《Blood demon leveling》 Chapter 1: Demon summoning Chapter 1: Demon summoning It all seemed like a bad dream, yes it had to be a bad dream, if he just closed his eyes and opened them again he would surely wake up in hisfortable bed ''Okay let''s try it'' Mike closed his eyes and tried to shut out the ritual humming around him before he opened his eyes again a few momentster and looked around ''Nope didn''t work what''s next..?'' As Mike tired to think of something the cultists around him kept murmuring, humming and chanting in foreignnguages, yes it seemed like a bad joke, like a really bad joke but Mike was currently finding himself getting sacrificed to some kind of demon, it all started when he was on his way home from his psychiatrist when a ck van had snatched him up and when he woke up again he found himself chained to a stone altar with people in hoods around him chanting stuff in an unknownnguage, now even though he tried to talk to them they didn''t answer and just kept on chanting with slowly increasing speed. ''I guess this is real huh who would have thought my soul was going to be sacrificed to a demon'' As Mike epted the reality around him a hooded figure suddenly stood up from the circle and slowly walked closer while carrying a knife that glinted in the soft candle lights, Mike looked over at the knife, he knew his end hade but instead of panic he kept himself calm, incredibly calm it was at that moment he remembered he had forgotten to take his medication that very morning, now Mike was not your typical mental patient, he was not psychotic, nor was he delosnial or even depressive. He was just calm and his emotions were rather t he had trouble with feeling anything other than ''t'' even now when his time seemed to havee as the runed knife drew closer he found himself calming down as he desperately thought of something to do, something he could do, anything but he found his mind clocking up evidently he was as calm as he thought as the knife hovered above his heart the hooded figure spoke with an aged and extremely husky voice "I SUMMON YOU, BEEL TO THIS MORTAL PLANE...!" Without a sound the knife descended and stabbed Mike in the heart, there was very little pain as the knife was extremely sharp, it was only when the hooded figure twisted the knife that the pain came, and oh boy did ite, Mike felt pain greater than ever before as he felt the knife twist around but thankfully he soon passed out as his vision went dark he only thought ''Huh looks like I died'' Mike woke up to the sound of birds singing, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up while massaging his aching temples before he looked around "....it this another joke..?" Mike found himself in a forest, and not just any kind of forest it looked like an ancient forest with giant trees that were covered in moss, Mike gave a sigh and suddenly felt something sticky on his T-shirt and looked down "Eh is this blood?" His T-shirt were covered in what looked like dark dried blood, it covered most of his T-shirt with a single hole in the middle of his T-shirt right were his heart was "Don''t tell me" Mike took his T-shirt off and rubbed the dried blood off his body with some moss and right over his heart was a big scar in the shape of a star, Mike touched the scar and for a moment he felt the knife he had been stabbed with again as the sharp pain ran through his body again Mike remembered how he had been sacrificed to some demon and should have died "...what is this? Why am I still alive? And where is this?" Mike kneeled down and held his head, he felt a headachee on but suddenly like the curtain lifting did the headache disappeared as Mike suddenly calmed down, no he was made to calm down by something "....I should find some shelter and water" Mike bent down to pick his bloodied T-shirt up but stopped mid motion before he stood up straight and mumbled "probably not a good idea to smell of blood in an ancient forest" Mike then picked a direction at random and began walking a few minutes after he left the clearing a low growl was heard as something walked up to the bloodied T-shirt and gave it a long sniff before it let out another growl and walked out of the clearing in the same direction Mike had walked "Lucky this looks edible Let''s see Smells fine." Mike had found a fruit tree and picked some kind of unknown fruit. The fruit was round, blue and sweet smelling, as he was about to sink his teeth into the fruit he stopped and looked around before he quickly picked a few more fruits and kept on walking. ''I don''t know why but it seems like a bad idea to stay still right now Oh well.'' Mike sank his teeth into one of the fruits he had picked and found it tasted as sweet as it smelled, but instead of keeping eating he stopped and kept walking without eating anymore of the fruits. ''If it''s toxic, the symptoms should show within a few minutes'' As he walked and counted the seconds hapasazedly Mike suddenly heard something behind him and froze, before jumping to the side as somethingnded right where he had just been standing. Mike hurriedly spun around and saw what looked like a wolf, the reason it only looked like a wolf was simple, it was way too big to be a wolf as it was the size of a bear. ''Shit..!'' Mike felt his body freeze up as he was stared down by the salivating wolf that slowly walked closer. ''What do I do!? What can I do, shit!'' As the wolf slowly walked closer Mike experienced one of the few moments in his life so far were he was not able to keep calm. ''Damn it!'' Mike failed to keep calm and turned and ran, this of course only provoked the wolf that jumped on him and bit deeply down into his left shoulder. Feeling pain shooting through his entire body like his shoulder suddenly was on fire as the wolf bit off a chunk of his shoulder, Mike tumbled forwards andnded on his back right before the wolfunched at him again. In defence Mike raised his left arm to cover his throat and half a secondter he felt therge teeth of the wolf sink into left arm, in response Mike frailed around and hit it with his right hand as his vision grew dimmer. ''Damn it, if only I had a knife!'' Mike''s hazy thoughts went back to when he was sacrificed to a demon, particrly to the knife that had pieced his chest. ''If only I had that knife...!'' Mike went limp as his vision turned dark but just then a sh of red showed up in the center of his vision before it shot straight out of his eyes and formed in the middle of his limp right hand. The light quickly condensed into the familiar sacrificial knife, but it held a red sheen as it glowed softly. Suddenly strength returned to Mike as he clenched his hand around the dagger and grabbed it tightly before he stabbed into the wolf with all his might. Without any sound the knife buried itself in the neck of the wolf that let out a howl as it let go of Mike''s arm, beginning to roll around on the ground in pain as something weird happened. The wolf seemed to very quickly dry up like a sponge being twisted, as all the moisture seemed to leave the body of the wolf it quickly turned into a dried husk that was made of little more than skin and bone. The sacrificial knife which was now shining brighter than before then flew back andnded in Mike''s right hand. "What the fuck" Mike, that was momentarily forgetting his pain, looked down at the knife in his hand before he grabbed it tightly. "This thing does not obey thews of physics at all." Just as Mike was stunned he suddenly felt an itch on his left arm and his shoulder where he had been bitten by the wolf and waspletely stunned, as he saw his wounds rapidly healing while the light from the knife grew softer and softer until it stopped glowing entirely. Mike fell over backwards as he sat down on his butt and stared at the sacrificial knife in his hand and asked softly. "....What are you?" Mike didn''t expect a response but the knife clearly reacted to his question as it showed a pulse of calm red light before the knife turned dark again. Chapter 2: In the forest Chapter 2: In the forest Mike sat on a fallen over tree and spun the sacrificial knife in his hand, it was weird despite not being very dexterous he was able to spin, flip and catch the knife without much effort or even looking at it, it was almost like it was part of his own body. While Mike spun the knife around he bit into the mint tasting fruit and looked over at the remains of the giant wolf, then at his left arm where he had been bitten and finally at the knife he currently was spinning on his index finger and gave a nod as he spoke to the knife "I''m definitely keeping you" The knife gave a soft pulse of red light at Mike''s words, then he took another bite of the fruit, then he looked around again "Where is this anyways?" A couple of possibilities ran through Mike''s head but the one that seemed most likely was "...another world" Mike nced over to the carcass of the wolf once more before he gave a sigh and threw the knife into the air stood up and caught it behind his back before he walked over next to the corpse of the wolf that was little more than a bone bag at this point and kneeled down next to it and felt the fur "This will do nicely" Then Mike cut out a square of the fur before he made a hole in the middle where he stuck his head though, now wearing a makeshift poncho Mike began walking onwards while he munched on the mint fruits. Time passed and eventually it became evening, so Mike did as he had seen on a survival show on the television and climbed a tree before he sat down on a branch and looked up at the stars, he of course didn''t recognize any of the star formations but tried his best to memorize them as time passed he got more and more sleepy and eventually fell asleep When Mike woke up again he almost fell down from the tree in shock after all there was a giant snake right in front of him, well the dried husk of one anyways, Mike saw that his sacrificial knife sat in the neck of the almost 15 meter long snake and glowed with a soft red light, Mike opened his hand and the knife flew from the neck of the snake right into his hand, Mike grabbed the handle tightly before he brought the knife up to his mouth and gave it a kiss right on the de "Good morning to you my sweet prince" then he jumped down from the tree again and continued walking in the same direction, while he walked he failed to notice that the red light from the knife gradually grew dimmer as i seemed to transfer into his hand via the hilt of the knife. Around noon Mike discovered a river and was finally able to sate his thirst for the first time since he had been brought over to this new and strange world "Ah...water the lifeblood of all life now did that documentary say to follow the river downstream or upstream?" Mike gave a shrug and half seriously decided to follow the river downstream ''Hopefully I will reach human civilization soon or any kind of civilization will do as long as the people there don''t want to eat me well I suppose that happens too in human civilization'' Mike walked while he did his new favorite pastime, spinning the sacrificial knife around like a toy. As evening came Mike once again climbed a tree and fell asleep Mike opened his eyes with a set, it was the middle of the night and he had just heard a scream and looked down from his tree at the source of the scream, there was a man d in leather armor with a knife sticking into his shoulder ''Wait that''s my knife!'' Mike quickly jumped down from the tree but before hended on the ground the man had already been mummified as all his blood had been sucked by the knife, Mike walked over and saw the corpse before he looked at the knife that still sat in the shoulder of the unknown man and scolded "Bad knife!" The sacrificial knife seemingly ignoring his scolding flew back into his hand, just then Mike picked up some sounds behind him and turned around and came face to face with three other people that wore simr leather armor to the person that had just (traticly) died, one of them yelled "He killed Jimmy!" Feeling the situation escte Mike raised his hands and yelled "Wait that was not me!" The three people paused and looked at each other before one of them spoke while she drew back an arrow aimed at Mike "Then who killed him?" She had tears in her eyes as she sent nces to her deadpanion, her eyes were filled with half sorrow and half hatred, Mike knew that his next words most likely would not help his current situation but he still said them after he swallowed his saliva "It was this knife, it has been moving beyond my control for some time now" The woman narrowed her eyes slightly before she let the arrow fly from her bow, it flew in the air for about half a second before it buried itself in Mike''s shoulder, he felt his head go cold as he realized she was trying to kill him, then a red light shed in his eyes before he yelled "You''re trying to kill me!" The two men in leather armor realized Mike was about to attack and raised their swords to intercept him, meanwhile the woman released another arrow that Mike just managed to dodge by tilting his body backwards, then he kicked off the ground and shed at the closest man with his knife, the man tried to block with his sword but when his sword met with the sacrificial knife something amazing happened, the knife passed though the de of the sword like a hot well knife through butter before it cut along the man''s neck sending blood sttering outwards from his now cut arteries, the man clutched his throat as he kneeled over as he tried to stop the flow of blood out of his body, the woman released another arrow that buried itself in Mike''s stomach, Mike let out a roar as he shed at the other man, the man knew he was unable to block with his sword so he tried to dodge by tilting his body to the side, it almost worked the key part being almost as a small cut was left on his cheek, this in and off itself would not have been fatal had it been any other knife that cut him, Mike clutched the knife and yelled the words that appeared in his head "[Drink]!" What happened next was unreal, suddenly blood came pouring out of the small cut on the man''s face and before he was able to scream he had turned into a dried up mummy and fell over, the blood entered the knife that now glowed with an eerie red light, the red light poured down Mike''s arm as he felt his heartbeat go out of control before he kicked off the ground and tackled the woman down, knocking the bow out of her hands and mounted her stomach while pressing her arms down with his legs before he raised the knife up high "Wait!" Mike paused before he tilted his head to the side slightly "What?" "I surrender!" "So?" "Eh..?" "I said, so what?" "B-but-" Mike cut off the woman that was about to exin herself by stabbing the knife into her heart before he twisted it to the side and said in a t tone "You tried to kill me" The woman tried to say something but in the end she was unable to as the light went out of her eyes before her corpse got drained for blood and turned into a dried up husk, Mike gave a sigh and sat up before he gritted his teeth and pulled out the two arrows that sat in his shoulder and stomach before a red light covered his wounds and healed them in an instant then he looked around, there were two drained corpses and one fresh corpse, Mike felt like he should drain thest corpse of blood so he walked over and stabbed the knife into the corpse before he muttered "What was it again..? oh , right [Drink]" After the corpse was drained off blood Mike pulled out the knife and began looking over the things that used to belong to the party of 4, counting up his loot he found a bow, 7 arrows, two swords, one half sword and a backpack with various supplies including some dried food and a waterskin that was half filled, while spinning around the knife in his hand Mike mumbled "So judging by their supplies some kind of town or supply station should be near here" Mike shrugged his shoulders and packed the two swords and the broken one down into the backpack before he swung it over his shoulder and walked into the night forest, after walking for about 10 minutes under the moonlight Mike mumbled "This should be far enough" Then he climbed a tree and went to sleep again Chapter 3: The town Chapter 3: The town Mike woke up at first light and stretched his body before he opened his hand and the sacrificial knife which he had dropped during his sleep flew up from the ground andned in his hand before he began spinning it around like a toy, jumping down from the tree and sat down on the moss and ate some of the dried food he had acquired yesterday before he started walking towards the river. Soon he found it and began following it downstream, and around noon it finally happened. He reached civilization or at least some tall walls with a gate manned by guards that wore some kind of metal armor and carried spears. ''Okay let''s just y it cool'' Mike walked past the guards while nodding to one of them, to his surprise the guard nodded back with a smile. ''Okay so good so far'' Mike kept his knife under the makeshift parka, as he walked on the streets of what looked like a medieval town while he observed the people walking past. Some were humans while some had long ears or were short like dwarfs, Mike did his best not to stare too much while searching for a smithy of some kind where he could sell off the two swords and just maybe the broken one too. ''Now if I were a smithy where would I be..? Probably by the walls?'' Mike walked down a side street and followed the walls around and after walking for about half an hour he found what looked like a smithy, the building had a tall chimney and unlike the other houses this one was made of stone. Mike gave a nod and walked in while he called out. "Excuse me." The inside of the smithy was cosy and the walls were lined up with various weapons, Mike walked over to the counter and waited for about a minute until someone walked out from the back. It was a human with long ears like the ones he had seen in town, he wore an apron that was ckened with smog and he showed off his pure white teeth in a perfect business smile as he asked. "So what can I do for you?" Mike dropped down the backpack and pulled out the swords while he spoke. "I came across some copses in the forest, they were awful, looked like they had been drained of blood, but these perfectly good swords was lying beside them." The man narrowed his eyes before he asked. "Care to swear on the goodes that you found these and didn''t rob them?" Mike was taken aback before he quickly formed a n in his head as he thought ''well I did find them.'' "It''s true, I found them in the forest, I swear by the goddess." The shopkeeper waited for a few seconds before he gave a sigh and apologized. "Sorry about that, it''s just I sold these swords just yesterday to a group of adventures To think they already are gone Well I will however buy them back at a good price, how about 50 for both?" Mike was stunned again as he though ''50 what? Bananas!?'' but managed to keep his poker face as he asked. "How about 75 for both swords, and then you get this broken sword too?" The shopkeeper gave a slight frown before he asked. "And what do you suppose I do with the broken swords that''s worth 25?" Mike gave a slight smile and confidently spoke. "You can grind it down into a dagger and easily sell it for 25." The shopkeeper gave a sigh and spoke. "You''re right 75 it is for the two swords and the broken one." Mike gave a smile and put the two swords and the broken one on the counter before he received one silver coin and five bronze coins, Mike showed a smile and thanked the shopkeeper before he turned and was about to walk out of the shop when the shopkeeper called out to him. "Oh right, you said the corpses were drained of blood right?" Mike stopped and turned around again. "Yeah?" "You might want to report that to the guild, maybe they will reward you for it." Mike walked back up to the counter before he spoke with a slightly embarrassed face. "Sorry I''m new in town, where can I find the guild?" "At the main road, you know the building with the sword sign hanging out front?" "Oh right Thank you." Mike left the shop behind and walked back to the main road, he didn''t know if it was a good idea to report it to the guild but he figured that getting some extra coin could not be a bad idea. Soon he found the so called ''guild'' and walked in, inside of the building was filled with people in armor of various kinds that also carried various weapons, Mike looked ahead and saw a reception area and walked over to the counter and waited until a receptionist walked over to him and asked. "What can I help you with?" Mike leaned forwards slightly and whispered. "I have some information that might be worth something." The receptionist gave a nod and gestured to a door behind the counter, Mike walked around the counter and into the back room where he found a table and two sets of chairs, on the table stood a clear crystal ball, the respotnist walked over and sat down before she gestured to the chair across from the table. "Please have a seat." "Okay." Mike sat down before the receptionist spoke again. "Please put your hand on the crystal ball." "... What is it the crystal ball dose?" The receptionist narrowed her eyes slightly before she asked. "Never seen a crystal ball before?" "No I grew up in a small vige" "Oh I see well in that case, allow me to exin the crystal ball detects if you havemitted any crimes also if what you say is the truth." Mike gave a nod and put his hand on the crystal ball that began shining in a green light, the receptionist leaned forwards slightly. "So what information is it you have?" Mike considered his words carefully so he didn''t lie. "Well I came across some corpses in the forest, it looked like they had been drained of blood" The receptionist gave a nod before she asked. "How exactly did these copses look?" "Well there was a stab wound in the leather armor that one of them wore Besides that they looked like they had been drained of blood as I said before" "Very good, you may remove your hand now." "Okay." Mike took his hand off the crystal ball before he leaned back on the couch, then the receptionist spoke. "What you found was most likely victims of vampires, you have done well to report it to the guild and you will be rewarded 100 by our standards." Mike gave a nod, the receptionist gave a smile before she spoke again. "Please wait here while I collect you reward from the counter." Mike leaned back on the couch and waited for the receptionist which returned within a minute and handed two silver coins to Mike. "Is there anything else?" "Hmm Can you tell me a little about the guild, I heard some stories in the vige and would like to register myself." "Certainly". The receptionist sat down again and spoke with a business smile on her face. "The guild or the adventurer''s guild does various things, but the most important thing is that it pays for proofs of subjugation from harmful animals and monsters, besides that the guild also buys hides and meet like for example the poncho you are wearing would fetch about 250 if you had the whole hide." Mike gave a nod and asked. "How much does it cost to register?" "It cost 25 to register, this gives you simple identification which can be used to enter a bigger city and freely ess the temple." Mike didn''t know what was so special about the temple so he asked. "What does the temple do?" The receptionist gave a sigh before sheined. "You really are from small vige The temple handle all level ups." Mike gave a nod as he felt his gamer sense stir before he reached into his pocket and pulled out five bronze coins and showed them on the palm of his hand and said. "I would like to register." "Certainly, please follow me to the counter." Mike got up from his chair and followed after the receptionist out of the room to the counter where he was handed a needle and a piece of paper. "Please dirp some blood on the paper." "Okay" Mike poked his finger with the needle before he dripped a drop of blood on the paper and handed it to the receptionist that took the paper and put it into what looked like a small fax machine made of stone, it glowed slightly before she opened it again threw the blood soaked paper into a bin. Then she opened another machine and pulled out a nk ck card which she handed to Mike. "This is your guild license, please not that if you lose it, it cost 50 to get a new one." "... How do I use it?" "You simply have to hold it in you hand and then say status." "... Status?" As Mike spoke some words appeared on the card. Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 0 "Well this is neat." "Right? Now be sure not to lose it, you can bring your profs of subjugation over to the counter over there, you can also take a look at the request board if you are looking for some more reward, but you probably need to visit early in the morning as all the easy requests gets taken in a hurry Is there anything else?" "Oh that reminds me, do you know of a nearby inn?" "Yes there is one further up the main road to you left when you leave the guild." Mike gave a nod. "Okay thanks." Chapter 4: The temple Chapter 4: The temple Mike walked out of the guild and turned left and then he followed the main road up until he found an inn like building with a wooden sign that hang outside with a bed on, he walked in and found himself in what looked like an eating hall with people sitting around drinking in the middle of the day, Miked gave a slight frown as it reminded him of his father. "Hello, are you looking for a room?" Mike turned towards the voice that called him and saw a poster girl, she looked to be in her teens and had long brown hair. "... Yeah can you tell me your prices?" "Sure! It''s 15 for a night and 100 for a week" Mike gave a nod, right now he had 150 so investing 100 right off the bat made him hesitate, the poster girl noticed this and turned up the charm. "When you buy a week at a time you get free breakfast otherwise you have to pay for it, it''s the best offer in town!" "... Alright." Mike gave a sigh and pulled some money out of his pocket and after thinking for a moment he handed two silver coins to the poster girl that gave a smile and ran up to the counter while yelling. "Mom we got a new customer!" An olderdy walked out from a back room, she also had long brown hair and showed a smile when she saw the girle running, then she looked at Mike and asked the girl. "Monica can you show our guest to his room?" Mike hesitated for a moment before he asked "Umm Can I get something to eat first? I would like to go to bed early tonight." The olderdy looked Mike over for a second before she gave a nod. "Sure, you''re an adventurer right? Have you juste back from a long trip?" Mike gave a nod. "Yeah I just spent three days in the forest." The olderdy gave a nod. "I''ll get some ready for you in a moment, please have a seat first." "Okay." The poster girl ran over to Mike and grabbed his hand and half dragged him towards a table. "This way mister." Mike gave a smile and followed after the poster girl and sat down in a seat, then to his surprise the poster girl sat down in front of him and looked at him with a wide smile on her face. "... Umm can I help you with something?" "You''re an adventure right?" "Well Yeah I am." The poster girl''s eyes lit up before she leaned forwards and spoke in a very excited manner. "Then can you tell me about some of you adventurers?" Mike thought for a moment before he gave a nod. "Sure, you see this poncho I''m wearing?" "Yeah, what kind of beast did the hidee from?" Mike gave a smile and raised his hand up before he spoke. "From a wolf this big." "Amazing!" The poster girls eyes lit up before she asked. "So how did you kill it?" "With this baby right here." Mike showed off his sacrificial knife to the poster girl that gave a gasp when she saw the knife. "WOW it looks so cool!" Mike gave a smile and began spinning the knife around like a toy which greatly impressed the poster girl, he then showed her tricks with the knife until his food arrived, then he put the knife away and got to eating his dinner which consisted of a big piece of brown meat and some unknown vegetables bathed in a sauce of some kind. After eating the surprisingly delicious meal Mike asked the poster girl to show him to his room, the room was on the first floor while it was a little cramped it was a nice room with a table and a chair as well as a nice looking bed and a single window that overlooked the busy street outside the inn. Mike sat down in the bed after he closed the door after himself and gave a sigh. After looking into the empty air for a couple of minutes Mike put down his backpack on the floor andid down on the bed after he put the knife on the end table beside the bed. ''I should go to bed'' Mike took off his poncho and pulled up the quilt before he closed his eyes and regted his breathing, soon he fell asleep... Next morning Mike gradually awoke to the sound of the bustle outside the window and sat up in bed and stretched before he scratched his stomach and got out of bed as he stifled a yawn. ''It feels like a long time since I have slept that good'' Mike put on his punch and opened his had which made the sacrificial knife fly into his hand before he grabbed the hilt tightly and walked out of the room, walking downstairs Mike wondered what he should do for the day and gradually got an idea in his head. ''First I''ll head to the temple, then I will take a contract from the guild to make some money But firstes food.'' Mike walked into the eating hall and found it half empty, the people that were there was either eating breakfast or drinking alcohol like a bunch of losers. ''... Just like dad, best not to make eye contact.'' "Ah Mike, good morning!" Mike looked over and saw the poster girl but struggled to remember her name. "Good morning, could I get some food?" "Yes leave it to me, just take a seat!" Mike sat down as the overhyped poster girl ran out of the eating hall to find some food for him, meanwhile Mike sat down and waited for a few moments before the poster girl returned with a te of food which she sat down in front of Mike. "Here you are." "Thanks." Mike began eating meanwhile the poster girl sat down across from him and watched him eat with a big smile on her face, when Mike finished eating he thanked her for the food. "Thanks for the food." "You are very wee Mike!" The poster girl took his te and walked out to the kitchen Mike gave a nod and walked out of the inn before he walked out on the streets and asked a random person. "Excuse me, can you tell me where the temple is?" "Oh sure, just head down this road and then it''s on your left." "Thanks." Mike walked down the street and sure enough there was a temple like building, Mike walked in and found it looked rather homey with furniture were one could sit in a lobby like room, he then walked over to the reception where a nun like person stood with a m smile on her face. "Umm I was told to head over here but it''s my first visit, can you tell me how to level up?" The nun''s smile widened slightly before she gave a slight bow. "Sure, please follow after me and I will show you the robes." "Thanks." Mike followed after the nun further into the temple down a hotel like corridor with lots of doors on each side of the corridor, the nun seemed to pick a door at random and walked into the room, Mike followed after her and walked into the room. Inside the room where rather empty except for a pedestal in the middle of the room where a crystal ball stood on. "Okay first you put your hand on the crystal ball then you wait for your status to show up." Mike gave a nod and walked over and put his hand on the crystal ball that soon lit up with an ominous vermilion glow, Mike turned to the nun and asked. "Is it supposed to do that?" The nun looked horrified at Mike and with a pale face she yelled. "DEMON!" Time slowed down from Mike, he knew the nun had figured out something about him that was detrimental to his health if she shared it with someone else. Without thinking much he lept at her as a red glow shone in his eyes, the nun tried to run out of the door but the knife soon sank into her back before she managed to reach the doorknob Mike thenmanded the knife in a low voice. "[Drink]!" The nun froze as her blood was drained from her body, soon only a dried up corpse in nun clothes was left in the room along with Mike of course, Mike gave a sigh as he looked at the corpse of the nun. "Now look what you made me do Oh well." Mike quickly thought up a n but before he began he put his hand on the crystal ball again and waited as it glowed in an ominous vermilion light, soon words appeared mid air: Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 0 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] Experience points: 100/100 Level up Y/N? Mike looked at the words for a moment before he clicked the Y with his finger. Chapter 5: Escape Chapter 5: Escape As Mike''s fingernded on the Y his body shock, it felt like all the experience he had umted drained from his body into the crystal ball before a warm flow returned from the crystal ball into his body, the flow of warmth spread all over his body as he felt himself getting stronger by the moment until suddenly it stopped and returned to the crystal ball. Mike took a breath of air before he gave a rare smile "This sure is addicting" Mike put his hand on the crystal ball again and after it glowed vermilion it showed a new set of words Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 1 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] Experience: 0/ 10.000 Mike looked over the words and noticed he had gotten a new skill, wondering what to do about it, he was about to ask the nun when he remembered he had just murdered her in cold blood, after thinking for a bit Mike moved his finger and clicked on the new skill then the words changed. [Blood body enhancement] Type: passive Description: every time blood is drawn with the [Drink] skill a [small] portion of it goes to enhancing the users body but healing wounds take priority. "Neat" As soon as Mike finished reading the words they changed back to his status screen, Mike thought for a bit and decided to check out his two other skills and clicked on [Knife control] next. [Knife control] Type: passive Description: enhances motor control, eyesight and overall dexterity by a rge] amount when wielding a knife like weapon. "This one is good too let''s check thest one---" Just as Mike was about to press thest skill [Drink] the door to the room was suddenly kicked in and three knights with crosses on their armor jumped into the room and surrounded Mike, without saying anything the first knight shed at Mike with his longsword, Mike tilted his body to the side and was about to sh at the knight when another knight covered him byunching another attack. Like this Mike was gradually forced back into a corner of the room. ''This is bad'' Mike knew he was getting cornered but was unable to do anything as the three knights worked perfectly in synch, finally he gritted his teeth and decided to take a hit to deal one and rushed forwards with his left arm raised towards the iing longsword while he shed out with his right arm. The knights were startled by his sudden move and theirck of experience showed when they failed to cover for each other, not like experienced and/or skilled temple knights would stay in a small nameless town after all, so Mike''s knife went straight through the temple knights poorly made full helmet and shed his face in half killing him at once as the tip of the knife cut into his brain. The next two knights panicked but the longsword stillnded on Mike''s arm cutting into his arm and even made a small nick into his arm bone, Mike gritted his teeth and shed at another knight, cutting his neck before he stabbed his knife into the final fleeing temple knight and yelled. "[Drink]!" The knight tumbled over dead leaving Mike in the room that now was rather full of corpses, Mike quickly caught his breath before he drained the blood from the two knights which fully healed his arm, although the pain from the cut still lingered. After that Mike left the small prayer room behind and walked out of the temple, luckily no one seemed to be alert in the lobby. ''What do I do now?.. It''s only a question of time before someone finds the corpses Let''s leave town at once.'' With his decision made Mike walked towards the edge of town and gave a nod at the guards as he walked past. ''... Luckily for me the security infrastructure is rather poor in this town Best make it further away from town though'' Mike walked on the dirt road for sometime until he reached a forest, once he made it into the forest he walked off the road and into the woods About two days after Mike left the nameless town a giant creature descended from the sky in front of the temple, it had the body of a lion and the head of an eagle and a pair of mighty wings, on the back of it sat a knight with the symbol of the temple on the chest of her armor, she ignored the group of onlookers and directly stepped off the griffon and walked into the temple. Inside the temple the head priest stood ready, he had been waiting all day yet a humble expression was stered on his old face, when the young female knight stepped into the temple he gave a deep bow and spoke. "Wee your excellency, we have prepared a feast for you after that please rest since you must be tired from your---" "Take me to see the bodies." Despite being interrupted by the clearly younger knight a humble smile was still on the face of the head priest as he bowed low once again before he gestured for the knight to follow him further into the temple. "Please follow after me." The head priest and the female knight walked further into the temple and soon arrived at a locked room where two knights stood guard, the knights gave a salute when they saw the head priest. "Open the door." "Yes at once your excellency!" The knights quickly opened the door to the room, the head priest and the female knight stepped into the room and at once the female knight walked over to the table where a piece of cloth covered 4 bodies. She took off her helmet and revealed her short silver hair and sharp silver eyes and sat down the helmet on the table before she removed the cloth that covered the bodies. When she saw the bodies that had been drained of blood she gave a frown and began to examine them further, soon her frown grew even deeper when she discovered that all four of the bodies had stab wounds that seemed to originate from the same weapon and spoke out. "You did well in contacting the main temple, this is not the work of a vampire but of a cursed weapon." The look on the head priest''s face changed dramatically before he kneeled down and spoke. "These old bones live to serve the temple, but can you enlighten me? This dumb servant knows not of what a cursed weapon is." The female knight thought for a few moments before she spoke. "Cursed weapons are all mighty weapons that enhance the strength of the users like blessed weapons, but cursed weapons gradually change their wielder into something Unholy" "Thank you for enlightening this old servant." The female knight fell into deep thought for a moment before she spoke. "I am afraid I won''t be enjoying your hospitality as this is a grave matter that needs to be reported to the temple." "This old servant understands and wish you a safe journey madam pdin." Mike let out a yawn as he woke up, he had been spending thest three days in the forest living off thend and hunting everyday but there was one thing he wondered about as he picked up the pelts of the game he had hunted thest three days. "I wonder if I can level up again?" Mike knew that heading back to the same town was most likely a death sentence for him so he gradually decided to follow the road and see where it took him, Mike gave a nod and opened his had before the sacrificial knife flew over andnded in his hand before it gave off a soft red glow. Lucky he had kept his money and his ID card in his pockets thus they were not lost along with the backpack he had robbed off the adventures in the forest, Mike dug into his pockets and pulled out one silver coin and five bronze coins. "The silver coin is 50 and the bronze ones are 5 each so I have 75 left I wonder if I can enter a city with this..?" Mike felt a little regret in spending 100 on the week long stay in the inn he never got to enjoy but quickly cheered up as he looked at the pelts he had gathered over the past three days, there were five whole pelts in total, each from small game. "This should be about worth about a week in an inn right?.. Well hopefully, I really don''t want to sleep outside anymore" Whileining and rubbing his sore back Mike walked out of the forest and found a random road and followed it, soon he heard some noise up ahead and decide to investigate. "... You gotta be kidding me, what is this some Japanese light novel?" In front of Mike, about 25 meters away from where he was hiding in the bushes was a carriage that seemed to be in the process of getting robbed by bandits. Chapter 6: The road to Morkove Chapter 6: The road to Morkove Mike stared at the situation that unfolded in front of him with wonder, currently 6 escorts were fighting against 12 bandits, so to say the least the escorts were in danger fighting two on one, Mike gave a sigh and crouched down before he took out his knife and thought. ''If I help the escorts I should be able to receive some rewards But I won''t be able to use [Drink] unless I kill everyone here It''s going to be a tough fight I wonder if it''s worth it?..'' As Mike was thinking one of the escorts got stabbed in the shoulder and dropped his sword, Mike''s expression changed and he thought. ''It''s now or never!'' Mike rushed forwards, what he didn''t notice at this point was that his footsteps were quiet like a ghosts so the bandits didn''t notice him until he was very close to one of them that suddenly turned around and came face to face with Mike. "Ambu---" Before the bandit had a change to finish his sentence Mike swiped the knife over his neck cutting through it like a hot knife through butter, the bandit clutched his neck in a futile attempt at stopping the flow of blood as he kneeled over. Mike moved fast and stabbed into the neck of another bandit with the sacrificial knife before another one of the bandits finely noticed him and yelled. "Ambush!" The bandits acted fast and five of the remaining ten turned around and punched on Mike, he was startled by their coordination and fell back while he deflected their weapons with the knife. The five reamingbat able escorts also noticed Mike and showed a relieved expression on their faces before one of them yelled. "Finish off the bandits and help out benefactor!" The escorts moved with renewed spirits and fought back the bandits, meanwhile Mike''s situation became more and more dire, he was constantly being pushed back while sustaining light cuts on his arms and legs. Mike was clearly faster and stronger than the five bandits but since they had been fighting together on many asions they managed to push back Mike thatcked inbat experience. ''Damn it!'' Mike was currently regretting getting involved, he could feel death rapidly approaching him and knew he would die if he didn''t do something soon, thus he decided to gamble and quickly thought up a n and quickly executed it as he suddenly threw the knife at one of the bandits and watched it shrink right into his face through his eye. The four remaining bandits widened their eyes before they puncend on Mike intending to kill him now that he threw his weapon away. ''Nowe back!'' To the bandits surprise Mike also closed the distance with his right hand open suddenly a red light flew andnded in his open hand, Mike closed his hand around the sacrificial knife and shed right through the neck of one of the bandits before he dove forward and rolled out of the range of the other two and quickly got on his feet and faced the remaining two bandits as one of them yelled with greed in his eyes as he looked at the knife in Mike''s hand. "That''s a magic weapon!" "Get the magic weapon!" Just as the two bandits were about to pounce on Mike again an arrownded in the neck of one of them, a cold glint shed in Mike''s eyes before he kicked off the ground and sliced through the neck of thest bandit as he was distracted. Blood spurted from the bandit''s neck before he fell over with unwillingness in his eyes, he had been this close to getting his hands on a real magic weapon but s now he was going to die here in this nameless clearing. Mike heaved a sigh and sat down on the grass to catch his breath when a person, one of the escorts walked over carrying a bow and asked MIke. "Was that thest of them?" Mike gave a nod before he spoke. "Yeah Anyways your employer betterpensate me well for my efforts" The caravan escort pped his chest and spoke. "Don''t worry, even if he doesn''t we, the caravan escorts certainly will! You came just in time after all." The caravan escort reached out his hand to Mike, he gave a faint smile and took his hand as Mike was dragged off the ground and upright before he inspected the man that stood before him, he was a head taller than Mike and had a square face with a scar over his left eyebrow, besides the bow in his hand, there was a sword on his hip. Mike still carrying a faint smile on his face asked. "May I ask you name?" The man gave a wide smile. "Sure, my name is Ole and I am the leader of the party that is currently escorting the Kampanepany''s carriage May I ask you name benefactor?" "My name is Mike" "I see Benefactor Mike you killed five of the bandits thus their loot is yours." Mike gave a nod and looked over at the dead bandits before he got to work, first he took their weapons, then he stripped them of their armor which was mostly leather but he also found that one of them was wearing a rusty chain mail. "...This should fetch some money right?" Mike figured that he could buy a steel brush and get most of the rust off the chain mail, at that point he could use it himself or sell it. Carrying all the armor and weapons with some difficulty Mike walked back to the carriage and sat it down right next to the group of caravan escorts that were standing around chatting, Ole turned around looking a little startled and called out. "Benefactor Mike I didn''t hear you return at all, no wonder you managed to sneak up on so many bandits!" Mike gave a faint smile and spoke. "Well I have always been light on my feet, anyways I need to collect some of my hides." After speaking Mike turned around and walked over to the brushes where he had been hiding and collected the hides he had hunted during his trip before he walked back and sat them down on his pile of loot, Ole looked at the small hides and then asked Mike. "Benefactor Mike I don''t see you carrying a bow how did you hunt so much small game?" Mike gave a faint smile and showed his knife. "With this right here." Ole widened his eyes and so did the rest of the caravan escorts but right before they were able to ask about it a middle aged slightly fat man stepped forwards and spoke. "How do you do benefactor Mike, my name is Hans and I am a member of the Kampanepany and the owner of this carriage." Mike gave a nod and spun the knife around his hand like a toy before he spoke. "Nice to meet you Hans, I hope the Kampanepany aren''t cheapscapes and willpensate me for my heroic deeds, no?" Hans gave a nod and spoke. "You must be a member of the guild right? If you follow us to Morkove I''ll personally pay you the same rate as the rest of the caravan escorts a total of 800." Mike checked the expressions of the other caravan escorts and noticed nothing odd so he quickly aggered with a nod and spoke. "Since you are so generous I''ll ept your offer Hans, but since Ie from a small vige I am not familiar with Morkove, how many days travel away is it?" "Benefactor Mike the city of Morkove is only one and a half day away, please store your loot on the carriage so we can get going, I''ll treat you to a meal when we arrive." "Okay." Mike quickly packed his loot on the carriage and soon the carriage that was pulled by two horses sat off towards Morkove, on the way there Mike walked next to Ole, the two of them chatted and from him he learned a bit of themon sense of the world he had arrived in, but he didn''t ask any too obvious questions thus he was still unaware what the name of the strange new world he found himself was. When night arrived the group made camp and sat up tents and ate, since Mike didn''t have a tent Ole offered him to share his tent but Mike refused. "As long as it does not rain I''ll be fine under the clear sky." "Alright then good night benefactor Mike." Mike gave a nod and crawled up into a nearby tree and soon fell asleep... The next morning Mike woke up and jumped down from the tree and opened his hand to summon the knife but after waiting for a few seconds nothing happened, a cold glint shone in Mike''s eyes before he yelled. "Interesting, to think someone would steal from me!" Chapter 7: The fate of a thief Chapter 7: The fate of a thief "Interesting, to think someone would steal from me!" As Mike yelled out the camp gradually came awake, Ole was the first to exit his tent and quickly asked Mike. "Benefactor Mike what''s missing?" Mike pointed to the tree he had been sleeping in to the trunk where there was a mark on the bark before he spoke. "My weapon, a knife about 30 centimeters long I stuck it into the tree as I always do before I go to sleep and now it''s missing." Ole gave a slightly strained smile before he asked. "Are you sure someone stole it? Surely it''s possible it''s just missing, no?" "That''s not possible, after all it''s a magic weapon." Ole''s eyes widened before he before he quickly roared. "Everyone out of their tent now!" The other adventures quickly scrambled out of their tents when they heard Ole''s roar, they knew that when they''re usually mild tempered leader was angry something was very wrong. The five adventures quickly lined up in a row, Ole walked in front of them and asked. "Benefators Mike''s weapon is missing, who knows anything about it?" The five adventurers, three men and two women all looked at Mike and each of them showed different expressions before they all gave a sigh and soon one of the women spoke. "Leader?" "Yes Jasmine what is it?" The woman named Jasmine looked to be in her 20''s and had short brown hair, she used two knives herself and thus asked. "Can''t we justpensate him for it?" Mike narrowed his eyes, from the sound of it she knew who stole his weapon but didn''t feel like saying it despite Mike having saved them all yesterday, he took a step forward and sneered at her. "Can you affordpensating me for my weapon?" Jasmine gave Mike a disdainful look before she spoke. "Who are you? Just some level 0 hillbilly, how much can your weapon be worth anyway?" Mike gave a faint smile and spoke. "Well I am actually level 1, besides that my weapon is a magic weapon." Jasmin looked at Mike like he was stupid. "A magic weapon you say? Ahahahahaha who would believe that!?" Mike looked over at Ole and asked. "Who do you deal with thieves normally?" Ole gave a sigh before he bluntly said. "We chop off their right hand." Mike gave a nod and put his hand forwards while he spoke. "I gave you a change to hand it over without trouble now it looks like it''s going to cost you a hand." Mike called out inside his mind. ''COME..!'' Inside one of the trents, deeply packed inside a backpack the knife moved slightly before it flew out of the backpack tearing a hole while letting out a whistle it flew through the air andnded in Mike''s hand, he opened his eyes and looked at the five adventures that now looked pale, especially Jasmine that muttered. "It''s really a magic weapon" Her thoughts quickly spun ''It really is a magic weapon! I must stay on his good side after all anyone that can hold on to a magic weapon is no simple character! Besides if the opportunity presents itself I can just steal it for myself!'''' Jasmine''s eyes shone with greed for a moment before she stepped forwards and spoke "I am sorry for not believing you benefactor Mike, the one you are looking for is James he stole your weapon!" The man that got injured in yesterday''s fight paled before he yelled in anger. "Jasmine you bitch!" Then with his uninjured right arm he drew a dagger and attempted to stab Jasmine with it, nobody expected James to act in such a way thus nobody was prepared for it except Mike of course that kicked off the ground and shed out with his knife directly cutting off James'' right hand. "AAAAGGGGRRRRHHHH!!!!" James howled as his hand flew through the air along with the dagger he was previously clutching, Ole then woke from his daze and yelled. "Restrain him!" The other adventures quickly restrained him while Mike looked on with cold eyes, next Ole turned to Hans that was watching themotion and asked. "Does your Kampanepany deal in crime ves?" Hans gave a thin smile before he gave a nod. "Yes it does, but I am afraid you won''t get much for a one handed thief" Ole clicked his tongue before he spoke. "We split the price equally, any objections?" Ole waited for a bit before Jasmine spoke up. "Benefactor Mike can get my share" Ole gave a nod before he looked at the other adventures and then turned back to Hans and asked with a glint in his eyes. "How much?" Hans still carried a thin smile on his face before he spoke. "100." "That''s too low, how about 150?" "110." "...125?" "....115, that''s the highest I can go." "Deal." Ole and Hans shock hands, Mike walked over and asked Jasmine. "Jasmine what''s a crime ve?" Jasmine gave a smile and looked over at James with disgust. "A crime ve is a ve for a limited time unlike normal ves which are ves for life, but judging from James here he''ll probably be a crime ve for the rest of his life." "Why?" "Well because he tried to steal and then attempted to attack a fellow adventure, nobody will want to buy a crime ve like that, so he''ll end up in the mines." Mike gave a nod, he could imagine what James survival changes in the mines would be like and gave a faint smile as he looked at James while a red glint shed in the depths of his eyes. ''That''s what you get for trying to steal what is mine!'' Hans walked over and handed Mike a small pouch with his shears from the crime ve sale, a total of 38 small bronze coins was in the pouch, Mike gave a nod and looked at Jasmine at his side and gave a faint smile. "I''ll buy you a drink when we reach Morkove." Jasmine gave a smile. "Thanks, I''ll hold you to that." After the group packed up the caravan began moving again, given that they only were half a days travel from Morkove the escorts beagan rxing a bit as they were within the regr patrol routes of the guards of Morkove, Mike walked along with Ole just like yesterday but a new addison was Jasmine that also chatted with them from time to time, they were currently talking about leveling. "So what level are you Ole?" "I am level 1 just like you Mike, have been for about a year and will probably also be this time next year." "What about you Jasmine?" "I am also level 1." "Okay I wonder what happens when I reach level 2" Jasmine gave a smile before she spoke with a slightly enchanted look on her face "I can''t tell you that, but I can tell you what happens if you managed to reach level 3 in your lifetime." Ole also showed an enchanted look when Jasmine talked about level 3, Mike gave a slight frown and asked. "What''s so special about level 3?" Both Ole and Jasmine gave a sigh before they looked at Mike like he was from the bonnies, eventually Jasmine spoke. "You get to choose a ss." Mike widened his eyes, he had yed his share of RPG''s and thus knew the importance of having a ss but quickly asked. "Hey, is it true that a person with a ss can face 10 level 2''s and kill them all?" Ole gave a nod. "Yup and without receiving a single starch at that!" Jasmine quickly followed up. "Yeah and it would be over in an instant too." Mike felt essatic, he once again got the feeling that leveling up would help him secure his own life as well as elevate his status in the society and thus quickly asked to gather more information. "Then what happens when one reaches level 5?" Jasmine was about to speak when Ole quickly interrupted her and spoke with an enchanted look on his face. "Mana! Once gets to wield mana and use magic!" Jasmine quickly followed up. "I once heard that the mayor of Morkove is level 3 while the governor of the province we live in is level 5 and rules over dozens of cities and countless small nameless towns!" Mike gave a nod and tightened the grip he had on his knife while he thought to himself ''I need to level up fast and get strong enough to the point where I don''t have to worry about being exposed, like what happened in that town Anyways getting stronger should be my top priority, as for returning home Screw that world, this ce is so much more fun!'' A red glint shed in the depths of Mike''s eyes as he looked at the approaching city walls of Morkove as a small smile crept onto his face. Chapter 8: Morkove Chapter 8: Morkove Mike looked up at the walls up Morkove as he queued up to enter the city, the walls were about 10 meters high and soldiers could be seen patrolling around on top of the walls. "Next!" Mike walked forwards and showed his ID card to the guard that gave a nod and gestured for him to enter the city before he spoke again. "Next!" Mike walked past the gates and looked around, just inside the gates where a za with lots of stalls lined up that sold all kinds of things including foodstuff, Mike patted his stomach that was rather empty but decided against snacking right now as the group had nned to eat together before they split up so he patiently waited for the rest of the group to pass through the gates. It took some time for the carriage to pass through the inspection but it eventually did as the guards had to make sure there were no illegal contraband on the carriage, Ole stepped forwards and pped Mike on the shoulder. "Let''s go benefactor Mike." "Where to?" "The guild, we''re getting paid now." Mike gave a slight smile as he gave a nod. ''I like the sound of that'' The group went to the local adventurer''s guild and got paid 800 for their work, after they got paid they unloaded their loot from the carriage and said their goodbyes to Hans. Mike picked up his loot pile with some difficulty and followed after Ole and the others that headed towards the cksmith district of the city. While Mike walked along he looked around at the lively city, there were all kinds of people on the streets, some had long ears while others had beast like parts like fluffy ears and tails or outright looked like beasts that walked on their hind legs, some were also short like dwarfs. Soon the group arrived at the cksmiths district and began selling their loot. After about half an hour of bargaining Mike had sold all his loot for 950, in the end he also decided to sell the rusty chainmail instead of keeping it, now his small leather pouch was almost at full capacity as it held 1.863, this was thergest amount of money Mike had held since he arrived in this world. ''... Since a week in an inn was 100 I have just secured myself 18 weeks in an inn where I canze around if I want to Let''s spend some money on some proper equipment and then maybe some on getting taught by someone that knows how to use daggers and knives'' While Mike had the [Knife control] passive skill that increased his dexterity while wielding daggers and knives he still was rather poor at using knives in general so getting some training in would be good for his continued survival, after all he had so far relied on his superior weapon and lethal active skill [Drink]. ''If I want to use [Drink] I have to go solo adventuring Let''s get some training in before that.'' Mike leaned against a wall and waited for the others to finish bargaining with their loot, after about half an hour Jasmine showed up with a satisfied smile on her face and walked over to Mike before she asked him. "Did you get a good price?" "Yeah I think so." "I see That''s good then." "What about you?" "Well I suppose it was somewhat good, could have been a little better but I am satisfied." "That''s good, where are we heading after this?" Jasmine gave a smile. "To the local bar of course, we have to celebrate." "Ugh I am not that good at drinking" Jasmine gave augh before she saw that Mike was serious and somewhat awkevedly asked. "What you didn''t have a bar in the vige where you grew up?" "Well we did, that''s where my dad spent his days" ".... Did he drink a lot?" "Yeah, like a hole in the ground." "... I see, no wonder you''re not good at drinking, but don''t worry this sister will teach you." Mike gave a slight smile as he gave a nod, as Mike and Jasmine chatted the others showed up and as usual Ole took the lead and led the 5 adventures and Mike to a nearby inn, the sleeping goat inn. ''What a weird name'' Mike stepped into the inn and found it was somewhat like the inn in the small town, just a size bigger, soon the group was gathered around a table each of them with a mug of ale in their hand, Ole raised his mug. "Come let''s drink to our benefactor Mike!" """"Cheers!"""" "C-Cheers." Mike was a little taken aback by their enthusiasm but also raised his mug before he took a sip. ''...T-This is surprisingly good.'' "Come on drink Mike!" "S-Sure." Mike quickly took another sip, this time he drank a rather big amount and almost coughed but managed to keep it down. After drinking for about an hour Mike was more or less drunk and suddenly stood up from his seat, Jasmine that sat next to him called out to him. "Mike where are you going?" "Toilet" "Sure but be quick about it will ya, we still have a lot more to drink!" "Jasmine is right, this isn''t nearly enough for us to express our gratitude!" "Ole not you too Fine I''ll be quick." Mike walked in a somewhat straight line out to the bathroom and after he was done taking the longest piss of his life he walked back to the table and sat down as Jasmine purred him another mug of ale, Mike gave a silent sigh and took a sip of the ale before he asked Ole. "So what are you guys going to be doing now?" "Well we''ll rest for a day and then find another request and take it, what about you Mike?" "Hmm I''ll stay in the city for a bit before I take a request." "Got it, be sure toe to us if you need a party we''ll wee you with open arms!" "Sure will do But now it''s time for me to hit the hay" Mike stood up and began slowly walking in a mostly straight line towards the stairs, Jasmine also stood up and quickly spoke. "I''ll help him up the stairs." Ole narrowed his eyes slightly before he gave a nod and spoke. "Do it in moderation Jasmine." Jasmine ignored him and ran up to Mike before she held him by the arm and helped him up the stairs. "Thanks Jasmine, I got it from here" "Come on now no need to by shy." The two of them stumbled into Mike''s room which he paid for before they began drinking (for an entire week to be precise) Mike stumbled and fell onto the bed face first meanwhile Jasmine closed the door before she stirpped off her top with a seductive look on her face and whispered to Mike that stilly face first in the bed. "Hey Mike~ Don''t you want some of this?" In response to her seductive advances Jamine got: *SNORE* A loud snore from Mike. ".... Hey you''re kidding right Mike?" *SNORE* "... Well this works for me too" Jasmine gave a sly smile and flipped Mike over before she quickly searched him and found her prize: the sacrificial knife. ''If I can sell this magic weapon I''ll be rich and long gone will be the days of risking my life and a life of luxury will await me!'' Jasmine ever so carefully reached out for the knife and grabbed it by the hilt, when she did she felt her head suddenly getting heavy before she felt a light poke form the hilt of the knife. "Ouch!" Jasmine let go of the knife and saw a small wound from which blood slowly dripped on her hand. "What the fuck?.." She quickly pulled her hand back and looked at the knife with shock as Mike suddenly stirred and then a dull red light shone in the depths of her eyes for a few moments before it disappeared. ''Well whatever there will be plenty of changes to get the magic weapon in the future'' Jasmine put on her top and left the room, meanwhile the drop of blood that had dripped from her hand down onto the floor floated up before it was suddenly pulled into the knife that gave a soft red glow as the number ''1'' formed on the de before it disappeared as Mike''s snoring continued sounding out inside the room as the night gradually grew darker The next morning Mike awoke with a splitting headache and a mouth that felt like a sandpaper. ''Water'' Mike sat up in bed and reached out for the water jug that stood on the night table and drank it entirely in one go, now feeling a little more alive Mike stretched before he opened his hand and the knife flew over andnded in his hand, Mike gave a nod. ''Let''s go to the temple today Hopefully it won''t end likest time'' Chapter 9: [Paladin] Chapter 9: [Pdin] The temple was grand and imposing, with 12 ancient looking marble pirs that was the width of a person each and a height of about ten meters the entrance of this temple looked nothing like the entrance of the temple in the nameless little town Mike once visited. ''Don''t look like a suspicious person now'' Mike stood in front of said temple with an air of nervousness around him as he looked at the grand entrance of the temple. ''... But I need to know what exactly [Drink] does, I have a feeling that it does more than I think.'' Mike gave a nod and put away his nervousness and walked into the temple and up to the reception and spoke. "I would like a prayer room." The receptionist gave a receptionist-like smile and asked. "Please show your ID." "Here." Mike showed his ID card to the receptionist that gave a nod and looked down at some papers before she spoke. "Please use prayer room number 57, it will be on your right when you walk down the hall." Mike gave a nod and walked past the receptionist down a narrow hall while looking at the numbers above the doors and soon found room number 57 and steeped in before he closed the door and looked around. The inside of the room was very narrow and at the end of the room was a pedestal with a crystal ball, Mike looked around the room for a few moments before he gave a sigh of relief. ''It doesn''t look like the prayer rooms are under observation Good, let''s do this.'' Mike walked up to the crystal ball and put his hand on it, soon a ominus red light shone out form the crystal ball but only for a moment before it stopped and then it showed his stats. Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 1 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] Experience: 4.734/ 10.000 "So far so good" Mike looked at the experience progress and gave a frown, from what he heard from Ole and Jasmine leveling up was hard, but then why had he gotten nearly half a level from just some forest animals and a few bandits? ''This doesn''t make sense'' Mike thought for a few minutes but eventually decided to stop thinking about it and just ept it, after all leveling up fast was something to be happy about, then he touched the floating [Drink] with his finger and soon the words changed and showed information about [Drink] [Drink] Type: passive/active Description: Drains a target of blood when the [Knife] or [User] has been in contact with the targets blood. Drained blood are used to heal the [User] and used to perfect the [User] by progressing towards the [*****] form, additionally draining blood with [Drink] enhances experience by a [Large] amount. Mike gave a frown after he finished reading the information on [Drink], he knew about the healing effects but the thing about making him more ''perfect'' and ''progressing towards the [*****] from made him greatly concerned for a moment before a red light shone in the depths of his eyes and he gave a sigh before a narrow smile crept onto his face. "Well it seems like a worthwhile trade for all that experience" Mike waited for the prayer crystal ball to reset which it did after he didn''t touch it for a minute before he walked out of the prayer room and back out to the lobby where arge crowd of people had gathered. ''What''s all the ruckus about?'' Mike looked towards the crowd that suddenly parted as a beauty with short silver hair walked into the temple, when she did the receptionists and all the priests and nuns in the room bowed to her, Mike looked at her once and when he did a great sense of unease came traveling up his spine before he continued walking when suddenly she called out to him. "You there, stop." Mike acted like he didn''t hear her and continued onwards, a decision he would soon regret as she appeared right in front of him along with a gust of wind with her silver eyes narrowed slightly before she spoke again. "I believe I told you to stop." Mike gave a calm smile and spoke in a seemingly apologetic manner. "Sorry I didn''t think a great beauty such as yourself would call out to this humble adventurer." The female knight narrowed her eyes a little more before she spoke. "You said you are an adventurer? May I see your weapon?" MIke''s sense of unease grew stronger as rm bells went off in his head as his head went into overdrive to find a way to refuse her, a few moments passed and his best answer came flowing out of his mouth in a calm manner. "Don''t you think it''s rather rude to stop a random adventure and ask them to draw their weapon? What do you want, a duel?" The beautiful female knight narrowed her silver eyes even more before she suddenly reached out and grabbed Mike''s arm and pulled him into the air, Mike attempted to stand against her with all his strength but found that an absurd amount of power was hidden in her womanly frame as she easily pulled him into the air before she mmed him down into the white marble floor beneath her. Mike coughed up blood from the impact as a boot suddenly stepped on his head while a cold voice entered his ears. "Know your ce you dirty adventure! I am a [Pdin] of the temple, when I tell you to do something you do it, is that understood!?" "Y-yes" Mike gritted his teeth from the pain and the boiling anger that shot up into his head but managed to remain calm as the female [Pdin] stopped stepping on him and yelled. "What are you still crawling around on the floor like a worm, get up!" Mike gritted his teeth and slowly lifted himself from the floor and stood up facing the female [Pdin]. "Now show me your weapon already!" Mike gritted his teeth even harder before he pulled out the knife and handed it to the female [Pdin] which looked over the knife for a few moments before she gave a frown and mumbled. "I thought for sure I felt an evil aura" Then she looked up at Mike that had blood in the corner of his mouth and suddenly felt a little bad about throwing him down into the hard marble floor and quickly handed the knife back to Mike or at least she was about to when she felt a small cut on her finger. "Ouch..!" The knife slipped out of her grasp and fell to the floor with a ng as itnded on the hard marble floor, Mike bent down and picked up the knife before he walked past the female [Pdin] and out of the temple. ''Fucking bitch'' Mike fumed as he felt his back ache, meanwhile under his poncho the knife suddenly lit up with the number ''2'' "Mike wait!" Mike turned his head and saw Ole running after him and stopped walking as Ole caught up and spoke to him with a wry smile. "Man benefactor Mike you really have some balls on you!" Mike gave a frown and asked. "What do you mean?" "What do I mean? That was a level 3! A genuine [Pdin] of the temple and you just refused hermand and lived, I am amazed!" Mike stopped, so that''s why she wiped the floor with him, he suddenly felt that he was rather fortunate that she didn''t decide to just outright kill him and gave a sigh. "Man when you say it like that I feel really lucky Although my back disagrees." Ole gave augh and stopped himself from patting MIke on the back as he usually did. "Say what, I''ll treat you to a meal as a congrattions for surviving." Mike gave a small smile. "Thanks." After Mike was done eating with Ole they went their separate ways, Mike wandered around the city for sometime until he eventually returned to the inn and went up to his room andid down on his stomach and soon fell asleep early. When Mike woke up it was early the next morning and while he still could feel the pain in his back it had lessened somewhat such as normal movement would not be a problem. He got out of bed while scratching his stomach before he walked downstairs and got some food in him before he went towards the guild to find somece for him to get some basic training, when he arrived at the guild he walked in and studied the request board for anything to do with basic training but didn''t find anything so he walked over to the reception and lined up for some time until it was his turn to talk with the receptionist. "Hello I have a question, does the guild offer basic training?" "Yes, what kind of training would you like to apply for?" Mike gave a thin smile. "Dagger training." Chapter 10: Training Chapter 10: Training "Dagger training you say?.. Wait just a moment" The receptionist went through a book with a slight frown on her face before she found what she was looking for and looked up at Mike again "You''re in luck, a new course on dagger training starts today at noon in the training field behind the guild, please speak to the person in charge of the session, Jack, about joining the course" Mike gave a nod and walked away from the reception desk as he wondered what to do until noon, it was after all still early morning ''Might as well check out the training field'' Mike followed the stream of people and walked out to the back of the guild and stepped out into a rather big courtyard were all kinds of adventures where training various things. From basic hand to handbat to specialised anti monster training with a rather big dummy formed like a monster. Mike looked around and quickly found some stands off to the side where some adventurers were sitting and watching the training area and chatting, Mike walked over and sat down and observed the different training courses for a few hours while his mind drifted from ce to ce until he was woken up by his stomach growling and looked up at the sun to check the time ''Still about an hour until noon'' Mike got up and left the adventurer''s guild to search for some food, he walked around the city of Morkove for some time while snacking on some street food until he came to a za with an elevated tform where a group of people stood on wearing what could only be described as rags and metal cors while a crowd gathered around the tform. Mike''s curiosity was piqued and he walked over to take a look at a man in in clothing that stood on the tform yelled out to the crowd as a person in rags stood next to him "Only 2500 for this one, he has a [Battleaxe] skill that improves his [Strength] while wielding a battle axe,dies and gentlemen it''s a steal!" Mike gave a slight frown when he realized what kind of ''sale'' this was, but after a few seconds his frown eased up as he thought ''Well, mom was a ve to her work too Until she stabbed a knife through her eye that is Guess it isn''t too surprising to see ve sales in the streets here'' Mike gave a shrug and walked off, it was about time for him to return to the guild anyways, while he walked back he mulled over the idea of buying a ve for himself ''It would be quite convenient to have a person that was unable to betray me Besides, I would be able to use [Drink] with them around too, but no way I am buying a male ve. Don''t want some sweaty man running after me after all if I could choose a pretty woman instead But it''s not like I have money for that right now anyway so it will have to be put off for some time'' With such thoughts in mind Mike arrived back at the guild and went directly to the training field that was out back and looked around for a little while until he found a person that stood on the training field and spun a wooden dagger around with a bored look on his face, Mike walked over and asked "Are you the person in charge of the dagger training, Jack?" The person gave a nod before a slight smile crept onto his face as he looked Mike over "You here for training?" "Yeah" "Good, then go and grab a wooden dagger over there you might want to lose the poncho too, unless you want it to reek of sweat after we''re done" Mike gave a nod and walked over and grabbed a wooden dagger from the weapons rack before he took off his poncho and wrapped it around the knife andid it off to the side of the training field and walked back to Jack that had a weird look on his face before he asked Mike "What happened to your back? It''s been a long time since I have seen such a big bruise" Mike gave a sigh "I pissed off a [Pdin]..." Jack widened his eyes slightly beforeughed out loud for sometime before he spoke again "Oh, right I did hear about Julie smacking around someone yesterday... You pissed off Julie and lived to tell the tale, I suddenly admire you a whole lot Say, what''s your name?" "I''m Mike Is Julie---" "Yep the one and only [Pdin] in the entire city, one of only three level 3''s in the entire city of Morkove" Mike gave a nod as a cold light shed through his eyes, meanwhile, Jack looked around before he gave a nod "Looks like it''s only us this time around, now let''s start the training Firste at me, I''ll evaluate your skill and build a training n after it" "Okay" Mike lowered his body slightly as he spun around the wooden dagger in his hand, something shed in Jack''s eyes when he saw how dexterity Mike handled the wooden dagger and he also lowered his posture a little while raising up the wooden dagger to about eye level, Mike took this as a signal and punched by kicking off the ground and stabbing the wooden dagger forwards Jack who sidestepped slightly before he grabbed Mike''s outstretched arm and made lightning fast movements of stabbing Mike in the wrist, elbow and shoulder before he brushed the wooden dagger over his neck and separated from Mike before he spoke. "Be careful of overextending!" Mike was slightly startled at how easy Jack would have killed him if this had been a real fight, but after the shock wore off the desire to learn under Jack only grew bigger, so he answered with a very motivated nod as he answered. "Yes!" A couple of hours passed like this and at the end of the training session Mike bare upper body was covered with ayer of sweat, perhaps it was due to his [Knife control] skill but he greatly improved from just one day of training and now felt more confident in going out to take a solo request ''I need to level up soon anyway so let''s take a request tomorrow'' Mike gave a nod as he decided before he turned to Jack that stood a little ways away and gave a bow as he spoke "Thank you for training me today" Jack gave a small smile as he spoke "You don''t need to thank me, the guild pays me for every session But still I appreciate it, be safe out there Mike and remember toe to next week''s training" "Sure, see you in a week" Mike walked over and picked up his poncho along with the knife that let out a soft red glow when he picked it up before he left the training field behind and walked out into the streets as his stomach growled ''I should get some food let''s wait until the inn serves dinner'' Mike decided to save some money walked past all the delicious smelling street food stalls and made his way back to the inn where he took a seat and called out to one of the waitresses "I would like some dinner" "Oh, you''re the one from the room upstairs, yes?" "Yeah" "Okay, wait just a minute I''ll get you something to eat" Mike put his poncho on the table along with the knife and waited for his dinner which soon arrived. It consisted of some kind of roasted meat along with some boiled vegetables and a light brown sauce, all in all, it tasted good and Mike quickly ate his dinner before he went upstairs to his room and put the poncho on the bed along with the knife and picked up a bowl along with a piece of cloth which he brought back downstairs and out into the courtyard behind the inn where he drew some water and poured it into the bowl before he began wiping his body down. After he was finished he went back upstairs and into his room where heid down on his stomach and pulled up the covers and closed his eyes and soon fell asleep The next morning Mike awoke and sat up before he stretched and opened his hand as the knife flew over andnded in the palm of his hand, he stifled a yawn and got out of bed and wore his poncho. ''Let''s go see what kind of requests are avable at the guild'' Mike left the inn and headed out towards the guild, on the way there he enjoyed the morning sun as he walked on the streets, soon he arrived at the guild and walked inside and over to the request board where a bunch of other adventures were gathered around already ''Now let''s see if there''s anything good'' Chapter 11: Hunt Chapter 11: Hunt Mike stood in front of the request board and looked over the requests with interest ''It can''t be more than one day request as that would just waste the time I have on the room in the inn Something close to Morkove What have we here?'' Mike spotted a request that seemed interesting and moved a little closer to take a look -Goblin extermination- Goblins have appeared in the forest north of Morkove, Warning goblin mages have been spotted in the groups of goblins although no hobgoblins have been confirmed - rmended group sizes 1 to 3 level 1''s - proof of extermination: right ear, price per extermination: 50 Mike gave a nod, although goblins in his past life had a reputation of being easy prey Mike knew that a real fight would be different from a game, especially if there was more than one goblin at a time ''Well then This looks like the kind of request you just have to show the proof of extermination at the guild counter, so let''s get going No I should buy a little something first'' Mike left the guild and after a brief stop at a nearby supile shop he left the city of Morkove through the north gate and after 20 minutes of walking he walked into the forest north of Morkove where the