《The Power of Systems》 Prologue CLANG! A sword made of a pitch black substance collided with another sword made of gold. Two men were fighting their final battle in a dark, empty castle. One was wearing expensive robes, decorated with gems and the other was wearing a plain, black trench coat. The sparks from their exchanges flew everywhere and the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded throughout the castle. The fight it seemed even at first, but then one man slowly started getting pushed back, more and more as time passed. Small cuts started appearing, and then larger and larger wounds started being inflicted on the man in the expensive robes. ¡°S-stop! I command you as Prince of this country! I order you to stop this assault or I¡¯ll have you chained up again!¡± yelled the Prince who was getting overwhelmed by the black sword. ¡°That won¡¯t happen, because you will die today.¡± The man wearing black finally landed a fatal strike and cut off one of the Prince¡¯s legs. It seems like the battle was finally over. GAH!!! The Prince fell down backwards, having lost a leg and started squirming away as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, the man that had landed this strike pointed his pitch black sword at the bleeding Prince¡¯s heart, while he stepped on his foot to make sure he couldn¡¯t escape.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°This only happened because of the Princess. If she hadn¡¯t dragged me here and tortured me for who knows how long. I wouldn¡¯t be getting my revenge like this,¡± whispered the man in all black. ¡°Luckily, I got rid of her early on.¡± A horrified expression appeared on the once dignified face of the Prince. ¡°How did you get so strong anyways! We had you locked up, so how did you gain such tremendous power!¡± yelled the man while he suffered in agony. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter now. You¡¯re about to die after all.¡± ¡°NOO¡ª¡± The sword made of darkness cut through the air and pierced through the Prince¡¯s heart. He finally lay limp and unmoving on the ground. Strangely,as if killing was an everyday occurrence, the winner of this decisive battle didn¡¯t even pay any mind to the action he had just performed. ¡°I was just testing out this sword, but it¡¯s pretty incredible. Still, I prefer my other skills over this swordsmanship one,¡± said the man in an indifferent tone. All of sudden, the black sword disappeared and was seemingly absorbed into the man¡¯s body. Right after his sword disappeared, yells could be heard in the hallways leading to this room, the guards were coming to investigate the commotion. ¡°Well, now that I have finally conquered the Northern Kingdom. Where should I go next?¡± A few moments later, the guards finally stepped foot in the room, but all they saw was a dead man on the floor. The man in black had vanished into thin air, never to be seen again. Not a single trace of the man known as Ryan will ever be found in the Northern Kingdom ever again. Chapter 1 - I’m Dead? Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, I died¡ªkinda. The moment my consciousness flew away from me, this white room just appeared out of nowhere. It was like I was being reincarnated or transmigrated through the power of some god! It was amazing knowing that I would be able to live again, but then again, dying is not pleasant. What happened was kind of fuzzy, but I do remember being bestowed a gift or something. A hand¡ª I¡¯m guessing it was a god¡¯s hand, touched my forehead and then a tingling sensation resonated throughout my entire body. I think he did something to me, but I¡¯m not sure what. And next...that led to me being stuck in a predicament. I was in an unknown land, not a single human, building¡­ anything from Earth was within 100 miles. I had guessed I was reincarnated in a new world, who wouldn¡¯t? If you¡¯ve ever read light novels, or manga and anime, you¡¯d be lying if you never thought about reincarnating into another world with special powers and acting as the protagonist. I awoke here after my consciousness faded away once again, and I had a rude comment to make on what occured after. It had certainly not been a good experience regaining consciousness and opening my eyes. It was a horrible one in fact. A bunch of bugs crawled over me as if I was a dead tree, and worst of all¡ªa weird creature was sitting on top of me! My body is still shuddering from the disgusting feeling from back then. When I had looked at it, it had rough, green skin, and a¡­ very ugly face. It was very hard to maintain eye contact. I had automatically pinned the term ¡®Goblin¡¯ onto this creature. It resembled one greatly, I wouldn''t have thought it was that weird at all anyways! It¡¯s a different world after all. To continue from where I left off, this goblin was sitting on top of me with a club in hand and it hadn¡¯t noticed me yet. If I had moved slightly, it would have noticed so I stayed still for as long as I could. BUT, there was this itch, like a really itchy itch on my back. I had felt as if I¡¯d go crazy if I didn¡¯t scratch it, so hoping that the goblin wouldn¡¯t notice, I moved my hand towards my back. That was the worst decision I could have made back there. The goblin, as if instructed to do so, started beating me up with it¡¯s club until I was bleeding from some areas on my body that I had not thought possible before. And that¡¯s how I died again to a petty goblin. I didn¡¯t have time to scream, complain, none of that. Nada. Not a single second for an inner monologue about how unfair this world was. I¡¯m pretty well built. I got a few muscles here and there, I stand at 5¡¯11¡± and I got a pretty decent face as well! But that goes to show that this world is messed up. In all those stories that I had read when I was a teen that included fantasy type stuff, goblins were the definition of weak. Even a kid could kill one if given a giant, metal stick. My death to the petty goblin was just unlucky. Nothing more, nothing less. So then, I expected to be born in another world anew, but that didn¡¯t happen. I¡¯m still stuck in this damn world! The only, even a tiny bit of interesting events that had transpired was that I had received a notification, saying that I ¡®stole¡¯ a skill from the being that killed me. It looked a little like this, [Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.] I was pretty confused when I saw this. What skill, what target? And a requirement of death? What kind of BS is that? [Skill: has been acquired.] What the heck is slash? How do I use it? And, aren¡¯t I supposed to regain my body about now? (I had been still in the process of reincarnating) Those were a lot of the questions that were in my head. As if the heavens listened to my wish, my body had been returned to me and I was back where I started. Lying under the goblin, while it watched over me. That is my present situation, and I have to say¡ªit¡¯s not a very good one. Stuck with that goblin¡¯s dirty butt sitting on me? No way. Never. What am I supposed to do? If I just sit and wait, I don¡¯t think the goblin¡¯s going to attack, but that wouldn¡¯t accomplish anything for me either. Another option would be to test out that skill I acquired, but what if it only leaves a scratch on the monster? Then I¡¯d totally be screwed. That¡¯s when my mind started working overtime thinking of a solution.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Uhhh, there¡¯s really no other options. I could try to die again to acquire another skill from the target, but who likes dying? Guess I have no choice except to try out slash, but how would I even activate it? If it¡¯s like those anime and mangas I¡¯ve read, it goes along the lines of¡­ ¡°Slash!¡± I shouted out at the top of my lungs as I swung my arm in a chopping motion towards the general direction of the goblin. Unexpectedly, the skill activated and I got to see firsthand¡ªthe results. My arm movement had been a poor attempt at imitating a sword¡¯s attack, but a beam of energy came from my fingertips and aimed straight for the goblin. I had moved a lot from activating , so the goblin was already aware of my presence. BUT! It didn¡¯t have time to evade my sharp, blade of colourless energy so it ended up receiving a strike in the neck. I thought the energy I formed would stop there, but it did not slow down one but! It cleanly sliced the monster''s head right off it¡¯s body, leaving the head to tumble onto the muddy, dirty ground. I didn¡¯t know a skill could kill someone in one hit! It certainly hadn¡¯t been possible back on Earth. Then, as if it intended to disrupt my happiness, another notification caught my attention. [5 MP used. 5 Remaining.] MP? This world sure knows it''s gaming terms...but if it¡¯s similar to Earth, that means I just used up 50% of my energy on a offensive skill. It¡¯s pretty fascinating how I can kill people by only exerting effort! I leaped in joy at this turn of events, but then ANOTHER notification appeared in front of my face. DING! [Level UP!: Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2 | MP storage has been increased by 5.] I think this means I level up by killing monsters, and each level up increases the amount of MP I have. Guess I have more energy to kill monsters with now. This is really confusing, but if I reference this with the otaku side of me, it¡¯s actually pretty straightforward. The time it takes for the MP to fill back up is a cause for concern though. I decide to just time myself. The important question is, will I have to stick to this one skill forever? And wouldn¡¯t it be pretty weak if I fought against stronger monsters? What do I do about that? I was directing all of these questions at thin air like a crazy man. What else was I supposed to do? It¡¯s not like there was a person to talk to anywhere close by, and it sure wasn¡¯t a physical being that sent these notifications to me. I¡¯m pretty sure at least...I¡¯m 75% sure. I don¡¯t know if it was the 75% chance or something else that spurred it into action, but I received an answer soon enough. [All skills will increase power wise according to the power level of the user.] Ah, so the damage that does now, compared to later on, will be different. Only it¡¯ll seem the same to me because I would¡¯ve powered up. It was a little confusing, but an example always helps with explaining things! So for example, let¡¯s say my power level is 50 and does 10 damage. Once my power level rises to 100, slash would do 20 damage. It still does around 20% damage! All those classmates in middle school that said I couldn¡¯t explain things¡ªI just explained something perfectly, so I feel pretty proud of myself. That reminds me, ever since reading that once light novel, I¡¯ve always wanted to try something that wasn¡¯t possible on Earth. Shall I try to take over the world with this power? Even just one kingdom will be enough for me. Guess I found my first goal in this world! But before that, I need to be strong enough so I¡¯ll need to increase my battle strength first. Dying might be the only way to easily gain skills, but I¡¯ll try to find other ways as well. Well then, I should get going to search for civilization. What kind of game world would this be if they didn¡¯t have kingdoms filled with adventurers, commoners, and even nobility and royalty? I can¡¯t wait to find out! I skipped joyfully in a random direction, because I didn¡¯t know where I was and there weren¡¯t any clues either. There¡¯s a great saying that said ¡°If you can¡¯t find a way, don¡¯t!¡± (I made it up though. XD) It¡¯s best to go in a random direction and not waste one¡¯s precious mental health on the hard-to-make decision of choosing a direction. As I skipped along though, one of my feet stepped onto thin air. AHHHHH! I screamed as I fell down a trap hole that was intended for catching wild animals for food. How did I know you might ask. The answer is¡­ there¡¯s always delicious food at the bottom! If there¡¯s food at the bottom, its a booby trap which isn¡¯t a bad thing. As I lay on the moist, dirt ground at the bottom of the deep hole, I ate lots of delicious fruits! My hunger had been totally sated¡ª Or not. Growl! My stomach just spoke.... Moving on, this could be what you called a sticky situation. And that would be because of the fruit juices splattered all over my hands and legs when I had landed on them. Also, I just gathered a vital piece of information. A trap set for animals means that they¡¯re humans nearby. Who else could have thought about digging holes to catch food other than humans? Other intelligent lifeforms? That¡¯s not possible because they¡¯re too smart to actually agree on digging holes to hunt for food. The thing is that I could be waiting for a long time down here, and I could catch a cold or something. I AM only wearing a t-shirt and shorts right now. Night is going to arrive soon, so I gotta get out of this hole quick. Wait, how was I supposed to get out of here? There aren¡¯t any footholds, ladders, or tall objects to climb. Oh wait, I¡¯m dumb. This is a trap meant to catch animals, so there¡¯s probably no way for the trapped animal to get out and escape. That only leaves me one option... Shouting for help. Chapter 2 - He Thinks Im a Monster It was a long time before someone found me, so I¡¯ll just skip to when it happens. A man with a shovel appeared at the top of the hole. He was bald, and looked like a villager along with average brown cloth clothes that were stained with dirt. It also seemed like my personality had changed a bit. I used to be kindhearted and cheery, but now everything feels different. Even my thought processes. I have a good feeling that¡¯s it because of the ¡®death¡¯ that I experienced earlier. My attitude did a quick 180, so that makes me wonder if even dying has consequences such as your emotions being dulled or entirely stripped away. ¡°Hey! Do you mind lending a helping hand?¡± I shouted upwards, putting thoughts of technicalities to the side. ¡°Uh, no can do. You could be a monster disguised as a human,¡± replied the bald man. ¡°I¡¯m a regular human just like you though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what a monster would say.¡± This villager didn¡¯t believe that I was human. Assuming that someone is a monster is pretty rude to say straight to their face because last time I checked, I wasn¡¯t a monster. Since this guy didn¡¯t think I had the right to get out of that hole, I could only try to convince him. And so I tried¡­ ¡°Plea-¡° ¡°No way.¡± ¡­ and failed. ¡°This is harder than I thought,¡± is what I thought as I paced the ground calmly. It wasn¡¯t that I was angry, it was just a bit time consuming that he didn¡¯t think I was a human. Why would I be angry at him? If I was in that villagers shoes looking down at an unknown being, I wouldn¡¯t want to listen to it either. It¡¯s be much more convenient to leave it down there for someone else to worry about. Before I could ask the villager up there why he wouldn¡¯t believe me, he explained himself. ¡°Ok, you could could be a human,¡± ¡°Go on.¡° ¡°BUT! What kind of human would fall into this obvious trap? A monster or animal I¡¯d understand, but a intelligent human? That¡¯s literally impossible.¡± ¡°Humans make mistakes all the time,¡± I said matter of factly. ¡°Or, you¡¯re a dumb monster that doesn¡¯t know what a human made trap looks like,¡± said the bald man as he leaned over the hole a bit more. ¡°Leave me be then, I¡¯ll get out myself.¡± I decided that I would escape this place by climbing out myself, but my hopes were dashed right away. The man moved away, because I thought he was done speaking, but that was off the mark. Dirt started dropping down from the sky like rain, and I got hit by a few rocks mixed in with dirt as well. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re going to bury me to get rid of the evidence?¡± I said out loud, becoming a little more fascinated. I didn¡¯t receive a response, but I interpreted it as a silent yes. Dirt continued raining down from the top slowly but surely. What am I supposed to do in this situation? Should I attempt to climb up, or try to persuade the villager? Soon enough though, my decision was made for me and it was not one of the choices I had in mind. A huge amount of dirt about the size of a small car came down at once, and crushed me against the ground. I was trapped, none of my body parts could move an inch. Eventually though, that man must¡¯ve finished filling the hole up with the dirt that had been dug out before, and I was left under all of it. To try to escape. To suffocate. And finally, to die. That¡¯s how I died in this world for the second time today, and it really is an unpleasant feeling. [Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.] I wonder what kind of skill I¡¯ll get this time? Another DING, and my question was answered. [Skill: has been acquired.] Seriously? Dig? What am I going to do with this? Dig holes like those villagers? It could help with getting out of the hole, I¡¯ll give it credit for that. But once I get out, there¡¯s literally no use for this skill. How is this going to help me take over a kingdom? I knew I would be stuck under that dirt upon my revival, so that¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t as disappointed by this seemingly useless skill but it still was pretty sad disappointing.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. I¡¯m wondering myself why this absurd power allowing me to reincarnate isn¡¯t freaking me out. I have a good idea why. It almost certainly stems from my knowledge of isekai novels and manga that I loved reading since my teen days. Disregarding the part where it¡¯s weird how I¡¯m so calm, my body was in the process of being rebuilt under that dirt pile. Once I could feel myself suffocating again, I immediately activated but I was met with a dilemma. I couldn¡¯t speak because my mouth was filled with dirt, so what should I do? The only thought that came to my mind was thoughtless chanting. Common to isekai novels, the protagonist is usually OP and could almost always cast spells without chanting. I assume that it¡¯s the same case for skills in this world, so I decided to give it a try. ¡°!¡± I thought. My expectations were met when the dirt in front of my face started clearing away, and the space around mes slowly started clearing up. After a few seconds, I could eventually stand upright and then after that, the way leading to above ground was cleared. I ended up emerging near the opening of the hole with dirt in my hair and pockets of my clothes. I still didn¡¯t understand exactly what the skill did, but I think it was along the lines of an invisible force pushing the dirt away in front of me. Without me having to move my hands. Another physics defying skill. I wonder what I could do with this on Earth. Hmm. My unrelated thoughts aside, I was still stuck in this area with nowhere to go. If I had to think carefully¡­ The footsteps of the man from earlier were still fresh in the sticky mud. He had looked like a villager, so there must be a village or small town nearby where he should reside in. Having made a decision to retrace his steps, I started walking by following the footprints left behind. Muck, MUCK, MUCK!!! The sound of my feet sticking to the mud was annoying, but bearable so I continued on. At this point, it started raining which was both good and bad. Good because all the mud clinging on me would be washed off, but bad because the rain is cold and I was on the verge of catching a cold. I trudged on, but it was seriously cold here. This might be the northern part of this world. I can deduce that from the fact that the villager was wearing clothes similar to those that people would wear in the fall and winter months of the year. It must be to deal with this cold and harsh climate. Also, the subtle change within me was more noticeable now. The several deductions and my awareness of details has greatly improved. The fact that I was basically immortal now went in one ear out another, but that was the main cause for this huge personality shift. I may eventually become an emotionless shell of a human one day, and that isn¡¯t good. Something interrupted me mid thoughts. A giant sign similar to the ones on Earth situated right before you entered a new area. They usually wrote ¡°Welcome to (Insert city)¡± on these wooden signs. So I wasn¡¯t shocked at all. I probably wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if this world had people of higher and lower status, and an adventurer¡¯s guild. All common to isekai novels. ¡°Welcome to Sheldor. The town of the north.