Naturally, Not a Trace of the Demons
Naturally, any trace or presence of the demons proved anything but easy to find.
Buried deep, aren't they.
In truth, there was only so much a level 123 could manage by spreading his senses. His Agility, though, was considerable — far beyond comparison with any player of the same level. Even so, he could not catch the faintest hint of a demon. Their caliber had to be that much higher.
"Hoo..."
Every preparation he could make was already finished. All that remained was to meet the demons themselves. He had been told in advance where the Dark Elf queen's hut stood.
If it were up to me, I'd summon Paranet too.
Nothing good would come of the Dark Elves learning he kept an undead summon. He decided to hold off on calling Paranet for the moment.
As he walked through the village, the Dark Elves' stares prickled against him. Yujun ignored them without effort and kept on.
At last he stood before the queen's dwelling, the largest hut in the village. He did not go in at once. He opened his inventory instead.
He had no intention of charging in blind and brawling with demons on a whim.
May as well take out a little insurance.
A woman beautiful enough to draw a gasp lay upon a luxurious bed. She was not peacefully asleep. A curse held her in a slumber from which she would never wake, and the sleeper was the Dark Elf queen.
Two demons stood around her, one male and one female. They had been trading idle, worthless talk when both expressions hardened at once.
"A human?"
"That is a human presence, isn't it?"
"It's him."
"The human brat who had the Seed?"
"Yes. That's the scent I caught back then."
"How did that child get here?"
"The idiot Dark Elves must have botched it."
"They didn't bring him in alive, did they?"
"There's no need to let that one live."
"Then we can deal with him ourselves."
"Tsk. If it was going to come to this, I should have moved myself from the start."
"One of us has to stay and guard this place. You know that."
"Even with the queen under a curse, we can't afford to relax. Of course the other one has to keep watch on her."
"Tch. Once this is over, we'll have to wipe out every Dark Elf here."
"And after that, how about we go after the elf village nearby?"
"I like it. I hope their elder is as stupid as the Dark Elf queen."
Having traded the conversation at her leisure, the female demon spoke again.
"Shall I go out? The human doesn't seem inclined to come in."
"Go on, then."
She nodded, and her body vanished in an instant.
Stepping out of the hut, she narrowed her eyes at the human standing stock-still before her. She did not sense any overwhelming power from him.
...Is he smiling?
That was when it hit — a dread that swallowed her whole body.
The female demon, Sheila, hastily triggered Blink, trying to get clear of the spot. She was too late. Something unseen, something she could not even put a name to, bound her body. Sheila strained with everything she had, desperate to tear free of it. She did not move an inch. The formless force holding her was simply too strong — strong enough to completely restrain Sheila, a level 290 demon.
Fear settled into the eyes of the demon who could no longer move. Only then did the human standing before her begin to approach, slowly. He was unmistakably a human, frail as they came, and yet, laid helpless with no way to resist, fear and unease seized her entire body.
"W-wait!"
Sheila spoke, trying to buy time. The approaching human — Yujun — did not stop.
"I said stop!"
Sheila cried out, desperate.
"Why would I?"
"What did you do to my body!"
"Couldn't say."
"Release this right now! Unless you want to die!"
"..."
The demon, it seemed, still had not grasped the situation at all. Sword in hand, he walked slowly forward. Yujun did not let himself grow impatient. Once the Curse of Eternal Binding took a demon, they could not break it on their own.
No. Even if someone tried to help, they couldn't undo it without knowing the pattern formula I set.
The consumable he had used, the Curse of Eternal Binding, was a Mythic-grade item.
Lived up to its rank.
Even he, owner of items of every kind, possessed only a few of them, and he was spending one now. So no matter how far the demon's level outstripped his own, there was no escaping that curse.
I really meant to save this. But it's my first demon hunt. Using it for safety is the right call.
Thanks to his Legendary-grade items, his specs were not drastically behind the demon's. Still, he had wanted to be certain. He had already looked the demon over with a Status Check Scroll.
Level 294. Right around average for a demon.
Not a truly strong one. If anything, she felt a little weak to have taken the Dark Elf queen hostage.
Did they ambush her while her guard was down?
A Dark Elf queen ought to have been more than a match for a demon of this level. In any case, that was not something he could know right now. Before finishing Sheila, he summoned Paranet.
"Master!"
Called forth after quite some time, Paranet came straight to Yujun the instant he appeared, plainly delighted to be there.
"What is the matter? If this one may be of service—"
"Wait. Stay there."
"Yes?"
