The Grand Duelist

The avatar vanished into innumerable light crystals that soon dissipated into nothingness.

Standing behind that avatar was the City Chief who had an amicable smile on his face.

That smile looked nothing out of the ordinary, but when you looked at it directly, you'd find it somewhat irresistible and you'll soon realize that you cannot see anything anymore other than that smile.

Alice trembled...

She forcefully snapped her head away from the City Chief. The speed and strength that she used on doing such a movement greatly strained her neck muscles as she winced in pain. But for her, it was all worth it. The pain was worth enduring for she managed to snap herself back to reality.

"Gelial..." She then subconsciously whispered the name of the Demon of Temptation and Deceit.

"Alice... You have some information about him?" Joseph uttered in shock. Even he was dumbfounded due to the series of system notifications that appeared right in front of him.

[You are standing in front of a great existence.]

[No one can make you submit.]

[Your dignity can never be lower than those that dare to stand against you.]

[You are a natural leader, your Leadership can never be lower than those who dare compete against you.]

[A strange power is seeping into the air.]

[Under the effects of your title, The Sun that Overlooks Everything...]

[You have resisted.]

This was the first time that Joseph saw such a long line of system notifications floating right in front of him. It was so long that it almost covered his entire vision.

If not for the fact that his virtual eyes automatically focused on whatever he wanted to focus and turned everything not included in the game such as notifications opaque upon focusing...

Joseph would probably be irritated.

Of course, right now. He was full of emotions. But it wasn't irritation.

What he felt was anxiousness as he turned to look at Alice and found that she was completely immersed in her fears.

"Alice, fight against it! Wake up!" Joseph glanced at the First Elder and when he found out that the First Elder was completely unconscious. He moved towards Alice and furiously shook her shoulder in an effort to awaken her from her trance. 

"Huh? Ah!" Alice whispered in confusion, but in the very next moment. She exclaimed in fear. She went for Joseph's torso and tightly hugged him. Her body kept on convulsing as she tightened her grip around Joseph's body just so she could hold fast on her wits.

Shit... Is a Demon really this intimidating? She's trembling so much that It's not strange for her to fall unconscious from fear. Joseph mumbled in shock.

As someone who has immunity to abnormal statuses. It was impossible for Joseph to feel any induced fear, that was why he couldn't relate to what Alice felt right now.

But that didn't mean that he didn't understand her fear...

"It's okay... Just hold onto me, I'll be here... I won't leave you, I promise." Joseph whispered and reassured her.

His words were effective for she wasn't trembling so furiously anymore. 

But Joseph merely tackled the symptoms.

To completely erase the fear in her heart, he must face this so-called Gelial.

But to face an enemy without knowing anything about that enemy was stupid and tantamount to suicide. Joseph turned to look at Alice and observed her complexion.

Seeing that she was biting her lower lips until it bled and her face was as pale as paper, it was obvious that she wouldn't be so helpful today.

There's only one thing that I can use... Joseph thought to himself. He raised his head, stared directly at the City Chief and uttered in his mind.

"Character Scrutinize!"

[Title Generated Skill: Character Scrutinize has been activated.]

[Information about the intended target has been gathered.]

[Gelial - Demon of Deceit and Temptation - Lv. ???]

A demon that has the lowest rank among the 72nd Demons of the Fiery Hell. He may be at the lowest rank, but his command of the concept of Deceit and Temptation makes him a force to be reckoned with. He likes beautiful things, particularly men that looked more feminine than women...

His sexual orientation is unknown, but it is widely rumored that he swings both ways.

He had fought against the Grand Duelist of the previous generation but was always defeated every time they fought.

As someone who has an eye for aesthetics. He despises those who display ugly emotions such as fear, anxiety and any other negative emotions. On the other hand, he likes and had always preferred to kill his enemies through the use of pleasure.

Dying under the hands of this demon is particularly blissful for men, but a nightmare for women.

Skills: Deceit(SSS), Temptation(SSS), Eye for Aesthetics(A+), Courtship(SS), Deceitful Tongue(SSS), ???(???), ???(???)

Further information cannot be gathered anymore. ]

SSS on Deceit, and Temptation. That is something that can be expected from a Demon of Deceit and Temptation, but setting aside the Eye for Aesthetics on the other hand, why does he have a skill called Courtship? He's a master of courting everyone from both sides?

Wait that is actually an interesting skill, imagine just smooth-talking girls into dropping their panties...

Joseph lifted a silly smile but then he was instantly awakened from his trance when he realized that his thoughts had derailed.

Goddamned it, the information given to me is too vague, but at least... It is better than nothing, I guess? But how do his skills work? Does Temptation work in tandem with illusions? In that case, this will be a problem...

I may be immune to abnormal statuses but that doesn't mean that I can't be put in an illusion, just like what happened back at the Underground Penitentiary.

