Halfway to the castle and to Lemis, Lucia and Atlas were blocked by the butler named Sebastian. As much as the name Sebastian infuriates Lucia to some extent, due to his name, it was proven that Sebastian is not just an ordinary butler. He is a tough nut and even Atlas's huge sword looked easy to stop by this new guy.
Lucia tried to assess what he is capable of before fighting him. It was fine since Sebastian didn't attack them as most enemies do with the intent of killing them. In fact, he just stood there and menacingly stares at them. It was like he is making sure that no one from them do something that would incur his wrath.
"This guy... I don't sense any kind of weaponry in him," Atlas composes his battle stance as he was taken aback by Sebastian's perfect guard against him by catching his weapon's blade side using his bare hands. It never happened before in his entire life. Even the time when he started following Bladeheart, he never found an enemy capable of just catching his huge blade without any kind of effort.
"Tag team with me Atlas. I know we have different battle styles but we can at least team up and take him down together!"
Atlas nodded and started charging towards Sebastian.
"Foolish!"
With a single stomp, the charging Atlas was sent flying in the air. And before Atlas can even do anything midair, Sebastian is already beside him and pummeled him multiple times before he was kicked in the chin, sending him higher up in the air before plummeting down to the ground with a thud. Thanks to his armor, the damage from the fall is minimal but it hurts his body more than expected and his HP fell for a quarter.
Lucia didn't hesitate to fire several fire spells towards Sebastian but without even blinking, he swiped off every attack and reflected it back to Lucia. Thankfully for Lucia, she is immune to fire and immediately absorbed the flames that were directed towards her without a hitch.
"Slimy bastard..." Lucia cussed as he remained standing without even doing much. In fact, he stayed right where he was standing earlier before he pummeled Atlas.
"Damn it, his punches is brutal. Even Master's punches were incomparable compared to him!" Atlas stood up while fixing his armor's placement in his body.
"He just deflected all of my fireballs like nothing using his bare hands!"
"So, did you see the difference between our powers? It is impossible between the two of you to defeat me in a battle."
"Stop acting smug ya bastard! You might act as some sort of bigshot demon but there is no way we will lose to you!" Lucia is seething in anger.
"Then, stop talking and start attacking already!"
With the taunt of Sebastian, the two charged together. Sebastian did the same thing as earlier but it won't work the second time and they leap to safety.
However, the unexpected came and Sebastian sent himself to the air and swing his shoulders to Lucia's neck, sending her down in a smash in a single spin. After the spin, Sebastian then used the force of the spin to kick Atlas out forcing him to immediately brace for the attack.
"Are you two sure you are trying to take me down? Like at all?" Sebas glared at them while the two were slumped on the ground.
"We are not done yet!"
Lucia and Atlas stood back up and started to power up. Atlas activated his bloodlust power, and as for Lucia, she activated her skill that she obtained the moment she hit level 100. Her crimson red hair started glowing, resembling not a flame but a sun that has been blazing hot. Her left eye also glows bright red. It might not be a massive buff but it is one of her skills that she is trying to recover the most since she lost her levels and returned to level 1 and that is her skill, [Supernova Icarus].
[Supernova Icarus]
Type: Active/Semi-Passive
Unlockable at the level: 100
Effect: Upon activation, the user will enter the state of [Icarus]. To enter the state of [Icarus], the user will have to pay 50% of their health. Upon entering the state of [Icarus], the user will enjoy the following benefits:
1. Hp will recover every time mana is used by the user. Hp recovered will depend on how much mana is expended. The half total amount of the mana will also be the amount of health recovered.
2. Magic spell effects and magic attacks will have their damage and effects increased massively. The longer the fight, the stronger the effects will be.
3. Increased Natural Mana regeneration during the duration of the effects.
Once the user is out of the [Icarus] state, all of the stats that has been amplified by the skill will return to normal.
While the skill is not active, the user enjoys a 10% fire damage increase to spells and 2% mana consumption reduction.
Info: Like how Icarus was burned the moment he approached the sun, the user will also experience a similar thing to how Icarus felt while being burned by the sun's flares. But anyone who can endure the flames and their heat will allow them to soar and utilize the power of the strongest flames.
Note: That means it's barbecue time!
Lucia winced a little bit due to how the skill caused her to suffer some pain before she can enjoy the benefits it brings her. But she miss the feeling of the strong flames she had back then due to the effects of the skills.
"Whoa...I didn't expect to see one of the descendants of the original king is still alive out here. The Primordial Power of the flames, Icarus. You must be his descendant, yes?" Sebastian has a sly grin on his face.
"Wah? You know my father and my ancestor?!" Lucia was perplexed.
"Calm down, Lucia-sama," Atlas tried to let Lucia calm down from her surprise. After all, he didn't want to have Lucia get roped in by the demons with the facade of letting her know her past.
"Why should I tell you the reason? If you are not even able to graze me, then why would I tell you about them?"
"You bastard!" Lucia wanted to pounce straight but Atlas immediately stops her.
"Lucia-sama! Calm down for a sec!" Atlas grabs Lucia's arm, allowing him to restrain him before she goes out of control from her rage.
"Hotblooded, a very common trait to someone with the blood of Icarus. From the looks of it, you are a primordial demon, a demon who was still not tainted by the unknown power."
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Lucia is growling badly and it looked like she is about to eat a cow whole right now.
"Since you are so adamant about this, why don't we play a game?"
"I have no time to play your games!" Lucia is getting stronger as time goes by than even Atlas who usually has a strong grip on most things he is holding, is finding it hard to handle Lucia.
"Then, I shall rephrase it, perhaps you will be interested. We play a game, every time you graze or damage me with your attack or your companion's attack, then I will allow you to ask me one question. The more hits you make against me, the more questions you can ask me. How about that, a deal?"
"What is your goal of doing this?!" Atlas this time intervened.
"Well, why not? It's a good thing to spice up things a little, you guys don't even have many things that can even allow me to enjoy much. Not only that but it can also potentially benefit your companion seething over there. There's nothing to lose to try unless you all die in my hands, right?"
Atlas is hesitant but before he can even respond to the decline, Lucia who is already seething in anger decided to grab the opportunity.
"Fine! I will play your damnable game but you better go with the deal!"
"As a butler, I am not going to just lie to anyone unless my master needed it. Otherwise, I will fulfill every transaction fair and square. No need to worry about everything at all unless you are such a worrywart."
Atlas is now worried about the situation. As much as he wanted to stop Lucia from falling to the tricks of the demon butler, it was obvious that she cannot help but be enticed by it due to how generous and tempting the rewards to Lucia were if they indeed managed to succeed in doing so. However, with how cunning most demons were, he is now unsure whether it is the right thing he has done or they are doomed from the very start.. If they ever get defeated in the process which is still pretty unlikely, he hopes that Bladeheart will come and save them from the misery.