"Next are Demon Weaknesses" Diablo says
Haru shrugs and says. "Weaknesses, the most annoying aspect to any being. Why do they even exist?"
Diablo chuckles and says "Everything has weaknesses, even Primordials. Plus it wouldn't make sense for beings to have no weaknesses at all, the balance of the world would be broken completely."
Haru says "I know that much"
Diablo then continued:
"Our first weakness is Holy Magic and Angelic Arts. These are not an immediate kill, but are extremely painful and effective against our magicule structures.
Secondly Spirits are our Direct Counter. Spirits with advantageous attributes can partially bypass demon defenses. After I train you tho, you will never lose to a spirit ever. As someone who has been alive since the beginning of time, I've fought a lot of spirits and gathered a lot of information. I'll naturally hand you this information, which would make any encounter with a spirit an easy win for you.
Well, you could win against any spirit except one.
For example a spirit like Ilfrit is effectively useless against demons of high rank, since fire is mostly useless against demons.
Then a thought suddenly hits Haru. "Ilfrit!" The vile spirit that tormented Shizu for decades. Haru thinks to himself if possible he would like to save Shizu. If he fought ilfrit and beat him into submission would it work. Are spirits afraid of extinction. If Haru threatened to erase his soul.
Diablo seeing the change is Haru's face asks "What's wrong, there's a change in your expression"
Haru quickly responds "Oh don't worry about it. It's nothing really."
Diablo taking the cue does not ask any further and just continues with his education.
"Next is Magicule Consumption. You see our abilities rely heavily on magicule expenditure. Running out, which is mainly rare means death or forced banishment to the Underworld. That is if you don't have a physical body. So you have to be careful of how you use your magicules. The one beings that can just blow magicules like nothing are True Dragons.
Then we have High-Purity Light. When I say light I'm not talking about sunlight, but true purified light-based attacks. These are commonly used by Holy Knights"
Haru nodded slowly. "So Razen's nuclear spell…?"
"That is a High-output destructive magic," Diablo said. "Not exactly 'weakness,' but it's effective purely due to power and scale. The expert In nuclear magic is Juane, compared to her that Razen might as well fired a mere fire spell."
Haru groaned. "I believe that completely." I mean in the light novel during the Empires invasion into Tempest. Juane obliterated over 100 000 soldier alone with her nuclear magic.
---
Diablo continued "Next Manifestation in the Cardinal World. This is what happened to you just recently"
Diablo clasped his hands behind his back.
"When demons manifest in the Cardinal World without a physical avatar, we are at roughly 30–50% of our real power. Depending on the demon of course."
Haru flinched. "Wait—so I wasn't even half as strong as normal?"
"Correct," Diablo said.
"…I see, that explains a lot."
---
Diablo smiles and says "Then we have Contracts, Summoning and Binding."
Diablo continues, "you must never forget the logic behind demon summoning and binding contracts."
Haru leaned in.
"Summoners cannot control demons stronger than themselves. But they may form a contract, which stabilizes your form and provides you more power. So depending on the contract payment, you might manifest with slightly improved power."
"So that's why Razen wiped me instantly," Haru muttered.
"Well I'm not really sure on that part," Diablo said. "I was not there when you manifested, so I can't be sure whether you accepted fair contract or not. You might have just been wiped out because you were weak."
He then continues "It might also be a problem of mentality. You could have lost because you underestimated your opponent."
Haru protested and said "But I was not underestimating him at all, in fact I was the opposite."
Diablo says "Well, overestimating an opponent can also be a bad thing. It's important to go into every battle with a neutral but confident sense. When you fear an opponent before you even fight them, you are prone to making mistakes.
Haru said"…Well I really didn't fear him, but I get what you mean."
---
Diablo chuckles and says "Finally we have Magicule Pressure and Presence.
You must learn how to properly restrain or release your magicule presence. Humans subconsciously read presence. An uncontrolled presence warns enemies that you are nearby and wastes energy."
Haru nodded. "So this is like suppressing Reiatsu… got it."
"Rei… what?" Diablo asked.