goblins had been confirmed to exist, Mike sharpened his ears and slowed his pace some as he took the knife out from his poncho. After looking around for about 45 minutes Mike spotted his targets in a clearing just up ahead, they seemed to be feasting on a dead deer, Mike ducked behind some brushes before he took a closer look at the goblins, they were the size of toddlers, about half a meter high with greenish skin, some of them carried sharp sticks and one of them carried a rusty dagger, there was a total of 12 goblins in the clearing ''Okay Let''s do this First let''s lower their numbers a bit'' Mike took aim and then threw the knife at the closest goblin hitting in right in the side of the head, the knife easily sank into the goblins skull before Mike quickly opened his hand and the knife flew back to him and he silently made his way away from the position he threw the knife from while still keeping on the edge of the clearing. Meanwhile the goblins noticed that one of them had suddenly died, but instead of searching for the killer they jumped on the corpse and began to devour it, this pissed off Mike as he just lost 50 from the right ear that was eaten by the other goblins ''...Fuck it'' Mike decided that he had overestimated his opponents intelligence and stepped out into the clearing exposing himself to the goblins but again Mike was surprised to see that only 4 goblins ran at him as the rest were busy fighting over the copse of the goblin Mike killed first ''Well this works too'' Mike lowered his stance and got ready as the first goblin drew near and then He kicked it in the face breaking its neck before he shed out and cut through the neck of the second before he avoided a stab from the third and gave it a kick to the face in return, as a snap was transmitted through his leg Mike knew he had killed the third and turned his attention to the fourth that surprisingly was running away, Mike gave a short sigh and then he threw his knife that sank into the skull of the fourth goblin ''What are the other 7 doing..? Oh they are still eating'' Mike once again felt that he had overestimated the intelligence of the remaining goblins that were still busy eating one of their own, Mike opened his hand and the knife was pulled out of the skull, of the now dead goblin and flew over andnded in Mike''s hand before he once again threw it, this was repeated a few times until there was only four goblins left were Mike''s concentration slipped and the knifended and sank into the shoulder of one of the remaining goblins that let out a howl of pain that woke the other three up from their food infested daze as they turned to Mike and ran at him while letting out not so intimidating roars ''Here theye...Finely'' Mike didn''t panic he just opened his hand again and the knife flew over quicker than the 3 non wounded goblins ran then he ughtered the four remaining goblins "And that''s that Too easy" Mike collected the 11 right ears and then he put down his backpack and put the ears into a pouch before he used [Drink] to drain all the blood from the goblin copses, then he gathered all the now drained corpses and pulled out what looked like a block of post it notes "He said I just have to tear it Let''s use one as a test" Mike tore one piece of paper from the pack before he tore it over on the middle and dropped it down on the pile of corpses, after a few seconds the torn paper ignited and set the entire pile of drained copses alight, Mike gave a nod as a small slime formed on his face "It really works, this igniter paper sure is useful" The igniter paper had a low grade magic formation on it that when torn would ignite the paper, now Mike didn''t know exactly what a magic formation was or how it worked but seeing the igniter paper do its work he was satisfied with his purchase ''This means I can use [Drink] more often without fearing anybody discovering the drained corpses'' Mike looked up at the sun and decided to do some more goblin hunting and so he walked into the forest to continue finding prey After an entire day of hunting Mike began moving back towards the city of Morkove, in his backpack were a total of 38 right goblin ears for a total of 1900 in value, Mike felt quite proud of himself having hunted this many goblins in one day, and having drained all the goblin copses of blood with [Drink] he knew he was close to leveling up if he was not able to level up already, thus he was in a good mood as he walked out of the forest. That is until his path was blocked by two burly looking men carrying swords on their hips "Stop right there" Mike did as he was asked but under the poncho he was already clutching the knife tightly as he asked "What do you want?" One of the burly men gave an unpleasant smile that showed his yellow teeth before he spoke "Well it''s simple, we''re here to receive tax, we''ll take half of what you hunted today" Mike gave a smile which the two burly men took as him aggring and one of them stepped forwards when suddenly a cold light shed as the knife drew a line across the neck of the burly man''s throat, fresh blood sprayed out from his neck as the dumb grin still was stered on his face before he fell over face first "You bastard!" The other burly man didn''t take kindly to this and drew out his sword and rushed at Mike and shed down on him with enormous strength, Mike just managed to dodge as he quickly threw his backpack to the side as it was hindering his movements, this made an opening which the burly man didn''t miss and he shed down and cut into Mike''s chest leaving a long bloody cut down his chest as he yelled out in anger "That''s what you get for opposing a level 2!" Mike backed off as the burly man continued his attacks, gradually the poncho Mike wore was cut to pieces as numerous cuts appeared on his body as he struggled to avid the sword that was way faster than anything he had ever faced before ''Shit..! I can''t die here'' His breath was short and Mike grew even more desperate as the cuts on his body was multiplying at a fast rate, if Mike had not received the dagger training he would have been long since been cut to pieces by the violent sword strikes from the burly man, Mike continued to dodge what he could not deflect with his knife as he was pushed back, eventually he gritted his teeth and stepped in as the burly man brought down his sword "AAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!" Before Mike realized he had let out a howl of pain as the sword cut deep into his shoulder, shattering his corbone and nearly piecing his lung "HAHAHA! That''s what you get, now die!" The burly man pulled out his sword from the shoulder as blood gushed out from the wound, clearly this was the end for Mike, or at least it should have been as the burly man felt a shallow stab on his chest "How dare you stab me!?" The burly man kicked Mike away, Mike crashed against a tree and nearly passed out from pain as he looked at the burly man with a shallow smile on his face as he muttered "[Drink]" Chapter 12: Level 2 Chapter 12: Level 2 As Mike muttered the words the burly man that was stillughing quickly turned into a dried corpse, halfway though he seemed to realize what was happening and let out a scream, as a result the dried corpse had a rather scary death mask, Mike however was not in any condition to admire his handiwork as he attempted to let out a scream while his shattered corbone was forcefully restored but as he had no air in his lungs he was unable, Mike''s shoulder was quickly restored as a pale scar was left behind on his shoulder where the de had cut through him, his other minor injuries also stopped bleeding, but only just. After an unknown amount of time passed Mike gradually got off the ground, he was deathly pale and his shoulder arched so much he seriously considered cutting it off to be spared from the pain "Fuck" As Mike cursed her walked over towards the other burly man and stabbed his knife into the corpse before he muttered "[Drink]" As the other corpse also got drained of blood Mike felt a little better and the pain in his shoulder lessened somewhat making his movements speed up ''Someone is bound to have heard that scream no time to loot other than the swords'' Mike quickly grabbed the two swords and their scabbards before he tore a piece of igniter paper and dropped it on the dried corpses and picked up his backpack as the two dried up corpses was set alight before he quickly made it towards Morkove A few minutester after Mike left the area a group of adventures showed up, one of them quickly kicked some sand onto the corpses while the others looked on as one of themmented "Save your strength, there''s nothing to save there" "Shut up, I need the money!" The one adventure kept kicking on dirt and sand to try and save the burning equipment and when the fire was finely out he dug out the still hot bodies before he suddenly stopped moving and suddenly yelled to the other adventures that were jeering him on "Hey isn''t these corpses kind of strange?" The other adventures looked closer at the corpses before they fell silent, after some time one of them spoke "Let''s report to the guild, we have a vampire on the loose" Mike returned to the Inn, he had no need to go to the guild and turn in his goblin ears today and instead brought them with him to his room andid them on the desk, no not like that they were still contained in the pouch that kept most of the smell at bay, Mikeid down on the bed for a bit with closed eyes before he suddenly sat up and looked over the poncho that was beyond repair this time ''Well you served me well'' Mike tossed the poncho aside andid down again, this time he fell into a light dreamless sleep thatsted until his stomach woke him up in the early morning as it screamed out for substance and so Mike, ve to his stomach gradually woke up and got dressed before he went downstairs and quickly found out it was too early for breakfast, thus he went back upstairs to his room and grabbed the pouch with the goblin ears as he had decided to go to the guild and turn in his bounty, after wearing his holed poncho(as he had no other alternative) Mike left the Inn and walked towards the guild, on the way there he snacked on some street food from some of the few still open stalls before he reached the guild which never closed and just as he was about to walk inside he saw Julie walk out of the guild ''What''s that bitch doing here?'' Not liking the look of the [Pdin] Mike took a step back and let her pass, Julie didn''t even look at him she just walked onwards with her escort of temple knights, Mike gave a snort and walked into the guild and after standing in line for a little while he exchanged his 38 goblin ears for a total of 1900 ''And with that done let''s go shopping for a bit'' Mike went shopping and bought a few sets of clothes and wore a new shirt, then he went to a cksmith and brought a sheath for the knife before he made his way back to the Inn and dropped off the clothes he had brought ''Well then time to head to the temple and level up'' Mike was still a little nervous about visiting the temple but didn''t let it show as he made his way there but when he reached the temple he saw that people were queued up in three lines as there seemed to be some sort of inspection going on, Mike paused before he decided to go on a line up in the left most queue, after waiting for a bit it was his turn to be inspected "Alright open you mouth please" "...sure" Mike could see that Julie sat further in and kept an eye on the inspections so he decided to be civil about the whole thing and did as he was asked, after all he was not able to smack her around Yet "Let''s see here Nope you are free to go" Mike gave a nod and asked "What are you guys looking for?" The man that had inspected him gave a slight smile and spoke "Vampires" "...Okay, good luck I guess" "Thanks kid, now move on" "Sure" Mike walked into the temple and up to the reception, or at least that was the n as when he was about to walk past Julie she called out to him "Stop" Mike stopped walking and answered her without looking at her "...What do you want?" Julie sat in afortably in a recliner chair that was ced in the middle of the reception hall wearing her armor and with her sword standing next to her leaning against the chair "Why are you here again so soon?" Mike gave a sigh and spoke "Because I was close to leveling upst time and now I am sure that I can level up, why else would I be at the temple?" "I see What is your name?" "Normally one would give their own name before asking that" Julie grabbed her sword and with lightning fast movements swung the still sheathed sword against Mike, making the cross guard on her sword hit right in the pit of his stomach which knocked out all the air in his lungs and made Mike knell over before Juile stood up and walked over in front of him and unsheathed her sword before she used the de to rise his chin up "I asked, what''s your name?" Mike gritted his teeth which made Julie give a sigh before kicked his chin knocking him over backwards, now t on his back Mike saw the de of the sword pointed against his right eye, millimeters away from his eyeball "If you make me repeat myself once more you will lose an eye" "...Mike" Julie gave a smile that was oddly happy before she sheathed her sword and spoke "Nice to meet you Mike, I am Julie" Mike gave a snort and got on his feet and turned around before Julie once again spoke "Stop" "...what is it now?" "I haven''t given you permission to leave yet" Mike gave a sigh and spoke "I am not leaving the temple yet either, I''m just going to go level up" "...Fine, but be back in less than 10 minutes" Mike walked off towards the reception while he was fuming, he wanted very much to drain all of Julie''s blood with his [Drink] skill but now was not the time to do so, soon he arrived at a prayer room and locked the door after him before he took a deep breath and put his hand on the crystal ball, the instance he touched the crystal ball it once again lit up with a vermilion glow for a few seconds before it disyed his stats Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 1 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] Experience: 10.000/ 10.000 Level up Y/N Mike gave a rare smile and moved his finger onto the Y and clicked it, as Mike''s fingernded on the Y his body shock, it felt like all the experience he had umted drained from his body into the crystal ball before a warm flow returned from the crystal ball into his body, the flow of warmth spread all over his body as he felt himself getting stronger by the moment until suddenly it stopped and returned to the crystal ball. ''Yep sure is addicting, now let''s see if I got any new skills'' Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 2 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] Experience: 0/ 100.000 Mike then clicked on the new skill [Blood for blood] to see the exnation [Blood for blood] Type: passive Description: all wounds and general damage taken will boost all attributes by a [Large] amount until they are healed with [Drink] or through other means "...Neat" Chapter 13: Vampires Chapter 13: Vampires Mike''s smile was rather eerie to look at from a third person''s view, luckily there were no third or second person in the tiny prayer room else Mike would have shanked them already If he was not too busy admiring his status "Still 100.000 exp That''s quite a bit" Mike looked at the floating words that read Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 2 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] Experience: 0/ 100.000 ''Well guess there''s nothing but get to killing some stuff But first I have to deal with Julie" Mike gave a sigh and waited for the crystal ball to reset which it did after a minute of not touching it before he walked back out of the small and cramped prayer room and back to the grand lobby of the temple where Julie still satfortably in her recliner chair, when she noticed Mike had returned she blushed slightly and began toying with her short silver hair with a happy smile on her face, she looked just like a young girl in love "So Did you level up?" Mike gave a nod, he didn''t really need to conceal it so he just admitted it with a slight smile "Yeah, I am now level 2" "Congrattions Mike" "...Thanks" Mike stood and watched the crowde and go while Julie sneaked nces at him looking like she was half admiring his face and half trying to find something to talk about, but soon something happened, first a scream was heard then some yelling over at one of the inspection points both Mike and Julie looked over when a desperate yell was heard "My Child, don''t hurt my child!" "Mommy, I want my mother!" Julie gave a cold smile and stood up from her chair before she gestured for Mike to follow her as she walked towards themotion, Mike gave a sigh and decided not to risk pissing her off and followed after her over to the inspection point as another yell was heard "Please let my child go! You are hurting him!" "Mom please help me!" In response to the desperate yells loudughter was heard from most of the people around. Soon Julie managed to push her way through the crowd followed by Mike, when the person in charge of the inspection noticed her he gave a salute and spoke "Miss Julie, we caught a pair of vampires" Julie looked over and so did Mike, what he saw was not exactly what he expected the pair of so called vampires was what looked like a normal human woman in her 30''s and a child about 5 years old, Mike gave a frown as Julie spoke "Was it you that discovered them?" "Yes Miss Julie, they looked like they came to the temple to pray but acted suspicious when they saw the inspection, then I caught them" "Have you confirmed they are vampires?" "Yes miss Julie" "Okay Then let''s get this over with" Julie drew her sword and approached the daughter and child, or at least she tried to when Mike reached out and grabbed her arm and she looked back clearly annoyed at him "What is it Mike?" Mike struggled for a bit as he looked around at the people that were watching the mother and child with disgust and was about to speak up when a faint red light shone in his eyes and he suddenly showed a smile that made Julie shudder for some unknown reason, whether it was fear or excitement she didn''t clearly know "Those two, they have to die right?" Julie gave a small nod as she stared at him nkly, it was almost as if he had asked if the sky was blue, Mike''s smile widened slightly "Then do you mind if I do it? I just level up and are in need of experience" Julie gave a smile and shock off his hand before she leaned in and spoke in a quiet voice only the two of them could hear "Then show me what you got Mike" Mike gave a nod and pulled out the knife as he spun it in his hand like a toy with a slightly eerie smile on his face as a red light once again shed in the depths of his eyes, then he kicked off the ground and two quick shes sounded out before it was followed by a thud and a slightly lighter thud, Mike spun the knife around much to the amusement and cheers of the crowd before he before he sheathed it again and asked Julie "So what do you think?" "...You''re technique could use a little work, you cut deeper than necessary on their necks when you severed their arteries" Mike gave a nod and exined himself "Yeah well it works to scare further enemies if there''s a lot of blood stter" Julie gave a nod and looked as if she had been enlightened "Well that''s trueThen what about---" As Julie and Mike walked back to the middle of the temple hall the blood from the two corpses steamed out on the tiles in front of the temple for a few minutes before they were picked up and thrown onto a carriage that passed through collecting garbage from the streets of Morkove, meanwhile a figure that had watched the entire scene with red eyes turned around and walked into an ally Mike gave a sigh as he finally returned to his room andid down on his bed and looked into the ceiling as he thought on the time he was dragged around by Julie, first they spent time in the temple overseeing the inspections, then she took him out to a cafe where she forced him to taste all her favorite foods before she dragged him back to the temple. It was only at night he was finally released by her and managed to return to the inn ''Well she''s still kind of a bitch But I don''t want to kill her so badly anymore..? I wonder why..?'' Mike gave a sigh and blew out the candle on the night stand he had just lit before he closed his eyes and regted his breathing, soon he fell asleep A few hours after Mike had fallen asleep a figure sneaked into the courtyard of the Inn and agility climbed into Mike''s room from the slightly open window, the figure stood and watched Mike sleep for a bit before it raised a knife that glinted in the moonlight as he mumbled "This is revenge for my wife and child!" The knife swung down before a ng was heard as the assants knife collided with something in the dark room, he widened his eyes and quickly decided to retreat as he jumped back out of the window but as he was mid air the moonlight was reflected by the sacrificial knife that flew through the air and buried itself in the back of the man that still was mid air before he loudly fell down into some pottery that stood in the yard of the Inn. This woke up Mike that quickly got out of bed and looked out of the window and saw the corpse of a man down on the courtyard and quickly put two and two together before he jumped out of the window andnded beside the corpse as the first floor of the Inn lit up and a person quickly stumbled out into the yard and saw Mike and the corpse and yelled "Murder!" Mike gave a sigh before he crossed his arms and waited for more people to show up, as people sleeping on the first floor of the Inn opened their windows to see what the fuss was about Mike spoke loud enough for people to hear "This man invaded my room with a knife in the middle of the night! I simply killed him when he failed to take my life and tired to flee!" Mike bent down and pulled out the knife of the corpse as he noticed something off about the dead man and yelled "Bring some light!" The man that had yelled murder walked over with a lit candle and shone it on the corpse before he gave a gasp and yelled "Vampire!" The people watching gave a gasp as Mike gave a slight smile and spoke to the man that had arrived first "I believe this clears me of suspicion?" "It certainly does! I am the owner of the Inn, while my wife handles the day to day work of the Inn I have to personally thank you for killing this vampire that invaded my Inn!" The other people watching began to p while Mike gave a slight smile and spoke "Not at all, I am sorry for disturbing everyone''s sleep" The Inn owner showed a grateful expression and gesture for Mike to follow him back inside, meanwhile the corpse of the vampire was left in the courtyard with tiny tears in the corners of his eyes... As Mike went to sleep again the knife lit up with a red light for a moment before a circle formed on the de for a moment before it disappeared again Chapter 14: Hunger Chapter 14: Hunger Mike woke up again, he had slept a little more since the failed attempt on his life and it was now early morning, as always the first he did was to open his hand as the knife flew over andnded in his hand "Thank you my dear" Mike caressed the knife on the de before he put on some clothes and went downstairs to eat some breakfast, after he finished eating he walked aimlessly into the city and wandered the streets while he felt hungry again ''Oh well I have the money for more food, besides I won''t get fat with all the exercise I do let''s eat some more'' Mike ate some street food before he eventually arrived at the guild and went in to take a look, standing in front of the request board Mike looked over the request board when he suddenly thought ''Yeah goblins would be good but I really want the blood of humans wait what?'' Mike shook his head slightly before he ate thest of the skewered grilled meat he had brought, his hunger had subsided a bit but it was still there ''Maybe my hunger is an after effect of leveling up? Should I maybe go ask Julie?'' As much as Mike disliked the idea of seeing Julie two days in a row he didn''t really feel like he had a choice as he had too little information and thus he went towards the temple where he soon arrived and walked into the grand lobby and asked the receptionist for Julie "Oh, you must be Mike right?" "Yeah, how did you know?" "Welldy Julie said that if a youth came here and asked for her it would be a Mike and that we should let him wait in the lobby while sending her a message" "Oh I see, well then I''ll wait" "Yes, I''ll go informdy Julie" Mike found a seat and sat down, for about 20 minutes he counted the people that came and went in the temple while saliva was gathering in his mouth as his hunger grew at a rapid pace, soon his stomach began growling and just as he was about to walk out of the temple to get some food Julie showed up. She was not wearing her armor instead a blue summer dress, still she wore a belt where her sword was strapped to which totally ruined the cute look she was going for, Mike stood up and greeted her "Good morning Julie" Julie blushed slightly before she began ying with her short silver hair "Morning Mike, so what''s up I am busy you know" "First let''s go eat" At this point Mike was starving so he simply threw caution to the wind and grabbed Julie by the hand and half dragged her out of the temple (Of course he would be unable to drag Julie anywhere if she didn''t want to go as she was still a level over him) After Mike had dragged her halfway down the street Julie finally spoke "Mike Your hand" Mike looked back and saw that Julie was blushing all the way up to her ears, he suddenly felt a pang of hunger again and leaned in slightly before he thought ''She sure smells good, I wonder what shade of red her blood is..?'' "Mike?" "...Sorry I just had a really ridiculous thought, do you mind repeating yourself?" Julie took a deep breath and calmed down before she asked "So where are we eating?" "Hmm I had thought about just grabbing some skweres" Julie yed with her hair a bit before she asked "What do you normally eat Mike?" Mike thought for a moment before he spoke "Well what the Inn serves? That or some grilled meat from the street stalls" "Hmm I have never had any grilled meat from the stalls so let''s try that, go get us some" Mike gave a sigh "...Sure" Then he went and brought some grilled meat and handed a skewer to Julie before he began eating his, after eating about half Mike spoke "So I have a question for you Julie, it''s about leveling up" "Sure ask away" "Were you overly hungry anytime after you just leveled up?" "Hmm well to tell the truth I don''t really remember when I level up to level 2 like you, after all I was only five at the time But at least when I reached level 3 I didn''t feel overly hungry" "Oh, I see Maybe it''s just me" "Well I could try asking around" Mike gave a slight smile before he gave a nod and finished his skewer It was only after noon that Julie let Mike leave again, shemanded him around so Mike could only endure, afterall he didn''t want to get beaten again, she only let him go because she had to attend a ritual at the temple ''I swear I''ll beat her up when I am able'' Mike was once again walking around the city aimlessly, enduring hunger pangs Mike finally decided on something to do and walked back to the Inn and picked up his backpack with igniter paper and a leather pouch for goblin ears and went hunting ''I can at least still fight while I am hungry Maybe it will set my mind off my hungerBesides I have to make a dent in that 100.000 experience...'' Mike ignored the weird thought he had about blood as he walked past the people in the city and soon he reached the woods just outside of the city and began hunting for goblins, which in and of itself wasn''t very hard and soon he found a group of about 15 goblins, among them were one with tattoo like patterns on its body but Mike oversaw it and treated it as a normal goblin and stepped out into the clearing in front of the group of goblins and yelled to get their attention "Oi Green skins,e at me!" The goblins discovered him and charged at him with an eerie likeness to toddlers that had just learned how to walk, Mike began kicking them around (sometimes literally) and totally missed the one with tattoo like patterns on its body that was chanting with increasing speed before suddenly a fireball the size of a ser ball appeared in the air above the goblin mage and was hurled towards Mike at a really quick speed, Mike only just managed to spot it before it was toote and bent his body over backwards just barely dodging the fireball that continued on and hit the trunk of a tree, leaving behind a rather big scorch mark "Holly shit!" Mike looked over at the tattooed goblin mage and narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw that it was chanting again before he threw the knife and hit the goblin mage right in the middle of its head, the knife buried itself into the skull of the goblin mage with a rather satisfying sound before Mike opened his hand and the knife was pulled back to him, then he quickly finished off the rest of the goblins and gave a sigh "I nearly got my face melted off" Mike quickly began collecting the right ears of the goblins before he drained the corpses for blood and suddenly didn''t feel hungry anymore, he noticed this and paused before he looked at the knife and spoke out loud "Don''t tell me it was you that was feeling hungry..?" The knife gave a soft glow as to confirm his question which really startled Mike until a soft red light glowed in the depths of his eyes once more and he gave a nod "Well makes sense you were hungry, you got to taste that vampire from yesterday but you didn''t drink his blood" Mike careased the de of the knife for a few seconds before he put it back it the sheath, then he quickly piled the corpses and ripped a piece of igniter paper and dropped it on the pile and stood and watched it burn for a few moments before he gave a nod and walked back towards Morkove ''Now that I have solved the hunger problem I suddenly don''t feel like hunting anymore I am also feeling that the knife have grown tired of goblin blood'' Soon Mike returned to Morkove and turned in the 15 goblin ears for some money before he went back to wandering the streets, as he passed by a weapons shop he suddenly stopped and looked for a bit ''Was it my imagination..?'' Mike stood still and listened for a bit before he decided to walk into the weapons shop and walked over to a disy and put his hand on the ss and mumbled "It was not my imagination This one is hungry too'' Inside the disy casey a rather dull looking short sword, but despite how dull it looked Mike could feel an intense thirst for blood from the sword and gave a slight smile Chapter 15: The demon hunt begins Chapter 15: The demon hunt begins Mike looked at the shortsword in the disy case as he felt its intense thirst for blood for sometime until he gave a sigh ''What am I thinking? I already have the knife so why should I buy another weapon..? Well I guess having a reserve isn''t too bad'' Mike inspected the shortsword, it was about 80 centimeters long in total with a de that measured about 60 centimeters, so the de was about double the length of the de on the knife, it looked like it was made of one part steel that went from the de all the way down the handle with two pieces of wood that was filed down on the sides of the handle with the steel core that went all the way down to a blunt tip "Can I help you with something young man?" Mike gave a nod without turning around and asked "Do you mind if I hold this one? I would like to check how the grip feels" "Sure, one moment I''ll go get the key for the disy case" Mike heard the footsteps walk away from him as he went back to observing the shortsword and feeling it''s intense thirst for blood but soon he was interrupted by the same footsteps that returned, Mike took a step back from the disy case as a middle aged man unlocked it with a key and picked up the shortsword before he faced Mike and looked him over once "What?" "Nothing just remembering what you look like in case you run off as soon as I hand you this shortsword" "I see" Mike received the shortsword from the middle aged man, when he gripped it he felt a weird sensation, as if the thirst for blood was being drained into him. Suddenly Mike begun spinning the shortsword around like he usually did with the knife before he grabbed it by the hilt in a reverse grip before he gave a nod and asked the middle aged man "How much?" "Hmm 400" "How about 350?" "Deal" Mike gave a nod, he could feel the thirst for blood from the shortsword slowly drain into him, which he assumed to be a good thing, but he also knew that ording to how long it was taking he would need about a day to absorb it fully and there was no way he could stand around in the shop holding the shortsword for a whole day was there? "You right, do you have any whetstones?" "Sure, 50 for one" "Here you go 400 in total" "Thanks for your purchase" Mike walked out of the cksmith and over to a nearby leatherworking shop and brought a sheath for the shortsword for 50, so all in all he had spent 450 on the shortsword "I sure hope this is worth it" Mike gave a sigh and decided to go goblin hunting again to make a dent in that 100.000 experience he need to reach level 3 and be a rather big fish in the pound known as Morkove "Should be around here" In a forest, a group of temple knights were on an escort mission, the person they were escorting was an old man in his 60''s but despite his age he was full of vigor, he was after all a [Mage] a genuine level 3, the old man was holding a crystal that glowed softly as they moved through the forest. After they had walked for a few hours the crystal suddenly began shining brightly followed by the old [Mage]''s creepyugh "Kekekekeke! I knew it was around here!" The old [Mage] was ecstatic when he first had observed the spatial tear from his mage tower he was in half doubt if it was really true, but now that he stood here he was sure, space had really been tron "Bring my stuff, I need to perform some experiments!" "Yes at once lord Casper" The temple knights quickly and carefully unloaded the delicate equipment from the beast that were carrying it and brought it over to stand on the forest floor where the [Mage]manded it and after half an hour of work the temple knights were done with setting up the equipment and the [Mage] began his experiments, working for a few hours the day gradually grew dark. Just as the knights were finished making camp the [Mage] suddenly let out a creepyugh again before he began chanting an incarnation in a foreignnguage while he held out a crystal of pure mana while the research equipment lit up as the [Mage]manded it with his spell, gradually the center crystal began lighting up and projected an image that seemed to the area of the forest they were standing while rewinding backwards at a fast pace until it began to slow down until it stopped as a red light shone out from the crystal for a moment and a youth appeared on the projection, the youth seemed confused and looked around before he walked out of the image and the [Mage] mumbled "This is worse than I thought" The [Pdin] that led the expedition stood besides the [Mage] and asked "Was the experiment a sess lord Casper?" The old [Mage] gave a nod "It was a spatial tear like I suspected, but something, no someone came through It''s most likely a demon of some kind" The [Pdin] widened his eyes as his gaze turned serious "...How long ago was it that it came through?" "Hmm I can''t really be sure but about a week, there about anyway" "Understood, I''ll inform the tem---" "Wait just a moment Say could you do me favour?" "...What is it?" "Could you wait with reporting to the temple?" "And why would I do that?" "Because a demon is just the type of ingredient I have been looking for It might even help me reaching level 4" "I understand Well in that case we can only use what we got with us in terms of troops, what should we do next lord Casper?" "Hmm Is there any cities around here there had been vampire sightings?" "And that''s it for today Let''s head back" Mike had just finished his goblin hunt, 24 green skins had left the mortal ne and been returned to the wheel under Mike''s knife, he had also tried out the shortsword a bit but it didn''t really feel right to use it instead of the knife, as Mike walked back towards Morkove he was suddenly stopped by a group of four adventures that wore unpleasant expressions as they looked at Mike like he was prey, there were three men and one woman "What do you guys want?" "Well it''s simple, give us half your harvest and we''ll let you pass" Mike gave a sigh, to think the security in this world was so bad, but even though there were four of them the pressure he felt from them was less than the pressure he had felt from the two menst time, most likely they were all level 1 so Mike gave a smile and dropped his backpack before he spoke "You guys really should pick your targets better, oh well this works out for me too Its tired of goblin blood you see" Mike drew out the knife and kicked off the ground, this made the four adventures panic slightly "Wait hold o---" "The first one" Mike moved with a speed they were unable to follow as he shed the next of the first adventure "He killed Kevlin, get hi---" "Second one" Mike''s shortsword flew through the air and hit one of the three remaining adventures right in the middle of the forehead and since Mike had sharpened it the shortsword was instantly buried to the hilt before the guard knocked against the head of the adventure and carved in his skull slightly "Shit he''s level 2!" "Run!" Mike saw the two remaining adventures that fled in opposite directions and gave a sigh before he threw the knife after the woman hitting her in the back of the head before he ran after and quickly caught up with the man and knocked him down, sitting on his back Mike opened his hand as he hummed a tune and the knife came flying over before he stabbed it right into the pleading adventure making him go limp before Mike pulled out the knife again and while he hummed he drained the blood of the four adventures and lit their corpses on fire with a piece of igniter paper and watched them burn for a bit "Now let''s see here" Mike looked through their luggage taking the valuables before he threw the rest on the fire and left while humming the same tune he had been when he murdered them in cold blood As Mike passed the gates of Morkove he suddenly had a bad feeling and looked around but failed to spot anything amiss so he just gave a shrug and kept walking, unbeknownst to Mike a guard held up a poster andpared it to him as he passed the gate and gave a nod before he spoke to another guard "It''s him, send word" Chapter 16: Escape once more Chapter 16: Escape once more Mike woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, it was quiet almost as if all sound had been taken from this world ''Well this can''t be good'' Mike got out of bed and got dressed before he sneaked a peak out of the window and saw guards standing with torches at even intervals surrounding the Inn ''Yup Definitely not good'' Mike opened his hand and the knife flew up andnded in his palm before he grabbed it tightly for a bit before he put it back into the sheath, then he picked up the shortsword that he had finished absorbing the blood lust out off and was about to walk out of the room when he remembered something and grabbed some coin and stuffed it into his pocket ''It might not be me that they are after, but just in case it''s better to have some money on me if I have to flee'' Mike gave a nod and walked out of the room, as he walked downstairs he grabbed the shortsword tightly as his hand shook slightly, evidently he was not as calm as he felt, walking out of the front door of the inn his fears were confirmed as a guard with a poster yelled "It''s him, call lord Casper!" Mike gave a slight smile, now that his fears was confirmed there was really no need for anything else ''Since they want to do something to me I can really go wild, besides staying here seems like a bad ideaThat lord Casper is probably level 3... '' Mike took a step forwards in response the guards all drew their swords before the one that had identified him called out "You better stay here until lord Casper arrives, else you will be in for some pain!" Mike gave a sneer and kicked off the ground and rapidly closed the distance to one of the guards, as he did the other closed in on the guard he was charging at while some of them moved behind him to surround himpletely, meanwhile the guard he was charging at raised his sword and shed down towards Mike ''So slow'' Mike easily avoided the sh and nicked the guard in the side with the knife before he charged onwards out of the encirclement, what followed was an seemingly unending stream of guards that attempt to stop him from leaving Morkove, but as most of them were level 1 with a few of them even being level 0 Mike passed them easily while leaving cuts and small nicks on their bodies as he continued running towards the walls through back alleys and streets. It was only when he was a fourth of the way to the walls that he ran into a problem, a squad of four guards lead by a guard captain that seemed to be level 2 ''Looks like I have to kill this guy to continue'' Mike kicked off the ground and closed the distance to the guard captain that stood behind the three, Mike passed the mobs while leaving deep cuts on their sword arms that made them unable to fight anymore before he faced off with the guard captain, making a quick sh to test his reaction Mike''s knife met with the guards sword sending bright sparks off into the dark night, a series of high speed exchangester Mike managed to find his mark and left a deep cut on the right leg of the guard before he speed off again towards the walls, meanwhile he felt the knife slightly hum in his hand as it vibrate slightly "Yeah I know, wait a little bit more and I''ll let you drink" Mike gave a smile as he felt the amount of blood he was going to drink at once was more than ever before ''I wonder how much experience I''ll receive'' A smile formed on Mike''s face before it suddenly disappeared as he stopped running for the first time since he had set off from the Inn, a few meters ahead of him stood a person he was familiar with, Mike tightened the grip on his knife "...Lovely night we are having don''t you think Julie?" Short shoulder length silver hair swayed slightly in the night breeze, she wore her armor and had a hand on the hilt of her sword as she looked at Mike with slightly red eyes before she suddenly spoke in a low, tiny voice "...Is it true Mike?" Mike sensed the sorrow in her voice but for some reason it annoyed him so he narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked "Is what true?"'' Julie lowered her head slightly before she yelled "Is it true Mike!?" Mike was taken aback slightly by her yell before he got very annoyed and yelled back "Yeah it''s true! I am what they say I am, a demon!" Then he kicked off the ground and almost instantly closed the distance to Julie before he sent a sh out after her neck but instead of cutting through her neck a loud ng sounded out as Julie blocked with her sword and at that moment their eyes met for the first time that night, Mike suddenly felt his head cool down before he asked in a low voice "...Why are you crying Julie?" As he heard Mike''s question she suddenly broke down in tears as she let out a loud wail of sorrow, Mike didn''t know why but at the sight of Julie crying he suddenly felt a deep pain in his heart "Shit" Mike kicked off the ground and ran away as he did the pain in his heart got even worse so he stopped after taking a few steps and turned back before he spoke "I will see you again Julie, I refuse to die here" As those words left his mouth he felt the pain in his heart lighten a bit but only for a moment as an even loud wail of sorrow sounded out in the back alley, Mike clenched his teeth and kept running. After running mostly uninterrupted (there were a few small flies along the way which he tagged by cutting them with shallow cuts) for about half an hour Mike reached the walls of Morkove and conveniently a gate, but the situation at the gate was not so favorable for him, along with a bunch of guards stood a man with silver hair wearing a suit of steel te armor with temple like decorations on it ''A pdin huh This is going to be annoying and most likely painful'' Mike was confident, but that was all He didn''t really have a reason to be confident besides therge number of people he was ready to drain with [Drink] and his new skill [Blood for blood] which would raise his strength as he got more and more injured ''Besides it feels like they are trying to catch me instead of killing me In that case I have a change, after all I just have tond one tiny cut'' Mike took a deep breath and stepped out into the moonlight before he charged at the gate were a bunch of guards and the one [Pdin] stood, the [Pdin] spotted him quickly andmanded the surrounding guards to stop Mike from passing the gate while he himself stood back and prepared to watch the show, but when Mike crashed with the guards the [Pdin]''s expression suddenly hardened before he yelled "It has a self reinforcement skill, be careful!" Mike clicked his tongue, it looked like the effects of the [Blood body enhancement] had been seen though by the [Pdin], the guards became more cautious which made the fight a lot harder for Mike, it was only after 2 minutes he had managed to cut down the first guard ''This is taking too long Let''s do something stupid then'' Mike gave a sneer and suddenlyughed out loud before he looked directly at the [Pdin] and spoke "Looks like I was afraid for nothing, a [Pdin] only amounts to someone that hides behinds his men andmands them from the back" The [Pdin] narrowed his eyes slightly but before he was able to say anything Mike continued "Man I was so afraid of ''it'' it''s a shame its only a limp dick [Pdin]" The [Pdin]''s eyelid twitched slightly before he suddenly spoke "Step back" The guards obeyed and stepped back before the [Pdin] stepped forwards and spoke "Lord Casper wants you alive, surrender or suffer my wrath!" Mike look straight at [Pdin] for half a second before he broke outughing "Hehehe, ''suffer my wrath.'' What are you an 8th grader!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" The [Pdin] narrowed his eyes even more and drew out his sword, he didn''t know what an 8th grader was but he was clear that Mike was mocking him, and so he kicked off the ground and stabbed out with his sword that quickly was buried and passed right through Mike''s shoulder Chapter 17: Recruitment Chapter 17: Recruitment As the sword pieced Mike''s shoulder he didn''t feel the usual mind numbing pain that he was used to, instead he felt a pleasant almost intoxicating rush, meanwhile the blood that flowed out form his wound seemed to not follow gravity at all and quickly formed strange sinister runes on his shoulder around the wound before suddenly Mike felt his strength rise significantly before he suddenly shed out with the knife. The [Pdin] reacted fast and almost managed to dodge the knife that left a small shallow cut on his right arm, what surprised him the most was that his armor was cut right through even though it was pure steel, he took some distance and spoke "I am surprised that you managed to cut me, but it matters not Surrender now!" Mike gave a smile before he clutched his shoulder and looked straight at the [Pdin] before he muttered "[Drink]" It happened in an instance soul chilling screams sounded out all over the city of Morkove as hundreds of people quickly turned into dried corpses, the [Pdin] was no exception as he also quickly withered and turned into a dried out corpse, Mike however was not in any condition to admire his handiwork as he suddenly felt a rush that made his eyes blurry and his legs weak as he almost stumbled but it all too quickly subsided and he quickly returned to his senses and turned around and ran out of the gate out into the wilderness The night Mike escaped from Morkove quickly became infamous and known as the night of the blood demon, Mike however didn''t know this he was busy doing his thing which nowadays was basic survival, well it was not quite as extreme as it sounded ''Morning huh I sure slept well'' Mike woke up, the first thing he did was that he opened his hand and the knife flew over andnded in his hand, then he sat up on the bed and looked around, he was currently in a small slightly cramped room of an inn, he quickly got dressed and walked downstairs where he quickly got served a meal and ate before he went back upstairs and packed his stuff before he checked out of the inn and walked out into the streets, it had been two weeks since he escaped from Morkove, since then he had been walking from small vige to small vige while killing anything he found outside the walls. Yes that included random travelers and other innocent people but also bandits and other so called bad people, as for the reason he did this was that so he could reach level 3 as soon as possible ''Let''s visit the local temple'' While Mike didn''t fear being hunted down by lord Casper he decided that staying on the move was a good idea and usually didn''t spend more than a day at any vige and he avoided therger named cities as they had people that were level 3 in them and while he had a [Pdin] kill to his name he didn''t want to risk fighting one again. Mike soon arrived at the local temple and walked inside and met a nun that stood at the reception "Hello, I would like a prayer room" "Certainly may I see your adventure card?" Mike showed his card and the nun gave a nod before she looked down at some documents and spoke "Please use prayer room number six" "Sure" Mike walked down the hallway and entered prayer room number six without any problems, then he closed the door after himself and put a hand on the crystal ball that lit up with a vermilion glow for a few seconds before it disyed his status Name: Mike Age: 26 Level: 2 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] Experience: 46.173/ 100.000 "Just over 46 thousand almost halfway there" As mike looked at the experience indicator the image of a certain shot silver haired woman shed through his head before he suddenly got annoyed and gritted his fists before he muttered "Just wait a little longer" Then he waited for the crystal ball to reset which it soon did before he walked out of the temple as he looked at the passing people on the street he thought ''I need to kill something'' As he though so he acted quickly and left town and quickly found his mark, a pair of two young lovers that walked down the dirt road arm in arm ''Lovers should explode or was it normies..? Well whatever'' Mike walked about 15 meters behind them and spun the knife around as he looked at them flirting for a bit before the image of a certain short silver haired woman shed through his head, as soon as it did both the knife and the shortsword flew out and with a soft sound they pieced the backs of the lovers heads before they both fell to the ground, Mike walked up and pulled out the knife and shortsword as the sound of pping suddenly sounded out from nearby, Mike turned around and a masked person suddenly stood right behind him. "...Who are you?" "Oh calm too, you really are the perfect seedling Well if you want to call me anything then call me 48" ''Not 47 oh well'' Mike gave a sigh, this 48 person definitely was over level 3 and he had the feeling that he would be able to kill him in a second, thus he gave up the idea of resisting or killing this 48 outright "So what do you want?" Mike had the feeling that this 48 was wearing a wide smile under his mask "Well I want two things, the first is to know how you drained the blood of your previous 56 victems" Mike nked and suddenly realized that this person had been following him since he left Morkove as the amount of people he had killed since he left the city was about 56, then he gave another sigh and spoke "Watch" Mike walked over to the corpses, on the way there he opened his hand and the knife flew over into his hand before he stabbed it into one of the corpses and spoke out clearly and loudly "[Drink]" Mike watched as the blood drained from one of the corpses before he turned back to the masked man after a few seconds the masked man asked "Is that a magic weapon?" Mike shrugged before he spoke "I have no idea, it''s been with me since I came to this world" The masked man started for a moment before he broke outughing, Mike listened to himughing for a few seconds before he noticed that this was going to take more than a few seconds for him to finish so he drained the blood from the other corpse before the masked man stoppedughing and after catching his breath he spoke again "So you''re a demon too? This is perfect!" "How so?" "Well let me exin First off I am a member of a certain organization that Shall we say take out the trash, you get me?" Mike gave a nod and the masked person continued "So we clean up, sometimes silently, sometimes loudly I am in charge of finding seedlings and i have been tracking you for two weeks now and I am very impressed with your cleaning" MIke gave another nod as a dull red light shed in the depths of his eyes before he spoke "Well as long as I get to kill I have no problems being paid for it" 48 gave a nod and opened his arms wide "In that case are you willing to join our organization? It will be very profitable for you" Mike had a feeling that saying no here would turn him into a cold corpse very quickly so he gave a nod and spoke "I am willing" 48 gave a nod before he pulled out a metal tag with the symbol "" on and handed it to Mike, Mike received it felt the tag pull in a certain direction when 48 spoke "The tag will lead you to a recruitment center of our organization, there you will have to pass a test, which I have no doubt you will pass with flying colors and then you will be put into active duty" "I see Well then I look forwards to working with you 48" "Same to you wait what''s your name again?" "Mike" "Okay, well then I''ll see you around, oh and stop with the random killing at least for a few days you have several bounty hunters on your trail well had" 48 threw a leather sack which made a wet sound when it hit the ground before Mike, Mike had no doubt what was in the sack and gave a smile "Well thank you for that I''ll buy you drink in the future" Mike had a feeling that the smile under the mask grew wider then he blinked and 48 was gone Chapter 18: Tests Chapter 18: Tests ''So this is the ce'' A few days had passed since Mike had received the metal tag with the symbol '''' on it from 48, during thesest few days Mike had moved in the direction that the metal tag had pulled him and he had eventually arrived in the city of Greenvale, a city the size of Morkove with a few level 3''s in the city at all time, Mike was of course a little nervous being in the city but he had a feeling that if he didn''t show up then 48 would hunt him down ''It''s like that Chinese saying about riding a tiger One can not simply jump off at the halfway point'' Even though he was nervous he still walked down the main street with a nk expression on his face, a so called poker face that hid his thoughts away, while thinking about how his mother always had told him he really should smile more Mike walked in the direction that the metal tag was pulling ''Seems like it''s on the other side of the city What a pain'' While grumping internally Mike walked onwards though the busy streets and gradually he neared the outer edges of the city, the busy streets turned a lot more quiet and the people that were on the streets was often guiding livestock around ''A butcher district huh'' Mike looked at the group of six legged pigs that was being lead towards what he assumed was a ughter house by a group of people before he gave a sigh ''A person gotta eat and so does a city'' Mike followed the pull of the metal tag and soon arrived at a ughterhouse at the edge of the city, it practicallyid next to the walls, just as he was looking up the at sign board that read ''Jack''s ughterhouse and butchery'' a person called out to him "Can I help you with something?" Mike looked over and saw a man holding a cleaver and wearing a bloody brown apron, Mike gave a nod and took out the metal tag and showed it to the man that gave a nod "Follow after me new blood" Mike gave a nod and followed after the man with the bloody apron into the ughterhouse, the smell of blood was so intense that he could practically taste blood in his mouth, unknown to Mike a smile crept onto his face as his heartbeat speed up, soon the two of them arrived at a room that seemed to function as a freezer as the man opened the door a gust of cold wind blew out and got Mike''s mind of the lovely smell of blood, the man seemed unfazed by the cold and walked in. Inside the freezer hang butchered carcasses from meathooks, with just a look Mike estimated that there was well over 500 carcasses inside the freezer "Close the door after yourself new blood" Mike gave a nod and closed the door to the freezer before he hurriedly followed after the man, after walking for a little under a minute the man stopped and pulled a empty meathook, a click sounded out and a trap door opened in the floor then the man gestured to the trap door as he spoke "Enter new blood, you''ll be tested when enough new bloods show up" "How long am I supposed to wait?" The man gave a slight frown before he asked "What you got a date or something?" Mike tilted his head to the side and spoke bluntly "Nah it''s just if I don''t kill anything in a couple of days I''ll get the shakes" The man stared nkly at Mike before he burst outughing "HAHAHAHAHAHA! You sure make good jokes, new blood I like you already As for your question, your in luck as you should be thest of a new group to arrive" Mike gave a nod before he walked over and crawled down the trap door''sdder, as he was halfway down the man closed the trap door that shut with a click, Mike gave a sigh and crawled down thedder and found himself in a long hallway that was dimly lit from no apparent lightsource ''No that''s not right it''spletely dark down here, my night sight has just gotten better oh well'' As Mike walked down the hallway he noticed that the walls was covered with something but he didn''t feel like touching it to find out exactly what it was so he just continued down the narrow winding hallway until he reached a door which he opened, past the door was a room that was lit it looked like amon room where a about 10 people was gathered around a table ying cards, they all looked over at Mike some of them showed astonishment and one of them eximed "He''spletely clean!" Mike looked at the group of people, they all had some ck spots on their clothes or skin, there was even one young man that had his facepletely ck ''Oh so that was the first test'' Mike then ignored them and scanned the room and found a man with a mask that stood and leaned against a wall off from the group, Mike walked over and handed the metal tag with the '''' symple to the man, the masked man gave a nod and asked "Who referred you?" Mike thought for a moment before he answered "48" The masked man gave a nod before he spoke out loud "Alright, the test will now begin, all new blood line up!" The group that was ying cards stopped and walked over and lined up after Mike, the masked person looked at Mike and asked "Since you passed the first test with flying colors you get to gost on the next test, so to the back of the line with you" Mike gave a nod and walked to the back of the line and waited, one by one the 10 or so people walked past the door that rapidly shut after them making impossible to see what was going on inside, as Mike had waited for about 30 minutes he finally got his turn and walked into the room, inside to room Mike''s nose caught a faint scent of blood, there was also a masked woman inside along with three gagged and bound people, one of them a child around 10 years old, he seemed to be struggling the most of the three to get free, one of the others was a woman in her 20''s that was hyperventting, pale as a sheat and bathed in cold sweat, the final was a man in his 50''s that seemed m, as Mike finished inspecting the three the masked woman spoke "Kill the ones you feel should die, your test have already begun" Mike gave a nod as a red light shone softly in the depth of his eyes, then while humming a tune he spun the knife around as he walked over to the old man and without saying anything he stabbed the knife directly into the old man''s heart and gave it a twist and waited a couple seconds as the old man stopped twitching before he pulled the knife out, then he walked over to the bound and gagged woman and gave a frown as he looked at her chest ''That''s rather big can''t reach the heart with the knife, oh well the throat it is'' Then he quickly swiped the knife over the woman''s throat as he held her head with one hand and looked into her eyes, when he saw the light disappear he let go of the woman and walked over to the child as he did he felt the knife ''cry'' out for blood and gave a wry smile as a red light once again shone in the depths of his eyes ''You sure are a thirsty knife Well I to be fair I did just use you to draw blood so it''s no wonder you would get thirsty'' Mike walked over to the child while he spun the knife around and still hummed the tune from before as he suddenly stabbed the knife into the shoulder of the child that screamed in pain into the gag ''I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was~'' Mike still humming his tune suddenly stopped and looked up at the masked woman with a eerie smile on his face as he clearly spoke "[Drink]" The child soon turned into a dried corpse under the gaze of the masked woman, after a few seconds she spoke "Your test is nowplete, go into the next room" Mike gave a nod and spun the knife around as before he sheathed it again before he walked into the next room leaving the masked woman alone with the corpses, she gave a sigh and looked at the dried up corpse of the child before she muttered "What a monster He''s perfect!" Chapter 40: Bounty Chapter 40: Bounty "Well then let''s see what''s in the carriage" Mike of course weren''t going to just let the carriage stand there, he was after all in need of money ''Well there''s the money from the two headed Orger too If the guild has not cklisted me already that is'' Mike was fully aware that he had turned into a genocidal maniac but he was simply unable to care, if he had been on his medication however he would probably be hunted by guilt, unfortunately there was no such thing as medical science in this world "Whatever Reba, Elina search the carriage for valuables We are looking for high value low weight that''s easy to fence" ""Understood master"" Mike was all too happy to leave the searching to the two of them and walked over to Serina that was busy eating one of the beasts that had been pulling the carriage, speaking of it it looked like some sort of cross between a horse and a long haired cow, Mike petted her on the side and asked "Is it good?" Serina wagged her tail while she was busy eating, almost as if she was having a hard time deciding between whether she should let herself be spoiled by Mike or eating the beast, Mike took the hint and left Serina to her meal After about half an hour the group was done looting/eating and they headed back towards the town they had raided to meet up with Julie, on the way there Elina and Reba showed off their loot, they had managed to find a hiddenpartment in the carriage where the merchant had hidden some valuables which included some gemstones and several pieces of jewelry among with about 15.000 in cash which plus the saving they had was more than enough for the journey to the nearby ind that Julie said had a dungeon, as for the carriage they set it alight with some igniter paper along with the other goods after stuffing it full with bodies, which was Elina''s idea ''Elina and Reba might act all cute and proper but they really like gore now I wonder if dying has changed their perspective on life?'' Mike gave a sigh, while he was a genocidal manic himself he didn''t really see the need for tearing apart dead bodies and stuffing them into a carriage before setting it alight ''Maybe it''s me that''s out of touch No it''s the children!'' Mikeughed out loud at thinking his own joke which earned him a weird look from Serina but he didn''t mind at all, soon the group returned to the town they had raided and meet up with Julie that stood at the gate and waited for them, when she saw Mike she gave a smile and walked up to him and gave him a hug, Mike warped his hands around her and hugged her back, then she asked "Shall we start searching for some money?" Mike gave a smile and shook his head "No need, we found a merchant earlier that donated his and his family''s life along with some cash so we have enough for the journey now" "That''s great! Then let''s start heading towards the west in the morning so we can leave this low mana density ind" Mike broke the hug with Julie looking a little confused before he asked "What does mana density have to do with anything?" Julie gave a smile and happily exined "Well mana density determines the amount of experience one receives when one kills something, if the mana density is low then the amount of experience is low too and vice versa, it also means that there will be stronger humans and monsters if the mana density is higher" Mike gave a nod and asked "Then level 3 people will be moremon there?" "Yeah, not only because of the mana density but also because one needs to be level 3 to migrate there" "I see" Mike gave another nod before he continued "In that case we will go from being big fish in a small pond" Julie gave a nod and spoke "We won''t be able to act wildly there until we reach level 5 or higher, so once we reach the ind of Thera I expect you to act ordingly Mike" "Sure, then let''s head back to Morkove and receive our reward from the two headed Orger tomorrow" "Okay Mike" The night passed in the now empty town and from there the group moved towards Morkove and arrived after three days travel and arrived outside of Morkove around noon, when it was Mike''s turn he showed his adventures card to the guard and noticed at once how the guard paled and double checked Mike''s face, Mike gave a slight smile and asked "Is something wrong?" "N-No please enjoy your stay in Morkove" Mike gave a nod and walked by the gate along with Serina and waited for Julie and the others that soon arrived, Julie asked Mike "Did the guard also act weird when you passed the gate?" Mike gave a nod "We might not want to extend our stay in Morkove I think they are onto us" "I agree" With that decided the group quickly made their way towards the guild, along the way Mike noticed that adventures were looking at them with greed clear in their eyes, a couple of them even followed after them ''Well this is sure to be good'' "Master" Mike looked back and saw Reba that just had called out to him "What is it?" "Do you want me to handle them?" "...Nah, let them follow us to the guild I have a feeling that this is going to be more interesting that way" "Understood master" When the group eventually arrived at the guild there was a sizable gathering of people following after them, Mike however ignored them and walked into the guild along with Julie, Reba, Elina, Serina and Molly. Once the group walked in the air in the guild seemed to freeze up slightly and the usual lively guild quilted down a bit, Mike looked around before he walked over to the request board where he spotted a picture of himself, Julie, Elina and Reba "Oh This is interesting" Under the painted pictures were a description of their crimes along with a sizable half a million bounty on each of them, Mike however just gave a smile and picked the bounty on himself and walked back to Julie and asked her "Did they get my picture right?" Mike held up the bounty paper next to his face, Juliepared the two of them for a bit before she shook her head and spoke loudly "No they clearly got the eyes wrong" Mike gave a nod as silence spread over the guild, the only sound were people drawing their weapons, Mike''s smile widened slightly before he walked towards the reception, the people that stood in front of him parted like the red sea as they watched him closely, Mike arrived at the reception andid his bounty on the counter before he spoke to the receptionist that was pale with fear "I am here to collect a reward" "P-P-Please wait a moment!" The receptionist ran away in fear, seeing this Mike gave a sigh and waited patiently until a few minutester when a middle aged man stepped out from the back, Mike could tell that this man was level 3 at a nce and therefore he probably was the guild master of the Morkove guild, while he was dressed in casual clothes he had a sword on his belt and held the grip tightly with one hand as he looked at Mike then at Julie that stood next to Mike, then he walked up to the counter and asked Mike "...What can I do for you?" Mike gave a smile and put his hand on the bounty before he moved it across the counter so the guild master could see it clearly "First off I would like you to update this as we raided another town 3 days ago, right before we crushed the punitive force sent for us" The guildmaster looked down at the bounty and then up at Mike before he gritted his teeth, Mike however continued "Besides that, I would like to receive payment from the two headed Orger we killed the other day" The guildmaster gritted his teeth even harder before he spoke through his teeth "You will get what''sing for you soon" Mike''s smile widened before he drew the knife and began spinning it around while he spoke "Of course I will, but neither you nor anyone in this city has the capacity to punish me, so I suggest that you hurry up and pay me before any of the adventures start something they can''t finish" The guild master tightened the grip on his sword until his hand turned white as he stared down Mike that wore a calm smile, eventually it seemed that the strength left him as he gave a sigh and spoke "You are one sick fuck you know that right kid?" Mike gave a nod "Yeah that''s what happens when I don''t get my meds" Chapter 90: A wild Julie apperes Chapter 90: A wild Julie apperes About a week passed since the incident, with the criminal having long since been executed calmness began to return to the academy, Mike also stopped pretending he was bothered by the fact that those people died as it was his n all along for the disciplinarymittee to harm some innocents in order to diminish their influence in the academy ''That way that professor can''t use them to force me to hand over Snow'' Mike let out a yawn as he stepped out of the shower and dried his body off before he put on his uniform and stepped out of the dorm room where the three servants waited for him "Good morning girls" ""Good morning master"" Mike walked out of the dorm building like usual and made his way to the school building, on the way there he meet up with Karl and Michelle and went to ss as usual then went it was time for lunch Mike was walking with the two of them on their way to the cafeteria he suddenly stopped and turned around as a rare genuine smile formed on his face, the two of them was a little confused but also looked the same way Mike did and saw a young woman in a academy uniform walk through the crowd, she had short red hair that reached her shoulders and she had a slim fit figure that drew many gazes as she walked through the crowd, on her hip was a sheathed sword, she walked over and stopped within arms reach of Mike as the two of them started into eachothers eyes for a while before she grabbed him by the cor and pulled him into a kiss, a deep one at that, Karl showed a wry smile while Michelle blushed deeply and hid her face behind her hands as she peeked through her fingers, Julie slowly broke the kiss and asked Mike "Did you cheat on me while I was leveling up?" "No ma''am!" "Very good" Julie beamed a lovely smile as she looked at Mike and studied his face, then she gently took his hand and asked "Shall we head to ss?" "Hold your horses" Mike showed an apologetic look to Karl and Michelle as he introduced Julie "This is Julie, my girlfriend, Julie this is Karl and Michelle" Karl pulled himself together and showed some merchant spirit and greeted Julie "Hello, as Mike said my name is Karl I have heard a lot of you from Mike" Julie narrowed her eyes slightly as she asked "Oh what did you hear?" Karl felt a cold chill go down his spine as he quickly stammered out an answer "O-Oh you know, how lovely you are and how in love Mike is with you" Julie kept her expression cold for a moment before she turned her face to Mike that did the same "I like this friend of yours, he has a quick mouth" Mike gave a shrug with a smile as he praised Karl "Well he''s an aspiring merchant, he has his moments" "Hey Mike what does that mean!?" Julie looked past Karl and at Michelle "Swiftly moving on to our next item on the list My she looks to be quite the tasty morsel" Julie walked over to Michelle and ever so carefully peeled her hands away from her face as she showed a smile and spoke "I have a feeling that we''re going to be the best of friends!" Michelle asked Mike for help by sending a desperate look which Mike smoothly ignored with a teasing smile on his face, then she began overheating and after a few moments she managed to form a response in a flustered voice "Y-Yes Julie I look forwards to g-getting to know you" Julie''s catlike smile widened slightly before she evaluated Michelle "Very good, now Mike let''s go to ss" Julie was swiftly glued to Mike again before the two of them began walking off leaving the stunned Karl and Michelle behind, well only for a moment before the two of them stopped walking and asked simultaneously ""Aren''t youing with us to ss?"" Karl was the first to snap out of his stunned silence and muttered "Why do I have the feeling that these two are going to be quite annoying?" Michelle gave a nod and a sigh before the two of them followed after Mike and Julie, after the ss was over Mike and Julie was as if glued to each other and spent most of the lunchtime feeding each other (much to the despair of the single men and women that watched, or rather just happened to see) but eventually the second ss arrived and Julie had to go to ss for fire mages while Mike went to the clubroom after they of course promised to meet upter, when Mike arrived in the clubroom James was already there waiting for him "Hey Mike, you seem cheerful today?" "Yeah my girlfriend arrived at the academy, I''ll introduce youter" "I see W-Well swiftly moving on, today I''ll teach you about some more advanced formations" Mike narrowed his eyes slightly as a teasing smile formed on his face as he asked "Are you perhaps having love troubles professor?" James flinched before he gave a sigh, a long one at that and gave Mike a stare as he slowly said "I don''t want to talk about it" Mike put away his teasing smile and asked a little more seriously "Then do you mind if I speak about my own experiences?" James considered it for a bit before he gave a nod, then Mike began speaking "Well frankly I didn''t believe in love, as a matter of fact I only used my girlfriends for their looks or more carnal desires for a long time that is until I met Julie Sure at the start she was stronger than me and I wanted very much to drive a nine-inch rusty iron nail through her eye socket, but then, it kind of happened, I mean love did I think it was after we were separated for a while, at the time I didn''t realize it but looking back she was my world long before I was aware of it" James gave a nod and thought for sometime before his mood seemed better "Thanks Mike, I''ll Ask you if I have any troubles in the future" "Sure" From there the club started for real and James exined some advanced rune formations to Mike over the cause of what would normally be the second ss of the day, soon the other people in the club also started to arrive, with Hinrich and Hilia being the only ones to greet Mike as the twins still ignored him and gave him the cold shoulder ever since the incident with Serina, soon there was some noise outside the club room, then Karl opened the door and walked in followed by Julie that wore a charming smile on her face, a little too charming in fact as Henry, the male of the twins had his breath taken away as he looked at Julie with an enchanted look on his face, he stood up at once and walked over confidently before he asked while giving a slight bow, one reminiscent of nobility "Wee to the magic item research club, my name is Henry, may I have the honor of knowing your name mydy?" Julie''s smile froze slightly, in fact it wasn''t only her smile her entire expression turned frosty before she spoke one word "Move" Henry looked up, dumbfounded But eventually, he moved aside and watched as Julie walked over to Mike and Sat down in hisp and wrapped her arms around his neck, Henry blinked a few times before he suddenly realized what was going on and his face flushed red with embarrassment before he gave a huff and turned and briskly left the room mming the door on the way out, the situation turned awkward inside the club room as H seemed to boil over with embarrassment watching how close Mike and Julie were, James and Karl showed knowing smiles, Mary the other twin seemed to be just as dumbfounded as her brother was a few moments ago, Hienrich seemed much more interested in his book but noticed the odd air and looked up and as for Mike, well he enjoyed the various perks of having a lover on hisp with a poker face, well not quite he did show a small smile, just as he was about to introduce Julie to the others Mary clicked her tongue and spoke disdainfully So what if you have a fancy wolf and have hired an equally fancy whore? You are still a dirty non-human" Mike paled and shouted "Use your words!" Before anyone had noticed Julie had appeared in front of Mary with her sword drawn and pointed at Mary''s neck, mere inches from drawing blood, Julie clicked her tongue before she quickly sheathed her sword making the previously cocky Mary pale as all the blood flowed out of her face, then Julie spoke with a bright smile on her face "Next time you insult my dear boyfriend I will separate your head from your neck" Chapter 91: Peaceful academy life Chapter 91: Peaceful academy life Mary tried to stammer something out before she wentpletely red in the face from shame and quickly scrambled out of the room, seemingly fleeing after her brother, as for the twin''s servants they eyed Mike and Julie onest time before they quietly took their leave, silence hang in the room as Julie walked back and sat down in Mike''sp like it was her natural ce to sit, after a few seconds she asked innocently "What''s wrong Mike? Weren''t you going to introduce me to your friends?" Mike looked at Julie ying innocent and gave a wry smile before he twisted slightly in his seat and pointed to the people in the room "Karl you already know, then there''s Henrich, that''s H and finally we have professor James, everybody this is my dear girlfriend Julie Are you done marking me yet Julie?" "Hmm Just a little longer" Mike gave a sigh but he didn''t look all that bothered and reached up to pat her on the head, Julie nestled into his hand like a kitten but eventually he stopped patting her head and spoke "That should be about enough right?" "Tch... " Julie clicked her tongue and jumped off Mike, Mike showed a wry smile and began to exin a little about what he had learned in the club, Julie seemed a little lost around the midway point and asked "Do you really find this interesting Mike?" "Hmm..? Yeah, why else would I be here?" Julie showed a smile and gave a nod then she turned to James and asked "Professor James, how do I join the club?" James showed a smile and exined to her how to join the club which included filling out some papers which she quickly did, as James watched her sign the papers he asked "Do you find magic items interesting?" "Honestly? No, not at all But since Mike says it''s interesting I''ll take a look anyway" "I see, maybe you will awaken some interest" "I sure hope so Anyway is the seat next to Mike taken?" "...No, just don''t disturb the club too much with your flirting, okay?" "No problem professor" "Just call me James" "Sure" As such the club started for real, only a littleter than usual, surprisingly Julie seemed to be paying attention and trying to understand what was being thought by James as well as the other members of the club, soon the club hours were over, Mike and Julie made their way back to the dormitories hand in hand, however when they entered Mike''s room the air around them seemed to change slightly as Julie suddenly spoke in a cold tone "Michelle huh" Mike didn''t finch he simply gave a thin smile which somehow rubbed Julie the wrong way as she snapped at him "So you like her better is that it!?" Mike shook his head and spoke in a calm tone "No I don''t, her blood however smells oh so sweet" Julie''s angry expression melted away as she gave Mike a quick kiss "Yeah it does, when can we eat her?" "Not while we''re at the academy Soonest at the field trip in half a year" "Che" "Now now don''t sulk, oh right I have something I would like you to do" Julie sat down at the table and looked over Mike''s notes while she absentmindedly asked "What?" "Well Promise you won''t get mad?" Julie waved her hand as she dismissed the notion that she could get mad, Mike gave a sigh and asked somewhat awkwardly "Can you draw the formations tattooed on Snow for me, I would like to have a closer look at them" Julie paused before she turned to Mike "You mean strip her naked and then draw her?" Mike gave a nod "Basically, there''s this professor that seemed to have owned Snow before and I would like to steal his research once I find out what it is" Julie thought for a bit before she gave a nod "Sure Anything else you want to tell me? I have been having the feeling all day that something changed about you Mike?" Mike gave a sigh