"Summoning weapons is [Taboo]!" the hero exclaimed with a playful, childlike expression.
Aku didn't understand it at first. He didn't grasp what his opponent meant.
However, when the purple sparks stopped dancing in the air, he got it.
But it was already too late.
Aku could barely react. Confused by the loss of connection with his subspace, he didn't see the hero coming.
The cyan-haired young man had launched himself at Aku with such force that he had destroyed the ice tower he had created.
In an instant his fist impacted Aku's cheek and sent him flying, making him bounce several times across the ground.
"Take that! HAHAHA," the young man laughed cheerfully. "By the way, my name is Bīng Xuě! What's yours?"
The boy asked. His long cyan blue hair was tied in a ponytail, his eyes shining like two sapphires as he tried to see where his opponent had landed.
Aku lay sprawled across several broken trees as he tried to understand what had happened.
"It all started when he said those words... Right, he mentioned that summoning weapons was taboo," the demon king told himself, analyzing the situation.
There were two probable possibilities to explain what had happened.
The first was that Bīng was capable of rewriting the laws of the world, creating new laws in a specific area or perhaps even on a universal scale.
The other possibility was that Bīng was capable of creating rules, but only over a specific target.
Aku deduced the first was most probable. Otherwise it would have been easy for his enemy to say something like "defending yourself is [Taboo]" or "being alive is [Taboo]."
Though Aku didn't rule out the possibility that there were conditions he didn't know about, so he had to stay alert.
"Hey! Don't ignore me! I asked you a question," the young hero complained as he walked calmly toward his opponent. "I told you my name, so it's only fair you tell me yours!"
The young man demanded to know as he approached Aku.
The demon king stood up while making a gesture with his hand.
With that gesture he had given orders to [Nyargoohl], an entity he had created by breaking the [Vessel of a Thousand and One Shadows].
By fusing multiple specters of darkness he had managed to create [Nyargoohl], an entity made of tangible darkness and tentacles.
That creature lived in his shadow like a spiritual symbiote.
It was capable of connecting through shadows, and what it did was simple.
From the shadows of the weapons he had used moments ago, a tentacle formed, grabbed the weapons and sent them toward the opponent at great speed.
"Aku, my name is Aku," the boy responded as the weapons returned to him.
Bīng Xuě acted quickly, creating a thick ice wall behind him to block the weapons.
"Attacking from behind isn't cool, man!" the boy exclaimed, though he didn't seem bothered. He kept his carefree, cheerful attitude. "A pleasure to meet you, Aku!"
The boy said then with a laughing voice.
Aku was surprised by the friendliness with which Bīng Xuě was treating him, however he didn't have time to make friends.
He quickly manipulated [Nyargoohl]. The tentacles of darkness grabbed the weapons embedded in the ice wall and began spinning them.
The weapons became drills that pierced through the ice and accelerated toward the enemy.
"Wow," he said as he nimbly jumped aside, dodging the weapons.
These stuck into the ground while Bīng Xuě landed on a tree branch.
"I see you're eager to fight, hehe. Maybe it's partly my fault. After all, I attacked you very suddenly," the boy said calmly. "Still, a good chat never hurt anyone, right?"
Aku ignored Bīng Xuě's words as [Nyargoohl] spread rapidly, striking at the tree where the hero was.
The tentacles of darkness grabbed the lower part of the tree until breaking it into hundreds of pieces.
Bīng Xuě jumped from the tree toward another branch, but several tentacles of darkness rose trying to pierce the boy.
"Manipulating darkness is [Taboo]," the boy then said as he landed on another tree.
Upon saying those words the tentacles of darkness vanished, dissolving into the air.
Aku clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was irritating to have all his powers cancelled like that.
"Hehehe, don't you think you're being a bit aggressive? I just want to have a friendly conversation. After all, you seem strong," the young man said with a smile. "You could at least answer me this: how many people have you defeated so far?"
The boy asked with genuine curiosity, looking at Aku with an innocent expression.
The demon king looked at the hero curiously.
Why did he want to know that?
Aku reflected on it.
Maybe he wanted to measure his strength?
Maybe he wanted an alliance?
The demon king wasn't sure, however, forming an alliance with such a troublesome enemy could be beneficial.
"27," Aku said indifferently, watching Bīng Xuě's reaction.
The hero looked at him with a cheerful smile, however, his expression suddenly shifted to a more disappointed one.
"Only? Well, what a letdown," the boy said. "That's a bit disappointing. I thought you'd have defeated more people."
Aku raised an eyebrow.
For him his score wasn't that bad, or at least that's what he thought.
"And how many do you have, if I may ask?" the demon king asked with a smile.
Bīng Xuě smiled as the air around him began to cool.
"Me? In the time the trial has gone on, I've killed 54 heroes," he answered proudly.
Aku was surprised. This opponent wouldn't be as easy to defeat as the others.
Finally, an interesting opponent.