Online In Another World

Chapter 356 Turbo Versus Speed

[Devilheart: Turbo Death]

Both of his fists were enveloped with devilish gauntlets made of nefarious energy, producing a hum of darkness. It was a form that prioritized speed and attacking power above all else, but completely forsook defense.

'If I used this against the Dread, I would've been dead in the blink of an eye. But, The Speed Demon isn't that fearsome when it comes to raw power–I need speed,' he thought.

It was the second that the wind changed that both figures took off in speed that left them as nothing more than blurs amidst the forest; the air howled and cracked, whistling at the agility that surpassed normal limitations.

Asher opened with a heavy haymaker with his enormous, deathly gauntlet, causing a shock wave to erupt forward with a nefarious howl; it tore through the neighboring lake, causing vapor to erupt as the heat of the blow vaporized a portion of the body of water.

"Tch."

Of course, as fast and violent as the attack was, the Speed Demon zoomed past it with that untouchable agility as the grinning figure ran across the water entirely, evading even the subsequent ripples of force.

It was as if what he fought was the embodiment of speed; unleashing wild, rapid haymakers that each tore through the lake in front of him with devilish propulsions of energy, he witnessed the Speed Demon dance through their reach.

'Even with Turbo Death, it's got me beat in speed–I can perceive it and keep up, but it's slippery,' he thought.

It was a race across the lake; they sped through as not even the fickleness of water could catch those who surpassed the meaning of speed. The Speed Demon spun around to dodge a shock wave, flicking its fingers as it released swift bullets of tiny, yet destructive bits of silver energy.

"--!"

Within centimeters of his face, Asher witnessed the fast particles nearly make impact before he ducked down, continuing to sprint across the surface of the lake before retaliating against the speedy fiend.

[Devilheart: Dark Extension]

Sticky, extendable lines of devilish energy shot outward in three finger-like whips, attempting to ensnare the Speed Demon. It was like trying to catch an elusive fly with nothing but the agility of a sloth; the dark tendrils whipped through the water, yet the horned speedster slipped through them with flawless flips before–

FWOOSH

The gears were kicked up to the next level again as the Speed Demon suddenly crossed the distance between itself and the Devilheart, running across the lake with such speed it parted the water entirely, shattering the sound barrier multiple times in one go.

'Fast…!' Asher thought.

Such speed equaled an even higher mass behind the punch of the Speed Demon as it slammed its metallic knuckles against his chest with a thunderous impact. As the defensive reinforcement of his armor was lost with [Turbo Death], the force behind the blow rang through his sternum, ringing like a violent bell as Asher found the oxygen forced from his lungs.

Still, he gritted his teeth and pushed through it, not allowing himself to be pushed back as he kicked up the gears himself, amplifying himself with devilish energy: [Devil Burst]

Between the grooves of his pitch-black, demonic armor, a nefarious, violet glow hummed before he dashed forward, catching the Speed Demon off-guard.

"--?!" The Speed Demon's grin held surprise of its own.

Asher slammed his sable gauntlet against the Speed Demon's chest, finally connecting a direct hit that emitted a colossal shock wave. The lake was evaporated nearly completely by the impact, thrashing waves aside and parting the surrounding mist before the Speed Demon was flung back through the trees.

"Ghh…!"

Leaving his fist forward, Asher stood on the barren floor of what was once the lake as steam emitted from his devilish gauntlet. The swift blow taken to the chest and the strain of [Devil Burst] didn't make for a pleasant feeling throughout his body as it ached, though he found himself little time for reprieve.

FWOOM

It was a stomach-dropping sight; the wall of trees brushed aside in the wake of monstrous winds, generated solely from the ungodly speed of the demonic entity as it blitzed through the land, curving around and encircling the Devilheart. The wind hissed and hummed, whirling violently from the demonic agility.

'It's still this fast–? I expected it not to be able to take a punch, but I was wrong,' he thought.

Not intending to confront the fiend conventionally, he instead knelt down before digging his fingers into the wet soil below him, summoning the massive strength of his Devilheart System as he uprooted an enormous section of the ground before him.

"Hrrrrrgh!"

Straining himself, he hoisted up the chunk of land that was many dozens of tons, flipping it up and shattering it with a punch as he created a rain of debris around him.

