> Restoration Progress: Good Deed +1
Unlocked: "Shadow Step" - Allows you to teleport short distances through shadows.
Belphegor raised an eyebrow. "Was that a good deed?" he asked, his voice laced with skepticism.
The System's response was immediate. "Yes, since you reached out to them."
Belphegor scoffed. "The bigger coward had more ants and weapons on his side. I just evened the odds. That's not mercy — that's balance."
The System's tone remained nonchalant. "Then maybe this system should retrieve the powers restored to you."
Belphegor's expression darkened. "Hell no, you piece of shit. Don't even think about it."
Another voice cut through the air.
"For someone who calls humans weak, you seem oddly protective of them."
Belphegor's gaze snapped up. Kael stepped out of the shadows, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Belphegor's voice was cold. "Stop following me before I snap you in two."
Kael only shrugged, unfazed. "Pull stunts like that and someone will come looking. You're not as invisible as you think."
Belphegor laughed without humor, wiping blood from his lip. "Good. Let them come."
The air between them grew taut, like the stillness before lightning strikes.
"I think we should talk," Kael said evenly. "I have an offer you might actually care about."
Belphegor didn't move from where he sat, chest still rising and falling as the pain gradually subsided. His crimson eyes shifted lazily toward Kael, giving him the smallest flicker of acknowledgment — a short, nonchalant look — before looking away again.
Kael smiled faintly at the lack of reaction and continued. "The kingdom is in flux," Kael said, his voice calm but deliberate. "The old guard is faltering, and new players are emerging. I intend to take advantage of the opportunities this chaos presents." He paused, eyes locking onto Belphegor's. "But I need the right people — people with strength, cunning, and adaptability — to help me shape what comes next."
Kael reached into his coat and produced a small, intricately carved wooden token, letting it rest on his palm.
"I'm assembling a guild — not the kind that hides behind noble banners or follows dusty codes. Mine will be different. We'll grow strong enough to decide who rules when the dust settles. I can offer you resources, rare gear, and training that will make you even more unstoppable. Work with me, and you won't just survive this shifting world — you'll help shape it."
Belphegor finally turned his head, giving Kael his full attention for a heartbeat. Then he chuckled darkly.
"So what's the offer?"
Kael didn't flinch. "Power. More than you already have. And a seat at the table when this kingdom's fate is decided."
For a moment, silence hung between them. Then Belphegor let out a cold, humorless laugh.
"You think I need more power?" he said, his tone mocking. "You think some little guild of yours can teach me something I don't already know?" He stood, looming over Kael, his presence like a storm pressing down on the room.
"I was power before this world even knew the word," he said. "Let your kingdom burn. Whoever dares to stand before me will kneel — or die screaming."
Kael's smile didn't fade, though his eyes narrowed slightly, studying Belphegor like a man appraising a wild beast.
"That pride of yours," Kael said quietly, "will either make you a king… or get you killed."
Belphegor smirked. "Then we'll see which comes first."
Kael tilted his head slightly, smiling as though the tension between them amused him rather than threatened him.
"Then let's test that theory," Kael said. "Spar with me."
For the first time, Belphegor's crimson eyes actually focused on him. Not with contempt — but with faint curiosity.
"You want to fight me?" Belphegor said, his voice low, a hint of dark amusement curling at the edges.
Kael didn't flinch. "Not fight. Spar. No tricks. No killing intent. Just strength against strength."
Belphegor stood fully, his towering presence casting a shadow over Kael. "If I accidentally kill you, then it's not my fault," he said flatly.
Kael grinned, slipping the wooden token back into his coat and stepping a few paces away. "Fair enough."
He exhaled, and the air around him shifted — subtly at first, then with force. Dust lifted from the ground in a spiral, and sparks of faint electricity danced across his knuckles.
Belphegor remained exactly where he was, hands at his sides, perfectly still. "Come," he said, his voice almost bored.