¡± My hypothesis was correct, this is indeed North, it seems like I¡¯ve arrived at Sheldor. It may not happen, but it will be bothersome if I run into that bald villager that buried me alive. Following the path to the town, I passed by more and more stone houses the farther I walked. Once, I even saw a bonfire going on somewhere. This town seems like it¡¯s isolated from the rest of the world, considering almost no one likes living in cold places, leaving me to think that it¡¯s a close estimation. Another few minutes went by just walking¡ª not a single person noticed me. Until I reached what looked like the town square of Sheldor. The town square only consisted of a fire pit in the middle of a huge circular space made of stone. There were a few stores that surrounded this area, making me think that this is the commercial grounds. The houses were more situated towards the outskirts of this small town, because I had stopped seeing them beyond a certain point on my walk. As I loitered around, I had time to think more about my significance in this world. Right now, I had no significance. A regular citizen that wasn¡¯t recognized or someone that hadn¡¯t accomplished any respectable feats. What¡¯s my goal in this new life of mine? Become famous throughout the land? Become a king or the strongest in the world? None of those interested me, but an idea finally came to me. In most of the light novels I¡¯ve read, there¡¯s almost always a organization moving behind the scenes. Whether it was on the side of good or evil. They controlled how everything worked and were at the peak power wise. These people working in the shadows only acted when they desired to do so, not caring at all about the results of their actions. They had the strength to protect themselves so why care about others? That¡¯s a perfect goal for me. With this system, is what I decided to call the notification giver, makes me immortal. In addition to immortality, I have the potential to become overpowered through the acquirement of skills. This is perfectly suited for me, it''s like it was determined by fate. Instead of trying to rule the world with this power, how about I try to live a normal life? If someone bothers me, I¡¯ll just get rid of them cause I have the power to do so. No one would know anyways, because I¡¯ve hidden my powers. I¡¯ll live however I want and anyone who opposes me, I can deal with because I would have the power to do so! A smile started creeping onto my face, but then something I wasn¡¯t expecting hit me in the side of a head. I fell down and my consciousness started slipping as blood pooled around my fallen body. The last thing I saw was a hoe dripping in blood being carried by a bald man¡­ how unfortunate that the skill I¡¯m about to receive was from that guy. [Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.] [Skill: has been acquired.] [ 3/3 requirement has been met. Commencing Upgrade of the System¡­] Chapter 3 - System Upgrade And so I died for the third time (not including death on Earth). I floated in the unknown space I had been in two times before, waiting to be transferred back to my body. It usually took some time before my body was finished being healed, and was prepared to take my consciousness back. I took this time to try to notice if my emotions had dwindled further, and it seems like they had. It was a tiny fraction of the change that had occurred upon my first death, but still a change nonetheless. A sense of loss flowed through me yet it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, which was to be expected. This change in personality was the one thing that I needed to confirm, and now that that was over¡ªI had nothing to do except wait. And so I waited¡­ ...for what I thought as 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then an hour. Yet nothing developed. No resurrection, no village, no nothing. Just that dark, quiet, empty space of nothingness. I tried to yell out, but my voice was gone. Only my mind remained¡­ thinking about how to return to my body. The time I was spending in here seemed endless, until I was finally relieved at some point. My surroundings were filled with light and then, I could suddenly feel my body again as the cool air brushed against my bare skin. The town square filled my surroundings and I heard a familiar DING!, but my attention shifted immediately once I felt a sharp gaze aimed towards the back of my head. It was the bald villager that had killed me twice now. Once from death by suffocation and another time from death by hoe. I should have been angry at the man, but that once familiar feeling could not be found inside of my heart. It was gone, POOF, it had disappeared into thin air. I looked at the man that had killed me more than once, calm and collectively. He stared straight back at me, apparently flustered at my sudden appearance, for awhile as if contemplating his options before making his choice. The option he chose was the obvious one, yell out a question about how I was still alive. ¡°How the hell are you still alive you monster scum!¡± yelled out the bald man. ¡°I don¡¯t want to say this again, I¡¯m not a monster,¡± I replied while calmly assessing the reactions of the nearby bystanders. I made sure not to let my gaze wander off too much, allowing me to maintain direct eye contact. ¡°Stop lying you bastard! How did you not die right now then!?¡± ¡°First off, don¡¯t go hitting people in the back of a head with a hoe,¡± I stated, making sure to rub the back of my head to emphasize the fact. ¡°Secondly, I have no obligation to answer that question.¡± ¡°That¡¯s basically you admitting that you¡¯re hiding something!¡± Our exchange was starting to attract some unwanted attention from the people walking by, all while I thought of an unrelated topic. Did the humans of this world speak English too? I conversed with that man just fine, and the other residents of Sheldor seem like they understand everything that¡¯s coming out of my mouth just as well. ¡°Pay attention when I¡¯m talking to you! Listen up son¡ª¡± ¡°If I¡¯m a monster, wouldn¡¯t you have ran away by now?¡± I said with a little more force, interrupting the other man¡¯s sentence. ¡°I-I, don¡¯t get smart on me boy! I¡¯m not going to fall for your evil schemes!¡± Guess there¡¯s no helping this situation now. He won¡¯t change his mind that I¡¯m a monster, and he has reason to believe so. Still, it¡¯s inconveniencing me quite a bit. I will have to take action in some way or another soon, either run away but that would be even more suspicious. Or, I could continue talking it out with this man¡ªbut that doesn¡¯t seem like it will end up any better. Should I just shut up? I¡¯m afraid that might provoke him even more. What should I do, hmm. It was hard to make a decision in such a short amount of time, but I was saved by the sudden appearance of a group of people. ¡°Make way for the Royal Family!¡± ¡°Stand to the side! We¡¯ll collect your taxes shortly!¡± ¡°Bring out the Village Chief immediately!¡± A throng of people parted one of the paths to reveal several men who looked like knights. They had on silver armour with a layer of chainmail underneath, and a longsword attached to their waist. These knights seemed like they were accompanying¡ªmore like guarding a pair of people. A girl with blonde hair and a sharp face who was wearing fancy robes, walking beside a man in gold armour. The armour this man wore was evidently more expensive than the other knights, who were walking a distance both in front and behind the pair. He also had a more colourful sheath, embedded with a few gems. This man¡¯s sword must be just as extravagant. That man must be the captain of the guards, and that girl is probably a well known noble¡¯s daughter or possibly even a princess. The knights are escorting that girl to the town square, probably to collect the tax money from the Village Chief. I had overhead one of the knights shout out something about the matter earlier, so I had a vague idea why someone of higher status was coming to this small town. This was my chance to escape while everyone was distracted. I ran towards one of the alleys hastily, but right when I was about to escape from the commotion, one of the knights stopped me. ¡°Hey, who said you could leave? You can¡¯t evade paying taxes, it¡¯s against the law! Don¡¯t make the princess wait any longer!¡± I tried to act like I was pleading with my eyes for him to let me off the hook this once, but my hopes were dashed. I could only lower my head in disappointment and follow the knight back towards the girl that I now knew was a princess, and her guards. The town square was filled with people dressed similarly to the bald villager, and the princess stood on a podium. She was repeating that she was here to collect taxes, and that everyone had to form a line in front of a few knights.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Residents of Sheldor! I, Lila Darcey, princess of the northern kingdom has come to collect your yearly taxes.¡± ¡°Please form an orderly line in front of a few of our knights,¡± declared the knight in gold armour. There was a wagon holding a giant sack, attached to horses where residents were dumping gold, silver, and copper coins in. It seemed like that was the currency used in this world. Out of curiosity, I asked one of the knights what one could buy with a gold coin. He answered hesitatingly, saying that one could buy a decent carriage with 10 gold coins. Assuming a decent carriage was about the size and quality of a middle end car, I decided that a gold coin was worth approximately $50 USD. I concluded that a silver coin was worth about $10 USD and a copper coin was worth about $1 USD from the extra info the knight provided me. I strayed towards the back of the group of people once the knight that had ordered me back to the town square left to go deal with other things. I think it was about time I checked that notification I had received upon my revival. I clicked on it, but an unfamiliar screen showed up. It wasn¡¯t one of those one sentence messages anymore, it was a whole blown page! [System has finished updating. Changes have been made accordingly.]
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 15 [Skills] Slash (2%) Dig (1%) Avenger (0%)
[Skills have updated. New system implemented where skills have been altered to increase in proficiency until 100%. Once the skill reaches 100%, the skill will evolve.] Wow, everything is neater and more visually appealing. Also, I have the opportunity to evolve my skills now instead of them just matching my power level in battle. What an unexpected caused by my third death. That makes me wonder if this system of mine will continue upgrading upon further deaths, or this would be the only time it happens. There was also this new skill I got that I want to check out. [ Buffs MP Storage by 20% when fighting against someone that has once inflicted severe damage against you. Buff effect cannot stack on top of each other.] It seems like this will go perfectly with my revival skill, which is what I had decided to call the process of me dying and coming back intact. This will allow me to have a better chance at fighting back against someone that could possibly kill me in the near future, sinceI might have to fight quite a few people to take over the city. Also, the buff couldn¡¯t stack on top of each other. Or else that would be too overpowered, it made sense to put that restriction on . All of a sudden, I was interrupted from my thoughts when someone called out towards me. ¡°You there, you¡¯re next. Come here and deposit your coins!¡± said one of the knights. ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t live here. Plus, I don¡¯t have any money anyways,¡± I replied earnestly. ¡°Enough with the playing around, I get that you don¡¯t want to pay, but it¡¯s the law. Sorry,¡± said the knight in a comforting tone. Everyone from this world doesn¡¯t believe one word I say. They have good reason after all¡ªhow could they know I¡¯m from another world? But it still frustrated me how many times I have to explain myself and the trouble I get into because no one understands my situation. Now, I have to explain things to the knights which is time consuming which isn¡¯t something on my to-do list. ¡°Hurry up and walk! Don¡¯t make the princess wait any longer than she has to!¡± Suddenly, I had a flashback to my childhood days from when I was still on Earth. My mom holding my hand while walking through a empty street after having just watched a movie together. If had been an enjoyable night, I got to eat plenty of popcorn and I had spent it with my precious mother. But then everything changed that night. A man in black that I had later found out was a wanted man performed an armed robbery against my mother and a child version of me. He had said, ¡±Don¡¯t make me wait any longer!¡± before stabbing my mom in the chest. I was powerless back then, and it was the same now. The situation was just not as severe, but it still brought bad memories to the surface because of what the knight had said. Luckily, my mom had survived or else I don¡¯t know how I would have reacted right now to the statement from that foolish knight. I calmed my heart down¡ªit was quite easier now compared to when I was still living on Earth. ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said in an indifferent tone. I walked reluctantly towards the wagon piled high with coins, because I still didn¡¯t have a solution to this problem of an encounter. What could I say that would get me out of here? Negotiate with the knights? That wouldn¡¯t work with their boss standing a few feet away, so how abou- My time had finally run out, I was in front of the wagon with a black haired knight motioning with his hands. Obviously, he was ushering me to hand over the tax money so he could deposit it in the sack. Strangely, this motion made me think that this tax money collection day almost seemed like a robbery of some sort. Residents of Sheldor being forced to give up their hard earned money to a robber (a princess and her knights in this case) that probably never worked for money in their entire life. Only stealing from others because it was less work and they had the authority to do so. A robber held the authority over you because they usually had a weapon of some sort, and the princess here had the authority to punish anyone as she pleased with the help of the knights. ¡°What a disgusting society this world has, but I guess Earth wasn¡¯t that much better,¡± I thought as I stared aimlessly at the ground. I had run out of time and options, and I could tell that the tax collector was starting to get impatient. Would he lash out at me if I didn¡¯t move at all? That wouldn¡¯t¡­ that couldn¡¯t happen right? Not in front of al- A sudden strike to the side of my face startled me out of my thinking. I felt the red spot on my right cheek where the knight had slapped me out of irritation and impatience. It thankfully hadn¡¯t been a hard slap, or else my whole face would be puffed up right now. ¡°Hurry up you bastard! Stop wasting our precious time and take out the money!¡± yelled the man wearing armour once again. While maintaining an expression of calmness, I asked imposingly, ¡°Are you a robber? Because tax collector¡¯s sure don¡¯t hit their customers for taking a bit longer than usual.¡± The knight¡¯s face flushed red, before he started yelling angrily. In addition to the assault to my ears, he even had the nerve to pull me by my collar like some bully. In just a few seconds, the angry knight moved in in order to get close and personal, but then a girl¡¯s voice rang out from my left. ¡°Let him go, I¡¯ll deal with him.¡± The princess stepped down from the podium and walked in an elegant manner towards where I stood frozen.¡± Was I going to die again? Did I solve one problem just to run into another one?¡± I thought as I shook my head in satisfaction. ¡°What a horrible world this is¡ªthis even makes me think that I¡¯d be better off if I was still alive on Earth.¡± And then, the princess finally arrived in front of me with her fancy robes fluttering in the wind. I hadn¡¯t noticed before, but there was a definite aura that emitted a strong pressure if you got within a certain distance of her because I was experiencing it now. ¡°Kneel before your princess and show your loyalty first,¡± said the princess of the north in a condescending tone. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll move on to the matter at hand.¡± Chapter 4 - Greatest Telekinesis User The pressure she emitted was just about enough to drop me to my knees even if she hadn¡¯t asked. It seems like I had gotten cocky because I can¡¯t die, but there are other ways to restrain me other than death after all. I need to change my attitude right now or else I could actually end up locked up somewhere deep underground. I willingly decided to go with the flow and kneeled to the princess, she didn¡¯t even look like she was 20. That made it a bit infuriating because I was older than her, yet I was bowing without hesitation. This is where my newly dulled emotions came into play. My mind was more calculating and it didn¡¯t pay attention to my feelings as much. Sure, sometimes little things got on my nerves, but it wasn¡¯t as common as when I lived on Earth. It was still too early to conclude if this was a good or bad side effect because of my revival skill. Back to my current situation, the princess was looking down at me kneeling at her feet. It was a bit unpleasant having to kneel to someone I didn¡¯t even know, but I guess that¡¯s just a part of this weird world. ¡°That fits you better villager. Why are you not paying the tax fee?¡± questioned princess Lila in an impatient manner. Unfortunately for her, the pressure around her was still too great that I couldn¡¯t even speak. It was a bit embarrassing to say that, but it¡¯s the truth. Princess Lila noticed that I wasn¡¯t talking and was still on my knees, so I think she realized the issue. At once, the weight on my shoulders was gone and I could move freely again. ¡°Now that my power is concealed, talk before I send you to prison.¡± ¡°Princess Lila, I am not from this town and am not subject to the tax payment,¡± I repeated politely. ¡°This is your last chance!¡± declared Princess Lila, ¡°Pay now or be sent to prison!¡± What kind of unjustifiable reason is that? I don¡¯t pay because I¡¯m not from this town, not even this world! And now I have to be sent to prison because I just happened to be wandering in this town on the day of tax collection? That¡¯s some bullsh*t right there. I intend on convincing this princess, even if I don¡¯t have money! ¡°Princess, you think that someone looking like me would reside in Sheldor?¡± I asked carefully, ¡°Why else would I be wearing these types of clothes?¡± I planned on using my appearance to get out of this situation. I was still wearing that pair of t-shirt and shorts, so I was unusual looking. This outfit doesn¡¯t match up with what the other villagers wear, so this should be convincing enough. If this doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll need a witness to show that I¡¯m not from here. But there¡¯s not a single person here that saw me enter this town other than that bald guy--- but he¡¯ll probably rat me out cause he thinks I¡¯m a monster. ¡°That has some merit. Merit in making you seem more suspicious that is,¡± said Princess Lila while tilting her head. What!? Did that just backfire on me! I¡¯m screwed now. The knights are even coming to apprehend me just because the princess said that I was suspicious looking. Damn, am I gonna spend my new life in this world wasting away in a dungeon? Not going to happen, I guess I have no choice but to run. The moment I thought of escaping and started to sprint away, a familiar pressure pushed down on my back. Which forced me to me knees once again. ¡°Oho, so it seems like we caught a fugitive here. Why would you run if you weren¡¯t guilty?¡± accused the girl. She¡¯s right. I should''ve thought about the outcome of me trying to run away. I guess I made a foolish choice in the heat of the moment¡­ how could I escape from the pressure that princess is emitting anyways? ¡°Knights, bring him with us to be locked away in the underground prison,¡± ordered Princess Lila. ¡°We¡¯ll torture him until he spits out some information.¡± Uh oh, am I going to spend the rest of this life in a torture room? And if they find out that I can¡¯t die¡­ who knows what kind of experiments they¡¯ll conduct on me. I disregarded my option to fight before, but it really seemed like I had no choice anymore. I didn¡¯t want to be tortured for eternity after all. My heart started beating a little faster as I started my escape attack.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Slash!¡± I yelled while swinging my arm at the knights moving towards me. knocked all the swords out of their hands, but it wasn¡¯t powerful enough to knock them out. They just picked up their swords and continued on their march. [5 MP used. 10 Remaining.] didn¡¯t work, but luckily I have dig. It might just come in handy right now. ¡°Dig!¡± I dived towards the stone ground with arms in front. The stone parted and I started disappearing underground, but the joy I felt at almost escaping was crushed. My arms and legs were forced to my sides, and the control over all my body parts was stripped away from me. I couldn¡¯t move a muscle as I flew out of the deep hole I had dug. What surely caused this was the princess, because her hands held out in front of her like she was the one controlling me. ¡°I warned you boy. I can¡¯t believe you forced me to use one of my skills just to capture you,¡± sighed Princess Lila as she glared at the knights that had failed to capture me. ¡°You think I¡¯d stand by and do nothing while you escaped from our grasp? What a dumb decision you have made.¡± My floating body controlled by Lila slowly started descending, straight towards the captain of the knights who had a thick coil of rope in his hands. I tried to break free, but the invisible bonds around me didn¡¯t lessen at all. ¡°You can¡¯t break free from my lady¡¯s grasp. She is most well known for her Telekinesis, she¡¯s the best in all of the Northern Kingdom after all,¡± said the knight in gold armour. His voice was deep and he had a beard on his face. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have tried to run, now we have no choice but to put you in prison and torture the information out of you. If you hadn¡¯t ran, you might¡¯ve been given a trial, but alas, you ran.