before he walked over and sat down on the bed, Julie walked over and sat down on the bed next to him and asked "Is it serious?" "Kind of I found out what my destiny is, or rather what this knife is turning me into" "What?" "A demon" Julie tilted her head and bluntly asked "Aren''t you a demon in the first ce? I mean you don''te from this world" "I mean a biblical demon" Julie looked even more confused as she spoke "You are going to have to exin some more Mike" Mike gave a nod and began to speak about the more dark side of Christian faith and other various things he had picked up over the time he had done research on the ult out of boredom, Julie''s face gradually turned more and more serious and by the end of Mike''s exnation she asked him "So what are you going to do?" Mike showed a hollow smile "Well my entire life I have wanted to be something And now I am bing something immensely powerful but evil So should I reallyin?" Julie gave a nod before she took Mike''s hand and spoke "Isn''t that fine then?" "Yeah that''s what I am leaning towards anyway" Julie showed a bright smile "I''ll follow you wherever you go Mike, so don''t worry" Mike gave her hand a squeeze as the two of them sat there in silence The next morning Mike awoke, next to him or rather half on top of himy Julie in the tiny bed, she was as always when they spent the night together very naked and so was he, Mike quickly unwarpped himself from Julie and put on some boxers before he began working out, halfway through his workout he noticed that Julie seemed to have awoken at some point and was watching him with a keen interest "Morning" "Morning Why are you working out Mike?" Mike did some more push-ups as he spoke, in fact he didn''t stop doing them while he spoke with Julie "To not get soft" Julie gave a smile, a very enchanting one at that before she crawled out of the bed and put on some clothes, but only the bare minimum before she joined Mike on the floor and mimicked him as he did push-ups, Mike showed a smile and gradually coached her so she could show a proper form and workout properly, this gradually turned into flirting as all things tend to do when you leave a couple that is on good terms in a closed room Mike and Julie eventually took a shower and got ready before they walked out of the dorm room where Elina, Snow and Reba formed up behind them, as they walked to ss Mike exined some basics about paths and points so Julie would not make a fool of herself like he had done in the first ss he attended, on the way they also ran into Karl and Michelle that chatted with them as they made their way towards ss, Mike was also keenly aware of some strange looks he and Julie received on their way to ss, but he ignored them for the most part ''It''s probably just some human supremacists that are peeved about me holding Julie''s hand'' ss eventually started and Mike sat thought the entire morning ss without much issue, the problems came when they sat down to eat at the cafeteria, a couple of people approached the table Mike, Julie, Karl and Michelle sat at and whilepletely ignoring Mike one of them with his eyes locked on Julie introduced himself "Hello there beauty, my name is George, might I have the honor of knowing your name?" Julie remained silent for a little while before she spoke one word "...Julie" The man gave a nod before he gave a sidelong nce at Mike, disgust clear in his eyes as he spoke again to Julie "I see Let me advise you Julie, one does not eat at the same table as one''s pets and Other filth, why don''t you have dinner with us instead?" Mike showed a slight smile as he shook his head slightly, this man, or rather boy was about to enter a world of hurt, sure enough Julie stood up and with a smile on her face she pped him with full force right in the face, sending him flying a few meters before he hit the ground hard, Julie walked over and picked him off the ground and shook him awake before she spoke "The next time you insult someone you should be sure of their level first, did your parents not teach you this?" Then she pped him again, knocking him out once more before she dropped him like the sack of entitled shit he was and walked back to the table and sat down before she continued eating with the others Chapter 92: Assassins Chapter 92: Assassins Around the end of the break George woke up, he slowly picked himself off the floor before he looked after Julie that had pped him unconscious with a venomous look in his eyes, then he turned to his servant, an old level 5 butler and asked in a cold tone "How could you let that bitch beat me up like that!?" The butler narrowed his eyes slightly before he began churning his mana slightly "The master has specified that you are taught some manners, I figured this would be a good way, no?" George shot the butler another venomous look before he turned and walked out of the cafeteria while clutching the side of his face that still hurt like it was on fire but his anger burned even brighter as he dismissed the butler for the day and went towards a dorm room he and his friends used as a gathering ce as he opened the door a cry of pain sounded out that made George show a nasty smile that sent pain throughout his injured face as he walked in and quickly shut the door as another cry of pain rang out in the room, speaking of the room the walls were covered in formations which Mike would recognize as sound damping runes, the room was also rather big for a dorm room, but that was because they had taken the wall to the adjacent room down and upied it too, the room was also dirty and covered in ash as the group of nobles inside smoked heavily, there was also a smell of alcohol in the air as well as sweat and another Particr smell of blood and bodily fluids that came from the kidnapped female student in the corner, her eyes were empty and an illegal ve cor was secured around her neck, she was a sorry sight, her skin bruised and abused she was truly close to death and in fact would be if not for the booster runes tattooed with ck ink on her skin which fortified her organs and important bodily functions as well as increased her sense of pain as an extra evil and unnecessary twist. There were about 15 people inside the room drinking various kinds of high proof spirits and smoking a tobo-like dried nt as well as a highly addictive drug called Fairy''s smoke by its users for the disorientating and highly euphoric effect smoking the drug had which made the smoke look like pretty fairies flying around, George walked in and sat himself down in a leaning chair and was quickly served a ss of very expensive whiskey from one of his underlings, after downing the ss he threw it on the floor and shattered the crystal ss which made the room fall silent as one of the other young noble''s noticed George''s injuries "Damn George, what happened to your face!?" George received a stick of fairy smoke and lit it before he took a couple of deep puffs before heined "Some level 5 bitch pped me! And after the great me advised her not to eat together with such non-human filth, can you believe it!?" "What a bitch!" George continued "I want her dead, no better I want her to crawl between my legs before I stick a long sword up her ass!" The othersughed along before one that had remained silent so far spoke, he was the leader of the group of noble scum and was named Delvin, besides his slightly overweight and slightly pale skin he looked like a rtively normal person, though the sinister arrogance in his eyes was hard to hide "What''s this bitch name?" George gave a sneer "Julie, she is a new student And I think she has a non-human fuck toy" The entire group of nobles frowned, they all despised non-humans, Delvin spoke after thinking for a while "Find out who she is first Then we can torture that bitch in peace" One of the underlings that were eager to earn favor gave a nod before he quickly walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, George showed a nasty grin as he imagined how he would torture Julie, as he did one that had not spoken yet spoke up "...I think I know what club she''s in, you said her name is Julie right George?" George gave a nod, then Henry asked "She has red shoulder-length hair right?" George gave a nod that made Henry stand up as anger showed on his face and he walked over and kicked the kidnapped female student which made her cry out, Delvin asked "What, has she offended you too Henry?" "Yeah that cold bitch drew her sword and threatened me after I asked her name, crazy bitch!" Delvin gave augh "Very good, to offend not one but two of my friends, this bitch certainly has to die a painful death! Come let us drink to her painful demise!" """""""Cheers!!!""""""" Some days passed, Mike and Julie went to ss like usual, Mike had felt a gaze on him over thest few days so he was somewhat alert which rubbed off on Julie as well as their servants, then it happened Mike got sick and tired of it and made a n to get rid of the gaze, by going into town and having Elina and Reba hunt it down, Mike and Julie walked into town hand in hand, unbeknownst to them this was exactly what the gaze following them had waited for, so they quickly sent word that the targets were moving into the Killzone A man dressed like a normal person was following after a couple that walked on the streets, he was very good at following people, but that was the least impressive skill this man had, he was an assassin and so were his four partners, he sent a hand signal to one of hispanions *Target, 200 meters, 2 people, confirm* The hand signals were received by another inconspicuous person that gave a nod after confirming the location of the couple ahead, then she sent a quick hand signal back *Confirmed* The group of five assassins followed after the couple waiting patiently for an opening they could exploit, it had to be said that they were all level 5 and had enough training to take down a group of equally leveled knights double their size, they was the most expensive one could get in the academy city and the most lethal, soon the couple seemed to have gotten a little excited and walked down a deserted side-ally to make out or some such, this was the opening they had been waiting on and so 3 of them quickly climbed up on a nearby roof to take position on the roof while thest two took position at each end of the ally then the signal came from the leader *Go* Frist the three on the roof jumped silently from the top off the roofs they held daggers smeared with deadly poison, they rapidly descended through the air but then something happened, one of them were suddenly grabbed just as she passed a window by an armored arm that grabbed the assassin by the neck before another armored arm shot out grasping a dagger that went clean through the assassins eye right into her brain killing her instantly, on the ground the couple that so far had been oblivious suddenly moved each dodging the attacks that came from above the veryst second, at this point the assassins realized that they had lost a member on the descend down and then both of them yelled ""Ambush!"" The leader reacted instantly and stormed out followed by the assassin in the other end of the ally "Kill the targets!" """KILL!!!""" Mike and Julie showed smiles as both of them churned their mana and drew their weapons and fought back against the assassins, Mike bent backward dodging a stab from the assassin in front of him before he shed upwards with the knife, the assassin dodged back, avoiding the knifepletely as he gave a snort before he also began churning his mana as he suddenly shed out with a speed that was twice as fast as before, Mike parried as a smile suddenly showed on his face, a smile that made the assassin''s blood go cold as he dodged to the side, s he wasn''t quite quick enough as an icicle shot up from a puddle on the ground and shed open his clothes drawing quite the amount of blood that sputtered out form the cut on his chest, Mike acted quickly and shed out just missing the assassin as he continued retreating but hitting the blood that was in the air before he spoke "[Drink]!" At the same time as that happened Julie exchanged several blows with a female assassin, despite her longer and the more cumbersome weapon she was lightning quick and managed to stay on the offensive against the smaller dagger the assassin wielded and soon she caught out the assassin in a big opening and shed out with her sword, just barely scraping the assassin''s arm as the assassin tired to counter-attack she activated her skill "[Hellwalker]!" The assassins shadow seemed toe alive and dug itself into her arm holding back her swing as Julie shed lightning quickly towards her face cutting through the female assassin''s skull right at eye level, this all happened before the other two assassins arrived at the fight, the leader made a quick decision and yelled "Flee!" The leader and the other assassin quickly turned and fled towards the entrance of the alley where, at each entrance a person in full armor suddenly appeared out of thin air surprising the assassins, the leader managed to injured his opponent with a stab at the armors weak point before he was subdued, but the others were not quite so lucky and had his hand cut off before he received a knuckle sandwich to the face and was pacified, Mike gave a smile and spoke in praise "Well, that works" Chapter 93: Extermination Chapter 93: Extermination "Well how should I deal with you Well this is probably the best course of action, [Control]" Mike controlled the surviving assassins, as they souls dispersed and something darker took control over their bodies they became filled with reverence towards Mike that had granted them ****** *****. Mike wasted no time asking them for their employers to which their answered the truth "We don''t know, we only do what we''re told However if you allow us to return to our base of operations we can find out" "I see By the way, what''s the highest level person in your organization?" "That''s The head elder, he''s level 6" "What about other members?" "Besides our team there''s 11 other level 5 teams and several lower level teams" Mike gave a nod and quickly counted his forces, he had the assassins he had just controlled which were two level 5''s, then he had Elina and Reba, then there were himself and Julie, oh and Snow too "So a total of 6 level 5''s Hmm" Mike thought about taking over the assassin organization for a moment before he shook his head, he simply didn''t have enough troops to guarantee a sessful takeover, so he simply sent the two now controlled assassins back to their organization to find out who hired them ''Although I have a pretty good idea already'' Mike showed a thin smile as he thought about how he should kill the ones that had ordered the hit on him and Julie for a moment before he sheathed the knife and held a hand out to Julie "Well now that those pests are gone let''s continue our date, shall we?" Julie showed a smile aknin to a blooming flower as she took Mike''s hand "Let''s" The two of them walked out of the alley leaving the bodies for the three servants to clean up, Reba that had been stabbed with a poisoned dagger needed time to ride out the poison too so there was noint from the three servants (not that they are able toin in the first ce). Mike and Julie walked around the academy city for a few hours and had a nice dinner at a restaurant before they walked back to the dorms arm in arm The next Morning Mike awoke a little before sunrise as usual and began working out, as for Julie she wasn''t there to distract him as she had decided to sleep in her own roomst night, Mike eventually finished his routine and took a shower before he wore his uniform and walked out of the room and was meet with the three servants that stood and waited for him, Mike noted that Reba still looked a little pale from being poisoned yesterday so he asked her "How are you feeling Reba?" Reba gave a slight bow and spoke with utmost respect "Normal function won''t be a problem" "That means some functions will?" "...Yes master, I am sorry to disappoint you" Mike gave a sigh and ced his hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair slightly "Well, it''s good that you survived Anyways just take it easy for today" "...Yes master" "Good, well then let''s go get Julie" Mike walked over to Julie''s dorm and knocked on the door, after a few seconds it opened and revealed Julie dressed in her uniform, Mike gave a smile and asked "Shall we go to ss?" Julie also showed a smile and gave a nod "Sure" It turned out to be a normal day, Mike went to ss, the cafeteria and the club before he walked back to the dorm room with Julie when someone approached them, it was another student Mike had never seen before "Are you Mike?" Mike gave a nod "I got something for you" The student then pushed a letter into Mike''s hands before he walked away, Mike looked at the letter for a moment before he decided to open it in his dorm room, Julie followed after him to see what was in the letter and to make sure it wasn''t a love letter, Mike sat down at his desk and opened the letter and took out the paper inside and folded it out, there were 3 pieces of paper, the first was a detailed report of the ones that had hired and sent assassins after them while the next was a detailed report of that person''s daily life in the academy and notable friends and acquaintance while thest piece of paper showed several drawings of the people mentioned in the reports "Well well well Let''s pay these so-called young esteemed nobles a night visit shall we Julie?" "..." "Julie?" "My gut feeling is telling me not to" "Hmm if that''s so then let''s do it doing the daytime, there''s this clubhouse mentioned Where they don''t take their servants" "I like that better, no way those noble brats don''t have high-level bodyguards" "True" Mike and Julie decided that their revenge could wait a night and went to bed early The next morning Mike went through his routine with working out and showering before he walked out of the dorm room with Elina and Reba after him, as for Julie and Snow? They were busy with getting the formations on Snow''s body down on paper so Mike could study them in detailter ''No way that professor goes through so much trouble for worthless research'' Mike made his way to ss, chatting with Karl and Michelle and after ss he ate together with them, while they ate the handsome fox beastman Kelvin walked over to their table and looked at Mike for a moment before he spoke "A word of advice Mike, don''t leave the academy grounds" Mike chewed his food slowly before he swallowed and showed a smile "You''re warning iste Kelvin, it already happened" Kelvin''s expression twisted slightly as he showed a deep frown that eventually went away before he went back to his usual pokerface-smile "Well in that case it''s good that you are okay Mike" Mike gave a nod and asked "Do you mind if I ask you a question Kelvin?" "Ask away" "Why do you care so much about my wellbeing?" Kelvin showed a smile before he turned around and waved while walking away, Mike gave a sigh, then Karl spoke "Kelvin is the leader of one of the biggest non-human groups, he probably wants to recruit you?" Mike gave a nod and went back to his food while slightly altering his n for dealing with the pests in the afternoon ''If Kelvin has eyes on me It''s probably better to do a switch with Elina and have her handle it'' Mike raised his hand and made a few hand signals to Elina that gave a bow before her figure blurred slightly before going back to normal as Reba''s illusion took over "Piece of SHIT!!!" A crystal bottle of very expensive spirits went flying across the extended dorm room and crashed into the wall before breaking into tiny pieces, the one that had thrown it was George, he had just received word that the assassination organization he had hired had failed their first attempt and required another payment to continue their efforts "They can''t even kill a single bitch and her non-human dog!!!" The others in the room were quite, they knew that if they spoke up they would be the outlet of George''s anger as he sheathed for a few moments before he put on a more dignified look on his face, sensing he had calmed down one of the other young nobles asked "So should we pay them again?" George thought for a moment before he shook his head and spoke "No, their ipetence will show itself again We need to find another organization" At that moment the door opened and an underling ran in and quickly closed the door behind himself before he spoke "They leaked the information!" George''s face hardened, he knew what the underling was speaking about, another noble spoke up in a panic "What do we do!? If they tell the academy we could be expelled!" No one in that room wanted to be expelled, after all this was their yground away from responsibilities of their families, George was about to speak up again when he suddenly felt cold on his back and quickly turned around, the others noticed George''s behavior and one asked "What''s wrong George?" George stared at the wall before he rxed "Nothing, I just remembered I need to sort some stuff out, I''ll be back in a moment" George quickly moved towards the door but on the way he suddenly stopped and froze before something eerie happened, his neck ever so slowly twisted to the side, horror was clear in his eyes, then a low snap went out through the room before a nightmarish armored figure appeared holding George''s neck and face seemingly having twisted his neck until it broke ending his short life of decadence, the young noble''s in the room were scared shitless, nobody dared to make a move, then the voice of a young woman sounded out from the demon armor "Master said to make it quick so I won''t be able to torture you Don''t be afraid, surrender your lives peacefully and there will be no pain" Chapter 94: Punishment Chapter 94: Punishment Around evening the ''image'' or rather the illusion of Elina that had been following Mike around suddenly distorted for a moment before it returned to normal, changing ever so slightly with a hint of blood appearing on the end of the sleeve of her right arm, Reba spotted it and got Elina''s attention before she pointed to her sleeve, Elina looked and spotted the small bloodstain before she then gave a nod and raised her hand and put the bloodstained part of her sleeve into her mouth for a moment licking the blood clean off before she went back to her normal posture. Mike made a few hand signals *How did it go?* Elina looked slightly down before she signed back *Not so well, further report required* Mike gave a nod before he decided to return to his dorm room to hear the report, as soon as they returned Mike turned to Elina and spoke with a slightly stern voice "It''s not like you to fail Elina" Elina kneeled down on the floor and bowed her head before she spoke in a slightly shaky voice "I am very sorry master, I have failed you" Mike narrowed his eyes slightly but decided to hold off on using [Decimate] until he knew the whole picture, after all, he was a merciful demon "Report" Elina lowered her head a little more before she began speaking "Yes master, I Appeared to have gotten a little excited and Made two of them suffer, even though you told me not to" Mike facepalmed After a few moments he removed his hand from his face, then he decided to be a little less specific the next time he ordered his servants as they apparently would remember his every word and follow his orders blindly without question "Well Do better next time Elina" "Yes master! Please grant me merciful oblivion at your discretion!" Mike took a moment to figure out what she meant by merciful oblivion, but a momentter it clicked she was telling him to kill her over this small mistake, Mike gave a sigh ''Sometimes being too loyal is a problem'' Mike put on a serious face before he suddenly churned his mana to full power, then he disappeared from view and when he reappeared he sent a kick to the side of Elina''s lowered head as a loud crack sounded out in the room as her neck broke in multiple ces sending her flying off to the side hitting the wall of the dorm a momentter causing more low cracks to sound out in the room, Mike slowly calmed his churning mana before he walked over and kneeled down next to the dead Elina and poked her head as he spoke in a stern tone "How long are you going to keep sleeping?" A momentter there was a twitch from the dead Elina as she revived and came back to life, her nk eyes slowly regained their focus as the dent on the side of her head slowly began restoring to her normal head shape, then with another twitch, she began speaking in a low horse "My Apologizes... Master" Mike gave a sigh and spoke in a slightly gentle, soothing tone as he patted her on the head and ran his fingers through her hair "Do better next time Elina, I expect better from you" Tears slowly formed in the corner of Elina''s eyes as she slowly spoke out "Yes Master" Mike patted her twice on the cheek before he stood up and stretched his neck before his eyes turned to Reba "Please leave the room Take Elina along with you" Something shed in Reba''s eyes before she gave a small bow, walked over and picked up Elina from the floor ina princess carry and quickly walked out of the door, Snow looked at Mike with what appeared to be reverence before she also gave a bow and walked out before she shut the door behind her leaving Mike and Julie behind in the room, Mike gave a long sigh as he sat down on the bed, Julie walked over and sat down beside him before she asked "Why are you suddenly so harsh Mike?" "Because I have to" Julie narrowed her eyes slightly "Exin" Mike gave yet another sigh before Elina''s eyes appeared in his head, there was a faint hint of provocation in her eyes, simply put "She was testing me, if I had not punished her my control over them all would have weakened slightly And I don''t want to lose control over a bunch of bloodthirsty Whatever they have be, no whatever I have made them" Julie sighed before she leaned her head on Mike''s shoulder "Being a leader sure is tough" Mike gave a nod as he remained silent, the slight red glow in the edges of Elina''s eyes could not escape his notice, it was as something had been observing him from the void through her eyes The next morning news swept through the academy that a group of students had been found brutally murdered in a dorm room on campus, but this was old news to Mike, so all the nitty-gritty details about how one of them had his insiders shuffled around and that this only was discovered during the autopsy and how one had a bottle of spirits shuffled so far up his arse that he apparently suffocated on simply went in one ear and out the other (Though a rather silent chuckle was heard) s the day went by peacefully and he went to club as usual, when he arrived James seemed a little distracted so eventually Mike asked him "Is there something wrong James?" James paused before he put down the chalk and steeped away from the ckboard, then he proceeded to walk over and sit down in the chair that stood next to Mike and scratch the back of his head a little before he asked "Can we talk alone?" He gave a nce over to the three servants Mike had brought with him, Mike gave a nod and then Elina, Snow and Reba each gave a bow before they walked out of the room and closed the door behind them, Mike then asked "What''s the problem, is it love troubles again, James?" James gave a nod and scratched the back of his head again before he began speaking "It''s like this Well, I think it''s like this anyway..? Where do I even start..?" Mike showed a thin smile as he spoke "Take your time" "Okay" Then some time passed before James began speaking again "Well I like this woman, I mean I really, really like her It''s just, I don''t know how to say it" Mike gave a nod before he casually spoke "Well you don''t have to say it, you can show it" "But how do I do that?" "Well you could buy her flowers or something else to show your appreciation of her It doesn''t have to be flowers, if you don''t think she likes them you could buy her something else" "...That might work" Then Mike and James spent the next half an hour talking about finding the perfect gift for James'' crush, after which James seemed to have a stone lifted from his chest, he thanked Mike a couple of times before he went back to teaching about formations, when Mike saw he had recovered somewhat he called the three servants back into the room after the other four students arrived, Julie had just sat down at the spot next to Mike when James suddenly put on a serious face "I have an announcement to make, Mary will not be showing up to club anymore as she has withdrawn from the academy" Mike looked surprised and then after a moment he asked "What about Henry?" Then silence spread over the clubroom, Mike realized he had asked a wrong question and then he put two and two together and asked "He wasn''t one of the ones killed was he?" James gave a nod "Unfortunately yes Don''t worry the academy is doing everything they can to catch the killer" Mike showed a thin smile andmented "I sure hope they are" With that over and done with the club quickly resumed and also quickly ended, Mike and Julie left the academy grounds on Serina to resume Mike''s spell tests and stock up on blood, as for the two blood zombies they were given free rain to kill monsters outside the academy city, when the night neared Mike gave a sigh and looked at the dead bandits in front of him, all of them were drained off blood and had met with horrible ends, Mike patted Serina on the side "You can eat them now Serina" Serina barked once before she quickly began eating the drained corpses, Mike stood and watched for a bit before Julie suddenly called out to him "Mike" Mike turned around and saw Julie was holding several pieces of paper, Mike asked "Is that the drawings of the formations on Snow''s body?" "Yeah, do you want to have a look at them before we go to sleep?" "Sure" Chapter 95: A bombshell Chapter 95: A bombshell Mike sat under the dying sunlight and tried to make heads and tails of the formations Julie had drawn from Snow''s body, after some time his face gradually hardened, Julie that had finished setting up the tent walked over and sat down next to him on the tree stump and asked "So What is it?" "I can''t really tell, see this part right here seems to be a mana gathering array but it''s intertwined with this storage array that doesn''t seem to have a limit. Unless" "Unless what?" "It doesn''t make sense unless it''s some sort of bomb" Mike suddenly got cold sweat down his back as he began seeing the formations from a new point of view, of course, with his limited knowledge he was unable to grasp the full picture but what he could make sense of terrified him "What''s a bomb Mike..? Is it really so frightening?" Mike gathered his thought for a bit before he spoke "If this is what I think it is then it''s fighting, imagine a random person on the street suddenly explodes leveling as few blocks, or worse imagine a group of people with these formations drawn on them exploding simultaneously around a city" Julie gave a nod, she could suddenly see the scary picture "Then what do we do?" "...For now, we need to kill that professor before he contacts his sponsor and tells them that his prototype has gone missing" "Sponsor? You mean the person that ordered the research?" "Yeah must be some powerful noble Anyway it''s not something we''re able to handle alone" "Do you want to call the rest of the family just in case?" Mike looked nkly into space for a moment before he gave a nod "...I just did, they are on their way to the academy city" "Okay Let''s just hope he has not reported it yet" "I don''t think so" "Why not?" "Because it would be like telling your employer that you shit the bed" Julie gave a giggle before she leaned her head on Mike''s shoulder Let''s hope you''re right" The night passed quietly, Mike woke up as usual and stretched before he looked to his side where Julie was sleeping in her own sleeping bag, Mike showed a teasing smile as he began poking her soft cheek, as he did his smile widened slightly until Julie began to wake up, she opened her eyes slowly and stared nkly at Mike for a few moments before she showed a silly smile, although given that they were camping out her morning weakness seemed less than usual as she greeted Mike "Good morning" Mike reached out with his hand and wiped her eyes with a smile on his face as he greeted her "Morning Julie" Julie took a few moments to awake fully before she got dressed along with Mike, then the two of them packed the tent down and rode back to the academy city on Serina when they arrived on the academy grounds Mike decided to ride Serina all the way to the dorms which gathered a lot of attention, when they reached the dorms they met Michelle that watched Serina with a gleam in her eye "Oh Michelle, Do you want to have a look at Serina?" Michelle pushed up her spectacles with an excited look on her face as she rapidly nodded, Mike showed a slight smile while Julie looked at little displeased and pinched Mike in the side "I got it, I got it!" Mike pacified Julie for a moment before he jumped down from Serina and walked over in front of her and poked her on the nose "Don''t bite anyone unless they are doing something weird to you, alright Serina?" Serina gave a bark before sheid down on the spot which allowed Julie to get off easily, then Michelle cautiously approached Serina and began petting her while muttering something to herself, Mike showed a thin smile as he spoke "Well, I need to go change real quick, Michelle make sure no one does anything weird to Serina You know for their own sake" "I''ll try my best!" "Good" Mike and Julie walked upstairs to their dorm rooms and changed before they met up again and walked down the stairs arm in arm when they were halfway however they heard a scream outside followed by well A whole lot more screaming and yelling, Mike gave a sigh "Can''t they just leave her alone for one moment..?" "Shouldn''t we hurry?" "...We should, shouldn''t we?" Mike and Julie shared augh before they both leisurely walked out of the dorm and found the cause of the scream, at least the first one, there was a student with a nasty scratch mark over his chest, that seemed to havee from Serina''s ws, right now he was yelling various things like Serina should be killed and that she would make a good carpet in his home, Mike walked over to the student, right in front of him in fact and pped him right in the face knocking him out cold before he looked around and found Michelle and asked her "What happened?" "He punched Serina on the snout, then she scratched him" Mike gave a sigh before he gave Serina a mental message which caused her to disappear from view as she went into stealth, this shocked some of the watching students but Mike ignored them as he looked over to the injured student, walked over and gripped his cor before he began pping him in the face until he woke up, then he lifted him onto his feet and asked him a serious question "Do you have a death wish?" "What..?" The male student was clearly still a little confused, Mike, however, spoke loudly and clearly not just to him but to the students around them "Who the fuck sees a half-ton wolf and decides to punch it in the snout other than a person with a fucking death wish!?" Then he let go of the student''s cor and pped him on the cheek a few times as he showed a thin smile "Get some help dude, I mean besides for your head" The male student seemed to havee to his senses and his face was quickly flushed with embarrassment before the pain from his wound took over, after ring at Mike for a few moments he walked off before he stumbled and fell to the ground, Mike gave a sigh "Oh for fucks sake" Then he walked over and picked him up by the cor and proceed to hold him in a stretched arm so his loose arms and legs dragged across the ground as Mike walked off towards the academy''s infirmary in a brisk pace, Julie called out to him "What about ss?" "I''ll skip, don''t want this dumbass to die!" "I''m not a Dumbass!" "Hush princess, concentrate on bleeding" Julie gave a giggle and walked off to ss along with Michelle, Mike eventually found the infirmary and handed the male student over to the doctors there, while he could have left he stayed behind to help bandage the male student while making fun of him all the while, the student seemed to have realized his mistake and quietly endured the harassment from Mike and the nurse that learned what had happened after he was treated Mike pped him on the shoulder and spoke with a smile "Don''t be sad, chicks dig scars" The male student finely showed a smile before he beganughing quietly which made his wounds hurt "Why did you punch my wolf anyway?" The male student looked a little embarrassed before he muttered "A dare" Mike gave augh "Man with friends like that you don''t need enemies, you should feel happy that Serena didn''t bite down on your shoulder and shook you around like a chew toy" The male student paled slightly, Mike patted him on the shoulder again before he looked over at the nurse "Will you look after this dumbass? I have ss" The nurse showed a smile and gave a nod, then Mike then pped the male student on the shoulder one more time before he walked out of the room, then he walked to ss and sneaked in and sat down among the other students before he took his notebook out of his bag and began taking notes After ss, Mike met up with Julie, Michelle, Karl, and the three servants before they walked to the cafeteria, on the way there Mike exined what had happened in the morning to Karl that proceeded tough his ass off at the poor male student''s expense "Man, I haven''tughed so hard in a long time But was he okay in the end?" Julie gave a nod "Yeah Mike carried him off to the infirmary" "I see Do you think he''ll report it to the academy?" Mike shook his head "I doubt it that said others could report it" Karl gave a sigh "Still the balls on that kid sure has to be something Hehehe" To that Mike could only agree "True" Chapter 96: Killing at the academy Chapter 96: Killing at the academy After lunch at the cafeteria, Mike went to the club James was humming when he entered and seemed to be in a rather good mood, Mike showed a smile and sat down as James began talking about formations, Mike asked him some questions in the direction of the formations that were on Snow''s body, but he did in an inconspicuous way as to not attract attention from James ''Plus I would hate dragging him into this He''s such a nice guy'' Soon it was time for the others to arrive after the usual students were gathered the club resumed, Mike thought Julie for the most part of the club hours, while it may sound like they were just flirting Mike managed to refresh some concepts along the way so it was beneficial for him too, halfway through the club hours Michelle arrived and made an official appointment with Mike about studying Serina the next day in the colosseum with the monster and magic beast research club, Mike agreed, Time passed like this for about a week with Mike going to ss and to club, one day Mike was sitting in ss and making notes when suddenly a voice sounded out in his head "Master, we have arrived at the academy city, what are your orders?" Mike paused for a moment before he remembered what he had nned for the servants that had arrived and quickly sent a mental message to them all ''Prepare forbat and hide near the academy I feel a is tightening around me as we speak'' """"""Yes master!"""""" This wasn''t just something he said to keep them alert, it was really happening as he spoke and had been happening for the past few days, it started with someone observing him, then the number of observers increased and then he for forbidden from leaving the academyst night ''The is tight alright Looking forwards to going wild for once'' Mike showed a slightly bloodhungry smile as he stroked the knife ''I know you''re waiting for some blood too wait a little longer now'' The knife let out a soft red glow before it went quiet again, Mike made a few hand signals to the three servants as the ss ended and they quickly formed up on him and Julie as they walked towards the cafeteria with Karl and Michelle, Karl seemed to have figured out something was happening but Michelle seemed oblivious, then the old butler that walked behind Karl tapped him on the shoulder which caused Karl to stop before he turned to Mike "Sorry, Mike Looks like this is it" Mike stopped and sighed before he turned to Karl and reached his hand out "Thanks for everything" "You too" Michelle looked slightly confused but then suddenly the crowd around them seemed to clear out as a group of knights surrounded them, then she quickly asked Mike sounding a little distressed "Mike what''s happening?" Mike showed a smile and gestured to Karl, Karl grabbed Michelle''s hand and dragged her along out of the encirclement, now the only ones left inside the encirclement was Mike, Julie, Elina, Reba, and Snow, Mike drew the knife and spun it around as his mana began to churn, Julie drew her longsword as her mana also began to churn, Likewise, Elina and Reba materialized their armor and oversized daggers "Why don''t youe out, esteemed professor?" Augh sounded out as a familiar professor showed himself outside the encirclement, then he spoke condescendingly to Mike "You surely regret your actions now, don''t you Mike?" Mike showed a smile as he asked "What about your sponsor are they present?" A middle-aged man walked over and stood next to the professor, his mana began to churn slowly which made Mike''s face change slightly ''Level 6 huh Well, this is going to be slightly harder than expected Nah!'' The sponsor began speaking with clear disdain from Mike "Hand over the prototype and I''ll personally grant you a painful death!" Mike gave augh and then he quoted a certain invisible man "Are you sure about that?" Then it happened, the noble sponsor seemed to notice as he instantly spun into action and dodged left, behind him a person in full, demonic armor seemed to appear out of thin air stabbing forwards with an oversized dagger just gazing the shoulder of the noble, at the same time another person in full armor appeared and stabbed the professor thought the throat from behind and twisted the dagger, at the same time another four people in demonic armor appeared around the noble all stabbing forwards with their daggers, the noble managed to draw his sword and with a sh he cut the chests of two of the demonic armored people before he disappeared from view reappearing a little ways away unharmed. At this point, the knights that were encircling Mike and the others noticed that something was going on, a few of them were confused and before the leader managed to bring them under order Mike and the others inside the encirclement exploited the gap and sprung forwards cutting down a few knights, in the ensuing melee Mike moved with three demonic servants under his full control cutting down knights left and right, Julie had three servants following and covering her while she also cut down the level 5 knights with ease, the face of the noble became increasingly grave as he shouted out "Enough of this farce!" Then his mana began churning going from about 120 circtions per minute to about 300 in mere moments as an overpowering aura spread out from him that made the movements of the knights as well as everyone else within 500 meters sluggish, then he instantly unleashed a spell that formted itself as a fire pir below three of the demonic servants that swallowed them whole for a few moments. When the me disappeared the demonic servants reappeared in a rather sorry state as their armor half melted and cracked from the heat they were just exposed to, Mike and the others froze but not before one of the servants handed Mike its dagger and Mike swiped the knife across the blood on it "SURRENDER NOW MAGGOTS!" Mike raised his hands but then he showed a twisted smile as a bright red light shed in his eyes he yelled "Drink!" The level 6 noble didn''t know what happened next as he instantly dried out as his blood was drained and he died along with a couple of other knights, one of the surviving knights managed to mutter "What the---" Then before he could finish his sentence the still standing burnt corpse of a demonic servant next to him suddenly twitched before he then jumped on him and bit down on his neck, the knight let out a ghastly scream as his blood was rapidly drained, the same happened with the other two burnt demonic corpses, they also jumped nearby knights and drained their blood, seeing this along with the fact that their leader was dead the knights'' morale broke and they attempted to flee only to be hunted down to thest man by the demonic servants, the crowd of students and professors that had gathered also fled in terror, all except for one student that stood rooted in fear as she watched the man she had adored stab his knife into the corpse of a dead knight and drain his blood she muttered "Why..?" Mike looked over and saw Michelle standing there and gave a smile as he walked towards her, the smile Mike showed was cold, so cold that it made her take a step backward in fear, Mike''s smile widened as he called out to Julie that was draining the blood of a dead knight "Julie?" "Yup?" "You wanted that one right?" Julie looked over at Michelle before she showed a beastly smile and disappeared from view and reappeared right in front of Michelle and put a hand on her shoulder as she spoke with a bright smile "In your next life don''t look at my man with such eyes" Then she raised a finger, Michelle looked at the finger and saw that blood-red crystal rapidly grew on and cowered the nail, then Julie stabbed the finger into Michelle''s forehead in a single motion, as Michelle, or rather her corpse spasmed it was quickly drained of blood before it dropped onto the ground as Julie pulled her finger back, then she licked her lips as Mike asked her "How was it? Worth the wait?" "Yeah, it was the sweetest blood I have ever tasted! Young women in love really are the best!" Julie looked a little high before her expression suddenly warped and she kicked the corpse of Michelle away "Fucking whore, how dare you have thoughts about my man!" Mike showed a thin smile and pped his hand, about ten seconds after the demonic servants were all gathered around him kneeling down on the ground "Now then let''s get the fuck outta dodge" """"""""Yes master""""""""" Chapter 97: How to train your demon Chapter 97: How to train your demon A day after the incident at the academy Mike and the group arrived in a nearby city, the line up of ten level 5''s was sure to attract attention, but Mike didn''t n on hiding, he was here in the city of Berm for a very specific reason, he made a few hand signals and the eight servants went on their way toplete their assigned tasks, Meanwhile Mike and Julie strolled the streets with Snow walking behind them, at the evening they ate at a small restaurant "So is this city good?" "Yeah Let''s do it" "Okay Mike, but first let''s eat something it''s going to be a long night" Mike showed a smile, he had been thinking about how to do this for some time all of which stemmed from one question, what was the difference between him and the ruling noble sses? ''...Territory, ie but most importantly manpower That''s right bitches it''s time to expand the flock Who am I even talking to..?'' As Mike wondered if he was bing crazier than he already was his servants slowly tightened a nose around the local governor and by evening Mike had reced him after a very public speech about stepping down and leaving his holdings to Mike his long lost son, or some such, speaking of the governor he was a level 4 bloke named Michal that was extra chill after Mike reced his soul with something darker, of course, the local powers were uneasy especially after they received reports that arge group of people was heard screaming during the night at the manor, a local snake named Javis was sitting in his mansion smoking fairy dust along with some of his most trusted underlings while they disguised the local power change "I don''t like it" "Come on Snake you been saying that for the past hour, say something new" "Hey you know I am no good with words, I just don''t like it" Javis took a deep puff before he spoke "I also have a bad feeling, let''s bail" "Really boss?" "Yeah I am serious, we can always rebuild in another ce" "Okay boss let''s do it" "Now, now, now Don''t be in such a hurry to leave" "Wha---" Four thuds were heard as the local snake fell to the floor along with his trusted underlings, when they woke up again they found themselves in the lord''s mansion where the new lord of the city was spinning his knife around in boredom as another local snake were brought up to him by some guards that had a very unnoticeable cut each on their cheeks before Mike then swiped his knife over the woman''s cheek and muttered "[Control]" in a seemingly bored way before he asked Julie that stood next to him "How many are left?" "Just the ones in the room" "...Nice, the end is nearly in sight, what about the spores?" "Why do you ask me that? You know they could not have made it far already" Mike waved his hand as hemanded "Well then bring the next ones" Then it was seemingly Javis'' and his friends turn, they struggled and wanted very much to scream out but they were gagged (as Mike tired of hearing the others screams) then Mike ran the knife across their cheeks leaving a shallow cut before he muttered "[Control]" Then their vision went dark as their souls were forcefully dragged out of their bodies and a ***** ***** **** took over then Mike stood up and stretched before he spoke to Julie "Let''s head into the city and get some food" "Sure" Mike took Julie''s hand and walked into the city followed closely by a group of guards that formed up behind them, they found a restaurant and ate there before they tipped their waiter quite generously and went back to the mansion where Mike went straight to bed, he had after all been using [Contorl] on all influential people of the city effectively putting the entire city 100% under his control as for the people living in the city, they only knew that there was a new governor there and nothing else About a weeks time passed before the ''spores'', which was, in reality, small groups of controlled and evolved servants returned with some kidnapped people which Mike then used control on, of course not all the ''spores'' returned some were captured and killed over and over before they were sent to research which eventually caught the attention of the upper-ss nobles, the fact that they were undying was in particr interesting to them "Now go back from where you came and continue your lives until the time to strikees" Mike then let out an unnecessary evilugh as he ordered the sleeper agents, he would likely not see any of them again as he nned to use them for suicide missions and he had not evolved them, so they were still mostly mortal, still, Mike figured they would be somewhat useful for him to gather information in hostile territory ''...Well that''s another line I always wanted to say down, being a demon is so much fun'' Mike stood up from the elevated chair and walked out towards the inner courtyard where close to 20 level 5 guards stood ready with wooden swords, a glint of red light shed in Mike''s eyes as he buttoned open his shirt before he threw it to the side, then he gritted his teeth for a moment before he rxed "Now then beat me until I am half dead" The process Mike was going through was not some masochistic streak, it was a well known concept in eastern martial arts, or at least Mike thought so ''Fuck Shit Fuckshit Shitfuck'' As Mike was gradually beaten blue and yellow by the wooden swords which rained down on him without mercy he gradually started to regret his decision, but deep down he knew he had to persevere, and so after half an hour Mike finally called out "Stop" The wooden swords, now cowered with blood stopped, then something odd happened, the blood gathered on the wooden swords as well as the blood on the ground around Mike as well as the blood on his own body started to gather up floating up into a ball above his head before it was filtered from dirt and impurities, Speaking of Mike he was a sorry sight, his bones were broken in multiple ces per bone, his skin was yed and broken, his eyes were blinded from repeated blows, his fingers were hanging loosely from his hand the bone inside reduced to mush, his two horns were broken off, it was a miracle that he was still standing, normally he would have been crippled for life (if he didn''t sumb to his internal bleedings that is) then gradually the remains of his face twisted into what could be interpreted as a smile as he spoke "[Drink]" The blood sphere that floated above him gradually reduced in size as his own body gradually restored while a low howl sounded out from his mouth, it was painful, he might very well go insane from the pain of his bones, skin, and organs were forcefully restored to prime shape, but soon a low howl was heard from Mike thatmanded "I need more blood!" The servants around him moved quickly and brought in ves and slit their throats, as the blood flowed into the sphere above Mike that was still gradually shrinking, soon the process ended as Mike returned to his prime state, if one looked closely one could see that his mussels looked more refined than before, Mike raised his hand to eye hight before he opened and closed his fist a few times and then he showed a smile "It worked though the improvement is lower than expected Oh well, onto the next item on the menu" Mike sat down on the floor and began churning his mana, gradually it neared 130 circtions per minute which was his max, then a red light shed in Mike''s eyes before he began forcefully increasing the circtions, soon it neared 140 circtions per minute, Mike''s face twisted with pain as blue spots began appearing on his body, it was from internal bleeding caused by his mana ruining his organs as it ran amok, then when it neared 150 circtions per minute Mike suddenly spewed out blood mist and called out "Drink!" The blood sphere above his head began shrinking again as Mike grit his teeth as the broken paths inside him were restored forcefully along with the internal bleedings, all the while he kept his circtions up causing more injuries, this kept going for some time and after a few minutes Mike gradually slowed down his mana circtions before he finally let outbored gasps as he tried his best to catch his breath as a red light shed in his eyes "Now for the next item on the menu" Mike stood up and opened his hand, soon the knifended in his hand then Mike held out his arm before he shed down cutting off his left lower arm from the elbow down Chapter 98: Mort Chapter 98: Mort Mike looked at his severed left arm leaking blood on the ground and wondered if he had well and truly gone insane "No this is Patrick, I mean this is training" Mike picked up his severed left arm and pressed it against where he had cut it off a moment ago before he spoke "Drink" The sphere of blood above him lessened slightly as he reconnected his arm, gradually feeling began to reappear in his left arm and a mere 30 secondster he flexed his fingers and curled them into a fist "Well, that was easier than expected Again" Half an hour passed in this way as he consumed blood to reconnect severed body parts, this taught him benefited him in two ways, first, he was consuming blood so [Blood body enhancement] was working its magic gradually enhancing his body and secondly, he gradually got used to reconnecting his own limbs "Which will prove a useful skill in the uing conflict" Mike didn''t expect the nobles that were allied to the noble he had killed in the academy to keep quiet, nor did he expect that a non-human suddenly ruling a city would be very wee among other local nobles, that was the reason he was going so ham with inhuman or shall we say demonic training (see what I did there? No? I''ll see myself out then) "Well then, next on the menu let''s start with ten at a time..." Mike raised his control over ten servants and had them spar with ten other non-controlled servants, in other words, he was fighting ten battles at once training his ability to use his heightened control, after a few moments he had a headacheing on, after a few minutes blood slowly trickled out of his nose and then finely after about ten minutes he momentarily cked out losing control over the servants, thus ending the so far shortest training of his near masochistic session "[Drink]" Mike felt refreshed after using drink as he consumed the rest of the blood sphere above him, then he walked into the mansion and took a quick shower before he dragged his tired body to bed and soon fell into a deep sleep, in every one of the four corners of the room stood a demonic armored servant, watching over their beloved master in silence as he slept The next morning Mike woke up with a set, he vaguely felt that he had a nightmare but couldn''t remember what it was about "...Good morning" """"Good morning master!"""" The four servants bowed down as they greeted him, Mike got out of bed and put on some clean clothes before he stretched and walked out of the room, the four servants formed up on him and escorted him downstairs as he sat down at the dinner table and ate his fill "Now then next on the menu It''s a repeat of yesterday of course" Mike walked along and out into the courtyard where he began the same insane training routine from yesterday, first, he was beaten half to death, then he overburdened his paths with mana cirction training, then it was reconnections of his severed limbs and finely it was maniption of his servants until he cked out, then after a quick dinner, it was the same over again before he then went to bedte in the evening As Mike was training at home Julie was heading towards the provincial capital, besides the central capital it was one of four on the ind, it was the center of trade as well as the seat of power of the middle ss nobles "More like a den of debauchery Still, we need to do this and since it''s likely that the enemy will target Mike I am the only one that can do this" Julie lowered her body slightly, she was riding on Serina while four demonic armored servants followed closely after her on horseback, after about a week worth or ridding the group arrived at the provincial capital: Mort "Finely here Now the hard part begins" Julie and the others swiftly passed the inspections and with a minor bribe they were let into the city or Mort, speaking of Mort it was about twice the size of the academy city and besides the capital, it was thergest city Julie had even been too ''If I still were a naive level 3 [Pdin] I might be very impressed right now'' Julie tapped her foot against Serina signaling her to kneel down which she swiftly did, then Julie got off and began walking further into Mort followed closely by the demonic armored servants "Kathy" "Yes, mistress?" "FInd us some amodation, Heinrich begin making the rounds I want out of this shithole as soon as possible" ""Yes mistress"" The two demonic servants swiftly went about their tasks while Julie found a cafe to sit down to drink some tea, while she sipped the tea she felt numerous gazes on her ''It sure is hard being drop-dead gorgeous Herees the first fly'' The fly Julie was referring to was a young man that looked like a servant, he wore a butler uniform and a thick metal cor around his neck, Julie faintly smelled fresh blood from him "Excuse me miss, my master would like to buy you a meal if you''re willing?" Julie showed a thin smile before she spoke two words, not even sparing the young servant a nce "Not interested" The young servant trembled slightly before he began to churn his mana and a small me appeared above his outstretched hand "My master insists" Julie finally looked at the young servant and narrowed her eyes slightly before she began to churn her mana along with the two servants behind her before she spoke a single word "Scam!" The servant trembled slightly, clearly, he wasn''t used to being rejected and he opened his mouth to speak again "Miss I represent the house of the me, my master, the young master of the house has specifically shown you a great favor by inviting you to a meal Please follow along" Julie gave a sigh and right before she was about to call out to Lina to end this pitiful fool but then mana suddenly churned in a carriage nearby as suddenly a scorching hot fireball was shot out from the open window, the fireball near-instantlynded on the young servant that then went up in me with a scream, he soon regretted screaming however as the me traveled down his throat and into his lungs, Julie watched with a cold look as the young servant clutched his melting ve cor with both hands and copsed on the ground, the amazing fact in this context was that faint wheezing could be heard from him still as he was still somehow alive, at the same time a young dashing man stepped out of the carriage and walked over before he gave a bow to Julie "I apologize for my servant''s rudeness, my name is Gelvin of the house of the me, I sincerely offer this rude servant for you to kill as a token of my apology" Julie let out a faint smile as she waved her hand calling forth a small blue me which quickly devoured the near-dead servant, even reducing his metal cor to a molten pool of metal in an instant, the young noble''s eyes shed with greed and astonishment for a moment before they returned to normal as he gave a cheerfulugh and praised "Those mes are truly amazing I would truly love topare them with my own mes someday May I have the honor of knowing your name miss?" Julie swallowed down her mild disgust and showed a smile "I am Julie, leader of the bloods" "I see, an adventure I will remember it" Galvin let out another cheerfulugh and sat down on the chair across from Julie before he asked "So what is a prettydy like you doing in a ce like this Julie?" Julie kept her neutral smile on her face as she sipped some tea before answering "I am here to get some manpower, we are expanding our family Plus I need a set of custom made leather armor made" Galvin gave a nod and summarized "So high-level ves and custom made leather armor Hmm Oh I know the perfect thing, there will be an auction in a few days, why not join me there?" Julie suppressed her rising disgust as she kept her neutral smile and looked slightly surprised as she eximed "My, an auction... that''s perfect, I would love to apany you, mister Galvin" Galvin''s face lit up with joy as he let out a cheerfulugh "That''s wonderful, the auction is in two days, how about I show you around the city until then?" Julie gave a nod as her smile almost flinched "Sure that would be lovely" The two days passed with touring various ces in Mort, from colosseum to theaters and cafe''s and then finely the evening arrived Julie looked herself in the mirror as she muttered as if possessed "Just a little longer Just a little longer Mike, I aming home soon, wait for me" Chapter 99: Highway battle Chapter 99: Highway battle The auction proved to be more than Julie could handle, no correctly speaking Galvin proved to be more than she could handle as he constantly tried to flirt with her, there was even a time that he tried to cop a feel, this proved to be the end for dear Galvin as he was drained of blood by Julie then and there, thankfully they were in a private box and the demonic servants acted quickly and disposed of the guards from the house of me "...Shit, we''re leaving" Julie then decided to make a hasty retreat from the scene of the crime and quickly left Mort on Serina along with the demonic servants, though their exit was noticed by the house of the me that was Shall we say less than pleased that their young master had been killed, Julie contacted Mike though the servants and asked for backup, but s three days into their escape the forces form the house of the me caught up and surrounded them on the road, as the encirclement closed in and the leader shouted something cliche about getting revenge for their young master and exterminating evil Julie''s mind raced, then at that moment all of the demonic servants suddenly spoke out in unison """"I have control""" Julie gave a sigh before she red at one of the servants and asked "Can''t you just say you''re here to help normally Mike?" """"Nah, I prefer this way, plus I get to quote one of my favorite novels"""" Dealing with Mike suddenly having taken control over the four demonic servants simultaneously Julie gave a sigh before she drew her sword andmented the fact that she had fallen so hard for such a weird guy "Whatever Mike Can I go full power this time?" """"Yeah as long as we kill them all it''s fine, well it will probably leak anyway but that''s fine too"""" "Can''t you just speak normally? It''s kind of creepy hearing you all around me" Julie had a feeling that the four servants showed thin smiles under their helmets and suddenly had an urge to kick Mike when she saw him again so she snapped at him "Come on Mike take this a little serious! There''s three level 6''s and at least a dozen level 5''s!" """"I can see that Give me a moment."""" Suddenly Henrich stomped his foot and a wall of stone rose around them blocking sight to the approaching enemies "The evildoers are hiding, quick spells!" The spells soon sted the rock walls, destroying them with impunity revealing the people inside that seemingly had not moved from their previous positions, one of the three level 6''s gave a scoff as his mana churned instantly reaching near 300 circtions per minute as Icicles appeared around him and shot off with breakneck speed instantly skewering the 4 demonic servants and Serina, only when they hit they passed through as if nothing happened, or something did happen, the 5 targets seemed to move as if they were a shimmering mirage before they dissipated leaving behind empty space "Illusions!" The three level 6''s were positioned in a triangle in the encirclement, something which they would soon regret as the four demonic servants appeared changing towards one of them seemingly trying to break the encirclement, Maire muttered "[Heat illusions], [Charm]" A pink glow appeared in her eye that even shone through her helmet, the light dazed the level 5 soldiers as all of them suddenly showed lewd smiles and tired to grope the air, at the same time another 4 demonic servants appeared out of thin air, like a mirage on a hot day, the level 6 they were changing, a young handsome man wearing a robe scoffed "More illusions, trivial!" Then he tapped his staff against the ground as his mana churned, instantly eight fire pirs appeared swallowing the demonic servants along with the illusions, one of the other level 6''s yelled quickly "Idiot! None of them are real!" The yell proved toote however as the smallest of the demonic servants appeared right in front of him and shed out, panicked the mage blocked with his staff to which the small demonic Ninja Lina showed a thin deadly smile beneath her helmet as she yelled "[Demonic weapon devour!]" The staff the mage was using to guard his life instant were swallowed by some kind of ck mist before it went directly to the void, thus the dagger passed right though where the staff had been a moment ago and stabbed the young mage directly in the right eye socket instantly ending his life as Lina, the now 16-year-old girl twisted the oversized dagger around before she twisted her body and kicked the corpse flying, then she went into [Stealth] much like Elina and Reba "Shit, go all out kill the slut!" "On it!" One of the remaining two level 6''s, a swordsman closed the distance towards him and Julie by kicking off the ground, or at least he would regret for the rest of his life that he did as when he attempted to take his 3rd step the ground opened up like a maw and swallowed his leg all the way up to the knee before the ground closed with countless sharp points instantly digging into his leg near severing it at a few ces, Kathy that appeared form her [Stealth] ended his pitiful scream by stabbing her oversized dagger down into his skull and giving it a twist as she muttered with a smile "[Helltrapper]... I will forever be thankful for this gift, master" Thest level 6, an elderly man in full armor faltered before he turned and attempted to flee, Julie, however, had other ns as she yelled "[Hellwalker]!" The shadow below his feet seemed toe alive before ittched onto his legs stopping him momentarily before Maire appeared in front of him muttering as her eyes glowed pink "[Charm]" The elderly knight turned sluggish as Marie blew a kiss at the elderly knight, at the original spot(next to Julie) appeared Henrich that yelled "[Hellmagic]!" With his yell did his entire forearm ignite as it instantly glowed red hot, then when it had wound up enough he muttered "[Blink]" With a sh of light he disappeared and reappeared right behind the elderly knight before he instantly punched right through his back with his red glowing arm as his hand emerged on the other side it held the elderly knight''s still-beating heart that then was swiftly crushed it with a st before he pulled his arm out, at the same time Lina appeared above the elderly knight that was in the process of breathing hisst andnded on his shoulders before she stabbed her oversized dagger into the top of his head and gripped his head with her feet before she jumped off his shoulder ripping his head and most of his spine clean out of his body before she threw the spine-head into the air as the spine-head ented it eventually reached its zenith before it began feeling the gravity and eventually fell to the ground, consistently at the same time as thest level 5 soldier fell """"And that''s that,e home soon baby girl I miss you"""" Julie was just about to scold Mike as she felt the control he had over the servants lessen, after puffing her cheeks for a few seconds they eventually deted as she gave a long sigh ''What''s wrong with Mike, he''s usually not that chatty Don''t tell me the training he is going through is something insane!?'' Julie had a bad feeling and after the group tanked up on blood and Serina ate some bodies the group quickly left the battle scene and hurried towards Berm At rightly the same time Mike opened his eyes, he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the inner courtyard, the first thing he did was raising his shaking hand and wiping the blood that flowed freely from his nose before he cracked his neck "Well then, time for me to get something to eat On me" Mike rose and walked towards the dining room, on the way there he ran into Michal the previous lord of the city, he looked like something urgent was happening and he quickly spoke to Mike "Master, there''s a problem" "Tell me "Earlier a letter arrived Dering war against the city of Berm" Mike showed a thin smile and muttered "Well, that''s earlier than expected" Below is the status of the four demonic servants that were in battle earlier in the chapter and if you''re wondering what novel Mike referred to earlier then it''s Starshipmander trapped in a fantasy world written by my twin brother! Be sure to check it out, it''s awesome! Name: Lina ss: Demon Ninja Age: 16 Level: 5(6) Skills: [Throwing] [Stealth] [Demonic weapon devour] [Poison] [backstab] Magic type: Light Name: Marie ss: Demon seducer Age: 33 Level: 5(6) Skills: [Charm] [Dagger that ys in bed] [Heat illusions] [Boneless flexibility] Magic type: Heat Name: Kathy ss: Demon ranger Age: 28 Level: 5 (6) Skills: [Helltrapper] [Detection] [Maskman] [Stealth] [Tracking] Magic type: Wind Name: Henrich ss: Demon mage Age: 34 Level: 5 (6) Skills: [Blink] [Staff proficiency] [Hellmagic] [Overcharge] [Dark conjuring] Magic type: Earth Chapter 100: [Bride] Chapter 100: [Bride] Mike went back to his usual training routine mostly ingrown the letter that sat on his desk and waited for a response "Boss aren''t you going to write a response to that deration of war?" "Maybe after today''s training" "Eh, but that''s what you said yesterday?" "Yeah, yeah By the way Daisy, how''re the recruits you brought feeling?" "They arebat-ready boss!" "Very good Why don''t you check on them?" "Yes boss, will do!" Daisy ran along leaving Mike alone with 20 or so servants in the inner courtyard, Mike gave a sigh, maybe it''s because Julie wasn''t around when he controlled Daisy but she was a lot more shall we say near to him when she spoke with him she would inch closer to him and with that bombshell of a body of hers it proved a little hard for Mike to handle her, of course, Mike never thought ofying his hands on her after all "Julie will kill me Not that that would be so bad, being killed by the one you love that is" Mike quickly switched gears and went into training mode and showed a fearless smile "Alright, bring in the ves or rather today''s blood bags Let''s get this show on the road!" Mike then proceeded to do nothing he was beaten half to death by the servants, but given that this was the 9th day in a row (which is two times per day) he had been beaten up in this way his body was starting to get used to it (it also took slightly longer for him to be satisfied by the beating and use [Drink] than before) Mike showed great progress in all the things he was training which was given due to his insane training methods, halfway through training his ability to reconnect his severed limbs Mike suddenly shivered before he picked up his severed arm and quickly reconnected it, then he sat down on his knees and bowed his head down in the direction of the outer wall of the courtyard, a few momentster Serina came jumping over the wall andnded in the courtyard, on her back sat a clearly exhausted Julie that red at Mike that was still kneeling on the ground, she quickly jumped off Serina and spoke a few words "Exin yourself, Mike" Mike kept kneeling in silence, a few very tense moments passed like this before Julie repeated herself, only a tone louder "Exin yourself MIKE!" Her voice carried in the courtyard for only a moment before it was reflected off the walls and boomed a few times, Julie''s mana gradually began churning as Mike remained silent and just as she was about to yell again Mike spoke in a quiet but determined voice "Let''s get married Julie" Julie only just managed to calm herself slightly before she blushed in full force and let out an "Eh?", then she stammered "W-What did you j-just say, Mike!? Mike raised his head and looked into her eyes before he repeated himself "Let''s get married, Julie!" Julie blushed even harder as she took a step backward, she was simply overwhelmed by Mike, sure she had imagined when he would pop the question but she sure as hell had not imagined that he would do it in this way ''And with such amanding voice too He''s so manly!'' Mike once again repeated "Let''s get married, Julie!" Julie stood still and watched him like a little girl in love before she muttered out in a quiet voice "...Yes" Mike stood up and walked over to her before he embraced her and as he did he whispered "But what do we need to do before we get married?" Julie stared nkly into space before she instantly remembered her time in hell and as her eyes turned sharp and glowed with a red light she spoke "Revenge!" Mike whispered "That''s right Julie we need our revenge And what do we need in order to carry out our revenge?" The red light in Julie''s eyes glowed brighter as she spoke "Strength!" Mike let out near manic-likeughter as he hugged Julie tighter "HAHAHAHA! That''s right Julie my dear! And are we in a position to question where that strengthes from!?" "NO!" Mike then suddenly broke the hug as a red light began glowing in his eyes too and he then suddenly bit his tongue and pulled Julie into a kiss, as they sheared a rather romantic kiss Julie drank Mike''s blood as she did a voice sounded out in Mike''s head, it sounded like something sinister, almost like something was being dragged against a ckboard, something with lots of sharp edges, but Mike understood [Bind target: Julie, as [Bride]? Y/N?] Mike was momentarily confused but reading countless system type novels before he instantly agreed ''Yes'' Julie opened her eyes as her red iris'' spasmed horns much like the ones Mike had grown from her head while the two of them still was locked in a kiss, her horns seemed to be made of blood-red crystal, Julie screamed muffled by Mike''s kiss for a few moments before she broke the kiss and the two of them looked at each other wordlessly for a bit before Julie showed a devilish smile "Now you''re mine and mine alone Mike, I won''t forgive you if you go after other women!" Mike showed a smile "Of course Julie, you''re mine and mine alone now, I won''t forgive you if you run away!" The two of them looked seriously at each other for a bit before they broke outughing at the same time, they were clearly in sync like usual One and a half dayter Mike suddenly awoke in the master bedroom of the mansion, beside himy Julie clearly deep in dreand still, the two of them had been tightly locked at the hip for thest day before they then proceeded to sleep for half a day in each other''s arms but now Mike had to continue his training routine, he quickly got dressed, kissed Julie on the forehead before he left her sleeping and walked out into the hall and called out as he briskly walked down the hallway "On me" The demonic servants formed up on him and escorted him down to the inner courtyard, even though it was the middle of the night the servants stood ready for their master to start his training "Bring in the blood bags!" The ves were brought in, they all begged for their lives (those that were able that is) but Mike slit their throats like always as the blood gathered above his head like usual, he wasn''t feeling remorseful nor was he excited about killing them, they were simply a means to an end, like pushing a button in an elevator to make it up to your apartment, it was, in reality, a simple process which Mike was used to by now, after all, if he didn''t train enough for the uing battle he would likely be the one whose throat would be slit ''Well that was tangent and a half well whatever'' Mike started his training and about half an hour into the training Julie walked into the inner courtyard dressed in an evening dress, Mike stopped what he was doing and walked over to meet her with a hug, Mike showed a smile and asked "How do you feel?" "...Weird, like my ss has changed Your horns have changed too, they''re ck now" "And your''s are red, like blood it suits you, Julie" "Thanks, Mike Shall we go to the temple to confirm?" "Sure, let''s" The two of them walked to the temple under heavy guard before they walked into a very luxurious prayer room and Julie checked her stats Name: Julie ss: Demon bride Age: 30 Level: 5(6) Skills: [Judgment] [Hell walker] [Valkyrie sword] [Hellsword] [Lesser blood demon] Magic type: Hellme "Well, this Sure is something" Mike gave a nod before he grabbed Julie''s hand and pointed her finger out and ''clicked'' on the fist new skill [Hellsword] [Hellsword] Type: Active/passive Description: Allows the user to summon a de from hell. Various applications ""...Neat"" Mike moved Julie''s finger to the next skill on the list [Lesser blood demon] [Lesser blood demon] Type: Secondary ss Description: Contains the skills [Drink] and [Blood body enhancement] "What!?" Julie eximed while Mike showed a smile and spoke rather metaphorically "Now we truly are two of a kind" Julie felt a warmth spreading in her chest before she gave a nod and nestled into Mike''s embrace as the two of them shared a moment in silence Deep in the void between worlds, something stirred slightly, it''s body seemed gigantic but without a sense of perspective its true size remained unknown, it had long twisted goat-like horns on its forehead, wings that seemed to be cut out of darkness itself, gradually its eyes opened showing a truly hellish shade of red, then it muttered something "**** *** **** *** ** *****..." Then seemingly not ready to awake yet it closed its eyes once more, fading into a light sleep... Chapter 101: War Chapter 101: War "Master!" Mike woke up with a set before he called out in annoyance "What..?" "Forces are approaching the city, they have breached the first outer line!" Mike sat himself up and gave a sigh "Oh right, the war deration how many are there?" "About 5.000" "And their top level?" "Several level 6''s" "I see Well then" Mike stretched before he poked the still sleeping Julie on the cheek until she awoke "What is it Mike?" "War" "War?" "That''s right war, war never changes, just like their shitty Creation Engine..." Julie stared nkly at Mike for a moment before she gave a sigh "...If you''re going to fool around then I am going back to sleep" "A force of 5.000 is approaching the city, with several level 6''s among them" "I see We should properly handle that" Both Mike and Julie got dressed, then Mike opened his hand and the knife flew over andnded in his hand, Julie simrly opened her hand and a blue me appeared and quickly grew in size as it took the shape of a one-handed longsword that then materialized from the me, the long-sword had a ckish-blue hue around the edge of the de that got darker the further towards the center of the de, the sword was double-ded and had no guard and overall it looked like a dius, only the de was longer than a normal dius at around 80 centimeters long, Julie stroked the de slightly before she swung the longsword around a few times and gave a nod "Let''s go Mike, my de is thirsty" Mike showed a smile and spun the knife around as he walked out of the mansion, Julie walked beside him as numerous strengthened to level 5 guards joined up behind them along with the 8 demonic servants, Julie looked around before she asked "Where''s Serina?" Mike quickly answered with a smile "She''s attacking their supply train as we speak" "Nice" "Yeah I figured since they brought so many supplies for a long siege we should take them off their hands" "Who are they anyway and why are they attacking our city?" "Hmm I wonder why?" "Wait, you don''t know Mike!?" "Well I never actually read the war deration, it''s still sitting on my desk Don''t look at me like that, I was busy training" Julie gave a long sigh before shemanded "Elina go get the letter" "Yes mistress" Elina went into stealth and sped back towards the mansion, meanwhile Mike suddenly stopped walking and made