stopping in front of the siblings and crossing his arms.

Nathaniel, who had been braced for a response to an attack that never came, stared at the Demon Lord in shock.

“You’re willing to let us just leave? Wait…what troubles?” Nathaniel asked carefully, and Mathew smirked once again.

“Do you really think I’m the only one of us to come here?” Mathew asked, and Nathaniel drew in a sharp intake of air at the revelation.

The scriptures foretold the arrival of Demons, but Nathaniel had never expected it to happen during his lifetime. This single Demon Lord ‘Mathew’ easily defeated the siblings. What would happen if more joined him?

Nathaniel had visions of an army of Demons rampaging across the world, and an icy feeling swept through his stomach.

“We’ll stop you.” He managed to voice those words through jaws clenched in fear. Mathew made a gesture with his hand as if brushing the matter aside.

“Sure, go ahead. I’m not confident in what the others will be like. People like me come from a variety of backgrounds. I’ve no doubt you’ll have your hands full in no time. I can be considered more…moderate, in my approach. You don’t come looking for trouble with me, and I’ll leave you alone in return. But the others, they will all have their own goals.” Mathew explained.

The other Players may be working for other deities, but he couldn’t be sure they had the same objective as himself. He wasn’t even guaranteed that his own goals wouldn’t change. For now, Reesh was his objective, but that could shift after it was declared to belong to him.

“Go, and carry word to your Lord that Reesh is mine.” Mathew dismissed them. With another flick of his finger, the toppled throne flew from where it had crashed earlier and landed on the platform where it belonged. Righting it slightly to align better with the angles of the dais, Mathew retook his seat.

“Demon Lord Mathew, our Grandfather will stop you. You have my word on that.” Nathaniel stated.

“Like I told Mayor Goodwin, I’m not a ‘Demon Lord,’ but if that’s what you want to call me, its fine. I’ll accept the title as long as you remember that next time you come looking for problems in Reesh, I won’t hold back.” Mathew said.

“Oh, and this belongs to me now as well.” Mathew stated. He crooked his finger, and the dagger in the young man’s hand leapt out of his grasp and darted toward Mathew. Snatching it out of the air, he didn’t even look at it before placing it in his inventory.

If the young man was going to protest, he kept it to himself.

In minutes, Nathaniel and his sister were gone, leaving Mathew alone once again. The Mayor had scurried off somewhere, but it didn’t matter. Their business was over for the day. With this, he hoped that the notification that Reesh truly had been conquered would come.

“What else do I need to do.” Mathew muttered while resting his head on his hand. Two weeks of controlling the town still hadn’t satisfied the Tower of Avarice. Did he need to write his name on every home or draw a circle around Reesh and yell to the heavens that it was his?

Chuckling at the thought, Mathew was about to open his inventory to study the two weapons when a loud ‘ding’ rang out.

“Finally!” Mathew exclaimed.