As he looked around, he could see the blur of the grinning demon as it dodged every speck of dirt, though this led to an outcome he wished for: an overconfident display of speed. There was no doubt it could've simply rushed through the rainfall of dirt and attacked him, yet it purposefully showed off its elusiveness.

'A mistake,' Asher thought in regards to his enemy.

[Devilheart: Foul Coalescence]

As he squeezed his fist, a whispering aura of malevolence caused all of the debris to suddenly condense into one point around the Speed Demon, capturing it within the collection of dirt and stone.

"Got you," Asher said, breathing out.

The nature of the Devil Force wielded by the Devilheart System was that it could be transmuted into many forms, borrowing different properties for differing situations. At the moment, he turned the shadowy essence into something akin to glue or gum, making it sticky and adhesive. Even though the debris was kept bound by a supernaturally tight hold, he could feel a distinct resistance from within.

'It's…?' He realized.

The dirt shuffled and rained down; the stuck-together pebbles rumbled, knocking together for a continuous, disturbing sound.

It was vibrating.

What first came to mind was the similarities the Speed Demon had to Amon and the fallen man's "Chaos Throttle" ability. The abuse of high frequency vibrations made it challenging to keep the entrapment of debris held together, though it was fundamentally different–a showcase of true speed used to accomplish such a feat rather than Amon's specific ability.

'This thing–is this its "top gear"?' He questioned.

Just then, the debris prison was blown apart by the being as not even a single glimpse of it was seen before it sped around once free. Asher reinforced himself instantly, turning side-to-side as the wind shifted against his ears, listening to the vibrations humming through the air.

A new threshold of celerity was witnessed as the very space around the Devilheart seemed to contort along with the speed of his foe; dozens of grinning afterimages surrounded him as he spun around to try and find where his enemy was attacking from.

It wasn't just running along the ground; it seemed to use the air itself as a foothold, bouncing off of impossible angles for even sharper twists and turns, leading to an impossibly difficult trajectory to predict.

'I'm going to need to push this even further if I want to keep up with it. I never got the chance to perfect this, but I'll have to make do,' Asher thought.

While the Speed Demon taunted him by running circles around him rapidly, he enhanced his own state as the sleek armor around his body almost seemed to begin vibrating as well, overtaken with a violet glow that emitted from the cracks and lines in the devilish layer.

The properties of his own armor were changed into an aerodynamic, weightless form, allowing for utmost speed:

[Turbo Death: Overcharge]

A single dash invoked such speed that he had trouble reacting to his own movement; there was little sense of direction in his initial burst, yet he managed to intercept the agile fiend midway through its taunt. Though he failed to directly hit his enemy, the showcase of speed caused even the Speed Demon to pause for a moment to look back at him, as if shocked that any person could reach such heights.

Asher didn't let up for a moment, quickly pivoting off of his right foot as he spun around, this time focusing to make sure he could keep track of his own speed, pushing off of the ground before–FWOOM. Like a train piercing through the air faster than a lightning bolt, the wind rumbled as if thunder had arrived.

It was reached; the threshold of agility dangled over his head by the infamous, horned fiend was equaled as he ran directly beside his enemy, keeping up as [Overcharge] kept his momentum ascending. Total weightlessness was achieved through altering the properties of his Devilheart armor; the mystical shift allowed him to run on the air momentarily as well as he slammed back down, attempting to stomp on the Speed Demon.

As he slammed his foot down, he missed the fiend, though imbued the property of extreme mass to his energy, causing a massive impact that cratered the land below. It was just as quickly as he landed that he instantly took off again in an acceleration that burned the soil in the path of the Devilheart. It was a contest of speed as always; they ran alongside one another in a rapid chase, quickly traveling through the bounds of the forest.

There was little care for what ended up in their path–the dual sprint caused the shock waves they produced with every step to turn nearby insects into nothing more than bloody stains on trees.

"Fast."

–Chilling enough, the Speed Demon parted its lips to speak for the first time in a raspy, low voice. It was up close and personal, staring straight into his soul with those abyssal eye sockets of its.

'It talks?' He realized.

In response, he changed the gauntlet of his right fist into a curved sword made of darkness, imbuing it with a wind-cutting property, quickly slashing towards the Speed Demon. Of course, the reach of the rangeless slash failed to reach the taunting creature as it ducked down with a grin.

"Slow," The Speed Demon taunted.

'It's intelligent. That changes things,' he thought.