a few hand signals which made the about 50 evolved level 5 guards spread out in a single line standing on either side Mike, Julie and the demonic servants, Mike stood and spun his knife around with a nk look on his face, a few minutes passed before Elina appeared next to Julie and handed the letter to her, Julie took the letter and opened it before she began reading aloud "Erm let''s see here ''We, the united north-west noble alliance dere war on the city of Brem''... Then there''s something about their justification Something about killing someone named Geroge at the academy Oh this part is good ''God is with us and our rightful conquest of Brem and the extermination of the demon Mike!'' This part is good too ''-Surrender is your only option at this point, if you bow down to our forces and admit your wrongdoings we will grant you a swift death'' or so they say Mike?" Mike showed a smile and gave a nod "Yup No need for prisoners this time you can all go wild" The six or so blood zombies let out hungry growls, Julie however kept her appearance dignified as she stroked the hell de almost as if she was soothing an overexcited child, soon the approaching army came wthin view, rows after rows of soldiers fanned out with a group of important-looking people in the middle of the group, Mike narrowed his eyes slightly as he then stopped spinning the knife around, a messenger approached on horseback when he was about fifteen meters away from Mike he yelled "Surrender! You have no chance of victory, if you surrender you will be granted a swift and merciful death!" Mike showed a smile and spoke "You''re talking an awful lot of shit for someone within stabbing range" The messenger flinched slightly before he yelled back or at least he tried to as his dignified yell turned into a scream midway as Mike hit him with a blood boiler spell then his body exploded in a bloody mess and as pieces of the messenger still rained from the sky Mike kicked off the ground followed closely by Julie and the rest of the servants as they changed at the army of the north-west alliance which still stood 5.000 strong, when they had covered about half the distance between the two forces the enemy forces seemed to have woken up from their daze and sent a volley of arrows flying towards Mike and the others, at the same time the foot soldiers charged forwards "Iing!" Mike narrowed his eyes slightly as he spun the knife around and griped it in backhanded grip before he easily swiped the arrows that would have hit him out of the air as he continued his charge, Julie also swiped the arrows in her path out of the air with ease, so did the demonic servants and the level 5 guards, arrows weren''t really a threat to them, unless they were fired by a high level [Longbowman] or something like that ''Here theye, how nice of them to present fresh blood bags to me first'' Mike felt his heart rate speed up as he neared the enemy foot soldiers that were charging at him, only the sounds of footsteps entered his ears as he nced to his right and saw Julie looking forwards with a bloodthirsty smile on her face as her short red hair fluttered in the wind, then after admiring his soon-to-be wife for a few moments he turned his gaze forwards again as his eyes went cold, then the two sides shed, Mike jumped and kneed a the front row soldier right in the face shattering his skull as he fired off a few Blood crazes off into the enemy lines to cause confusion, likewise, Julie let out a blue me that surged through the enemy soldiers reducing them to ashes in mere agonizing moments, the demonic servants also fired off wide range spells that tore into the enemy foot soldiers tearing them apart, instantly the air was filled with screams of pain and sorrow as well as the smell of fresh blood, at the enemymand the group of five level 6''s narrowed their eyes as they watched what was unfolding on the field until one of the older ones, a [Berserker] wielding a cloud sword on his back spoke "This is bad" Another one, a [Water mage] nodded in agreement as he added "They are all at least level 5 even the rank and file soldiers" The [Berserker] nodded "We need to disturb their formation or soon our losses will out weight our gains" The youngest member a [Fencer] gave a nod as he spoke "We can''t have that I''ll take the woman with the red hair, any objections?" No one spoke up so the level 6 [Fencer] drew his sword and disappeared from view as he kicked off the ground, the level 6 [Berserker] gave a sigh and spoke "I''ll back him up" Then he also kicked off the ground and disappeared from view momentarily before he reappeared in the midst of the battlefield following after the [Fencer] ''Herees the first guests'' Mike of course noticed that the group of level 6''s had made their first move, unfortunately they made the wrong move, if they all had taken to the field in the first pce they might have had a change "Julie! Just like we nned!" "Got it Mike!" Mike instantly converted the blood floating above his head to small spikes made of very hard blood crystals, then he muttered "Let''s clear the ying field a bit" Then without caring for friendly fire he shot them out in a cone in front of him mowing down soldiers in a 30-meter cone in front of him, then he suddenly kicked off the ground narrowly avoiding an icence thatnded where he just had been standing, after showing a rude hand gesture in the direction where the [Water mage] stood Mike joined Julie in fighting off the [Fencer] and the [Berserker] that were pushing her back at the moment, Mike slid over the ground under the backswing of the [Berserker]''s cloud sword as he slid past him he left a cut on the side of the [Berserker] that let out a roar as his cloud sword suddenly elerated and shed down on Mike that twisted his body to the side but still weren''t able topletely dodge the sword as it shed into his side and sent him flying back, the [Berserker] showed a smile "One down" Julie showed a bright smile "You think too little about my husband-to-be" "Heh, if you want to marry a corpse then go ahead" At that moment a voice suddenly sounded out over the battlefield "[Control]!" Chapter 102: The plan Chapter 102: The n The [Baseker] paused for an instant before he continued attacking Julie along with the [Fencer], but to their surprised Mike quickly returned to the fight having used [Drink] to heal himself, the four of them all went all out and the [Fencer] and the [Baserker] quickly found themselves with cold sweat down their backs, finally the [Fencer] yelled out "What the fuck are you!?" Mike showed a thin smile as he continued pushing back the [Fencer] eventuallynding a shallow cut on his forearm before he quickly used [Control], thus the stage was set as Mike and Julie continued pushing back the two level 6''s until finally one of them, the [Fencer] yelled in desperation "Angus, Paul, Katrina, Anna help us already!" The remaining level 6''s exchanged looks of wonder, they were clearly not expecting theirrades to be pushed back, then after a brief moment of hesitation they quickly agreed and joined the fray, they were a [Water mage], a [Sun priest], a [Swordsaintess] and a [Ranger], they quickly joined up with the two level 6''s that were struggling against Mike and Julie ''Just as I expected You can all go all out now that we have baited the rest of the pray'' """"""Yes master!"""""" As the six level 6''s joined forces Mike and Julie were gradually pushed back as injuries kept mounting on their bodies, still, calm thin smiles were on their faces as if the two of them were watching a script y out in front of them, soon the [Ranger] nted an arrow in Mike''s chest just barely missing his heart which made him cough up blood, then when the [Ranger]''s and Mike''s eyes crossed the [Ranger] suddenly felt cold and yelled "Watch out!" Her warning however came just a little toote as just before she yelled the [Fencer] and the [Baseker] both turned on their allies and if that wasn''t bad enough the six demonic servants also joined the fray instantly turning the tides as both Mike and Julie explode forth with previously unseen levels of speed and ferocity, in the ensuing melee Mike managed tond wounds on every one of the remaining level 6''s, mostly thanks to Julie and the demonic servants that disabled them beforehand, then looking at the four kneeling level 6''s Mike''s smile widened just a bit as a red light shed in his eyes "[Control]!" The news of the war that spread all over the ind told a story of how a little over 50 people had managed to capture six level 6''s nobles and kill about 4.500 soldiers in the ensuing panic, most people of course didn''t believe this as it was simply too much of a tall tale in their ears, only a few higher-level noble''s took the tale to heart, as for Mike and Julie they simply returned to their city and rested for a few days, after a week the noble''s they had captured during the war was ransomed for a hefty sum, adding that to the sizable war reputations they received Mike suddenly felt dizzy from looking at the 0''s on the document that totaled the entire sum they received "This should be enough for the next part Once I find out what it is that is" Julie narrowed her eyes slightly, she was sitting on Mike''sp tapping his horns so of course, she heard his mumbling "What do you mean once you find out what it is?" Mike gave a sigh and looked at Julie nkly for a few seconds before he asked "Do I look like a guy with a n?" Julie gave a sigh before sheined "Why did I fall in love with such a guy Tell me you at least have some kind of overall idea of what to do?" "Sure, step one: take control of the lower ss nobles. Step two: drive out Hector of his hiding hole. Step three: Kill Hector in a suitably painful way. Step four: Marry this beautiful demon in my embrace" Julie showed a bright smile and patted Mike on the head "So you do have a n after all By the way, I want my mother to vow us" "Sure I don''t see a problem with returning to your home town for that, you can have it just as you like it" "Yay! Thanks Mike I love you" Julie gave Mike a quick kiss before she spoke "So when you say that you''re nning to take control of the lower ss nobles do you then mean in the local area or..?" "I mean all the lower ss nobles on the ind" Julie''s jaw dropped before she asked Mike in a rather flustered way "B-but why?" "Because of the yearly noble assembly, there the nobles gather and vote on a few things including revoking titles" "So you n to have Hector kicked out of his protective shell?" "Yup" "That''s evil" "Well I am a demon" Julie giggled a bit before she kissed Mike, she was over the moon that she would have her own mother wed her to the man that she loved the most in this entire world and when the ''wife'' is happy Mike would naturally also be happy ''Oh well It''s nice that it''s peaceful once in a while'' Mike, now joined by Julie continued their hellish training meanwhile a series of wars started all over the ind with lower-ss nobles being captured if not outright killed, all the captured nobles were brought to a particr city in the north-west before they were ransomed, thus half a year passed as the ind was ravaged by pointless wars Mike and Julie trained, as usual, Julie having received the [Lesser blood demon] skill, or rather secondary ss which included the skills [Drink] and [Blood body enhancement] also took part in Mike''s insane training and over the half-year the two of them improved by a sizeable margin "Well then Let''s move onto the next item on the menu" Both Mike and Julie stood in the inner courtyard, Mike wore a pair of training boxers that so his upper body was on full disy, his entire body structure seemed to be nearing perfection with lean muscles packed with power perfectly arranged over his body, giving him an overall slim build that seemed to prioritize agility over brute strength, still, he would be able to outperform any strongman in his previous world, Julie that stood next to him wore a set of tightfitting sports underwear, through unlike Mike''s previous world the underwear was made from natural fibres, not the synthetic material, she also had a slim build with lean muscles packed with power, that is to say, that she had a build like that of an Olympic athlete, only Mike knew she was many times stronger... they had just healed from being beaten half to death so both of them were in top shape "Yeah, let''s get this over with" Julie sounded like she wasining but the wide smile she had on her face showed otherwise, the two of them sat down cross-legged facing each other before they began churning thair mana, gradually it neared a mind-blowing 250 circtions per minute, this was given that a ''normal'' level 5 would only be able to do about 130 circtions per minute, while a ''normal'' level 6 would only be able to do about 230 circtions per minute, now what were the advantages by circting mana faster? There were a few things, fist the most obvious which was casting speed, the faster you could circte mana though you paths and points the faster you could cast a spell, then came the powers of the spell which was also affected by circtions speed (though in a lesser degree than casting speed) and finally thought to an even lesser degree than the other two points were casting efficiency, which is to say that the faster you circted your mana the better you mge would be and the more spells one would be able to cast without running out of juice "And we wouldn''t want that now would we..?" Julie gave a sigh, she was used to Mike muttering to himself but she still spoke out to remind him "Come on Mike, focus You don''t want your chest to explode likest time do you?" "Nope. I am focus itself, don''t worry my fairdy" Julie closed her eyes and shut out the outside world as her mana circtions increased at a drastic rate, Mike''s did too, the two of them raced each other all the way to the 250 circtions per minute, there the curve ttened out for a moment before Mike pushed it further until he reached 270 circtions per minute and he spewed out bloody mist from his mouth and nose and then he activated his failsafe "[Drink]!" The sphere of freshly drawn blood floating above Mike''s head shrunk a size before his breathing began to stabilize, from there he simply slowed down the circtions until they reached about 100 circtions a minute which was his resting point, Mike let out a sigh and looked over at Julie that still held the 250 circtions per minute for a few minutes before she slowed them down again and breathed a sigh as she opened her eyes and spoke ina tone like that of Mike "Well then, let''s move onto the next item on the menu?" "Yeah sure" Chapter 103: The capital, once again Chapter 103: The capital, once again Mike and Julie eventually finished up training, this was to be their final training for a while, as for the reason? It was simple it was time for the yearly gathering of nobility or at least time for them to leave for the capital, speaking of the capital Mike had it under watch by a couple of spores, actually, more than a couple of spores all of them had been reassigned thereafter he finished taking control over all the lower ss nobles, they were making sure that Hector would not leave the capital before Mike and Julie could execute him in the most painful of ways. Thus all the lower ss nobles (Mike and Julie included) left their domains one after the other to head to the seat of power on the ind: the capital. A few weekster a carriage pulled by a blood-red wolf rolled into the capital, the walls of the capital were still as domineering as always carved with runic formations that left of a soft hum as they glowed in the dim evening light with untold power, Mike nced out of the window in the carriage up at the walls for a few moments before he pulled the window shut again and leaned back in his seat, he was nervous but only a little bit "I sure hope Hector doesn''t kill himself once we tightened the nose" Julie showed a smile as hatred shed in her eyes at the mention of Hector "I think he''ll get on his knees and beg for forgiveness instead" "You think so..? Well sure he could do that But that would not be fun" Julie stood up and moved from her seat opposite of Mike over to his side and sat herself down on hisp and stroked his head "Be careful of my horns now" "Don''t worry, I know how to tame this bull" Mike showed a smile but just as he was about to continue flirting with Julie there was a knock on the door of the carriage, a sharp red light shed in the eyes of both Mike and Julie, Mike, however, was faster to snap of the two of them as he yelled "What!?" Reba''s voice came from outside the carriage Excuse me, master, we''re about to pass through the checkpoint" "And?" "And the guards request you step out" Mike was about to answer when Julie kicked the door to the carriage open on the opposite side and stepped out, she was wearing a red dress that showed her shoulders and her back which instantly stunned the crowd, one of the guard-looking-people called out "This is a random inspection, please corporate" Julie showed a sweet smile and opened her hand as suddenly a blue me burned in the form of a sword that appeared out of the smoke, then she shed out cutting the guard in half right down the middle of his head in a single motion she called out "2 seconds!" Mike called out at the same time "5 seconds!" The guard that had just been cut in half paused for about 4 seconds before he fell apart, literally, in two pieces, Julie grimaced while Mike let out a loud cheer that overpowered the screams of horror from the people around them, then he did a little dance "Oh yeah, baby! Bring it here" Julie gave a sigh and walked over before she kissed Mike on the cheek which made him show a smile before he advised Julie "Julie your sword is way too sharp and leave a way too clean a cut for a person to only stick together for 2 seconds" "Yeah It seems that way, don''t worry I''ll get you the next time" Meanwhile, the guards snapped out of their daze and became, shall we say riled up? Anyway they attempted to mount an attack on Mike and Julie as Mike spoke to Reba "Reba, announce us" Reba instantly churned her mana as she yelled with a mana infused voice "You imbeciles! This is his lordship Mike and herdyship Julie the rulers of the city of Brem and members of the house of Blood!" Then she churned her mana up an extra notch and yelled again "WHOEVER STANDS IN THEIR WAY WILL BE CUT DOWN, NOW KNELL!!!" The guards exchanged looks of horror and kneeled down at once, so did the people within 100 meters, they all knew what nobles were capable of doing to ordinary people, Mike showed a smile and asked a random guard "So this random inspection How long is it going tost?" "I-I-It''s already d-d-done, your lordship!" "I see then we''ll return to our carriage" Mike and Julie stepped back into their carriage as the people around and the guards heaved a collective mental sigh of relief as the carriage drove into the capital, Mike sent a mental message to the servants that then proceeded to carry out his orders which included finding an inn that was fit to their social status and killing off any annoying ''rats'' that were squeaking around them, once Mike and Julie were settled in an inn on the morous main road the body count had exceeded 20, but that wasn''t anything Mike was interested in currently, he summoned Michal the previous lord of Brem to his and Julie''s room to get some information about the noble assembly "Well first off it''s hosted in the castle''s main hall, there all nobles of the ind will be assembled, after the general worship of the king the assembly will begging with a lengthy report of each city''s revenue, then it will be the voting on a few subjects, this, of course, includes revoking titles which I understand is why you are participating in this meeting in the first ce, right master?" "Yeah, else I couldn''t be bothered Hector has to get his title revoked before I can kill him without repercussions..." "I understand master Well that is basically how the assembly will go, oh right there''s also the noble duels after the voting which is there to make sure that internal conflicts are handled before they split apart the ind, but I imagine nothing interesting will happen there" Julie gave a nod and waved her hand "You are dismissed, Mike and I need to have a talk" "Yes, mistress. Rest well master, mistress" Michel gave a bow and excused himself from the room, Mike leaned back in the couch and waited for Julie to start talking which she did after a few moments "So This is it right?" Mike showed a smile "Yup, after torturering Hector to death we''ll head to the harbor and leave Thera to get married" Julie showed a sweet smile and sat down next to Mike in the expensive couch before she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, then she asked "Have you already found out how to torture him?" Mike gave a nod as a red light shed in his eyes "Yeah, I figured we would waterboard him until we get tired of it, then skin him alive?" Julie gave a giggle and kissed Mike once again before she spoke "Sound good" The night passed uneventfully and early the next morning Mike awoke, as usual, he sat up in the bed and stretched before he looked over to the side and saw Julie as usual still in dreand, he showed a smile as he watched her sleep peacefully but then he got the urge to tease her so he ever so slowly inched his finger closer to her face until he poked her soft cheek, Julie seemed undisturbed by the poke and kept sleeping so Mike showed a teasing smile and poked her cheek once more, this time she showed a slight frown before she turned over on the other side ''Oh no princess, you''re not getting away that easily'' Mike continued poking her cheek until Julie slowly opened her eyes, after blinking a few times she seemed to have woken up and looked at Mike with soft eyes before she extended her arms out "Carry~" ''Well well well looks like I have no choice'' Mike picked up the still half asleep Julie in his arms, even though she had endured hellish training her body was free of scars and soft as always, Mike for the sake of his own sanity, however, was forced to ignore how soft her body was as he asked in a serious tone "Where to, princess?" Julie blinked a few times before she was about to give amand, unfortunately, she seemed to have fallen asleep again, leaving Mike hanging as she gently snored in his embrace like a spoiled kitten, Mike gave a sigh and sat down on the bed again as he watched her sleep peacefully with a soft smile on his face, demon though he was he still loved Julie with all his heart ''...And that''s why Hector has to die a painful death'' Mike looked off in the distance for a few moments before he noticed Julie stir slightly and looked down at her again, this time red eyes greeted him as Julie now seemed to be fully awake "Morning Mike" "Yeah Morning Julie What do you say we go conner ourselves a rat?" Julie''s smile widened as a red light shed in her eyes "That sounds like a n" Chapter 104: Start of the assembly Chapter 104: Start of the assembly The castle was to say in one word: massive, the towers stretched beyond the clouds while the circumference of the entire castle would be equal to multiple cites, even the castle walls were higher and thicker than the outer walls of the capital, that is to say, they were over 50 meters tall, they stood imposingly, Mike was momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer presence of them, only momentarily though as a strong will shed in his eye along with a sharp red light, it was his will to grow stronger, stronger still so that one day he could look down on these walls and call them puny before he sted them away with one punch ''Or at least something like that'' Mike sighed before he hid away the light of ambition that shone in his eyes, he had to focus on the task ahead: the noble assembly "Mike?" "...Don''t worry it''s nothing" "If you say so" Mike gave another sigh and turned to Julie before he exined "I just want to get stronger still I fell like I am still far too weak" "I feel like we''re already---'' Julie paused a suddenly a strong red light shone in her eyes and she continued as her expression twisted into that of a strong desire "---I also want to get stronger, strong enough to look down on all things with disdain" Mike showed a thin smile "Good" Some time passed before Mike and Julie reached the inner castle, this spoke volumes about just how massive the castle was, when they exited their carriage they were in a giant inner courtyard, Mike walked up and stroked Serina on the head "Be sure toe for uster girl" Serina gave a low growl and trotted back the way she came dragging the carriage behind her, Mike looked around, the courtyard was filled with people many of which he had seen once before, that is to say, that they were lower ss nobles whom he had used [Control] on, they didn''t greet him as was nned beforehand and some of them even looked at Mike with obvious disgust, so did the middle-ss nobles, Mike and Julie being non-humans didn''t sit well with them so they were mostly ignored, mostly "Oh so these must be the entertainment brought by the castle this year animals dressed up as people, hrious!" Mike ignored the shill voice that had yelled out at him and Julie, which obviously pissed off the speaker "Hey! Are you unable to understand human speech you horned monkey!?" The next moment a fireball came flying over, neither Mike nor Julie was ready for it so Mike was forced to block it to defend Julie "Oh no you don''t!" Mike stretched out his arm and blocked the fireball that was aimed at the back of Julie''s head, his arm was swiftly burned to a crisp by the fireball, Mike, however, didn''t even flinch and as the smell of burnt flesh spread out in the courtyard he simply patted the mes out with his other hand as he muttered "[Blood storage]" Swiftly a sphere of fresh-looking blood appeared above Mike''s head before it flowed down to his burnt arm, swiftly the blood turned into blood-red crystal forming a slightly sinister-looking arm with long ws and a spike at the elbow around his burnt arm in a mere instant, Mike showed a thin smile as he muttered "My turn" He then stretched out his hand and fired off a [blood boiler] in the direction of the attacker but just before it could hit the middle-ss noble that had fired off the spell a knight appeared and blocked the spell with his shield, Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked "What''s the meaning of this?" The knight responded in a t tone "No fighting is allowed in the inner courtyard" Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked "So firing off a fireball at the back of my wife-to-be''s head doesn''t count as fighting?" The knight shook his head and spoke in a disdainful tone "There are nows against executing livestock in the inner courtyard" Mike didn''t get angry he simply muttered "Oh is that so? Julie however was another case "What''s your name?" The middle-ss noble simply gave a sneer before she spoke with a voice filled with disdain "Humph, why should I answer what a piece of livestock asks me?" "Well that''s simple, I challenge you to a duel!" The noblewoman let out augh as she responded "That''s fine, look forward to getting ughtered on the stage! Hear my name and be in awe I am Mary of the house of water!" Julie showed a thin smile and asked "I wonder what kind of noise you''ll make when I remove your spine form your body one section at a time?" "Y-you! Just wait!" The noblewoman turned around and left to another part of the courtyard, only then did Julie turn to Mike as she asked "How''s you''re arm?" Mike moved his arm that mostly was made of crystalized blood a bit before he answered "It''s fine, it''ll take a couple of days to heal though" "Okay Damn what a bitch though" Mike and Julie spent a little more time chatting before a horn sounded out in the courtyard which signaled that it was time for the assembly, Mike and Julie followed the flow of nobles into a giant room, it looked somewhat like a parlement with elevated seats around a parlement floor only it was several times bigger than any parlement Mike had seen before "Lord Mike,dy Julie this way please" Mike gave a nod and followed after the servant that showed him and Julie to their seats, but they didn''t sit down just yet, they simply waited for the first part of the assembly to start: worshiping the king. It happened as soon as thest noble were in their spot, a heavy pressure declined upon the nobles, Mike showed a slight frown ''This feels like about 300 circtions per minute..? Don''t tell me'' Mike''s thoughts however were interrupted as the pressure suddenly increased as a middle-aged man appeared floating in the middle of the room above the central floor ''He''s fast, but not only that This oppressive feeling Well I am only level 5 so that''s given that there''s some level suppression'' Mike stopped thinking as a horn sounded out which signaled the start of the worship ceremony, Mike counted to 2 in his head before he bowed down along with the rest of the nobles in the hall """"""We greet you our king!"""""" The king of Threa showed a self-satisfied look as he spoke "I allow the noble assembly to start" Then he disappeared again and with that, the worship ceremony was over, Mike rose to his feet again and unclenched his hands with some effort before he took his seat and the assembly started, first was the rtively boring reporting of how much tax each city would be providing the crown this year, this Mike left to Julie that reported about 3.5 million in taxation which was considered high for a city the size of Brem but then again not too high given the fact that they had received several high ransoms from the wars earlier this year, when Julie was speaking Mike sensed a gaze filled with astonishment directed at him and looked over before he gave a smile and a small wave befre he poked Julie and spoke "Hey Julie wave to Hector" Julie followed Mike''s gaze and saw Hector, he had gained weight since he no longer was a active adventure, but it was still unmistakable him, Julie showed a sweet smile and waved at Hector that turned paler by the second, his wife, a noblewoman who he had mairred out of convionace but got along well with, of course noticed this and asked him "Hector, what''s wrong?" "I There are two ghosts waving at me from across the hall" "Ghosts?" She followed Hector''s line of sight and saw Mike and Julie waving at them and showed a frown "Who are they?" Hector swallowed, hard before he spoke "One was sold as a ve, the other I stabbed though the heart" She narrowed her eyes slightly before she asked "Are you sure?" "Yes absolutely" "Well So what?" Hector looked astonished for a moment before he seemed to regain hisposure and he breathed a sigh of relief "You''re right Lana I nearly lost mypoure there, so what if they are here? We can simply ignore them" "That''s right, we are afterall nobles, so unless you ept a duel from them we should be fine" "Oh I''d never do that" "Then it''s fine even if we lose a little prestige over not epting a duel it''s fine" "---Is probably what they''re thinking" "Oh, I see Mike They think they''re safe..? How foolish, there''s no way we would show up in front of them without a n..." "Well this works in our advantage too" Chapter 105: Duel Chapter 105: Duel ''Now for the exciting part'' The voting session had started and after having voted on various serious things one of the lower-ss nobles suddenly made an interesting proposition "I vote to revoke the titles of Hector of the house of Java" Hector looked disdainfully at the lower-ss noble, he was in the process of figuring out how he should kill this trouble maker when a second one raised his hand "I second this" Mike also raised his hand in silence, signaling that he supported this too, then another hand went up and then another, with each hand that went up the more pale Hector became until it dawned on him and he looked fiercely at Mike that sat with his hand raised "So this is your n..? Pathetic" Lana, Hector''s wife asked him "So it''s the two ghost''s n?" "It must be I don''t know how he persuaded so many nobles Damn!" "Don''t worry dear, we can always take shelter with my family" "Yes let''s do that Then we''ll get those two..." "And have them killed right?" "Yeah, what else?" "---Is probably what they are thinking" "I see Mike, how do you know that with such certainty?" "Well I am good at reading faces, this has helped me many times with avoiding the drunkard at home so I am very confident" "Oh I see" The hands kept on being raised until nearly all of the lower-ss nobles had raised their hands where the assembly head called the vote "Titles of Hector of the house of Java has hereby been revoked!" Hector sank into his seat, he was pale and covered in cold sweat as he red fiercely at Mike, when the servant arrived to escort him and his wife out of the meeting he stood up and gave onest re at Mike before he walked out along with his wife "And so the nose tightened" Mike sent a mental message to his spores that went to work at once before he turned his attention back at the assembly, a few hourster the voting session ended, now it was time for the duels, Julie stood up at once and spoke out in a loud voice "I challenge Mary of the house of water to a duel to the death!" Whispers were heard all over the assembly hall, may of them were of disdain for Julie until Mary stood up from her seat and yelled back "Heh If the livestock wants to be ughtered I am more than happy to do the ughtering!" Julie didn''t bark back, she simply opened her hand and summoned her [Hellsword] as she walked down to the floor in the middle of the assembly, Mary received a sword from her husband and walked down to the floor too, the other nobles betted in between themselves on who would win, the noble next to Mike mocked him "You sure go though your partners quickly, if you''re luck Mary will leave her corpse intact" Mike ignored the mockery with a calm smile on his face as he asked "What level is this Mary?" "She''s level 6" Mike gave augh, the other noble that had just mocked him gave a sneer before he muttered "Suit yourself" and turned to look at the duel, Julie stood ready and waited for the start of the duel, so did Mary, she wore a calm smile on her face like the duel was already over as she continued to mock Julie "Frozen from fear huh Well, I don''t me you, you are in way over you''re head!" At that moment the countdown for the duel to start started "5 4 3 2 1 START!" Mary kicked off the ground as she charged at Julie and swung the sword down towards Julie''s shoulder, clearly she ned to main Julie and then torture her slowly in the arena "You''re open!" Then just as the sword was about to cut Julie''s arm off she disappeared from view "Eh..?" Mary let out a gasp of surprise as her sword struck air, then in the next moment she had a chill down her spine and she hurriedly dodged to the side as Julie''s [Hellsword] passed right through the spot where she had just been standing, she stared in horror at Julie and managed to mutter "Y-Y-You''re level 6!" Julie''s smile widened slightly before she went on the offensive with a swing of her [Hellsword] that was faster and way more deadly than Mary''s she shed out towards Mary''s head, Mary hurriedly blocked and a loud ''ng'' sounded out in the arena as Mary''s hands went slightly numb from the impact, Julie kept up her assault and a series of ''ngs'' sounded out as Mary was forced to block every single attack while she retreated backward, her face was already pale as she knew where this duel was heading, but then suddenly she resolved herself and yelled "You forced me to do this!" Then suddenly her mana began churning faster before she suddenly shot her hand forwards and fired off a fireball at Julie from close range, Julie calmly covered her left hand in a sinister blue me and then she grasped out after the fireball and simply snuffed it out with her me covered hand "Wha---" Then Julie chopped with her sword and cut Marys left hand off with a single swing "AAAGGGHHHRRRR!!!!" Mary screamed out as her face was suddenly covered with fury and she shed out with her sword with wild abandon, her wild swings however was easily read by Julie who dodged them with ease as she shed out in a counter-attack and simply cut Mary''s sword in half "Eh..?" Mary stared at her sword with a dumbfounded look before Julie shed out again and cut the sword a little lower before she shed out again and cut the sword again, Mary forgot her pain from her severed right hand and muttered "Monster" Julie''s smile widened slightly as she sent out a kick thatnded on Mary''s side sending her flying to the side as she tumbled a few meters before she came to a standstill, before Mary could get up Julie already arrived standing over her and stabbed her sword into her right elbow nailing her to the floor before she stepped on Mary''s other arm to hold her still "Stop right there!" Julie looked up and saw Mary''s husband with an expression of fury, Julie gave a snicker and raised her right hand for all to see, then her fingers were slowly covered with blood-red crystal before she then brought her hand down and stabbed into Mary''s lower back "AAAGGGGRRRHHH!!!" Mary screamed out as tears began forming in her eyes, then suddenly her trembling legs went numb before Julie pulled a section of her spine out and threw it aside, then she kneeled down on Mary''s back and whispered into her ear "I said I would remove your spine section by section Don''t die on me now" Mary''s face was filled with despair as she stammered "D-Demon" Julie showed a happy smile as she proceeded to remove Mary''s spine section by section, Mary passed out from the pain several times underway but she would always wake up with a scream when Julie removed another section of her spine until finely she died from shock an agonizing 5 minutester, Julie clicked her tongue and stepped off Mary as she let go of her [Hellsword] that dissolved into blue mes before it hit the floor before she walked back to her seat, her steps were the only sound in the assembly as the other nobles were stunned silent form the macabre show she had just put on, as for Mary''s husband he had passed out from a mix of fury and grief in his seat, Mike wore a calm smile as he spoke to Julie "Wee back" Julie showed a sweet smile as she sat down next to Mike "I am back" Mike then reached out and wiped the blood stter from her face with his hands, meanwhile, the assembly seemed to wake up from its stunned silence and the noble that was assigned to be the speaker of the assembly hurridly got some servants to clean up the mess Julie had made before he continued the assembly, there were a few duels after that but none were as bloody as the show Julie had put on and so the noble assembly ended peacefully, Mike walked out of the assembly hall arm in arm with Julie and got into their carriage which was pulled by Serina and left the castle behind to spend the night in the inn room they had booked, as the carriage drove down the streets of the capital the nobles that had participated in the assembly sent out letters back home reporting how the assembly went and amon point in all the letters were the duel which Julie had participated in along with a warning not to provoke the wife of the lord of Brem Chapter 106: Hectors end Chapter 106: Hector''s end The morning after the assembly Mike woke up slowly, he sat up in bed after looking at the ceiling for a few moments and stretched, then he cheeked on Julie who surprisingly wasn''t next to him in bed, Mike gave a frown before he sharpened his senses, then he rxed his frown as he could hear the water running in the bathroom, then a lewd smile crept onto his face as he sneaked out of bed and approached the bathroom before he slowly opened the door and saw Julie was in the middle of taking a shower, Mike''s smile widened as he sneaked up on her before he suddenly hugged her from behind "Kya!" Julie would have jumped half a meter if Mike had not been holding her, she immediatelyined "Oh for fucks sake Mike, you know that''s bad for my heart!" Mike gave augh as he kissed her good morning, then as he was already naked he joined her in the shower and as the two of them were drying off Mike suddenly showed a sinister smile and quickly informed Julie "The spores have caught Hector and his wife" Julie smiled at Mike before she hugged him and spoke in a happy tone "That''s fantastic!" "So what do you say we check out after eating something, then we''ll go end Hector?" Julie showed a slightly evil smile as she agreed "Sure Mike, that sounds like a n" "Do you know who I am!? Let us go!" Lana, Hector''s wife had been yelling at the people that had taken them captive all morning, Hector, however, was a lot quieter and sat with a pale face, eyes closed as he seemed to be mumbling something, they were in a little shack outside the capital after some red-haired people had attacked their carriage and killed their guards before they captured them and transported them to this vige just outside the capital, even now one of them was sitting on a chair a little ways away watching them with their red eyes, speaking of the people that had captured them they were all covered in dirty bandages under the normal clothes they wore, even their face was wrapped so only their red eyes and hair showed "I am Lana, daughter of the house of Tribium, if you let us go right this instance I will spare your life!" The spore said nothing, they just sat on their chair and watched them a few meters away in silence, as if Lana''s yells were inconsequential to them and watched with unblinking eyes "Would you wake up already Hector? Help me convince this halfwit to set us free!" "...It''s useless" "What!?" "I said it''s useless!" Lana was slightly taken aback by Hector''s outburst, but Hector continued without caring for her, clearly, he had sunken into despair "It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, It''s useless, it''s usel---" "Hehehehehehe!!!" Creepyughter interrupted Hector''s chant, it was the spore that then spoke in a tone very familiar to Hector "Come on now Hector, show some spine Before Julie removes it that is" Hector looked up at the spore "Mike I should have killed you then" The spore blinked once before it spoke "Yeah, you should have What''s the saying again..? Oh right, there''s no pill for regret" Hector narrowed his eyes slightly before he gave a sigh, by now the eyes of the spore had returned to normal, Lana was still confused and asked Hector "Hector, what was that?" "It''s his skill, all the people with red hair and eyes are under his control" "What do you mean, Like they are ves or?" Hector gave a nod "I don''t quite know how it works But you can think of them as his salves" "Those two ghosts! Must they ruin everything? Don''t worry Hector when they arrive I will shield you with my influence and then---" "I said it''s useless I am going to die today" At that moment the door to the shack was opened and Mike walked in with a smile on his face like he was greeting an old friend "Oh how right you are well maybe not quite today, maybe sometime tomorrow if you''re unlucky" Hector gave yet another sigh before he spoke inly "Kill me" Mike''s smile widened then he shook his head as a red light shed through his eyes "No, you are not going to die easily" Julie walked in at that moment, she had a frosty look on her face as she looked at Hector, Hector, however, looked astonished as he stammered "I-I killed you!" Julie showed a cold smile and walked over to Hector and kneeled down in front of him and leaned in before she whispered in his ear "Say hi to the monsters in hell for me" From there it was only tragedy for Hector and his wife Lana, as they were first waterboarded for 14 hours, speaking of waterboarding it worked just as well as Mike had seen it work in seen in television and movies by simting a feeling of drowning in the victim without actually drowning them byying them on a bench and then holding a cloth over their face and pouring water on said cloth, it worked wonders on breaking their spirits, then from there it was the skinning of the well skin, about 26 hours since the tutoring session started the screams of pain finally stopped from the small shed and Mike and Julie walked out hand in hand, Julie''s hands were covered in blood and so was Mike''s hands, but neither of them seemed to care about it, after all, it was the blood of their sworn enemies, Julie wore a particrly enchanting smile on her face as she asked Mike "What should we do about the bodies? Leave them to rot?" Mike thought for a moment before he shook his head "Let''s carve them into pieces and throw them into the ocean when we return to your home to get married" "Sure!" Mike and Julie left Threa a few dayster on the ship (Mike refused to speak the name of the ship because it was too cringy), the journey was like a honeymoon for the two of them "...Which is a little weird since we aren''t married yet Oh well" "What are you talking about Mike?" "...Nothing" Mike and Julieid on the deck of the ship on a nket and sunbathed, over the course of the week the two of them had worked up quite the tan on their entire body, except their horns which still were ck and blood-red respectively, besides sunbathing the two of them had taken up swimming which Mike taught Julie since she couldn''t swim at first but now she had turned into quite the demonic mermaid since she seemed to have a natural talent for it "I can''t wait to introduce you to my mother Mike, I am sure she''ll love you" "...Even though I am a dirty non-human?" Mike said the ''dirty non-human'' while trying his best to sound like Julie which earned him a p on the shoulder and a pout from Julie, Mike let out augh which made Julie''s pout even bigger until she gave a sigh "No, she won''t hate you because you''re non-human my mom is surprisingly open about that since she works in an orphanage which mostly takes in non-human children" "I see, well as long as she eventually epts me that''s fine" "Yeah" Julie looked up at the sky for a few moments before she closed her eyes and let the sun bathe her skin, Mike let his eyes wander a bit before he also closed his eyes and rxed in the sun ''Can''t blive I am actually looking forwards to returning to that shithole where we were chased out not too long ago Hopefully, they have forgotten about the whole, well several massacres wemitted If not then I am happy that I brought all the demonic servants and most of the spores...'' A red light shed in Mike''s eyes ''As long as you don''t fuck with me I won''t turn your entire ind into a hellscape'' Another week passed and the Boodhound was docked at an east harborcity of Alkan early in the morning harbor hands hoping to earn a few coins by helping to unload the cargo gathered near the ship but quickly left again as the ramp had not been lowered and the on the deck stood eight demonic armored servants that sent chills down their spines, the entire ship was silent for a few hours until Mike and Julie awoke and learned that they had reached the harbor, Mike looked over at Julie and asked "What do you want to do? Eat on the ship or find a ce to eat onnd?" "Hmm let''s go onnd" "Sure" Mike went up on deck where Elina called out to him "Master" "What is it?" "The harbormaster is here" "What does he want?" "A fee for docking as well as a portion of our goods" "Ohh~ Does he now?" Chapter 134: Clicking cats Chapter 134: Clicking cats Mike and Azroth spend the 3 days timezing around in their inn rooms, both of them being dudes they didn''t feel the need to socialize as much with the onlymunication from either side being about going out to eat together, other than that there wasn''t really much talk between the two of them, this suited Mike fine as he spent his time meditating, slowly growing stronger as he moved closer to the 400 circtions per minute, thispletely paralyzed the entire city of course as the mana sensitive people in the city felt his overbearing presence constantly, but Mike didn''t really care about that, he only cared about seeing Julie soon ''That said, I don''t want to die again so I will be better prepared this time'' This preparation included Azroth of course, that was one of the reasons he had used [Control] on him in the first ce, he needed to grow his group of high-level people and strong monsters at his back so that he could live peacefully with Julie at the top of the world ''Well first is this meeting'' Mike got up from the bed and got dressed before he walked out of his room, at the same time Azroth walked out of his room and greeted Mike [Good morning master] "Yeah Morning Azroth Let''s go to the guild" Azroth nodded and followed after Mike, soon the two of them arrived at the guild and walked inside, the room instantly turned silent before people parted for them, Mike walked ahead and straight up the stairs to the first floor before he opened the door to the guild master office and found the guild master sitting inside behind his desk, he was currently going over some documents with a serious expression on his face, though when he looked up from the documents he showed a smile and spoke "Sirs, please take a seat" Mike nodded and walked over and took a seat on the couch before he asked "So have you found a monster for us?" "Ah yes After talking with the other guild masters through high-speed letters, I believe I have managed to find the most dreadful monster on the entire ind" "Then let''s hear it" "Certainly, this is the beast" The guild master showed a painting he had on his desk as he spoke "It''s called a Clicking cat" Mike looked at the painting, it seemed to be depicting a van-sized panther covered in white bone armor, but upon further study, it wasn''t armored it was an external bone structure that covered its vital spots, all in all, it looked like a panther wearing a bigger skeleton as a Halloween costume, so besides the two sets of teeth (one external and one inside its mouth) and the sharp-looking ws it looked "Cute I''ll take it" "Pardon?" "It''s nothing, where does this monster dwell?" "At the center of this ind, on the only mountain" "I see Let''s discuss payment" ''800.000 Score'' Mike clenched a fist as he walked out of the guild masters office from there the two of them walked out of the guild and back to the inn and checked out before they walked out onto the streets again and Mike muttered "[Wing''s of blood]" Mike flew up into the sky with Azroth reverting to his original form and following after him while letting out a roar FInding the central mountain proved rather easy as it pieced above the clouds rather far, Mike wanted to fly to the top but felt that something dreadful was dwelling up there, so he and Azroth quickly dipped below the cloudyer and focused on finding the Clicking cat, afternding in the dense forest around the mountain Mike walked around alone for about half a day before he finally found the Clicking cat, or rather it found him "So that''s why it''s called a Clicking cat" Mike heard the clicking sounds all around him like a crescendo before it suddenly stopped as the Clicking cat pounced out from the brushes and stuck out after Mike with its ws, even though it stuck from behind Mike easily dodged its ws and then shed out with lightning speed at the Clicking cat with the knife leaving behind a shallow cut on its fur "And that''s that... [Control]" Mike ignored the Clicking cat while it trashed around on the ground in pain as it soul was being extracted and reced with something darker, then something unexpected happened The clicking sounds started again, only this time they were louder and more numerous, Mike spun the knife around before he looked at the Clicking cat that was trashing around still and asked "So You guys live in a pack?" Mike dodged to the side as another Clicking cat pounced at him, while it passed him he used the knife to leave a cut on it, this continued for a bit as he dodged variously sized Clicking cats, by the end when he used [Control] there was 14 of them lying on the ground trashing around (though the first one was done changing at this point) "Well, that''s that I hope" The first Clicking cat came over to Mike and began marking him with its whiskers while purring before it seemed to gesture for Mike to follow it, Mike followed after the Clicking cat after sending a mental message to Azroth to look after the other 13 Clicking cats that still were changing, after walking for a while the two arrived at a cave where Mike once again heard a clicking sound and showed a full-on smile as he saw the small Clicking cat cubse out of the cave "...This is the cutest thing I''ve seen in a long time" Mike quickly used [Control] on the 4 cubs "Well then I think that guild master owes me an exnation" It took half a week to return to the city where Mike had made a deal with the guild master, Mike rode in on the biggest Clicking cat with the rest of the pack following after him, he had already gotten used to the frightened screams from the guards as well as the general people from the other cities they had passed through, the pack continued trotting until they reached the guild where they waited for Mike as he walked inside and straight up to the guild masters office where he kicked open the door and saw a very surprised looking guild master "So here we are again" Mike drew the knife and spun it around as he approached the guild master that began speaking "S-S-S-Sir I didn''t believe I would see you so soon again, w-w-what a wonderful surprise!" "Indeed, here I am with a total of 18 Clicking cats, so that''s 14.400.000 that you owe me" "Sir, no your lordship please allow me to exin!" Mike gestured for him to continue and as he exined the situation became clear, it turned out that it was the king of the ind that had pulled the strings, he had previously tried to clear out the Clicking cats from the mountain so that he could exploit the natural resources of the mountain but he had failed only surviving at the cost of his left arm "I see Which way to the capital?" The guild master looked conflicted for a moment before he quickly exined Mike the way to the capital with a defeated look on his face "Please forgive me, your lordship, I was acting under orders" "Don''t worry I forgive you" The guild master breathed out a sigh of relief before he looked around and didn''t see Mike, then the next moment the temperature in the room instantly raised as Azroth breathed mes setting the entire build alight, Mike walked down the street as the screams of the people inside sounded out as he muttered "That doesn''t mean Azroth does hehe" Mike quickly summoned his wings and took off flying towards the capital, he had Azroth follow after him in the skies and the Clicking cats run into the wild "Your majesty Your majesty Please awaken" The king awoke, he was slightly dazed as if he had just had a dream or some sort of nightmare perhaps, anyway awake he was so it was time for the days work, he got out of bed and was soon dressed by the servants before he walked out of the royal bedroom and was followed by a few knights as well as hs personal secretary that began speaking of the days work, the king nodded along and as they reached his office he was filled in on the days work and ready to begin, but as he reached to open the door to the office he sensed something wrong and called out as he began circting his mana, the knights quickly caught on and drew their swords before the first guard opened the door to the office and walked in, then there was silence before a horrifying scream sounded out, then came an unfamiliar voice "Come in please, we have much to discuss" The king thought for a moment before he nodded and spoke "Alright, I aming in now" The king stepped into the office, the first thing he saw was the body of the knight thatid on the floor, oddly enough there was no smell of blood ''Weird'' The king looked up and saw a male non-human sitting on his desk, this particr non-human had two horns on their head that seemed to be slightly blue, there was something odd about him, he was too confident facing the king of the ind ''So a level 7 or some level 5 or 6 spoiled brat from the continent'' The king showed a slight smile and asked "So What do you want I wonder?" The non-human showed a smile and spoke "800.000 per Clicking cat, given the fact that there were 18 you owe me 14.400.000" The king gave a sigh and spoke "Oh, you''re here about that? Please see your self out before my mood spoils There''s no way that a mere non-human brat took out 18 Clicking cats" The non-human didn''t seem like he heard what the king just said he simply asked "So you have no intention of paying me? Even though that will mean that I''ll burn down your city after I drain your blood?" The king churned his mana as he yelled "Outrageous! Knights kill this daft non-human!" Just as the words left the mouth of the king an overwhelming aura swept out over the entire city, the king stumbled backward as he looked at the non-human in horror as his circtions kept rising nearly reaching 400 per minute, then before the king could say anything the non-human spoke "That''s a crying shame I believed we could keep things civil Oh well" Chapter 149: Raiding Chapter 149: Raiding Day 452 since the ascension of the Wind sprit race, Mike returned to the surface from a dungeon, he stretched and looked up at the sun, he had just finished a casual 3-month dungeon run, his appearance was a little changed though as both his eyes, that is the whites of his eyes had turned blue on both of his eyes, there was also other small changes like his age seemed to have been slightly reversed, but that was all, so, all in all, no big changes to the outside, the changes on the inside, however, was significant as he had neared 100% elder blood in his veins but it seemed that had reached critical mass and was unable to increase it anymore at the moment ''Ah Sunlight, how I''ve missed you'' After spending a non-significant amount of time basking in the sun Mike made his location know on the mentalwork and contacted Julie, quickly learning that she already had returned from her dungeon run a few days earlier, so he quickly returned to the city and met up with her after taking a shower, after spending a night together Mike announced his next course of action to her "I''ll go raiding along with the five dragons and the Wind sprits that can fly in a few days, want toe with?" Julie thought about it for a few moments before she nodded "Yeah sure, it''s been a while since I''ve gone wild But where are we raiding?" "In the humannds, we''ll burn down a city and then pull back into the forest As for the reason why Well you''ll see" "Okay This sure does remind me of the old days where we knocked over towns back home" "Yeah How young and weak we were then" "Yeah.." Time possessed and soon it was time for the raid, Mike was currently in the process of Shall we say hyping up the crowd? "---We''ll tear the flesh from their bones, burn down their homes, and kill their young!" Yells of excitement sounded out in front of Mike, where a strike force of about 400 Wind sprits was gathered, on their backs were wings, they had various shapes and forms but one thing was the same all over, they were a sinister vermilion color, above them, the five dragons flew around sending out roars of excitement as they weaved in and out of the clouds, Mike looked at them in front of him and showed a smile as a red light shed in his eyes and he raised his fist and as his wings of blood appeared behind him, he yelled "After me!" Then with him and Julie in the front, the whole raiding team passed through the portal and appeared on the other side in a quiet forest where they flew forwards towards their goal with a very fast speed, the only sound was that of the sound barrier being broken as they speed across the no-mansnd, soon the walls of a city came within view, Mike narrowed his eyes as a red light shed through his eyes and a half-transparent vermilion colored barrier appeared around him, this was one of his new spells which he had finelye around to find out how to use, then he pped his wings and sped up before the barrier turned less transparent as he poured mana into it, then he simply rammed right into the closed gate that simply exploded into debris and splinters which leveled the first few houses inside the gate with a deafening bang which woke the sleeping city up with a stir, the first thing that happened was those who could fly flew into the air to observe the situation, this was in line with Mike''s strategy as every thing above the walls suddenly got hit with five dragon''s breathes and got turned to dust, Mike showed a smile as he yelled "Close the cage!" This was a signal for the 400 or so Wind sprits to circled around the walls and close off the gates, effectively trapping everyone inside the city "Put on the lid!" This was a signal for the dragons to move in a guard above the city in case anyone that could fly was alive still "Now Let the festivities begin!" Firstly came the guards, they were under level 7 so Mike simply chanted "[Blood domination: blood puppets]!" The guards suddenly went limp before they picked up their swords and spears and turned around before they began hunting after the city people they were sworn to protect, the new spell which Mike had just used was an evolved version of his old [Blood craze] spell which had a few advantages over the original spell, firstly it was instantly cast, affecting all below level 7 with 100% efficiency sending the subject into a craze where they would hunger for blood and raw flesh "All the while keeping their consciousness intact! See that one is starting to cry as she''s eating that child..! Or what''s left of it anyway..." With that done, Mike jumped op onto the wall and looked at the carnage below with a smile on his face, cries of pain and horror filled the city below him, he sat down on the wall and looked on for a bit before Julie joined him and sat down beside him, she snuggled up to him like they were a couple watching the sunset but soon she frowned slightly as she heard cries of pleasure and quickly asked Mike about it "Why do I hear moaning down below?" Mike shugged "Because I supplied them with a powerful pleasure drug so they could You know" "**** men?" "Yeah, basically" "Huh And why did you do that?" "Well you wouldn''t know since you are a woman but the Wind spirits have been giving me some Very hungry looks" "Ah Well, then it''s good that they get some of that pent up lust gone" "Yep Puls we need to resupply the poption somehow Not that they are capable of dying anyways" "Well that''s true, saves me from ughtering them too" "...Just don''t go overboard" "Sure Mike~" As the hours passed the screams of pain and terror (and sometimes pleasure) gradually died down, so Mike called it and sent a mental message to all his servants "We''re pulling out" At once all 400 servants dropped what they were doing and summoned their wings, and flew into the air before they began heading north all at once The next day travelers and traders arrived at the sacked city of Glem much confusion followed on who had attacked the city as there were no survivors capable of telling exactly what had happened, most of them were traumatized and kept saying some about the five dragons in the sky watching them, this was quickly dismissed as nonsense as dragons had not been seen in the humannds for a very long time, (other than the one-off unconfirmed ount here and there of course) so it remained a mystery for some time until reports came that another city had been sacked about 4 months on foot away from the first city And then another 2 months on foot away from the second city, it was finally then that the pattern formed: All three cites were within flight distance of the non-humannds, from there the security in the cites that bordered the non-humannds on the east continent got strengthened, but from there no other attack followed Until reports of another three attacks in the south continent followed a few weekster, it was then that the humans knew: The non-humans had started their assault again after about 50 years of peace Mike received a mental report from one of the non-evolved servants he still had in the humannds and showed a smile, things were finally moving as he wanted, the me was put on the non-humans further ind, no one suspected the Wind spirits for the attacks so it was unlikely that they would see anyrge attacks in the uing conflict Another month passed, in a border city on the non-human side a person was currently walking towards the walls of the city of Helem, they were a member of the Fire iron race and was named Carl, Carl had lived in the city of Helem all his 237 years of life and was a member of the city guard, he was currently on his way to work at the walls, but he wasn''t in a very good mood, the reason why he was grumpy was that his wife Helia had found his stash of booze when he retiredst night and had proceeded to drink it all, not a single drop was left of his 1000 years aged vodka which he was saving for the birth of his firstborn ''Humph Maybe I should get a divorce, all she does is drink and drink'' When he arrived at the walls a friend of his called Kasper walked up to him looking oddly serious, Carl picked up on this and asked "So neither today too huh..?" "Yeah We haven''t had any human merchants in a week now" While the non-humans and the humans hated each other there were exceptions such as merchants that sought profit everywhere, as for the reason why it was bad that there had been no merchants for a week now was simple, something was stopping them from leaving the humannds "What about returning merchants from our side?" "Still none" "Shit Looks like trouble is brewing" Chapter 153: How to siege, by a demon Chapter 153: How to siege, by a demon Mike woke up again the next at the usual time, after spending a non-significant amount of time looking into the ceiling, he got up and out of bed, after he got dressed he stepped out of the door and walked towards the exit of the lord''s mansion, he was aware that the lord would like to have breakfast with him, he just didn''t care enough to attend, he sent a few mental messages to Julie before he showed a smile and walked out of the gates into the streets, as he walked towards his destination he received looks of admiration and fear from the crowds that made space for him to walk without him saying anything, he briefly wondered what it would be like if they knew he had provoked the war ''...Well, when they know I''ll already have achieved my goals'' A smile formed on Mike''s face as he thought about his goals and how powerful he would be once they were achieved, soon he arrived at his destination, a cafe where Julie was eating her breakfast, he sat down across from her with a smile on his face when he saw that she had ordered him a healthy breakfast that still seemed to be warm "Thanks, dear" Julie whipped her mouth elegantly before she showed a smile and leaned her head in her hands as she watched him eat, but s their peace and quiet was ruined as General Hannibalnded in front of the cafe and approached them, Mike sighed before he showed a diplomatic smile and greeted him "Good morning general" "Good morning, Lord Mike, Lady Julie, I havee to fetch you two" Mike nodded before he took out some coins from his pocket and ced it on the table to pay the bill, then he walked after Hannibal out into the street and cracked his neck before he summoned his wings and flew up into the air after him, Julie followed after next to Mike and soon the three of themnded in an inner courtyard of the lord''s mansion, from there they walked into the building and past a few hallways before they arrived in a dining room with arge table where a few military personal sat along with some noble''s, they were discussing something but stopped once Mike and Julie walked into the room, Mike and Julie sat down undistributed by this and then Mike asked "So? What''s the n?" One of the noble''s stood up and spoke to Mike as well as the entire table "We need to press our advantage and charge after the humans and drive thempletely out of our homnd!" This sentiment was agreed upon by most of the people at the table and seemed to be the popr opinion, Mike sighed before he spoke "No can do, at least not for another 2 days" "...What?" An ufortable silence followed at the table before Hannibal asked to meditate "Why not lord Mike?" Mike sighed before he spoke "Well it''s simple, a 1/10th of my army have died or sustained injuries, they need time to recover and party" "...Party?" Mike sighed again before he asked "Have any of you ever died before..? No? Once one''s soul crosses back it carries inconsistencies, which manifest as emotional outbursts and heightened desirers They need time to vent those out of their system before they are ready to function as proper soldiers again" ''Well, it''s been a long time since I''ve let out so much bullshit Let''s see if they buy it'' The table fell silent before one of the noble''s asked "...So they really are immortal?" Mike nodded "Yeah, we have all been cursed with immortality, all that serve our fairdy Beel" One of the noble''s muttered silently "...Cursed he says" After the meeting, Mike and Julie spent the next 2 days fliting and walking around the city while flirting, but s the two days which Mike had managed to gather was over and so the match began towards the city of Helem, Mike flew along with a group of Wind spirit bodyguards and soon arrived outside the city of Helem and showed a smile when he saw the non-humans which had their mutted bodies strung up on the walls for all to see ''This is sure to set their fury alight Things are proceeding as nned'' Around the end of the day the siege of Helem started, the eyes of the Fire iron soldiers burned with fury as they saw their fellow countrymen being strung up on the walls, Mike and Julie didn''t actively participate in the siege, they simply allowed things to take their curse, as the cruel machine know as war ground the soldiers on both sides in blood for him Finally, on the 6th day of the siege, the north gate was broken, and during the following two days the city was taken over by the non-humans after Mike held another blood offering ritual and woke again he joined the discussion about what to do now, Mike sensed that most of the sentiment was to make peace with the humans, Mike scuffed and spoke "If we advocate for peace now, the enemy will take it as a sign of weakness I understand that you are concerned with the casualties that our forces have suffered so far, but what if my forces were to lead the next siege?" The Wind spirits had yed a passive role ever since they broke the siege of Jr, so they were in top fighting form, the noble''s eyes suddenly began showing signs of greed, they all wanted to fill their coffers with loot from the humannds, eventually, after so more persuasion from Mike they eventually were swayed to attack the closest human city, the border city of Hailmark, with that decided the soldiers began their match on the 3rd day after the recapture of Helem and on the 7th day theyid siege to the city of Hailmark Mike looked at the walls of Hailmark, they were covered in rune formations which he was unable to decipher at first nce, Mike looked over at the gate which was reinforced with rune formations too, and muttered "...1, no 2 hits" Hannibal that stood next to him overheard him and asked "2 hits for what?" Mike showed a smile as he summoned his wings "The gate" Then after sending a mental order, he flew into the air along with Julie, they were outside the range of the enemy acres, and spell users, then he took the hammer off his belt and stroked it a few times before he bit his finger and spoke "[Elder blood bestowal]!" 