"I'll get you some levels."
With that, Yujun did not hesitate. He drove his sword into Sheila's throat.
"Ah, n—"
Shunk!
◈ Demon's Essence
His level had risen by eleven, and with it came a Legendary title and a Legendary Item Selection Box.
Nice. I'm back to two Legendary Item Selection Boxes.
Was it the cloak bearing the Rainbow Sticker? Even aiming for a vital point, it was exceedingly rare for a demon to die to a single attack. Setting level aside, demons possessed an incredibly tenacious vitality. Two hundred and fifty percent bonus damage, it seemed, was not something one could simply shrug off — and Yujun's attack power had already been high to begin with.
"M-Master? What has happened? I smell a demon..."
Paranet said, utterly bewildered.
"Level go up a bit?"
"A tremendous amount, Master..."
"Good."
The higher a summon's level, the more it benefited him as well. They did not split experience, so it was best to keep Paranet at his side and raise him whenever he could.
Let's have a look at Paranet's status.
Yujun checked Paranet's stats for the first time in a while.
Traits: Survival Instinct (S), Evasion (A)
Skills: Poison Potion Crafting (B), Corpse Explosion (S)
Title: None
Unallocated Points:0
Oh. Not bad.
In Paranet's case, leveling did not simply grant three stat points each time. Yujun had greatly raised his potential with the Blessing of the Dead. In short, just as Yujun received four stat points under the privilege of the Primordial Player, there were times Paranet received four as well. Because of that, his stats sat well above those of other players at the same level. On top of that, the Legendary-grade equipment Yujun had given him had all but put wings on his back.
Almost too good to waste on pulling aggro.
A satisfied smile on his face, Yujun lifted his sword toward the demon who had appeared before he quite noticed.
"You killed Sheila?"
The male demon spoke in a flat, indifferent tone. Yujun nodded.
"How did you kill her?"
"With a sword."
"You know that isn't what I'm asking."
"She just died."
"No. Your ability is not sufficient to bring Sheila down. I will ask once more. How did you kill her?"
"See for yourself."
Yujun kicked off the ground and charged the male demon, Pierre. Wings erupted from Pierre's back, and he shot high into the sky. He poured dark demonic energy into his sword, then dropped, crashing down toward Yujun. Yujun swung to meet him as Pierre closed the last of the distance in an instant.
Boom—!
Yujun was blasted far back. Even as he flew, he checked the state of his weapon.
Still in one piece. Good.
Then it was not the weapon's attack power that had lost. The gap was in Strength. Yujun righted his stance and extended his sword toward the incoming Pierre. This time, his SSS-rank Swordsmanship showed its worth. The blade, thrust out at a perfect moment, left Pierre nowhere to go. Pierre twisted —
Thuk!
— and the sword punched clean through his shoulder.
"You dare...!"
Badly wounded, Pierre chose to attack rather than retreat. Dark demonic energy. Yujun sucked in a sharp breath.
"What?"
"Kehehe... Let us see whose body is sturdier, human."
Pitch-black energy bursting from Pierre's body exploded right in front of Yujun. Pierre had detonated himself.
KRA-KOOM! KRA-KOOM!
A tremendous blast swallowed the surrounding area. Even Paranet, who had not been all that close, was flung far away, and Yujun, struck point-blank, could not come through unscathed. The chain of explosions hammered his body without pause. He felt his mind going hazy. It seemed he might pass out at any moment.
He did not.
Equanimity. That trait kept Yujun's mind clear.
I'm not dead.
His left arm hung in shreds and both legs had been broken, but breath still clung to him. The moment he recognized that he was alive, Yujun opened his inventory. His vision was blurred. He could not properly make out the items inside. But he had placed his potions closest at hand for exactly this.
Second from the front...
A highest-grade potion waited there — an item that, in pure healing power alone, could stand beside an elixir. He popped the cap and drank it in one swallow. A cool, clear energy slid down his throat.
And at once, the effect took hold. His ruined body recovered completely, restored to the state it had been in before the dark demonic energy struck him head-on.
"Hoo..."
The pain screaming through every part of him vanished cleanly. Yujun checked on Pierre, thrown far from the blast. Hideous wounds from the detonation covered him.
I need to finish this fast.
Demons regenerated exceptionally well. Wounds like those would not close in an instant, but there was no reason to give him the time. Fully restored, Yujun kicked off the ground and rushed the fallen demon. Pierre had lost consciousness and could offer no resistance at all.
Yujun was bringing his sword down toward the demon's skull when —
Crack!