As for Deceit... Does this skill work by talking to the intended target? I mean, to deceive is to make the target believe that the truth is actually false, right?

Joseph's mind quickly spun. He tried his best on guessing how Gelial's power worked, but in the end, the answers he reached were far too generic and Joseph didn't believe that Gelial's power was that simple to comprehend.

In the end, he could only shake his head and sigh.

The City Chief approached him with a smile.

"So, you are that imposter who knew about the distinguished name of that old geezer and fooled these followers of mine into believing that you were that old bastard?" Gelial who was currently possessing the body of the City Chief spoke in the voice of the City Chief.

But one could obviously see that the City Chief right now was a completely different person. It was because Gelial and the City Chief's mannerisms were far too different from each other that one could easily distinguish them from each other.

The City Chief looked genial and acted like an old man next door, but this Gelial...

From his tone of voice alone, it was obvious that he was arrogant.

However, when Joseph raised his head and stared at the City Chief. He couldn't help but frown. It was because he could see that the City Chief was fighting against Gelial's control over his body.

But why was Joseph so sure that the two were fighting over who should control the body?

Well, it was because the City Chief's expression kept on changing... One second he had a smile on his face, the next second he would look like he was about to cry and in the very next moment, he would reveal a sinister smile.

Such a colorful and swift changes of expression made Joseph feel somewhat weird.

Aren't they allies? Why would they fight against each other? That doesn't make sense... Joseph thought of what was happening as weird. But he had no time to think deeper into it for the Demon of Deceit and Temptation Gelial was still waiting for his answer.

"Yes... I am the one who scared your subordinates away." Joseph replied.

Everything took time to describe but the pause in between actually only lasted for less than five seconds.

In short, there wasn't that much delay between Gelial's question and Joseph's reply.

"Oh? I like that you are being honest... Most of the time, whenever I ask some questions to others, they would always try to lie against me..." The City Chief's face stiffened for a moment before he revealed a smile that looked more like a grimace.

It was completely unsettling to look at, but Joseph didn't dare to turn his head away, afraid that the demon may do something drastic if he did that.

"Lying against a demon who has control over Deceit and Temptation. If that is not courting death, then I wonder what is..." Joseph inwardly thought, but his mouth subconsciously opened along with his thoughts and in the end, he had voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Yes... yes, that is right. It is indeed a foolish endeavor to try and fool someone like me. You really are a smart boy. After this, do you want to have some fun?" The City Chief revealed a wide smile that almost reached his ears.

It was a smile that was terrifying enough but when combined with the feminine and coquettish tone of voice.

It was enough to send dozens of shivers down one's spine...

Joseph's expression looked somewhat pale.

But it wasn't because of the horrifying expression on the City Chief's face, it was because he didn't realize that he had subconsciously voiced his thoughts out. 

"Did I do that because I was under the influence of this demon's power? But how is that possible? I am Immune to abnormal statuses! That cannot be possible!" Joseph inwardly cried out. But his pupils constricted when he realized that he once again said his thoughts out loud. 

"Yes... yes... That is right. As I expected, you really have immunity to abnormal statuses. All that you said are completely true, and none of them are lies. Yes, none of them are lies." The City Chief meaningfully stared at Joseph.

"None of them are lies? So this demon also has some control over the domain of lying? Wait, that actually makes sense since lying is a form of deceit. But that doesn't make sense, it's too overpowered. The devs of Victory would never let such an overpowered being like this exist..."

"Not only that but if his strength doesn't really have any drawback. Why is he in the last place? He should be near the top at least... But the reality is he's the lowest ranking demon, 72nd place to be exact. Why is that?"

Joseph's mouth opened and rapidly dispensed all of his thoughts to the outside world.

The demon, Gelial was astonished by what he heard, but he soon laughed and said, "Yes, you are right again. How are you so smart?"

Seeing that Gelial himself admitted so easily about the existence of his drawback. Joseph suddenly acquired a theory about what that drawback was. His eyes flashed with a mysterious glint as he voluntarily opened his mouth and voiced out his thoughts.

"So, there is indeed a drawback in these abilities of yours? I wonder what are your weaknesses?"

Joseph revealed a light smile on his face as he casually asked Gelial about his own weaknesses. 

Directly asking your opponent about his weaknesses was something unthinkable for anyone. That also included Gelial who clearly didn't expect the straightforward question as his figure froze there, speechless and dumbfounded. But after a few seconds of silence, he gave a loud laugh and said.

"You are indeed an interesting man, only someone like you can possibly make that kind of a plan that fooled these stupid subordinates of man." His eyes were now filled with interest and amusement as he sized Joseph up. 