10 drops of elder blood dripped down andnded on the hammer that began humming louder and louder, then he flew further into the air, and when he reached just below the clouds he suddenly disappeared from view as he pped his wings hard sending him flying towards the gate, at the halfway point he threw the hammer that sounded out with a sonic boom as it broke the sound barrier, a split secondter it hit the gate that curved inwards as a shockwave spread out, Mike appeared back at his one lines as the Wind spirits let out cheers and the other non-humans were stunned by the sheer power of Mike''s throw, Hannibal included that quicklypared his one strength to that of Mike''s before he shook his head and muttered "What a monster" Mike opened his hand called back the hammer that soon returned to his hand from the half smashed gate, then he muttered "That''s one hit" Then he ruse into the air again, at this point the humans was starting to panic and fired their spells and arrows after Mike fruitlessly as he once again descended and threw the hammer again, a thunderous boom sounded out as the gate was splintered to pieces, the Wind spirits led out another roar of excitement, Mikended and raised his hand grasping the knife before he yelled "FORWARDS!!!" A ground-shaking roar sounded out from the Wind spirits charged forwards, Mike lowered the knife and showed a satisfied smile, before he stealthy used [Drink] to heal the internal injuries he had cursed by manipting his own blood flow, as for why he had cursed internal injuries to himself was simple, it was to boost his own strength using [Blood for blood] ''While I am strong right now, no way I can break down a city gate reinforced with rune formations in two hits without using [Blood for blood]... Not yet anyway'' Mike stopped his train of thought and decided to charge along with the egger WInd spirits, as he pped his wings he flew past the walls and kneed an enemy soldier in the chest to kill his speed before he shouted "[Blood domination: blood puppets]!" As the human soldiers around him turned into puppets he muttered "...There are no strings on me heh, well there is on them at the moment" Chapter 154: Level 8 Chapter 154: Level 8 Mike walked along the main street of Heilmark, well walking would not be the right word ughtered would be more urate, yes he ughtered along the main street of Heilmark, to be more precise he led a beachhead, he was on the front of the fight between the non-humans and the humans, next to him was Julie and above him was an orb of blood that was so massive and concentrated that it blocked out most of the sunlight below it, the only light that escaped from under the orb of blood was sparks and reflections from the weapons that shed, sounds where more present than light as screams of the injured and the whines that the blood puppets let out as they killed their formerrades, Mike himself was at the front of the fight, farming experience from the mostly level 5 soldiers that tired fruitlessly to kill him, as Mike stabbed a soldier in the neck and swiftly pulled out the knife as the blood sttered out he muttered "403" As he swung the hammer and turned a soldiers head into paste he muttered "404" As he punched a soldier in the chest shattering his heart with one blow he muttered "405" As he fired off a [Blood boiler] and the poor soul it hit vaporized he muttered "406... " Julie that was beside him quickly asked as she cleaved a soldier in half "Didn''t you skip one?" "407, no that was a double kill" "Oh, I see, I better pick up the pace then... 402" This continued for a while until the beachhead reached the lord''s mansion, by now the defense of Heilmark was but a fleeting dream for the humans, still, they fought on, Mike showed a sinister smile, he knew that they knew about the raids he had conducted, and thus they knew what was toe, thus they fought on Even though the battle was already lost, and they were correct to fight as the hatred of the non-humans had to be repaired, tooth for tooth, blood for blood ''This is turning out to be perfect A long war is the best oue...'' As Mike shed the head of another soldier he suddenly felt it, he had felt this feeling before and quickly sent a mental message to Julie before he took direct control of a few elite Wind spirits and summoned his wings before he took flight and flew Towards the temple "MOVE OR DIE!" Mike roared as hended in front of the temple that was filled with people, it wasmon sense that the temple was holy ground, and thus across races, bloodshed was forbidden on this holy ground. The temples thus became the ce where civilians would flee to once the gates were breached, frightened screams sounded out as Mikended but soon it became quiet as the people there opened a path for him, they were mostly level 3 and below, they knew what his wings represented, only the foolish, the ones with nothing to lose Or the young and brave would block his way, Mike narrowed his eyes as a young man blocked his path, but quickly sent a mentalmand to the Wind spirits he had brought with him, one of them walked in front of Mike and showed a friendly smile to the youth before she grabbed him and dragged him outside the temple before she Well ate him alive, and not in a sexual way, no she ate him alive, bite for bite He only breathed hisst after he had begged for his life for a good 3 minutes, 3. Long. Minutes "As I said, move or die" This proved to be a rather well-received threat, at least Mike didn''t hear any whining orining about it, in fact, it seemed that one elderly had died of shock from watching the ordeal, now unobstructed Mike walked into a prayer room and shut the door behind him, with a dozen level 7 Wind spirits standing guard outside the door he put his hand onto the crystal ball that soon disyed his stats Name: Mike ss: Blood demon Age: 35 Level: 7 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] [Blood control] [Blood storage] [Blood magic: Blood domination] [Elder blood bestowal] [Wings of Blood] Magic type: Blood Experience: 500.000.000.000 / 500.000.000.000 Level up Y/N? Mike showed a smile and moved his finger over the Y and pressed it, then he felt the exhrating feeling of growing stronger all in an instance, only this ''fix'' was far greater than any he had ever felt before, Mike showed a smile as he flexed his hand a few times to judge his new strength ''2,5 No 3 times as strong'' And that was just an estimate, he didn''t know for sure how strong he was before he fought someone who he could go all out against ''Now I am one step closer to killing Jane'' Mike showed a slightly sinister smile as he put his hand back onto the crystal ball that soon showed his new stats Name: Mike ss: Blood demon Age: 35 Level: 8 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] [Blood control] [Blood storage] [Blood magic: Blood domination II] [Elder blood bestowal] [Wings of Blood] [Blood reading] Magic type: Blood Experience: 0 / 1500.000.000.000 "Neat [Blood reading] and what looks like an upgrade to [Blood magic] huh Well, I have things to do before I can y around with my new skill'' Mike exited the prayer room after he waited for the crystal ball to reset, once he stepped out of the room he found all the Wind spirit''s bowed down as they spoke in unison """""Congrattions master""""" Mike nodded as he spoke "Well then, let''s get on with it" Mike walked out of the temple followed by the Wind spirits that had guarded him under the watchful eyes and scared eyes of the people that took refuge in the temple, then once he was out on the street he cracked his neck before he simply and lightly jumped over to the next street over ''Jep I am definitely stronger now Let''s see exactly how much'' Mike crouched down before he jumped with all his strength, in a matter of seconds he cleared the rooftops, and over the next few moments he cleared the city walls before he reached just under the clouds before he began to feel the gravity take hold over him, Mike didn''t panic he simply used the height he found himself at to get a look at the situation in the city below, he was clear of one thing, there wasn''t any level 8 people in the city besides Hannibal ''Well then let''s end this'' Mike descended with the help of his wings before he smashed down onto the pavement sending up dust before he yelled "Enough!" s he yelled he let out his overwhelming amount of pressure, Hannibal saw what he was doing and let out his pressure too, a few momentster the battlefield fell silent The ughter that the humans were expecting never came, instead, they suffered an equally terrible fate, men women and children were all enved, every single one of them, then they were transported back into non-humannds, this took a couple of weeks to arrange, just ording to Mike''s ns, he even purposely slowed down the process of escorting the ves to give the humans more time, as for why? ''Well, that''s because I want the humans to band together Which they will need some time to do'' Mike wanted to escte this war, he wanted very much to set the entire continent alight with the mes of war, something which he would do almost anything to achieve ''Well for now we prepare for a skirmish My servants tell me that the humans have started to move'' The next day Mike woke up as usual and woke up Julie, then without informing Hannibal he sent a mental message to all 1600 Wind spirit''s that then dropped what they were doing and gathered in the central za which Mike floated above, soon Julie also arrived, and just as Mike was about to order the match Hannibal showed up "...Are you moving your forces lord Mike?" "Yeah, we''ll hit the city to the north" Hannibal knew that this would leave his forces vulnerable to attack, but he knew that he had no authority to force him, so he simply said "Godspeed, lord Mike,dy Julie" "Yeah, we''ll be off now Time to start the hunt!" The WInd spirits let out a roar of excitement, then the horde began moving out of the city before they headed north, Mike set up a matching formation which had level 7''s in the front searching and swiftly eliminating enemy scouts, this was very unusual for this world as normally the level 7''s would be kept in reserve as the elite and not be worked at all, after all once level determined one''s status ''...This should get us rtively unnoticed to the next city And without the pesky Dwarfs, we can ughter the whole city without a problem'' Chapter 155: Protagonist Chapter 155: Protagonist The horde of Wind spirit''s moved like a swarm of locusts across thend, killing and eating any person, animal, or magic beast they found, the small viges and settlements were wiped out by them and Mike performed a blood sacrifice at every one of the viges, after all, who would say no to free blood? ''...We should be reaching the next city to the north within a few hours'' Mike showed a smile, he was matching along with the rest of the regr army, he chatted with the Wind spirits to boost their morale, something which proved to be very effective ''...Well as long as they''re happy'' Soon the horde approached the next big city, or rather Mike did, he had decided to do a sneak attack on the city with the level 7 Wind spirits and that was easier to do when the gates already were open, they flew close to the ground, and when they were about 3 kilometers out they were spotted by the guardsmen on the walls "But that''s toote!" Mike pped his wings hard and created a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier, then a red half-transparent barrier formed around his body before he smashed into the almost closed gate, breaking it apart, then he sent out a few metal messages to the Wind spirits behind him, the flying horde spread out and began surrounding the city while the non-flying horde that was waiting out of sight of the city began moving in, in the meantime Mike was busy fighting the lord of this city, but only for about a minute since that was when he managed tond a shallow cut on his arm "[Drink]" Watching the former level 8, now drained corpse fall to the ground Mike showed a slight smile, then a sorrowful scream came from the lord''s mansion "Father!!!" Mike showed a smile before he sent a series of mental messages to the Wind spirits that were near the lord''s mansion as Mike himself slowly descended in front of the lord''s mansion and locked eyes with a teenage boy around 16 years old, he bore a striking resemnce to the person Mike had just murdered "...Yes, you''ll do nicely" Then before the servants and guards managed to react Mikended right in front of the teenager and reached you to grab his face covering his eyes before he lifted him up from the ground and spoke "Do it!" The nearby Wind spirits sprung into action and for the next 2 minutes the lord''s son struggled to get free from Mike as his servants and guards were ughtered around him, he could only listen, as he was powerless against Mike half an hourter the final scream sounded out, Mike showed a smile and sat the lord''s son down again before he removed his hand Mike asked "Do you know why you are still alive?" Only sobs sounded out from the lord''s son, still, Mike continued speaking as he didn''t really care for a response "...Because I''ll feast on your dispairter if your capable of surviving that is" Mike let go of the lord''s son, he sank down as despair got the better of him as he looked around at the ughter around him, screams sounded out constantly from the city as the city people were ughtered in the cruelest ways possible, some were eaten alive even, the lord''s son looked at Mike with empty eyes "What the fuck are you looking at!? RUN YOU CHICKEN FUCK!" Mike released his blood lust spurring the lord''s son to stumble to his feet and run, as soon as he was out of sight Mike sent a mental message to the WInd spirits as a smile formed on his face, Juliended beside him and asked "What''s got you so cheerful?" Mike shrugged before he spoke "Nothing, I just found my protagonist" "Protagonist..? Oh right, that n you spoke about Are you really sure that''s a good idea?" Mike paused for a moment before he nodded "Well it could backfire spectacrly" Julie sighed before she shook her head and muttered "I can''t tell if you''re getting more and more confident or if you''re just in cocky" "Well That''s why I love you so much Julie, you always tell me thees things straight" Mike hugged Julie suddenly as he spoke, the two of them shared a moment among the screams of terror and despair that sounded out around them in the city that was in the process of being sacked Over the next month, Mike and Julie razed another 2 cities to the ground along with countless viges, Mike made sure to do a blood sacrifice at each one of the ces that the horde of Wind spirits stopped, soon they were about 15% there in terms of blood required for the elder demon to materialize permanently in this world ''Things are progressing smoothly But I think it''s time'' Mike nodded before he spoke out loud "We''re pulling out" Julie nodded "My gut feeling is telling me the same, we need to leave" "Well then, let''s get going" The entire horde suddenly turned around and began heading back towards the forest, after 3 days of matching they had left the humannds, but the destruction they had left behind remained, so did the resentment towards the non-humans. Over the next 2 months, the non-human advance into humannds halted before they began suffering defeat after defeat and then finally after general Hannibal was killed in action in the city Heilmark after being besieged by 5 level 8''s for an entire day the attack into humannds was pushed back to the original border between the cities Helem on the non-human side and Jr on the human side respectively, the war seemed to havee to a standstill and the Fire iron noble''s wanted to cut their losses and sign a peace deal with the humans But none of the messengers ever returned, clearly the humans wanted more blood out of this war "Things are proceeding as nned" "What''s that Mike?" "Well I''ve just been informed by one of my human servants that the humans rejected the peace offer sent by the non-humans, most of them are burning with righteous fury and there have been some talks about eliminating the non-humans entirely Things are proceeding towards a total war of annihtion" "That''s good... " "Yeah, things are moving as nned" Mike''s n was rather simple, he wanted to start a long and bloody war that would generate enough blood for him to summon the elder demon to this ne of existence permanently "... And that would be the end of the humans on this continent" Julie nodded before she sat herself up in the bed and looked over at Mike that was still looking up into the ceiling before she asked "And then we''ll live happily ever after?" Mike nodded "That''s the n" "...And then you won''t object to having a child?" "....No" "Yay! I luv you Mike~" Julie snuggled up to Mike, they had been discussing having children for the past half year now and this was the first time Mike had given a definitive answer, normally he would just say "I''ll think about it" or "now''s not the time" so understandably Julie was rather happy and quickly snuggled up to Mike, for a bit the two of them looked up into the ceiling before Mike suddenly muttered "I wonder if I''ll be a better dad than my dad was Or if the circle will continue..." "I''m sure you''ll be a great dad Mike" "You think so?" "Yeah, of course" "I see Then do you want a boy or a girl?" Julie thought a few moments before she answered "...Why not both?" Mike smiled his smile was nothing like the usual slight smile he showed, this was a smile he only showed when Julie was around before he spoke "Yeah Why not both?" While Mike and Julie was flirting the atmosphere in the capital of the Fire iron race there hang a particrly heavy air, especially in the castle that stood in the middle of the city, this heavy mood came from the king that listened to a report that was being read to him by a messenger "---And on the 63rd day of the upation our army was forced to retreat following the death of general Hannibal" The king remained silent for a bit, he was an almighty level 9, his every action seemedced with power, and even though he wasn''t actively circting his mana an oppressive feeling was still felt in the entire castle, after a period of silence the king spoke "...And what of the Wind spirits?" "...They seemed to have pulled back to theirnds after raiding a total of 3 cities" The king nodded before he ordered "Send a delegation to the Wind spirits along with payment for their previous actions, I''ll personally speak with the leader of the delegation and inform him of his purpose for visiting the WInd spirits" Chapter 156: 2nd delegation Chapter 156: 2nd delegation "Haa Haa" A lone figure walked along the dirt road, he was tattered looking and his clothes were torn and covered in dried blood, he was walking rather slowly after all this was the 2nd day he had been on his way towards his destination without rest, food or water, his eyes, as expected were clouded over, but not from exhaustion or dehydration, no it was from hatred and anger, as he stumbled he only just managed to pull himself up as he muttered the name of his sworn enemies "Wind Spirits!" What he had seen when he escaped his home city, the city of Kel, was a hellscape beyond reason or logic, people being hunted down in the streets, captured and being eaten alive "Those Demons!" Even now he could still hear it, the sounds of his family and servants being torn apart and eaten alive, the sound of his people being ughtered, the looks of disdain the Wind spirits had when they looked at him as he ran for his life "I''ll kill them All those dirty non-humans!" Within the next few hours, he reached his destination, the city of Fere, where he copsed at the gates after uttering his name "I am Duke Kel" Mikezed around for the next few days until he received a mental message from one of the Wind spirit''s and suddenly got up before he quickly began getting dressed, much to Julie''s surprise, she watched him for a bit before she asked "Has the Fire iron''s sent another delegation?" Mike nodded "Yeah, along with payment, I need to go wee them now" "...I see" Julieid the book aside and stood up from the leaning chair she was sitting in and walked over next to Mike and helped him button his shirt before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "Good luck" Mike showed a smile before he spoke "I''m off" Mike summoned his wings and flew out of the courtyard where he and Julie had beenzing around, soon he arrived in the central za where he found the delegation waiting for him, hended smoothly on the ground before he folded his wings behind his back and unsummoned them as he did all the Wind spirits on the za bowed down to him, Mike showed a slight smile and waved his hand which signaled them to get up before he looked at the FIre iron''s that hade with the delegation and spoke "Wee, please have a seat" The head of the delegation was the same noble as thest delegation, he nodded and sat down, Mike showed a smile and sat down as well before he asked "So What do I owe this visit to?" The noble in the expensive-looking clothes gathered his thought for a bit before he began speaking, Mike listened along, as he did his poker face began to slightly crack as his mind went into overdrive ''Shit that king is good Maybe I shouldn''t have performed a blood sacrifice in front of the Fire iron''s Well, what done is done'' What had happened was basically this, the king of the Fire irons had figured out Mike''s purpose for fighting in the war, or at least part of it, which were the blood sacrifices, the delegate had not said this directly, of course, instead, he had made up a long excuse about how they were running out of monster cores and had to lower his fee by 20% "---That is if the WInd spirits have an interest in continuing the war effort and strengthening the bonds of our two races" Mike showed a smile while he considered for a moment if he should off the entire delegation right now and cut his losses, but s saner thought prevailed and as he faked an expression of apparent greed he asked "How many soldiers does your king want to borrow this time?" After the negotiations concluded Mike saw off the delegation before he asked the Wind spirits to confirm the payment which was stacked in leather bags in the corner of the za, this continued until evening, Mike showed a smile as he muttered "2.500 monster cores Not bad" From there the monster cores were quickly distributed to the Wind spirits that were close to leveling up with the ones closest to level 7 being prioritized, as a result from the 2.500 monster cores a total of 337 new level 7''s were born, these would help bolster their numbers, this was an unheard way of doing things, but Mike didn''t have the usual concerns of the other leaders in this world, after all, he was the only one with absolute loyalty among his followers "And that is my biggest advantage" After another week passed the horde of Wind spirits were once again on the prowl, this time there were 1.000 level 7''s and 2.000 level 6''s, this horde moved towards the city of Helem where they would link up with the Fire iron army and match towards Jr, this time, however, would be nothing like thest time as the humans had used their alliances''works to call in reinforcements ''I heard Hannibal died fighting 5 level 8''sWell he was rather weak still Maybe it''s me that''s strong?'' Mike didn''t realize at this point, but the fact that he had elder blood in his body made him Shall we say a monster? Anyway, his pure physical stats were way higher than any other level 8 in this world, this was also due to the fact that he went through insane physical training once a week where he would not only push his body to the limit but also train his mental capacity via his ability to heighten control over his servants. After traveling for a few days the horde arrived at the city of Helem where they were weed by a level 8 general named Gorge, he spoke respectfully enough but Mike could feel it, the hidden disdain towards not only himself but the Wind spirits he led, so he put on a smile and greeted Gorge "...Wee Mike" "Nice to meet you, Gorge" "Humph that''s general Gorge to you" Mike sighed before he suddenly released his overwhelming presence and punched out towards Gorge that hurriedly put up a barrier which was instantly smashed under Mike''s punch before he was sent flying backward and crashed into the city walls which only just stopped his momentum, Gorge coughed up blood, then Mike spoke out loudly "Your king has politely asked us to be here, we have no interest in your war, there are other ways to get the blood we require" Gorge was furious and yelled "Then why don''t you get the fuck back to your forest, damn sluts, only good at spreading your legs!" "Now now, little Gorge We made an agreement with your king and we intend to honor it" Gorge coughed up more blood, but this time out of anger, calling any of the Fire iron''s for ''little'' were an insult that was never tolerated "Now then, we''ll be camping on the east side of the city, good day little Gorge" "STOP RIGHT THERE!" Mike ignored the yells of Gorge and kept walking hand in hand with Julie, the horde of Wind spirits began setting up camp on the east side of the city as Mike had instructed "Are you sure it''s alright to provoke the Fire iron''s general, Mike?" "Yeah it''s fiiiiiine" Julie sighed before she shook her head and decided to stop asking him about it whenever Mike responded that way it was because he had a rather sinister n in the works, or it was also a possibility that he just didn''t care to exin himself, either way, Julie was used to how Mike was acting by now, after all, they had been together for some time ''That''s what is so cute about him Better not say that to his face though, men always like to act cool, even though they''re all fluff inside, at least Mike is'' Julie looked at Mike with loving eyes for a bit before she hugged his arm and spoke "I love you, Mike" Mike showed a smile as he spoke "I love you too Julie" While Mike and Julie were flirting Duke, the sole survivor of the massacre of Kel woke up with a set, he sat himself up in the bed he wasying in and looked around before he spotted a maid that was standing in the corner of the room, he quickly asked "Where''s this..?" The maid lowered her head in a bow before she spoke "This is the lord''s mansion, you have been asleep for about a day" "...I see Could you inform the lord that I''ve woken up?" "The lord has already been informed" "That''s good" Dukeid himself down onto the bed again and looked into the ceiling, even now he could still hear the screams from his home as it was getting ripped apart by the demons known as Wind spirits Chapter 157: Kin Chapter 157: Kin Duke sighed as he finished getting dressed, he had just taken a shower though he didn''t feel clean at all, even now when he looked at his hands he still felt that they were covered in blood, the blood of his people ''....I''ll get revenge for all of us But'' Duke sighed once again, he was only level 5 and his natural talent seemed to have reached its end, he was never the one that should have inherited the city "Sister Nell" Duke muttered the name of his sister who was studying in the noble''s academy at the moment, he had always looked up to her "What should I do I need my revenge, our revenge" Duke continued thinking and muttering out loud for the next 15 minutes until there was a knock on the door "Yes?" A voice sounded out from the other side of the door, the voice of the maid who had been assigned to him "Are you done with your bath lord Duke?" "Yes, I''ve just finished You cane in, I am dressed" The maid opened the door and walked in before she bowed her head and spoke "The lord is ready for you, please follow me" "...Yes I''ll count on you to lead me to him" Mike was busy stuffing his face, with food, of course, he was currently on his 36th te of roasted meat and 12th te of grilled vegetables, Julie watched him eat with a slight smile, she asked him "How much more?" Mike chewed before he raised 3 fingers, Julie tilted her head and asked "3? 3 what? tes? Whole roasts?" "tes Jesus woman, what do you think of me..?" "Jesus? Who''s that?" "Our Lord and savior of course, well not mine Or ours Not anymore anyway" "You''re not making any sense Mike" "Well anyway, 3 more tes of each, and I should be good" "Of each" Julie sighed before she sent a mental message to the Wind spirits ordering more food, once Mike finished eating the 3 tes he breathed out and crossed his legs, and closed his eyes, and went into a trance as he began muttering gibberish sounds that sounded like something in-between ss breaking and something ancient hissing at an intruder on its territory, Julie watched him for a moment to make sure he was okay then she stood up and sent a mental message to all the Wind spirits in the vicinity "Close it off Kill all who attempts to enter the building!" Then she summoned her [Demon sword] and stroked the de for a bit before she sat down and closed her eyes, focusing on the mentalwork and the sounds around her, outside the building the WInd spirits locked down the area and stood guard A few hourster horrible roars of pain were heard from inside the building as the entire area shook as Mike was in the process of changing, Julie could hardly believe what she was seeing, Mike''s entire body was being reforged as he hovered mid-air with crossed legs, suddenly a voice sounded out in the room "Humph Took him longer than I expected" Julie shuddered, instinctively she knew that this was the one Mike had talked about, so she bowed down at once and spoke "Elder" "You must be Julie Indeed a splendid child, Mike has chosen well" "I am honored" Julie peeked over towards Mike and saw that his body now was covered in blue mes, she felt worried for him and was about to reach out to him when the elder spoke again "Don''t worry child Everything is fine" "I Okay" Julie watched as Mike''s skin began melting off showing his muscles underneath, soon they also melted showing his organs and bones, with a sh most of the organs melted away leaving only his brain inside his skull and his white bones that soon were charred by the fire, Julie asked the elder "Is this really okay?" "Hush child Mike is being reborn, watch" As the elder spoke Mike''s now pitch ck bones began being covered with muscles as his organ regrew, only his muscles were a dark blue instead of the normal red, then skin regrew, it was a dark blue color, and a tail also grew from his tailbone which had a spaded tip made of bone, his horns were also longer and they were a dull blue color, the triangle mark in the middle of his forehead had turned into a bright red six-pointed star, the elder spoke again, Julie could sense the joy in her voice for the first time "...And that''s that, Mike has now been reborn as my kin" Julie stood up and walked over to Mike before she called out to him "Mike" Julie felt the presence of the elder disappear, Julie touched Mike''s skin, it felt smooth to the touch, Mike twitched before he slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times before he looked over at Julie before he showed a smile, the white''s of his eyes had turned ck and the pupils and irises had turned blue, Mike suddenly spoke out "All your base are belong to us" "....What?" Mikeughed before he exined "You know because I look like an alien now?" Julie looked even more confused so Mike simply patted her on the head and asked "How do I look?" Julie showed a sweet smile before she took his hand and cuddled it against her cheek "Like my husband" "Oh I see Well, I feel, a little Blue?" "Yeah, you are blue Mike And your bones are ck" "...Like a true demon of hell..." Mike feel silent for a moment as he began thinking as he did his new tail began swinging from side to side until he suddenly caught it in his peripheral vision and turned his head "Wait what the fuck!" He quickly grabbed his tail and began examining it before he muttered "I have a question for the elder Why?" Julie looked at his new tail for a moment before she spoke "I think it''s cute" Mike paused before he sighed and epted his new limb, then he muttered "This is going to take some getting used to" Julie nodded before she sent out a mental message to the Wind spirits to lower the security around the building again The next day Mike walked out of the building into the sun, the people on the street looked at him in awe for a few seconds before they seemed to ept his changed appearance, Mike offered his hand to Julie "Here mydy, let me escort you around" Julie giggled and took his hand before the two of them set off to stroll the streets, they seemed entirely unconcerned by the fact that a human army with about 5.000 soldiers had been reported heading in this direction and would arrive sometime tomorrow, they simply strolled around the city, stopping to eat on the way at a cafe, as they were strolling around Mike and Julie suddenly felt a hostile gaze on them and looked over, a soldier from the Fire iron army walked over and spoke "Mike and Julie?" Mike narrowed his eyes slightly as his tail swung from side to side behind his legs, Julie also felt annoyed being interrupted and asked "That''s us, what do you want?" The soldier spoke, still without a shred of respect "General Gorge has requested a meeting, follow after me" Mike narrowed his eyes to slits and just as he was about to end this pitiful creature Julie spoke "We''re busy, so why don''t you tell your so-called general toe to us?" The soldier trembled with rage before he asked "...Will you reconsider?" "No, now fuck off" "....Understood" After the soldier stormed off Mike breathed a sigh before he asked Julie "Want to watch the sunset from the walls?" "Sure Mike" Meanwhile, the soldier returned to general Gorge with haste, once he had reported Mike and Julie''s refusal he gave a salute before he turned and left the office, inside the office Gorge sat in a chair, he was fuming with rage and swore "I''ll gut you like a pig Mike!" The night passed quietly and the next day dawned, Julie woke up and found no sign of Mike so she quickly contacted him on the mentalwork "I am on the southern wall" "Okay I''ll be right there" Julie sighed as her ns of morning cuddles were thrown out of the window as she quickly got dressed in her clothes and then she wore her leather armor and summoned her wings and flew off towards the southern part of the wall, there she quickly found Mike that was watching the human army in the distance with a slight frown on his face, Julie walked over and stood next to him and for a bit the two of them said nothing until suddenly Mike let out a sigh before he spoke "Well then, let''s see what the humans have in store this time Though with you by my side Julie I fear nothing" "...I feel the same way Mike" The two of them linked hands as they stood and watched the approaching army Chapter 158: 1 vs 7 Chapter 158: 1 vs 7 As Mike and Julie stood on the wall and looked at the approaching human army Mike pondered out loud "...I wonder if I can take it all down by myself?" Julie that stood beside him thought for a moment before she asked "That''s about 5.000 men you know? About a fourth of them seems to be flying too" "Yeah To be precise it''s 5.123 men and there''s currently 2.642 flying with the possibility that there''s more that are above level 7" "How do you know their exact numbers?" "I counted them Just now" Julie suddenly looked tired as she sighed "Of course you counted them How high spec is your new body?" "Hmm" Mike flexed his free hand a few times before he answered "About twice as strong But that''s not the real improvement if I focus I can slow down my perception of time to about a quarter, so my processing power is a lot better than before, my senses also seem to have been ramped up to 22 from 1, Oh and my tail can do this" Mike''s tail suddenly seemed to grow longer as the spaded tip of bone also grew to the size of an axe head, a triangle bone axe head that was sharp enough to cut through stone "Oh Then why don''t you go ahead, I''ll follow along with the soldiers" "Sure I''m off my love" "See you in a bit darling" Mike gave Julie a quick kiss on the cheek before he jumped down from the wall andnded on the ground, briefly stopping to put up a half-transparent barrier before he kicked off the ground instantly forming a sonic boom before an instantter he charged into the enemy''s ranks, from where Julie stood she only saw a red streak of light across the open ground before it smashed into the human army breaking the front lines like a rock being thrown into water, the heavy infantry that made up the font simply formed ripples outward from the impact as they were blown away "Not so heavy after all" Mike continued charging through the walls of soldiers, he wasn''t slowed down at all and a few momentster he emerged on the other side of the army, where their supply train was located "Well don''t mind if I do" Mike drew the knife which glinted under the sunlight before he began reaping havoc among the supply train of the human army, speaking of the human arm they were still in total confusion, and the chain ofmand had not yet been restored, if this was a fistfight between two people the human army would still be fumbling around on the ground after receiving a left hook to the chin from Mike that now were busy going through their wallet while taking pictures of their credit cards before snapping them in half. When the army finally reorganized itself a painful 10 minutester Mike was about half done with smashing up their supplies and siege engines, the human army seemed to have given up on their supply train as themand to begin firing spells rang out, Mike showed a smile before he summoned his wings and pped them once disappearing from view in an instant, leaving behind a sonic boom "Above!" It was unclear who yelled but all looked up, they only caught a glimpse of a red streak that passed through them andnded in the middle of the human army, the best-protected ce was breached so easily, there seven figures stood and watched Mike with horror, they were the seven level 8''s, one of them, a young woman could notpose herself and drew her sword as she charged Mike alone "Die!" An elderly man saw this and quickly yelled "No Nicole,e back!" The one called Nicole only felt a gust of wind before she looked down and saw her own headless body, she wanted very much to scream "That''s the first" Mike bnced the head of the woman on his tail tip before he threw it into the air and punched it shattering the head into a bloody mist before he tilted his head and asked "Who wants to be next?" The ordinary soldiers backed off, leaving room for the seven remaining level 8''s to duke it out, the elder from before yelled out "He''s strong..! We need to take him together!" "Yeah, no shit gramps, he did in Nicole!" Mike sighed before he released his blood lust and asked again "As I asked before: Who wants to be next?" The six level 8''s felt overwhelmed by Mike''s blood lust, the elder turned to Mike before he spoke, or rather asked "...Who, or what are you..? I''ve never seen a non-human like you before" Mike showed a slight smile before he announced in a voice that was heard by the entire human army "Hear me and tremble in fear, I am Mike, humble servant of our fairdy Beel!" One of the younger level 8''s showed a sneer as he spoke "Tremble in fear he says Tell me, non-human scum, can you co---" "That''s the second" A tremble went through the now remaining five level 8''s as they turned towards Mike that now bnced another head on the tip of his tail, the victim was naturally the youth that had called Mike a ''non-human scum'' "I''ll have you know that words like that hurt, well probably not as much as getting your head severed Oh well" Mike shrugged before he threw the head into the air and caught it with his right hand and looked at the remaining five level 8''s as he showed a dreadful smile he asked once more "Who wants to be next?" The elder felt a cold sweat before he realized what Mike was doing ''This is bad, he''s breaking our spirit I have to do something'' The more he thought about the more sure he felt that this was the case so he used a skill "[Rallying cry]!" The skill was a support skill that boosted his aliases mental fortitude and managed to calm them down before he kicked off the ground as he yelled "We need to hit him all at once!" Mike''s smile widened slightly before he opened his hand and the hammer flew up andnded in his hand, then with a quick backswing he swung the hammer towards the charging elder that had raised his shield as he yelled "[Stone skin], [Shield bash]!" "MAXIMUM EFFORT!" The hammer and the shield met as Mike yelled out before a sizeable shockwave spread out pushing back the regr soldiers a few meters, with the shook wave the elder was pushed back four steps but to his horror, Mike remained standing in the same spot with the knife ready as 2 level 8''s attacked him from each side, their coordination was excellent, but s they stuck empty air as Mike kicked off the ground and retreated backward, as he did arrows came flying after him from another level 8, Mike scoffed and caught one of the arrows with his left hand right in front of his eye socket while he deflected the rest with his tail "...Is that all?" "I am happy you asked!" Thest level 8 that had yet to attack fired off a fire spell which he had been preparing as the others attacked Mike, Mike scoffed and bit his finger and dropped a drop of dark red blood onto the hammer as he spoke "[Elder blood bestowal]!" Then he threw the hammer at the giant fireball, under the stunned gazes of the people watching the hammer opened up like a maw and sucked in the entire fireball before it flew back to Mike that stroked the hammer as he asked "...That''s all right..? Then it''s my turn!" Mike summoned his wings and pped them as he kicked off the ground, he went straight for the mage whose head went flying the next instance, though it had not been costless as two deep cuts on Mike''s arm and leg showed up a momentter, the two swordsmen had almost managed to intercept Mike "...Ouch" One of the swordsmen cheered along with the watching soldiers "He''s injured, finish him!" The elder felt something was wrong but nevertheless still pushed along with the two swordsmen, Mike blocked the two swords with his hammer and the knife, then it happened, suddenly swords pierced the two swordsmen from behind, it was the two headless bodies that had risen and attacked their former allies in the back at this critical moment, Mike smiled and muttered "[Blood domination II: Blood puppets]" The surrounding soldiers lost their cool and began fleeing in terror as Julie attacked with the Wind spirits, only the level 8 elder stood back and sighed "We really underestimated you Mike was it? Will you hear an old man''sst request?" Mike nodded with a calm smile on his face, then the elder spoke again "Finish me with your strongest attack! So my children may know that their father fought with pride!" "Sure, it''ll cost you though" Mike bit his finger and dropped a drop of dark red blood onto the knife that let out a scream of excitement before a scythe formed out of red energy, the elder roared and raised his shield as he charged Mike that shed down with the scythe as the red energy hit the shield, the shield came alive and suddenly closed itself backward chopping off the elder''s arm before Mike passed him by and left a sh on his neck and muttered "[Drink]" Chapter 159: Meeting Chapter 159: Meeting Mike picked up the newly acquired shield and looked it over, it was in surprisingly good shape considering he had just hit it with the hammer, though it seemed to be regenerating slowly "I think I''ll keep you" Mike put the knife back in its sheath before he picked up the shield and began walking back towards the city, however, he suddenly stopped and looked to the top of the walls where Groge stood and looked down upon him with a look of smouldering rage, the army Mike had just defeated was his achievement to be made, not Mike''s, s Groge weren''t that stupid and had seen how Mike had eliminated seven level 8''s with ease, so he kept his rage hidden (as best he could, which was pretty badly) and gave a huff before he turned away and gave the orders to give chase to his aside that would pass the order down the chain ofmand, Mike soon returned to the city and sat on the top of the southern walls and waited for Julie to return with the Wind spirit army as he hummed a song Duke hit the wall in front of him with his fist "Shit" He was behaving unsightly, he knew that, but it was just too much to bear, the family that owned the city had proposed for him to marry into their family, to be precise to marry one of the daughters, that was 43 years old, Duke himself was 19 years old ''No way in hell I am going to marry an old hag like her..!'' He felt himself getting cornered if he didn''t ept that offer he would likely be thrown out of the city and left to die in the wilderness ''I need to clear my head'' Duke walked out of his room and after declining the offer of an escort he walked out into the city to clear his head, this proved to be a stupid decision as he soon found himself running through backstreets running from a gang of robbers that wanted his expensive-looking clothes ''Shit'' As he turned a sharp corner he almost ran into another person and tripped, the person caught him before he fell onto the ground, however, when he opened his eyes again he was stunned to see that the person that had caught him was a woman that muttered "Why hello there" Duke felt a bolt of lightning go through him, he had never seen such a beautiful person before, she was perfect in every way, perhaps because of the events of the day he muttered "...Please marry me" "...Eh?" The woman dropped Duke out of shock, Duke hit his head on the ground "Ouch..!" "Oh, sorry Are you okay?" "Yeah Don''t worry about it. But never mind that, please marry me!" The woman blushed quickly before she covered her face with her hands, at that moment the pursuing thieves turned the corner "There he is!" Duke ignored the thieves and kept looking the beautiful woman in her eyes as he awaited an answer, but one of the thieves punched him in the face as he cursed "How dare you run from us, damn noble!" Duke quickly sat himself up again and continued looking the woman in the eyes showing his determination, at that moment the thieves seemed to realize the woman was there, one of them spoke with a lewd look on his face as he reached out to her "What a pretty little thing" Duke saw the thief reach out to the woman and yelled as he quickly got onto his feet "Don''t you dare touch her with your filthy hands!" Duke punched the thief in the face sending him stumbling back, the thief, however, were a confident street fighter and quickly reimagined his bnce before he punched on Duke with the rest of his gang "Get him!" As Duke was being beaten up by the five level 6 thieves the woman seemed dazed and lost in her thoughts only getting out her daze when the thieves had beat Duke half to death, suddenly the air seemed to freeze as the women suddenly circted her mana quickly as a silver spear suddenly appeared in her hands as she spoke in a chilling voice "Stop right this instance!" The thieves froze before they turned to the woman that continued speaking "You are behaving like some kind of dirty non-humans, where has your pride as humans gone!?" The thieves quickly keeled down on the ground as they began begging the woman to spare their lives, Duke, however, seemed rather lost and sighed "Now scam!" The thieves got up and hurriedly ran away, leaving Duke and the woman alone in the ally, Duke sighed before he got up onto his feet and bowed to the woman "I am sorry for my outburst, please forgive me, fairdy" Duke was clear on one thing now, he was going to die after he refused the marriage proposal that the lord had offered him, as for marrying this woman, it was but a pipe dream ''Someone so powerful won''t want someone as weak as me'' The woman looked at Duke before she asked in a surprisingly meek voice "...So are you taking back your proposal?" Duke nodded "Yes, someone as powerful as you surely has lots of better suitors than a noble who''s city has just been burned down by non-human demons" The woman pouted before she spoke "...I don''t" Duke didn''t quite understand what she meant so he asked "You don''t what?" "...I don''t have any suitors" Duke''s mind was blown by that statement, as his mind nked out he muttered "...Then would you marry me?" The woman seemed to turn rather shy before she spoke "You are the first one to defend me since I came to this world Please take good care of me, my name is Jane" Duke couldn''t believe his ears, she had actually angered, he wasn''t going to die after being thrown into the wilderness, he quickly lost confidence however as he asked once more "I am Duke Kel Are you sure you are okay with me?" Jane showed a smile and nodded rather shyly before Duke spoke again "I have nothing I can give you other than my love, my home has been destroyed" Jane quickly seemed to get angry as she yelled "I don''t care about that! You protected me" Duke nodded before he blushed and spoke in a bright voice "Then please take care of me Jane" "Likewise Duke" The two of them blushed as they shook hands before theyughed happily From there time passed until 2 monthster, the war had not escted to a full-on race war as Mike had hoped but at this point, there was enough blood spilt on both sides that it wouldn''t be stopping anytime soon ''Once the gears start turning they won''t be stopping anytime soon'' The border cities had been turned into barracks that housed soldiers and supplies, the war was ramping up like a raging fire getting started, or a truck going 120 with a sleepy driver ''Anyway, it''s starting to get good'' Mike was quite satisfied with the progress so far, especially on the blood sacrifices, they were about 60% done by now, this spoke volumes of how much blood had been spilt on both sides, another thing had also changed in the two months, it seemed that Julie was about to reach level 8, she was infinitely close it seemed, the WInd spirits had also been working hard back home to raise their levels, every few days they would receive reinforcements of about 10 new level 7 Wind spirits, this Mike did to create a false sense of their numbers, to make it look like they were scraping the bottom of their manpower ''Maybe Windpower is a better word?'' Mike sighed before he sat himself up on the bed and looked over at the sleeping Julie next to him and smiled as he touched her forehead, there was a triangle mark much like the one he used to have, this was the sign that she had been epted by the elder demon and were in the process of being turned into one of her kin, elder blood was already flowing in her veins, though it were rather diluted at the moment ''Though that''s going to change soon'' Mike had ordered the WInd spirits to collect monster crystals for Julie so she was quickly increasing the purity of her elder blood, these shipments were the main purpose for the reinforcements as they smuggled them in ''Though my instinct is telling me that something bad is happening soon Better trust my gut this time, we all know what happenedst time, right kids?'' Mike poked Julie''s cheek once, then twice before she caught his finger and spoke to him in a slightly annoyed voice "I swear Mike if you woke me up in the middle of the night to y ''hide the zhini'' I am going to be mad" "No My gut tells me we got to go" Julie opened her eyes and sat herself up and looked at Mike "...Now?" Mike nodded "Yeah, now" Chapter 160: Beastmen Chapter 160: Beastmen As dawn broke general Gorge were informed that there were no sign of any Wind spirits in the entire city "That damned coward! Quickly send a messenger to the ki---" "Reporting!" "What now!?" "Enemy army sighted! approximately 30.000 strong!" Gorge hit his hand into the desk he was sitting behind before he cursed again "Shit, send that messenger quickly, they need to get clear before the siege starts!" A message was quickly drafted before the messenger got a running start before they flew off in the opposite direction of the approaching army, s they didn''t get clear before they were caught by the humans advance parties "Shit! I swear if I survive this I''ll skin Mike alive!" As Gorge was fuming Mike wasying in bed resting soundly after having flown most of the night, the non-flying Wind spirits had also reached the forest by now, so there was nothing to be worried about as they would all be back in the city before noon, way before anyone would be able to run them down On the second day of the siege Gorge, unfortunately, were skewered by Jane''s spear, Jane twisted the spear as she muttered "[Light]" The spear tip, that was buried in Gorge''s chest suddenly lit up before his entire chest was obliterated, Jane pulled back her spear before she yelled loudly "General Gorge is dead! Kill them all!" As the ughtermenced Jane flew back to the forwards camp andnded before she quickly dusted off her clothes and walked into her tent as she called out "I am back Duke" The tent was rather spacious, with clear space to stand and walk around, Duke stopped what he was doing and showed a smile as he greeted Jane "Wee back my dear" Jane nodded and walked over and sat down next to Duke before she kissed him on the cheek and asked "How are you doing so far?" "I am about halfway there" Duke picked up another monster core and crushed it taking a moment to feel the experience flow into him before he picked up another and asked "But are you sure about this Jane, I mean using all your savings on monster cores is just---" "I said it''s fine, I am a woman that''s very devoted to her husband" Duke sighed before he showed a warm but wry smile as he crushed another monster core, he was currently level 6, nearing level 7, this was due to the sheer amount of monster cores he had been crushing so far, he sighed yet another time before he suddenly stood up and walked over and picked up his sword "Let''s go spar a bit" "Sure Duke, you need to get used to your new level right?" "Yeah that too, but mostly I want to move around a bit after sitting around all day" "Okay, then let''s do that" Days passed once again, and with Mike, Julie and the Wind spirits out of the fight once more the war turned in the humans'' favour as they soon prated deep into the Fire iron''snd, Mike, however, was far more concerned with what was happening in front of him as he asked out loud "Is this really fine?" "Rx Mike, you went through the exact same process" Mike was currently looking at Julie''s bones that were in the process of being charred by an unholy me, she was undergoing the transformation to be one of the elder''s kin, soon her organs began regrowing at a rapid pace, then came her muscles and then her skin, which was entirely vermilion red grew over the muscles, she floated mid-air for a few seconds before she opened her eyes, Mike showed a smile as she locked eyes with him before he asked "How do you feel, Julie?" Juliended on the ground and showed a smile "I feel fine, thank you, elder, for watching over my transformation" "You are my kin now You don''t have to thank me" With that, the presence of the elder disappeared, Mike sighed before he stood up and walked over and gave Julie a hug, she was slightly confused but still hugged him back, after a little while she asked "Mike what''s wrong?" "...Nothing I just don''t want to ever see your bones getting charred again" Julie swung her tail from side to side unconsciously as she listened to Mike''s words, then after a bit, she broke the hug "Let me put on some clothes, I am cold" "Sure You could do that, or we could cuddle in bed instead?" Julie looked conflicted for a bit before she eventually nodded, then she spread out her arms as she spoke in a cute-ish voice "Carry me~" Mike could only obey and carried her to bed where the two of them cuddled for a few hours, talking about nothing in particr before they fell asleep, cuddled in each other''s embrace As Mike slept he was suddenly dragged into the elder space again, he greeted her with respect as he bowed his head "Elder" The elder opened her eyes and looked at Mike before she spoke a name which Mike had not heard in a long time "Serina" Mike thought went nk before he asked "What about Serina?" "She has escaped your control, right?" "...Yes, that''s true elder" The elder sighed, a rather long sigh before she spoke again "I am giving you a new task, bring Serina under your control again, you''ll see why when you find her" Mike nodded before he asked "What about the blood sacrifices? And hunting down Jane?" "Finding Serina is your top priority right now" "...I understand, I''ll find her quickly and bring her back under my control" The elder looked at Mike for a moment before she spoke again "Remember, if she escaped your control her powers have grown beyond your imagination" Mike nodded before he showed a smile "In that case I know just who to bring with me I am sure he''s bored of sitting around anyways" As Mike woke up he sat himself op on the bed at once before he spoke out to Julie thatid next to him "I need to leave the city for a few weeks" Julie nodded before she asked "Where are you going?" "...To find Serina" "Serina?" "Yeah, she has escaped my control, the elder said I need to find her and bring her back under my control" "Oh Well then, when are you leaving?" "At once I''m afraid" Julie looked a little down before she showed a smile "Then have a nice trip And no cheating on me while you are away" "Yeah I know" Mike kissed Julie on the forehead before he began getting dressed after he was dressed in his leather armour with the knife and hammer on his hip and the shield on his back he turned to Julie once more and spoke "I''m off" "See you, Mike" Mike walked out of the room and received a backpack from a Wind spirit before he walked out into the inner courtyard and summoned his wings, then with a single p he reached the clouds where he closed his eyes as Azroth enraged from above the clouds and circled around Mike a few times before Mike opened his eyes again and looked towards the west ''There you are, Serina'' Mike flew off towards the west along with Azroth that let out a roar of excitement as he followed after Mike, Mike showed a smile before he sent a mental message to Azroth ''Do you think you can keep up? Azroth let out another roar of excitement as he responded [Of course, my lord!] After flying for about a week Mike and Azroth needed some rest, so they descended into the wilderness, well not quite the wilderness as there werentern light below them, Mikended in the middle of a za along with Azroth in his more human form and was at once surrounded by a flock of non-humans that had wolf ears on their heads, one of them yelled at the two of them "What do you want here!?" Mike was way too tired to exin, but still, he attempted the friendly route and spoke "We are travellers that seek a ce to rest, let me talk with your elders" The beastmen looked at each other before a young one that stood behind Mike saw his chance andunched a sneak attack on Mike''s back, Mike sighed before he simply swung his tail once grabbing a hold of the young beastman around his neck, then he spoke again while circting his mana slightly "My patience is limited, bring your elders" The beastmen looked at each other before one of them was assigned to be a messenger and ran off towards the centre of the vige, meanwhile, Mike threw the beastman he had captured with his tail over to the crowd and folded his hands behind his back as he waited Chapter 161: 3rd delegation Chapter 161: 3rd delegation Mike''s tail swung from side to side as he waited, soon an elderly beastman arrived, he looked around before he showed a smile and asked Mike and Azroth "You must be the travellers Our vige is always open to wry travellers, especially level 8 travellers" The surrounding beastmen paled, they were unable to see through Mike and Azroth, only the elder that was level 7 himself was sure, Mike showed a slight smile before he spoke "We would like to stay here for a few days, of course, we''ll contribute to the cites defence while we''re here" The elder nodded before he spoke loudly "Offending our guests are the same as offending me, bare that in mind!" The surrounding beastmen lowered their heads, the elder showed a smile "Please follow me, I''ll show you to your rooms" "Thank you elder" The elder showed Mike and Azroth to two luxurious rooms before he left them to rest The next morning Mike awoke with a set, he reached out to a hand that was about to touch him and grabbed it, it was a beastwoman d in servant clothes, Mike managed to scare the shit out of the young woman, nevertheless, she didn''t scream, she simply kneeled down onto the ground as she spoke "Please forgive my rudeness!" Mike sighed and let go of her hand before he looked towards the window as he asked "What time is it?" "It''s just before noon, lord" "...I got it, leave me" "Yes, lord!" The beastwoman servant quickly backed out of the room leaving Mike alone, that sat himself up and crossed his legs before he crossed his legs and closed his eyes ''Where are you, Serina..?'' He began focusing on Serina, or at least the part of her he could still feel, he could feel that she had been somewhere in the vicinity of the city he was currently in, so the n was simple, he was going to lure her out ''...With her favourite food of course Dried human meat, the question is, where to get that..?'' A cold gilt shed in Mike''s eyes before he shrugged "Welp I am off to kidnap some people, wait what am I saying..?" Mike couldn''t believe how stupid he was being, he smacked his head and spoke "I have people for that For Kidnapping other people that is Azorth" [Yes master?] "Go kidnap some humans from somewhere, not the closest ce to here but the 2nd closest, send me a message on the mentalwork once you are back, oh, don''t show them to the people here stay above the clouds with them once you return" [Yes master] After sending off Azroth Mike strolled around the city of the beastmen under the guide of the elder, Mike found that it was a rtively well functioning city with happy citizens all around ''I half want to just trash the city Where does this destructive feelinge from..?'' Mike looked over at a beastman child that showed him a pure smile, Mike kneeled down and patted the child on the head as he showed a smile back when he received a mental message from Azroth [Master, I have returned] Mike stood up and spoke to the elder "This is a nice city, if you would excuse me now, I have to begin the hunt" The elder nodded and didn''t enquire to what Mike was hunting as he saw him off "Please be safe" Mike flew up into the air and soon breached the clouds, Azroth was there with his maw filled with people, some were priced by his fangs and were either dead or dying, even now Mike could hear muffled cries of despair from within his maw, soon Mike showed a smile "Well done Azroth Now let''s set the bait" [Yes master] The next few weeks passed quietly for Julie, she spent her day training the Wind spirits and herself until one day 2 weeks after Mike had left to get Serina the 3rd delegation from the Fire iron''s showed up, she summoned her wings and flew over to the central za and sat down at the end of the long table as she asked "So..? What do the Fire iron''s want now?" The head of the delegation looked around and didn''t see Mike so he cautiously asked "I mean no disrespect, Lady Julie But where is Lord Mike?" Julie showed a slight smile as she asked back "What? Does it make you uncontactable to negotiate with a woman?" "No no, not at all it''s just" Julie scoffed before she spoke "I have been given full authority to handle all matters while Mike is away" The head of the delegation sighed before he nodded, while he wanted to negotiate with Mike since he knew him better he decided not to push any further since it would likely offend Julie, so he started with the request of his king "We need all your soldiers, as many as you can send, as for payment It will be double the previous rates" Julie was about to speak when suddenly a Wind spirit spoke up "It''s a deal" Julie looked over at her for a few moments before she asked "...Mike?" "Yeah it''s a me One of many" Julie sighed before she ignored the confusion that the Fire iron delegation was feeling and asked "Weren''t you busy hunting down Serina?" "Yeah well Not busy enough not to stop by and see my wonderful waifu in all her glory Though I am afraid that I have to run now" "Okay Mike, I''ll see you soon" "Yeah see you soon baby" Then the Wind spirit Mike had been controlling kneeled down on the spot before Julie waved her away and turned back to the delegation and spoke "We''ll ept your offer, as long as the previous terms are still in ce" The leader of the delegation nodded before he spoke "Yes, your right to retreat whenever you judge is appropriate will be upheld, no matter if it''s in the middle of a battle" Julie nodded, then she showed a smile "Now let''s confirm your payment..." A few days after that the Wind spirit horde was once again on the prowl, though this time they moved a lot more cautiously and a few dayster they arrived in the capital of the Fire iron''s, the city of Anvi, one of thest strongholds of the Fire iron''s. Julie was worried about the presence of the Fire iron''s king a level 9 figure, but it proved that he was out of the country further ind visiting the ck oni''s country, from what Julie could gather though the mentalwork it seemed that the Fire iron''s and the ck oni''s had a strong alliance, though why the ck oni''s had not shown up to help the FIre iron''s in their defensive war was a mystery, so after receiving multiple very diplomatic non-answers the Fire iron King had personally gone to visit his old friend, or was the narrative at least ''This smells Like rotten fish'' Julie didn''t like it, but she had already yed her hand and had arrived in Anvi with 7.500 level 6 soldiers, 2.500 level 7 soldiers and 2 level 8 elite guards, which were two of the 12 total level 8''s the Wind spirits had produced so far, they were Anne and Anna, twin swordswomen with a fierce reputation and a liking of eating their prey alive "Say, Lady Julie When do we get to kill something?" "Soon... don''t worry Anne, if the humans don''t attack we''ll pick off some townsfolk, I am running low on blood too" Anne nodded, she was currently braiding her sister''s hair, her sister Anna was the quiet one while Anne was more talkative, though they were equally as bloodthirsty, Julie showed a smile and picked up ab before she moved behind Anne and beganbing her hair as she spoke "I wonder when Mike will return" Anna spoke up in a quiet, almost insatiable voice "Don''t worry Lady Julie We''ll protect you" Anne nodded and spoke "Yes don''t worry Lady Julie, it''s just as my sister says" Julie showed a smile before she muttered "I wonder what Mike''s doing right now" [Master!] "I know!" Mike dodged to the side narrowly avoiding the pure beam of distinctive energy that annihted everything in its path, then he clutched his left shoulder where his left arm used to be and quickly weaved a new arm of blood crystal as he yelled in frustration "I should have brought more dragons!" In front of Mike were Serina, her size was about the same asst he had seen her, though that was the only thing that had not changed, she growled at Mike before she disappeared from Mike''s line of sight "Shi---" Mike quickly pped his wings sending him back a few meters before an impact shook the space right where he stood a few milliseconds ago, it all seemed useless, Mike had managed to strike Serina 3 times with the knife, all 3 times her fur had deflected the knife, Mike was currently down a left arm and a right leg while Azorth that were an easy target for Serina''s newly acquired energy beam of pure destruction had numerous holes in hisrge body that leaked blood at an rming rate Chapter 162: Skirmish Chapter 162: Skirmish Julie raised her hand and out of thin air she grasped her [Hellsword] and raised it up high, at her side stood Anna and Anne, they also drew their swords and raised them up high, this was followed by the thousands of WInd spirits that was gathered in the za in front of them, the level 7''s floated in the air while the level 6''s stood ready on the ground, Julie yelled "For blood!" The Wind spirits repeated her words """""""""""FOR BLOOD!""""""""""" Julie showed a smile before she spoke again "We shall feast on our enemies!" """""""""""FEAST!""""""""""" "We ask our fairdy Beel to look over us!" """""""""""FOR LADY BEEL!""""""""""" Juile showed a fierce, almost manic expression as she yelled one final time "Now MATCH!" """""""""""MATCHING!""""""""""" The entire horde did an about-face by turning 180 degrees around at the same time before they began marching down the main street of the Fire iron''s capital Anvi with the level 7''s mock matching in the air in tact with the Wind spirits on the ground, the whole disy gave an imposing feeling to all the people watching as the ground shook under the uniform footsteps, Julie nodded and spoke to Anne and Anna "Shall we get going too?" ""Yes Lady Julie"" And thus began the campaign of ughter, as for what Mike was doing? Well he was sleeping soundly in the beastman city after a 32-hour fight with Serina as he was in deep sleep someone entered his room, Mike woke up with a set as his eyes snapped open and he spoke out in a grumpy tone "What?" It was the elder, he had a slightly sinister smile on his aged face as he kicked off the ground and charged at Mike, Mike simply muttered "[Blood domination II: Blood puppets] The elder froze after a few steps, Mike let out a yawn before he asked "Why are people so stupid..?" Mike narrowed his eyes as he controlled the elder to show the hand that was behind his back, clutched in that hand was a ve cor, he probably thought with Mike losing 3 limbs and being exhausted he could attach the ve cor on him while he slept "Well you thought wrong And now I have to burn down your city" Mike sighed before he continued "It''s really a shame Well, I could do something else Yeah, let''s do that" Mike sent a mental message to Azroth that was recovering out in the forest before he simply walked out into the inner courtyard and summoned his wings and flew back towards the Wind spirit city, as he did a roar sounded out as Azroth began burning down the city of beastmen, then suddenly next to him came a red streak that flew right past him "Come on Serina, you really have to show off?" Mike had seeded in bringing Serina back under his control by sacrificing his right arm to leave a cut inside her mouth, so now Serina was her usual derpy self again, she was running on air around Mike with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, just like a derpy puppy "I really need to find out what happened with you Serina" Mike sighed before he sent her a mentalmand and she flew over next to him, Mike then climbed onto her back and patted her back "Let''s do it just like the old days!" Serina let out a loud bark before she sped up and they turned into a red streak that soon disappeared in the distance Julie matched the horde for about 3 days south before they made contact with a human army, even before they managed to probably line up their forces the human army began their charge, Anne asked Julie "Lady Julie What are they doing?" "They''re charging" "Why would they frontally attack an army which outnumbers them?" Julie sighed "Well They''re a little excited" Anna tilted her head and asked "Why..?" Julie sighed once more before she muttered half annoyed "I don''t know, maybe the continued victories have gone to their heads..? Anyways why don''t we show them something" Julie summoned her sword and bit her finger before she dripped a drop of blood down onto the sword "[Elder blood bestowal]!" As the drop of crimson blood hit the de it fizzled away, like a drop of water on a sizzling pan, then she raised the de high as it let out a scream, as the sound waves passed through the Wind spirit''s it invigorated them at once sending their adrenaline pumping as they let out excited yells and screams, however when it hit the charging humans it slowed them down as they suddenly felt cold to their core and began having second thoughts, such hesitation proved to be deadly, Julie watched the battle turn even more in their favour and showed a smile "Heh All that from a drop of blood" As Julie did hermanding she suddenly spotted a lone figure charging through the lines of Wind spirits wielding a white spear, she cut, stapped and swept her way through the Wind spirit''s with brutal efficiency ''A level 8 Somehow she reminds me of me way back then'' "Anne, Anna with me" ""Yes, Lady Julie"" Julie took flight and flew towards the woman wielding the white spear when she arrived in the vicinity she yelled "Find other prey, that one''s mine!" The nearby Wind spirits quickly obeyed and backed off creating a void in the ranks with the woman with the white spear in the middle, Juliended in the void along with Anne and Anna, she looked at the woman in front of her with a slight smile and spoke "State your name!" The woman ignored her and muttered "Now that''s a demon alright, well it''s not the one I am looking for" Julie heard her and quickly put two and two together as she concluded "You''re from the same world as Mike, you must be Jane then, Anne, Anna, take care, this one can probably kill you for good" Jane narrowed her eyes before she asked "Who''s this Mike you speak of?" Julie showed a teasing smile and responded proudly "My husband, though looking at you little girl it''s probably too early to be talking about such things with you" Jane frowned before she trusted out with her speak, Julie blocked the spear trust with her [Hellsword] as Anne and Anna nked to the sides of Jane that spoke "I''ll have you know that I am happily married!" Julie narrowed her eyes and began heightening her control over Anne and Anna, what followed was an extremely high-speed fight as Jane managed to not only block attacks form 3 fronts, but also counter-attack, she trusted out with the white spear after deflecting an attack from Anne towards Anna that hurriedly blocked, Jane sneered as she muttered "[Light]" A sh of light shot out from the spear tip and anhted everything in a meters radius, luckily for Anna, it was only her sword that got annihted as she dodged backwards just as Jane used her skill, she quickly received a sword from another Wind spirit and quickly rejoined the fight against Jane, this continued for about 12 swords and other sharp weapons, Jane tired to use her [Light] skill on the Julie''s [Hellsword], however, the [Hellsword] let out a slightly annoyed scream at the light and nothing else happened which made Jane narrow her eyes slightly as the fight continued white angel-like wings appeared behind Jane before she took flight in Julie''s direction, Julie summoned her own wings and fought off Jane''s assault, the air was filled with sparks and the ngs form the two weapons hitting each other, Julie received a message on the mentalwork and quickly dodged downwards as a beam of pure destructive energy passed by where she had just been right at Jane, Jane quickly yelled "[Light]!" As time slowed down for Jane she used her [Light] skill to annihte the first part of the energy beam, at the same time she dodged out of the way of the beam and looked in the direction from where the beam came and saw a blue demon riding on top of a giant vermilion wolf that rode through the air, Jane muttered "There you are!" She had finally found her target, the demon she was duty-bound to hunt down, s she quickly looked around and saw the state the human army was in before she clicked her tongue and pped her wings and fled in the opposite direction of Mike, Mike ridding on Serina saw Julie was about to pursue Jane and quickly sent her a message on the mentalwork ''Stop Julie, don''t get overly excited'' Julie stopped and looked after Jane, after a little while Mike arrived, Julie quickly asked him "Why don''t we chase her down and kill her!?" "Calm down, I am in no state to chase her down Besides I had a little peek earlier and she only used about 70% of her strength in your fight, she also has way more deadly skills at her disposal" Julie sighed before she nodded and looked in the direction that Jane had fled and muttered "I''ll kill you and drink your blood, that I swear" Chapter 163: Reason Chapter 163: Reason After Jane fled Mike and Julie wiped out the rest of the human army, but just as they were about to begin the chase Mike ordered them to hold "...Let''s pull back, for now, we don''t want to be baited into a fight we can''t win Besides, we still need to do a blood sacrifice here" Julie nodded, then they began preparations for the blood sacrifice As Mike slept afterpleting the blood sacrifice he once again found himself in the elder''s space, he called out to her "Elder" "Hello, Mike You seem to have questions?" Mike nodded "Yeah, a few" "It''s fine, you may ask your questions" Mike paused before he went straight to the point and asked "...How exactly dose [Control] work?" The elderughed out loud before she asked "Come on Mike, why do you ask a question you already know the answer to?" "...I want to hear it from you" The elder sighed before she spoke inly "Your skill, [Control] reces the soul of a, shall we say container..? That''s how it works, as for the absolute loyalty it''s simple, the demon whiches from another ne of existence is under a strict contract which ensures its loyalty, said contact is branded on it and is fulfilled once they die" Mike look like he suddenly got a headache and pped the side of his head a few times before he asked "Okay First of all, what''s a demon?" "A demon is a being from another ne of existence which is invading this ne by taking over the wheel of reincarnation" "...How?" "By recing souls, throwing them to the void where they will wander in eternity, and then simply dying and returning to the wheel, thereby the wheel is slowly dyed in our colour" "Then how did Serina break free?" "Well she evolved, going through rebirth made her die; thus the contact were fulfilled and her old soul took the ce of the demon" "I see And I assume that evolving is like levelling up?" "Yeah, though the process known as evolving is moreplicated than you think Anyways that''s why she was set free, because of a technicality in the contract" "Huh I see" Mike thought for a bit before he asked "Then why do the people I''ve used [Control] on still have the same memories and personalities?" "That''s simple, the container includes the flesh and the blood, only the soul, the spirit body is reced" Mike nodded, being from a technologically advanced world such as Earth Mike knew that the extended nervous system held all the memories of a person, and therefore also the personality, Mike nodded and collected his thoughts for a moment before he asked "Then why do you want me to kill Jane?" "Because she''s the inheritor to a guardian of the wheel" "And these are our enemies?" "Yes, they halt our invasion, so they must be destroyed, only if I kill Jane I''ll vite the ceasefire that''s currently in effect As for why there''s a ceasefire in the first ce you don''t need to know yet" "Okay ceasefire aside, what about Julie? Has her soul also been converted?" The elder blinked before she showed a soft smile and spoke "Don''t worry Mike, your Julie''s soul was converted when she became my kin" Mike nodded before he somewhat hesitated, then he asked the question he really wanted to know, ever since the knife was stabbed into his chest back on earth all those years ago "Okay Then for my final question Why did you pick me to be on your side?" The elder paused before she showed a near manic smile that threatened to consume Mike from where he stood as sheughed "Picked you..? Picked you..? Aha AHAHAHAHAHAHA..! How could I not pick you!? You are perfect in every way, having killed your own father, watched your mother the only person to love you through the first part of your life kill herself in front of you, these events converted your soul to something else, something much like the demons, much like us!" Mike felt the scales right in front of his eyes, and they fell, fell like dominos "Then my mental illness, my paranoid schizophrenia?" The elder continuedughing "A simple product of your soul being converted, but of all the hundreds of thousands that suffer as you did, you were the only one to have such drastic changes! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! AS I SAID YOU ARE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY!" Mike also beganughing, he didn''t know why but being told this, that he was perfect, that he was unique by the elder made him feel like a whole person for the first time in his life, tears flowed down his face as the widest smile he had ever had were shown on his face As Mike woke up he began chuckling lightly which made Julie look away from her book and ask "What are you so happy about?" "She told me our purpose" Julie nodded, then Mike told her about the demons, the apparent conflict and how his skill [Control] worked, after which he told Julie about why it was so important to kill Jane "---From what I can figure out she''s part of the enemy faction, ''The protectors of the wheel'' or whatever" Julie nodded and concluded "Then we should kill her quickly" "Not only that, I need to use [Control] on her first, you know, to add insult to injury" Julie showed a wide smile and nodded before she asked "Then what about this war?" Mike scoffed "The conflict between us and the protectors of the wheel is more important, though summoning the elder here would be to our advantage in both areas" "I agree, so the elder is first?" "No" "No?" "I have a bad feeling about Jane We need to kill her quickly, while she doesn''t know the full picture and before she grows stronger But first and foremost I need to regrow my arms and leg..." "Yeah, you kind of need those don''t you?" 2 weeks passed, as they passed Mike regrew his missing limbs, he and Julie razed another 3 cites to the ground and performed another 3 blood sacrifices, as it turned out they were now 90% of the way to reaching the goal of summoning the elder, this had them in a dilemma, push though and summon the elder, or, hunt down Jane? "I still say we go after Jane" "Okay, then let''s do that, have your informants given you any good intel?" "Yeah, I know where she is So let''s finish this" The following day a group of Wind spirits split off from the main group, Mike and Julie were among this group and so were the total of 12 level 8''s which had been masking as normal soldiers so far, the group prated deep into the humannds chasing after Jane and Duke who were unaware that they were being chased and where merrily chatting amongst themselves "So as I was saying I really want to inform my sister before we have the ceremony" "I know Duke" Jane stroked her stomach though it was still t and toned she knew, she was going to have Duke''s child sooner thanter, after all, they were giving it their all "Still I don''t know how I feel about pulling out from the war" Duke shook his head and reassured his wife "''A true gentleman can wait 10 years for his revenge'' Or so my dad used to say, besides it will give us time to grow stronger" "That''s true" Jane suddenly looked back in the direction they were flying from, Duke that was flying beside her asked "What''s wro---" "Get down!" Jane dragged Duke down with her, a momentter a beam of destructive energy passed right over them, however as they dodged another 2 beams that were fired at the same time as the past one that seemingly predicted that they were dodging downwards appeared out of nowhere hitting Jane''s energy shield that covered the two of them and threw them down towards the ground where they soon crashed into an open forest, no tree or branch seemed solid enough to stop their descend as they broke every single one on the way down until they hit the ground, Mike that was floating in the air watched them through the critters he had controlled in the area and took direct control over the 5 dragons he had brought along with Serina and fired their distinctive beams of energy down towards the crater that Jane and Duke had just created by crashing into the ground, Julie that stood next to him asked "Isn''t this overkill..?" "Nope, not at all" Just before the beams of describe energy hit the crash site a beam of white light shot out from the crater at an insane speed, the 6 beams of destructive energy that came from 6 different directions followed mowing down vegetation in their path as they were adjusted by Mike following the streak of white light Chapter 164: End of the line Chapter 164: End of the line Suddenly the beams of destructive energy let up, Duke opened his eyes and quickly cheeked on Jane "Jane, are you okay!?" "I''m fi---" *CLANG* A loud ng sounded out as metal crashed against the energy shield around Jane and Duke as a level 8 Wind spirit hit their sword against it, Duke widened his eyes as they suddenly were filled with hatred as he yelled "WIND SPIRIT!" Jane narrowed her eyes and opened her hand as the white spear appeared out of nothingness in her hand before she trusted out with it towards the Wind spirit that dodged to the side and instantly retreated Jane, and thereby also Duke that was inside her energy field instantly gave chase as Jane muttered "[sh]" Time slowed down for Jane as she suddenly elerated and trusted faster than the Wind spirit could react and instantly breached the energy shield around the Wind sprit before the white spear priced her chest "[Light]!" A white light shot out from the spear tip creating a bloody void in the middle of the Wind sprit''s chest, however, before her body hit the forest floor 3 destructive energy beams stuck Jane''s energy shield again, though only briefly this time, however when it let up the body of the Wind spirit was long gone, Jane clicked her tongue, though before she managed to do anything more than that an arrow stuck the energy shield and half prated it, Jane looked in the direction the arrow came from and spotted a Wind spirit with a great bow that quickly pulled back between the cover of the trees, then another arrow struck the shield, this arrow made it further but not all the way through, Jane narrowed her eyes and attempted to take flight as she could figure out that the Wind spirits had brought more than 2 arrows, however before she could 3 energy beams stuck them again, this made her use another skill "[Guardians]!" 