With the Nether Sword guarding himself above, Crow got closer to Forus and continued to fling the purple blade forward, aiming at Forus’s chest.

It was a killing blow. No mercy. Flashy. And extremely technical.

"How can he react with this now?" The blacksmith smiled. Crow’s techniques were sublime to look at. His dynamic movements made every attack explosive.

Forus let go of his sword. He grabbed Crow’s wrist.

"What the?!" Crow’s white eyes widened.

Forus pulled Crow forward, continuing his momentum, and tripped Crow’s legs.

The Abomination Knight flipped Crow over and disarmed him. Forus snatched Crow’s blade and aimed it at his throat as Crow slammed on the ground.

A perfect execution.

It was not flashy. It was not complicated. A simple reversal and disarm combined together into an unbelievable technique.

Crow had lost. He lost because he was only used his skill against Forus. If he had gone all out, they story would have been different.

But that wasn’t what they’re trying to do here. Crow might be more powerful with his powers. But Forus had the upper hand in pure swordsmanship.

The blacksmith clapped, "Magnificent! You really are a one in many lifetimes swordsman."

Forus lifted Crow’s Nether Sword out of the trench coat man’s neck. He extended his hand out.

"Are you alright there, brother?" Forus said.

Crow laughed and grabbed his hand. Forus pulled him up.

"Never better, brother." Crow said.

"Well? Is he worthy?" The black cat turned to the blacksmith.

"He is." The blacksmith nodded.

The man approached Forus and lifted his katana.

"I am Senju Himaru. The blacksmith of the Ring of Trees village.

This is Senko. The Old Sky. I named it this way so that it can always remind the people of our old way. Take this and you shall be master from now on.

Wherever you go, I’ll go.

Whoever you fight, I’ll fight.

Your enemies are my enemies and your will are my will."

Forus grabbed the long katana tightly.

"There was once a vow for warriors like you, Himaru." Forus said. "A vow that needs the approval of God and the will of this world. But I serve no God anymore. He disappointed me.

I only serve Master. And now, I shall vow under his name.

In the name of the Dark Lord, I accept you as my own. In the name of the Dark Queen, I charge you to be loyal and ruthless. In the name of our brothers and sisters, I vow to take you by my side.

Your enemies shall also be my enemies. And your vengeance shall also be mine. I will vanquish anyone that has wronged you and bring my blade the peace it deserves."

Himaru smiled, "That’s a heavy vow, Master... Do you know what we are up against?"

"Hell? Heaven? Doesn’t matter. You should know that I won’t stop unless my body and soul are destroyed." Forus said.

Mater flew in the middle of them. He activated his Demonic Transformation Watch and became a large black jaguar.

"As the Master of your Master, I shall bear witness to this communion.

Welcome to the family, son."

The black cat’s deep voice echoed.

Himaru observed the black jaguar and every other servants. Each of them with their own powers and appearances.

"What your knight is vowing is no small task." Himaru said.

"You don’t know us, Himaru." Crow said. "The only thing we aren’t afraid of is more war."

Crow raised his hands and released his Chaos to the air. His Chaos was mixed with heavy Nether, the power of the hell of darkness.

Bash removed his mask and revealed his true large form. Solarix spread her wings. They released the power of Hellfire.

Tidal power enveloped Evelynn. The power of Terrestrial Spirit sang in Sparrow.

"We’re a ruthless bunch, Himaru." The black jaguar said. "Only peace makes us bored."

Himaru laughed. His body disappeared. The blade had now belonged to Forus.

"It’s time to advance you, Forus." Mater said.

Forus nodded. He returned to the Chaos Ritual.

The black cat spat out hundreds of Chaos Spheres and let them filled up the space of the Chaos Rituals. The five Horror Gemstones had already been in their slots.

"Forus. It’s time for you to reborn again." The black cat floated to the sky.

The Never-ending woods trembled as Forus’s power swept over them. The three moons on the sky pulsed gently.

Mater tore a page in the Dark Grimoire out and started sketching with his claw.

He wanted a very specific mental power for Forus. Mater would achieve that via the Horror Gemstones but he also needed to direct it via the power of the Dark Grimoire.

An illusion fell upon the dark woods.

This illusion was a book. An ancient fairy tale book with moving images and letters on it.

"To save Tanya, we’ll need more than just a simple mental attack. We’ll need her to take control of her demon self. Let me design the perfect playground for our girl." Mater said.

The illusion collapsed and poured into one small glimmering dot. It swallowed the page of the Dark Grimoire and flew over to Forus.

The advancement ritual began.

Nether Energy pulsed inside the Floor of Darkness.

Mater spat out the Abyssal Master Seal that he had on Forus. He had never needed to use it to construct a Abyssal Shrine for Forus.

Forus was a Demonic Item and Mater could use the Demonic Arsenal to refill him. So an Abyssal Shrine wasn’t needed.

But Mater had his own pocket dimension now. there was no harm in doing it.

The mark landed at an empty spot inside the Floor of Darkness. A rock castle emerged.

The Chaos Spheres and Horror Gemstones began to spin aggressively. The five dark gemstones formed the inner circle while the Chaos Spheres formed the outer circle.

Power flooded inside Forus as the lock of his first rank was slowly being chipped away.

He had advanced to Rank-2. The Nether inside the Floor of Darkness was thicker and more pronouncing than ever.

Senko also changed. It was a plain looking katana with an extremely long blade. Its handle changed from a piece of wood to pure steel. Its sharp silver blade turned dark.

Not purple, but dark. The power of the Phantom inside mixed with Forus’s own power.

Forus grabbed the katana.