¡± I don¡¯t know if this captain of the knights was sympathizing with me or what, but I ignored him. There is no use conversing with someone that was about to lock you in a cell. The man in gold also said that he was surprised that I was capable of using , which was a skill that knights commonly had. There goes the chances of me being the only one in the world with unique skills. I had really wanted that kind of plot to unfold, but whatever. Still controlled by the princess¡¯s telekinesis, the captain started binding me with physical restraints instead of a skill and after that was done---I got thrown into the wagon along with the money. The princess got into her carriage that was parked a little bit farther from the town square, and the wagon I was in started rumbling along with the carriage. Marching beside the two moving objects were dozens of knights led by the one in the golden armour. As I left Sheldor, I saw several parents confronting their children with hugs and other greetings. I even heard one parent say to their child that if they didn¡¯t want to end up like me, they had to pay their taxes on time. It was a bit infuriating to see, but everyone mostly just looked relieved from my point of view, I experienced first hand what it¡¯s like if you got into an argument about money with someone. Both in this world and on Earth. I guess wherever there¡¯s money, arguments and problems always follow with it. BADOMP! Ow! That bump hurt, can¡¯t they drive a little more smoothly!? The farther away we got from Sheldor, the more rocky the terrain started becoming, presumably due to the lack of road use. Also, not a single person talked to me, due the the fact that the princess ordered them not to. It was getting kind of boring and I just wanted to curl up and take a nap. Unfortunately, the frequent bumps kept me from doing so. I wish I was persuasive enough that I could escape by talking to one guy. The princess surely thought of that, so that explains the silence. Now that I think about it, it¡¯s going to take some time to get to the capital city. This town is pretty isolated from what I can see, so the capital must be a good distance away. Darn am I going to be uncomfortable. I tried to position my tied up body in a sitting position but the uneven movement of the wagon kept interfering with my balance. I ended up deciding to just lie my head on the wooden floor, after having struggled to sit for several minutes. My mind was exhausted from the events of today and the moon was already shining in the sky. Wait, this place has a moon? That¡¯s¡­ I¡¯m too fatigued to think. I¡¯ll just sleep for a little bi¡­ Soon enough, I had fell asleep in that wagon in an awkward position. I was basically human luggage now, lying limply beside a giant sack of coins. *** When I opened my eyes, I could see many buildings, shops, and even a castle in the far distance. I think I had finally arrived at the Capital City of the Northern Kingdom. As I passed by many travelers and merchants while lying in the wagon, I happened to catch the name of this city and a little bit of info about it. Gardia it was called, a prosperous city known for its military strength and the strongest Telekinesis user in the north. Damn, I didn¡¯t know the princess was that strong, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have even thought about fighting back. After another few minutes, the wagon stopped and the carriage door in front of me opened up. It wasn¡¯t the princess that got out, it was the captain of the knights. I noticed Princess Lila talking to many residents of this city through a window in the carriage¡ª I guess royalty is always popular, huh. The captain moved towards me and came to a stop near my face with his decorated silver sword in hand. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived. Time to head to the underground dungeon,¡± informed the captain. Chapter 5 - An OP Gift Before this moment, I didn¡¯t pay any mind to the matter but now that the time of my imprisonment was quickly approaching¡­ it sure is an unpleasant feeling. I got dragged out of the wagon forcefully and made to walk inside the building. On the outside and first floor of the shop, it looked like a plain old store managed by an old couple. But once you actually took the winding stairs down hidden in the back, it starts resembling a dungeon more and more. I could feel the temperature dropping, and the brick walls slowly changed to mossy stone ones. Torches on the walls hanged at intervals lit up the stairwell leading down, allowing me to see what was lying up ahead. After having arrived at the area under the shop, a rotten smell hit my nose, but the knights looked like they were fine. They must frequent this place to drop off other criminals and the such. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to me now?¡± I asked the captain, who was standing in front talking to someone. After finishing his talk with an old man who looked like the guard of the prison, the captain told me exactly what was going to happen to me. ¡°You¡¯ll be chained in the Laboratory Cell, and some experiments will possibly be performed on you. We need some data, and criminals like you are a perfect fit to be our test subjects,¡± answered the captain. His sentence finished and I didn¡¯t even want to correct him when he labeled me as a criminal. With a strong grip, he brought me inside the cell and lay me down on top of a metal lab bench. I was chained down, but I didn¡¯t struggle at all. It was futile in the end, my only hope at escape would be to revive at the correct time and place upon my death. is probably pointless as well, they¡¯d just drag me out before I could dig deep enough. So far, I hadn¡¯t been able to find a way to control the timing of my revival, but I¡¯ll give it a shot nevertheless. As time passed, the knights eventually emptied out and I was left alone on a cold, metal bench. I thought I was alone though, but I spotted a woman from the corner of my eye gathering some tools. She wore a white apron, and had on white gloves. Unexpectedly, it seems like I have found the person that would be running tests on me. She put a bunch of sharp tools on a tray and started talking to me. ¡°Hello there, I¡¯m about to perform some painful experiments on you, so please don¡¯t resent me for this. It¡¯s all for the sake of collecting information that¡¯ll help with development for the future of the Northern Kingdom,¡± she said while looking at a piece of paper. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started!¡± She grabbed what looked like an incisor knife and started cutting open my body. Though my other emotions had dulled, pain was not one of them. The pain stabbed through my body and I started convulsing like a madman, but the chains held me in place. I could faintly see my blood splattered everywhere as I slowly lost consciousness from the pain overwhelming my senses. *** Once I woke up, I was still strapped to that bench with a light hovering over me. I wasn¡¯t in much pain as before, but my body still ached. I couldn¡¯t see the woman in a white apron anywhere, so I decided to try to stretch a little to relax my body. With a lot of effort, I tried to control my arms and legs, but they wouldn¡¯t respond. That was when I decided to look at my limbs¡­ ...and there was nothing there. There were four lumps that met my view, while I was knocked out, my arms and legs had been amputated. At this point, I started freaking out. Who wouldn¡¯t? Even if your emotions were dulled, you¡¯d still freak out at having lost some of your most important body parts. There was only one option for me to take, wait until I died from the experiments. Then, I¡¯d regain my unharmed body and escape from here. It might be an agonizing process, but what else was I supposed to do. Little did I know, that wasn¡¯t going to happen. When I had finally died from around the 5th or 6th experiment, the woman didn¡¯t leave the cell at all. I could only hope that she and the guards guarding the dungeon weren¡¯t here when I revived. It¡¯d be best if they threw my corpse in the garbage, located outside of this structure. Those were my thoughts as my consciousness floated in that dark space, waiting to be revived. I think this was my 4th death now? Would I receive another gift from the system or would everything remain the same? My wishes weren¡¯t granted because the revival didn¡¯t take long, and none of those familiar notifications appeared in front of me. I was transferred back into my intact body, but the situation was very unfortunate for me. I was still chained onto that bench, and an audible gasp came from the woman who I found out was named Jane. She had noticed the change in my body and immediately touched my regenerated arms and legs, noticeably shocked. ¡°H-how! How did you come back from the dead! I swear you stopped breathing a few seconds ago, and even your legs and arms are regenerated!?!¡± shouted Jane in disbelief. I remained silent to not give out any clues. Things have gotten messy, my chances of escape were close to none and there was the likelihood of more experiments being performed on me. Jane had experienced this phenomenon once, so she would be expecting it the next time I died from one of her experiments. If she never lets me go, I¡¯ll never be able to live my life however I want. I won¡¯t be able to control anyone from behind the scenes if I get stuck in this cell forever! Jane grabbed her tools again and a piece of paper. You could guess what was about to happen to me. Damn experiments! I struggled to break free from the chains, and the process started repeating again. They would repeat again and again forever unless I managed to break free, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen anytime soon.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. *** I¡¯ve lost count of how many times I¡¯ve died so far. I¡¯m in a countless trance, losing my consciousness every few minutes. I¡¯m not sure but a few days, a few weeks or even a few months might¡¯ve passed by. I couldn¡¯t think because of the constant pain. It seemed like an eternity until I got a break. But that was false hope, I can¡¯t believe I got my hopes up. A whole team of people were working on my body now, it was¡­ hell. [Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.] [Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.] ¡­ ¡­ [Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.] [ 100/100 requirement has been met. Commencing Upgrade of the System¡­] I barely managed to look at the messages because I was so tired from dying over and over. This time, I would come back with a new system, so I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to escape? I didn¡¯t want to get my hopes up to just be disappointed again. After waiting in the space of nothingness for some time, I finally regained my body and appeared back on that metal lab bench, with people wearing white aprons waiting for me. I heard gasps of exclamation, but I¡¯ve heard enough of them already. This cell was already crowded to the brim, I¡¯ve wondered how they could still perform experiments with such little room. Before they could move closer though, time froze. How I knew you might ask? The people that were rushing to the equipment were frozen, not moving an inch. The usual flickering light above me had stopped flickering as well. Then, a notification appeared in front of me. [Due to dying 100 times and obtaining 100 skills, you have the chance to be granted one wish. State your wish. Your original skills will be sacrificed in order for your wish to be fulfilled.] I didn¡¯t even think twice. My wish had come true and I had a chance to get out of here. Plus, I didn¡¯t even care about skills that I got from these lowly scientists. ¡°I wish to obtain enough power so that I could break out of here and destroy the kingdom if I desired so,¡± I declared. [Wish has been granted. Reorganizing Stat Page¡­]
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 10000 [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
[Passive Skills]
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Manipulation of Chaos Energy (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
Demon Synchronization (0%)
My stat page was overflowing with maxed out skills. There were so many that I lost count, but I knew one thing. A huge amount of energy had just been infused into my body, due to the fact that my MP had went from 15 to 10000. A huge jump that would make anyone¡¯s eyes jump out of their sockets. Furthermore, I became able to sense this different type of dark energy scattered in the air. That must be the chaos energy, I can probably sense it since I have complete mastery over it. Every skill except stealth was passive, which was a little disappointing but the potential of my passive skills was amazing. I could basically do anything that an active skill could accomplish with them, be it a chaos ball or a heated debate. I was pretty shocked, but I felt more joy than surprise. I could finally escape! The active skills consumed 25 MP per use and the passive skills consumed 1 MP per minute, but that was countered by my MP Recovery skill which recovers 7 MP per minute. It can¡¯t be coincidental right? Also, the demon synchronization concerned me. It could be good or bad for me, but I wouldn¡¯t know until it reached 100%. That¡¯s why I put it to the side of my head. Suddenly, time resumed and the scientists continued what they were doing. I didn¡¯t want to kill them all and gather even more attention on myself than I need to. I¡¯ll escape quietly and stealthily. I activated stealth, because it probably did what I thought it did, conceal me in some way. [25 MP used. 9975 MP Remaining.] If my wish was granted, these skills are powerful enough to rival a kingdom. Immediately, I easily broke free of my restraints, as if I was snapping a stick, and exited the cell without the scientists noticing that my presence had disappeared. Outside, I looked around but saw no guards or anyone familiar. Before I could lower my guard though, I needed to blend in with the surroundings. My clothes had made me stand out before, so getting a new set of clothes is my first priority. Hmm, where should I go? I looked around for a clothings shop, and I finally spotted one. I ended up trading in my old clothes and got a similar outfit to what the villagers from Sheldor had worn. For some reason when I tried it on, it turned all black. It wasn¡¯t burnt or charred, the colour just shifted to a pitch black colour. Finally, after fiddling around for a bit I figured out the reason for the change in colour. I concentrated on the elevated levels of chaos surrounding me like an aura, and forced them to disappear. It was a lengthy process, but finally something clicked after experimenting with the energy for some time.Now, my clothes remained brown. When I released the energy again, my clothes got surrounded by a black haze and turned black once again. For protection against people that are able to sense energy like this, I need to keep this chaos contained at all times. Also, my vein outfit will allow me to blend in more than a black one. Imagine releasing all of this chaos energy surrounding me at once, would people be scared or amazed? I¡¯ll have to wait to find out. Furthermore, I can pursue my altered goal with even more determination now. Before, I had only wanted to conquer this kingdom from behind the scenes, so all the necessities and my wants could be fulfilled. But now because the cruel knights of the North had arrested me unfairly and had subjected me to harsh treatment, I have decided to give the upper echelon a taste of their own treatment. With my wish fulfilled by the system, I have enough power to challenge whoever I want. With a thirsty desire for revenge that came to be, even though my emotions had gradually faded away over the course of a hundred deaths¡ªI had a new goal. It was about time the royal family is dethroned... Chapter 6 - Knights Order Tournament I walked towards the castle that I could see a good distance away. Along the way, I smelled many delicious fragrances coming from shops selling food and other items. I walked down the clean cobblestone street eyeing the shops lined up in rows on either side. I expected there to be adventurers in this world, but I guess the Knights Order is good enough. I knew this because there was not a single sign of any person wearing adventurer like gear around, and there were only signs posted everywhere advertising positions in the Knight Order. I even saw a few alleyways littered with recruitment flyers. The recruitment advertisements everywhere gave me an idea.Why don¡¯t I try to infiltrate the kingdom from the inside? The reactions of the knights and royal family are going to be 100 times better if it¡¯s someone they trusted instead of an outsider that betrays them. Just thinking about the outcome pumped me so full of energy that I almost formed a cruel smirk on my face, but that would have been embarrassing so I managed to catch myself. Soon, my thoughts were quickly occupied by my plan. A sign said that the Knight¡¯s Order was hiring talented new recruits to directly serve under the royal family. If you could get promoted to a high enough rank, you could even become the king¡¯s personal guard! Pretty amazing if you admired the royal family, but it was different for me. This was the perfect opportunity to fulfill my goal! I had to seize this chance and deal as much damage as possible to this city that the king and his family resides in. ¡°Perfect,¡± I whispered happily. Surprisingly, the way the new recruits were chosen was through a battle royale that would be located at the Knight¡¯s Arena. On a side note, almost everything is named after the knights, pretty shameless huh. Back on topic, the last 5 people standing would be accepted for there were only 5 positions available. Luckily, the location was nearby because I had seen a huge arena like structure on my walk, and the tournament was set to begin in¡­ 2 hours! I got to hurry up if I want to register in time! I sprinted towards the arena while people nearby looked at me weirdly. I didn¡¯t mind it though, getting there on time was more important than opinions of people I don''t even know. I noticed that I was barely fatigued after that sprint, it was a expected change though. My MP is at 10000, so if I couldn¡¯t handle a sprint, there would definitely be something wrong. Upon my arrival, I was taken by surprise by the sheer size of the arena. It rivaled a few of the largest sports centres back on Earth. There were an overwhelming number of people around, most of them were wearing armour and holding a weapon of some sort. To my left, a long line of people were lined up beside a sign printed with the word registration on it. That might be where I need to go to sign up for this tournament. Uncommon to light novels I¡¯ve read, no one disturbed me with the registration process. Everything went smoothly and there was even a festive mood in the air. This event must be pretty popular for so many people to come to either participate or watch. Is occupying a position in the Knight¡¯s Order that prestigious? Apparently, it is because I heard a bunch of participants talking about the good pay and all the women that would come flocking to you upon your acceptance. That wasn¡¯t what I was participating for, fulfilling my goal was my aim. After the smooth sign up, I was directed towards the waiting area for participants. Approximately 2 hours later, the battle royale finally commenced and the competitors walked onto the field. I didn¡¯t want to familiarize myself with anyone else, because it was going to be useless anyways. They weren¡¯t going to be vital to my plan, only the four other winners could be considered actually having some importance. I needed to hold back on using my powers. I still don¡¯t know what they do, but they must be very strong. I don¡¯t want to accidentally kill somebody with chaos magic right? The chaos mixed in the air vibrated as if responding to my question, pretty ominous if you asked me. ¡°Hey, nice to meet you fellow contender. Wish you the best of luck in this battle!¡± greeted a joyous young man. He had blond hair, and seemed like the open type that is loved by everyone. He was pretty fit with a dashing smile on his face, and a decent looking dagger was hanging on his waist. I even spotted a group of girls giving glances towards him and giggling to themselves. ¡°Nice to meet you to. Hope you do well too,¡± I responded, trying to match his positive tone.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He must be popular, he does seem like he has a good personality. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he managed to be one of the five that won the battle royale, he definitely has a personality fit for the role anyways. His strength, that¡¯s a different story. I will only be able to assess that during the battle. ¡°I¡¯m just going around greeting everyone. I wish that we can all be friendly with each other even if some of us don¡¯t make the cut,¡± mentioned the blond man. ¡°My name is Dochet by the way. What¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°Nice goal you have there,¡± I said as I thought of how to respond. Should I tell him me real name or make myself an alias in this city? The alias should be the safer choice, even if no one knows my name anyways since I¡¯m from a different world. ¡°My name is Damon,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you Dochet.¡± I decided on Damon because it was the first thing that came to my mind. Meaning wise, it didn¡¯t mean anything. I kind of just took Dochet¡¯s name and added and took out a few letters. ¡°Glad I got to talk to you. I need to go introduce myself to some others. See you in the battle and hope we both manage to win!¡± Little did he know, I basically had an 100% chance of winning this. Who could rival these secret powers I got from the system anyways? That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t even think about what kind of hidden intentions that man had for going around getting friendly with everyone. What he planned on doing wouldn¡¯t work against me anyways. Speaking of my powers...