4 circles of light appeared outside the energy shield which quickly transformed into 4 beings of white light "Go!" 2 of the beings quickly flew off towards the dragons that were pinning down Jane and Duke while the other 2 remained next to them, an arrow came flying towards them but it was stopped when one of the beings of light blocked it with its sword, then Jane and Duke quickly fled towards the west along with the 2 beings of light guarding them, Mike showed a smile and muttered "Just as nned, I am counting on you to handle 2 of the guardians Julie" Julie cracked her neck and summoned her [Hellsword] before she spoke "I just have to destroy them right?" "Yeah I am sending 4 Wind spirits with you, along with the dragons" "Okay, I got it!" Julie flew off, leaving Mike with 7 Wind spirits and Serina as they quickly gave chase to the fleeing Jane and Duke that were flying west, meanwhile, Julie engaged the 2 beings of light, Mike flew off with speed greater than the that of Jane and soon appeared in front of them alone causing them to stop as both Jane but also Duke looked at him with wide eyes, Duke quickly yelled "That''s him, he''s the one that razed my city!" Jane nodded before she spoke "He''s way more than that, he''s the source of the evil on the continent" Mike showed a smile before he spoke "How''s life been treating you Duke? What about you Jane, how have you been since you survived my suicide bomb?" Jane narrowed her eyes before she yelled "[sh]!" Jane then instantly elerated towards Mike that drew the knife without hurry and parried the trust Jane sent out after him sending sparks flying, then the 2 beings of light attacked form each their side forcing Mike to pull back as he dodged their attacks, Mike quickly drew the hammer in his other hand and with his tail he held the shield, after a few minutes of high-speed closebat Mike suddenly muttered "About time?" Mike dodged to the side but as it turned out he didn''t quite dodge the spear this time as it tore through his energy barrier and left a shallow cut on his cheek, Jane spoke mockingly "What''s wrong Mike!? You''re getting distracted?" "Nah, I just didn''t want to cut myself so I got you to do it for me[Elder blood bestowal]!" A single drop of blood flew over andnded onto the hammer that then opened up like a maw as it flew towards one of the beings of light and consumed it instantly, Jane looked surprised but only for a moment before she pressed the attack along with the other being of light, meanwhile, she tried to recall the other 2 beings of light but quickly found out that they already had been destroyed "Shit!" Jane turned and appended to flee again, just as she did Julie appeared blocking her way, then the 11 Wind sprits formed a circle around Jane and Duke about 2 kilometres out "Shit!" Jane cursed again, just as she did the 5 dragons appeared from above the clouds, they guarded the 5 directions she could flee, North, East, South, West and up "SHIT!" "Now, Now Jane Don''t curse like that" Jane red at Mike that showed a calm smile as he suddenly attacked, Jane sent a mentalmand to thest being of light to try and hold of Julie that attacked along with Mike After a minute of fighting thest being of light was destroyed, leaving Jane''s back undefended After half a minute Jane''s energy barrier was broken leaving the 2 of them exposed to attacks, at this point Duke grit his teeth and yelled out "Flee Jane! Leave me and flee!" Then he drew his sword and charged at Mike that still wore a slight smile, DUke shed at Mike that dodged to the side as he spoke "He''s your meal Serina!" A red streak suddenly appeared and caught Duke that let out a horrifying scream of pain as Serina had locked her jaw around his stomach before she began shaking her head from side to side, much like a dog with a chew toy would, this tore Duke to pieces, still, he screamed in pain "DUKE!" Jane rushed out and attempted to attack Serina but was blocked by Mike and Julie that held her back with their attacks, a long ten secondster Duke finally stopped screaming in pain, then as if she had grown bored of him Serina bit his body into two pieces that then fell to the ground, he was dead "DUKE!" Jane yelled out again when she didn''t receive any response she git her teeth and yelled "[Dawn]!" Jane''s eyes began shining with the light of dawn as her movements suddenly sped up, her blows also became quite a lot heavier, if it had only been Mike here he would have been overwhelmed by this flurry of attacks, but he had Julie to help him contain Jane that desperately attempted to reach and kill Serina, this made Mike able tond a cut on her "[Control]" Jane suddenly felt weightless before she was sucked out of her own body, thest thing she saw was something dark creeping into her body from below "Where..?" When Jane could see again she was in a ck void "Is this the afterlife..? Then Duke should be here I must find him" Then Jane''s soul forever cut off from the wheel began its long journey in search of a soul that it was doomed to never find Julie looked at the body of Jane that now was under Mike''s control and breathed out a sigh before she spoke "Come over here" "Yes, mistress!" Jane walked over and stood in front of Julie that showed a smile as she quickly poked her finger covered in blood crystal trough Jane''s skull and drained her blood, as Jane''s body twitched a smile of excitement showed on Julie''s face, then when Jane''s dried body fell to the ground Julie spoke out loud "The blood of young women in love is really the best!" Mike showed a smile and picked up the dried body of Jane before he threw it to Serina that caught it in her maw and began tearing it apart and eating it, then he looked towards the west and saw that the sun was setting, he quickly swopped Julie off her feet and carried her in his arms as he flew up above the trees and looked at the sunset, Julie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as the two of them began to watch the sunset, it wasn''t until after that the sunset that they gently floated down again, form there they began to head back towards the non-humannds as they were long behind enemy lines at this point, after 3 days of travel they returned to the capital of the Fire iron''s, the city of Anvi where they got some unsettling news, the king of the Fire iron''s had returned in their absence and was summoning them for an official meeting Chapter 165: King Roman Chapter 165: King Roman The king of the Fire iron''s was rather tall for his race, still, he was only about the same height as Mike, his body gave off an overwhelming aura, still, Mike wasn''t intimidated, he had Julie by his side as both of them nodded their heads to the king, they didn''t bow down as they had been instructed, the only acknowledgement of the king they gave was the single nod both of them gave, Mike even began to look around the audience hall before he gave another nod andmented "...Not too shabby" The king narrowed his eyes slightly but before he spoke the prime minister did "What insolence! Both of you bow down before the king!" Mike narrowed his eyes before he spoke to the king "Does this yapping dog speak for you?" "You! How dare you insult me, I am---" "Silence Denis" The prime minister spoked speaking right as the kingmanded, he swallowed down the words he was about to say and red at Mike instead, then the king spoke again "Wee Lord Mike, Lady Julie" Mike showed a slight smile as he asked "So King Roman, why have you summoned us?" Mike addressed the Fire iron king with the bare minimum of respect which prompted him to show a smile as he spoke "You got a spine kind I''ll give you that Though this is not the ce to discuss such things" The king turned around and walked past the throne as he spoke "Come with me" Mike and Julie followed after the king that walked through a couple of hallways until he reached an inner courtyard with a table and a few chairs, the king walked over and sat down before he gestured to the chairs on the other side of the table "Please sit" Mike nodded and sat down with Julie that seemed entirely unconcerned with the whole situation and quietly sipped the tea that was served to her by a maid, Mike also sipped his tea for a bit before he asked "I figure that your diplomatic visit to the ck onis went well?" The king showed a smile as he spoke "Yes I spoke with my old friend a bit and got him to honour the alliance, the reinforcements will be arriving in a weeks time" "I see, then I suppose you want us to hold the line until then?" "That was the thought, as for the rates it''ll be the same as it was per thest negotiation" "I have no problem with that" After that Julie joined the conversation and the 3 of them talked about this and that before Mike and Julie declined Roman''s invitation to dine with him and left the castle, as they did Roman saw them off after Mike and Julie were gone a clod light shed through his eyes The next morning the horde of Wind spirits were once again on the prowl, during the next week Mike and Julie gave it their all and retook a total of 2 cites, then they held the line and waited for the reinforcements from the ck oni, as they did a fortunate thing happened, Julie reached level 8 and quickly rushed back to the room where the 2 of them were staying to inform Mike "Mike!" Mike that wasying on the bed lifted his head before he asked "What?" "I reached level 8" Mike jumped out of bed and quickly sent a few mental messages to the Wind spirits and made them clear out the temple so he and Julie wouldn''t be distributed, soon they arrived at the temple and walked into a prayer room, Anne and Anna stood guard outside, Julie walked over and put her hand on the crystal ball and soon her status was disyed Name: Julie ss: Demon bride Age: 33 Level: 7(8) Skills: [Judgment] [Hell walker] [Valkyrie sword] [Hellsword] [Lesser blood demon] [Hell falme magic] [Elder blood bestowal] Magic type: Hellme Experiance: 10.000.000 / 10.000.000 Level up Y/N? Julie looked back at Mike that nodded before she pressed the Y and after an exhrating feeling of growing stronger passed trough her for a few moments she quickly used the crystal ball again to cheek her new status Name: Julie ss: Demon bride Age: 33 Level: 8(9) Skills: [Judgment] [Hell walker] [Valkyrie sword] [Hellsword II] [Lesser blood demon] [Elder blood bestowal] [Hell me magic II: pergetory] Magic type: Hellme Experiance: 0 / 500.000.000 ""Neat"" Mike and Julie both spoke at the same time when they saw Julie''s new status, 2 of her skills had been upgraded, after all, her magic skill and her [Hellsword] had been upgraded "[Hellsword II]..." Julie used her skill and grasped a sword that seemed to have been forged from pure hellfire, it''s red de glinted under the candlelight in the prayer room, it was about half a meter long and only a few centimetres thick, Julie waved it around for a few seconds before she narrowed her eyes and suddenly swung it with all her strength, that sent a red sh of light flying over towards the wall which she swung at, the red light shed cleanly through the wall, and the next 20 or so behind it, thankfully Julie had been swinging slightly upwards so not too many people where cut in half "...Neat" "Congrattions Julie" Julie let go of the [Hellsword] which then dissolved into mes that disappeared before they hit the ground, then she turned to Mike with a sweet smile on her face "Thanks!" From there it was easy going, they repealed a total of 2 attacks before Mike got tired of doing that and wiped out the attacking army, they were getting infinitely close to summoning the elder now, still, there was a bit to go "Lord Mike, Lady Julie" A messenger suddenly called out to them as they were watching the sunset from the city walls, Mike clicked his tongue before he asked "What?" "The king has summoned you back to Anvi" "I see We''ll leave in the morning" "Understood" After the messenger left Mike sighed before he spoke "I''ve got a bad feeling about this" Julie nodded "Yeah me too" Mike looked towards the dying light of the sunset and when it sank entirely under the horizon Mike spoke to Julie after making sure no one was around "We need a contingency n" Julie nodded her head and agreed "Yeah, we do What do you have nned?" After another 2 days Mike returned to Anvi alone, he brought neither guards nor the horde of Wind spirits, soon he arrived in the audience chamber where he found the king sitting on his throne, the king asked when he saw Mike alone "Where is Lady Julie?" Mike shugged "I left her in charge of the army; they still need to hold the line after all..." The king nodded, then for a few moments he appeared to be in deep thought before he eventually spoke "One is eptable Though I would have preferred the two of you" Mike narrowed his eyes slightly as he yed dumb and asked "What do you mean?" "Do you take me for a fool, Mike?" "Nope" "Then did you really think that we wouldn''t investigate the reason why this fucking war started!?" Mike sighed before he muttered "Well, aren''t you smart? Well we expected you to find out, though you did it quicker than I expected" The king began circting his mana, so did Mike, Mike''s circtions topped and held steady around 500 per minute, Roman narrowed his eyes as his circtions neared 800 per minute, then Mike asked "So Are you sure this is what you want to do?" "What do you mean!? You started this war for your own personal gain!" "That I did I''m just going to let you know that your actions will doom the entire Fire iron race And the ck oni''s if they are in on it too" "Heh BIg words, LET''S SEE IF YOU CAN KEEP THEM!" The king instantly disappeared from Mike''s field of view, Mike quickly summoned his wings and pped them as hard as he could sending him flying backwards, the ce he had just been standing was reduced to rubble as the king kicked downwards in that ce, sending debris flying all over, Mike drew the knife and the hammer and deflected the pieces of debris that would have hit him otherwise, then the cloud of dust was suddenly pushed outwards as the king kicked his circtions up a notch, now they neared 850 circtions per minute, Mike sighed and spoke again "I kind of feel sorry for the Fire irons To have such a short-sighted king" "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Mike sighed another time and muttered "...Blinded by rage are we?" The king disappeared from view again, A chill went down Mike''s spine before he attempted to dodge to the side before he suddenly felt a good portion of his stomach disappear as the king had punched sight through his stomach, then he spoke "[Heavenly seal]!" Mike''s mana circtions suddenly stopped, or rather they were brought to a halt by Roman''s skill that pulled back his hand with a smile on his face "Well That''s a 7" Those were Mike''sst words before he passed out Chapter 166: Captured Chapter 166: Captured "Oh, you fucked up now buddy" A cold light shed through Julie''s eyes as Mike''s signal disappeared from mentalwork Then she quickly sent an order on the mentalwork, the WInd spirits quickly dropped what they were doing and began to retreat towards the nearest forest The cell door shut with a bang, leaving Mike alone in the tiny bleak cell, if not for the fact that he could see perfectly well in the dark he would probably be a little more frightened than he was right now. Of course, that was the least of his problems, like always when he was low the voices had started "...Shut up" Mike hit the right side of his head just over his temple, trying to quiet the voices "...Shut up" And again... And again And again, he hit his head with a high enough strength so he would get slightly dizzy as he repeated "Shut up Shut up Shut up" Like a chant, he spoke over and over as he hit himself in the side of the head while he kept his eyes locked on a brick right in front of him "Shut up Shut up" His head was spinning, but the voices kept whispering in his ear, even with his current strength he was screwed and he knew that that was the only thing he knew and the voices knew it too as they kept repeating it in his ear and so he kept hitting the side of his head "Shut up Shut up" Time passed as he progressively grew dizzier and dizzier, but then suddenly without warning the tiny bleak cell lit up with a red light, the light wasing from his eyes as the voices suddenly quieted down and he regained some semnce of rity to think as the elder''s voice appeared in his head "Heh You sure act pathetic Mike" "Well Half of my stomach has a giant hole and all my skills have been sealed along with my magic, so yeah"'' "Now, now, don''t pout, I was sent by your wife to cheek up on you, so how are you?" "...I''ll live" "Good, then try not to act all pathetic again, these mortals will be nothing more than your ythings once you reach level 10 after all" Mike showed a smile, a rather cold one at that as he felt the presence of the elder leave Julie woke up, she was back in the city of the Wind spirits, the first she did was to sit up on the bed and look around, as she was still sleepy she wanted very much toy down again and continue sleeping "...Mike" With Mike''s fate unknown though it seemed better not to go back to sleep though, so she got up and out of bed, after a quick shower Julie felt a lot more awake, and after she got dressed she called out "Azroth" [Yes, mistress?] "Prepare to head out give the message to Anne and Anna too" [If you don''t mind me asking mistress Where are we going?] "To wipe out a few cities" [Understood, but in that case, wouldn''t it be better to bring the entire horde?] "...You''re right, then tell them all to be ready to move in 10" Julie began to put on her armour and within 10 minutes she was ready, she walked out of the room and found Anne and Anna standing outside the door, Anne asked "Are we going to rescue master?" Julie shook her head before she spoke "No We''re raiding some cities in ordance with the n I made with Mike before he was captured" Anne nodded, then Anna muttered "I hope master is okay" Julie showed a smile "Of course he is okay, now let''s go" Julie walked ahead after she spoke, she didn''t know if she was reassuring them or herself ''It''s probably both'' Julie showed a wry smile before she put on a resolute expression and sent out mental orders to the Wind spirit horde that soon began to move and within a few minutes the entire horde was once again on the prowl as they moved through a travel tree towards the humannds, just before Julie passed through the travel tree she felt the presence of the elder and bowed down "Elder" "Rx child,e stand up" "Okay" Julie stood up again before a short silence followed and Julie asked "So How is he?" An amused chuckle followed from the elder before she spoke "Don''t worry, your husband is injured but in his words, he''ll live" Julie nodded as a single tear flowed down her cheek and she swore "I''ll tear you to pieces Roman" "That you will child, now go get the rest of the blood required for the ritual" "Yes, elder!" Julie wiped the single tear away from her cheek before she showed a resolute expression as she walked through the travel tree Julie flew at high speed, behind her were the 18 level 8 Wind sprits and further behind that were around 800 level 7 Wind spirits, they were all flying low, just above the ground and they swiftly approached a city that was a few kilometres away, Julie grasped empty air as she muttered "[Hellsword II]" The Hellsword appeared in her hand and she quickly shed out towards the gates that were slowly closing ahead of them, they had been spotted and the guards were in the process of closing the gates as an rm clock rang out over the city, Julie opened her eyes wide as she swung the Hellsowrd out and sent a sword light flying that cut straight through the gates and some of the walls, people, houses and animals on the other side of the gates too "Put on the lid!" As Julie yelled Azroth that she brought with her let out his breath and killed most of the people that were flying over the city, then Julie yelled "Tighten it!" """"""Tightening!"""""" The level 8 Wind spirits respond and flew over the walls while Julie deployed an energy shield and went straight through the cut gate sending pieces of it flying all over the busy za just on the other side, Julie then floated above said za and looked around, as the smell of blood entered her nose she unconsciously showed a smile before she flew down andnded in front of a young woman before she spoke to her with a wide smile on her devilish face "You smell the best" The young woman let out a scream and attempted to flee before Julie swung her tail and cut off her feet before she walked over to the pleading young woman and poked her finger through her skull, as the blood drained from the now very dead young woman Julie showed a near manic smile before she yelled "Seal it up!" A few hourster the preparation for the ritual was well on its way, the strong were set to dig a hole in the central square while the weak were held captive, by now the roundish hole covered almost 50 square meters, Julie watched this with great attention to detail as one of her eyes were borrowed by the elder that ryed orders through her, Julie showed a slight smile as she asked "How long until it''s ready?" The elder was silent for a few moments before she answered "A day at most" Julie frowned and nodded before she muttered "Please hold out Mike" "Oh That''s a 2,e on Ike, you can do better" Mike spoke to one of his tortures that he aptly had named Ike, Ike had just stapped him with a rusty knife, as for the reason why (You know beyond to torture Mike) it was simple, he was tired of Mike''s shit "Do your best~ Do your best~ Do your best~ Do your best~ Do your best~ Do your best~---" "SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Mike was missing all his nails, most of his skin had been pealed and one of his eyes had been ground to a bloody pulp, his teeth had been drilled through all the way to his jaw and his knee caps had been mutted with a hammer, still Mike kept his mood up by chanting ''Do your best~'' and shitting on the people that were torturing him, verbally that is "SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" "Hey stop!" Ike was stopped by Ike the second from stabbing a knife through the eye of Mike, suddenly the door to the torture chamber was opened and an unexpected visitor stepped in, it was Roman, the king of the Fire iron''s, Ike and Ike the second knelled down at once and respectfully spoke ""King Roman!"" Roman didn''t address them, instead, he looked at Mike and spoke "Are you ready to talk yet? You just have to tell me where your city is and all this can stop..." "...Nah, We''re just getting to know each other, isn''t that right, Ike, Ike the second?" The two tortures girt their teeth, Roman shook his head before he turned and left Chapter 167: Family Chapter 167: Family The cries of pain and torment form the captives lessened over the day as they dug the giant hole in the middle of the city, anyone thatined was picked up by a flying Wind spirit and swiftly thrown into the crowd where they were eaten alive by the Wind spirits, so the work ethic was high and the ritual site continued as nned, by the next morning the round hole was about 15 meters across and spanned the entire za, from there Julie flew over the hole and began chanting after she had chanted for about 10 minutes the weak was brought, or rather shoved into the hole along with the strong, the round hole was now filled with people, after another 20 minutes of chanting the people down there suddenly began killing each other as they were driven mad by Julie''s chanting. After another half an hour there was no one left alive in the hole, it was filled with blood and mangled body pieces, the WInd spirits began filling buckets with blood from the hole and using it as paint they began drawing a ritual circle that spanned the entire city, this was done around evening where Julie''s eyes suddenly snapped open and she bit her finger and dropped a drop of her own elder blood down into the pool under her as she yelled "BEEL, I SUMMON YOU TO THIS MORTAL PLANE!" The drop of red blood hit the pool of gore, from there the body parts and bones suddenly liquidized And then it began twitching before suddenly an arm of liquid reached up from the pool before it used the surface of the pool as a handhold and reached pulled itself up further, as more and more of the body of the elder emerged from the pool the more it shrank until the pool entirely dried up as the elder appeared in its ce, the Wind spirits kneeled down at once, Julie floated down andnded in front of the elder and was about to kneel down when she was stopped by the elder that spoke "You don''t need to keel, you are my family, my kin Julie" Julie became visibly flustered and hurriedly stammered "Th-Thank you elder" Speaking of the elder she was about 2 meters tall, her legs was that of a goat, she had 3 tails that all sported from just over her hip and goat-like horns in her forehead, besides that the rest of her body parts was female in nature with slender arms and legs and curves in the right ces, she looked up towards the night sky and muttered "[Abbysal night]" After she spoke the dark of the night seemed toe together and form a one-piece dress over her body, it gleaned like the star-filled night sky "Come, let''s go get your husband, Julie" "Yes, elder!" Beel then closed her eyes for a bit and opened her hand as she muttered once again "[Abbysal night]" A longbow formed out of the darkness this time, it was about as tall as the elder, then she tabbed the lower limp of the bow against the ground as she muttered "[Abbysal pulse]" A wave of pure energy spread out from the spot the elder tapped and after a few seconds she opened her eyes again and looked in a direction, the direction where Mike was located "Come stand next to me Julie" "Yes" Julie walked over and stood next to the elder that casually spoke "[Abbysal path]" A path of ck energy formed in front of the elder that then casually took Julie''s hand and began walking along the path, Julie was a little confused but after a moment that path in front of her suddenly changed to that of a brick road, Julie looked behind her and saw that her surroundings had changed drastically, she was now inside a city, more specifically the city of Anvi, the elder called out to her "Come now child, we need to get your husband" "Yes, elder" The elder suddenly stopped and pouted before sheined "Can you not call me elder, it makes me feel old" "Then what should I call you instead?" The elder showed an amused smile and spoke "Call me Beel" "But that''s---" "Call. Me. Beel." "Understood, Lady Beel" "Very good" The elder nodded, at that moment however she suddenly looked ahead, there the king of the Fire iron''snded on the ground, he wasn''t alone, at his sides was over 20 elite guards that appeared to be level 8, they were all d in magic armour that pulsed with mana, they seemed to have been loaded with mana to the brim, Roman stepped forwards and spoke "Wee to my city, may I have your name, fairdy?" The elder or rather Beel showed a smile before she grasped the edge of her dress and made a light bow as she introduced herself "I am one of the travellers of the 7 dimensional nes, conquer of the 3rd ne and invader of the 4th, my name is Beel" Roman nodded before he looked towards Julie with a frown on his face "Lady Beel, are you aware that you are travelling with a heinous wanted criminal?" Beel looked over at Julie before she looked at Roman again, then her smile evaporated from her face as she spoke "Oh So you''re the one that captured Mike" Suddenly Roman felt a chill, trusting his gut he quicklymanded his elite guards as he began to churn his mana "Quickly kill the---" "[Abbysal bind]" Tentacles of darkness sprouted up from the ground and quickly bond the king and his elite guards, before they could get out of the bindings Beel spoke again "[Abyssal drain]" The people bond by the tentacles was quickly drained of their energy as another tentacle sported in front of Beel, the tentacle quickly bore a fruit that grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of an orange, as it reached its full size the life force of the elite guards was gone as they had turned into dried husks, Beel took the bright shining fruit and plucked it before she bit into it and munched on it a few times before made the tentacles let go of king Roman that stumbled forwards and knelled down before he yelled with bloodshot eyes "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?" Beel took another bite of the fruit before she showed a slightly sinister smile and answered "I drained your mana, wait, you call it experience here right? Anyway, all your umted strength is gone" The king looked awfully pale before he muttered "...What?" Julie showed a smile and asked "Do you mind Lady Beel?" "No, by all means, Julie Only shouldn''t we find your husband first?" "Yeah, he can wait" Julie quickly summoned her wings and flew off towards the castle leaving Beel and king Roman alone, Beel looked towards Julie in the distance and muttered "So passionate" Julie quickly reached the cel where Mike was kept, after shing open the door she rushed in when she saw what sorry state Mike was in she felt it hard to hold her tears, she rushed over and gently hugged him, this woke Mike up from his light sleep "Oh Hey Julie" "You idiot!" "Yeah, I am pretty stupid I''ll admit that" Julie picked him up and carried him in her arms as she flew out of the cell and returned to the elder that watched Mike with a worried expression that quickly turned into pure rage when she saw what had been done to Mike "Who did this to you Mike?" "That would be Ike and Ike the second, not their official names, just nicknames I''ve given them as they tortured me" "How dare they torture my kin!" "Don''t worry about the elder, help me with this seal so I can heal" "...You''re right Mike, sorry I lost my cool, bing him here Julie" Julie brought Mike over and the elder quickly broke the seal on Mike that hurriedly used [Drink] to stabilize himself, then he turned his head over to Roman that was on his knees, looking into empty air as he muttered something and asked "What happened to him?" The elder showed a smile "I drained all his umted mana out of him, returning him to level 0" "Oh I see" Mike got down from Julie''s arms and stood with the help of her before he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he spoke "Don''t worry about me, I''ll be fine Go tear him to pieces" Julie nodded and had Beel hold Mike so that he could stand before she walked over towards Roman with a wide smile on her face as she spoke slowly "So you thought that you could mess with us..?" Roman didn''t react it was only when Julie stood right next to him he looked at her, when he did a manic expression showed on his face before he attempted to attack her as he yelled "If not for you!" Julie quickly though, lightly punched him in the stomach sending him rolling on the ground, as Julie began slowly and carefully beating ROman to death Mike spoke to the elder "It''s good to finally meet in person, voice form my head" The elder showed a smile as she caught Mike''s joke and even let out a light chuckle before she nodded and responded "You may address me as Beel Mike, you are my kin, my family" Chapter 168: Recovering Chapter 168: Recovering After Julie was done beating Roman to death the three of them returned to the WInd spiritsnds, leaving the entire Fire iron nation in chaos as they found their king had been brutally murdered in the streets, from there it quickly went downhill for the Fire iron''s as they had lost their pir of support, Mike and Julie didn''t really care about that though Mike spent the best part of a month recovering to optimal condition and that time was pure torture to him, worse than the time he actually spent being tortured, as for why it was simple, both Julie and Beel took gentle care of him ''Now I know most people would die to be in my position But not me, this is hell'' "Here Mike open up~" Beel presented a spoonful of, believe it or not, jam to him Mike sent pleading eyes to Julie that sat next to them and was about to lose to herughter, but she simply said "Lady Beel, I think he wants the other kind" "Oh, silly me Here Mike open up~" Mike surrender himself to his fate and opened his mouth, it was only when he had eaten an entire jar of jam that he was let go by Beel that then left to go and cheek on her gardening project, Mike narrowed his eyes and looked over at Julie that dodged his eyes, Mike eventually let out a sigh before he asked "Why does she want to take care of me like that?" "Sorry Mike, I promised not to tell" "...Traitor" Julieughed for a bit before she left to go train, as for Mike he picked up a book and began reading, soon Beel returned, she seemed rather excited "Mike you have to see this" Mike nodded and put down the book before he followed after Beel to the edge of the city where she had started her gardening project, which she had started a few days before, she kneeled down and gently touched the seeds that were spurting as she spoke "You see?" "Yeah they have spurted already, well done" "Thank you, Mike You know when I see these seeds I can''t help but think of you and Julie..." "...Because we are at the start of our growth?" "Exactly, but there''s more Try to guess" Mike looked at the soil that smelled distinctly of rotting corpses as he spoke "You want to provide the best conditions for us to grow, no matter the cost to the local environment?" "Yes, you really are smart Mike" "Thank you, Lady Beel" Mike looked back at the spurting nts and wondered if the corpses that had been hacked into tiny pieces and mixed with the soil were representing the world itself, or just its inhabitants Time passed once again, Mike managed to recover fully and was freed from the mental torture of being fed and taken care of by the elder as he was training his body he suddenly received a slightly unsettling message on the mentalwork and stopped what he was doing before he quickly summoned his wings and flew into the air and looked towards the west and sent a mental message "Enei, how many are there?" [Close to 100, most of them seems to be level 7 or higher] Enei that had been assigned to guard the west of the city had spotted humans making their way towards the city, they seemed to be a rather big party of adventures that were charting the no man''snd, by a miracle they had managed to get this close to the city without being detected ''Well, close is a stretch They are still about 25 kilometres out'' Mike quickly called Julie and Beel and consulted them on what they should do, Julie quickly spoke "Let''s just kill them and be done with it" Beel also nodded, this caused Mike to sigh before he nodded, this was a very shortsighted way to handle it, Julie spoke "Let''s wipe them outpletely, if another partyes to investigate then they''ll just deliver free experience to our doorstep" "Well then, let''s do it Will you be joining us, Lady Beel?" Beel nodded before she spoke "Try not to kill them, I have ns for them" "Okay, then let''s do this" The tree of them quickly took flight, Beel''s wings looked like her ck dress as if they were cut out of the night sky, soon the three of them were hovering just outside the detection radius of the adventures, Mike folded his wings in and soonnded on the ground before he began walking towards the group of adventures, when he eventually got detected he waited a few seconds before he continued walking as he spoke out loud as he walked into a clearing "You are trespassing on our ancestralnd!" Soon a couple of adventures walked into the clearing, they showed admirable expressions that didn''t seem to hide any malice, the representative spoke "Well met, my name is Henry and I am the leader of this adventuring party, if you have a moment I would like to tell you about our mission" Mike didn''t expect them to be this nice so he was kind of baffled for a moment before he nodded as he introduced himself "My name is Mike, I am an elder of the Wind spirit race I serve Lady Beel" The face of the leader of the adventuring party lit up "The Wind spirits! What good news!" The people around him also looked rtively excited, the leader quickly exined "We were hired by a certain merchantpany to establish contact with the Wind spirits to possibly open a new trading route" Mike nodded and after thinking for a moment he spoke "Stand down Julie, Lady Beel You too Enei" ""Yes Mike"" [Yes master] Mike showed a smile to the adventures and spoke "You all must be tired from your journey, pleasee rest in our city" Henry showed a smile as he spoke "That would be nice, please excuse our rudeness in advance, we are only adventures" Mike showed a smile and gestured for the party of adventures to follow him, soon they arrived in the city were the party of adventures was weed by the Wind spirits, Mike had told them before to act civil and not attack the party of adventures, in the evening they held a banquet for the adventures where Beel pulled Mike to the side and asked "What are you nning Mike?" "Well Since we pissed off the FIre iron''s weck a trading partner to import monster cores and export recourses" "I see ''don''t ughter the chicken thatys many eggs''?" "Exactly, though we can always ughter the chickenter once it''s doneying eggs" Beel showed a smile before she gently patted Mike on the head as she praised him "You really have a good head on your shoulders Mike" Mike showed a smile Later that evening Mike negotiated with the merchant that the adventure party had escorted and made a basic trade agreement and then the next day around noon the adventure party left the city again, Mike had assigned a few level 8 Wind spirits to escort them out of the forest safely, something which was greatly appreciated by the adventures, as for why he didn''t allow them to use the travel tress was simple, he didn''t truly trust the merchant yet ''I can always go ughter him if he tries to cheat me'' Opening a trade route was a pleasant surprise to Mike but now that he had recovered it was time for the Wind spirit horde to move again, from what mental messages he had received from his spies in the Fire ironnds they were getting shall we say Whopped? Anyway they had been pushed back to their capital that now was under siege, as for the ck oni''s they hadn''t shown up yet, they probably wanted to ''acquire'' newnds from the Fire iron''s by righteously reconquering thend from the humans ''A perfect ce to ''fish in troubled waters'' as they say'' Mike showed a smile before he yelled "MATCH!" """""""MATCHING!""""""" Julie stood next to him and too watched the Wind spirits move through the travel tree, Mike looked over at Beel that seemed very amused by watching the way that the horde matched through the travel tree''s portal "Will you be joining us, Lady Beel?" Beel showed a smile "Yes, of course, with me around you will quickly reach level 9 and ascend" Mike nodded before he squeezed Julie''s hand, they both remembered the talk they had had with Beel, once they reached level 9 and umted enough experience they would ascend with the help of Beel and reach the same status as her, from there they would join the invasion forces that fought against the guardians of the wheel "Once we have ascended can we then visit your home world, Mike?" "Sure, it''ll be fun, we can do some sightseeing, you cane too Lady Beel" Beel showed a smile "Sure" Chapter 169: Plot smashed Chapter 169: Plot smashed After moving through the travel tree the Wind spirit horde began moving into former Fire ironnd, and that had been ravaged by the human armies and opportunistic bandit''s alike "Which means that there''s still a lot of blood to be had in this conflict Plus there''s the ck oni''s to think about too..." Julie was used to Mike muttering his thoughts out loud like this so she didn''t reallyment on it this time, Beel however asked "What about the ck oni''s?" Mike showed a slight smile "They''ll most likely attack once thest remnants of Fire iron resistance have been stomped out by the humans" "...But why..? Aren''t they allied?" "Yes, but with the Fire iron king out of the way there''s no need for them to honour that alliance, instead they will deepen their betrayal of the Fire irons by re-conquering theirnds from the humans before they put a puppet on the throne of the newly liberated Fire ironnds" "I see They truly are smart, if that''s what they''re going to do" "Well, it depends on their king''s ability to think ahead And not to be too greedy" As they were chatting Mike received a message from one of the scouts and showed a smile before he began sending out mental orders as he spoke "We have found what appears to be bandits, there''s quite a lot of them too, about 1.500" Beel showed a smile before shemanded "Take some of them alive, I have something to show you, Mike" "Yes, Lady Beel" After a rtively uninteresting fight, about 200 bandits were captured, as for the rest? The Wind spirits were feasting on them "Lady Beel, these are the one''s we''ve captured" "Good work Mike Now watch[Abbsyal bind]" ck tentacles spurted from the ground and bound the bandits that pleaded for mercy, Beel however calmly used her next skill "[Abyssal drain]" As the bandits turned into dried-out husks another tentacle grew out of the ground in front of Beel and quickly bore a white fruit that grew to the size of a strawberry before it stopped growing, Beel plucked the fruit and threw it to Mike "Try it, its pure mana, or at least as pure as it gets" Mike looked at the fruit for half a second before he threw it into his mouth and ate it, it was tasteless, still, there was a particr feeling Mike was very used to by now, he looked at Beel and asked "It''s experience?" "Yes Mike, very good It''s the experience of the 200 some bandits With this war going on you''ll quickly reach level 10 and ascend You to Julie" Julie''s face lit up and she quickly thanked Beel "Thank you very much, Lady Beel" From there Mike and Julie went into a frenzy and captured as many bandits, soldiers or refugees as they could to have Beel turn them into experience fruits but on the 12th day since they arrived in the former Fire ironnds they finally came upon the ck oni reconquest army, like the name suggested they had ckish skin and two small horns in their forehead Mike scuffed before he muttered "Hello there, my less honey fellows" Julie that happened to hear him showed a smile as the messenger of the ck oni''s were being escorted to them, he showed respect by kneeling down before he spoke "I great you, Lord and Ladies of the Wind spirits, my name is Gel, I am the second-born son of our great king" "I am Mike, an elder of the Wind spirits and humble servant of Lady Beel" "I am Julie, an elder of the Wind spirits, Wife to Mike and humble servant of Lady Beel" "I am one of the travellers of the 7 dimensional nes, conquer of the 3rd ne and invader of the 4th, my name is Beel" The messenger seemed to mentally note the names and titles of the 3 before he spoke "Lady Beel, Lord Mike, Lady Julie I am here to extend a humble invitation to the city of Anvi where our great king wishes for an audience as well as that he wants to personally thank all of you for the effort the Wind spirits have done in this war" After the messenger left a cold light shone in Mike''s eyes, Julie heaved a sigh before she spoke "That''s bait" Mike nodded "I agree" Beel was the only one that didn''t seem to get it so Mike spoke "They want us toe to Anvi, probably so they can kill us As for why? It''s probably so they can take over the former Fire ironnds They think we want thend too" Beel nodded before she asked "Then what do you want to do Mike?" "Well In the past, we would have just run away, but now" Mike looked over at Beel that tilted her head to the side, as she did he showed a cold smile A few dayster the Wind spirit horde made camp outside of the city of Anvi as Mike, Julie and Beel walked through the streets Under heavy escort they were hailed as heroes by themon folk on the streets, Mike did the whole ''smile and wave'' bit and so did Julie, Beel however simply yed it cool, she didn''t seem very impressed by the few thousand people that were cheering her on. Soon the group arrived at the castle where they were ced in a waiting room for a few minutes before the messenger from before showed up, the second-born son of the king, Gel, He showed a smile and greeted them "Lady Beel, Lord Mike, Lady Julie" Mike showed a smile and began chatting with Gel while thedies yed it cool, well Julie did, Beel was all over the dessert table, tasting all the different kinds of sweets "---So how was your trip to Anvi?" "It was pleasant, there were a few bumps along the way, but nothing I canin about" The talk went mostly like that until the time where a maid showed up and informed that the king was ready for them, Mike nodded and after a bit, he managed to get Beel''s attention after which he humbly informed her that it was time to see the king, after following the maid through a few hallways they eventually arrived, not at the audience chamber, but at a wide ballroom where a party was well underway, now it made more sense why they had been asked to dress formally, Mike quickly sent a few mental messengers to Julie and Beel before they split up and began to mingle with the crowd who mostly consisted of Fire iron noble''s with a few ck oni noblemen and women in between, Mike quickly spotted the ck oni king in the crowd, he was talking with a Fire iron nobleman that seemed a little familiar to Mike ''No That''s the previous king''s little brother So that''s the new puppet king?'' So far everything made sense, except the fact that they were around the noblemen and noblewomen that was the top of the country ''Unless'' Mike suddenly got a bad feeling and closed his eyes listening Soon he heard what he feared, the subtle sound of metal rings rubbing against each other ''Or in other words, chainmail'' What was worse was that the sound came from every member of the ck oni that was present, as well as from the king and puppet king ''Now what to do..?'' As Mike was thinking of what to do and when to do it he suddenly heard a yell and looked over "---And I am telling you, it would be your great honour to be a concubine of someone as great as me, you street whore!" Mike visibly cringed when he saw who the intoxicated ck oni was speaking to and made his way over towards him And Beel that innocently asked "What''s a ''street whore''?" Before Mike could make his way over Julie that stood next to Beel whispered the meaning to Beel "Hoo~ I see and then those women are paid for their work?" "Yes, Lady Beel Though it''s also used as a demanding word when speaking about and to women" Beel nodded a few times before the entire venue suddenly turned silent, her mana circtions didn''t start, they simply jumped to around 2.000 circtions per minute, the floor cracked, and the weak and elderly people in a 20 kilometres radius had their hearts shattered, Beel herself showed her hand palm upwards where a ck me appeared "[Abbysal me]..!" Then she blew on that small me and it quickly expanded outwards and swallowed not only the but also the ck oni king, the new puppet king and half the castle but also most of the city of Anvi It was simply annihted with nothing left, Mike quickly summoned his wings and grabbed Julie and Beel and flew out of the castle that copsed around them, then he spoke to Beel that was floating beside him with a displeased expression on her face "Next time someone insults you, then leave it to me, Lady Beel" "Do you disagree with my actions Mike?" "No, not at all Only" "Only what?" "Only I could have made him suffer way more than that" "Oh I see, then I''ll trust you to handle it the next time" "Yes, Lady Beel" Chapter 170: Start of the gathering Chapter 170: Start of the gathering After the incident that levelled most of the city of Anvi the Fire irons was well and truly screwed, not only had they lost their king, they had also lost the king of the ck oni''s that came running to ''help'' them, as for the WInd spirits? They seemed to have turned bandits and attacked everybody that set foot in the now seemingly cursed former Fire ironnds, Mike was pleased with his smooth progress as he neared around a 1/4th of the experience he needed to level up to level 9, Julie onlygged after a bit as they both consumed the experience fruits that Beel made out of the people they captured alive, currently, Beel was teaching Mike and Julie about mana "---So when you kill a person or creature you absorb some of its umted mana, or experience" "Then how does the level up work?" "The crystal ball simply activates the ambient mana in your body once it has reached a certain capacity and strengthens your body" Mike nodded, then he asked the thing that bugged him the most "Then why can''t I just absorb mana from the air?" Beel showed a smile "Because you don''t have a monster core like the dragons or Serina" Mike nodded before he thought for a bit and asked "Why didn''t my homeworld have these level-up crystals?" Beel showed a smile and spoke "Because only the 7 prime worlds have the level-up crystals That reminds me it''s almost time" "Time for what?" "For the meeting with the five other demon generals, you have to do your best to get selected as the new demon general Mike" "Wait What do you mean get selected?" "Oh Haven''t I mentioned this?" "No" Beel tilted her head slightly before she spoke an "Oh, well" and exined it to Mike and Julie "The reason for the ceasefire was so that both sides could build up their forces by having their inheritors travel to the 7 prime worlds and gain strength" "So you''re saying that there are 6 more people just like Jane..?" Mike suddenly felt like he was getting a headache when Beel suddenly dropped a bombshell "No there''s only 3 left, the rest have been killed or enved by the other demon general candidates" "Wait There are other candidates? Didn''t you say that I was the only one to have my soul converted?" "Yes on Earth, did you think Earth was the only world on this ne?" Mike thought about it for a second before he shook his head and muttered "I guess not" Beel looked at Mike for a few seconds before she realized he was sulking and showed a very motherly smile walked over to him and hugged him close as she spoke "Don''t worry Mike, you''re still plenty special to me" Mike was about to say something when Julie hugged his back and spoke proudly "You''re the most special person to me, Mike" After a while, Beel broke the hug and asked Mike "Are you confident in bing the new demon general?" "It''s what I was chosen for right?" "Yeah, that''s right" "Then I am confident" Beel''s face lit up as she spoke "Good then let''s start special training right away" "Okay..?" Beel showed a smile and stood in front of Mike and spoke "Then look into my eyes" Mike looked into her eyes for a bit before he suddenly felt dizzy and attempted to look away but found he was unable to, Beel spoke "This is a type of charm magic, you have to use your willpower to break it" "Okay" Mike quickly summoned his willpower and broke eye contact with ease "Well done Mike, do you think you have it down now, or would you like to try again?" "Once more, turn the power up this time" Beel showed a smile and locked eyes with Mike A couple of hourster Mike had the basics of charm magic resistance down, then Beel formed a pair of swords out of darkness and went a few rounds with Mike, or rather beat him within an inch of his life for a couple of hours, from there it waste and Beelmanded Mike to go to sleep which he happily did, from there the next few weeks wasbat training, consuming experience fruits, and charm magic resistance training for Mike, after a few weeks he felt like he had gotten significantly stronger form constantly fighting an opponent that was stronger and than him, in recent days he even found room to counter-attack a few times when he felt that he had finally gained a leg worth of foothold Beel showed a smile and spoke "Then let''s tune the difficulty up a bit" From there Beel suddenly grew stronger and faster and proceed to beat him up again for the next 3 weeks before she turned the difficulty up again This continued for about a year before he got the seal of approval from Beel, by now he was close to reaching level 9, on a random morning Beel suddenly muttered "It''s about time" "For the selection?" "Yeah Let''s go ahead, it''s better to be early after all" "How are we going to get there?" "We''re already there" "Eh..?" Mike looked around and saw that the space around them had suddenly changed to that of an arena like the one he had seen in travel programs about Italy, Him, Julie and Beel were currently standing down on the arena floor, Mike looked up and saw that the sky was filled with stars, it was brightly lit where they stood, the rest of the arena was also brightly lit up, Mike looked around and saw a shadow sitting in the viewing stands, Beel followed his eyes and showed a smile before she spoke "It''s rude to stare Mike" "Oh, sorry" Mike looked away again, then Beel picked up Julie in her arms and spoke "Well then Mike, do your best" Then she floated up to the stands and sat down with Julie beside her, Mike looked around and saw that a man had appeared on the arena floor, the first impression he got was that he was fat, though he felt some familiarity with him and made a light bow as he introduced himself "I am Mike" The fat man showed a smile "My name is Gas" Mike shook hands with Gas and the two of them began to chat about this and that "---Are you married to Mike?" "Yeah, happily married, her name is Julie" Gas nodded as he showed a smile "We have a little thorny rtionship, but I love her all the same, her name is Ax" As they reached a break in their conversation another person showed up next to them, she looked like she was covered in darkness, she was a little short and her hair was pitch ck, she stared intensely at Mike and Gas, then she asked "Are you guys well know on the battlefield known as love?" Mike and Gas looked at each other before they nodded, and Gas asked "What do you want to know girly?" "Muu I am an adult you know, I am 24 you know?" "Sorry, sorry" Mike showed a smile and asked "So what''s your name?" "I am Mel, are you married, mister?" "Name''s Mike, yeah I am happily married" "Then do you know how to make someone fall for you?" Mike thought for a bit before he nodded "Yeah with honesty and charm, though if they are a little dense you have to be rather aggressive" Mel looked like she was memorizing what Mike was saying for a bit before she asked "Then What if they say that they hate you? Then is it no good?" Mike saw that Mel was about to tear up and thought for a bit before he spoke "They say that hatred and love are two sides of the same coin" "...What do you mean?" "It means that if they say they hate you then you are closer to their heart than if they say that they don''t think anything about you" Mike looked up to the gallery and waved at Julie before he leaned in and spoke in a low voice "You know I used to hate my wife because she was stronger than me But then before I knew it I had fallen for her" "Hm hm" Mel nodded and was about to speak again when a loud haughty voice spoke out "Ha! Childish nonsense! If you want someone you should simply take them, use them and then throw them away!" The three of them looked over and saw a man with a bare upper body that was chiselled with muscles that struck a dramatic pose, Mike nodded before he asked "Quick question, Who didn''t love you as a child?" "Ha! Someone as great as I don''t need a flimsy thing such as love! Power is all you need in life!" Mike felt a headacheing on Chapter 189: Clash Chapter 189: sh Mike sat on the stone floor that emitted a lot of warmth from having been baked in the sun for half a day, he felt like a lizard absorbing heat from the stone under him, unfortunately, he wasn''t able to take a nap right now, as the survival of the two figures in front of him depend entirely on him "Focus Lucy" "Y-Yes" Mike was currently ''overlooking'' the performance of Nici and Lucy as they did the movement set he had developed, as for why they were doing this was simple, they were in the process of adjusting to their newfound strength after Mike used [Evolve] on them yesterday evening "Nici" "Y-Yes?" "Are you sleepwalking or just in suicidal?" Nici shut his mouth and focused on the movements that challenged energy through his body, Nici felt his body being adjusted ever so slightly as he did the movement set and gritted his teeth as his level of focus rose ever so slightly, still, Mike had to adjust his body slightly, there was no doubt that they had grown stronger after being evolved, but right now that sudden strength gain was detrimental to them as the uing fight with the new guardian of the wheel needed them at 100% efficiency, thus the training ''...Looks like the need to be reserve troops for the battleter A shame, I had hoped that they would be able to adjust faster'' Mike sighed, Nici gritted his teeth tighter when he heard Mike sigh, he was deeply stubborn in his pursuit of strength, perhaps even more so than Mike, thus being unable to probably use his newfound strength annoyed him to no end, Mike sensed this in him and spoke "If you have spare energy to get annoyed use it to focus instead" "Yes, General!" Mike felt Nici''s focus raise as he made fewer mistakes and nodded his head before he turned more of his focus over to Lucy, while she was doing better than Nici was before she was still making some mistakes ''Well, not everyone adjusts fast, Guess I''ll just have to be patient with them'' Mike didn''t really realize it but that was one of his talents, adjusting to sudden strength gains and losses, that''s why he never really felt ufortable in his own body, even after he leveled up, there were cases of people being injured or even outright dying because they weren''t used to their strength, it was a rather normal thing on the Prime worlds Time passed, soon evening arrived, Mike was floating up in the air above the fort looking in the direction that the new guardian of the wheel was approaching, they were less than one day away, thus he couldn''t be careless, speaking of carelessness, Mike was currently the only one awake, he had ordered the rest to get a good night''s sleep before the uing battle, though Mike was able to wake them at a moments notice over the mentalwork, thus the evening turned to night and then the night turned to morning, Mike floated like a statue above the fort, at this point he stirred slightly the morning dew fell off him at once, the sun was rasing at his back, as he looked forwards he saw an army approach, there was about 2.000 with some 100 people flying above the army, Mike narrowed his eyes and looked at one of these people, he wore shining armor and carried a charismatic smile on his slightly handsome face, around him were several women that each seemed powerful on their own ''Level 9 With a harem of level 8 women How envious'' Mike chuckled before he sent a message over the mentalwork, instantly Julie appeared next to him, then came the 32 level 8 Wind spirits, then came the Ravi tribe members andstly came the other demons, by now the confident smile on the new guardian of the wheel was shaken somewhat, however, itpletely disappeared when the two dragons descended from above the clouds his face hardened somewhat before he waved a high ranking officer over and spoke to him, the officer nodded and flew ahead of the army stopping only when he was about 200 meters from the demon group, there he spoke loudly "Demons head out wise Generals words: If you surrender your lives peacefully we will not only make your passing peaceful but also without pain and suf---" As the officer spoke Mike sighed before he twilled his finger around and a loud snap sounded out from the officer whose neck was twisted 360 degrees, then he fell from the sky, dead "Propustruos!" Apparently, the new guardian of the wheel was not very happy with that and yelled at once as he red at Mike, Mike sighed before he spoke loudly "If you surrender your lives peacefully I will not send your souls to the void, instead I''ll allow them to be returned to the wheel converted to a more Perfect version" The new guardian yelled out as he drew his sword "Face me demon and I''ll strike you down! Our cause is just, why do you refuse to see this!?" Mike chuckled before he asked "You are from earth right?" The new guardian of the wheel was taken aback before he nodded, Mike showed a smile before he asked "Then do you think the settlers of America were in the right? There''s no right, nor is there no wrong, there''s only strength, the ones that are strong decided the so-called illusion of right and wrong!" Mike raised his hand before he spoke again "Allow me to show you the strength of the people you call demons, THEN ONCE YOUR SOUL WANDERS THE VOID FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY YOU''LL KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG, CHARGE!" Mike brought down his hand signaling the demons to charge, the two dragons opened up and fired off beams of destructive energy at the ground army, meanwhile, the new guardian of the wheel looked like he had just eaten a bitter bug as his face distorted from anger and humiliation as his staff officers requested orders, he quickly spoke out loud "Annihte them all! All troops forwards!" As the two armies of different sizes were about to meet the demon army suddenly split into two equal-sized parts and began to circle the other army, Julie lead the right nk while Alexander lead the left nk, they fired off spells into the guardian army with wild abandon, meanwhile, Mike charged directly towards the middle of the guardian army alone, as the elite level 7 soldiers approached him he opened his hand and closed it again, in response to this simple gesture the level 7 and 8 elite soldiers were crushed into orbs of gore and metal as they blood speed out and formed an orb above Mike that steadily grew in size as he continued his charge into the middle of the guardian army, on the sides the right and left nkers lead by Julie and Alexander suddenly also began to curve inwards towards the middle of the guardian army ''Now what will you do..?'' Mike narrowed his eyes and looked towards the guardian in the middle that quickly gave out orders to the staff officers around him that they would ry those orders, this was a disadvantage, Mike was clearly in the lead in terms of the speed which his orders could be given and executed as his ry speed was Well instant ''Fire off another 2 beams towards the middle, all troops brace, impact zones updated'' The dragons obeyed and fired off another 2 beams of destructive energy towards the middle of the guardian army, there was no friendly fire from that as the ones that were about to be hit by the beams of energy suddenly dodged out of the way, the charge continued, though the speed slowed down as the guardian army was beginning to mount a proper defense, then suddenly Mike dodged to the side as an arrow the size of a spear passed by where he had just been, he looked ahead and saw one of the women that had crowded around the new guardian of the wheel, Mike showed a smile as he saw another 2 approach him with their weapons drawn ''Thay have taken the bait, I''ve managed to draw out 3 Julie, Alexander time to stop holding back'' So far all the demon troops had been fighting at half capacity to give a false impression of strength to the guardian army, for them to focus on Mike and leave the nks rtively open, suddenly Alexander exploded with strength as he instantly tore through the opposition, tow horns formed in his forehead and a tail grew out from his back as he yelled "Out of my way!" His two short swords turned into blenders as they quickly tore apart the opposition, meanwhile, Julie let loose a firestorm that turned the surrounding guardian soldiers into ashes in a mere instant as she charged forwards towards the new guardian of the wheel that wore an even more bitter expression than before Chapter 190: Another one to the void Chapter 190: Another one to the void With Alexander and Julie closing in on him from both sides the new guardian of the wheel gritted his teeth before he drew his sword, then he yelled "[Inner strength], [Divine light], [Angel shadow], [Holy armor]!" A white light declined from above and covered the guardian, when it subsided he appeared with an armor made of pure light as well as another figure by his side, it was a Well an angel, blond hair, white-feathered wings, and sky blue eyes, the angle grasped empty air and a de made of light condensed before she turned to Alexander and pped her wings creating a sonic boom as she elerated towards him, meanwhile the new guardian turned to Julie and pped his wings as he charged her with his sword drawn, Julie showed a smile and pulled back slightly while 3 WInd spirits synced their movements with her she muttered "I have control" Meanwhile, Mike faced off against the guardian''s harem, well facing off was maybe a big word to use "I don''t really like killing women though" Mike sighed as he shed through the sword of one of the women and cut her in half from her shoulder to her hip, then he twisted in the air and kicked the upper half of the body towards the archer as he fired off a [Blood boiler] at the corpse making it explode into a bloody mess creating a momentary cover from her urate arrows, Mike swiped the knife over his left hand and dropped a drop of blood onto the hammer as he threw it at the heavily armored women that were charging at him as he sighed the hammer bit out a chunk of her upper body and head "Then again I don''t really like killing anyway It''s more of a habit" Mike swayed slightly dodging another arrow from the archer before he looked towards her and showed a slight smile as he pped his wings closing the distance, she desperately fired off an arrow which Mike deflected with the knife before he twisted around and swung the hammer towards the side of her pretty face which then disintegrated under the heavy blow and sent skull fragments along with various gore, Mike now free of opponents looked towards Julie first and saw her cornering the new guardian, then after letting out a sigh he looked towards Alexander and saw that he had just sent the head of the angle flying before hepletely shredded the body with his twin shortswords before scoffing and looking towards Julie that drove the new guardian down towards the ground, Mike showed a smile and descended, Julie''s sword made contact with the light armor and a loud ng sounded out, she frowned slightly as she dodged the return swing before he figure flickered and appeared behind the new guardian where she struck the light armor again, this time she sent the guardian flying and the light armor shattered as hended heavily on the ground "Danm it! This is not how it''s supposed to be, Jane! Lina! Helia! Mary! Come here and help me!" Mike sighed as he watched the guardian fumble about on the ground like a spoiled child, then he muttered "I had prepared a speech and all that, but at this point, I won''t bother Say hey to Jane for me" Mike''s figure flickered before he appeared on the other side of the guardian leaving a cut on his right ear before he muttered "[Control]" The soul of the new guardian was forced out as a demon took its ce in his body, soon it appeared in the void, there the guardian slowly began wandering the endless void Mike sighed before he spoke over the mentalwork "Good job, clean up the rest" Then he turned to look at Julie before he asked "How should we end this one?" "Hmm Oh I have an idea, hey you" "Yes, Mistress?" Julie showed a bright smile before she asked "Can you twist your head 360 degrees for me?" "Yes, Mistress!" Then he grabbed the sides of his head and well Twisted until a horrible sound was heard He made it about halfway before the dead body fell to the ground with a turd, Mike nodded "Yep that''s brutal alright" "Ehehe~ Mike you always know how to praise me~" Julie hugged Mike''s arm as the screams of the guardian''s army echoed around them ''A shame Beel told us to kill all the guardians, soul or no soul Could have used a level 9 servant'' After the clean up was done, that is to say, nothing was clean in the surrounding area, mangle bodies were sttered all over devoid of blood stter, it was a surreal sight but one Mike was used to at this point, long gone was the times that he had looked upon the insiders of a human scattered around with mild disgust, now it was part of the norm, organs, bone fragments mixed with brain matter and discarded limbs was all normal now "I really have lost my mind huh" Mike reached up with his hand and felt that a slight smile had formed on his face, this had be his default expression by now, vaguely one could feel something about to crack under the surface of that slight smile ''...That''s fine too, what was it mom said before she stabbed her eyeball Oh, right: Life is endless, I will be that end'' Mike shook his head, Julie that stood next to him could feel something was charging inside Mike and was a little concerned, though she hid it behind her smile, Mike called out as soon as the troops had gathered around him "Beel, we''re done here" A few moments passed before Beel''s voice was heard "Okay, I''ll bring you back now One moment, this might feel weird" Mike felt his sense of bnce lose its footing before his surroundings blurred and he was back in the Wind spirit vige he sighed before he turned around and saw Beel walking over and greeted her "Hey Beel" Beel looked at Mike for a few moments before she sighed and spoke out loud "Oh, so that time hase" "What?" "I''ll tell youter Mike, for now, I''ll introduce you to someone,e over here Telia" "Yes, Mistress!" Telia ran over and kneeled down on the spot, Mike looked at her then at Beel that had a smile on her face before she spoke or rather asked "What''s the first thing you need to prepare for an invasion?" Mike thought for a moment before he spoke "Troops, no Supplies" Then he looked at Telia before he nodded "So that''s how it is" Beel showed a smile "I knew you would get it, Mike, that''s what the Ravi tribe is, they are supplies we sent ahead for the invasion of this ne when she said that they have no souls it''s true, they''re empty vessels, this is the #4935 ''Telia'', that''s how many times she has been reborn, or would it be better to say reincarnated? Anyway that''s what they are, use them as you see fit" Mike nodded, it was clear to him now, Telia and the rest of the Ravi tribe was like a lockbox dropped from the air that would thennd behind enemy lines the enemy would be able to use it to limited capacity, but only when friendlies arrived would it open and show its true potential and aid the war effort "Then Are there any more ''supplies'' scattered around the prime worlds?" Beel nodded "We sent ahead some thousand groups of handcrafted tribes or races who all were empty vessels ready to serve Though I can''t be sure how many survived to this day" "I see" Mike nodded before he called out "Nici, Lucye over here and meet Beel" Nici and Lucy walked over apanied by Mel, the two of them kneeled down and spoke in unison "Lady Beel" Beel showed a smile before she looked them over, the two trembled slightly under her gaze before she spoke "Excellent seedlings, Nice find Mike" Mike nodded "I only found Nici though, Lucy is Mel''s find and treasure" "I see, you have chosen a fine mate Mel" "Thank you, Lady Beel Forgive me for asking, but you don''t think it''s... Unnatural?" Beel shook her head and spoke "No, not at all Love is not unique to this ne of existence but it''s far more widespread on this ne than any I''ve seen before As they say: Love takes all forms" Mel lowered her head as she spoke somewhat emotionally "Thank you, Lady Beel" Soon evening arrived, Mike was about to head to bed when he received a mental message from Beel that called him to the garden, he quickly left his and Julie''s room and soon arrived in the garden where he found Beel sitting in front of the flower bed, Mike walked over and sat down next to her, he chose to remain silent as the two of them looked at the flowers in front of them under the moonlight, soon Beel spoke "You have doubts Mike" Mike remained silent for a bit before he eventually nodded and admitted it "Yes, I do" "I know you mean no disrespect by it And I''ll give you some time to figure out those doubts, off you go" Beel twirled her finger and a portal opened and swallowed Mike before it closed again, Beel sighed before she spoke to the flowers in front of her "It would be good if he makes up his mind soon Some time at home will help him, isn''t that right my small cuties?" The flowers fertilized by human corpses didn''t answer, they only swayed slightly in the wind Chapter 191: Home sweet(?) home Chapter 191: Home sweet(?) home Mike opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that it was cold, other than that it was dark, he sat himself up and looked around "Welp Honey I''m home?" Mike recognized the ce here was, it was his old apartment on earth, only seemed like some time had passed, Mike sighed before he went out to the bathroom and tried the facet, no water came out "Well, I figured that Since I killed all of Europe thest time around..." Mike sighed before he looked up in the mirror at himself, his skin was still blue and he still had horns, his eyes were demonic to look at too "...Maybe I y these off as body mods?" Mike swung his tail around as he thought, then he breathed a sigh "Nah, no change Anyway, I should find some clean water and food Maybe a supermarket around here has some preserved food? Yeah, there''s that Asian market down at the end of that street Let''s go there" Mike walked over and unlocked the door before he walked out of his apartment, the stairway was just as cold and dark as his apartment had been and when he opened the door to the street he found out why, it was snowing ever so slightly, a thinyer of snow covered everything outside, it was a good thing that he was still wearing his leather armor and he wasn''t sent over in nude "Now where was that market again..?" Mike thought for a moment before he began walking in the direction he remembered, the streets of Copenhagen was empty, there were no corpses, Mike figured from the wear and tear on the buildings and empty vehicles around him that it had been a few years here on earth since he basically killed all of Europe''s and some of North Africa''s poption to return to the Prime world, he walked along the streets following the path from his memories and soon arrived at the small Asian market where he smashed the window and jumped into the store "Oh~ They still have my favorite instant noodles~" Mike hummed as he picked up a cardboard box of noodles with his tail and jumped back out of the store, after a quick stop at an outdoor store and a regr supermarket Mike returned to his old apartment with a small portable gas stove and a six-pack of half-liter water bottles, soon the smell of instant noodles spread out as a tiny amount of heating from the gas stove heated the environment, then after dusting off some of an old bowl from the cupboards and receiving a spoon from the drawer Mike sat and ate some noodles on the floor as he thought ''Beel send me here so I could clear up my mind Well, it looks like I''ll be here for a while so maybe I should move around a bit after sleeping? I''ve always wanted to see Brandenburg gate so maybe I''ll fly to Germany?'' Mike crewed on the noodles for a bit longer before he nodded and spoke "That sounds good, then I''ll head to France and raid a wine cer then after that I''ll head to London and see if Big Ben still stands..? I kind of wish that Julie was here with me though No this is something I need to figure out myself" Mike sighed before he emptied the bowl of noodles and walked into the bedroom and crawled under the covers and curled up before he began regting his breathing and soon he fell asleep After sleeping for an unknown amount of time Mike awoke and sat up on the bed and looked out of the window "Around noon" Mike yawned before he made some noodles for breakfast, then he walked up to the roof of the apartment building and looked out over the city of Copenhagen, on his back was a backpack filled with food (Noodles), water, and the portable gas stove, then he cracked his neck and summoned his wings before he pped them once blowing away the snow on the rooftop and propelled himself into the air, he looked down at the once prosperous capital of Denmark and sighed before he looked at the sun and used it as a reference before he flew west, his n was to head over one of the major inds of Denmark that was called Fyn before he would fly South and head to Germany, however as he pierced the clouds he was unknowingly picked up on the radar of American ne deployed in the region, the chain ofmand did its thing and soon mistook Mike for a Russian drone and thus two F-35''s were scrambled and sent to intercept, Mike was maryly flying along when he suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, looked back and saw two dot''s on the horizon at his six o''clock "Well Bugger me sideways is that an F-35, if it is I better wave right?" Mike flipped around in the air and waved at the two dots in the horizon, he knew that they had seen him "No way the US pays 35.000$ per flight hour for something that can''t spot my pretty face from 10 kilometers away What''s the US doing in this area anyway? Probably at fighting with Russia over the scabs of the destroyed EU..." Mike continued his flight path as he kept his eyes locked on the two dots on the horizon, after a bit of time passed Mike muttered "Now, they can''t use a heatseeker on me The radar missiles are probably out of the window too since my radar signature is too small? Then their only way of engaging me is the good old 25mm GAU If they want to engage me anyways Maybe they''ll try for friendly contact?" Mike soon saw a small sh before a white trail of smoke appeared under one of the F-35''s, he quickly unsummoned his wings and started a free fall "Looks like the radar missile works well enough alright" What Mike had spotted was probably a radar-guided missileunched from the F-35, anyway, he wasn''t taking any chances with a possible missile so he quickly ducked down as he looked back, his keen senses spotted the missileing in fast, Mike narrowed his eyes and summoned his wings again and pped them disappearing from view as a sonic boom sounded out, next he performed a series of high-speed sharp turns that eventually shook off the missile causing it to self destruct "Now for some friendly first contact" Mike flew low just above the sea as he elerated leaving behind a sonic boom, he quickly closed in on the two F-35''s that seemed to have lost him on their sensors until he was about 2 kilometers out they suddenly performed a series of evasive maneuvers as they deployed res ''Probably mistaken me for a high-speed surfaceunched missile, well then'' Mike drew the knife before he closed in on one of the F-35''s and shed off its right-wing as he passed, the ne went into a spin before the pilot ejected from the ne, Mike showed a smile before he flew up in front of the still dizzy fighter pilot and shed out with the knife cutting them free from the ejection seat before he grabbed them with his tail and rolled over and dove down below the clouds, the remaining fighter pilot watched in horror as their wingman was taken and hurriedly reported it to their superiors "The unidentified target has taken Williams!" "What!? Didn''t Williams safely eject!?" "It flew up and grabbed her!" "WHAT!? Do you have eyes on Williams!?" "Negative, they have vanished from the radar and the other sensors!" "Shit!" "Hey Hey Wakey~ Wakey~" Chloe Williams opened her eyes, her mind was a little foggy, thest thing she remembered was flying a routine scout mission, something about a Russian drone flying over the Northern de-colonized area, her eyes quickly regained focus, the first thing that came into view was a dining room, she was currently seated on a chair facing the dining table when she tried to rub her aching head she realized that her hands were bound, she quickly checked her mobility and found that her legs were also bound, then she heard the voice again "Now that you''re awake There''s one thing I need to know" Chloe swallowed and just as she was about to state her name, serial number, and rank the voice spoke again "Are you more of a beef noodles kind of girl or maybe more of a curry noodles kind of girl?" "What?" Chloe felt a cold sensation on her neck before the voice spoke again "Just answer the question" Chloe debated reaming silent before she eventually spoke "Beef" A few seconds of silence followed before the voice was heard again, this time it seemed a little cherry "Oh Good choice, because I only have Beef noodles" Then a bowl of instant noodles was ced in front of her by a blue tail before a figure walked over and sat down next to her, she froze, it was clearly not human, blue skin, horns, and demonic eyes that looked inquiringly at her as the demon asked "What, something on my face?" Chapter 192: State of the world Chapter 192: State of the world Chloe could not believe her eyes, to her side sat a literal demon from myths and tales And it appeared that he was eating instant noodles while his blue bone-spiked tail swayed from side to side "Oh, right you can''t eat like that I hope you''re left-handed" The demon then whipped its tail faster than Chloe could see, before she managed to flinch she realized that her left hand had been cut free, then came a simplemand "Eat before it gets cold Nobody likes cold noodles Unless it''s soba" Chloe tried to pick up her fork but realized that her hands were shaking too much for her to eat, it was only now that she realized how terrified she was, this was a primal fear, something that no amount of training could have prepared her for, the demon sighed and just as Chloe feared the worst it picked up the fork and curled some noodles around on it before it brought the fork up to her mouth, after a few seconds of Chloe not doing anything the demon spoke again "Herees the airne?" Chloe carefully opened her mouth, the demon nodded and brought the fork into her mouth, she closed her mouth around the noodles and after the demon pulled the fork out she began chewing, she realized that she was unable to taste anything, at that point a thought went through her head ''Ah I am probably going to die here'' Once that thought entered Chloe''s head tears started to spill from her eyes, no matter the amount of training she had received, once she realized that all the things she wasn''t going to be able to do, all the people she wasn''t able to meet shed through her head, then she heard the demon sigh again, and realized that it was probably going to kill her now but to her surprise, it reached up towards her face, Chloe closed her eyes and some time passed before she realized that it was wiping her tears away with its fingers, she also realized that its hands were warm, at that point, she realized that there had been no anger or annoyance in its tone, the demon spoke again as it wiped her tears "Good thing you are a woman, no way I am wiping some sweaty buff man''s tears" Mike eventually finished wiping the tears of the female pilot he had captured, she was African-American and short ck curly hair, brown skin, and eyes also she was a head shorter than Mike, still, she was well built as expected of a fighter pilot, Mike helped her eat the rest of the noodles before he opened a bottle of water and ced it on the table for her to drink, she looked at the bottle of water for a bit, probably to decided if it was worth risking poison to drink, Mike showed a slight smile and spoke "If I wanted to kill you I would have done so already,e on drink" The female pilot drank almost half the water bottle before she put it down on the table again and looked to her side over at Mike before she asked "Why am alive?" Mike''s smile widened a little before he raised 3 fingers "Firstly because I have to check if I carry any infectious diseases that Earth''s poption is valuable to" The female pilot nodded, then Mike spoke again ''"Secondly because I need some information about the current state of the world" She nodded again then Mike''s smile disappeared "Thirdly because Ie in peace" Then Mike made a hand gesture from a popr Sci-fi show, the female pilot''s eyes widened slightly before she asked "You''re from Earth?" Mike nodded as he spoke "Yeah believe it or not I was born here in Denmark, my name is Mike" The female pilot nodded before she spoke "My name is Chloe Williams" Mike nodded before his tail wiped a couple of times, cutting the ropes binding Chloe''s hand and feet were cut, she showed a smile and stood up before she bolted towards the exit of the building, Mike sat and looked at the door she had just run out of before he sighed, then he looked down at the table and muttered "She didn''t even finish her noodles" Then he sent a mental message to his newly acquired servants Chloe ran over an open field, from the surroundings she gathered that she was somewhere on Fyn in the countryside, up ahead was a forest, she hoped that she could lose Mike there and find a way to regroup with the Maries, she noticed a pack of deer off to her right side that seemed to be moving towards her, she was puzzled by this but figured that they had been spooked by something That''s what she figured anyways, but when they suddenly surrounded her in a perfect circle she was forced to stop running, as she gathered her breath she looked around when a voice came from above "You realize I can chase down an F-35 fighter jet right?" Chloe looked up and saw Mike floating in the air with two wings behind his back that seemed to be made of pure blood, hended next to her and spoke to the deer that had stopped Chloe "Thanks, guys" The deer all lowered their heads before they walked back to where they came from, Chloe looked after them before she turned to Mike and asked "How did you..?" Mike grinned before he asked "Do you really want to know?" Chloe looked at Mike for a few moments before she shook her head and began walking back towards the house where she came from, Mike floated down andnded beside her as he spoke "You are kind of dense, you know that?" Chloe frowned "Why?" Mike sighed before he spoke "I wasn''t kidding when I said I wanted to use you to test for diseases, I''ve been on another for some time" Chloe stopped walking and turned to Mike before sheughed for a bit, Mike kept a straight face, eventually, herugh turned slightly nervous before she stoppedughing altogether and asked "Really?" Mike nodded before he spoke simply "Yeah" Chloe looked at him for a bit before she nodded and continued walking back towards the house, Mike shrugged before he followed after her In the evening Mike was sitting in front of a lit firece, Chloe was sitting a bit away from the firece on a chair as she looked at the side of Mike''s face before she looked into the fire like he did, then after a bit, she asked "You''ve been in a war right?" Mike nodded, eyes still locked into the fire, Chloe gathered her courage before she asked another question "...Why are you here on Earth Mike?" Mike continued looking into the fire, then just as Chloe had given up getting an answer and was about to ask another question he spoke "...My superior discovered my conviction was faltering and sent me home to take some time to rediscover it" Chloe nodded before she asked a question she knew was taboo for soldiers "So You''ve killed people?" To Chloe''s surprise, Mike answered right away "Yeah, I started here on Earth when I was young by identally killing my old man with an empty beer bottle Just bang, over the head, he never woke up after that... When I came over there I killed beasts, men, women, and children to grow my strength, to survive If you ask me if I regret it I don''t have a clear answer Not yet anyway" Chloe nodded again then she thought for a bit before she asked another question "How did you turn into That?" Mike chuckled before he answered her question "By pursuing strength Plus having a tail is handier than you think" Mike swung the tail from side to side before he suddenly stopped looking at the fire and stood up before he stretched, then he turned away from the fire and looked at Chloe as he spoke "Now for my questions First, what happened since the EU was destroyed?" Chloe sighed before she began speaking, from what she said Mike learned some key factors, firstly ''the Red death'' was the name of the event, from the red glow that had taken the lives of so many