Joseph felt a shiver down his spine when this happened, but then his expression turned strange once again when he noticed that the internal infighting between the City Chief and Gelial intensified after Gelial thoroughly scanned his body.

He glanced at the trembling Alice behind him as a barely imperceptible light flashed across his eyes.

"As the master over the domain of Deceit and Temptation. I can never lie." Gelial revealed an amicable smile.

"You can never lie?" Joseph furrowed his eyebrows instead of feeling excited. It was because he felt that there was something more to this than what Gelial was saying.

Something clicked within Joseph's mind as he inwardly uttered, "He may not be able to lie, but I bet that he can speak half-truths or even choose to completely avoid the answer to such a question." He said these words out loud once again, but that didn't matter for Joseph anymore.

"Hehehe..." The City Chief laughed in a voice that was a mixture between a woman and a man, "You really are smart, but that is not the reason why I descended here in the first place. I came here to see the face of a man who is actually so gutsy as to use the name of the God of Fighting, Tryndamere..."

"Aren't you afraid of Divine Retribution? Divine Retribution is scary, you know? Those daddies up above can manipulate fate itself so they can mess you up in ways that you can never expect." Gelial chuckled at the end of his sentence.

Joseph merely shook his head, "I am already an irreconcilable enemy for that old geezer Tryndamere. Since a single crime is enough to condemn me to the fiery fires of hell for eternity. Why not commit a hundred thousand crimes and come down there as a legend?"

"HAHAHA!" Gelial laughed out loud, "Kid, you really are interesting." His body twitched once again, and this time. Even his fingers were affected by his Tourette's like movements.

Joseph's eyes momentarily glanced on those fingers, but he soon diverted his gaze without thinking too much about what he just saw.

"But kid, I will tell you now about the reason why I came here..." The City Chief's expression suddenly turned serious, "I just want you to let these subordinates of mine take those two sisters away..."

"I mean, I don't think that they are very useful to you. But for me, they are precious resources that are hard to come by since the bodies of these bastards are slowly growing accustomed to the curse within their bloodlines..."

"Can you do that for me? If you do, then I can transform into a heavenly-toppling beauty and visit you at night to take your cherry away, you're a virgin, right?"

"Doing it with the demon who governs over Deceit and Temptation, the domain of Temptation alone should be enough to bring you a pleasure that is out of this world!"

The City Chief said all of these in a feminine voice. 

"If you are not that welcoming of the idea of doing it with a heavenly-toppling beauty? How about I transform into the figure of that girl behind you, then do it with you? Even though it really isn't the same as doing it with her, I can at least take on her figure and bring you to the bliss of climax."

"Hehehe... How about it, young man? Interested, yet?" The City Chief revealed a lecherous expression that was unthinkable to see on the face of an old man like him.

Joseph felt another shiver down his spine, but he steeled his heart to reply.

"I... I refuse!"

Joseph cried out but looked like he was incredibly tempted to say yes.

The City Chief frowned, "Interesting, I wonder why you are refusing my offer?"

Joseph shook his head and said, "Your offer is too weak. Doing it once in exchange for the precious lives of those two sisters? That's the worst deal that I ever heard in my entire life..."

"But oh well, you are a demon after all. It is pretty much impossible for someone to expect that a demon could trade fairly..."

Gelial was taken aback by the words that he heard that his figure staggered backward in astonishment.

But then a whistling sound accompanied by a dull thud rang out behind Joseph while he was focused on the City Chief's strange actions.

Clang!

Joseph turned to look behind him and he found the trembling Alice with a fierce and bloodthirsty expression on her face.

But that expression was quickly changed into astonishment as she uttered, "You..."

"Heh..." Joseph sneered, "Ever since we started our small talk I have never forgotten that you are the Demon of Deceit and Temptation. I have always been on the look-out for changes in the surroundings, but when I found nothing. I focused on the City Chief's strange mannerisms instead..."

He stared right at the Alice standing right in front of him as he explained.

"The City Chief is your subordinate so he will definitely welcome your possession whenever you wanted, yet the City Chief that stood before me earlier wore colorful expressions on his face that kept on changing."

"That was a clear sign of an internal struggle which shouldn't happen if the City Chief in front of me was the real City Chief and your subordinate..."

Joseph's sneer turned into a mocking smile, "In other words, the City Chief that kept on talking to me wasn't actually the City Chief, but Alice..."

"Meanwhile, the Alice behind me that kept on clinging around my arm wasn't actually the real Alice... Instead, she was replaced by the disguised City Chief that you possessed. With these assumptions in mind, I carefully timed the usage of my Parry that could let me survive your sneak attack."

"But doing all of these just to sneak attack me..."

"I don't really know if I should be honored or not."

"But one thing is for sure..."

Joseph lifted a smile and stared right at Gelial before saying, "You might have outsmarted me, but I outsmarted your outsmarting!"