The Great Demon System

Immediately as the announcer finished his count down, a boisterous sound was heard from all around like an explosion, officially marking the beginning of the match.

Raymond immediately pulled out his sword as though it weighed like a feather, and with a smile on his face, the ground started to tremble as glowing blue crystals began to sprout out of the ground all around like plants, forming hazards and barriers as he covered himself in a thick ball of that same, bright, reflective, shining crystal.

"Raymond Scott is immediately on the defensive trying to get his spirit mode!!" The announcer yelled.

This was fairly standard practice for the beginning of any serious match. A fighter would always lean to getting off their spirit modes as soon as possible without allowing their opponents to interrupt them while they were in the middle of their transformation. After all, there was no such thing as common courtesy among fighters to simply allow each other time for a transformation.

At times like these, there were only two options for the opponent: either to try and interrupt the transformation anyways through the defences or to simply take the opportunity to transform themselves.

However, what Moby did was none of the above…

"What's this!! Kane hasn't moved an inch! He hasn't even drawn his sword!! THIS! This is unprecedented! His eyes are closed! And he seems so relaxed! Is he taunting his opponent! In all my life! I've never seen anything like this! Now, how the hell will he be able to counter a fully powered opponent in his spirit mode!"

That was when all of a sudden, the cocoon made of gems that surrounded Raymond exploded into shards of small crystals that fired in all directions, most of which hit the barriers protecting the audience while some did make their way towards the standing Moby. And for the first time, he made a move… He lifted his hands, and in an almost cocky, over-the-top manner, blasted away all the shards and attacked the cloud of dust where Raymond laid before he drew his sword with both hands directly in front of him, ready for whatever his opponent did.

His eyes were trained upon the dust like a hawk, and the grip on his blade was tight… Until it suddenly became loose, flipping to its edge and sliding it back as though he prepared to stab thin air behind him.

And with a casual sigh, stab thin-air he most certainly did… Only the precise moment that he did, a figure bearing a bright, celebratory grin-from ear to ear erupted out of the earth like a ground-hog, his greatsword in hand ready to strike. However, all he was met with was the straight back of his opponent, a glint in his right eye looking back and a katana abruptly stabbed into his guts seemingly out of nowhere.

*Gawk*

The expression on his face instantly shifted as he immediately stepped back away.

Although it was VR, the pain could not escape him, nor blood could release from his virtual system as he was instead hit with pure pain shocking him to his very core.

His face was red, several veins obscurely popping out of their sockets.

So quickly was he injured and out of breath, yet his eyes remained determined, like a proud lion staring towards his almost expressionless opponent as he turned towards him like he was not worth his time.

And without a single word or moment of hesitation, he grasped the hilt of his crystal sword so hard to the point it began to crack, gritting his teeth as he blasted off the ground using a crystal shard to boost him as he brought his sword up high and slashed down towards his stationary opponent with all his might…

However, his sword felt nothing, as though it had swung at thin air as he zoomed by… Confusion overwhelmed his angered mind once more, before a surge of pain enveloped his entire body… It all felt too surreal to be reality, it had to have been nothing but a nightmare.

His body grew numb, his eyes immediately turnedblurry and hazy with visions of darkness manifesting from the sides…

The last thing that he saw before his vision went senseless was the ground slowly approaching his face and the great sword once in his hand now cracked, cut clean in half...

The crowd who watched the display were silent, completely unlike their loud, and open appearance as they tried to process what they had just seen. For in under twenty seconds, the first match had already reached its end.

"Th-thats… THATS IT!! There you have it folks! The first round has come to an end! Such a display of overwhelming domination! It lasted less than twenty seconds yet the match was heart pounding and had many ups and downs! Back and forths! What a start to the tournament! And as you can already guess from what we had just seen! Undoubtedly! your winner issssssssss! Moby Kane!!" Only when the announcer mustered the gull to speak did the crowd go back to normal and erupt into complete chaos.

Moby took a deep breath and sheathed his blade without batting an eye towards his opponent before chuckling and smiling brightly, raising his right fist in victory towards the crowd in a casual yet confident manner.

"This has to be rigged! No fucking way!"

"Shut up you butt-hurt twat! Hahahaha! This is exactly what I expected from the future winner of the tournament!"

"Fuckin' hell man! If this is him barely trying I would love to see when he gets pushed into spirit mode!"

"Yes yes Moby! LET'S GOOO!! YEAHH! I feel bad for whoever has to face him next!"

"That was so fast!! Oooo! I'm your biggest fan! Congrats!!"

"The rumours about the kid are true I see…"

The crowd's cheering continued, and Moby's gaze remained upon them before it suddenly shifted towards the canopy above where the honoured guests sat with wide-open eyes.

"Rayna, is this really the kid you've hyped us all about?" Yuria Dark, the leader of the Sellsword guild spoke, leaning back to her seat with a casual yet slightly perplexed look upon her face.

"Yep! Not bad right?" She puffed her chest forward.

"Yeah, he's not bad I guess… His opponent was just an idiot though, he was powerful, but he immediately ran into a fatal attack… And after that attack, he was too weak to continue fighting even if he's in spirit mode... It hurt me internally watching him… All in all, I'm not all too impressed." She sighed.

"Oh come on Yuri! It's too early to judge now! I don't think the other guy was that stupid. I think Kane just made him look that way. He's a very bright, hard to predict fighter, reminds me of myself when I was young…" Vilhelm Ortiz, the leader of the hunter's guild snickered, leaning towards his fellow guild leader with a bright smile.

"Firstly, call me Yuri again and you won't have a tongue. And secondly, yes, I guess I do agree, it's too early to tell… He seems to be quite the fan favourite after his debacle from last year. But, I don't sense anything special from where I'm standing, I don't see how he's going to win, especially against the supreme general's son who he personally trained…"

"Hmph…" And from above emerged a voice, prominent yet that no one seemed to hear. "Such pretentious amateurs acting all high and mighty! They wouldn't know true power and skill if it hit them in the face." And that same voice came from a laughing woman smiling upon the battlefield below as she leaned upon the high walls of the Arena above the judges canopy before she casually teleported away into purple dust that only one man from the audience seemed to have even noticed…

"Hey, Kai. What's up? I know that was a pretty cool victory and all but what's with the wide look?" Regrit nudged him, yet his expression only grew more drastic.

"Kai? Kai… KAI!!"

"Oh Wha-"

"What's up with you looking at the sky like an idiot!"

"Umm… It— it was nothing… I've gotta be hallucinating— Don't mind me," He shook his head vigorously and slapped his face several times.

"Ummmmm.... Okay, if you say so then," Regrit shrugged and looked away, leaving Rupert to calm down and reflect upon what he had just seen. "No- no way..."