The Insurrection of the Inept Hero

"Well, would you mind giving me your name?" The ice elf asked and Joseph tilted his head.

"Your reason?"

"So I can remember the name of the hero who I'll be killing before the Inept Hero."

Hearing this, Joseph snickered.

"What's so funny?" The ice elf asked.

"Nothing really, just how you think you'll be living after this fight."

"You're an arrogant one, aren't you?"

"I can say the same for you."

The ice elf grinned.

He slicked his hair back before pointing his finger at Joseph.

"I like you. Maybe once I've killed you, I'll turn you into one of my puppets."

"You can try all you want."

"Heh, you must be popular among the girls."

"I can't say I wasn't."

The two smiled at each other before taking fighting stances.

"I am Giuseppe Valentino, the Warlock Hero. You can just call me Joseph."

The ice elf smirked before forming two ice blades in his hands.

"Myran, Prince of the Ice Hell, Cocytus."

The two continued to look at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Eventually, Myran took a step forward and tossed his blades at Joseph.

Joseph quickly evaded. His left palm would let out a trail of red energy. He pointed his palm at Myran before firing countless crimson rays at him. Myran dodged them with quick speed and returned a storm of ice blades.

The two continued to fire projectiles at each other. Myran shot razor metal threads at Joseph but Joseph managed to dodge them with ease.

'Strange. How is he moving like that? Wasn't he stabbed earlier? Did I miss the solar plexus?'

Upon closer inspection, he finally noticed that he missed.

'Huh... but still, how is he moving like he wasn't stabbed?'

Myran didn't notice but as the two were talking, Joseph had cast a slight healing spell on himself. Though the healing spell was a common and weak spell, it was efficient enough to close up a stab wound. However, mending his spleen was something he could not fix. Luckily, he didn't need the spleen much since the human body could survive without it.

The two continued to send projectiles at each other, but then Joseph decided to take it up a notch. When he landed on the ground, he flicked the air, causing a blue void to appear below Myran. Myran felt his body being sucked towards the void and with all the strength he had, he resisted it.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that!"

"Then it's a good thing I wasn't trying. HA!!"

Suddenly, the force of the void was multiplied and Myran was slowly being sucked into the void. Clenching his teeth and with all his might, he let out a demonic roar, causing one of Joseph's eardrums to rupture.

The sharp pain caused Joseph to stumble and the void's force decreased, allowing Myran a chance to attack.

"Hmph, what an annoying attack. Why don't I give you a taste of your own medicine?"

He faced his palm at Joseph and it started to glow red. Joseph was hit by a wave of confusion as countless crimson rays flew in his direction.

"What the-?"

Joseph was interrupted as he was then bombarded with his own attack. Luckily, he managed to raise his barrier in time.

'Bastard can use Crimson Hurricane too? Does he have the Principle of Rejection as well?'

But before he could even fully understand the situation, he was hit by another familiar attack.

"Take this! The void that absorbs all life!" Myran yelled as he threw a tiny blue sphere at Joseph. Once Joseph spotted the tiny sphere, he gasped in surprise. That tiny sphere quickly transformed into a massive void.

He felt his body being pulled towards the void, but he faced his palm at the void and performed Total Rejection, causing him to be pushed away from the void.

Crashing into the desert dunes, his body was covered in burns and bruises. Myran slowly landed a few meters away from Joseph as the latter stood up.

"Hmm, what are those rings and bands for?" He asked, noticing the array of ornaments on his arms and fingers.

"These... these are to limit my power."

"For what use?"

"So I don't annihilate you so easily."

Myran's face warped into a face of anger.

"Don't act as you've already won. I'm the one unharmed here."

Myran flaunted his arms which were clean of any sort of wound, and his face was as clear as snow.

"Not for long," Joseph said, taking some of his rings and bands off.

At that moment, Myran felt a change in the atmosphere. Something about Joseph had changed.

"Hmm..."

Joseph got into a boxing stance. Myran smirked before getting into a fighting stance as well. This time, Joseph took the initiative.

He instantly appeared in front of Myran and did a fast jab at Myran's chest.

Myran tanked the hit, but he wasn't ready when Joseph did a sudden downward punch, knocking him to the ground.

He attempted to get up but Joseph quickly snatched onto his legs, lifting him into the air before slamming him into the ground again.

Though he was just hit with a harsh combo, Myran quickly flipped away from Joseph, creating some distance between them.

'He's faster than I anticipated and that actually hurt. This guy... he's definitely worthy of being turned into my puppet.'

Myran cackled as he started to gather up energy. Joseph stared at him and he raised his arm. Suddenly, Myran noticed that the distance between them had closed.

"Huh?"

"Don't let your guard down," Joseph said, slamming his fist into Myran's stomach. Joseph continued to batter Myran with quick attacks and Myran struggled to escape from him.

After a while, Joseph decided he had enough and accumulated a heavy amount of energy in both his hands.

"Say goodbye now."

With two quick swipes, he had erased both Myran's head and his stomach. The latter's body fell onto the ground and stained the sand with blood.

"Hmm... I should've done this from the beginning."

Assuming that he had won, Joseph turned to leave.

"Do-don't walk away from... me. You haven't... won yet."

His eyes widened as he turned around to see Myran unscathed. His head and stomach, which had been erased, were there again.

"How did you-?"

"Simple. I'm immortal, duh."

"No. Even if you are immortal, you still shouldn't be able to regenerate. I erased that portion of you so that part of your body shouldn't exist anymore."

"Not unless I reverse the process."

...

Joseph stayed silent and registered those words. Once he figured it out, he clicked his tongue and a distasteful look cross his face.

"I see... so that's your innate principle. Reversal."

"Correct. However, it only works when I make contact with the element thrown at me. In your case, Erasure."

Standing in a prideful pose, Myran snickered.

"In addition with my immortality, nothing will be able to stop me. Sure, you can hit me as hard as you want but it'll only stagger me lightly. Erase me, and I'll just reverse the process."

Joseph glared at him as he shifted into a fighting stance once again.

"Joseph, why don't you just give up? I can guarantee that your strength can be useful in my hands. Join my side, and I assure you that you will be rewarded for your services. You are working for the wrong people."

"And you're declaring you are the good? Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not working for that king or anyone in general."

"But you let the Inept Hero do his thing. Are you not working for him."

"Working for him? I think you mean working with him. He's a good fellow, just misguided and broken."

"Well that good fellow murdered me once! He shouldn't deserve to live! He embarrassed me and played around with me! If only I had the strength I had right now, I could've killed him!"

"I don't care what he has done to you. You're the enemy and I'm gonna take you down."

"What is your purpose? Why do you even work with him? I want to know."

Joseph smirked.

"Didn't you hear me? He's misguided. I'm trying to guide him back to the light but I will not be the one. There are others to help him and I am just the beginning. I promised someone I would do that if it would ever happen. After all, I too was misguided."

"I don't care if you were misguided or not," Myran cracked his neck and his knuckles before getting into a fighting stance, "If you are associate with that bastard, looks like I'm gonna have to start considering whether I want you as a puppet, or your head disconnected from your body."

"Then you're gonna have to take it off my corpse!"

The two rushed at each other and punched the other across the face.

Crack!

Joseph managed to win in terms of strength and cracked a part of Myran's jaw. However, Myran regenerated instantly, making Joseph's strike useless.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that, Joseph!"

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