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 10000 [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
[Passive Skills]
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Manipulation of Chaos Energy (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
|Demon Synchronization| (0.3%)
My Demon Synchronization has gone up. I can assume that it increases along with when I use my powers. I haven¡¯t used my skills at all since that Laboratory Cell experimentation incident. That may be why the percentage hasn¡¯t risen that much, but I still can¡¯t determine if this may be a horrible thing or a great one. I turned my head and looked around to try to size up some of the other contenders, while walking towards a shady area away from the sun. There were many contenders with very buff bodies, but through my chaos manipulation I was actually able to gauge their actual power level. By looking at multiple power levels, I learned that the average was about 50, and anything in the 70+ region meant that the person was fairly strong. ¡°Hm, that guy is a petty 10 while that guy is average at 48,¡± I wondered aloud. I might want to try this scouting on that guy from before but he¡¯s already long gone. Probably crowded by fans¡ªmostly girls by now.¡± I looked through the waiting crowd of participants, but after my minutes of searching. I only found about 1 or 2 people worth keeping my eye on. There was this one boy that looked to be about 16 or 17 that had a power level of 85. He was about one head shorter than me and had light brown hair, and a bow was strapped on his back. He was the strongest I¡¯ve seen out of everyone so far. I didn¡¯t know the Knight¡¯s Order accepted archers, but now I know it¡¯s allowed. There was another guy that looked like a wrestler, bulging muscles on his whole body and bald, but no weapons anywhere. This guy¡¯s fighting style must be specialized in hand to hand combat is what I deduced. With a power level of 78, he might be a challenge for the other contestants. But now that I think about it, what¡¯s my power level? By surrounding myself with the chaos energy, I was able to gauge my strength¡­ ...and it was a whopping 1578. Damn, guess this power is for real. I really could rival the strength of a kingdom, and even onesidely slaughter them if I wanted to. I bathed in my thoughts for some time until the sound signaling the start of the battle royale started. All the participants started entering the arena one by one until everyone was situated in the ring. The ring was bigger than a football field, which was definitely needed to contain all the people partaking in this tournament. There were thousands of people watching in normal seats, and then there was one isolated area. It had red, silk drapes on the side of this area, and a roof on top. There were even a few thrones, which made me think this was the VIP section. Or the designated area for the judges of this event. Gold lined robes were worn by the people sitting in the VIP seats and a few other noble looking people were sitting to the sides in similar looking clothes. Once everyone was done filing into the ring, a man started announcing the rules. No killing, only knocking out others, and the use of underhanded techniques such as poison is prohibited. Everything else was allowed and the battle didn¡¯t have a time limit. It only ended once there were only 5 people still standing in the ring. And just like that, the man started the battle royale which would decide who gets to occupy a position in the Knight¡¯s Order. Chapter 7 - Battle Royale Commence! The moment the battle started, I moved to the side far away from the battle. A congestion of people were battling it out in the middle, including the bald, muscular man from before. The archer that I had used my chaos ability on was also standing to the side of me, but probably for a different reason. An archer isn¡¯t suited for close range after all. As for me, I had different reasons, why waste my power on these weaklings when they would get wiped out anyways? It¡¯s the obvious choice to make if you actually had the least bit of strategic planning skills. But these people sure aren¡¯t that bright, why are they just rushing towards battle if they want to win? There were less than 10 others that did the same thing as me, but they weren¡¯t that strong. They were actually less than average, but this chaos ability doesn¡¯t show intelligence level. Maybe instead of strength, they have the brains instead? That would make sense, but unfortunately for them¡­ I¡¯m aiming to win as quickly as possible. [25 MP used. 9975 MP Remaining.] I activated stealth with more control than before and snuck up behind everyone except the archer guy and knocked them out with a chop to the neck. I spared the boy because I wanted him to make it to the the top 5. He deserves it, it must¡¯ve been harsh to get to that level of power at that age, so I guess I respect him in a way. That may be my reason to spare him, but nevermind that. It doesn¡¯t seem like anyone¡¯s noticed my actions.... ...wait. I could feel a stare directed towards my back. I turned around and met the eye of one of the individuals sitting in the VIP section. He was a young, dark blond haired man that was sitting on a grander throne than any of the others. The moment I looked back at him, he became surprised, but he quickly averted his gaze and changed his expression. I assume that he would be the prince of this city¡ªhe¡¯s too young to be the king but if he was just a normal noble. He should be sitting towards the back, not in front of everyone. Especially if it¡¯s the VIP section where many distinguished individuals are seated. Why did he turn his head away? Is he nervous of someone of my status? I knew full well that he was a person of higher status yet he was averting his gaze. How interesting. Leaving that fact aside, my attention needed to be focused on the battlefield so I shifted my line of sight. After a few minutes, the number of people still standing had dropped to 20. I saw that bald man (what¡¯s up with my luck with bald people?) still fighting like a savage, while the archer still stood to the side. I had felt a few glances from him, but no signs of an attack so I left it alone. The crowd was cheering loudly on the sides, with their hands waving in the air and their chants resounding throughout the arena. The excitement from the crowd was making them go wild due to the anticipation. While I had been focusing on them, another 10 people had been knocked out. Now there was only me and the archer boy standing towards the side, and the bald man facing off against the other 7. Everyone¡¯s attention was fixated on the middle of the ring, nobody paid attention to boring contestants such as me and the brown haired boy. That was what I thought, until I got this ominous feeling behind me. Fortunately, the weapon entered the chaos aura emanating from me before it could strike so I was able to detect it and dodge accordingly. I turned around as soon as I dodged it and the first thing I noticed was the dagger. It looked familiar, but I couldn¡¯t remember exactly where it was from¡ªuntil I saw the owner of this weapon¡­ ¡°Dochet!¡± I grunted, while dodging another dagger that was thrown at me. ¡°Oho, nice reflexes there Damon. I congratulate you on making it this far, but it¡¯s time for you to get disqualified,¡± said Dochet mockingly. We stood a few feet apart as we eyed each other, trying to gauge the power potential of the other. I won¡¯t miss this chance again, I¡¯ll see his power level this time for sure! I gathered the chaos energy into my eyes once again and looked at Dochet. ...157 He¡¯s damn strong for a normal person. This hotshot could probably make it to the top of the hierarchy if he wanted to if it wasn¡¯t for his twisted personality. A man that wouldn¡¯t hesitate to deceive and betray, that¡¯s the kind of person this blondie is.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Didn¡¯t know your personality could take a huge turn like that,¡± I stated while keeping my guard up. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t go disappointing all my fans so I think it¡¯s about time to dispatch of you,¡± Dochet replied with a calm yet serious tone. As if on cue, the crowd started cheering Dochet¡¯s name, even the VIP seating focused their gazes of us. The Prince especially, I could feel a sharper stare from him than anyone else. Did he have a power gauging skill as well? It would make sense if he did bu¡ª Another dagger came at my face, but I dodged it once again. If you were wondering why I could dodge the attacks of someone powerful like Dochet, (I know I¡¯m a lot stronger, but that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t get hurt if I get attacked) it¡¯s because of my chaos manipulation skill. I emit an aura of chaos energy around me, so that space is basically controlled by me. Therefore, I can move freely and anything foreign that enters is instantly registered with my brain. Looking at my opponent, it seemed like he had retrieved both of his daggers and were expertly dual wielding them in his hands while preparing for his next attack. ¡°Just stop your futile attack,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s pointless, you¡¯ll be better off not attacking me if you really want to win this.¡± ¡°What a funny joke!¡± Dochet laughed, but then his tone became more forceful. ¡°I¡¯ll be the one winning this, not you. So just give up.¡± The bloodthirstiness radiating off of this man filled my senses, it was like he was aiming to kill¡ªnot knock unconscious. I could practically feel the whole arena¡¯s attention on me and the blond man now, but I couldn¡¯t focus on that useless detail right now because of my opponent. Out of nowhere, Dochet sprang forward with his sharp daggers and started his assault. I dodged his attacks pretty easily, but I could tell that if I was a regular person and got hit, I would probably be knocked out instantly. But I wasn¡¯t about to let myself be slashed at without counterattacking. I pulled my fist back as I moved from side to side, avoiding the daggers and I looked for an opening. The opportunity came when I dodged out of the dagger¡¯s reach and Dochet stumbled a little bit. I threw my Absolute Strength reinforced punch towards his head, but my opponent wasn¡¯t that unskilled. Unlike me, who wasn¡¯t trained in fighting at all, Dochet must¡¯ve trained ruthlessly for years. So I wasn¡¯t surprised when he blocked my punch with both his daggers. Still, a skill that was meant to rival a kingdom couldn¡¯t be blocked easily by one measly person. He may have avoided a fatal injury, but the blow was still powerful enough to knock him off his feet. He landed on the ground a few dozen feet backwards, sliding right up against the wall crowded full with spectators. That wasn¡¯t that hard. One punch ended it, but to be honest. Surviving a punch that I didn¡¯t hold back on is a pretty good feat, hope he isn¡¯t vengeful after. I¡¯d hate to be injured because someone wants revenge. It happens all the time in those light novels, but I hope I¡¯m smart enough that I won¡¯t allow that to happen. When I tuned my senses back to the battlefield, I heard a loud mixture of boos and cheers. I¡¯m pretty sure the males were all happy that Dochet was defeated, but the females were no doubt mad that their idol had been knocked out so easily. But the reactions from the crowd wasn¡¯t what I was trying to pay attention to. My eyes were pointed at the VIP section, and I sure was satisfied with the scene. Everyone¡¯s favourite must¡¯ve been that blond man, so the sheer sight of him being knocked out by a simple punch would seem impossible. But they didn¡¯t know it was from a punch. The whole arena would have only saw Dochet being thrown against the wall. During the fight, I had took an extra precaution to make sure my powers weren¡¯t found out, because I needed to make sure no one knew about my strength. If someone did, I would have an eye kept on me everywhere I went and that would not lead to a successful dethroning. Right when I landed my punch, I had distorted the air around us using chaos energy, so instead of everyone seeing a punch. They just saw Dochet being knocked back by an unseen force, making it seem like it wasn¡¯t because of me. I had thought it was pretty clever, and my idea had been right on target. The nobles all had baffled expressions, except for one person. Expectedly, it was the Prince who had been eyeing me this entire time. I¡¯ll have to get rid of him later, any suspicion pointed towards me needs to be erased if my plan was to succeed. I walked to the spot that I had been standing in before the fight, and stood there motionlessly again. The roaring from the crowd eventually died down, but that didn¡¯t stop a few girls from throwing stuff at me. It was manageable, but at points a bit humiliating. Nevermind that, I was looking forward to how this battle royale would end¡ªspecifically, who the 5 winners were. Fortunately, the bald shirtless guy took care of the remaining contenders pretty quickly. He ended up on a pile of bodies with his hands motioning for applause. I think he even flexed his muscles a bit, but I looked away at that awful sight the moment he started doing it. I don¡¯t know how or why, but there were only 4 people left standing. Me, the bald dude, the archer, and another thin man standing in the shade just like me. With my enhanced vision, I could see the referee¡¯s mouth start to move, but then an unexpected event took place. Dochet, who I thought had been knocked out stood up as if he didn¡¯t have a single scratch mark on him. Chapter 8 - A Futile Attempt at an Abduction Dochet, who I thought had been disqualified looked totally fine as he stood up and walked towards the middle of the ring. The previous boos from the girls turned into squeals of admiration, and the cheers from the men turned into boos. What a quick exchange of feelings, especially for a crowd as big as this. It seems like I made a miscalculation with the judgement of Dochet. He may be more powerful than he seems, because I gathered the chaos into my eyes again and gauged the blond haired man¡¯s power level as of now. It was 171¡­ How could someone¡¯s power level increase in such a short span of time? Unless...they were even stronger than I thought and could conceal their power expertly and effortlessly. Then I would have to test out their battle capabilities myself, not depend on this ability. I walked up to him as the announcer started announcing the winners. ¡°How did you pull that off?¡± I asked, making sure to not let my curiosity show. It didn¡¯t work though. ¡°Oho, I see you¡¯re curious. I didn¡¯t expect you to have that level of strength either, I won¡¯t underestimate without reason to do so from now on,¡± Dochet replied while waving his hands at the girls like he was bathing in his popularity. ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t see that coming, but thanks to one of my abilities, I recovered fast enough to still make it to the end.¡± The light reflected off of his white teeth as he smiled at the spectators. ¡°What kind of skill¡ª¡± ¡°You think I¡¯ll just tell you that?¡± answered Dochet with a little more emotion. ¡°If I didn¡¯t have this ability and the crowd saw me get knocked out so easily¡­ you wouldn¡¯t want to see what would¡¯ve happened.¡± This time, I could detect a murderous glint in his eyes although his expression was the definition of friendly and calm. His ability at concealing his personality is top notch, if he wasn¡¯t an enemy then I would have asked for some tips. I wanted to ask some more questions, but my time for talking ran out. The news was that the 5 winners were Damon, Dochet, Chyian, Prien, and Dan. Since the announcer pointed to the winners as he said their names, I got to found out everyone¡¯s identities. Damon was obviously me, Dochet I already know, Dan was that bald muscular guy. A simple name for a straightforward person, which I found ironic. The light brown haired teen archer¡¯s name was Chiyian and the last guy¡¯s name who had been hiding in the shade was Prien. Their appearances suited their names was what I thought, and maybe their personalities did as well. All of us gathered under the VIP section that was located a few feet above our heads as the nobles prepared the contracts to enter the Knight¡¯s Order. The crowd¡¯s cheers were still going strong, and I heard many words of congratulations coming from the sidelines. ¡°Congratulations on winning this tournament,¡± declared the Prince who spoke for the other nobles as well. ¡°You will be receiving your contracts with the Knight¡¯s Order now detailing your pay, the benefits and the tasks you must carry out. Welcome to the Knight¡¯s Order newly named Knights.¡± The other 4 people started bowing beside me, so I followed suit and bowed as well. I received the contract in an envelope along with a badge that signified you belonged to the Knight¡¯s Order of the Northern Kingdom. At last, I¡¯ve accomplished something noteworthy after my reincarnation into this new world and my plan has finally started to grow fruit. That night, I stayed in an inn called The Knight¡¯s den which was free of charge for knights. Since I was a knight now, I could stay in this inn for free if I showed the badge engraved with my name. Not Ryan, it was Damon because my alias had grown along with my plan! The elation from making a successful alias was awesome, especially the ending where it will be revealed that Damon who was a trusted knight. Was actually the mastermind behind a plan to dethrone the king. How thrilling! I lay on my bed in my designated room while thinking about my plans for tomorrow. It had been only been a few since my arrival in this new world, and I¡¯ve already experienced a lot. But I can¡¯t afford to relax just yet. Earning the Knight¡¯s Order¡¯s trust is vital if I want to pull off this betrayal of the century, so I must act the part until then. Eventually, I dozed off into a relaxing sleep.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. *** ¡°Ugh,¡± I thought as I tried to raise myself out of bed. That¡¯s what I tried to do at least, but I felt a familiar feeling against my arms and legs. Only this time, the addition of a blindfold and gag were wrapped around my head and the bonds were steel. Also, I couldn¡¯t feel a mattress under my legs, only cold, smooth steel. Another kidnapping seriously? What did I deserve this one for...or maybe they found out that I escaped from that lab and recognized me during the tournament. Damn, that would¡¯ve been a fatal error if it weren¡¯t for my newly awakened powers. Now all I have to do is break out of here and kill everyone. I contemplated my options I had, but breaking out and mindlessly killing the kidnappers was not one of the viable ones. That would be clear evidence that I was a criminal, and I didn¡¯t want that extra work. How about I wait this one out for now? Who knows, it could possibly lead to a quicker dethroning or elimination of the upper echelon. If these guys were planning on torturing me or experimenting on me again, they won¡¯t be able to complain when I slaughter them. A sinister smile appeared on my face, but I didn¡¯t bother to hide it. It was blocked by my gag anyways. Although I was going along with being kidnapped, I didn¡¯t want to lose total control over the situation either. Controlling the chaos in the air once again, I focused it on my eyes and I was able to see everything clearly even though I had a blindfold on. No, this was even more clear than my normal vision¡ªthe power of chaos is really useful eh? |Demon Synchronization| (1.1%) I didn¡¯t pay attention to my rising demon synchronization and instead, looked around trying to familiarize myself with the surroundings. The Knight¡¯s Inn was located pretty close to the wealthy area of the kingdom, the ground was more decorated and even the shops were more expensive looking. I turned to look at who was guarding me to the destination. I found out that this was clearly the work of the Prince, it couldn¡¯t be anyone else. Not only were we heading in the direction of the towering castle, but why hire strong guards (I used chaos power to gauge their power level) to escort someone of lower status like me. Unless they deliberately did it because they knew even a little bit of my full strength. The only one that had taken notice of me during the tournament was the Prince, what with all his obvious actions and that. So, I guess the dethroning of the royal family is going to be easier than I thought. Don''t blame me, you targeted me first. First, the Princess captures me for not paying taxes that I wasn¡¯t even supposed to in the first place. And then drops me off at an underground dungeon to be experimented painfully on for who knows how long. Oh yeah, speaking of that¡­I¡¯ll need to destroy those scientists that experimented on me. Jane I think was her name? I¡¯ll make sure she suffers especially. Second, the Prince sends people with a power level of over 100 to come fetch me for who knows why. I had plenty of reasons to go after the royal family, not only the king. The moment the Prince decides to put me in a cell or punish me in any way, I¡¯ll escape when he¡¯s not looking and I¡¯ll start slaughtering the royal family. Once I¡¯m done with that¡­ I¡¯ll go back to the Prince who wouldn¡¯t know anything about the murder of his family. I¡¯ll make sure to give him a taste of his own medicine. If this kidnapping was for a good reason...would I change my plans? Nah, who would kidnap someone for a good reason? Maybe I just didn¡¯t want to forgive these people, but I was dead set on eliminating them. The moving carriage I was in, continued moving forward until it finally reached the castle gate. One of the knights tasked with guarding me went up to the meet the castle guards, it seemed like he was a well known fellow. Because the guards instantly bowed down and rushed back to open the gate. We moved through the courtyard filled with blooming flowers and dazzling, smoothed stone water fountains. The bushes and grass were perfectly trimmed and stone statues littered the courtyard. I could see the sky above because it was an open area, and it was pretty amazing. There were actually millions of stars that were strewn across the sky, unlike back on Earth. Back there, I rarely saw real stars because of the pollution clouding the skys, so this was a nice, new sight to see. I would¡¯ve liked to had been given some time to admire the place, but I was quickly directed towards the cell area. My prediction was correct, seems like they about to lock me up and ask me some stuff. Ugh, this process is really annoying, can we just get to the main confrontation already? I patiently waited to be dragged out and strapped down and tied up, but that didn¡¯t happen. Instead of being put in a cell, all my bonds were removed and I was shoved out of the metal cage I was in. I really had been treated like an animal, but that could be questioned later. As my blindfold was removed, a certain person wearing a gold lined robe, decorated with gems came into view. The Prince who had a content expression was standing right in front of me, with his guards on standby. ¡°Welcome to the Royal Castle Damon. I have an offer to propose to you.