people, it had been 3 years since it happened, there was no known cause for the event but it had exposed mana to the general public, for sometime after the event the Earth had united, but once it was clear that it was not some sort of alien invasion the superpowers were at each other''s throats again, this was mostly over ims on the so-called ''de-colonized zone'' or simply the area that ''the Red death'' had spread itself over, though the superpowers feared a second ''Red death'' the promise of all thatnd was enough for them to ignore the threat, Mike sighed as he finished asking questions before he spoke "I''ll have to sleep on that you are free to go outside if you run away from the house again the deer will bring you back in a sorry state, oh and no entering my bedroom I''ll be sleeping in the room upstairs" Chloe nodded and spoke "I am not going to run away and risk my countrymen''s lives Or your anger for that matter" Mike nodded before he walked upstairs, as he ascend the stairs he spoke out without turning back "Good night Chloe" Chapter 193: First contact Chapter 193: First contact Chloe awoke to the sound of a gunshot, that''s why she sat up with a set and looked around, then another shot sounded out, she quickly followed the sound and soon arrived outside the house where she found Mike with her service pistol pointed towards his own stomach, then another shot ran out followed by a very t sounding "Ouch" "What are you doing!?" "Oh hey Chloe, I figured I should try and see if I was immune to bullets?" Mike turned around, Chloe looked at his stomach and found that while there wasn''t a gunshot wound like she expected there was a couple of bruises on his chiseled abs "How the fuck" Amazed she walked over and poked the bruises on Mike''s stomach before she looked up at him and asked "This was caused by my service pistol right?" Mike nodded before he rolled down the leather armor again, then he turned to Chloe and Handed her the pistol as he spoke "Just please don''t kill yourself with it" Chloe looked dumbfounded at the pistol in her hands for a few moments before she looked up at Mike that took a few steps back as he showed a teasing smile "You kind of look like you want to shoot me with that?" Chloe nodded before she checked the magazine for bullets, once she confirmed that there were still bullets in the magazine she looked over at Mike again, then with a slight smile she asked "Do you mind if I shoot you a bit?" "No, not at all" Mike drew the knife and spun it around like a toy before he slipped into a stance only a few meters away from her, Chloe sighed and raised the pistol before she aimed at Mike''s head and squeezed the trigger, a gunshot ran out before she realized that Mike was now standing in front of her within striking distance, he nodded "Always wanted to do that" "Do what?" Mike smiled mysteriously before he turned around and began searching for something, a few hundred meters away he found what he was looking for and showed it to Chloe that gasped "No way" What Mike showed her was a 9mm bullet, cut cleanly in half, Mike handed it to her before he pped her on the shoulder "Here, you can keep that as a memento of our meeting" Chloe nodded before she looked up and found Mike was already walking back towards the house, she looked around and saw the deer in the distance keeping their eyes on her, she sighed and gave up escaping for now as she walked back to the house after Mike when they returned Mike made some noodles for them to eat, Chloe looked down at the bowl of noodles then at Mike that was beside her and sighed before she began eating The following night Mike awoke with a set, a smile formed on his face before he got up and out of bed, then he quickly walked downstairs and found the room where Chloe was sleeping, there he found her curled up on the bed, Mike poked her check until she woke up, she was slightly panicked as she scrambled away from his touch "Eek! Mike is that you!?" "Yeah, Wakey~ Wakey~" Chloe looked into the darkness in front of her as her eyes adjusted to theck of light before she sighed when she saw Mike "I thought you were going to attack me in my sleep" "Please, my wife would kill me, then you and finally herself" "...Of course, you''re married" "Yeah quite happily, she is waiting for me at home But that''s not the point, you''re friends are here to pick you up" Chloe looked at Mike for a moment before she nodded and stood up from the bed, she was still wearing her flight suit, she showed a slight smile, Mike asked her "Ready to go home?" "...Yeah" "Good, let''s go then" Mike reached out his hand to help her up from the bed before the two of them walked outside and stood in front of the house they had spent thest two days in, Mike sighed before his tail flickered *CLANG* The loud ng was followed by the echo of a gunshot as Mike inspected his tail-hatchet "Not a scratch and that''s after being hit by an anti-material rifle I would probably have to dodge a 120mm dart then" "Dart?" "Yeah a Tank fired APFSDS, you know an Armor-piercing-fin-stabilized-discarding-sabot shell" Chloe looked at him in wonder before she eventually decided just to nod "I see" Mike looked to the front again and spoke "500 meters" Then he crossed his arms as a half-transparent red barrier appeared around him and Chloe, momentster something sparked off the barrier before another gunshot echoed out, Mikemented "He''s kind of good, firing an anti-material rifle from a ck Hawk at about 4 kilometers away" "You can see him?" "Of course I have perfect night vision, I am not a demon for show" Chloe sighed, then another 2 shots were blocked by the barrier over the next half a minute as Mike muttered again "350 meters" Then came a hail of suppressed gunfire, it all bounced off the barrier, then came another salvo before Mike shouted out "You guys better shoot the 120mm already!" Silence followed before a sh lit up the horizon, then a loud ng sounded out as the half-transparent barrier held steady, Chloe covered her ears and crouched down when she opened her eyes she saw a pool of molten metal running down the barrier Mike spoke "That would be the HEAT or High-explosive-anti-tank round Come on fire the dart already!" Mike seemed fired up, meanwhile, Chloe paled slightly, then another sh on the horizon followed by a loud ng as something too fast for Chloe to see shattered on the barrier sending metal fragments flying all over "A shatter Am I awesome or what? Ahahah, I wonder what mom would say if she knew that I would really be able to deflect a tank round like I yed when I was small?" Then after a few moments, a series of shes appeared on the horizon as Mike narrowed his eyes, then a couple of loud bangs sounded out as the barrier was hit repeatedly as the entire tank group opened op on him, Mike began humming a song as Chloey t on the ground next to him with her hands covering her ears, metal fragments flew all over the ce andpletely destroyed the house they had been spending thest two days in, then after frying for a couple of minutes without effect the tanks stopped firing, Mike poked Chloe with his foot as he spoke "Come on, it''s over, stand up" Chloe rubbed her head as she wobbly stood up, Mike helped her up before he showed a friendly smile as he looked straight into the darkness ahead of him and spoke "Wee to Ehm, what was the name of the farm again..? Anyways Hi there" Out of the darkness appeared 16 men d in ck uniforms wearing body armor and caring rifles fitted with suppressors, on their heads were helmets fitted with night-vision goggles, they spread out, pointing their rifles at Mike before one of them spoke "Release Major Williams" Mike nodded before he spoke as his tail wiped back and forth behind him "Nah, Chloe and I have been getting along fine until you guys showed up" The group of elite soldiers fell silent as they apparently waited for orders, Mike looked at the video cameras mounted on the side of their helmets and gave a little wave, after a couple of seconds the soldier spoke out again "Do you have any demands?" Mike''s smile widened before he spoke "Yeah, pardon from any crimemitted in connection with the kidnapping of Chloe Williams and the downing of her very expensive F-35, that and a US citizenship" The soldiers looked at each other, clearly not expecting Mike to make those demands, one of the soldiers sighed before he lowered his rifle and reached up and flipped his night-vision goggles up, then he clicked his helmet open and took it off exposing his slight youthful looks, then under the amazed gazes of the other elite soldiers he took a couple of steps forwards and reached out his hand as he spoke "This will probably get me court marshaled My name is Adam, do you have a name?" Mike nodded before the half-transparent barrier protecting him and Chloe disappeared, then he took a step forwards and shook hands with Adam as he spoke "I do, the name''s Mike, Despite how I look I am from Earth too" After Mike shook hands with Adam sat down on the ground, Adam looked at him for a few moments before he followed suit and sat down too, his eyes followed the tip of Mike''s tail that whipped back and forth behind him as he waited for new orders from above the food-chain Chapter 194: Bargain Chapter 194: Bargain Eventually, the morning arrived, from what Mike could hear from the earpieces of the soldiers with his sharp senses it seemed that the higher-ups were still discussing his terms with vigor "Hey Adam" "Yeah?" "You want me to speed up the annoying part?" "...Sure?" "Okay then Ah, man since you guys don''t want me as a citizen I could always learn Russian Or Chinese" A small since followed from the earpieces before Mike continued "And I had nned to hand down some of my techniques too Such a shame, oh well Off to Russia with me" Mike stood up and summoned his wings which he pped weakly a few times before he nced at Adam that gave him the ''Why the fuck did you say that'' look, the soldiers that sat on the ground quickly rose to their feet and resumed pointing the rifles at Mike until a few momentster when Adam spoke "Wait Your demands have been epted" Mike showed a smile and turned to Chloe which he helped to her feet before he gestured her to walk over to the soldiers which she then did, Mike followed after her as he unsummoned his wings, he walked past the soldiers, Adam quickly followed after him as he asked "Where are you going, Mike?" "Over to see the tanks, where else?" Adam sighed before he followed after Mike, soon the two of them covered the distance and arrived where the tank group had taken up positions, the tank crew''s stood out of the tanks in front of their tanks, watching Mike with caution "M1A2 Abrams, such a beauty What do you reckon that it weighs Adam?" "I don''t know Some 60 tons?" Mike rubbed his hands together as his tail swung from side to side as he spoke "You know I really want to try and lift one But I''ll refrain for now" Adam looked nkly at Mike before he beganughing, though it sounded slightly hollow "Ahahaha Good one, lifting a tank..." "Yeah it kind of does sound like I am joking, doesn''t it..? Maybeter" Some time passed as Mike admired the tanks from a distance, then a helicopternded nearby which Mike was prompted to get on to which he nodded and followed along with the show, soon the helicopter was out over the open sea, Mike sat with the headphones on and waited, soon the helicopternded on an aircraft carrier which was stationed in the north sea, from there Mike walked around on deck for a bit before a couple of people approached him, one seemed to be a high ranking officer that showed a smile to Mike, while the other seemed to be the admiral of the fleet, he wore a frown as he looked at Mike, besides that there was a couple of what seemed like normal soldiers that gave off faint mana signatures, Mike showed a smile and greeted them "My name is Mike and while I tossed away myst name a long time my legal name is Mike Thompson" The staff officer nodded before he introduced himself "My name is Desmund Hext, you can just call me Des, Mike, this is Admiral Simmons" The Admiral still wore the frown on his face and remained silent, Mike smiled before he disappeared from view appearing behind the Admiral and cing a hand on his back before he injected mana into his body clearing up his paths in an instant, the nearby soldiers all drew their weapons and pointed them at Mike that pped the Admiral on the shoulder as he spoke "This should make up for that lost ne, no?" "You, what did you do to me!" Mike smiled at the Admiral''s anger before he spoke tly "I unblocked your ''paths'' making you a mage and extending your natural lifespan by some 30 years" Finished what he wanted to Mike walked towards the entrance to below deck, after walking a few meters he called out "Des, youing or what?" "Ah, yes" Desmond walked after Mike along with the couple of mana able soldiers, the Admiral remained standing frozen in the wind as he felt the changes in his body, gradually the angry expression on his face disappeared before wonder reced it, then shock, another staff officer quickly asked him "Admiral are you okay?" "I Feel 20 years younger" Then he began to cough violently causing the nearby staff officers to panic before he raised a hand and spoke as he looked at the ck blood on his hand "I am fine" "Admiral, we should do a full check-up just in case" "Fine Let''s go" Mike soon found himself in a closed room with a one-way ss window on the side, across the table was Desmond that handed him a couple of papers which Mike looked over, they seemed to be some hurridly crafted legal documents, Mike read them over and thought for a few moments before he signed them, they were not what he hoped for, as in they were not a ''sign here and we give you a citizenship'' document, they were more of a ''sign here and we''ll consider it a 1st step towards agreeing to your demands, in exchange for some other stuff'' Mike sighed before he looked over at Desmond and asked "Do you happen to have a phone and some headphonesying around?" "No Though I''ll ask around" "Thanks" Mike stood up and stretched before he walked over to the corner of the room and sat down with crossed legs and started to meditate A lot happened while Mike was meditating, firstly two people finished up their check-ups without any problems with either of them, the Admiral was in a daze when the doctor told him that his steadily failing organs were now in top shape, it really did seem like he had be 20 years younger, he felt strange, on one hand, he should be celebrating, but on the other hand, he felt that the gift he had been given was not given out lightly, of course, he waspletely wrong on that point Not that Mike would tell him that. As for Chloe, she returned to her small and cramped room with a sense of thest 3 days being a strange dream, so naturally, after she showered she went straight to bed, she knew that a debriefing was waiting for her soon, as for Adam, he was already benign debriefed Mike opened his eyes slowly, he had been meditating for about 2 days straight, he jumped to his feet and cracked his neck as he stretched, then he walked over to the one-way ss and knocked on it a couple of times waking the person sleeping on the other side before he spoke "Good morning Don''t worry, I won''t tell if you don''t" Then he walked over and sat down on the chair as he waited for a bit, he rubbed his stomach that was feeling a little empty as he let out a yawn ''I wonder what kind of food they serve on an aircraft carrier'' Then after about 2 minutes Desmond opened the door and walked in before he sat down in font of Mike, Mike watched his face for a bit before he asked "What''s wrong?" "Oh, so it''s that obvious huh I just briefed the president on, well you Mike" "Ah I see and what''s the verdict?" Desmond looked at Mike for a bit before he asked "What are you going to do if it''s not what you expected?" Mike thought for a bit before he answered nonchntly "Learn how to speak Russian?" "I see What if there was a kill order out on you already?" "Hmm Then I would have to do some things that I''ve learned how to do very well, but probably sink this aircraft carrier as a demonstration of strength..? Never mind that, did you find some headphones and a phone?" Desmond nodded before heid a mobile phone up on the table along with a pair of headphones as he spoke "There''s ess to the on it, I trust you''ll work your magic and find something you want to listen to?" "Yeah That I will" Mike picked up the headphones and wore them before he put them off on one ear and asked "So what was the verdict?" "To bring you home for further studies" "Ah I see Well then, could you send someone to bring me some food, I am kind of starving here" "Oh, of course, any allergies?" "Not that I know of" "Okay then" Desmond got up and walked out of the room and shut the door after himself, Mike hummed a snog while he quickly browsed the to find a song he wanted to hear, then he leaned back and spoke "When you die nobody will remember you I only ever really cry to wash away the blood, to wash away the blood" Having found his old favorite song Mike was quite pleased as he hummed along Chapter 195: Area 51 Chapter 195: Area 51 Mike sat and listened to music for the best part of an hour, eventually, he got bored with just listening to music so he started to browse the, but soon heid aside the phone and began thinking ''Resolve My resolve'' However, before he got on with thinking a person opened the door and walked in carrying a tray with food for him, this was, of course Desomund, he showed a smile and ced the tray in front of Mike before he sat down in front of him and spoke "Once you''ve eaten we''re leaving via chopper" Mike began eating, then he nodded before he asked "Where are we going?" "Home, via Ennd More precisely we''ll take a helicopter to just outside of London where we''ll hop on a ne to Nevada" "So We''re going to Area 51?" "Yeah" "Cool, though if you gave me a military-grade GPS I could get there faster on my own" "Ahahaha Wait, are you serious?" "Yeah Man, these are some good potatoes" Desmond looked at Mike for a bit before he sighed and stood up before he walked out of the room again, once he returned he was carrying some military equipment which he showed to Mike before he stuffed it in a backpack, then he handed said backpack to Mike "Here, everything you need to get to Nevada on your own, without being shot down by our missile defense system" "Cool" Mike wiped his mouth and stood up before he stretched and put on the backpack, then he followed after Desmond up to the flight deck, standing on the flight deck Mike looked around after the sun and oriented himself before he nodded to Desmond and summoned his wings before he pped them hard and flew into the sky, soon he disappeared above the clouds, Desmond sighed before he boarded a helicopter to follow after Mike Mike used the flying time to think, that said, he really didn''t get too far in his thinking as he soon realized that he had flown too far, signing he turned around and focused on flying instead of letting his mind wander, soon hended on the hot desert sand of Nevada, behind him was a spiked metal fence and in front of him was a whole infantry toon with their rifles pointed at him as they yelled at him to get his hands up, Mike sighed and summoned the half-transparent barrier around himself before he began walking towards the mainpound while gunfire ran out around him ''Man I just don''t care about anything do I..? Maybe that''s the problem'' Mike found a new problem to contemte and sat down before he thought it over ''I mean I care about Julie And I feel a sense of responsibility to my troops And if you asked me about whether or not I care about Beel and her course then Then I do like Beel as a person, but the whole Inter demnzonal conquest That''s another matter isn''t it?'' Mike didn''t even realize that the gunfire had stopped he simply sat and thought until the evening arrived and a humvee followed by a truck drove up, the truck was there to pick up the soldiers while Desmond was sitting in the front seat of the humvee, Mike was still in deep thought when he arrived, so out of options to get in contact with him he knocked on the half-transparent barrier a few times before Mike''s eyes seemed to regain focus and he jumped to his feet as the barrier disappeared, Mike''s gaze fell upon the soldiers that had been shooting at him earlier before he sighed once he saw the fear in their eyes, then he spoke to Desmond "Let''s go Des" "Sure, I got a room ready for you at the base, plus a change of clothes and a shower" "That sounds good As long as you don''t touch my leather armor, it''s a gift from my wife after all" "Of course, we won''t touch your stuff without your permission" Mike showed a slight smile "That''s good" The next morning Mike awoke, he sat himself up and looked around the room, there was a table with a chair off to the side facing the wall where his leather armory, neatly folded, Mike checked the time on the phone he had borrowed before he went to take a shower in the linked bathroom after he was done he put a ck tank top that seemed like it was a size too big and some grey joggings, Mike looked at himself in the mirror andmented "Really brings out the trailer park boy in me" Satisfied with his look Mike remembered the ID card thatid on the table, he picked it up and hung it around his neck from the ''Area 51'' string, on the font was not a picture of him but a ck block with the words ''pass'' inside it, written in white, apparently this was an all-ess pass to the entire facility, then he picked up the headphones from the bed and put on some music before he stuffed the phone into his pocket and walked out of the room, from there he spent the entire noon walking around the base, there weren''t any aliens like he had hoped, instead, he was probably the most alien-like at the base, soon he felt his phone vibrate, so he took it out and hang his headphones around his neck as he read the text message he had received from Des and showed a smile before he followed the instructions on the phone''s map and soon arrived at an empty aircraft hangar where a couple of people were present, they all looked over towards Mike as he walked in, two of them he knew, one was Desmond and the other was Chloe, as for the rest from the mana signatures they gave off they weren''t weak by Earth''s standards, thought to Mike they were around level 4, in other words so weak that they could be safely ignored "It''s a real demon" Mike ignored the mutter one of the other''s let out before he walked over to Chloe and greeted her with a fist bump (Which confused both her and the rest of the people present) before he turned to Desmond and asked "What''s up?" "Didn''t you read the text, Mike..?" "I did" "Okay, in that case, let''s get started right away" Mike nodded and looked over at the makeshift gym that was in front of them, this was a physical test, to ''better gasp his physical abilities and needs'' or some such, Mike wasst in the line and sat down on the ground and listened to some music while the others went through the processes of testing their strength and such, soon it was Mike''s turn, he walked up to the benchpress and simply began putting on weights, the other people being tested looked on with wonder as Mike eventually ran out of wights to add to the pole, then heically looked around for more wights for a bit before he sighed andid down on the bench and lifted the 525-kilogram pole with ease before he began making bench presses, his tail supported the bench so it didn''t copse under the weight, soon he was nearing a hundred repeats and yet only now sweat had formed on his forehead, then once he fisnhed his 100th rep he stood up again and without missing a beat he piked up the pole and began doing Bicep curls, then after that he began doing weighted squads while holding the same pole, then once he was done he trew the pole into the air and caught it with his tail and began doing Well ''tail curls'' with the weighted pole, then once he was done with that heid it down on the wight holder before he turned to one of the doctors and asked "What''s next?" That question woke up the room as people suddenly began to remember what they were doing and continued doing it "...Oh right, next is a blood test, we only need a little of your blood t---" Mike showed a bright smile as he interrupted the doctor "That''s not going to happen" Desmond looked on from the side and quickly asked "Why not, Mike?" "Because I''ve seen movies, I know you guys have a rep of using all kinds of strange things to enhance soldiers Besides, I haven''t bled in a long time and I am not bleeding today" Mike looked over at Desmond and saw that he wasn''t convinced so he sighed before he spoke with a smile "My blood is special, too special for your greedy hands to touch, besides I am the demon of blood, no way I am giving up any of my blood here, the only way you''re going to get it is by taking it from me" Mike looked around at the people present before he scoffed "And by the looks of it you guys don''t have what it takes" Chapter 196: Weapons demonstration Chapter 196: Weapon''s demonstration The scientist froze, then anger showed on his face, being called greedy to his face was something he could not endure, though once he remembered that this creature in front of him could match and apparently had shot down an F-35 he calmed down a bit before he looked at Desmond and spoke pleadingly "Desmond The higher-ups expect something" Desmond nodded before he looked at Mike and asked "Is there anything you could part with which we could analyze?" Mike thought for a moment before he shook his head, then when he saw Desmond''s expression sour he spoke "Not anything that wouldn''t kill the person trying to analyze it no" "What do you mean?" "Well, lending you my leather armor would be fine and all, but it''s a gift from my wife, then there are my weapons They are kind of sentient And moody" The face of the scientist lit up before he repeated "Sentient Weapons..? In what capacity are they sentient? Do they show desires or needs?" Mike sighed before he spoke "It would be faster just to show you huh I''ll go get them" Mike made a quick trip back to his room and brought the 3 weapons, the knife, the hammer, and the shield before he ced them all on a table, then he took a few steps back and spoke "Anyone not valuing their life can try and pick up one" Nobody stepped forwards, even after a minute passed, then Mike opened his hand and the knife came flying over andnded in his hand, the scientist from before''s mouth popped open for a moment before he asked "How did you do that?" Mike showed a smile and let go of the knife that then began floating around him "I just called it, as I always do" The people in the hanger looked at the knife that was floating around Mike with wonder, it seemed to be vibrating slightly as it floated around him, Mike then opened his hand and called the hammer that then also came flying over andnded in his hand, he twirled it around for a bit before it opened its maw slightly letting out sounds somewhat sounded like metal being ground together, then he let go of it and it also began floating around him, then he called out mentally for the shield that then also came flying over, he flipped it around and used his hand to polish the shield face for a bit before he let go of it and it floated up behind him and hovered over his back "Well it''s as you can see" The scientist looked at the 3 weapons that seemed to bemunicating as they floated around Mike before he swallowed and asked "Then what would happen if someone tried to touch any of your weapons..?" Mike showed a smile "Depends on the weapon, the knife would stab you and instantly drain all your blood, the hammer would eat whatever you tried to poke it with and then probably your face As for the shield? I don''t really know, it seems tamer than the other two but It''s the most destructive weapon I have so I wouldn''t mess with it if I were you" The scientist looked at Mike for a moment before he asked "How destructive exactly?" Mike showed a smile before he turned to Desmond and asked "Is there any old tanks on the base that would be fine to smash?" Desmond looked at Mike for a moment before he nodded with a smile "Yeah we have a weapon''s test range on the other end of the base" Desmond looked on, his face was calm, though there were a faint twitch at the edge of his right eye, it increased in size every time Mike yelled out "Boink!" *CLANG* What Desmond was looking at were the sorry remains of an old M60 tank that were used as a target in the testing of various weapons andter in its old life, tests of magic spells... Though now it was nothing more than a messed uppressed pile of metal, as for the reason Well "Boink!" *CLANG* Even from behind the reinforced plexiss Desmond could still feel the raw destructive power of the hammer which Mike threw into the old rusted parts that used to be a dmissioned tank "Boink!" *CLANG* The scientist seemed to be the first to wake up from his daze and called out to Mike "Mike, weren''t you going to show us the power of your shield?" Desmond looked over at the scientist, clearly, his mind was a lot more Twisted than his ''How the fuck do I report this up the food chain!? They were barely able to ept that he sliced off the wing of an F-35 doing mark 1 Am I suppose to say ''Hey that demon-looking dude we picked up in the de-colonized zone appears to not only be able to match ourtest fighter jet but also he''s able to turn a tank into an oddly square piece of modern art with a hammer that apparently is sentient..'' Wait that might actually work'' Mike received the hammer onest time before he sighed, then he took the shield off his back, it vibrated slightly in his hands, Mike showed a smile and spoke "That''s right you gluten, it''s time for you to work for a living" Mike bit his finger and a drop of blood soon formed before it floated down andnded on the shield that then began vibrating even more before he pointed it at the sorry remains of the tank and then Well, we all know what happened then right? "I''m a fire mazor!" With a roar, the beam of destructive energy fired out from the shield melted the sorry remains of the tank away, the metal boiled before it turned to steam, the beam continued out several kilometers into the desert before it dispersed, the remains of the tank was white-hot smoking and the desert sand had been turned to ss all along the path that the beam had taken, Mike smiled and patted the shield for a job well done before he put it back onto his back where it floated like a selfless guard watching his back "There, that''s that" After that Mike went through some other insigifant tests before he arrived back at his room, where he sat down and closed his eyes before he started to meditate Thought around midnight he was forced to open his eyes again as he suddenly opened his hand a summoned his wings as soon as the hammernded in his hand he threw it upwards into the ceiling where it broke the ceiling before he flew out of the building into the air as he did he coughed violently before he outright puked "What''s Happening to me!?" Mike felt significantly weakened, he quickly closed his eyes and scanned his blood before he opened his eyes again and spoke furiously "I was careless" Then he puked again, emptying his stomachpletely as he called the shield and knife that soon floated next to him, what had happened was simple, he had been poisoned by some sort of slow-acting poison that had built up in his digestive system, Mike looked below him and saw the entire base seemed to have woken up before an enraged light lit up in the depths of his eyes but before he could let his rage out on the base below him he suddenly felt a chill and dodged to the side, right then a streak of light passed him before it exploded sending fragment''s of metal flying along with small metal balls that tore into Mike wounding him greatly, he quickly used his [Blood magic] to patch the damage superficially before he looked in the direction the missile hade from, he could vaguely sense it, a faint mana signature, Mike narrowed his eyes before he pped his wings hard and dodged to the side as another guided-missile exploded right where he had just been, then he spat otu a drop of blod which floated over andnded on the hammer that he then threw in the direction of the mana signature, a sonic boom sounded out as he threw the hammer and near instantly Mike felt the mana signature sway to the side slightly in an attempt to dodge the hammer, he also saw it deploying res, but s it wasent a misslie that had been thrown after it, it was the hammer, it went stigth to the er of the mana signature as it opened up its maw and bit down on the next generation attqack helicopter that had been fireing missiles after Mike, swallowing the pilot that soon was crushed as well as the front end of the cockpit before the helicopter down in mes and exploaded in a slightly cinematic fashion once it hit the ground, Mike narrowed his eyes before he muttered "[Drink]" Healing himself he flew over and inspected the remains of the chopper and soon found what he was looking for, in the middle of the wreck was the faint mana signature in a protectedpartment, Mike nearly puked again when he saw what it was "This is sickening" What Mike was looking at was a person, that mostly was mostly mechanical, seemingly having been turned into some sort of bio interface for the helicopter, Mike felt more faint mana signatures approaching and narrowed his eyes before he smashed the ''person'' with the hammer and quickly took flight again fleeing east Chapter 197: Resolve (Level 9) Chapter 197: Resolve (Level 9) Mike stumbled to the ground, he had been flying for about an hour and had only now just found what he was looking for, a city, his n was simple: find someone and use [Control] on them, then have them take Mike to their home where he would recover for some time before moving on East, though his current predicament seemed to be bigger than he had imagined as he suddenly felt his stomach swirl and he hurriedly walked over and puked behind a dumpster, he was currently in some back ally and it was around 2 in the morning, which gave him about 3 hours to find someone before the city woke up again ''At that point, I need to assume that it''s game over'' Mike sighed and wiped his mouth before he stumbled around the corner in the alley and looked around in front of him was a small church tucked into the side of the highrise building, the space that wasn''t upied by the church created a small alley where a nun was sweeping the ground, or at least she had been until Mike stumbled around the corner, now she looked straight at him, before he managed to do anything the nun spoke "A demon!" Mike narrowed his eyes and kicked off the ground, or at least he tried to as he quickly discovered that he was off bnce and only managed to stumble forwards before he fell on to the ground again ''This damn poison..!'' The nun also stumbled backward before she grabbed the cross ne she always wore around her neck and pointed it towards Mike "Come on, woman" Mike felt this was a great insult and yelled in perfect English as he attempted to get on his feet "Do I look so much like an imposing demon!?" The nun ignored his yell and yelled after another person by name "Beth! A demon appeared!" "What?" "A demon! A blue one!" Mike felt his strength leave him as he copsed on the ground, then he quickly scanned his blood before he began filtering out the poison, a few minutes passed with this before he suddenly began struggling to get up again and saw that another person had appeared ''Great now there''s two of them'' The newly arrived nun looked at Mike before she sighed and made a quick prayer, then she walked over to Mike and rolled him around onto his back before she began checking his pulse as she asked "Are you hurt?" Mike looked up at her before he decided to give her a straight answer "I''ve been poisoned Some sort of slow-acting poison" "Great A poisoned demon Lilye here and grab his feet, we''re bringing him inside" "What!" "You heard me! Now get over here!" "Fine" Mike felt that they were going to help him, and with that, his sense of tension was broken and he passed out at once When Mike woke up again he quickly attempted to sit himself up, only to find that he was almostpletely paralyzed, mentally cursing once he began to filter out the poison in his blood as he looked around, it was a small room with a cross hanging above the bed ''Looks like they really took care of me'' Mike looked down at his body, with the scan of his body he could feel that he had been fed some medicine, probably by the nuns, once the filtration processes were almost done Mike sat himself up on the bed and saw that a ss of water had been ced beside him on the end table, he quickly drank it before he put his finger into the empty ss and then though his porers the poison filtered out into the ss, Mike picked up the ss and looked at the poison within, it was almostpletely clear, it was also odorless and while didn''t want to taste it he figured that it was probably tasteless too ''Well, would you look at that'' Mike shock the ss around for a bit before he ced it back onto the end table ''...'' Mike sat and stared into space for a bit his mind refused to think so he simply sat there, then came a sense of peace that then was broken by more of the poison leaking into his bloodstream from his guts, he quickly filtered it out before he decided something ''I need to be stronger Not to take revenge, I need to be so strong that the whole world will be happy to exact my revenge for me in order to gain my favor'' As Mike sat there something changed within him, he no longer wanted to be stronger for the sake of just gaining strength, he wanted to get stronger for the sake of peace, his own peace ''For that, I don''t care how many people I have to ughter'' Mike gathered his strength and looked up before he spoke out loud "But is this the resolve I was told to find..?" A few seconds passed and just as Mike was about to shake his head a voice sound out right next to his ear "It is, very good Mike, very good indeed" Then the space in front of him warped before he disappeared from the small room Mike opened his eyes next to him sat Beel and looked at her flower garden, Mike sighed before he spoke "I am back" Beel seemingly ignored him as she began speaking "Like a wave, they washed over my homeworld, my home ne At that time they were the invaders We just wanted peace, so we grew our strength and fought back for so long that most of us lost our own ego" Beel turned her head and looked over at Mike, Mike looked into her eyes, at that moment he saw how tired her eyes appeared to be, then they flickered as resolve appeared from deep within, it gushed out and overwhelmed the tiredness as she spoke again "Once we have conquered this 4th ne of existence we''ll finally know peace So first off we have to get you back into shape Mike" Beel opened her hand and a red fruit appeared there, Mike recognized the fruit as being one of the experience fruits, though this seemed to be way older, Beel showed a smile before she exined "This fruit contains the mana of an entire prime world from the 3rd ne. I wonder if your body will be able to take it?" Mike showed a smile, a rather fearless one at that "Please, I haven''t suffered for so long just to choke on a mere fruit" Beel''s smile widened slightly before she handed the fruit to Mike, then Mike bit into it without any fear, from there Mike took another bite, then another, he lept eating until there was no more fruit to eat, then he crossed his legs and closed his eyes as he began absorbing the potent mana, the potent experience from the fruit as his body was wrecked from the inside, it was a battle between Mike''s body and the fruits potent mana and a question of who would break first One day passed Three days passed A week A month Then finally Mike opened his eyes again his body was covered in the morning dew, as he stood up it began falling off him, rolling down his clothes before he summoned his wings and pped them hard, mere momentster he was standing in front of the temple and walked directly into a prayer room as the nearby Wind spirits bowed their heads to him, Mike couldn''t care less about that however as he gave a singlemand "Guard the door" """""Yes General!""""" Mike walked in and ced his hand upon the crystal ball, after shining crimson for a few moments it disyed his status Name: Mike ss: Blood demon Age: 37 Level: 8 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] [Blood control] [Blood storage] [Blood magic: Blood domination II] [Elder blood bestowal] [Wings of Blood] [Blood reading] Magic type: Blood Experience: 1500.000.000.000 / 1500.000.000.000 Level up Y/N? Mike pressed the Y and then he felt the familiar feeling of rapidly growing stronger, only this time it didn''t seem to stop anytime soon, Mike felt his every cell, muscle fiber, and bone strengthen so much that they were iparable to what they had been mere moments ago, he felt his body grow denser and stronger, and then just as the feeling was about to overwhelm him it stopped as the crystal ball he had his hand on shattered into tiny pieces that quickly turned to dust, Mike closed his eyes and felt the surrounding mana, it was as if the mana in an area the size of the Wind spirit city had be his, he had full control over it, Mike stepped out of the prayer room before he muttered the name of his new skill "[Blood aura]" With that as itsmand, the blood inside his body began churning faster and faster as a faint red mist appeared around his body, as the red mist appeared all the mana paths inside his body expanded outwards as the number of them instantly tripled, Mike ignored the gazes of awe from the Wind spirits around him and walked out of the temple and looked up into the sky as he showed a smile and retracted his aura, Julie was there, she slowly descend with a soft smile on her face, shended in Mike''s embrace and nestled into him as she quickly checked him for the smell of some unknown women, once she confirmed that he was still entirely hers she showed a smile and looked up at his face "Wee back Mike" "Yeah I am back Julie" Chapter 198: Training Chapter 198: Training Mike sat himself up, then he spoke one word "Again" Then he walked forwards as he set his shoulder straight while his [Blood aura] healed his mostly mangled right arm at a frightening speed tissue was being printed by the aura, blood vessels, muscle fibers, and skin allyered on top of each other before his right arm waspletely healed as he opened it the knife flew over andnded in his hand as he gripped it tightly, Mike was currently training "Come on, fire already" In front of him, about 5 meters was the muzzle of a mana powered cannon that fired a modified ''dart'' round which Mike had designed, for this prime world this was rather revolutionary, the prating powers were about double of a modern tank from Earth and 4 times as powerful as the previous generation mana powered cannon, the cannon swirled as it took in mana from the soundings before it fried the round at virtually point-nk distance at Mike that reacted instantly and raised the knife and attempted to deflect the round, following a loud ng the round continued skywards as Mike had finally after his 147th try managed to deflect the round without bringing much harm to himself, as for whether the deflected round wouldnd in the middle of a city or scare the crap out of some birds Mike didn''t really care, he was simply over the moon being for seeding for the first time, this showed with a slight smile on his face as he spoke "Alright, let''s kick it up a notch" Mike sent off a couple of mental messages and soon another two identical mana cannons were rolled into ce in front of him Mike withdrew his aura as he stepped into the city, from there he walked back to the center where he quickly walked into his and Julie''s courtyard where he sat down on a chair and for a while, he sat and enjoyed the evening sun like an old man ''Ascending huh'' Mike had been eager and asked Beel how to ascend as soon as he hit level 9 but the only answer he got was "I don''t know, figure it out yourself" Which was more than a little disappointing for him ''Oh well'' Mike figured that this was the final test he had to go through before Beel truly recognized him as one of theirs ''So either she doesn''t want to tell me or she doesn''t know'' Mike sighed, it was clear that he could not depend on Beel to reach ascension like he had to reach level 9 ''Well I''ll figure it out, how hard can it be to ascend to basically godhood..? In the meantime'' Mike stopped thinning as a pair of soft red hands covered his eyes from behind as a sweet familiar voice sounded out behind him "Who''s here~?" Mike didn''t even need to think as he simply answered "Who else could it be but you Julie?" "That''s right, who else could it possibly be?" Mike felt a chill go down his back as he realized he had messed up, then he calmly spoke to her "I was thinking it could be our future child that had ripped through space and time to be with their lovely parents But your guess is as good as mine" A few seconds passed before Mike heard a giggle from Julie who removed her hands from his face, he was seemingly spared this time as Julie sat down on the chair next to him as their hands naturally found each other, the two of them sat and looked at the evening sun for a bit before Julie asked him "How''s it going?" "Hmm I don''t really know..? I feel like I am nowhere near ascension" "Julie showed a smile and gave Mike''s hand a squeeze as she spoke "I feel that I am pretty close as if I can just reach out and grasp it" Julie stretched out her hand towards thest of the evening sunlight, but s her hands grasped nothing, luckily her other hand was firmly anchored with Mike "See? It''s like that Like catching the sunlight in your hand" Mike nodded he thought for a bit before he realized something and reached his hand out into the sky towards the stary sky, only to pause before he pulled back his hand and he continued to think, Julie looked at him from the side with a smile on her face as she watched the changes in his expression then suddenly Mike spoke "It''s not rooted in technology that''s for sure" Julie''s smile winded a bit before she stood up and walked over before she sat herself down on Mike''sp andid down on top of him the two of them shared a kiss before Julie rolled around and looked up at the star sky, they spent the rest of the night looking at the stars About a week passed since that romantic night, Mike was once again facing a magic cannon, more precisily he was fas facing 5 of them they shoot as soon as they were able still every round that was fired went skywards as Mike deflected them upwards, what he ddin''t know at this point was that the rounds were in factnding in a popted area and were now being seen by some as a sing of the divine, but s that didn''t really matter *CLANG* Mike raised his hand and signaled the cannons manned by Wind spirits to stop firing before he wiped his sweat and shock his wirst that was feeling a little numb by now, then he withdrew his aura and rembered that he had not gotten it on text exactly what his aura did "Maybe I should go do that..?" Mike nodded before he spoke our loud again "Let''s do that" Then he summoned his wings and flew to the center of the city where he walked into the temple and into a new prayer room before he checked his status Name: Mike ss: Blood demon Age: 37 Level: 9 Skills: [Knife control] [Drink] [Blood body enhancement] [Blood for blood] [Blood control] [Blood storage] [Blood magic: Blood domination II] [Elder blood bestowal] [Wings of Blood] [Blood reading] [Blood aura] Magic type: Blood Experience: 0 / 0 Mike looked at his status for a bit, the whole ''0/0'' experience thing ticked him off a bit but he decided to ignore it for now and looked at his skills "There it is" Mike clicked on the [Blood aura] skill on the list and soon its effects were disyed [Blood aura] Type: Active / Aura Description: Deploys an aura of blood around the user, which functions as an extension of the users'' paths and points, allowing for various new spells. The aura has positive effects on beings who consume/require blood for substance and negative effects on all other beings, various implications. "Huh Well, that''s helpful, sort of?" Mike looked his status over again and suddenly remembered something "That reminds me I never saw what this did?" Then he pressed the [Blood reading] skill and soon some information about it were disyed [Blood reading] Type: Active Description: Reads a target''s blood determining theirbat potential on a simple scale from 1 to 100 as well as their level "Huh Neat, I guess?" Done with that Mike walked out of the temple before he used his [Blood reading] Skill for the first time on a random WInd spirit then the words appeared in his head Level: 6 Potential: 38 "Well, that''s kind of neat I should use it to determine the members of a new elite squad" Mike quickly got on that and sent out some metal orders for thebat able Wind spirits to gather, then he used [Blood reading] on them all and found the best 10 and assigned them to be hunters to further increase their potential through actualbat, though one thing Mike was a little disappointed about was that they were only in the high 60''s, there was no one higher than that, Mike sighed before he got curious and tried to use the skill on himself Level: 9 Potential: 89 "Neat" To be fair Mike''s body had been honed to this point by his extreme training, if one had used this skill on him when he first arrived on the prime world it would probably be around 40, as he walked down the street he heard the sounds of metal shing and looked over to a za where Alexa was spring with some Wind spirits, walked over and watched on the sidelines as Alexa systematically drew her opponent into a corner, then he used [Blood reading] on her Level: 8 Potential: 94 ''Well that makes sense, I always feel that I am one step behind her when we spar Though with my newfound level advantage I should be able to beat her, only just though'' Mike nodded to himself before he walked back towards the center of the city Chapter 199: Back again Chapter 199: Back again Mike woke up, he sat himself up and looked over at the side of the bed, Julie wasn''t there, just as he was about to be worried he heard the toilet flush and sighed, soon the door to the toilet opened and Julie, d in her pajamas walked in or rather wobbled in and copsed on the bed beside Mike, Mike showed a smile as he felt her naturally nestle op to him in her half-awake state "What''s the Time?" Mike looked over at the window before he estimated the current time "A few hours before sunrise" "Okay~" Soon he heard Julie lightly snore and so heid himself down again and closed his eyes, though for some reason sleep didn''t find him, so after half an hour he sat himself up again and looked around ''It''s like something''s looking at me'' Mike sighed once again andid down as he thought ''It''s probably nothing'' Another ce in the city Beel sat and looked at her flower garden as usual, but then suddenly her right eye twitched as she suddenly looked up into the sky and muttered "So... It''s started" The next morning Mike woke up with a set, he didn''t know why but he had a bad feeling in his stomach ''Like I got to flee right now'' Mike woke up Julie that was sleeping next to him "What is it Mike, you have an awful look on your face..?" "...Get ready to move" "It''s that bad?" "Yeah Sorry about this Julie" Julie showed a smile before she gave Mike a quick kiss then she jumped out of bed, Mike followed her and quickly got dressed before he went to find Beel and ask about the current situation, as usual, Beel was sitting in front of her flower garden, Mike sat down next to her and asked "...What exactly is going on Beel?" Beel didn''t look over at Mike, she kept her eyes locked on the flowers in bloom as she spoke "Thest guardian of the wheel candidate has ened, the ceasefire is crumbling as we speak" "...So we''re losing?" "...Yes, that we are" Mike got kind of ticked off by the way Beel spoke, but he sighed and got his emotions under control before he asked "So what do we do now?" Beel let out a hollowugh before she turned to look at Mike, her dark eyes seemed to be swallowing the light around them "I''ll send off you and Julie From there I guess you have to live your lives as best you can?" Mike felt his emotions bruning, he very much hated how defeated Beel looked at this moment, s he quickly calmed down before he gave Beel a hug as he spoke to her "You have be a parent to me, Beel, we are kin As long as there''s is life in me I''ll assist the cause" Beel showed a slight smile as she patted Mike on the back, then she saw Julie standing off the side and sighed before she waved her hand and sent to two of them off, then she looked up towards the sky, she had sent off not only Mike and Julie but also the rest of the candidates, as she gazed at the sky it gradually turned dark before she opened her mouth and activated a skill as she spoke "[Dark world]" In an instant, the prime world was covered by a dark mass, then a few hundred thousand kilometers from the prime world a portal opened, a few figures appeared there, the 3 figures were the current guardians of the wheel that still contained their ego, one of them spoke "There she is Thest invader" The youngest one, a young-looking girl with bright blue eyes asked "When are we going to exterminate her?" "Soon her true body should be arriving in mere moments" Behind the prime world, on its current dark side, something appeared, goat-like horns and legs, covered by a dress seemingly made by the stary sky and wielding a bow that seemed to be made of pure darkness, ''she'' looked at the 3 guardians as she muttered "Comrades, give me strength..." Countless egoless will''s appeared around Beel''s true body and reinforced it once it was done she muttered "For peace" Mike opened his eyes, he found himself in a small room along with Julie, she wasying on top of him, for a bit, Mike justy there and breathed, then it came, the rage, the regret, as it seemed right now they had well and truly lost, with Beel, the strongest ented person that still had a will seemingly mounting ast desperate resistance "No" Julie stirred as Mike spoke that word, she opened her eyes and looked into his, when she saw the will that still was in those eyes she showed a smile and lowered her head until their horns touched as the two of them admired the will that still was inside each other''s eyes for a bit as Julie then spoke "No" Mike showed a smile and spoke again "We haven''t lost yet" "That''s right Mike" The two of them smiled at each other, then Julie got up and looked around the room before she asked "Where is this?" "Earth, the united states of America" "You mean this is your homeworld Mike?" "Yeah" Julie looked excited for a moment before she suddenly looked towards the door to the small room and summoned her [Hellsword] as the door then was opened By a young nun that locked eyes with Julie and before any of them managed to do anything Mike spoke "Easy Julie" The nun that had looked over at Mike when he spoke looked back and stumbled backward when she realized that the tip of the [Hellsword] had appeared right in front of her right eye, shended on her but and stammered "N-Now there''s t-two of them!" A few minutester Mike and Julie were sitting at a table in a small kitchen, Julie was hugging Mike''s arm as she eyed the two nuns, one of which was making tea while the other was nervously watching the two demons that had appeared in her room, while she remembered the blue one, the red one that was staring at her with hostility was new, she wondered for a moment if a third would suddenly appear, s the calm nun spoke out as she ced the tea on the table in front of them "Here, drink it while it''s hot Lilye here and have some too" "...Okay" The two nuns sat down on the other side of the table and the one named Beth that had made the tea calmly drank the tea while the other one, named Lily eyed the two demons on the other side of the table, Mike poured some tea for himself before he sipped it a few times, then he spoke "I must thank you two for thest time" The calm nun showed a smile and spoke "We only did what was right" Mike felt Julie''s eyes bore a hole in him from the side and so he was forced to exin "They were the ones that helped me when I was poisoned" Julie then suddenly eased up her expression "Oh In that case, I''ll thank you for helping my husband out" Mike put own the tea before he asked "How much did they pay you?" Beth looked slightly surprised before she asked "Pay?" Mike showed a smile as he pointed at the tea "This has the same slow-acting poison in it, so how much did they pay you?" Beth showed a slightly sad smile as she shook her head "They didn''t pay us, they pardoned us For helping you" "Oh, I see The movies aren''t far off huh" Mike reached out and stopped Julie from stabbing her [Hellsword] through the eye socket of the calm nun before he spoke to her "She''s innocent in this, well almost... The only crime shemitted was being too weak to say no" Julie sighed before her [Hellsword] disappeared again, then Mike stood up from the table and showed a smile "Thanks for the tea" Julie also stood up and red at the two nuns before she followed after Mike that walked out of the church and soon arrived in the alleyway where he had been helped by the nuns before, Julie looked around curious like a kitten before she covered her nose and spoke "Such a bad smell" "Well, yeah it''s a dirty alley, what do you expect?" "And the mana density is too low, what kind of ce is it that you were born Mike?" "Hmm.. It''s about 2 days flight west, but there are no people there anymore" "I see Well then, what should we do about the peepers?" Mike showed a smile as he also had detected the people in hiding that was keeping a watchful eye on them "Nothing for now" "Okay Mike" Mike looked up, it was around evening judging by the sun''s position, so he suggested "Let''s take an evening walk?" "Sure" Chapter 200: The deal Chapter 200: The deal Mike offered his arm to Julie and then as the two nuns watched the two lovebirds walked out onto the street, Julie was currently wearing a set of leather armor and so was Mike with his various weapons hanging off it, people looked at them oddly and some were even frightened for a moment once they saw them, but they all figured that it was some sort of highly detailed costumes. Mike talked with Julie in the prime worlds nativenguage so they weren''t overheard by other people, soon however Mike noticed that the people were thinning out and soon a person stood some hundred meters in front of him "Oh, there he is" Julie looked ahead and spotted the man Mike was speaking about "Who''s that?" "Desmund" "You mean it''s the guy that poisoned you?" "Yeah, well I''m not 100% sure But 90% sure? Yes 90% is a good percentage" Julie sighed before she asked "So, what do we do?" "Hear him out, while preparing to raise hell, though they''ll probably do the same" "Great" "Now, now, we can always kill them afterward, the only thing we fear here is an ICBM" "ICBM?" "Inter-continental-ballistic-missile, it''s the things that carry nukes" "Oh I remember that you talked about nuclear weapons a lot Mike" "Yeah and they are not going to nuke a popted city at this stage" "Okay~" Mike and Julie stopped walking and looked at Desmond that now stood in front of them with a calm smile on his face "You haven''t introduced me Mike?" "Oh right, this is Desmond, Desmond this is Julie" Desmond nodded to Julie that narrowed her eye slightly as she spoke in her nativenguage "[He looks like a dick]" "[That he dose]" Desmond showed a diplomatic smile as he asked "What was that?" "Just Julie''s way of saying hi" "Ah I see, have you eaten yet?" Mike shook his head, then Demond gestured towards a cafe nearby where a couple of men in ck suits stood and guarded around, Mike and Julie followed after Desmond that sat down and asked "What can I offer?" "Hmm French toast, times two" Desmond nodded and ryed Mike''s order "[What''s French toast?]" "[It''s sweet bread]" "[I love sweet things]" Demond looked at the two of them speaking anguage he had never heard before, it was not only him but thenguage experts in his earpiece also were silent, it seemed that no one had heard about thisnguage that the two demons in front of him spoke "Before we eat I have to ask you something Mike" "Yes?" "Why did you leave Area 51?" Mike''s eyes narrowed slightly "So you''re saying that if someone poisons you, then you stay in the same pce and let them experiment on your body after you''re unable to protect yourself?" Desmond showed a wide smile as the French toast arrived and was ced in front of them, Mike looked at the sweet-smelling French toast and sighed before he spoke to Julie "[It''s poisoned again, the same poison too]" Julie narrowed her eyes and looked over at Desmond, then Mike asked "What is this?" "It''s the deal" "What do you mean ''it''s the deal''!" Mike looked at Demond in front of him that soon began speaking after he took off his sunsses and revealed his sky blue eyes "Listen here, 3 years ago Earth lost it''s 4th superpower, one that the US was deeply allied to, with Russain and China breathing down our neck we have to use every method, so when some Xeno thing arrives that is able to wield mana to an extend we previously thought impossible, then, of course, we are going to use it in its entirety against our enemies" Then he gestured to the French toast in front of him and spoke again "This is the deal, we poison you, study you and once we''ve figured out how to clone you we harvest you for organic material, that''s how it is being a filthy non-human, you don''t have human rights so we can do whatever we want with you" As Demond spoke Mike felt the surrounding mana density fall to near zero "[Well Shit]" "[What is it Mike, is it them that lowered the mana density?]" "[Yeah and their offer is, shall we say less than pleasing to the ears?]" "[Okay then, take the left side?]" "[And I''ll cover the right side]" "[What about the douchebag here?]" "[We have bigger problems]" Julie sighed before she stood up from the chair and looked straight at Demond before she spoke in her nativenguage "[You''re lucky this time, human]" Desmond sat there with his smile that then suddenly disappeared as both Mike and Julie disappeared from view, cracking the concrete below their feet, then he muttered "We can still clone them from their corpses right?" Then gunfire sounded out further down the street, then he let out a sigh and stood up as he spoke into his microphone "The targets have fled, fire at will, I repeat fire at will" Mike and Julie moved fast, perhaps fast was an understatement? When they kicked off the ground the concrete below their feet broke and wherever they passed a strong wind blew people on the street away "Why aren''t we flying again?"'' "Because that would make us a target" "Fine" As Mike and Julie moved further and further North, Mike realized that the surrounding people had thinned out again until eventually there were no people on the streets "Shit! Now it doesn''t matter, fly low Julie!" "Got it!" Julie summoned her demon wings and Mike summoned his wings of blood as they flew North the city started to clear up, soon they exited the business district and entered the suburbs, Mike and Julie still flew low to the ground, when Mike''s ears picked up the sound of rotor des and looked ahead "There are the helicopters, you remember what I taught you, Julie?" "Of course, they can''t fly without their tail right?" "Exactly!" Julie showed a smile and summoned her [Hellsword] before she pped her wings hard and appeared under the leading attack helicopter before she changed course near-instantly and flew straight up and in mere moments her [Hellsword] cut through the tail portion of the helicopter, long before its onboard targeting system ever acquired her as a target, the second helicopter, however, was just about to open up on Julie when the hammer passed clean through the bulletproof ss and turned the pilot as well as the gunner into a bloody paste, meanwhile, Mike cut the tail off another helicopter with the knife, with that the helicopter group of 3 was swiftly dispatched, Mike and Julie continued North ''Come on There has to be some sort of blockade up ahead right?'' The reason Mike hoped for arge blockade was simple, it was because it meant that they wanted to stop them then and there, as in they were unable to track them further ''Of course, this could just be a mistake on my part This sucks'' Soon however Mike''s wish seemed to be granted as they reached arge blockade consisting of several tanks as well as a couple more helicopters and about 50 fully equipped soldiers, Mike quickly spoke to Julie "Maximum effort, babe!" "Got it, Mike!" Julie narrowed her eyes as she spoke "[Hellfire aura]!" Blue mes spread out around Julie''s [Demon wings] and her body before she then pointed her [Hellsword] ahead and yelled "[Hell gaze]!" The blue mes condensed on the tip of Julie''s [Hellsword] before they suddenly shot out in the form of a beam of pure heat, the heat-beam melted several tanks and set alight the flesh and clothes of the soldiers unlucky enough to be too close, at the same time Mike deployed his aura "[Blood aura]!" Once his aura fully deployed he drew the knife and pointed it towards the sky as he yelled "[Blood moon]!" An eerie reflection of a blood moon appeared in the sky over the blockade and then the soldiers let out screams of terror as the blood ignited inside their bodies, their bodies soon exploded from the sudden heat change sending bloody gore all over the ce, the soldiers inside the tanks and helicopters weren''t safe either, they all met a bloody and violent end, as for Mike and Julie they simply passed through the blockade without stopping A few hourster Mike and Julie stopped flying, they hade a significantly long way North ''We''re probably not in Nevada anymore What''s North of Nevada again? Idaho?'' The two of them were inside some natural park where they had found an empty cabin where they would rest for half a day before flying East, right now Mike was working with some food he found in some bear-safe containers ''Stale bread, cinnamon, sugar Just need some eggs now'' Mike found some eggs after flying around the forest for a bit, he wasn''t sure what kind but that really didn''t matter to him ''Now then'' Mike quickly wiped up some French toast, soon Julie returned with an entire bear, she showed a smile when she saw Mike waiting for her and quickly looked at the te on the table beside him "Is that..?" "Yep, French toast" Julie picked up a piece and quickly ate it before her face melted into pure bliss "So good~" Mike showed a smile as he watched her eat Chapter 201: White house Chapter 201: White house Mike and Julie spent a few days in the cabin that were located in the natural park, Julie found Mike sitting staring into empty space one morning, he was looking out the window at the expanding forest in front of him, Julie walked up and sat down on the chair next to him before she asked "What''s wrong Mike?" Mike didn''t respond at once, only a little whileter "What if No never mind" "Come on Mike, you can''t just lead me on like that" "Okay then here goes What if We just disappear somewhere off to the corner of the globe and disappear?" Julie narrowed her eyes somewhat and looked at Mike for a bit before she asked "And then what? Settle down have a couple of kids and raise them?" "Yeah" Julie showed a soft smile before she gently took Mike''s hand thatid on the table in hers before she spoke again "As much as I would like that You wouldn''t be able to settle down would you Mike?" Mike still looked out of the window before he shook his head slightly "I don''t know" Then he looked over at Julie and admitted for the first time "I am tired Tired of fighting" Julie gave his hand a squeeze as she spoke "That''s when you have to fight on the most" "...Yeah I know that it''s just" Mike suddenly looked away from Julie up towards the ceiling of the room as his ears twitched slightly, then he sighed and looked back at Julie "Looks like we need to leave" "Why?" "Because a surveince drone has just spotted us" "Got it, I''ll go get my stuff" Julie stood up at once and quickly got her backpack, as did Mike before the two of them rushed out of the small cabin and flew off towards the east A few dayster the two of them reached the east coast, from there they went south along the coast and met increasing resistance along the way, Mike opened his hand and received the hammer from a crashed helicopter before he spoke "Looks like they''ve figured out the n" Julie unsummoned her sword before she asked "What even is the n?" "Well Sitting down for a chat with the president of the united states?" "Why do you sound so unsure?" "Because if he ordered this thing it''s not going to be a chat" Julie tilted her head before she asked "What do you mean he ordered this? I mean he''s the leader of the country right, so of course, he''s the one that decided this, right?" Mike shook his head "Not necessarily, this isn''t a prime world, people sometimes go against their superiors and hide things from them" Julie narrowed her eyes before she let out arge amount of killing intent and spoke "That''s a little naive don''t you think..?" Mike showed a smile and didn''t mind the killing intent from Julie at all, he simply nodded "Yeah, it is" Then he walked up to her and soothed her by stroking her cheek, Julie didn''t stay mad and soon nestled into his hand and closed her eyes, then Mike spoke "It won''t end up likest time, don''t you worry about that Let me tell you why it''s because we''re strong, strong enough to wipe all the pesky cheating, lying, cheating, fifty humans off the face of this, we have a nuclear option too" Julie giggled before she remarked "You said cheating twice" Mike showed a smile "That''s because it''s important... Come we still have a few days travel to D.C." Roan Dalton stood in front of a mirror, he was a lean middle-aged white man with graying hair with a trustworthy face, he was currently putting on his tie "Come on now" Or rather he was fighting with it if people knew that the president of the united states was unable to tie his own tie it would be more than a little embarrassing, soon however a pair of slender hands reached out from behind and tied his tie for him "Thanks, honey" A woman that seemed to be about the same age as Roan showed a smile before she went back to putting on make-up, she was Chatrhine Sally, Roan''s wife, and the firstdy, as she was powdering her nose she asked "Today you have that call with the Russian president right?" Roan nodded at his wife''s words "Yeah we need to discuss some things rted to the un-colonized zone" Soon the two of them finished getting ready and walked out of the residence along with a couple of secret service guards, after seeing off his wife Roan soon arrived in the oval office where he was informed that the schedule had been changed due to a newly arisen treat, soon a couple of people arrived to brief him, among them was a person from the Area 51 along with several high standing officers from the army and a scientist, the person from area 51 introduced himself "My name is Desmond Hext and I am here to brief you about the UHC-1 and UHC-2" Roan nodded, he knew that UHC stood from unidentified Humanoid Creature, he quickly paused however "Wait there''s two of them now?" Desmond nodded before he continued speaking as he gestured to a file with Mike''s picture on the front "As you have been briefed about before UHC-1 first appeared in the un-colonized zone about six months ago, there it shot down a fighter jet and captured its piolet as a means to establish contact with us, from there it was taken to Area 51 where various test was taken before it went berserk and destroyed a helicopter prototype, then it dropped off the radar for about five months until it appeared again, this time apanied by UHC-2" Desmond gestured to the other file where a slightly blurred picture of Julie was ced, this file was significantly thinner than the one on Mike however "Right, that incident Have the mana suppressor''s been inspected?" The scientist spoke up "Ah, yes It appears that they worked as intended" Roan''s face darkened slightly before he questioned the scientist "Then why weren''t UHC-1 and UHC-2 affected? I was informed that their bodies required mana to function?" "That It appears that we were wrong" Roan sighed before he gestured Demond to continue which he did "So far we''ve lost 26 helicopters and 14 tanks along with 127 souls to trying to contain them and It appears that they are moving with purpose" "So where are they going?" "Well All indicators points to that they''reing here, to D.C." Roan''s face darkened even more before he spoke "Why weren''t I informed of this potential threat before?" "I apologize sir, the UHC''s movements have been hard to predict" Roan sighed again, just as he was about to speak again an rm suddenly went off before secret service people entered the room and quickly informed Roan "Sir we need to move to the bunker, an attack is imminent" Roan quickly got up and followed the secret service people as he asked "What''s going on!?" "Sir! Two unidentified objects have entered the airspace above the city, it appears that it''s the UHC''s, they''ve already downed four helicopters and several fighter jets that had been sent to intercept them before they reached the city!" Roan nodded before hemanded "Make sure my wife is safe!" "The firstdy is already being escorted to a safe location" As the group passed several corridors soon they reached a hidden elevator where they quickly entered, after going down in the bunker under the white house Roan sighed deeply before hemanded "Get the security systems online at once! I want eyes on the UHC''s!" "Yes, sir! We have found them, putting it up on the screen now!" A monitor that hang on the wall of the room lit up showing several camera''s viewpoints around the white house at the one in the oval office the two UHC''s appeared, they appeared to be chatting about something before the blue one suddenly looked up at the camera and showed a slight smile, on the floor around themy several unconscious secret service people, then the blue one mouthed a few words at the camera [Found you] Then the two figures flickered before they disappeared from the camera''s view A chill went up Roan''s spine as he quickly yelled "How long until the army arrives!?" "6 minutes, sir!" "Tell them to hurry up!" A few tense minutes passed before the secret service people in the room received a message through their earpieces and drew their sidearms before they pointed them towards the reinforced door, a couple of them ran over and stood in front of Roan, Roan knew that the time hade and breathed a deep sigh, then a loud ng sounded ou inside the room as the security door dented inwards after being hit by something heavy, then a few seconds after that another impact dented the door further, Roan steeled his resolve as the third impact sent the security door flying into the room, the secret service personal opened up with their weapons as two figured that moved too fast to see entirely entered the room About 10 seconds of gunfireter the secret service guards were all incapacitated, in front of Roan stood UHC-1 with a slight smile on its blue face as it spoke "Mr. President" Chapter 202: Talk Chapter 202: Talk Mike looked into the face of the president of the united states of America, then he whipped his tail once sending a member of the secret service that was pretending to be knocked out flying across the room into the opposite wall, then he spoke one word "Sit" Roan felt his legs turn to jelly as he copsed on the floor, then Mike smiled and sat down in front of him, then he began speaking, or rather he asked "Do you know what it''s like to be sacrificed to a demon?" After about 2 seconds Mike realized that his question was a little misleading and quickly redefined his question "You know, a literal demon god with goat-like legs and horns?" Roan took a deep breath before he shook his head, Mike nodded, then he continued speaking "Well, there''s ritual chanting, people in robes, a spooky sacrificial dagger, you know the full demon summoning deal, then the momentes and the dagger descended and stabs you in the chest, only you don''t die The next moment you find yourself in a dense forest" "A forest..?" "Yeah, a forest on another, a so-called ''prime'' world, there you, after narrowly escaping being killed by a primal beast in the forest as well as some rude people, eventually learn that every living breathing thing gives a fixed ''experience'' value when you kill it Like some sort of game" Roan nodded slowly, clearly, he had stopped believing what Mike was telling him, Mike sighed before he continued speaking "So fast forwards a couple of year of killing every living being that annoys you join the curse under the demon god that summoned you, meeting the love of your life on the way, you slowly grow tired of fighting so As a changed man, in body and spirit, you are back once again to Earth where you are told to find your ''resolve'' you arrive in your old home in Copenhagen, make ns to visit France and such But not before you are picked up by the USA that lingered in the region, probably to keep Russia and China in check, you negotiate with what you think is the government for citizenship in exchange for letting them study you and learning your techniques seeing your face this is the first time you have heard this story right?" Roan nodded before he nced over at Demond that were sitting on the floor under the guard of Julie before he looked back to Mike and asked "Then what happened?" "Well, youply with their requests Until you find out that they have been feeding you slow-acting poison, then you flee the ce and eventually on the way find your ''resolve'' to be left the fuck alone where then you return to the ''Prime'' world and earn the praise of the demon god, whom you now consider a parent Then it all goes to shit and you''re sent back here, to this dirtball" Roan''s face darkened slightly before he took a nce at his wristwatch and noted that 3 minutes had passed, Mike''s smile widened slightly before he continued speaking "So you return here and you find the douchebag that promised you ''guld og grnne skove'' as we Danes like to call it, in English, it would probably be something akin to promising the world? Anyway, you eventually get the truth out of him, I''ll quote it now "This is the deal, we poison you, study you and once we''ve figured out how to clone you we harvest you for organic material, that''s how it is being a filthy non-human, you don''t have human rights so we can do whatever we want with you" Or something like that?" Roan looked over towards Desmond before he asked "Care to borate Desmond?" Desmond showed a slight smile before he spoke "There''s nothing to borate on" Roan nodded before he turned to Mike again and asked "So What exactly is it that you want?" "Peace, if we can''t find it here we''ll go to another ce to seek it Oh, that and some good old fashion revenge" Roan thought for a bit before he nodded and stood up, Mike stood up too and when Roan extended his hand to Mike, Mike smiled before he shook his hand, then Roan spoke "Peace is an admirable goal, I''ll make sure you can find it here in our great country" Mike showed a smile then he drew the knife and threw it across the room, it sank into Desmond''s right eyesocket with a ghastly sound, then he opened his hand and it flew back to his hand before he put it back into its sheath in one fluid motion Form there a few weeks passed, Mike and Julie had been living in a cabin deep within the Rocky mountain natural pack, there they lived off thend, but as it was nearing winter and given the fact that they had not had enough time to prepare for the winter they received food via airdrops about once a week, They lived the slow life and enjoyed each otherspany very much and acted just like newly wed''s, thought their peace soon came to an end when they had to uphold their end of the bargain which was simple: training of elite soldiers. Mike had promised Roan that he would train elite soldiers at a nearby base that were being constructed at the edge of the Rocky mountain natural pack Mike woke up, today was the day, next to him in therge bedy Julie, despite the amount of space that was in the bed she was snuggled up close to him, Mikey there for a bit and looked into the ceiling, eventually, the sunlight peeked through the window, as he looked at the sunlight that gradually covered the two of them like a nket Mike showed a smile as he thought ''This sure is peace'' Soon Julie stirred and not long after she opened her eyes and sat herself up on the bed and let out a cute yawn before she looked over at Mike and showed a smile as she spoke "Good morning Mike" Mike spaced out for a moment before he nodded and greeted her back as he sat himself up on the bed "Good morning Julie" The two of them looked at each other for a bit before they both beganughing, then after a bit Julie asked Mike "We''re starting the training today right?" "Yeah Thought I am still stuck on the other problem" "Really? I''ve pretty much figured it out already" "...Just to be sure, we''re talking about ascending right?" "Yeah? What else would we be talking about?" "...Can you give me a tip?" Julie showed a smile before she gave Mike a quick kiss then she spoke "You have to live your life Mike" "Okay? Then what?" "Then nothing, that''s it, you have to live your life" Mike sighed before he got out of the bed and quickly entered the bathroom, Julie quickly followed while calling out to Mike "I''ll join you in the shower, hehe, I''ll make sure you a squeaky clean for the troops!" After a rather long shower, the two of them were short on time and had a quick breakfast before they both took flight and flew towards the newly founded ''Demon boot camp'' The new recruits were sitting in the morning sun, well calling them new recruits were perhaps not the best name for them, they were all seasoned veterans