112. Warm-Up
Was it because his body and soul weren't fully meshed that he was called the 'Half Demon King'? But the aura radiating from that half demon king was no joke. The name 'half' felt like a prank in comparison.
I'd always sensed an enormous amount of mana from demons, but the density here was insane. This massively immense power was packed tightly into that single body. If the power of every demon I'd met so far had been like scattered steam, this was frozen solid into ice.
"Whoa, this is... fucking... weird."
It was like compressing an entire natural landmark into living-creature size. Just sensing the mana made my head spin with vertigo.
Well, yeah. He had to be this strong to live up to the backstory of being the strongest demon king in history. The Gray Demon King alone could solo the 48th floor boss just by implanting that soul into its gear mechanism. So the body by itself was probably 48th-floor-boss level, and the demon possessing it—Roturang—must've originally been demon-king class too.
This guy was probably stronger than a real 48th-floor boss in practice.
"Hahaha! Power overflowing! So this is the Gray Demon King's body!"
The demon king laughed uproariously, his voice booming. -Crack. Just from laughing, his mana trembled, cracking the surrounding objects. How powerful did you have to be for that to happen? And to waste that much power on a mere laugh—it was pathetic.
Jesus, even if you're thrilled, come on. Don't just piss away something that precious. It's not like you're incontinent.
"Let's test it out."
Swiftness
The demon king suddenly stopped laughing, firing a beam of strange-colored light from his eyes. No warning. I blocked it with a mana-shield, but the beam sliced right through, grazing my arm.
-Sizzle...! My arm reeked of burnt flesh. An incredibly powerful heat ray, strong enough to pierce my attribute resistance.
The demon king then swung his arm wide. A ferocious whirlwind engulfed me.
-Boom! Call it a whirlwind, but everything around me got pulverized to dust just from being caught in it. As I was blown back, I pulled an iron ball from my inventory and tossed it lightly. It didn't even reach the demon king before shredding apart in the wind.
Huh. Wasn't infused with mana or anything, but that metal chunk tore like sponge. Made me question how my body was holding up unscathed against that gale.
Swiftness
I boosted my speed in an instant, closing in on the demon king and swinging my sword at his body. Bad handfeel.
-Clang. It was bare flesh, but felt like hacking a massive boulder. A normal rock would've split in two under my blade, but this guy's body only got a shallow scratch.
As expected of the strongest demon king's body. My mana-infused sword couldn't even cut deep.
-Whoosh! This time, he swung his spread wings. I barely dodged the razor-sharp tips. Every joint brimmed with dense mana. A graze would've sliced me.
Then, a heavy impact slammed my chest.
-Boom! Like getting smashed by a sledgehammer. My body flew back.
"Kehhehe."
It wasn't magic or a weapon that hit me. It was the demon king's fist, cloaked in pitch-black aura.
"Now I get it. How to use this body."
His earlier attacks seemed like test runs for the flesh's capabilities. Like poking every button on a new phone. And even then, this power, this speed, this tempo—fucking disgustingly strong.
"Ah, yeah. Bring it."
Yeah, that's more like it.
Now that I mention it, the Gray Demon King's body was a pretty textbook demon shape. Goat-like horns on the head, a pair of wings and a tail, claws sharp as razors. Textbook demon meant it had every organ demons could possess—all of them weapons. Claws, wings, tail: every one a lethal tool.
So once the demon king got serious, his onslaught overwhelmed my two hands and feet.
-Bang! The coiled tail, spring-loaded, shot out with explosive force. I pulled a weirdly shaped shield, using its radial surface to deflect. But the shield shattered anyway.
One attack, one gear sacrificed. Not that the raw power was the issue—my equipment hadn't kept up with my specs for a while. The problem was the relentless barrage, no breathing room.
Melee's always like that. Each attack costs a turn. Block this, and it's my go. But this shameless bastard used overwhelming speed and versatile attacks to steal extra turns.
-Whish! Tail blocked, he swung wings to whip up a blade-wind. Not mere wind—high-tier magic. Mana bullets spun like sawblades in the gusts, shredding on hit. Not a metaphor—literally ground to paste. Speaking from experience, one just tagged me.
"Fuck... why won't this heal."
The gash on my forearm from the mana bullet wasn't closing. Not due to weak regen. Some magical interference clung to the wound. Not a curse debuff.
-Spurt! The wound itself periodically erupted wind, tearing my flesh. Residual attack skill. Only way was to carve out the chunk and potion it.
But the demon king never paused, denying any gap.
Swiftness
All-In
I stacked two buffs to amp agility again, dodging bullets and pushing forward. Distance closed—
The demon king grinned creepily, demonstratively opening then clenching his palm. Mana surged.
Super Sense
My senses, far beyond human limits, clocked the disaster from that trivial motion. I jammed mana into my cloak, wrapping it as a shield. Layered Iron Wall and All-In for defense amp, arms guarding my face.
-KABOOM!! Like a C4 detonating point-blank. Dozens of unidentified mana bullets pummeled me. Mana-reinforced cloak shredded instantly; blood trickled from my forehead. Armor chunks scattered, a migraine throbbed on my left side.
"Huff... huff..."
Fuck, I can't believe this. Just spraying mana everywhere yields this?
"...... ...... ......"
The demon king's mutterings brushed my ears faintly. Eardrums must've taken a hit. It'll clear up soon.
But his fist suddenly loomed—cloaked in sharp mana.
-Slash! Ducked fast, but temple flesh tore long. Ear half-gone too. Even Super Regeneration and potions struggled with total loss—low floors meant no high-grade potions.
Hope it wasn't fully severed.
Roturang's original style: speed-focused hyper-combat.
-Whoosh! Whoosh! Even post-explosion, against my battered self, attacks flew at insane speeds.
Reactions holding—for now. Honed weapon and body arts blocked and countered fine. But trailing mana caused indirect damage. Lightning-fast melee, yet constant AoE add-ons.
"No shame, fuck...!"
-Clang! Forced his attack aside, burrowed deep into his guard. Perfect opening. Mana-charged sword swung wide, carving his body deep.
-Splash! The ultra-durable demon king flesh finally bled properly, first real gash.
Forced the gap for a solid hit, but not lethal.
-Thud! Had to leap back big. Checked my mess: eardrums recovering, wounds mending okay.
"Worthy of the man who beat me once, Roturang. Strength beyond human. To think you'd cut this body."
He clocked that as my ace, chuckling praise.
"How about it, human? Join me now? A new era dawns in the Demon Realm."
Ignored his yapping, checked internal mana and HP. Plenty left. Took a beating, felt one-sided, but no sense of defeat.
No despair like low-floor climbs. Fight like this, it'd be tight but winnable.
Good. Perfect. Growth too steep lately—no worthy foes dulled my edge. Tested base weapon arts and skills sans doping; senses sharpening.
Rolled stiff shoulders, cycled mana through set circuits. Wrapped body in it, expelled to fuse with flesh power.
Mana Reinforcement
-Rumble! Thunderclap, body bathed in light. Swapped inventory gear too.
"Demons always the same—strong prey weak, start flapping gums the second they think they're winning."
9th-floor dark elf armor full set, Erwen's custom sword. Stowed basic shop gear, back to my real setup.
"Fight a regen passiver and think you've won? At least drop half HP first, punk. Unyielding ain't even on yet."