¡± Chapter 9 - A Bloody Successful Revenge ¡°I have an offer for you,¡± declared the Prince. ¡°How would you like to join the forces under my command? You surely have the strength to do so.¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m think your misunderstanding something,¡± I answered. I couldn¡¯t stand waiting any longer to carry out my revenge, what with all the talking and deals being offered. ¡°I¡¯m not here to negotiate.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re the one that''s misunderstanding. I have the power to bring you here by force, so you may as well act politely if you don¡¯t want to get hurt. I was impressed by your performance in the Knight¡¯s Order tournament, so I¡¯m asking you nicely.¡± ¡°Ok, I¡¯m actually starting to get a little pissed off at your arrogant attitude,¡± I said, as I started to get up and walk straight towards the Prince. ¡°G-Guards, stop him!¡± Every single knight that was on standby started sprinting at me, weapons ready in hand, but they stopped soon enough. All that chaos energy that I had been making sure to conceal for this exact moment burst out of me like a raging flame. The air crackled as a visible dark purple aura surrounded me, eating way at everything within the vicinity. That¡¯s the way chaos was made to be, a devourer that was dangerous for mankind unless one were able to manipulate it freely. But that was exactly what I was doing. The knights closest to me started retreating because their armour was getting turned into ash, and the chaos energy I was controlling was spreading out further. I saw many knights fall down to their knees due to the pressure I was emitting. If powerful knights assigned to the Prince¡¯s personal guard were succumbing to the pressure, that was a clear indication that I had grown more powerful than anyone could imagine. Remember that princess that forced me to her knees with the pressure she emitted? That was child''s play compared to this, I could emit that much pressure with one finger now. As the Prince watched in horror, unable to do anything. I ordered the chaos to swallow up all the knights, not even the ones with power levels in the upper ranges survived. All that was left were piles of black ash, not a single trace of the knights that had been standing there a few moments before could be seen. ¡°And that¡¯s how you do it,¡± I said towards the Prince, who was backing up against the wall behind him. Now that the obstacles were cleared, I could move onto the main dish. I think it was about time to punish the punisher, who had probably led countless innocent citizens to their death. ¡°Hm, where are those lab rats working in the underground dungeon? Bring them to me and I might just spare your life,¡± I offered. ¡°Y-YOU! How dare you order me arou-¡° His words were cut short by a pitch black sword, it seems like I can create objects with this energy too. With an expression saying ¡®try if you can¡¯, I stared at the prince. And I was met with a dumbfounded look. To show how serious I was, I made a cut using the chaos sword on his forearm, shallow enough that it wasn¡¯t a fatal injury, yet deep enough for him to get the gist of the situation. A grunt escaped from his mouth as the chaos wounded his body, but I couldn''t let him receive a quick and easy death. So I stopped the chaos from spreading and from devouring the man whole, but it sure worked up a sweat to control chaos for so long. [MP Consumption of increased to 10 MP per minute due to prolonged use.] [9880 MP Remaining] I had used a good chunk of my MP just on controlling the chaos, which went to show that no ordinary person could control this powerful, dark energy. Luckily, I had or else it would take some time until I regained all of my MP. I thought the Prince would be scared to death by now, but apparently he actually had some courage. With some difficulty, he stood up and drew his sword. ¡°Just to let you know, those scientists were already disposed of. Talking crazyily about a ability to revive, that¡¯s just unrealistic,¡± said the Prince with a pained voice. ¡°I knew all along about what you had done, but unfortunately the easiest plan wasn¡¯t successful.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Shut up already, let¡¯s get the fight started,¡± I shouted back forcefully, while keeping the fact in mind that my revenge on the scientists wasn¡¯t going to happen. CLANG! A sword made of a pitch black substance collided with another sword made of gold. The Prince and I finally started fighting the seemingly final battle in a dark, empty castle that was void of the countless guards that it once contained. My opponent was wearing expensive robes, decorated with gems and I was wearing a plain, black outfit due to the chaos energy I controlled. The sparks from our exchanges flew everywhere and the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded throughout the castle. The fight seemed even at first, but then the Prince slowly started getting pushed back, even more and more as time passed¡ªlargely due to the cut he got earlier. Additional small cuts started appearing, and then larger and larger wounds started being inflicted on the man in the expensive robes. Even though I could finish him off in a heartbeat or just let the chaos devour him, I wanted him to feel the hopelessness of the situation for as long as possible. ¡°S-stop! I command you as Prince of this country! I order you to stop this assault or I¡¯ll have you chained up again!¡± yelled the Prince who was getting overwhelmed by my black sword. ¡°That won¡¯t happen, because you will die today.¡± I finally decided enough was enough and I landed a fatal strike that cut off one of the man¡¯s legs. It seemed like the battle was finally over. GAH!!! The Prince fell down backwards, having lost a leg and started squirming in a different direction right away as quickly as he could. Amused, I pointed my pitch black sword at the bleeding Prince¡¯s heart, while I stepped on his foot to make sure that he couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°This only happened because of the Princess. If she hadn¡¯t dragged me here and tortured me for who knows how long. I wouldn¡¯t be getting my revenge like this,¡± I whispered ¡°Luckily, I got rid of her early on.¡± This wasn¡¯t true, I would head to where she was currently after finishing off her brother and do a quick hit and run. A horrified expression appeared on the once dignified face of the Prince when he heard my words. ¡°How did you get so strong anyways! We had you chained and monitored by some of the most powerful knights in this country, so how did you manage to kill them so easily with that tremendous power of yours!¡± yelled the man while he suffered in agony. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter now. You¡¯re about to die after all.¡± ¡°NOO¡ª¡± My sword made of chaos cut through the air and pierced through the Prince¡¯s heart. He finally lay limp and unmoving on the ground. And strangely, as if killing was an everyday occurrence, I, the winner of this decisive battle didn¡¯t even pay any mind to the things I had just done. ¡°I was just testing out a sword made of chaos, but it¡¯s pretty incredible. Still, I prefer my other skills over this swordsmanship one,¡± I said in an indifferent tone. I willed the black sword to disappear and it dissipated into the air from where it came from. Right after I unsummoned my sword, I could hear yells in the hallways leading to this room, the guards were coming to investigate the commotion at last. ¡°If I want to say that I have conquered the Northern Kingdom, then I¡¯ll need to get rid of the rest of the royalty as well. I can¡¯t wait to see the Princess¡¯s reaction when I tell her I killed her whole family!¡± A few moments later, the guards finally stepped foot in the room, but all they saw was a dead man on the floor. The man in black had vanished into thin air, never to be seen again. Only a single trace of the man known as Damon will remain in the Northern Kingdom, the corpses of the royal family. *** After that ordeal, I went and located the rest of the royal family and successfully dispatched of them. The Princess, who had been in the expansive castle library, reacted just how I wanted to, and expression of disbelief followed by anger that turned into rage. I don¡¯t even know if Lila remembered who I was, but she immediately turned to her telekinesis which had not been a good choice. If she had gone and used any other skill, I would have taken the time to kill her more slowly but that skill in particular brought bad memories to surface. And so the greatest Telekinesis user of the kingdom was put down in 10 seconds. The King I got rid of because he reminded me of the Prince and Princess, but if I wanted to conquer the Northern Kingdom and be able to force them to abide to my every whim. I needed someone to stay behind that would be obedient and listen to my every order. Who was a better fit than the Queen? She¡¯s seen me leisurely kill her husband and eliminate all the guards tasked with protecting them. I¡¯d simply have to tell her to do something, and she¡¯d listen if she didn¡¯t want her precious kingdom to be destroyed more than it already has. This counted as a successful conquering of a kingdom in my book. The problem was what to do from now on. I could live here in the capital city of the Northern Kingdom, but I can almost guarantee that I¡¯d be disturbed at one point or another. Possibly because of the Knight¡¯s Order tournament or someone found out about what happened to the royal family. That reminds me, I might want to visit that brown haired kid named Chiyian from the tournament. He seems interesting, and is no doubt strong enough to hold his own in a fight. Perhaps, with the right training, he could become one of the strongest in the North. Also, seeing his power level be so high at this young of an age is impressive. I wouldn¡¯t mind having a sidekick that travels along with me on my adventures in this new world. I think I¡¯ve decided then¡ªit¡¯s time to get myself a sidekick! Chapter 10 - A Request from the Demon King The sun was shining high in the sky when I found Chiyian, who was seated at a restaurant near the arena that we had fought at. Using my chaos enhanced vision, finding him was a piece of cake. Funnily enough, the smell coming from inside was so pleasant that I would have came here to eat even if the person I was looking for wasn¡¯t inside. The inside was designed like a tavern, with people sitting at small tables littered across the floor. I¡¯m pretty sure that a few people recognized me because they started approaching cheerfully. But I had business to take care of and couldn¡¯t waste anymore time or else the people from the castle would catch up and that would be a drag to deal with. I found the archer sitting at a table in a corner with his back facing me. Would he be surprised when he saw me and ask why I came here? I had concealed my power after all, so he shouldn¡¯t be able to detect my presence. You could say it was similar to but the quality of performance was different. As I prepared to confront him, another man sat down with Chiyian first. Hm, why would Dan be here? Does he have business with that boy just like me? ¡°Yo boy, congrats on making it into the Knight¡¯s Order like me and the others,¡± the bald man said while chuckling. ¡°How about you and me become friends? It¡¯ll be beneficial later on you know?¡± There was no reaction, but I could infer that he didn¡¯t want anything to do with whatever Dan¡¯s plan was. He avoided eye contact and even made sure to make it look like he was focusing on eating his cooked steak. Some great acting I would say, I don¡¯t think I could do any better than that performance right there. Unexpectedly, the muscular man didn¡¯t get mad and start forcing his plan on Chiyian. He just shrugged and started to go back to his own table, I must''ve not noticed him on my way inside because I was too distracted. I had hoped to avoid a conversation with the man too, but that didn¡¯t work out. ¡°Hey boy, you won too didn¡¯t you?¡± exclaimed Dan. ¡°Do you wanna become friends instead? It¡¯ll be very beneficial for¡ª¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± I muttered, while sitting down at the table. Once again, Dan didn¡¯t seem mad and actually read the situation. Because he started walking back to his own table and stopped bothering us. ¡°Hey Chiyian, want to make some money?¡± This time, the boy looked up. Money was probably one of the only things that would get him to cooperate. Otherwise, why join the Knight¡¯s Order? It could be for prestige and fame, but I¡¯m guessing he needs to support his family. His clothes are below average, the only thing he has that is worth anything is his equipment, and he¡¯s so young. At the end of the day, all that matters is that I have a way to lure him in. ¡°How?¡± Chiyian asked while looking me up and down. ¡°Just follow me around wherever I go. I guarantee that with our powers combined, we could make money even more easily than if you joined that Knight¡¯s Order.¡± As I said those words, I released some of the chaos energy I was concealing to get my point across. ¡°Ah, so then you aren¡¯t all talk,¡± said Chiyian with a satisfied look on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to cooperate as long as you guarantee that I¡¯ll be making more money than if I joined the Order.¡± Hmm. The salary you earn from there was a pretty decent sum. I saw when I looked at the contract, and it was a pretty good pay for just being a knight. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to guarantee that, but I can offer something else,¡± I declared softly. ¡°I can make you stronger, you just have to follow me.¡± ¡°Make me stronger?¡± Chiyian asked with surprise. ¡°How will you accomplish that Damon?¡± ¡°I will get into a lot of fights and you can learn through them constantly,¡± I offered. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to experience these battles anywhere else, only I¡¯ll be able to make sure you survive the battle and not die from the strong opponents.¡± ¡°Let me think for a bit,¡± Chiyian said. While I sat there waiting, I used my chaos enhanced eyes to look outside of the restaurant, trying to spot guards from the castle. Guards weren¡¯t what I found though. In the far distance, beings that weren¡¯t human were gathering outside the castle walls. Was this a siege or attack on the capital city? Right on time, some people ran panickedly into the restaurant yelling. ¡°Monsters have appeared at the front gate! Get to safety everyone!¡± Wow, how could I be so lucky for an opportunity to present itself to me. A perfect time to show Chiyian my strength and give him a taste of what will happen if he travels with me. ¡°Hey Chiyian, I can give you a free sample of what I offered right now if you¡¯d like,¡± I said with a grin on my face.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°W-wait, are you talking about fighting that monster horde?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, trust me and my power to protect my comrades.¡± Just like that, me and Chiyian ran towards the army of monsters without fear. *** When we arrived, I saw many knights in metal armour fighting against the horde of monsters. Both human and monster corpses littered the bloody battlefield as the fight continued. There were a few hundred people, but almost a hundred times as many monsters. A helpless situation for the city. There were goblins, trolls, orcs, kobolds, and even a dragon flying in the air at the back of the horde. I¡¯m going to assume that the dragon is the leader of this assault. It¡¯s the only creature that¡¯s intelligent enough to plan this, goblins couldn¡¯t think of these kinds of thing after all, right? I flinched when I remembered getting bashed by a club held by a petty goblin. Seems like I have some personal business to take care of now, instead of showing Chiyian what I¡¯m capable of. ¡°Hey Chiyian, watch and see if I¡¯m worthy of training you,¡± I said in a contempt tone. I received a nod from the boy that was only going to watch, as I rushed towards the monsters. My heart started beating a little faster as I rushed towards my enemies. My passive skills were going to finally be put to the test and I could finally let loose after holding back for so long. As I ran into the battle, I heard many screams of terror coming from the knights that was really unfitting of the mental image I had of them. Oh well, they won¡¯t be screaming soon cause all the monsters would be piles of ash once I¡¯m done with them. I started gathering chaos in my hand in a ball shape, and a black ball if energy formed. I¡¯ll just call this Chaos Ball for now since it¡¯ll be easier to remember. I casually flung it towards some trolls fighting against some struggling knights. At the moment of impact, the troll¡¯s body collapsed into itself as if it was devoured and the only thing that was left was ash. ¡°Wow, thank you for saving us!¡± shouted one of the knights joyously. ¡°Yeah, thanks for the help,¡± said another. I didn¡¯t spare them any of my time and started killing more and more monsters in similar ways using chaos. While I fronted Chaos Balls with my right hand, I punched holes in heads of enemies with my left hand. Very good usage of time, and gaining the trust of the citizens at the same time. The citizens that weren¡¯t fighting just watched me wreak havoc on the battlefield with my overpowering strength, and there were several cheers and praise that I had heard too. Before I realized, all the enemies except for the dragon had been eliminated. I was curious why the creature didn¡¯t attack or make any moves as I slaughtered it¡¯s army. Was it to assess my battle strength? Or an attempt to wear me out? I can only find out for myself at this point. Chiyian had a convinced expression on his face, and all the residents and knights of Gardia (the city¡¯s name) were celebrating with the overwhelming victory so far. They had no clue that a monster more powerful than that whole horde of monsters was so close and could attack at any time. But no doubt, everyone must trust me enough that they¡¯re counting on me to defeat that darn thing. This could be good for my reputation¡ªI¡¯ll be known as the saviour of the Northern Kingdom, not as the person that massacred the royal family. [MP Consumption of increased to 10 MP per minute due to prolonged use.] [9520 MP Remaining] Hm, my MP consumption has increased once again. Also, I can¡¯t believe I used almost 500 MP already¡­ that¡¯s like dying 10 times for a regular person because their total energy including their life energy is around 50. For someone like Dochet, this would be equivalent to two times his performance capabilities. Slaughtering tons of monsters on after another is really hard isn¡¯t it? I didn¡¯t realize before, but people like Dochet are pretty strong compared to everyone else. If I wasn¡¯t here, this army of monsters would have probably taken over the kingdom already despite the knights efforts. No wonder people as strong as that blond man are in high demand. Without them, civilization would have probably lost to those monsters already. While I had these thoughts, I was levitating myself off the ground to get to the dragon¡¯s eye level through the power of chaos energy. This skill allowing me to manipulate this energy has got to be the most useful skill out of everything in my arsenal. After all, I can basically do anything with chaos¡ªcreate, destroy, devour, or even fly. Happy thoughts aside, it seems like I¡¯ve finally arrived at the dragon¡¯s eye level. A gigantic being covered in red scales hovered in front of me. We were a few hundred meters in the sky, and I had a bird¡¯s eye view of Gardia right now. Quite a nice sight to see if that was my goal, but it wasn¡¯t. I had to kill this dragon even though I didn¡¯t know where it came from so that I could finally leave the Northern Kingdom and explore more of this world. I was right about to activate so that I could attack undetected, but out of nowhere the dragon started speaking¡­ or so I thought. ¡°As expected, you are worthy to be one of the generals of the Demon King¡¯s army,¡± the dragon said telepathically. Where did that come from? Me being worthy of being a general? What¡¯s this all about? I could infer that this dragon was probably a general that led this army of monsters, but a general of the Demon King¡¯s army? I need a bit more info. This dragon¡¯s power level is 321 after all, so that had sparked my curiosity about where it came from. ¡°I can see that you¡¯re confused why an enemy started talking to you all of sudden. Allow me to explain,¡± the general communicated once again. ¡°There is a Demon King in this world that possesses a powerful army full of monsters and other lifeforms. His majesty chose the 4 most powerful beings out of all his forces as generals to lead his army of monsters. Recently, one of the generals perished in a fight against the Northern kingdom, which was the kingdom you just conquered. I see that you did it so easily, due to the fact that you possess tremendous power.¡± ¡°And what does that have to do with me?¡± I asked out loud as I wondered how he knew I was the one that killed the royal family and basically controlled Gardia and the rest of the kingdom now. ¡°Well, since we are down one general and you certainly have the aspects required for the position¡­ the Demon King and the Generals of the East, South, and West formally request that you fill up the position as the General of the North.¡± Chapter 11 - Entering the Demon Realm ¡°Wait, what?