from all areas of the US armed forces, army, navy, airforce, and marines As such they were highly disciplined, cream of the crop so to say, still, people had their limits and as it now were over half an hour since the introduction of their new instructor should have shown up they had begun chatting amongst themselves, only one person remainedpletely silent, it was Chloe, she sat in the front row when she had heard that Mike had be a new instructor in a newly built facility she was among the first to volunteer, to her side was a young man from the marines, he quietly asked her with a face full of curiosity "Is it true that our new instructors are non-human?" Chloe sighed before she nodded, it had been leaked that she had previous contact with one of the new instructor, she didn''t know how many times she had been asked that question today, soon her ears twitched as she looked towards the sky, the marine beside her did the same as he remarked "Sonic booms? That''s strange there are no bases nearby is there?" Chloe showed a smile before she spoke "That''s our new instructors" "You''re kidding Right?" "Nope, you heard I was short down over the un-colonized zone right?" "Yeah?" "That was one of them, see there they are" Chloe pointed into the sky, her pointing made most of the recruits look up, there they saw two people slowly declined from the sky, one red and one blue, both of them looked demonic with their horns, long barbed tails, and strange skin colors, soon the two of themnded on the tform in front of the crowd, the blue one took a few steps forwards as the red wings behind him dissolved and spoke while showing a toothy grin "Wee to the Demon boot camp" Chapter 203: Enlightenment Chapter 203: Enlightenment Mike overlooked the elite soldiers that were seated in front of him, then he sighed loudly before he muttered "Is this really the best soldiers Roan could offer..?" Mike''s voice wasn''t low so of courses, the soldiers heard him, some showed puzzlement while others seemed slightly annoyed and then there were the ones that were outright provoked, still, they had their discipline so of course, they didn''t speak up, after all, Mike was currently their superior, Mike showed a smile and nodded before he spoke "I guess I''ll have to make do Move to the excise field, double time!" The elite soldiers obeyed and soon the entire group had moved to the expansive excise field, Mike stretched before he spoke "Observe" Then he performed a set of movements, they seemed simple at first nce and as he started the elite soldiers were chatting amongst themselves, however when he performed the 3rd set they had turned quiet, some of them could feel the immense power contained in these simple-looking movements, soon Mike finished making the 3rd set and breathed a deep sigh before he spoke with a slight smile on his face "Now it''s your turn Anyone unable to make the 3rd set will be sent back to their former unit, take your positions on the field Oh, the ones that weren''t paying attention to my demonstration can leave now, no need to risk permanent damage to yourself just because you''re unable to pay attention to what your superior is doing" Soon the soldiers lined up in two lines before they began to uniformly perform the movement sets, Mike sat on the ground in front of them and corrected their mistakes, in the end, they all managed to perform the 3rd set, though they were all bathed in sweat, Mike looked at them with his tail swinging from side to side before he sighed ''Well given the fact that they managed 3 sets... They should beparable to level 5 people from the prime world, not bad at all'' Mike jumped to his feet and looked at the new recruits before he spoke "Very good I see that no one failed, I''ll speak to the chefs and make them increase your meals for tonight, now on your feet, let''s go for a jog, two files after me!" As The group made their 134th round around the training felid Julie that had so far been watching the show let out a yawn before she disappeared from view and reappeared next to Chloe that was jogging along, she adjusted her pace to follow along with Chloe before she spoke "[Well you certainly smell delicious]" "...Excuse me?" "Hi, I am Julie, thank you for keep my husbandpany that one time" Julie spoke in perfect English, something she had been capable of for the past 3 years after she had pestered Mike to learn thenguages of his homeworld, besides being able to speak English she was also fluid in Danish, a shame Denmark had been wiped out by Mike "Oh, hi I''ve heard much about you from Mike, Julie" Julie''s smile widened slightly as she spoke again "I am sure it''s all good things, right?" Chloe showed a smile and nodded before she whispered "He said he missed you a lot" Julie nodded before she disappeared from view and reappeared next to another female member of the group before she began chatting with them, like this Julie moved around for about half an hour before Mike eventually signaled for the group to stop jogging, then he looked up at the sun and estimated the time before he spoke "15-minute water break, then I''ll see you all at the firing range" Mike, that had barely broken a sweat walked towards the firing range along with Julie, once the two of them arrived at the firing range Mike took out a pair of ear protectors and put them on Julie''s head covering her ears, then he handed her a loaded service pistol before he began instructing her via the mentalwork on how to use it, Julie nodded and followed Mike''s instructions, then suddenly she asked a question that had been on her mind ever since they arrived on Earth "Why don''t you use [Control] anymore?" Mike paused before he sighed and spoke "Out of fear That they''ll find us" "...Well, that makes sense" Julie seemed a little gloomy when the subject came up but eventually, she sighed before she spoke again "Don''t worry Mike, we''ll fight back soon" "Yeah as soon as I figure out how to ascend How are you doing with that?" "Ascending? I am all ready, just waiting for you dear" Mike sighed before he nodded and spoke "I''ll do my best" Julie sighed before she muttered "That''s the wrong way to go about it though" Mike nodded and thought about it for a bit, but he was interrupted by the arrival of the soldiers at the range and decided to put it on the backburner "Line up single file facing the range, one person per shooting position" Soon the soldiers had taken position and so Mike started with the one on the right and put his hand on the young soldiers back before he spoke "This might feel diforting at first, endure" Mike then injected his mana into the body of the soldier and cleared up their paths, this was a simple method he had studied at the academy, there it was known as a forceful way to make someone a mage, the only downside to doing this was that a person would afterward require close to double the amount of experience to level up, so it was only widespread amongst the higher levels of nobility where the cost of extra ves or monster cores was manageable and given the fact that there were no crystal balls to level up people on Earth it was a near-perfect solution to making modern-day soldiers stronger with very little effort after Mike finished opening the paths of the soldier he coughed violently a few times before he felt his body grow hot, at that moment Mike spoke "The feeling you''re currently is experiencing is your mana rotating along your paths, if you calm yourself you should be able to calm it down" "...Got it" "Good" Mike moved onto the next soldier and once he was done with all of them he spoke "Tomorrow you will be learning about how to control your newfound mana, experimenting on your own can and will cripple you If it doesn''t outright kill you Now then with that being said you all are now officially mages, congrattions and I''ll see you all at 08:00 tomorrow" with that said Mike and Julie took flight and soon disappeared from the soldier''s view From there time passed, Mike educated the soldiers in the usage of their limited spells, trained them in closebat, and built their stamina as well as their bodies strength, every day was fulfilling for Mike, gradually his usual thin smile seemed more and more genuine, Julie that was the closest to him naturally noticed the change eventually a year passed since the opening of the demon boot camp and it was time for the soldiers to graduate and return to their former units, after a year of training each and every one of the soldiers was now significantly hardened individuals, Mike stood on the same tform he had been standing exactly a year before and looked at the fruits of hisbor, all 54 soldiers looked back at him, he knew them all by name, he knew their bad habits and their good points, gradually he began speaking "This has probably been the best year of my life you all know me by now, I dislike long speeches, I''ll wish you luck in your further endeavors and tonight we all party and drink on the government''s bill!" """""OOOHHH!!!!""""" The night was long but enjoyable for Mike, as the night lengthened he felt his eyes were begging to y tricks on him, when he looked at Julie he faintly felt that her eyes were shining, Julie felt Mike''s gaze and stopped chatting with the female members of the group and walked over to Mike before she pulled him up to his feet before she led him out of the noisy mess hall and spoke with him one on one "I am very happy Mike" "Julie... you know what''s going on?" Julie showed a smile and pointed to her own eyes before she spoke "Beel called it the divine shine, it''s how you detect mortal bodies belonging to gods Your eyes have begun to shine too" "Eh..? That means---" "Yes, congrattions Mike, you will probably ascend tonight" "Then You have already asenceded?" "Yeah.. I''ve been waiting for you in the middle of Andromada, there my true body is consuming a star" "A star" Julie giggled before she exined "Stars besides their massive mass contain arge amount of mana, which is needed to maintain my true body" "I see What about these mortal bodies?" "... I don''t see the need to bring them with us to the prime world, they will be our source of happiness" "... I see, so that''s what you meant with ''you just have to live your life''... It''s gradual enlightenment" Julie showed a smile and nodded "That and having to be the kin of an already existing god, yeah" Chapter 204: Godhood Chapter 204: Godhood Mike and Julie returned to the cabin where they turned in for the night, as they did the light behind Mike''s eyes grew stronger and suddenly his consciousness split, Mike opened his eyes, around him was all dark, dark, and cold "Hungry" Mike looked around, he could feel something nearby, it was warm, he turned his body and found a yellow star which he seemingly was floating in front of, at that moment he realized it "Oh I''ve ascended" He opened his mouth and sucked in some of the star before he curled up and closed his eyes again This repeated many times, Mike would wake before he would consume a bit of the star, before going back to sleep again, he felt like he was in an egg waiting to be born, the yellow star was his embryo, as the time passed the sun grew smaller and smaller, Mike was gradually able to stay awake longer and longer until the finale day of the star, on that day he consumed it entirely, he felt energized and fully awake, he began to look around his soundings, there were severals in this star system, one of which seemed to had harbored intelligent life, the key word was seemed, as now that the star had be consumed the poption had all frozen to death, anyway Mike spent some time to observe the frozen cites from the orbit of the, then the hunger soon returned and Mike looked around for the nearest star, he could see several stars on the horizon, but he didn''t quite know how to travel to those stars ''Maybe if I had something to use to travel'' Mike looked down at his own body and realized that he was nude, he chuckled a bit as he imagined the intelligent life on the he was in orbit around having seen his nude from consuming their star little by little, then he waved his hand and a set of ck shorts appeared on his body, then he opened his hand and to his own surprise the knife appeared "...I think it''s about time to find out what you are buddy" Mike peered past the knife''s exterior and into the de and there he saw it, he chuckled a bit before he nodded and spoke "So it was a weighted game from the start I was meant to be the new demon general long before Beel found my soul" Inside the knife he saw it clearly, it was a fragment of himself, more precisely a fragment of his own soul, a fragment he himself had chipped off from his main soul when he killed his father with an empty bottle of booze, a fragment that had fuzed with the egoless wills of another former demon general, how this had happened Mike had no idea "...Well I guess that reality is stranger than fiction?" Mike nodded, he also knew why the knife had controlled him and changed him "Guess it''s an echo of the egoless will inside the knife One that has now guided me to where I am and to what I have be A god that costumes stars" Mike chuckled before he swung the knife, there space ripped open in a rather violent way, using his mana he stabilized the tear in space and navigated the space in between space until he found what he looked for a let his body be sucked into the tear, then a momentter it closed Mike felt the space in between space rather strange so he decided not to think about it too much, soon a rift opened in the center of Andromeda on the other sidey Well Julie''s true body, she was d in a red dress that seemed to have been made of fire, other than that she looked just like her mortal body did, she showed a smile and spoke "You''re finally here Mike" Mike showed a smile "Yeah well this thing didn''t exactlye with an instruction manual" Julie giggled before she nodded "Well that''s true, I took a little while to get used to it too Then what do we do now? Head to battle?" Mike shook his head and spoke with an unbefitting amount of pride "Nah, let''s run and hide At least until we free Beel and level the ying field you know make it a proper 3 vs 3" "So you can feel her too" "Yeah, Beel isn''t dead yet, most likely they have confined her somewhere" "Then let''s find her first" "Yeah but how..?" Mike thought for a moment before he got an idea and opened his hand where the knife appeared, Julie looked at the knife and was stunned for a moment until Mike exined "This is, in reality, the egoless will of an old demonbined with a fragment of my soul for some ungodly reason, so I figure that it will know where to find Beel" "...There''s a lot I want toment on but Yeah let''s do it" "Got it" "Oh first hide your true body" Mike was a little puzzled before he nodded then the true body of Mike and Julie disappeared, then a rift opened up, and before their presence disappeared A rift opened up on the dark side of a moon,. There Mike and Julie appeared before they looked around and soon realized that they were on a moon orbiting a prime world, most likely the one where the newly ascended member of the guardians of the wheel had ascended not too long ago, Mike stood on the surface of the lifeless moon and looked ''up'' at the prime world that seemed to be covered in some sort of barrier "What do we do now? We can''t rescue Beel without being detected" Mike thought for a few moments before he began speaking "Our mortal bodies are linked to our true bodies right?" "Yeah?" "I feel Beel''s mortal body on this prime world" "Me too" "Then it''s simple" "What''s simple..? Oh, it really is simple" Mike and Julie looked at each other before they both spoke ""We simply create a new pair of mortal bodies"" Mike''s smile widened and praised Julie "I really am d I married you, Julie" Julie showed a sweet smile and gave Mike a quick kiss before she sat down on the dusty surface of the moon and closed her eyes, Mike did the same and soon he felt his own will detach from his true body as passed undetected by the barrier around the prime world On this particr prime world, there was no ind sea, it was all a giant supercontinent with varying mana density, in one of the countless cities a certain king woke up, he was level 8 and lorded over the surrounding 5.000 square kilometers, he showed a smile as he awoke, today was the day After getting dressed and cleaned by the servants he listened to the advice of his court and made a few significant rulings before evening approached, then he, as usual, returned to his own chambers to retire for the night after he said to his loving wife and queen that he wasn''t feeling very well and wanted to spend the night alone, she had been worried for him ever since he had that Incident 6 months ago, he closed the door to his chambers, but it would be while before he would sleep on the bed, instead he opened a secret passage and passed down below the castle where he had for the past 6 months been worshiping his newfound gods "Tonight is the night" A smile crept onto his lips as he entered the chamber, there a giant pit spanning 300 meters across was filled with decaying blood, the blood of his own citizens, whom he had hunted nearly every night doing thest 6 months, he had finally gathered enough blood, he walked over to the altar and kneeled down to receive the final message from his new gods, soon their voices entered his ears and he began chanting as the mana circle around the giant pool of decaying blood began lighting up, he chanted feverously for most of the night and at exactly twilight he spoke the lines "---Demon God of Blood, Demon God of fire, I summon you, to this mortal ne!" With those words as amand, the pool of decaying blood began shrinking at an rming rate, as ''something'' formed in the middle, at first nce it seemed like an egg, only it was made of red crystal and sent off sinister blood-chilling screams directly into the mind of whoever looked at it, soon the pool of decaying blood had all but dried up leaving the egg floating in the middle for a few seconds before a crack appeared on it, at this point the king was crying tears of joy as he spoke fervently "Your humble servant is at yourmand!" Then he lowered his head as the eggshell crackedpletely revealing two people inside, it was, of course, the new mortal bodies of Mike and Julie1, they had brainwashed this mere mortal to do their bidding with their true bodies, shattered his mind, and made a new one that was more befitting to serve them, the two of them showed a smile as Mike spoke "You have done well" The king began shedding tears of joy as he heard the voice of one of his gods for the first time Chapter 205: Cathedral Chapter 205: Cathedral Mike looked over at the king that was knelling to them and showed a smile, then he opened his hand where the knife materialized before he threw it over with a flick of his wrist, the knife sank into the crown of the king''s head, his body twitched a few times as his eyes leaked a fewst tears of joy as Mike spoke "[Drink]" Julie showed a coy smile before she spoke "Damn Mike, that''s cold, first you shatter his mind before you rebuild it to serve you, and then when he has served his purpose you just kill him off?" "Yep~" Julie giggled before she disappeared from view, Mike sighed and followed after her, he found her in the castle upstairs where she had a finger sunk into the head of the queen as Julie slowly drained her blood as she muttered "Sweet~ seems like she loved the king very much~" Mike showed a smile before he spoke "Are you about done? We''re on a schedule you know..?" "I know~ I just can''t resist the blood of women that are madly in love~" Mike sighed before he flicked his tail deflecting a crossbow bolt fired from the guards that were rushing into the room to avenge the queen, then he opened his other hand as he looked over at the guards before he closed it again, a series of cracks sounded out in the room before the guards fell to the ground, then he spoke "Come, dear, let''s get going" Julie showed a smile and walked over before she took Mike''s arm and spoke affectionally "Yes dear~" Then the two of them summoned wings and flew straight through the roof castle before their figures disappeared from the early morning sky A few dayster Mike and Julie decided to stop flying towards their goal and stop for the night in a city, they had umted some coin from attacking travelers on the road so they could afford a room in an okay inn, Mike slept lightly as he didn''t have any servants around to keep guard when they slept, still, when he awoke he felt well-rested, it was not like his or Julie''s mortal bodies required sleep, it was more of a habit That and sleeping in the same bed as your lover had a very sizable improvement on both their moods so when they left the inn they strolled around the city for a bit hand in hand and chatted about everything they saw, until they came across a scene that was typical of the prime worlds ''vers'' A ve merchant had just entered the city with a new haul of freshly caught ves, from the bribe that the guards received it seemed that the salves most likely came from a nearby vige, Mike watched with disinterested eyes for a bit before Julie tugged his arm and spoke "Come, let''s go" "...Sure" Mike and Julie turned away from the vers, just as they did one of the vers caught sight of Julie and showed a wide smile before he yelled "The two of you, stop!" Mike and Julie stopped walking before Mike turned around with a fed-up expression on his face as he asked "What?" The ver clearly took his time as his eyes wandered over Julie''s body, something which ticked off Mike and Julie both, then he spoke "How about you sell your little girlfriend to me?" "...What?" Mike''s face darkened significantly and before the ver could speak any more Mike appeared before him and grabbed his neck and lifted him up from the ground, the vers guards reacted quickly and drew their weapons, as well as some of the city guard while the rest looked on as if they were seeing a good show, Mike looked around before he sighed and muttered "I almost forgot this isn''t Earth Thank you for reminding me" Then he began circting his mana, slowly at first but within 10 seconds the vers guards, as well as the members of the city guard that had taken up arms, froze with pale faces, some of them trembled with fear while others refused to believe what they were seeing as Mike spread out his [Blood aura] he spoke with a smile "There''s a spell I''ve been meaning to try out, you''ll help me test it, right ver?" Before the ver had a chance to speak Mike used the spell as he muttered its name "[Bloodline purge]" The ver seemed to freeze before he let out a blood-chilling scream as he felt it, his parents which were rich nobles, his sisters and brothers, all looked up in horror as they screamed out in pain as their blood slowly boiled and cooked them from the inside, a few momentster Mike threw the medium-rare ver to the side, then he cracked his neck, as he did countless cracks sounded out around him, the vers guards, as well as most of the city guard, fell over dead, their eyes wide in horror and regret, Mike nodded before he looked over at Julie with a smile and asked her "Shall we?" Julie nodded "Yes, let''s" Then both of them summoned their wings and flew into the air, soon they disappeared from view of the crowd In another location near the center of the supercontinent stood a giant cathedral it was made of white marble and the giant windows into it were filled with stained ss that was depicting the epic of a certain young girl, the cathedral''s giant towers were still under construction, inside the cathedral in a surprisingly simply decorated office sat the young girl that was depicted on the stained ss windows, she had shining blue eyes, if Mike or Julie were here they would see the golden light that shone from behind her eyes, that''s right, she was the newly ascended guardian of the wheel, she wore a calm expression on her face as she looked over the documents in front of her, soon she muttered "538 dead or incapacitated in thest week" A small smile formed on her face as she continued her monolog "That''s 62 less than predicted, that ver was right, these truly are some good construction ves, their work on the towers are showing good progress" What she was referring to was naturally the towers of her cathedral, since she had ascended and be a god she, naturally, should her own ce of worship, from here she would extend her influence and rule the entire supercontinent, as for why she did this? It was merely for the entertainment of her mortal body, suddenly she received a message from her true body and showed a smile "Preparation to invade the demon-controlled nes are starting Finally, we''ll show those demons what it''s like to have your home invaded" She showed a wide smile as she thought about burning down the demon''s homeworlds Mike and Julie moved from city to city, they followed Beel''s presence and gradually they reached the center of the supercontinent, as they were getting close Mike and Julie decided going in person would be too risky, so Mike ''appropriated'' a couple of ''volunteers'' as Mike was tattooing a magic formation on them Julie asked the obvious "Why are you suddenly speaking in code, you just used [Control] on them right?" "...Yeah basically" Julie looked at the two level 7 people that had been traveling to doing something, well that was before Mike pulled out their souls and sent them to the void with his {Control] skill, he sent them off at once to avoid detection of the guardians of the wheel, the two new servants followed their duty and after 4 days of travel they arrived at the geographical center of the supercontinent where theyid eyes on a giant cathedral being constructed Mike frowned slightly when he saw the construction site, it looked like something out of the dark pages of the bible, ves were being ''spent'' and then ''discarded'' in mass graves, Mike noted that there seemed to be several newly dug mass graves that still smelled strongly of blood and showed a slight smile before he made the two servants scout further, the towers of the cathedral were still under construction, it seemed like a slightly sloppy woke ce however as Mike watched about 5 ves fall to their death in the span of about 2 hours, as for how meny were tormented to death, that he didn''t know, or at least he didn''t care enough ot notice ''This sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth Heh, well the mass graves work in my favor'' The two servants scouted closer and closer to the cathedral and one night they managed to infiltrate it, there they moved to two certain key positions before they hunkered down and waited for their moment of glory toe Mike nodded, he stretched before he looked around inside the inn room, Juliey on the bed already asleep, he had now prepared for the fight to rescue Beel''s mortal body as best he could, he threw off his shirt and stealthily climbed into bed, there he embraced Julie tightly as the two of them slept the entire night... Hey y''all, zad1333 here, I would like your feedback on something: I am thinking, once I''ve made the second tost chapter, take a week off to write a longer chapter (3k-7k words) to round off the story... Or I could just keep making the regr length chapters until we naturally reach the end Tell me what you think in thements, I know I could have written this in the section below but felt this would make sure you all would see it (note that the same message is posted in chapter 207, this is for all the none ''privilege'' readers as I want all the feedback I can get on this) Chapter 206: Assault Chapter 206: Assault "What bad taste" "...Agreed, this sure is something, I''ve never seen anything like it in fact" Mike and Julie looked upon the giant cathedral from a distance, they had the sun on their backs so they weren''t worried about being spotted, for the time being, Mike nodded before he spoke "I''m going to destroy the right tower, will you take the left, my love?" Julie grabbed Mike by the neck before she spoke in a slightly tired voice "Don''t you feel Beel''s mortal body BELOW the What was it you called it again?" Mike nodded before he spoke "Cathedral" "Yes that''s it, thank you, Mike We can''t just bury Beel under several tons of marble bricks" Mike paused before he nodded "Good point But then what do we do?" "We Infiltrate?" "...I only non-humans as ves though" "Good point We Storm in?" "That''s a good n, use wide range spells and avoid the supporting parts of the structure?" Julie nodded before she opened her hand and summoned her [Hellsword], then she spoke "Marble don''t burn right?" "No, it melts into a molten rock at 500 plus C so turn up the heat" "Good Let''s go then" Mike patted Julie on the shoulder before he spoke "Be swift about it though, we don''t know how long it will take for the enemy mortal body to call in their true body If all 3 of the guardian''s true bodies arrive here we''ll be in trouble" "Got it, let''s go!" "After you, mydy" Julie charged forwards, Mike followed after her, they both flew straight towards the cathedral, it had its stained ss windows pointed towards the east so naturally momentster Mike and Julie crashed through the two of the windows instantly alerting the guards outside and the followers inside the cathedral that attacked them at once, Mike deployed his aura and used a spell at once "[Blood moon]!" A half-transparent white orb appeared floating above Mike, then the inside of the cathedral turned into a hellscape as the orb seemed tomand a rather strong suction force that pulled the blood right out of the people within a 50 meters radius, ghastly howls echoed on the inside of the cathedral as the people unfortunate enough to be standing close enough to Mike''s spell were robbed of their blood, at Julie''s side however there were no screams as she deployed her aura and used a spell "[Heat wave]" There were no screams, the people within the radius of the spell simply turned to white ash as the marble stone floor began glowing under the intense heat, the furniture wasn''t spared either as it also turned into white ash in an instance, from there Mike and Julie split up, they each moved to their ends of the cathedral while disregarding anything in their way Mike soon found the stairs down to the lower levels of the cathedral, he moved swiftly through narrow corridors as he moved towards the presence of Beel''s mortal body, he encountered several strong looking fighters on the way, but none of them managed to resist the [Blood moon]''s allure and were quickly turned into dried corpses, soon he reached a spot that seemed to be the nearest ce to Beel, after moving around for several minutes to find a way further down he sighed and took out the hammer just as Julie appeared and spoke "I feel her below too" "Got it, let''s see how sturdy the foundation is It''s hammer time!" Mike raised the hammer and with a thunderous roar the hammer hit the foundation of the cathedral shaking the entire cathedral with a single blow copsing one of the cathedral''s unfinished towers in the process, on the third blow however both Mike and Julie felt a strong presence wake on the upper levels of the cathedral, Mike looked over at Julie and nodded to her, Julie nodded and spoke reassuringly "Don''t worry, I''ll stall her, keep hammering" Julie kicked off the ground and broke through the roof, after breaking through several floors she appeared in the cathedral''s main hall that was over 200 meters across, there she came face to face with a girl wearing a white priest garb with bright blue eyes and back-length blonde hair, her height only reached around Julie''s chest, still, Julie could feel enormous strength from the small girl, furthermore, Julie saw that her eyes glowed with a faint golden glow, then Julie showed a smile and spoke "There you are, guardian" The girl nodded before she spoke with a clear voice "How dare you break into my cathedral, demon" Julie narrowed her eyes and then she disappeared from view as she instantly summoned her wings and charged at the girl that opened her hands before a pair of white twin swords appeared in them, Julie shed out with an overhead swing with her [Hellsword], the girl blocked by crossing her shortswords, a loud ng sounded out inside the cathedral that shattered the stained ss windows, the girl spoke "This won''t do" Then she summoned whited feathered wings andunched a flurry of attacks at Julie with her twin shortswords pushing her out of the cathedral, Julie let her be pushed back as it worked well for her, after all, she only needed to distract her target, that said she still shed out with her sword with the intent to kill as she yelled "[Hellwalker]!" Julie shed out at the girl, at the same time the girl''s shadow moved and came alive as it sprung up and tried to bite its fangs into the girl''s feet, however, the girl wasn''t a literal deity for nothing as she aptly used one of her swords to deflect Julie''s sh while she used the other to cut apart the shadow under her, it was then it happened, the ground shook again, the girl narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the cathedral before she spoke "There''s two of them..? No matter {Angle halo] I''ll deal with you first" As the girl used a spell a white halo appeared, floating above her head, Julie felt a chill as the halo appeared and when the girl went on the offense she didn''t directly block her blows, instead, she skillfully deflected the first blow as her intuition told her to, as the shortsword and the [Hellsowrd] made contact Julie widened her eyes, she felt that the blow was at least twice as heavy than before, the girl''s face suddenly contracted as she made a nasty smile as she yelled "What''s wrong, DEMON!?" Julie was quickly put on the defensive as she was forced to deflect the urate and fast flurry of the twin shortswords, seeing as the direct sword approach didn''t work Julie deployed her [Hellfire aura] to the max and used a spell "[Ignite]!" "[Holy aura], [Bastion]!" The girl quickly deployed her own aura and used a defensive spell a white shield materialized out of nothing in front of her, then ''something'' hit it and it was set aze and quickly melted, or rather evaporated into nothing, then another boom sounded out as the ground shook again, the girl clicked her tongue before she decided to push the attack as she used a skill "[sh]!" Instantly she disappeared in a sh of light before she reappeared behind Julie and shed out with her twin shortswords, Julie copsed her poster and only just managed to dodge the sh, as she instantly summoned her wings and pped them hard propelling her forwards, away from the girl that quickly used her skill again "[sh]!" Julie felt a chill go down her back as she dodged to the side, the girl that had reappeared at her side shed down with her shortswords and served Julie''s right wing before she kicked off the ground and rushed after Julie that was in full retreat while she regenerated her wing, just then another boom sounded out again as the ground shook once again, the girl stopped before she looked back at the cathedral and spoke "...Why is it noting to help this one..? Don''t tell me! [sh]!" The girl disappeared from view again and reappeared some 30 meters away from where she rushed towards the cathedral, then suddenly Julie appeared in front of her with a calm smile on her face, none of the previous panic from before was shown as she spoke to the girl "Seems like you figured it out~" "Move aside!" "Why don''t you make me~?" The girl''s face twisted into one of pure fury as she rushed at Julie and shed out at her with both the twin shortswords, but just before they made contact Julie disappeared from view, the girl felt a chill and only just managed to raise her right shortsword to block a heavy blow that came from Julie''s [Hellsword], Julie that was finished holding back her speed disappeared from the girls view again as the ground below where she had just been standing cracked from the sudden eleration as she rushed and let out a flurry of shes towards the girl as she yelled "What''s wrong, GUARDIAN!?" Hey y''all it''s zad1333 again, just a heads up, the next chapter (209) will be thest, I''ve decided to do a long-ish chapter to round it up nicely, if I make it by Wednesday(The 2nd) then great, else it will be out Friday(The 4th), I''ll take all the time I need to finish this up nicely Chapter 207: Freeing Beel Chapter 207: Freeing Beel Mike raised the hammer once again before he struck down on the foundation, this time however it seemed to crack under the force, Mike reacted at once and summoned his wings as the floor below him copsed downwards into a sealed space, Mike flew down and looked around, theck of light proved to be no problem because of his perfect natural night vision "Beel!" Mike saw her at once, Beel was in the middle of the room, chained up by 5 solid-looking chains, her face was lowered, she was seemingly asleep, Mike ran over next to her before he slowly reached out and touched her shoulder, she was cold and lifeless "Shit" Mike sat down on the floor at once and closed his eyes before he attempted something he had never done before "Slowly Ever so slowly" Mike used his magic to feel the blood flow inside Beel''s mortal body, she seemed to be in a state of hibernation, then he began to ever so slowly speed up the blood flow inside her after a few minutes Beel''s eyebrows fluttered before they openedpletely and she spoke "Mike The chains" Mike nodded and shed out 5 times with the knife cutting the chains that bound her, only then did Beel seem to awaken for real, she looked over at Mike and saw the golden glow behind his eyes and showed a smile "Finally, you ascended Mike" Mike showed a smile before he picked up Beel in his arms "Yeah I did, now let''s get you out of here" "Good job Mike Now we can finally end this stupid war" Mike nodded and flew out of the underground space with Beel in his hands, soon the two of them arrived outside the cathedral where Mike helped Beel on her feet and stood and supported her as the two of them watched the carnage that was happening outside, Julie''s voice boomed out "What''s wrong, guardian!? Don''t tell me you''re getting tired already!?" Beel looked at the screen for a few second before she spoke "Looks like Julie is in good health" Mike nodded, the screen in front of them was that of Julie overpowering the guardian girl or rather out-speeding her as she would appear and lunch an attack which the badly injured guardian would then only just manage to block before Julie would use her speed and disappear again and then attack from another angle, the girl guardian was in bad shape already, missing one of her arms and having numerous cuts all over her body that seemed to have been burned so that she wouldn''t bleed out, Mike called out to Julie "Julie, we''re done here, stop ying with your food!" "Got it!" Julie reappeared again and kneed the guardian girl in the back of the head with a blood crystal spike, within moments the guardian girl turned into a dried corpse which Julie then threw aside before she walked over to Mike and Beel where she hugged Beel tightly for a bit before she spoke "I''m happy that you''re safe Beel" Beel nodded before she patted Julie a few times on the back, then she spoke "Let''s get out of here" Mike and Julie nodded, the three of them disappeared soon thereafter leaving behind a half-destroyed cathedral with heaps of dead bodies A few hourster Mike, Julie, and Beel floated above a city where Mike and Julie let out their full mana circtions for a few moments before a group of people came flying from the center of the city, one of the groups, seemingly the city lord quickly bowed to the group of three before he asked "What brings 3 level 9''s to my humble city?" Mike showed a smile as he spoke "We require a ce to rest for a few days" "Understood, please follow after me, I''ll show you to the best rooms of my pce" Mike, Julie, and Beel followed the group to the pce and was soon shown to a luxurious room where they were quickly left alone after Mike requested it, then Mike sat down on the carpet and looked over at Beel that sat in an armchair and asked "So Shall we begin discussing our counterattack now?" Beel nodded and opened her hand before inky ckness floated up from her hand and disyed the local gxy group, then she pointed to a spot and spoke "They have my true body sealed here" Then she pointed to another ce, near the center of the 3d map "And they, all 3 guardians, seem to be opening a portal to the demon-controlled nes here" Mike and Julie nodded before Julie asked "Won''t they change their ns once the girl realizes her mortal body is dead?" Beel showed a smile before she asked "Do you know what your other mortal bodies are doing right now?" Mike and Julie paused before they shook their heads, Beel showed a smile "It''s the same for them unless they make a conscious effort to check they won''t know" Mike nodded before he asked "Then we can assume that they don''t know that Julie and I have ascended?" Beel nodded "Yes, they likely don''t know that you even exist, they are likely too focused on invading the demon controlled nes" "Got it I''ll send this information to my true body now" In orbit around the prime world, Mike''s true body suddenly stirred before it woke up, he was embracing Julie''s true body as the two of them floated around in the void, soon Mike felt Julie stir and soon she awoke, he looked into her eyes for a moment before he gave her a kiss and spoke "Good morning sleepyhead" Julie showed a smile and nodded before she gave Mike a kiss back, the two of them giggled for a bit before Mike spoke "Shall we?" "Yeah, let''s get out of here And save Beel" Mike nodded before he opened his hand and summoned the knife, then he shed out into the void and opened up a rift in space that sucked in him and Julie before it closed again In another part of space, a rift opened up before Mike and Julie emerged from it, there they looked around before they saw Beel''s sealed true body, Mike muttered "Mothertruckker" In front of them were Beel''s true body, it was inside a ball made of some kind of transparent crystal, the inside of the ball had several spikes made of metal that prated through Beel''s true body, and not in a funny way, there was a total of 14 spikes, 2 went through her feet, another 2 went though her thighs, 3 went through her stomach and 4 went through her arms while 2 spikes went through her chest and 1 went through her right eye, Mike could feel his anger rise as he looked at the so-called ''seal'' "Mike calm down We can''t free Beel unless you calm down" Mike nodded and took a deep breath before he nodded "Okay, let''s see what we''re up against" Mike floated closer to the seal and began to study the rune formations that were etched into the transparent ss ball, then after he had read it entirely he moved onto what he could see of the spikes, then after he had read it entirely he nodded before he took out the knife and then simply used the hilt to smash against the crystal ball that then shatteredpletely "Wait, Mike!" "What?" "Weren''t those rm formations?" "No They weren''t formations, it was a lengthy read about the demon invasion painting the demons in the wrong half of it was insults towards the demon side while the other half was praising the guardians for their ''valiant'' and ''brave'' efforts in beating down the demon invasion" "O-Okay..?" "Yep, there''s no rm formation here, only propaganda" Julie couldn''t really wrap her head around it so she simply nodded and helped Mike remove the 14 spikes, then she watched as the injuries on Beel''s true body quickly healed before Beel opened her eyes and looked at Mike and Julie before her eyes fell solely on Mike as she floated over and hugged him close as she spoke "I knew from the start that you wouldn''t disappoint me, my vessel, Mike" Mike showed a smile and spoke "In that case, you could have been a little nicer to me" "You needed the all the pushes I gave you Mike" Beel giggled before she broke the hug and looked over at Julie before she floated in front of her and hugged her tightly like she had done with Mike and spoke "Julie, you too agave be my child and I love you and Mike equally" Julie showed a smile and nodded before she hugged Beel back, after a bit the two of them broke their hug, and then Beel showed a serious looked as she looked over at Mike and spoke "I think it''s about time that we make you a demon general Mike" Mike showed a smile, then he kneeled down and spoke "Yes" Hey y''all, zad1333 here, I would like your feedback on something: I am thinking, once I''ve made the second tost chapter, take a week off to write a longer chapter (3k-7k words) to round off the story... Or I could just keep making the regr length chapters until we naturally reach the end Tell me what you think in thements, I know I could have written this in the section below but felt this would make sure you all would see it Chapter 208: Trails Chapter 208: Trails Mike kneeled down and lowered his head as Beel approached andid her hand on the top of his head before she began speaking "Can you see him, myrades?" Silence followed, but changes appeared around Beel, heavy pressure descended around her in the form of ck fog, then she spoke "This child has be my kin, my vessel" The ck fog stirred slightly as Beel continued speaking "He has earned my approval, so now I would like to ask for yours" The ck fog rolled down and enveloped Mike as Beel continued speaking "They might be a little rough, but I know you can endure it, Mike" Then she stepped back and looked at Mike with care and affection, Julie stood next to her and looked at Mike that was still kneeled down, and asked "What''s happening with him?" "He''s undergoing the tirl of the demon generals They each have their own tirl so it''s going to take a few minutes before we know if he passed or failed" "...What will happen if he fails?" "Nothing, he is fighting for their approval If he doesn''t get it then the uing fight will be harder" "...Then what will happen if gets their approval?" "Then he''ll get their help in the uing fight" Julie nodded before she gritted her fists as she looked at Mike with slightly nervous eyes, Beel showed a smile before she spoke "Don''t worry dear, you''ll get to try it for yourself in a bit" "Eh?" "What do you mean ''eh?'' you''re going to be a demon general too" Julie blinked once or twice before she nodded while she showed a happy smile "Thank you, Beel" "What are you thanking me for?" "Eh?" Beel looked straight at Julie and spoke "You are my kin too, so of course I am giving you the same changes as Mike" Julie nodded, even though she didn''t look like it she was greatly moved by Beel''s words, she looked over at Mike and stelled her resolve Mike found himself in a dark space, suddenly a ''doll'' appeared in front of him, it looked like it was made of wood and it wielded a dagger in one hand, it spun the dagger around a few times before it rushed at Mike, Mike scoffed before he drew the knife and kicked off the ground to meet the doll head-on when it interred his range he shed out twice, one sh cut the doll''s dagger-wielding arm off and the other served its head, then the doll disappeared, Mike heaved a sigh before he looked at the 2 dagger wielding dolls that had appeared in front of him, they quickly charged at him with their daggers Mike kicked off the ground and once they entered his range he dodged the first dagger sh and grabbed the outstretched arm before he pulled the doll into the knife, stabbing it where the heart would normally sit before he kicked its side and sent it flying into the other doll, then he disappeared from view and repapered behind the doll that was still flying through the air and used its momentum to stab the knife into the back of its head "That''s 3" Mike looked at the dolls that soon disappeared before another 4 appeared in front of him, they all still wielded daggers, Mike cracked his neck before he kicked off the ground A few hourster Mike had just finished beating down the seeminglyst wave of dolls, there had been 128 of them so he was a little worn out now, thankfully the scenery changed as he seemingly cleared the first trail, what appeared in front of him next was a doll which he had control over and in front of it was a stack of cards, he then he received a mental message and understood that he should make the doll shuffle the cards, once he controlled the doll to shuffle the cards another doll appeared then he received a mental message that he should make doll number 2 shoot a bow at a target, once he did that continuously another doll appeared which he understood he should make juggle 4 balls clockwise, it continued in such a way for quite some time once he made a new doll do something another would appear, this might seem like an easy trail but Mike felt it was harder than the first, after all by the end of the 2nd tril he had 128 dolls doing 128 different tasks, that was equal to him consentrating on doing 128 different things at once, nevertheless it was easy for Mike "What''s next..?" As if responding to Mike''s mutter the scenery changed again, there in front of him was a long narrow path, he received a simple message, to ''follow the path'' Mike nodded and took his first step onto the path, then he frowned his brows and looked down, a sword had appeared and impaled his right thigh, from the pain it felt quite real "No this is real" Mike reached out and pulled out the sword before he used his magic to stop the bleeding, then he took another step, and before he noticed two swords were impaling him, one went through his arm and the other passed through his stomach, Mike sighed before he pulled out the swords and stopped his bleeding, then he took another step...4 swords 8 swords 16 swords... 32 swords 64 swords 128 swords When Mike removed thest of the 128 swords and took the next step he felt the path in front of him clear up, in front of him were 3 demons, the looked a little like Beel "Elders" Mike kneeled down as he spoke the 3 demons walked over to him and wordlessly helped him onto his feet, then they walked around him and looked him over with approving looks on their faces before one of themid its hand onto Mike''s head and ruffled his hair with a smile on its face, then a mental message appeared in his mind [Take care of Beel] Mike nodded, then he spoke resolutely "Yes!" Out in the real space, Mike stood up again, he looked over at Beel and Julie before he spoke "I have gained their approval" Beel showed a gentle smile and nodded before she looked over at Julie and spoke "It''s your turn now Julie" "Yes, Beel" With Mike and Beel watching over her Julie quickly entered the trials, Mike asked Beel that stood beside him "...You were siblings right?" Beel nodded and showed a slightly nostalgic expression on her face "Yes, I am the youngest of four they always looked out for me Did they tell you anything?" "Yeah, to take care of you" Beel shuddered slightly before a single tear appeared in her eye, she quickly rubbed it away before she spoke "Look at me I guess sentiment really doese with old age" Mike grabbed Beel''s hand and pulled her into his embrace and hugged her for a few moments before she patted him on the back and spoke "I am alright now Anymore and Julie will get jealous" Mike showed a smile "Guess that''s true" In the trails Julie swiftly passed the firstbat trial, then the scenery changed and she appeared at the sight of the second trail there she quickly got the hang of it and quickly passed the second trial as well, after all, she was only a little behind Mike in terms of controlling servants, on the third trial she didn''t walk along the path, no once she found out what was happening she showed a smile and muttered "Pain is an old friend" Then she kicked off the ground and quickly sprinted down the path, numerous swords impaled her body by the end, when she realized she had passed the trail she simply and emotionlessly pulled out the swords before she showed a happy smile and muttered "I wonder how close I am to the end now?" She got her answer at once as the 3 demons appeared in front of her, Julie looked at them in a daze for a few seconds before she spoke respectfully as she kneeled down "Elders" The 3 demon elders looked at Julie for a few moments before they helped her on her feet, then they looked her over, and then they seemed toe to a conclusion and nodded approvingly before one of them reached out and stroked Julie''s cheek, Julie closed her eyes and nestled into the hand, then she opened her eyes and the elder had disappeared again, she felt slightly sorrowful until a message appeared in her mind [Take care of Beel, we leave her in you and Mike''s hands] Julie nodded, then she returned to real space where she stood up then she looked over at Mike and Beel before she walked over and hugged Beel tightly and asked "After we beat the snot out of the guardians of the wheel, you have to send a mortal body to Earth and be with us, is that understood?" Beel showed a smile before she nodded, then Julie broke the hug and looked into Beel''s eyes before she spoke "You deserve to enjoy the peace that the 4 of you have fought for so long" Beel''s eyes moistened before she nodded again and spoke "Yes, definitely" Hey y''all it''s zad1333 again, just a heads up, the next chapter (209) will be thest, I''ve decided to do a long-ish chapter to round it up nicely, if I make it by Wednesday(The 2nd) then great, else it will be out Friday(The 4th), I''ll take all the time I need to finish this up nicely Chapter 209: Helia Chapter 209: Helia Mike, Julie, and Beel looked towards the front, there they saw it, the three guardians of the wheel, they had just arrived in this section of space via a portal, Mike saw the screen in front of him and spoke "This is Disappointing" Beel nodded "Yeah, well then, that one is the most annoying to deal with" Mike nodded and spun the knife around a few times before he nodded and spoke "Then we nuke that one first" In front of the group of demons were the 3 guardians of the wheel, only they had not noticed the demon group, they were all focusing on making a portal to the demon controlled nes, that is to say, they had their backs wide open, Mike stopped spinning the knife around and focused on the one Beel said was most annoying to deal with, the true body was that of an old man with long withe beard d in a white robe, Mike kicked off and disappeared from view, the moment he did the true body of the old mand twitched before he hurriedly moved to the side, still the knife was instantly buried in his back piercing his heart, at that moment the other 2 guardians noticed something amiss and reacted by summoning their weapons, the girl summoned her twin shortswords and shed out towards Mike while thest guardian, a true body that looked like a handsome young man summoned a spear and shed out towards Mike, Mike twisted his body and used the old man''s true body as shield against the two attacks before he kicked the true body of the old man aside and disappeared form view, the young man called out "Shit! Ancestor are you alright!?" "I am fine, where is the attacker!?" The girl guardian quickly scanned the surrounding space before she pointed and yelled "Over there! 3 demons!" The ancestor turned and looked over before his face twisted into a nasty look and spoke "William, focus on making the portal, Marie and I will clean up these demons!" The young man nodded and turned his back to the 3 demons again and put his hands on the blur in space again before he closed his eyes once more, then the 2 guardians moved away from the portal towards the group of demons, once the 2 groups stood head to head the ancestor spoke "Demons really are like rats, they multiply so fast Marie, take care of the two hatchlings, I''ll take the old one" "Yes, ancestor!" The one called Marie looked at Mike and Julie with obvious disdain before she brandished her twin shortswords and charged at them, meanwhile, Beel opened her hand and a ck as night bow appeared in her hands, the ancestor took a stance before a long quarterstaff appeared in his hands, then he spoke "I''ve sealed you once, demon! AND I WILL DO SO AGAIN!" Beel scoffed before she disappeared from view, the ancestor quickly spun his quarterstaff around and blocked a couple of arrows before he trusted out with the staff and out shot a few dozen shockwaves that hit Beel''s arrows as well as attempted to hit her, however, none of the ones targeting Beel found their mark, the ancestor showed a nasty smile as he yelled "[Holy descend]!" At once the ancestor sprouted white feathered wings on his back as a golden halo appeared above his head, Beel narrowed her eyes slightly as the speed of the ancestor increased drastically along with his strength, she was effectively put on the defensive at once, meanwhile, once at Mike and Julie''s side, the two of them were benign pushed back by the girl guardian that seemed more like a berserker than an angel at this point as she rapidly swung her twin shortswords at Mike and Julie "WHAT''S WRONG!?" Mike used the knife to defend while Julie used her [Hellsword], the situation seemed despreate for Mike''s side as thest guardian didn''t even need to join the fray and was still focusing on making the portal to the demon controlled nes, the girl guardian showed a nasty smile as she used a skill "[sh]!" She instantly disappeared in a sh of light and reappeared behind Julie and stabbed out towards the back of her head with her twin shortswords. Mike appeared in front of the twin shortswords however and blocked the blow with his body, the twin shortswords passed through his chest and stomach before the girl guardian ruthlessly kicked him aside and she spoke "One down!" Then she rushed at Julie that let out a sorrowful scream as the rage seemed to cloud her actions as she charged at the girl guardian with her [Hellsword], Julie let out a flurry of shes at the girl guardian and managed to push her back further away from the ce where the portal to the demon controlled nes was being opened, meanwhile, the ancestor managed to corner Beel as heughed "AHAHAHAHAHA! DEMON; I''LL SLAY YOU TODAY!" Beel looked battered and was obviously in bad shape, then suddenly she showed a smile and beganughing before she yelled "That''s far enough Julie, Mike do it!" The ancestor''s expression only just managed to change, he suddenly remembered why the ceasefire was made, it was because he and the other male guardian could not take down Beel even if the two of them went all out, he had been blinded by the promise of victory and glorious conquest, just as an expression of regret showed on his face Mike that had been ying dead yelled "[DRINK[!" The ancestors face twisted in anger and regret as his true body withered as it was drained of blood, at the same time Julie exploded with power as her speed doubled and pushed back the girl guardian that yelled in panic "WILLIAM, HELP!" Then Mike attacked her from the other side while Beel rapidly fired arrows at her, within a few seconds the girl guardian was reduced to a sorry state, Mike shed out with the knife aiming at the girl guardian''s neck, she desperately blocked with her shortsword, a loud ng sounded out as the shortsword went flying, coordinated with Mike''s attack came Julie''s [Hellsword] towards the girl guardian''s neck, she tried to block with her remaining shortsword, however, an arrow hit the shortsword and sent it flying out of her hand "NOOO---" Julie''s [Hellsword] went cleanly through the head of the girl guardian, parting it in two at eye level, only now did thest guardian manage to pull his attention away from the portal to the demon controlled nes, he looked towards his two inrades and summoned his spear before he Tired to escape, though he was quickly hunted down by Mike and Julie, Mike shed his legs while Julie hacked into his shoulder and parted his upper body, Mike breathed a deep sigh and muttered "It was never a fair fight, to begin with" Julie summoned a me that burned the 3 mangled corpses into ashes before the two of them turned to Beel that had a happy smile on her face as she muttered "Finally peace" "---Anyway I don''t expect much from Wait a second It''s finally over..?" Mike paused before a look of happiness showed on his face, the new recruits that sat in the chairs below wandered what their new demonic instructor was suddenly so happy about, after a few seconds Mike took out a cellphone from his pocket before he dialed a number, then after a few seconds he spoke into the cell "Hey, old buddy, old pal... Roan Dalton, I need half a ton of blood, guts, and flesh" The fresh recruits of the 26th ss of the demon academy didn''t believe their ears, Mike took the cell down and spoke to them "Something''se up, The start of the academy will be pushed back a week" Then Mike summoned his wings and pped them hard flying into the air Julie paused before she showed a very happy expression on her face as she muttered "It''s finally over" "What''s over mommy?" Julie snapped back and showed a smile as she picked up her 4-year-old daughter Helia into her embrace and gave her a kiss between her budding horns, Helia was a little tall for her age and had vermilion red skin like her mother, she was Mike and Julie''s only child, she was a bright child that listened to her parents, though she was little sheltered as the only thing Julie loved more than Mike was her, that and they were still living deep within the Rocky mountain natural pack, the only other children she had met was the granddaughter of the former president Roan who was named Lily they yed well with a couple of times a month, Julie quickly dressed Helia some thick clothes outdoor clothes "Where are we going, mommy?" Julie showed a smile and kissed Helia on the forehead before she spoke "We''re going to see daddy and grandma" "Grandma..?" "Yeah your grandma Beel" Helia had heard about her grandmother Beel many times so she lit up when Julie confirmed it, though she quickly looked down again, Julie knew what she was thinking but still asked her all the same "What''s wrong, baby?" "Will Grandma Beel really like me?" Julie showed a warm smile and hugged Helia close "Of course she will don''t worry about that, your such a sweet child Helia Now let''s be off" Julie stepped out of the cabin and summoned her wings before she flew off towards the edge of the natural pack Mike arrived at a ughterhouse in a city not far from the natural pack there he found Roan standing at the entrance, Roan had aged a bit over the 26 years Mike had been an instructor at the demon academy, but thanks to Mike''s help he was still healthy, the two of them had forged a great friendship so when Mike said he needed the half a ton blood, flesh, and bone Roan had brought up a ughterhouse close to the natural pack and rushed over to speak with Mike in person "Hey Roan" "Good day Mike" The two of them shook hands before Mike gestured for them to walk into the ughterhouse as then after Mike had pilled the ''bio-material'' into onerge room Roan finally asked "So What''s all this about?" "You remember the day we met right?" Roan nodded "Of course" "Mike drew some runes on the floor with blood before he spoke a little awkwardly "You remember how I said that I was sacrificed to a demon god right?" "Yeah..? Don''t tell me" "Yep, you''re going to meet that demon god in a bit, well technically I am a demon god too but" Roan looked as if he had suddenly gotten a headache and muttered "Alexander is not going to be happy about this" "Well he''lle around" The Alexander they spoke so casually about was the current president of the united states, soon Mike finished drawing thest of the runes then he opened his hand and the knife appeared before he made a small cut on his finger and a drop of blood flew out andnded on the ''bio-material'', then he spoke "I summon you my kin, I summon you Beel to this mortal ne!" The runes began shining in red light, then it happened, the ''bio-material'' began squirming before it gathered together as it let out steam, Roan covered his nose as he looked on while Mike wore a calm smile on his face as the steam covered the entire room, soon the steam was suddenly drawn into the center of the room where a figure appeared, d in a ck-as-night dress, with two goat-like feet and goat horns on her forehead, Beel and truly descend on Earth, Mike walked over and greeted her with a hug as he spoke "Wee Beel" Beel showed a smile and hugged Mike tight for a bit before she looked over at Roan and asked "Who is this, Mike?" "This is my friend, Roan" Roan seemed to wake from his daze and bowed as he spoke "It''s an honor to meet you, Lady Beel" Beel showed a smile and nodded as she spoke "Since you are a friend of Mike you can just call me Beel" "Yes, then let me be the second to wee you to Earth, Beel" "Thank you, Roan" Mike, Beel, and Roan walked out of the ughterhouse, and just as Mike was about to speak up he heard a yell from above "Daddy!" Mike instantly went into overdrive as he summoned his wings and flew into the air and caught Helia that came falling from above and quickly scolded her "How many times have I told you not to jump from your mom''s arms while she flying?" "Sorry daddy~" "You don''t sound very sorry youngdy, this calls for a tickle round~" "Kya~~~!" Soon Julie descend from the sky, once she saw Beel she ran over and hugged her tight as tears appeared in the corner of her eyes she spoke "Beel Wee to Earth" "Thank you Julie dear" Mike finished tickling Helia before he turned to Beel and pointed at her and spoke "That''s your grandma, Beel" Helia looked over at Beel and after a bit, she shyly called out "Grandma Beel" Beel showed a smile and walked over before she patted Helia on the head and spoke "What a cute child you are, what''s your name sweetie?" Helia''s face lit up before she responded "My name is Helia! I am 4 years old" "My~ you sure are a smart girl" Beel held out her arms and Helia deftly climbed over in her embrace as she began telling Beel about her favorite food and such, as they were talking a helicopter came flying andnded about 20 meters away from the group, a couple of men in ck suits stepped out and began to unload some equipment, one of them walked over and greeted the former president and Mike "President Roan, Instructor Mike" Mike showed a smile and greeted him back "Hey John, how''s life treating you?" "Life ain''t so bad, I work for the pentagon now" "I see Guessing you''re here about the new mana signature" "Yep that I am" John was a former student of Mike''s demon academy, he looked over at Beel and spoke "I''ll go ahead and assume that''s the new signature" Mike nodded before he spoke "A word of advice, treat her with the same amount of respect you treat me, I might be a demon, but that''s a demon god right there" John nodded before he patted Mike on the shoulder and asked "Could you get her to visit a mana registration ce?" "Now?" "Yeah, or as soon as possible" "Don''t you have a mobile kit with you?" John shook his head before he spoke "Even I with my limited talent can see that she''s a monster No way the mobile kit can measure her mana potential" Mikeughed before he nodded and spoke in a slightly teasing manner "What makes you think that the non-mobile kits can measure her mana potential?" "A-A-Ahahah Seriously..?" "Yeah, I said it before, that''s a true demon god right there, well her mortal body at least" After a bit, Mike finished talking with John and the group that arrived via helicopter left again, then Mike walked over and spoke to Beel "Beel, do you mind if we changed position?" "Hmm..? I don''t mind, did that man that arrived in that metal beast need something of me?" "Yeah, you can see my memories right?" "Sure, should we move to that ce now?" "Yeah it''s best if we get going soon" "Okay Mike, then let''s go" Beel moved Helia to her left hand while she stretched out her right hand and opened a portal in front of her "Wow~ Grandma Beel what''s that?" "It''s a magic spell dear, now let''s go" Beel walked through the portal, Julie quickly followed after her, then Mike gestured to Roan "After you mister president" Roan took a deep breath before he walked into the portal, then Mike followed after him On the other side of the portal was a Parking lot, next to a rather new building, this was the closest mana signature measurement center to the Rocky mountain natural pack, that siad it was still half a day''s drive away, Roan looked a little astonished when he thought about this, but having been the president of the united states his nerves was that of pure steel so he quickly sighed before he followed after the four demons that were already making their way towards the building, soon they passed to lobby, thanks to Roan''s authority, and Beel was lead into a room where he mana signature would be measured and logged so she could be tracked by satellite, Mike, Julie, Helia and Roan waited outside and soon the process was over, then Beel was lead to another room where her mana potential would be measured "---So when are you bringing Lily and her parents by again, Roan?" "I want to y with Lily soon~" Roan showed a smile and just as he was about to answer the power in the building went, he remained calm and soon power was restored, this process repeated itself a few times where the power would go out for a few moments before it was restored, then after about half an hour Beel came walking down the hallway, she looked pleased with herself, like a child that had found a new toy, she spoke to Mike "Mike you didn''t tell me your world had such fascinating things! I will study the so-called ''science'' of this world" Mike showed a calm smile and asked "How did the measuring go?" Beel tilted her head slightly before she spoke, sounding a little uncertain "Erm they said that it was not measurable after the 6th instrument was what was the word again Overloaded?" Mike nodded before he spoke "Well then we''re done here, let''s head home" Sometimeter the 3 demon gods mortal bodies appeared on a prime world, they had moved the mortal bodies from the prime world where they had freed Beel''s mortal body, right out of the portal they were met with the demon general candidates that were kneeling down in front of them, Mike looked over them and spoke "You all have done well in enduring As you were informed thest battle was an astounding victory, the wheel of reincarnation is now slowly being dyed in our color and in a few million years this entire ne of existence will be truly ours" The demon candidates let out energetic roars, Mike stood, hand in hand with Julie and after a bit he nodded, Julie squeezed his hand and asked "So What do you want to do now Mike?" Mike looked into Julie''s eyes for a bit before he began telling her his n for the future... -The End- Zad1333 here... well, well, well So it ends, yes I know Thest part of the ending may seem a little rushed, guess I am still bad at making endings, there are a few things I want to say before I let it truly end Firstly thank you all very much for sticking by the story until the end, there''s a lot of things I would change if I were to rewrite this story, mostly about how Mike and Julie got together... Yes I''ve read all those ''This is so forced''ments and I mostly agree with them Another thing I want to mention is how the story seemed to mellow out during its duration, that''s because I, as a person, have mellowed out a whole lot When I started this story I was filled with anger which this story became the outlet for, I am now in a much better ce and I have certainly learned a lot from writing this story both as a writer but also as a person and that''s mostly thanks to you guys, leavingments or supporting me with power stones, or just simply by reading the story... seeing the reading statistics go up over the curse of the story have filled me with a lot of happiness, so truly thank you all from the bottom of my heart Well, that''s the heavy stuff out of the way, now for the future, I guess I should start off with telling you all that I will be posting a ''About Volume 2'' in the auxiliary chapters of Reincarnation fo a living god on the 5th of June 2021 that will detail the release of the 2nd volume of that story... so look forwards to that as that will be my main project for the foreseeable future That''s all, once again thank you all very much for reading and I hope to see you all in the 2nd volume of reincarnation of a living god! Chapter 210: Afterstory 1 - Helias frist day of college Chapter 210: Afterstory 1 - Helia''s frist day of college ''It''s okay I can do it Just focus on breathing, it''ll be alright What was it mom always said? No, I shouldn''t use her advice here, that''ll only end badly What would dad do No that''s also a bad idea, gosh why do I have such weird parentsWell maybe because they''re literal demons Well, I am too...'' Helia currently found herself in an auditorium packed with other new students, that''s right she had managed to talk over her overprotective dad to send her off to college, specifically X college, this had taken a lot of pleading but finally, she was there, and was it just as exciting as Lily had said, if not a little intimidating ''I''ve never been around so many people before'' Helia did her best to make herself small which looked a little funny, after all, she stood 1.80 meters tall or 5 foot 10 inches, though she was a little shorter now that her horns had been camouged by an optical illusion spell, the kind one used in state of the art military stealth equipment, the same with her vermilion skin that now appeared as fair though a little pale, for her vermilion pupils simple colored contact lenses and her 1 and a half meter long tail? That she had wrapped around her stomach, her long vermilion hair was like a beacon to unwanted attention ''Now I wish I had dyed my hair'' She wore a pair of navy blue jeans and an army green ''USDC'' T-Shirt by the request of her father ''Not that anyone is going to know that it stands for ''United States Demon Core'' anyway'' As the speech went on and on Helia''s mind started to drift like many of the other new students in the auditorium and she started to look around, she was searching for Lily her only childhood friend but failed to find her in the crowd, then she remembered that Lily was a 2nd-year student and likely wouldn''t be present for the weing of the new students and felt a little silly which made her shrink even more in her seat as she rubbed her knees against each other the person next to her suddenly whispered to her "Nervous?" Helia looked to her side a girl around 1 meter and 60 centimeters or 5 foot 2 with curly brown hair and sses that wore a purple skirt and a ''Star wars'' T-shirt, Helia remembered her mother''s advice not to speak with strangers, still, she nodded her head a little, the girl showed a friendly smile and spoke to reassure Helia "I''m nervous too See?" Then she held out her hand which was faintly shaking, though Helia didn''t take note of that rather her nails were painted purple with yellow stars on them, Helia reached out and before she noticed she was grasping the other girl''s hand as she muttered "Pretty" The other girl was a little shocked by Helia''s actions, before she could say anything Helia let go of her hand and quickly apologized "Sorry" The girl showed a smile when she saw Helia got even more nervous and showed a smile and after hesitating for a bit she asked "I can show you howter If you want to of course" Helia''s excitement rose, though she quickly noticed that she had gathered even more attention to herself and whispered back "Sure!" With a little more volume than she expected causing her to lower her head even further, still, a shy smile spread on her face After all the speeches were done did Helia walk out of the auditorium along with the girl she sat next to, the girl spoke up with a slight blush on her face "Umm My name is Penny, Penny Li, what''s your name?" "Helia, Helia Jacobsen" "Then Helia Do you want to walk around and see the different clubs?" "Sure!" Finding Lily gradually slipped Helia''s mind as she walked around with Penny, their interactions were a little awkward at first, but by the time they reached the martial arts show they were chatting nicely, Helia looked at the Martial arts showing disinterest, this caused Penny to ask her "Aren''t you interested in martial arts Helia? I mean from how sporty you look I figured you did some sort of martial art?" Helia was indeed very sporty built, in fact, she looked more like an Olympic fighter than a college freshwoman, she showed a slight smile as she looked at the demonstration and spoke "That''s not martial arts, that''s more like kids ying around in the kiddy pool and calling it the deep end, let''s go, Penny" Penny nodded and just as they turned around someone yelled "Hey, you! I heard that! Care to repeat it!?" The crowd parted and revealed Helia and Penny, Helia sighed, in an instant, her demeanor had changed from the quite tall girl making herself small to something more Sinister ''Grandma always said that the best tactic against the mortals is showing the difference in power and watching them squirm'' Helia sighed before she spoke "I said that your martial arts demonstration is trash, what about it?" The handsome youth in the martial arts uniform showed a scroll before he was pulled back by another youth with sses that showed a superior look and spoke sarcastically "Then would you mind showing us how it''s done?" Penny didn''t take well to the unwanted attention and sneers all around and quietly pulled Helia''s hand as she whispered "Let''s just go Helia" Contrary to anyone''s expectations Helia simply nodded and spoke confidently "Sure" Then she looked at the ufortable looking Penny and after a bit, she remembered what her dad always did to help her calm down and so she raised her hand and put it on top of Penny''s head before she ruffled her hair as she spoke "Don''t worry, I''ll be right back" Penny looked at Helia''s confident expression and after a bit, she nodded and spoke "...Okay, go kick some ass" "Sure!" Helia passed through the crowd and stepped onto the elevated tform, it was only then that the guys that had sneered at her saw how tall she was, Helia stood face to face with the guy with sses and asked with her dad''s signature slight smile on her face "How should I enlighten you?" The guy''s eyelid twitched slightly before he spoke loudly to bolster his own confidence "Let''s go with something easy, plyboard breaking" He nodded to another two in martial arts uniform and they walked out with a plywood board then he spoke rather arrogantly "If you can punch through this I''ll consider you my opponent!" Helia nodded before she gestured for them to put it up, then she took a casual stance before she punched out with amazing speed, a bang was heard before her fist passed through the plywood board with ease, then she slowly pulled it out again and cracked her knuckles before she asked "So now that I am your opponent, what are wepeting in?" The guy with sses realized that he had kicked a steel te and quickly tried to back out "N-Now N-No need to get violent, let''s just say we''re equal, r-right?" Helia tilted her head slightly before she asked in a low voice "Equal..? With this piece of trash?" At that moment the crowd fell silent as the first guy in martial arts uniform snapped and yelled out "This bitch!" As the words flowed out of his mouth something flowed right next to his head at amazing speed, it was Helia''s leg that she had raised in a kick, nobody saw how she moved through the fact was that she had just sent out a kick instantly, her form was perfect and the part of her shoe that nced the guys face had left a long cut on his face, Helia''s eyes were cold as she lowered her leg in silence before she asked "What did you say?" "N-N-N-Nothing!" At this moment a group of people stepped into the gymnasium, they were the student council, the elite of the elite, one of them eximed once she saw the person on the tform "Helia!" Helia turned her head and saw a girl standing 1 meter and 74 centimeters, her hair was long and near golden blonde and she had bright blue eyes that were sparkling when she saw Helia, Helia eximed at once when she saw her as her eyes lit up "Lily!" Then she leaped from the stage andnded several meters away before she bolted over and was about to embrace Lily when 3 people from the student council blocked the way, or they attempted to as Helia weaved in between then before she embraced the waiting Lily that already had spread her arms wide, taking a blow that would normally blow away a college football yer (though only due to her mana strengthening) as she hugged Helia, the two of them rubbed their cheeks together in happiness for a bit under the gazes of the stunned crowd before Helia began speaking rather fast "Lily! You''ll never believe these people they dare im that their ying around was martial arts so I roughed them up a little, I also made a new friend, her name is Penny she smells nice and is nice and also---" Lily''s smile gradually got more strained before she interrupted "Hold up just a moment Helia, slow down, you said you made a friend?" "Yeah, her name is Penny and she just over here" Helia was about to drag off Lily when another member of the student council stopped her "Hold it right there! Who are you and do you even know who this is!?" Lily showed a slightly frosty look and spoke "It''s fine Jesica, I''ve known Helia since I was a child" "B---" "No, and, if''s or buts! Move aside please, also clear my schedule for the rest of the day, I need to catch up with Helia" "...Understood" "Very good" Then Lily and Helia went to find Penny and quickly found her as the crowd made way for the two of them, Penny looked slightly stunned before she quickly introduced herself "My name is Penny Li" Lily showed a smile and nodded before she spoke "You probably already know me, feel free to call me Lily" "S-S-Sure" "Then let''s be off, I''ll show you guys around the entire campus!" As Lily dragged along Helia and Penny, Penny asked Helia "Helia, you actually know Lily, you know who her grandfather is right?" Helia tilted her head slightly and nodded as she spoke "Yeah, He and my dad go way back" "Wait, what?" Helia showed an enchanting smile as she spoke "I''ll tell you all about itter~" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!