Fierce Battle with the Demon Satan

So, to obtain a new Devil Fruit power, I first had to unlock a Devil Fruit Slot?

The system's sudden notification cleared up Hughes's earlier confusion. This was definitely good news: it meant he could possess more than one Devil Fruit power.

Though he still had no idea how to unlock a Devil Fruit Slot, Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits like the Phoenix, Nika, and Azure Dragon had already drifted through Hughes's mind.

Meanwhile, Satan's expression grew increasingly grim as he stood on the ground. He lowered his head and laughed soundlessly, helplessly.

As the immortal dark demon Satan, he had slain countless gods, only to be humiliated by an inferior human at the end of his life...

"I can't accept this. I can't accept this..." Vast Curse Power surged through Satan's body, making the air tremble. Dark power enveloped his clenched fists.

His bat wings beat, and Satan reached Hughes in the blink of an eye. His fists, wreathed in darkness, hammered Hughes like a sudden downpour, giving him no chance to strike back.

"Why? Why? I finally broke out of the seal, so why am I going to die?"

[Ding! A large amount of Devil Origin absorbed. Flame-Flame Fruit Awakening progress +0.2%.]

[Ding! A large amount of Devil Origin absorbed. Flame-Flame Fruit Awakening progress +0.2%.]

...What the hell? Getting beaten up could speed up my Awakening!

Oh! I can use Elementalization, so it's fine...

With Elementalization active, Hughes blinked as he watched Satan repeatedly smash his body apart and saw it reform.

Satan's frenzied roars rang in his ears, and a huge "?" floated above Hughes's head.

Why does Satan seem even crazier than me?

"You can keep recovering, can you? Dark Écriture: Sealing Chains!"

Seeing that he couldn't completely destroy Hughes even after all this time, Satan stirred up his Curse Power. Several characters made of chains appeared in the air.

The Dark Écriture scattered, turning into pitch-black chains that spiraled down from above. Under Satan's relentless assault, Hughes had no chance to dodge and was immediately bound.

Hughes froze in shock. These sealing chains formed from characters could actually seal his Elementalization!

"Bang!"

Satan's demonic fist slammed into Hughes, knocking him out of the air. Satan beat his bat wings and followed, blue lightning crackling around both hands.

Bound by the sealing chains and unable to use Elementalization, Hughes's eyes flew wide open.

Asking online: can Tekkai withstand Dark Spark plus Super Torture Rampage?

Tekkai, which never killed nameless nobodies, declared, This is nothing! Relax and trust me, bro. I'll carry you!!

The next instant, Satan's lightning-covered palms touched Hughes's abdomen, letting him experience a round of lightning bumper cars!

Covered in lightning, the two flashed about like bolts of electricity, crashing into the ground with thunderous booms and leaving crater after crater.

Hughes had lost count of how many mouthfuls of blood he'd spat out. All he knew was that his body felt warm, and black smoke occasionally rose from it... Useless. Tekkai is completely useless.

Tekkai refused to take the blame. It had kept its promise and sent Hughes flying!

Damn it, sure enough, everyone who trusts Tekkai gets a one-way ticket to heaven in the end! Luckily, the system knew what it was doing and boosted my physical abilities several times over. Otherwise, I really couldn't have survived that combo!

Why did Hughes, his body charred several shades darker by lightning, still have the presence of mind to let his thoughts wander?

Of course, it was the confidence his benefactor had given him...

While the demon Satan held him down and beat him senseless, the Flame-Flame Fruit's Awakening progress had actually been rising by a full one percent at a time!!

A transparent panel opened before Hughes's eyes...

[Devil Fruit power: Flame-Flame Fruit (Awakening progress: 30%).]

[The Flame-Flame Fruit's Awakening progress has reached 30%, meeting the requirements for Initial Awakening. Initial Awakening is now officially activated!]

Hughes: (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

It was so dazzling that the corners of Hughes's mouth rose involuntarily.

"Laughing, are you? You like laughing, huh!

"Bang! Bang!"

After two Dark Sparks, Hughes wiped the smile off his face.

The director had said one shouldn't be too arrogant. Hughes thought he was right, but he wasn't going to listen. Now that he had a cheat, was he really going to let Satan keep beating him down?

Blazing flames suddenly erupted from Hughes's body, still bound by the sealing chains. More than that, thick flames also sprang up across the entire mountain hollow for no apparent reason, as if responding to him.

Even the sealing chains Satan had placed on him burst into flame.

Everything in sight turned into a world of fire in an instant. Hughes flexed his arms slightly and easily broke free of the sealing chains.

So strong. Hughes stared at his hands in disbelief. He felt as though he could do anything now.

With a slight movement of his mind, the surrounding flames gathered behind Hughes. With a gentle wave of his hand, flames appeared on Satan's body out of nowhere.

This is Initial Awakening? Hughes couldn't even imagine how powerful he would become after Complete Awakening.

Satan brushed the flames off himself expressionlessly. "Human, you can absorb my Devil Origin, can't you? Let's make a deal. I'll give you all my remaining Devil Origin, and if you ever meet anyone who calls themselves one of the Eighteen Battle Gods of Calamity Demons, just kill them for me."

Hughes: (⊙ω⊙?)... Does Satan really think I'm that stupid?

Can't I just absorb the Devil Factors leaking out of him?

Demons these days are too much, expecting people to do things for them without offering any benefit.

Though I, Hughes, might be the sort of person who takes the benefits and doesn't do the job!

Besides, we can talk terms, but after the beating I just took, it wouldn't be my style not to pay him back.

Wreathed in flames, Hughes slammed both palms against the ground. Streams of fire burst from beneath the earth and shot into the sky. They were so densely packed that Satan had nowhere to dodge. The pillars of fire struck him and sent him flying into the distance.

Hughes glanced at Satan, lying motionless on the ground, then looked at the Devil Fruit Awakening progress on his panel, which had stopped rising. "Hey, Satan, you're dying, aren't you?"

When Satan didn't answer, Hughes intended to pretend to cough a few times and change the subject before asking again. To his surprise, he ended up coughing up several mouthfuls of blood. His body suddenly went limp, and he fell straight down.

Damn it, I got so excited I forgot I was seriously injured too. Satan didn't just cook my body with lightning; who knows how many bones I've broken? If I had nine lives, at least eight and a half would be gone!

If Satan is this strong when he's dying, how come Mira keeps getting beaten up in Satan form?

The demon and the human lay there on the ground in silence. As Hughes drifted in and out of consciousness, he seemed to see his director coming to get him...

"Wake up, Hughes! Wake up!"

Feeling a slap on his cheek, Hughes opened his eyes slightly. "Oh, it's you, Mira!"

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, you're not dead yet!" Mira hurriedly poured the medicine Laxus had given her earlier into Hughes's mouth.

"Mira..."

"Mm? What is it?" Mira asked worriedly.

"Could you not point that demon face at me? It's a little ugly. I'm afraid it'll scare me to death."

They hardened, they hardened. Mira's fists suddenly clenched tight.