¡± I shouted. ¡°The Demon King is requesting for you to take up the position as the General of the North,¡± the dragon repeated once again. ¡°But why?¡± ¡°Must I repeat myself again?¡± the dragon seemingly sighed. ¡°The power you use is definitely not one of good, it¡¯s one of evil. Add in the fact that you don¡¯t hesitate to kill humans and you having the ability to take over kingdoms, you¡¯d be perfect for the position. You¡¯ve already taken over the Northern Kingdom in a way which was the initial goal for the General of the North anyways.¡± ¡°And if I refuse?¡± I asked mockingly. ¡°Then we have no choice but to eliminate you and the rest of the North like we initially planned.¡± If I joined the Demon King¡¯s army right now, I¡¯d be betraying humanity. But it¡¯s not like humanity has done anything for me either, so it really doesn¡¯t matter what I do. The only thing that might happen is that Chiyian would become furious that I broke our agreement, but all I have to do is kill him and the problem is gone right? ¡°I can see from your expression that you¡¯re having some evil thoughts right now. Killing somebody without hesitation? See, I told you you were perfect for the role,¡± the red dragon pointed out. ¡°I have one question first. Which general are you and what would happen if I decided to kill you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the General of the East, and there¡¯s no way you¡¯d be able to kill me,¡± scolded he General of the East. ¡°We may acknowledge your strength but don¡¯t get cocky human. You¡¯re still a human that we can erase from this planet anytime we want.¡± ¡°Not very polite huh?¡± I said. ¡°So how would I benefit from joining the Demon King¡¯s army?¡± I didn¡¯t choose a side in this world, I didn¡¯t need to. After being transported into this world, I hadn¡¯t made a single friend or had a single person help me. But I was harmed by a goblin as well so that¡¯s a negative for the monster side too. Speaking of that, that reminds me of my revival ability. Does it still work or did it disappear along with that wish I made? It would make sense if the system wanted to balance out the wishes even a little bit. Having this power and being immortal is just too impossible to comprehend. The power balance of this world would be altered severely if that were the case, so I should stay alert in order to not end up dying. ¡°Anything you want, we¡¯d grant if it¡¯s a reasonable request,¡± communicated the General with its thoughts. At this point, I was so close that I could feel the heat from the dragon''s breath on my face. Didn¡¯t want me trying to escape after learning so much information huh. ¡°What if I asked to be granted even more strength?¡± I was basically limited in power right now even though my strength seemed bottomless. Before my wish was granted, I had infinite possibilities to grow, but now there¡¯s no way for me to do that. I can¡¯t train or seek new techniques, they¡¯d be useless to me anyways. What I need is something to enhance me through otherworldly means such as an extremely rare skill or something like that. Who knows, maybe my system would react to a major event such as me becoming a General of the Demon King¡¯s army or possibly killing the Demon King and his followers. That would be a big enough accomplishment right? ¡°There are certainly ways to enhance you, but only if his Majesty approves of it. We can¡¯t let you going and rebelling just cause you¡¯ve gotten a little tad bit stronger.¡± A reasonable deal, and I think I may as well just accept it. You could think of this as extending my revenge if you wanted to describe it. Also, I really wonder if I might get stronger or recieve a new skill and MP when I get enhanced by that demon¡ªthere¡¯s no other way than to try. So it¡¯s finally time for me to betray humanity, it¡¯s not like we were on good terms before either anyways. ¡°Ok, I accept the request, General of the East,¡± I declared. ¡°That¡¯s good, but we need you to prove that you¡¯re capable of killing humans without a second thought,¡± the red dragon said as it pointed its head towards the people on the ground. ¡°First, kill all the humans down there without mercy. And make it quick so we can get going.¡± Darn, another complicated task to accomplish just to be able to join the monsters side. I need to remind myself that these people have caused more harm than good to me, so I can prepare myself mentally for this slaughter. Fwooooh, choooo After inhaling and exhaling, I finally moved forward with the request. Time to kill some nasty humans, although I might regret not taking in a sidekick, but oh well. I can always get another one if the need arises. Let¡¯s just make this quick and painless, it¡¯s easier for both me and the knights down there. So I summoned a Chaos Ball the size of a pick up truck as the dragon watched me to the side, and casually tossed it down towards the citizens. Sickening screams were let out down below, but I couldn¡¯t stand them because they were hurting my ear drums.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Let¡¯s go dragon, take me to your base to meet this Demon King for me to recieve my power enhancing gift,¡± I said. ¡°Very well, That was a nice performance so I''ll tolerate your behaviour this once. I have to say it again, but you are practically a perfectl fit for this role. We¡¯d hate to lose you if you happened to go against us in any way,¡± the dragon said telepathically. I didn¡¯t utter any more words for the rest of the trip. Finally when we arrived after hours of continuous flying and countless luscious, green forests that we passed, what I saw wasn¡¯t a structure of any kind, it was a giant red portal hidden in a cave. I suppose that this portal would take me to the demon realm or something similar, which was probably where the Demon King and his army resided. When the red dragon confirmed it, I innerdly thanked my knowledge of light novels and the such for helping me throughout my travels in this world. ¡°This is one of four gates designed for the Generals of his majesty¡¯s army. As you may have guessed, this one was used by the General of the North and his portion of the army to reach the human realm,¡± the General of the East explained. I nodded in response, and immediately after my response¡ªthe gate opened. The dragon explained that upon becoming a General, you would gain access to all the portals through a secret method that only the Demon King can use. I was confused by this though, because there wasn¡¯t any secret techniques or anything like that that was involved in opening the portal for use. I simply saw a strand of chaos coming off of the dragon¡¯s body and enter a key like hole on the surface of the red gate. And that was what caused it to allow beings to enter, but I¡¯m going to stay silent about that. Since I didn¡¯t know if the Generals knew that this ¡°method¡± was simply attaching chaos to someone and commanding it to do something, but this experience provided me with some very important insight. I wasn¡¯t the only being in this world that could use and manipulate chaos energy. The Demon king could use it too, but to what degree. I didn¡¯t know, but this was the closest I ever was to catching on a hint to upgrade my stats and system further. I had definitely made the correct choice to come here was what I thought as I pictured myself patting myself on the back. You could say that luck was finally on my side for once and that pleased me ever so slightly. ¡°Come on, we¡¯re entering the Demon Realm now,¡± the dragon informed. I still didn¡¯t know what to make of this thing. It was for sure loyal to that king, but is it a threat to me? It¡¯s power level is no doubt not at the level of mine, but I wonder if I could befriend this being and make it a possible ally for the future. In order for that to happen, I¡¯ll have to make sure to harm the Demon King. Although there¡¯s a good chance I¡¯ll need to take some action against that demon, I can always try to make it seem like I had nothing to do with it. I had those thoughts as I stepped through the portal located in that damp, rocky cave and was finally transported to the Demon Realm. The place was sure a sight to see. Classic hell like terrain, you have the dark red ground and sky, sulfuric air that would instantly kill any normal person, sharp, black rocks that protrude from the ground everywhere, and don¡¯t forget the monsters spread across the terrain. They filled my entire vision when I looked around. Some dragon-like monsters flying in the sky which I would assume were wyverns, trolls, orcs and all those land type monsters roaming around. Those low level monsters were to be expected, but what I didn¡¯t expect were the dragons and one eyed creatures. Dragons not as big and menacing as the general next to me and cyclops that stood at a height of over dozens of feet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these small fry won¡¯t attack with me next to you although they might be irritated by the scent of a human¡­¡± the gian, red dragon said, but then trailed off. ¡°Wait, why do you not have the distinct scent of someone from the human species? What are you if not human?!¡± It seems like the general got agitated when I didn¡¯t seem like a human. Would someone with the level of power I possessed be human? No, they would seem like a god to all others, but the title of god didn¡¯t seem like it was the correct description of me. I still didn¡¯t know what I had become, but it was definitely not something as holy and pure as a god. This chaos power I possess is something a devil would have, not a god. At least I¡¯ve narrowed down my choices, but as of now when I have no info whatsoever, I shouldn''t dwelling on this. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said inconspicuously. ¡°But I¡¯m definitely not human, comrade.¡± I made sure to emphasize being an ally since it might become dangerous if this monster started doubting me due to my scent and eventually lead to suspicion. The dragon snorted in response, but it seemed like it didn¡¯t care that much since it just started flying into the air once again telling me to follow. It was about time we started heading towards the Demon King''s castle. The roars and sounds of aggression from the monsters everywhere were a tiny bit agitating, so I kept my guard up even though the General of the East reassured me over and over. Due to this, I made a mental note that once I officially became a general, I¡¯d make sure to teach those small fry who¡¯s boss with some old fashioned punishment. Suddenly, a giant castle made of a pitch black material came into view. It was¡­ huge. Picture Mt. Everest cut in half and its cliffs replaced with falls of lava, mountain peaks replaced with black goblets filled with blazing hot fire, and cave openings as colossal crimson red doors guarded by monsters dressed in bloody armour. It was a new and interesting sight to see after staying in the human realm where everything was supposed to be grand and majestic. Only after seeing the castle did I come to realize how horrifying and cruel this realm actually was. Chapter 12 - Meeting the Demon King We entered through one of the colossal gates and ended up in a giant circular room with a pitch black throne in the middle. At the moment, there was no one seated there, but that was probably the Demon King¡¯s seat. Without notice, the dragon left telling me that he would go inform his majesty that we have arrived leaving me guarded by a few puny monster guards. I tried to make small talk with the guards for I was going to become an official member of their army soon enough, but it seems like lower levels monsters like these couldn¡¯t speak properly. How unfortunate, I wanted to find out more about this world but that seems to have failed. As I thought to myself, I was reminded that I could just observe everything through my chaos enhance vision. [Due to the presence of another Chaos user, effectiveness of has been decreased by 50%] Hm, so this kind of thing happens too. That just confirms the fact that the Demon King can control chaos energy too, but 50% debuff? Isn¡¯t that a bit too much? This would be like splitting my body in half and telling me to fight, how unfair. I had the time to use my vision to observe, but it was more difficult this time. I couldn¡¯t focus the chaos around my eyes, it would shift around and disperse whenever I tried to concentrate it on one place. In the end, I just gave up in trying to find how strong the monsters were and other pieces of info too. Eventually the Demon King arrived with the General of the East to his side. It wasn¡¯t some grand entrance or anything like that, more like he just strolled into the room like any other person would with his rope dragging alongside the smoothed ground. This demon, didn¡¯t actually look like a demon. If not for the two meter sized horns on his head and his pair of red eyes, I would have mistaken him for a human. He looked to be around in his 20s if you were to describe his age in human like years, he had a head full of black hair, a black robe decorated with blood red linings which covered his muscles, and a pale face with sharp features. ¡°Welcome to my castle,¡± the demon said in a deep, rumbling voice. I decided to get straight to the point and asked, ¡°What do I have to do to become the General of the North your majesty?¡± ¡°Hm? Nothing, I can clearly see that you¡¯re capable enough.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I can detect with my special ability that you can use ¡®that¡¯ energy as well.¡± So that¡¯s what he was talking about. Now that he mentions it, when I look at his body I can see this silhouette of a purple aura too. That was easy, but I need to claim my reward first. ¡°Ah, I understand,¡± I said. ¡°So about my reward¡­¡± [Due to becoming allies with another powerful chaos user, has become partially unlocked. (?)] ¡°Did this dragon over here say you were gonna get a reward?¡± the humanoid demon said as he turned his head to face the dragon. ¡°I told you never to do that again! I¡¯ll have to take away some privileges for disobeying orders.¡± He didn¡¯t seem mad though, more like someone being entertained by the dragon¡¯s actions. The king had a more playful tone than an angry one making him seem like not that bad of a person. Did all those representations of demons being evil lie? ¡°There¡¯s something weird about you though human,¡± the Demon said as he directed his attention back to me. ¡°We don¡¯t have an urge to kill you due to the lack of a human scent. How weird.¡± ¡°You can think whatever you want, but if there¡¯s no benefit in joining your army I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any point in me joining,¡± I declared matter of factly. ¡°Hm, but I can¡¯t let you just roam free after seeing all this so¡­ either become a general and swear loyalty or die a painful death,¡± the Demon King said as his face contorted into a sneer. Fighting this being would be a little exhausting even for me, because after hundreds of tries and focusing intently I finally got the chaos to focus around my eyes. And I found out that this monster¡¯s power level was a monsterous 957. What a powerful being, probably one of the strongest in this new world I¡¯m in. Wait, but doesn¡¯t that basically mean I¡¯m close to the strongest in this world? ¡°Choose now, or I¡¯ll just kill you,¡± the king snarled. ¡°Kill me then¡ªif you can that is but you might regret your choice after,¡± I said as I grinned and got into a fighting stance. ¡°Me kill you when you¡¯re so helpless? That would be easy, but that would hurt my pride so¡ª¡± He pointed towards the dragon and the guards. ¡°You guys kill him for me, no need for me to waste energy when I have servants to do it for me.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I take back what I said before, this guy was a total douchebag that just acts nicely when he wants something. How disgusting, I for sure won¡¯t regret killing these guys even if they weren¡¯t monsters. I decided that my chaos manipulation wouldn¡¯t be the best in this situation, so it was time for me to test out .
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 10000 [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
[Passive Skills]
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Manipulation of Chaos Energy (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
|Demon Synchronization| (5.4%)
My Demon synchronization had taken a large jump which I predict is from me being so close to a real Demon King. Sometimes I wonder if I¡¯ll become stronger through demon synchronization or through some other way such as that notification from earlier. Darkness energy was probably an upgrade from chaos so that was a possibility for growth after this power cap that hasn¡¯t budged. Luckily, I came back to my senses when the General and the guards charged towards me with the desire to kill. I had tried to become an ally of that darn dragon, but it seems like his link with that demon is too strong to overcome so I have no choice now. It was time to kill them all since the Demon King was simply sitting on his throne watching the whole spectacle. 50 feet. 40 feet. 30 feet. Now! I sprinted forwards as quick as I could and I covered the distance of 30 feet in seconds, which was the perfect amount of time I needed to wind up a punch. Pressure was emitted from the air around my arm as I unleashed a fierce punch which ended up ending the lives of all the guards who came charging in a straight line with a giant, gaping hole in their heads. Little did I know, the section of wall behind them was also reduced to dust. How dumb of them to move in a linear fashion, that just makes my job easier. All at once, the powerless monsters were crushed and now all that was left was the main dish. One of the four generals and the being that controlled them all. I kept running towards the General of the East after eliminating the small fry, winding up my arm once more to prepare for an attack, but the dragon flew into the air far from my reach. I couldn¡¯t just let the energy I gathered on my arm already go to waste though, so I used some of me leg strength and leaped into the air. My arms started flailing, but I controlled them as I started falling towards the top of the gian dragon general¡¯s head. It seemed like it didn¡¯t know where I was because I had jumped with my full strength, making it seem like I had disappeared instead of performing a insanely fast action. It would be the dragon¡¯s downfall for not seeing this coming, it was just moving it head from side to side trying to spot me. Before the Demon King could lend a hand and yell out my position though, I had already fell back down while punching another hole through the dragon¡¯s head. What an anti-climatic ending for someone as important as the General of the East, but oh well. I saw a shocked expression coming from the being sitting on the pitch black throne, but he adjusted his face as soon as he saw me looking at him. He cleared his throat, like he was severely surprised and stood up while rolling up his sleeves. It was time to fight the final boss and get out of this horrific realm. ¡°Say, you wouldn¡¯t rethink your decision at all? I¡¯ll offer you the highest position in my army and even let you take something from my treasury,¡± the Demon said with a little bit of panic showing in the corner of his face. ¡°Sure thing,¡± I replied nonchalantly while pointing towards the dead dragon¡¯s corpse taking up a quarter of the space in this circular throne room.. ¡°You should''ve just said that in the beginning and you might not have lost an important member of your army.¡± ¡°Good point, but now at least I know your strength first hand,¡± the Demon King replied without giving his dead ally a glance at all. ¡°Let¡¯s head to my treasury now.¡± I followed the humanoid being deep into the castle, past winding corridors and stairways, hundreds of guards, and even a room filled with tables. Finally, we arrived at the treasury which was locked by a huge black chain that looked like it weighed a ton. When I tried lifting the chains, I had to exert a little bit of strength, but getting my to try at all was impressive. ¡°That¡¯s made of the heaviest substance known to demonkin. It¡¯s a miracle I had enough to make these chains, it¡¯s a rare substance after all,¡± the Demon King stated. After unlocking the bonds, I opened the creaking door and was amazed by the sight. Hundreds of thousands of glittering jewels and equipment shone in the dark haze, it sure was a sight to see. And I got to pick anything from this collection to keep, what a great opportunity. Letting this opportunity go would be a waste, so I was determined to find something that would improve my system and if I couldn¡¯t find that¡­ I¡¯d just settle for some cool equipment then. ¡°Take as long as you want, I¡¯ll be standing outside so call me once you¡¯re done choosing what you want.¡± The demon left and I was all alone to explore this vast treasury. Who knows, I could end up even more powerful than I already am or I could end up a little bit richer. It¡¯s still a plus in the end anyways and if I¡¯m dissatisfied anytime, I could always just slaughter everyone and keep everything for myself. Tch, I don¡¯t need to overthink this, let¡¯s just focus on searching for the treasure that would upgrade any aspect of my system. After what I thought was hours of continuously touching artifacts and seeing if my system reacted, I finally got a response upon wearing a ring. The ring had a shiny ruby handle and a pitch black jewel encrusted on the ruby handle that seemed to devour all light that came near it. [ has been aquired. Requirements for has been met. Commencing upgrade of the system¡­] Chapter 13 - The Darkness Ring [ has been aquired. Requirements for has been met. Commencing upgrade of the system¡­] Did I just hit the jackpot? Another system upgrade from wearing a ring found in a treasury, I guess luck was on my side today. As I examined the ring to see if it had any special physical effects, I heard many notifications coming from my system. [ has evolved into ] [ has been increased by 1000.] This is definitely the jackpot, I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t kill that demon or else I would¡¯ve missed out on a lot. Now, instead of feeling the chaos in the air I could feel a different, more evil energy and it was more potent as well. So that would be darkness, feels more powerful and there¡¯s more of it as well.