Kael struck first.
With a snap of his wrist, a spear of compressed air shot forward like a bullet, splitting the air with a sharp crack.
Belphegor vanished.
The ground where he'd stood cracked as his shadow step carried him behind Kael in an instant. The air rippled with the sudden displacement of space.
Kael barely had time to register it before a fist like a hammer swung toward him — a punch that could reduce a wall to rubble.
With a burst of wind, Kael spun aside, the blow grazing his coat. The sheer shockwave from the punch sent dust exploding outward and left a shallow crater in the alley floor.
"Fast," Kael said under his breath, landing lightly on his feet.
Belphegor straightened, his expression unreadable. "Slow."
Kael smirked and snapped his fingers. A jagged streak of lightning arced across the gap between them. Belphegor raised his hand, summoning Chrono Shield — time itself seemed to slow as the shield shimmered like warped glass, the lightning dissipating harmlessly against it.
Kael didn't let up. Using the momentum, he propelled himself forward with a blast of wind, spinning into a kick charged with electricity.
Belphegor blocked with his forearm, the force skidding him back half a step — and that was the first time he looked surprised.
"Interesting," Belphegor muttered, before vanishing again with shadow step and appearing above Kael this time.
The next strike came like a thunderclap, his fist descending with all the weight of a collapsing building.
Kael reacted instantly — an updraft roared to life, blasting him sideways as the ground where he'd been standing caved in from the impact.
The alley was filled with dust, the smell of ozone sharp in the air.
Both men reappeared from the haze at the same time — Belphegor advancing like a predator, Kael bracing himself, lightning dancing along his arms now like living veins of power.
For several tense moments, they exchanged a flurry of blows — Belphegor's speed and raw strength meeting Kael's agility and precision head-on. Each time Belphegor closed in, Kael used wind to create space; each time Kael struck from range, Belphegor's shadow step closed the distance again.
Finally, they broke apart, breathing heavily. Belphegor had a faint scuff on his cheek — the first mark anyone had landed on him since his revival.
Kael's coat was singed in places, his hair ruffled, but his grin hadn't faded.
The alley was quiet now, the dust settling like a curtain after a brutal play.
Belphegor flexed his fist once, his crimson eyes narrowing. Kael stood across from him, chest rising and falling, lightning still crackling faintly across his arms before it fizzled out.
Instead of attacking again, Kael straightened, brushing the soot off his coat as if they'd just shared a casual conversation.
"I think I've made my point," he said calmly.
Belphegor didn't respond immediately. His gaze swept the cracked ground, the faint scuff on his cheek, the shallow ache in his arm where Kael's strike had landed. It had been centuries — literal centuries — since any mortal had touched him.
Kael took a step forward, his tone shifting back to that calm, measured pitch.
"You see it now, don't you?" he said, gesturing slightly toward the ruined ground around them.
"You're strong — terrifyingly so. But you're not at your peak. Not yet. You can be more. I can give you opportunities to gain that power back — to be even stronger than this."
Belphegor's jaw tightened. He hated the truth in those words. His pride screamed to reject them — to reject Kael.
But the memory of that electric kick and the faint sting on his cheek wouldn't let him.
He stepped closer until he towered over Kael, his voice low and dangerous.
"Understand this, human," Belphegor said, his crimson gaze boring into him. "The only reason I'm considering this is because you impressed me. Nothing more."
Kael didn't flinch. Didn't even look surprised. He just gave a slight shrug, as if Belphegor's ego was the most natural thing in the world.
"Good enough for me," Kael said with a faint smile.
Belphegor turned away, hands folding behind his back. "Then lead the way."
Kael's grin widened, satisfied. "With that shadow trick of yours," he said casually, "you could assassinate kings in their sleep. You really will change everything."
Belphegor chuckled darkly. "Then I hope the world is ready."
And with that, the two walked out of the alley — not as allies, not yet, but no longer strangers either.