"Never mind." Haru quickly said. He had just thought of the goated anime Bleach there for a second.
---
Haru's Reactions Throughout
Throughout the explanations, Haru asked questions, nodded, muttered complaints, and tried to absorb every word, especially the parts that explained why he got obliterated so easily.
By the end, his head was spinning.
"So basically," Haru summarized, "I was nerfed, inexperienced, uninformed, lacking a physical body, and stupid."
Diablo smiled gently. "You were simply ignorant."
"…That's one way to put it I guess." Haru says.
Diablo smiled and clapped his hands. "Now that you understand the fundamentals, its time for the real training to begin."
Haru swallowed hard.
---
"The biggest strength of demons is magic."
Diablo said this calmly, as if stating an obvious fact.
Haru nodded automatically, because yes, that's what everyone believed.
Diablo continued, "That is the general understanding of the world. Which is why an element of surprise is extremely effective."
Haru blinked. "Element of surprise…?"
"Yes. When facing a demon," Diablo explained, "an opponent instantly assumes they are facing magic. Pure magic. Barriers, spells, elemental attacks. But—" his smile stretched wider, "what if a demon flips the script and engages in hand-to-hand combat instead?"
Haru stared. Diablo's tone made it sound so simple.
"That," Diablo said, "is the first thing I will teach you."
Haru exhaled. "Well… I'm already a swordsman."
Diablo didn't even try to soften his response.
"I'm not going to lie to you. Using a sword as a demon is highly impractical."
Haru froze. "Impractical?"
"Yes. Extremely so." Diablo waved his hand casually. "That demon who is a subordinate of Jaune might pull it off. But against real top-tiers, it becomes a liability. Closing distance against someone who can erase you is foolish unless your body itself is the weapon."
Haru grimaced. "So I should drop the sword…?"
Diablo immediately added, "Not necessarily."
Haru blinked.
"If you enjoy swordsmanship, you may keep it as a secondary style. Even Rouge uses a sword as a secondary weapon. But pure hand-to-hand combat is better for demons. Much better."
Then Diablo said, "Observe."
His right arm twisted and reshaped, the magicules bending smoothly and flawlessly, not grotesque, but elegant. It turned into a massive black claw, obsidian-like, curved and sharp.
His left arm reshaped into a short silver gauntlet, compact and dense.
"These," Diablo said, flexing each arm, "are my primary fighting weapons. Practical for both attack and defense. You can create your own weapons, whatever is comfortable for you."
Haru nodded. "I got it."
Diablo then retracted his weapons and snapped his fingers.
BOOM.
A barrier expanded outward, forming a dome roughly two kilometers wide. Haru felt it immediately, his magic conduction suddenly slowed, then locked.
He gasped. "This… anti-magic…?"
"Anti-magic barrier," Diablo confirmed with a small smile. "Correct. And this is important for the first lesson."
Haru's heart stiffened.
"Me and you are going to fight here, no holding back." Diablo said.
The words struck Haru like a blade.
Diablo continued, "And the only way out is one of two options. Either" he raised one finger,
"You study the anti-magic barrier during the fight and dispell it, and in turn learning to construct your own anti-magic barrier…"
Then he raised a second finger.
"Or you land a clean blow on me."
Haru's stomach dropped.
Fight Diablo. Without holding back.
The man who no-diffed Jaune like she was a practice dummy.
The man whose mere presence distorted the air.
And I… I wasn't even sure i could beat Juane's strongest subordinate Esprit, and I went extreme-diff with the second strongest one even while having huge advantages …
This is impossible. I'll die. I'll literally die.
A cold sweat ran down his spine.
"Uh… Noir," Haru said weakly, "are we not moving too fast…?"
Diablo smiled gently. "Not at all."
Not comforting. At all.
Diablo then added, perfectly casually,
"If you're worried about dying, don't be. I will heal you at the brink of death and bring you back. This is also a very efficient way to increase your combat experience."
Haru swallowed. Hard.
He looked at the 2-kilometer dome.
At Diablo's smile.
At the transforming weapons on his arms.
There is no way out.
________________________________________
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