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 1750 11000 [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
[Passive Skills]
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Darkness Manipulation (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
|Demon Synchronization| (25%)
Hmm, along with my power level and MP increase, my demon synchronization went up by 20% just from a simple upgrade. I still don¡¯t know if the transformation would be good or bad for me, but I guess only time will tell. Since I finished choosing the item I wanted, I left the treasury and was greeted by a snoring Demon King on the ground. Drool was flowing down from his mouth, but when I got close enough he sprung onto his feet alert and got into in a fighting stance. ¡°Oh sorry, I thought you were a robber but then I remembered that I let you in there,¡± the demon said while rubbing the back of his head in an awkward manner. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I found the item I want so you can close the vault now,¡± I exclaimed ¡°Why did you choose that ring though, it isn¡¯t valuable and it doesn¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°I thought it looked good,¡± I said even though that wasn¡¯t my reason for choosing it. This leads me to believe that this system is better than I thought because there might be other items similar to this ring that only I can take advantage of. ¡°Well now that you¡¯re done choosing your gift, let¡¯s head over to my private quarters to make sure you sign the contract,¡± the Demon King suggested. ¡°What is your name by the way? It¡¯s weird calling you Demon King all the time,¡± I said. ¡°My name¡¯s Bugat, and how about you?¡± Should I come up with another alias or just tell him my real name? My real name is kind of plain, so I¡¯ll think of a cool alias instead. That way, if someone happens to become my enemy, I could just change my name again and no one would be able to track me. Now that I think about it, I should do this more often. ¡°You can call me Dark Orchid,¡± I disclosed in a casual manner. "If you didn¡¯t know already Dark Orchid, you¡¯ve been appointed as the new General of the North,¡± Bugat stated. I nodded my head in response as Bugat opened the black stoned door that led to his quarters. Inside was the same as the bedrooms of royalty back in the Northern Kingdom, but everything was made of a smooth black rock and rubies. It was like a room of a castle in hell, but I guess the demon realm was basically hell so it made sense why everything was coloured red and black. I breathed in the air and it smelled cleaner than outside where everything was sulfuric¡ªeven the smell of the room was more pure, but compared to the human realm still life threatening. ¡°Welcome to my quarters, just follow me to my office so you can sign the correct contracts,¡± Bugat suggested. I didn¡¯t know demons had offices, guess there¡¯s more to them than savage monsters that love killing. The office I entered was just like the bedroom, black and red materials for everything and the chairs didn¡¯t look so comfy. Luckily, I didn¡¯t have to sit because Bugat told me he just had to get something and that the process would just take a few minutes. This was a good chance to test this darkness energy, let¡¯s see what I can do if i enhance my vision with darkness instead of chaos! Instantly the world was turned dark, and not dark like there being no light. Everything was pitch black, not a single speck of light anywhere. It was like the colours of the world had all disappeared and all that was left was the darkness of nothingless. For some reason though, I could still see perfectly since all the furniture that was in the room was outlined by a white line fitting the frames of everything. I turned my head in a circle and found out that I could see through things as well since I saw Bugat in a different room gathering some scrolls. Unlike the furniture, I could see this coloured light inside Bugat that gave me an ominous feeling.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
{Bugat} [Title] Demon King [Power Level] 957 [Threat] Medium
  • Can manipulate Chaos Energy
  • Controls an army of demons
Isn¡¯t this Darkness Energy too overpowered? I literally found out everything I needed about that demon in a few seconds, can¡¯t believe this evolution is this much more powerful and useful. I¡¯m so glad I trusted my intuition and followed that dragon here or else this beneficial event never would''ve happened. Well, I may have gotten pretty powerful but what use is there living without a goal. My previous goal was accomplished so what now, just wandering around doing nothing would be a waste of time so how about a new goal for me. I¡¯ve gotten even stronger and there might be more realms to explore other than the Demon Realm. I still have a grudge against humans so maybe I should destroy another kingdom by leading a monster invasion, I¡¯m pretty sure the Demon King would like that choice too. Speaking of Bugat, here he comes with the contract scrolls. ¡°Whoa Dark Orchid, your eyes were emitting strands of a dark energy,¡± Bugat exclaimed as he walked back into the office. ¡°It was nothing, just lost control over my power for a little bit,¡± I replied. ¡°You better not try anything you hear?¡± Bugat declared coldly as he let a wisp of chaos energy form around his hand. ¡°Or else you¡¯ll get punished severely.¡± ¡°I understand your majesty,¡± I whispered even though chaos energy wasn¡¯t even a threat anymore. If Chaos energy was a 10, Darkness energy would be 100. A very huge difference that couldn¡¯t be closed through normal means. ¡°Good,¡± Bugat said as the chaos energy disappointed once again. ¡°Now let¡¯s get you signing these contracts with your blood!¡± I proceeded to let drops of my blood splatter on the scrolls proving my loyalty. All that was written was that I had to obey the current Demon King¡¯s orders until the next Demon King was chosen or the current one dies. Another perfect situation huh, hope all this luck doesn¡¯t backfire one day and I end up dying from a petty paper cut. ¡°Now that you have signed the contract, we an officially announce you as a General, but we are sadly back at square one,¡± Bugat groaned. ¡°Sorry for that, but you were trying to kill me so I had to defend myself,¡± I said bluntly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were that strong though!¡± Bugat said jokingly as he poked my arm and laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t go gunning for my position ok?¡± I disregarded his comment and just followed him to the army quarters to make the big announcement of a new general being appointed and another general¡¯s death. As I looked down from an elevated podium, I could tell the army¡¯s quarters were in horrible shape compared to Bugat¡¯s private quarters. A rancid smell floated in the air, the walls and floor were dirty and worn down, and the furniture in the area was a complete wreck. It made sense if you looked at who was inhabiting the area though, this was the monster¡¯s way of living anyways so I guess it was better like this. Goblins, trolls, all the monsters I saw roaming outside were gathered here except these looked stronger than normal. I could just sense it somehow, it might be due to this darkness energy but I can instantly measure their ability. Soon, the monsters noticed the presence of their king, they lined up in rows as quickly as possible, and bowed their heads while greeting their king in unison. It seemed like this was a common occurrence because every single monster was bowing, showing their utmost respect towards their leader. ¡°I have some news for you guys,¡± Bugat declared loudly without bothering with greetings. ¡°We got a new guy to replace the General of the North guys!¡± Cheers of joy came from below as I revealed myself to the monsters looking up. Suddenly, for some reason the cheers died down and was replaced by a sudden silence instead. That was when a large cyclops that looked felt like the strongest out of all the monsters started speaking towards Bugat. ¡°Y-Your majesty,¡± the cyclops said while trying to hold back the killing intent clearly showing in his face. ¡°But why have you brought a human here as a replacement?¡± ¡°If you believe he is a human, then do what you want¡­but,¡± Bugat said mysteriously as he paused. ¡°Take a sniff at the air, do you smell the scent of a human or something else? At once, all the monsters on the ground started sniffing the air and results started appearing within a few seconds. ¡°I don¡¯t smell a human!¡± one troll said. ¡°Me either!¡± an orc shouted. ¡°He may not be human, but he isn¡¯t a monster either,¡± the large cyclops from before inquired. ¡°He looks very much like a human too, I doubt he can even understand us right now.¡± Because of that statement, all eyes in the room pointed towards me and I felt a sense of pressure that I hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. But Bugat looked smug and even gave me a pat on the back as if saying good luck. Well, I guess he could be like that since he knew I could understand the language they spoke. I didn¡¯t even realize that the languages I communicated with were that different, it just kind of flowed out of me in response to others. ¡°Well, I can no doubt understand you but can you understand these words I¡¯m speaking right now?¡± I asked while projecting my voice throughout the room. Instantly, the doubt on the monster army below turned into expressions of relief and joy. The cheers resumed and the atmosphere became festive all due to there being a new General that was appointed. I didn¡¯t know that Generals meant this much to Bugat¡¯s army, but now that I think of it it really does make a difference. A general essentially has the power of a whole army, so the addition of a new general increases the strength of the forces by a huge sum. No wonder they¡¯re celebrating¡ªI wonder how they¡¯ll react when they realize nothing really change cause the number of generals is still the same. I waved my hands around like I was greeting my fans as Bugat prepared to deliver the bad news. ¡°Sorry to destroy the festive atmosphere, but there¡¯s some bad news as well,¡± Bugat said gloomingly. ¡°Unfortunately, the General of the East died in battle.¡± The mood shifted suddenly again, it was a downcast and gloomy atmosphere this time as the monsters all sulked and some even began to cry. Monsters had feelings too? I guess light novels and the such are biased, only capturing the bad side of monsters. Tsk tsk. Well, at least that pitiful Demon King thought about me before making that announcement, or else I could¡¯ve gotten into some big trouble with my new allies. ¡°Let¡¯s just forget that bad incident and celebrate our new General of the North! His name is Dark Orchid, but refer to him as sir from now on ok?!¡± Bugat declared loudly enough that every single monster could hear. ¡°As you wish, your majesty,¡± the monsters said in unison. ¡°Now welcome the General of the North,¡± Bugat said. ¡°Welcome, sir. We will be your loyal followers until the day we die,¡± they said with the utmost respect while maintaining a bowed position. ¡°I¡¯m glad to be here too,¡± I replied in a seemingly honest tone. Got to make them believe I truly want to be here and that there¡¯s no chance of betrayal. It seems I finally get to experience controlling my own personal army. What would the future be like I wonder, I always thought I would be on the side of humans but now I¡¯m allying with monsters in a Demon King¡¯s castle. I can¡¯t wait to see what happens in this new life of mine, especially since I¡¯m in the Demon Realm where Kingdoms and Adventurers from light novels don¡¯t exist . My adventures in this second life have only just begun. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! Hello all my readers, First off thanks to all of you for sticking with me and reading my novel. It''s my second attempt and I''m amazed at how much better it is than my first one. Just gotta give a shoutout to @omalleykoja for commenting and reading my chapters on the day they release everytime. I really appreciate the comments you give every time I release a new chapter! Thanks for all the support!Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Now on to the announcement. I will be taking a one week break starting from today due to having final projects and exams coming up. I need to study and make sure I don''t fail school before I continue writing this novel. It''s a much needed break and I hope you guys understand. That''s all guys. See you in a week! P.S. If you''re still in school, get off of Royal Road and study for your darn exams! Chapter 14 - A Not So Friendly Reunion on a Bloody Battlefield After meeting with my new army, I was shown to my personal quarters by that big cyclops that spoke up from before. Bugat said he had some matters to attend to and left me with the cyclops who''s name I found out was Z after asking him. Z was very obedient when I told him to show me the way to my room, even taking care of opening doors and clearing the way in front of me. These guy¡¯s moods can sure shift quickly depending on if you¡¯re a stranger or an ally. It¡¯s a pretty big difference in my mind, one second showing your hostility but then becoming respectful and obedient in another. "So what am I supposed to do now?¡± I asked Z. "We were preparing for a war before you came sir. Hopefully we can continue with our plans now that you are here,¡± Z replied politely. ¡°Oh, so when can we start the invasion on the human realm?¡± ¡°As soon as you are rested sir. We will attack the Eastern Kingdom with your army.¡± ¡°I¡¯m rested already, let¡¯s just start the invasion cause I¡¯m bored already.¡± ¡°Yes sir, I¡¯ll make sure the army is ready as soon as possible!.¡± Z walked away with a salute after I gave him permission to gather my army. I think this guy was pretty well respected and a loyal subordinate before I took up this position. Maybe he was the second in command before, but he will for sure be my second in command now. Unless I find someone better that is. Thankfully, Z left after showing me to my quarters so I was able to not get lost in this gigantic castle. My room was basically the same as Bugat¡¯s, just smaller and less decorated with precious gems. There was still a bedroom, bathroom, office, storage room and some other rooms I didn¡¯t get to explore. The moment after exploring that much of my new living place, Z came rushing back to report an emergency. ¡°Sorry that I couldn¡¯t get the army ready sir!¡± Z said while bowing. ¡°But we have an emergency right now. Our forces standing by in the human realm are being attacked by forces from the Eastern Kingdom!¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this the perfect opportunity,¡± I snickered. ¡°We don¡¯t even have to attack first. Let¡¯s go Z, time to annihilate another kingdom.¡± *** It was a different forest than the one I saw before taking the portal to the demon realm. It would''ve been a nice sight if there weren¡¯t corpses of humans and monsters littering the ground, trees burning to ashes, and smoke clouding the clear blue sky. There were knights battling it out against my monster army that was slowly losing hope. That all changed once they saw me arrive thought. ¡°Hooray! Our General as arrived!¡± ¡°Time to win this battle!¡± ¡°Lead us sir Dark Orchid!¡± Shouts of hope and joy came from my monster subordinates as Z appeared out of the portal from behind me. He had offered for me to change into a new set of fancy clothes fit for a General of the Demon King¡¯s army, but I had refused. I liked this all black outfit, it fit my nickname I made up as well. Also, is it just me or do my clothes seem darker and more menacing than before? ¡°I suggest we start fighting back sir,¡± Z exclaimed quietly as he practiced swinging his giant, spiked metal club in the air. ¡°We don¡¯t want to lose any more forces to those wretched humans.¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± I casually replied as I floated into the air. The knights in silver armor looked confused, probably because they couldn''t understand anything that was happening, but then one person shouted out. ¡°It¡¯s one of the four legendary Generals!¡± she declared loudly. ¡®Let¡¯s retreat before we get annihilated!¡± ¡°HOLD IT!¡± a familiar looking blond man yelled angrily as he pushed his way to the front of the human forces. ¡°I have a personal grudge to settle with that man floating up there, and there¡¯s no damn way that guy is a legendary General.¡± ¡°Oho, is that you Dochet?¡± I mocked. ¡°Didn¡¯t recognize you because of that huge burn mark on the side of your face. ¡°It¡¯s not a DAMN BURN MARK!¡± Dochet screamed with anger. ¡°YOU DID TO THiS ME! REMEMBER WHEN YOU THREW THAT BALL OF WHATEVER TOWARDS US DOWN BELOW?! DO YOU REMEMBER YOU BASTARD?!¡± ¡°Oh yeah, but what are you going to do about it?¡± I chuckled. ¡°You think you can beat me in that petty state of yours?¡± I really didn¡¯t care about Dochet or humans in general anymore. There really wasn¡¯t anyone worth mentioning at all, humans were so weak that I could kill them with the pressure I emitted alone. But that makes me wonder if there really is anyone strong enough to fight me head on in this world. I really want to test out if I can still revive or not, but there¡¯s no one currently to test it out with. I think that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do after destroying the Kingdom of the East, I should wrap this up quickly so I can find out more.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I moved to the Kingdom of the East due to you, I¡¯ll get them all to hunt you down so I can get revenge,¡± Dochet snarled fiercely. ¡°I really hate talking, it bores me even more than weak opponents,¡± I sighed as I prepared to give an order to my army. ¡°My soldiers, follow after me and make sure not to leave one human left standing.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± the remaining monsters cheered in unison even though almost all of them had been wiped out already. ¡°KNIGHTS! ATTACK AND CAPTURE THAT GUY IN BLACK AND HAND HIM OVER TO ME QUICKLY!¡± Dochet screamed like a maniac. Many of the knights were hesitant, but rushed into battle as soon as they saw the murderous expression on Dochet¡¯s face. I wonder where Chiyian is, did he die from that attack or did he survive like Dochet and travel to a different Kingdom?I¡¯ll find out at a later date, I need to focus on destroying these guys and then the kingdom first. Since I made a chaos ball before, I tried to make a darkness ball this time. I gathered the darkness energy in the air and condensed it into a ball the same size as the one I used back in the Northern Kingdom. But the feeling was entirely different. More powerful, but more sinister as well¡ªthere was even black lightning shooting out from the surface of the darkness ball. [MP Consumption of increased to 100 MP per minute due to prolonged use.] [11900 MP Left] |Demon Synchronization| (30%) It seems this evolved form of chaos energy has its downsides as well, the MP usage is too high for to handle and the Demon synchronization went up by 5% as well. Because Darkness Energy is like an evolved form of Chaos Energy, I should be able to still control chaos easily. I didn¡¯t want to waste the amount of times I could use Darkness Energy, I¡¯ll just use chaos energy instead. I couldn¡¯t do that now though because the ball of darkness was already gathered in my hand and I had a clear line of sight directly towards Dochet and the other humans. May as well see how much damage this new energy can do. I once again casually tossed the pitch black ball of sinister energy towards the humans down below... is this d¨¦ja vu?...and the knights immediately scrambled away from the incoming attack. Probably because even they could sense that they would die as soon as the darkness ball was close enough. Unfortunately for them, the moment my attack was within a certain range the knight¡¯s used to be glistening armour was vaporized followed by the knights themselves. I could hear screams of agony and curses directed at me, but I was a General of the Demon King¡¯s army now¡ªsorry to say but it¡¯s my job now. The front lines of the human forces was already obliterated as my darkness ball kept moving towards Dochet who was situated at the very back. ¡°Someone who can use holy energy! Counter that giant ball of evil energy right now!¡± Dochet screamed at the top of his lungs. A few people wearing white robes and held a staff ran to Dochet¡¯s side as they started chanting a spell. A pitiful looking pure, white energy appeared in front of their hands that were aiming towards my darkness ball. Hm, I didn¡¯t think of this before but if there¡¯s chaos and darkness energy, there must be an opposite type of energy as well. What did Dochet call it? Holy energy? I rubbed my chin as I thought as what the evolution of holy energy would be. The evolution of chaos energy was darkness energy so¡­ the evolution of holy energy must be light energy. It¡¯s disappointing that I couldn¡¯t think of that quicker, it¡¯s such an easy inference. What I guessed were priests released the soccer sized balls of holy energy towards my darkness ball that was easily 10x bigger. It seemed like the volume of holy energy was larger compared to the volume of my darkness energy, but size didn¡¯t mean everything. The density and pure power of my darkness energy was easily overwhelming the puny energy the priests defended with. Also, the priests had around a power level of 80, how could their attacks compare to someone like me who had a power level of 1750? [Due to devouring enough lifeforce, Demon Synchronization increases by 5%] |Demon Synchronization| (35%) It was my demon synchronization again, all I can do about that is to limit the use of Darkness Energy. Suddenly, I felt an urge I¡¯ve never felt before come from a place deep inside my body, a strong hatred and murderous intent towards the humans that were fighting for their lives. It was as if my whole body was being moved against my will by an unknown being. Sweat was dripping down my entire body and it wasn¡¯t from the temperature, I was struggling to bring the urge under control and stop myself from annihilating everything around me. I could almost imagine a part of my brain being corrupted by darkness and it being controlled by someone else. What was I supposed to do! If I lost consciousness now from this internal struggle, my forces would be wiped out and we would lose this battle! No, I can¡¯t lose control of myself, I absolutely have to dispel this mind controlling killing intent. ¡°ARGHHHHH¡± I shouted so loudly that the battle below stopped momentarily. In that brief second of struggle, I managed to win back control over my body but I felt chills down my back because of the sound I just made. I didn¡¯t hear only my voice, it was as if another being¡¯s voice was mixed in with mine when I shouted in pain. I calmed myself and repeatedly told myself that whatever that was, was gone already. After restoring my calm mental state and making sure I was high enough so that no attacks could hit me as my darkness ball did all the slaughtering for me, I analyzed what just happened. The moment my demon synchronization reached 35%, this urge for blood appeared out of nowhere and it was as if a part of my body submitted to the control of another being. Demon synchronization can be the only reason for this, and that other being was no doubt a demon. So I can assume that once demon synchronization reaches 100%, I¡¯ll be fully possessed by a demon. I¡¯ll need to focus more of my efforts on stopping that from happening but once again. My current goal is to destroy the Kingdom of the East, can¡¯t stray away from that since I already started something with their knights. I turned my head back to the battle and was greeted by a flying blond haired man that was headed towards me with great speed. ¡°DAMON! I GOT YOU NOW!