Master Of None

"Barry, the heroes are here. I have told Ibis that he needs to start splitting off and taking down the demons. You will take the one in the middle ordering them. That is their leader. The scouts have already tracked him." Barry saw the notification from Clara. The system and standing as the acting guild master gave her the ability to send any adventurer messages. 

"I'll see what I can do." Barry swung the ax with force and sent another group of demons to the afterlife. He could feel the power as soon as he touched the Ax. 

Markus had been waiting for him to arrive at the wall. He had the ax wrapped in a strange cloth. When unwrapped the crystal ax had begun to pull in all mana around it. Barry remembered clearly what Markus had told him…

"This is an ax gifted by the elves. They rarely like to make close combat weapons but made one just as a gift for our king before he left. This is a symbol of the strength we have in our bond. It has the unique ability to absorb any elemental mana constantly. When it gathers enough of it, the ax will release a thrown blade and start to gather mana again. Use it wisely and show off the strength of our kingdom." Markus had handed over the blade then, letting Barry take full control…

"That Markus was right. This ax is full of power. Now, where is your leader? Huh? Or will you just keep sending puppets my way?" Barry shouted full force and directed every single demon at him. The force of his shout had the same taunting effect as any guardian's skills but had the added skill of adding anger to the opponent. 

"You worm. How dare you disrespect me! I am the perfect demon. The perfect balance. The pristine ideal for all life!" The larger demon stepped forward. "Can you not see that I molded these specimens in to the perfect beings? Only I can shape the demons on to the perfect army for my lord. We are the most powerful" 

Barry looked at the demon who seemed to be an exact image of what a demon should be. Curling horns of equal side and shape. Wings spread perfectly on his back. And even the nails were exactly the same length and sharpness on each hand. 

"You look pretty weak to me. Without your puppets, I should be able to cut through you." Barry lifted the ax and charged. 

"This is why I hate other races. No elegance. No perfection. Just a disgusting mix of uneven ugliness. I am Pride, remember that after I defeat you and mold you in to a true being worthy to walk the earth." Pride pulled the two swords he had on his hips and held them in a perfect cross blocking the swing of Barry's ax.

Barry grunted as he pulled back to swing again. Unlike the other demons in Pride's image, Pride himself was powerful. "You might have a little strength, but I am just warming up." The mana around Barry was being pulled in to the ax. Ibis was slaying the demons around them constantly using small white elemental summons in the shapes of birds. 

The ax Barry swung a second time released the thrown blade of darkness elemental mana. The mud and water kicked up by the attack made Barry jump back and wonder if he had done damage. 

The image of Pride stepping through the debris without even a drop of mud on him was shocking. "You believe a weak thing like you could beat me with my own mana? I ravaged their mana systems and molded them. Their mana is the same as my own mana. Pathetic!" Pride slashed with both swords at the same time, cutting Barry equally in his arms. The shallow cuts bloomed with red. 

"Barry!" Walker held out a hand casting his healing skills at Barry and also using the multi buff skill on everyone. Midnight and the golem jumped in to the fray with Inis. Walker had told them to support Ibis since he was taking the majority of the demons down by himself. Walker knew that Midnight was tough enough to handle the explosions. 

Onyx slithered through the mud and wrapped around Barry, becoming his tattoo form. "Brother will speak through me. We will attack the demon together. The others are helping Ibis and will support us when needed. This demon is troublesome." Onyx was the ideal communicator to get their thoughts to Barry without Pride knowing. Without any hesitation, Walker and Barry conversed about the things they knew about pride. 

"A hero? Oh, all the heroes. I did have minor hope that you might be a little more perfect. But you are not a real hero. A real hero would be like me, balanced and elegant. Strong and domineering. You are just...weak. I can fix you though. Just let me mold you." The venom and prestige that dripped from Prides' voice made Walker shiver slightly. 

"I would never be like you. You're just too, ugly. How could you think you are perfect? You just force others in to your own image to feel good about yourself." Walker was mocking Pride. It was clear that this would be the ideal way to damage the demon. 

"Now now, calm down. This demon is just too stupid to know that it will never be perfect. Imperfection is the only way to be perfect. Let me show you." Barry charged in with his wounds healed by Walker. The ax had been absorbing more elemental mana around them. This time it came from an ice border wall that had sprung up behind Barry and Walker with Su and Remey on top of it. 

Now that Walker had joined Barry the ax would not be absorbing the darkness elemental mana only. He could do more damage.

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