¡± Chapter 15 - Supreme Demon King Othidas ¡°DAMON! I GOT YOU NOW!¡± screamed Dochet maniacally as he flew like a bullet towards me. I could¡¯ve simply dodged and saved a lot of energy, but Dochet was becoming annoyingly persistent. May as well get rid of him now and not have the possibility of his stubborn self from going against me again. I felt the familiar sensation of chaos in the air and manipulated it expertly to surround Dochet, and start devouring his body. It was easier compared to before I got the power to control this darkness energy, I basically didn¡¯t even have to put in the effort to concentrate anymore. The dark purple, haze like energy surrounded Dochet upon my command and started devouring. This familiar sight of matter being turned into nothingness was still satisfying to see, even if it was a human being taken apart atom by atom. He didn¡¯t even have time to scream before the chaos got to him completely in the span of a few seconds. What a poor soul, I even knew him personally yet he didn''t accept my restraint and flee like he should have. The question is how did he manage to ascend this quickly? I eyed the battle still continuing with ferocity down below with my enhance vision, and managed to spot another familiar face. Dan too? If it weren¡¯t for the violence and the presence of monsters, I¡¯d think this would¡¯ve been a pretty nice reunion¡ªbut it isn¡¯t. That bald muscular guy was ripping monsters in half with his brute strength. With that strength, throwing someone as heavy as Dochet to this height would¡¯ve been a piece of cake. I guess I¡¯ve found my new target. I¡¯ll regret it a little, since he seemed like a pretty friendly guy back when he talked to me and Chiyian. But I¡¯m a part of the Demon King¡¯s army now I said as I sighed. I¡¯ve got no choice and I think this battle has gone on for long enough. With perfect control, I commanded all the chaos energy in the vicinity to go devour all the humans nearby. Just like it was supposed to, the chaos obeyed my cruel command without any resistance and started latching onto all the knights and humans present. The battlefield became a screaming hellhole, people turning into ash left and right leaving nothing behind except the echo of their dying voice begging for help. It was a horrid sound that resounded throughout the forest, causing groups of animals to scurry away from this area. Fuuuuuu. I didn¡¯t even get to talk to Dan one last time, but oh well. I can always make new acquaintances and it was an order of course really. The only trace of a battle between armies was the black and red marks of blood colouring the ground, an uneven surface littered with holes varying in sizes, and the corpses of monsters from my army. If anyone saw this gruesome sight, they would no doubt vomit without hesitation. I would¡¯ve done the same if I was still the same Ryan from back on Earth. ¡°Sir Dark Orchid, your army needs a little bit of rest before they are ready to proceed with the attack against the Kingdom of the East,¡± reported Z excitedly. ¡°You are stronger than I ever imagined, we would¡¯ve lost that battle if it weren¡¯t for you sir!¡± ¡°Thanks Z,¡± I responded puffing up my chest a tiny bit. ¡°So, how long until my troops are ready?¡± ¡°No less than a few hours sir,¡± answered Z. ¡°Great, I¡¯m going to take a little nap to recover some energy,¡± I said. ¡°Make sure to not disturb me.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Z responded with enthusiasm. Now where should I take a short nap? That perfectly bed shaped rock looks the most comfortable, but it¡¯s still a rock after all. I wonder if I can create objects with my chaos energy too¡ªI made a sword out of chaos before so this should be a piece of cake. When enough dark purple chaos energy was gathered in my hand, I visualized a comfy king sized bed that would make for a perfect night¡¯s rest. Immediately, the chaos took the form of a bed and it matched my visualization piece for piece. I should put a layer of protection around the bed too, in case there¡¯s anyone stupid enough to try to pull a surpise attack on me while I slept. Using the same simple process from before, I once again produced a sphere made of dark purple energy that surrounded the bed floating dozens of feet in the air. Ahhh, I can finally relax a little. The chaos sphere moved to the side to make way for me as I entered inside, lying down on the bed and falling asleep as soon as I closed my tired eyes. A darkness that looked similar to the darkness energy I had wielded swallowed me whole. Didn¡¯t I fall asleep? Where am I and how am I able to move around? I wiggled my toes and fingers and they moved properly, but I couldn¡¯t feel the solid ground or any objects anywhere. It was like I was floating aimlessly in this black, empty space. I couldn¡¯t see with my regular vision, but then I tried to manipulate chaos energy to enhance my vision. What?! There wasn¡¯t any energy in this surrounding space at all! Starting to panic, I tried controlling darkness energy this time, but that failed as well. What is this space? Chaos and darkness energy is supposed to be abundant and found anywhere! There was plenty in not only the human realm, but in the demon realm too so how is it that there is none here? Unless...this is a dream, but then how would I be able to feel my body? Not even lucid dreams are like this so how¡ª ¡°You¡¯re inside my domain at the moment, puny human.¡± A deep, raspy voice resounded throughout the empty space I was floating aimlessly in, but I couldn¡¯t detect the origins of this ominous voice. I searched around, but came up with nothing. ¡°There¡¯s no point in trying to find me. I¡¯m a part of you after all boy.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°What?! Show yourself! What even are you? How can you be a part of me if¡­¡± I demanded as my voice trailed off. ¡°So you¡¯ve realized, I tried to take control but sadly you¡¯re mental strength is more resilient than I thought. ¡°So you were the one with that killing urge that tried to wrest control of my body from me huh?¡± I declared, trying to hide the fact that I was a tiny bit scared that this being might try again. I may as well try to benefit somehow out of this conversation and try to find out if this is related to demon synchronization at all. ¡°Well you may as well give up you demon, since I have the demon king on my side.¡± ¡°So that little rascal is still alive eh?¡± the demon bellowed in an amused tone. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t matter anyways since the more you use that evil power, I¡¯ll gain back my original tremendous strength more rapidly and I¡¯ll eventually be able to go back to the physical realm through your body.¡± So far, I¡¯ve determined that this demon knows Bugat somehow and is trying to take control of my body in order to reach the physical realm. This demon also gains access to more of his original power the higher |Demon Synchronization| rises, so now I know that I definitely need to stop using that darkness energy. This being must be trapped somehow as well, or else it wouldn¡¯t have needed to take these actions just to reach the physical realm. And I think the physical realm is the place where beings have bodies and can move and interact with others and the elements of this universe. What am I supposed to do? I can¡¯t get rid of this demon unless my system is removed, but then I¡¯d just perish in this world. Since dying isn¡¯t fun, I won¡¯t go that route but then what other options are there? I can¡¯t just resort to pure violence and beat this being to death, there¡¯s nothing to kill anyways. Maybe if I could strike a deal with this demon and share control over my body¡­ ¡°Hey demon, how about we make a deal?¡± I declared audaciously. ¡°Hm, what kind of deal?¡± the demon questioned. ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯ll eventually be able to take control over your body anyways so there really isn¡¯t anything in particular that you could offer.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll offer you partial control over my body, so basically you can control one of my arms and one of my legs,¡± I offered. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t that appealing, but you¡¯ll be able to materialize in the physical way sooner. Plus, you need a guide to show you arou-¡± ¡°No thanks, all I want to do is slaughter humankind,¡± the demon huffed. ¡°They¡¯re the ones that caused me to become like this, and they killed my entire family mercilessly. Luckily, that brat Bugat survived and is carrying on the bloodline.¡± ¡°Then how about we bring humankind to extinction together?¡± I proposed for a second time. ¡°I have knowledge where all the kingdoms are and I resemble a human more than you do. I¡¯m sure that the moment you take control over my whole body, that demon scent of yours would be attracting attention left and right.¡± I didn¡¯t know any of this information at all, I was just bullshitting all of this with the knowledge I¡¯ve gathered up until this point. It wasn¡¯t complete bullshit though, if one thought about what I said it would kind of make sense logically. ¡°Hmmm.¡± The demon seemed like he was considering my proposition seriously, and after a few moments it finally responded. ¡°I accept your offer, it makes sense and it isn¡¯t a bad deal. One condition though, I can lend you my power once we¡¯re merged but if I find out that you break this agreement...I won¡¯t hesitate to take over your body completely and devour your entire existence.¡± ¡°Good enough for me, but who and what are you exactly?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°You¡¯ll find out in a bit,¡± the demon giggled. Suddenly I woke up in a cold sweat, I panickedly looked around and slowly calmed down after realizing I was indeed awake and that I was in my bed. Looking down, I spotted a dark rectangle shaped group of things down below standing attentively. Then I remembered that I had become the General of the North of the Demon King¡¯s army and realized that the army down below was actually the army I had obtained. That conversation with that demon I just had was still vivid in my mind, having left me thinking about what it meant when it said that I¡¯ll find out in a bit. Opening my system page while sitting upright, I looked at my demon synchronization to see if it had changed and indeed it had.
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 1750 (+1000) 11000 (+10000) [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
[Passive Skills]
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Darkness Manipulation (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
|Demon Synchronization| (100%) [Supreme Demon King Othidas is Living in your Left Arm and Leg and Provides the Following Benefits]:
  • MP Storage +10000, Power Level +1000
*** and 2 others are hidden due to Othidas not being fully synchronized. Will unlock once |Othidas Body Synchronization| increases. |Othidas Body Synchronization| (50%)
There sure is a lot of stuff to look at. So that being was actually the Supreme Demon King Othidas and it is currently possessing my left arm and leg. All those benefits will get better if Othidas¡¯ Body Synchronization increases, which isn¡¯t as good as it seems. Basically, in order for me to get more powerful at once, I need to surrender more of my body to his control which isn¡¯t something I¡¯m interested in. Are there even any beings that can challenge me anymore in this universe anyways? ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky boy,¡± said a deep, rumbling voice that came from my left hand. ¡°We¡¯re only temporary allies, so don¡¯t get all friendly with me. My entire hand, no my entire left arm and leg was blackened and had a few crimson red spots here and there. I didn¡¯t know surrendering my body to a demon had this strong of a visual impact. ¡°Wow, a red eye on the palm of my hand, how am I supposed to attack anymore oh Supreme Demon King,¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°Won¡¯t your precious eyeball get ruined.¡± One of the eyes of Othidas was attached to the palm of my hand, but when I poked at it teasingly, it felt like it was as hard as metal. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re just like a damn parasite,¡± I declared. Othidas rolled his eye before saying, ¡°Just call on me when you need my power since I can tell you¡¯re in the middle of preparing to attack those despicable humans which is what I wanted in the first place. The physical realm isn¡¯t as nice looking from one eye so I¡¯ll take a closer look once I¡¯m back in my body. I¡¯ll give you full control of my power for now, but don¡¯t try anything rash with me since you¡¯ll be harming yourself anyways.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t intend to break our agreement anyways, since you¡¯d probably go running off with half of my body the moment I make a bad move,¡± I replied. The eye on my hand stayed silent¡ªit was time for me to start the attack against the Kingdom of the East with this newfound demonic power that Othidas lent to me. Chapter 16 - A Message to Deliver to the Demon Kings Dad The Kingdom of the East was similar to the Kingdom of the North, the capital city contained the Royal Castle and most of the upper echelon of the kingdom. So if one wanted to ruin the entire kingdom, destroying the capital city was enough but that was a pretty hard task itself. Since the capital city was the most important, it also had the most effective security and powerful guards compared to other small towns like Sheldor from the north. I sped towards the outer gates of the city with my army of bloodthirsty monsters behind me, kicking up dust in their wake. I could see the guards at the gates gathering some of their knights because of my unexpected attack, but there wasn¡¯t going to be enough time to gather enough defenders. I threw a Chaos ball from hundreds of feet away that blew away the entire front gate and pieces of the outer wall of the city too. Most of the rubble was devoured by the chaos energy and some knights were turned into ash mercilessly within a few seconds as well. Those that survived the onslaught retreated towards the royal castle in the distance while a horn blared. Perfect, a signal to gather all the knights in the city in one spot. After making sure almost all enemy forces were focused on my troops, I finally flew into the city and let the monsters rampage to their heart''s content, destroying everything in their wake be it buildings or humans. The royal castle was already prepared for my attack, with knights over power levels of 80 surrounding the premises. The more important nobles and royalty though, I could sense their aura inside the castle inside a specialized room in case anything like an assault on the city happened. Letting my monster army handle the small fry, I activated stealth and headed towards the king and his family whom were surrounded by the strongest knights in the kingdom. They may be the strongest few in the kingdom but they were ants compared to me. I casually flicked my wrist and chaos enveloped them, devouring them completely. Now all that was left was the King and Queen, and their son and two daughters. They begged for their lives and even offered me anything I desired, but their offer was answered by a punch to each of their heads in the span of a few seconds. Instant death proceeded, and the room was quiet once more even though I hadn¡¯t even used 1% of my power yet. It was quite a boring task, destroying a kingdom. It didn¡¯t even take an hour for the royal family to be killed and the capital city¡¯s forces to be completely wiped out. That was to be expected though, it would be even more disappointing if it took longer than an hour for the kingdom to fall. As sulfurous smoke billowed into the sky, I examined my left arm which contained Othida¡¯s eye. I hadn¡¯t used darkness energy in the past battle because I still didn¡¯t trust that demon yet. Having me rely on his power may just be a ploy to lure me in and eventually allow for him to take over my body entirely, which wasn¡¯t a risk worth taking. Pondering about what I should do next while tapping my ring against a wall, Z came up to me. ¡°Sir, Bugat has requested that you return to the castle to receive your award for successfully taking down the Kingdom of the East,¡± Z said. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Bugat contact me himself?¡± I asked. ¡°Why not just tell me, the General, directly?¡± ¡°For some reason, his communication skill doesn¡¯t work on you even though he said it still worked before you went into the treasury,¡± Z answered in a respectful tone. ¡°Gather everyone, we¡¯ll head back at once,¡± I relayed to Z. Z left to gather my army so that we could take the portal back to the demon realm, but why didn¡¯t Bugat¡¯s communication skill work on me? It worked before I got that ring so...ah it must because his chaos energy doesn¡¯t work with darkness energy. The level gap might be too high for his words to reach me through the power of chaos. Having figured out the problem, me and my army went back through the portal we came through and traveled towards Bugat¡¯s devilish castle. *** ¡°Hey Bugat, we¡¯re back¡± I reported to the Demon King sitting on his throne. I had left the rest of my troops in their quarters including Z, and came here to receive my contribution reward alone. ¡°Welcome back Dark Orchid, thanks to your contributions the humans have lost a great portion of their forces,¡± Bugat said while commending me for my hard work. ¡°You deserve a suitable reward, you can have whatever you want if it¡¯s within my power to do so.¡± What should I ask for? I searched through the entire treasury, so there isn¡¯t anything there that I need but some information about Othidas could benefit me immensely. ¡°Can you tell me everything about Othidas?¡± I said. Bugat¡¯s relaxed expression instantly tensed up. ¡°How do you know about my grandfather? I haven¡¯t heard from him since a few hundred years ago, but we never found his body either.¡± Bugat got out of his seat and put his hands on my shoulders after a few quick strides down from his throne.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I just happened to come across someone that knows a little about him, but I need a bit more information.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie, Othidas did know a bit about himself after all. ¡°Since this is your reward, I¡¯ll tell you all I can but I¡¯d appreciate it if you told me what happened to my grandfather after I provide you with that information,¡± Bugat said, practically begging at this point. His grandfather must mean a lot to him if he¡¯s this desperate to know what happened to him. ¡°My grandfather Othidas was the Supreme Demon King a few centuries ago, but after a tragic battle against the Angel¡¯s forces he was never seen again,¡± Bugat explained in a depressed tone. ¡°Back then, I was just a little child and my parents didn¡¯t know what happened either. We even asked my grandmother, but she wasn¡¯t with my grandfather when he disappeared.¡± ¡°What was he like back then?¡± I asked. ¡°He was arrogant at times, but reasonable too. He never let his emotions get the best of him, and that¡¯s why he was named the Supreme Demon King, the strongest Demon King in history,¡± Bugat praised. ¡°He could even wield the legendary darkness energy with expert control, something past demon kings had never accomplished.¡± I glanced at the closed eye on my hand and inwardly took note to not underestimate this demon, in case he actually was as strong as the legends described him as. Also, the I aquired was explained now by Bugat¡¯s words. ¡°Is that all the information you have on your grandfather?¡± I said respectfully as Bugat sat back down in his throne, having calmed down a bit. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s all,¡± Bugat sighed. ¡°If you¡¯re not satisfied I can always give you something else, you definitely deserve it after contributing so much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll provide you with that info you want now,¡± I responded. ¡°Just ask away.¡± ¡°What happened to my grandpa if you know,¡± Bugat asked. ¡°I¡¯ve scoured everywhere in search but I haven¡¯t come across a single clue. ¡°I think he might¡¯ve been sealed up somewhere, that¡¯s all I know,¡± I said even though I could say more. But giving away too much information causes more bad than good, especially if you¡¯re telling someone you don¡¯t trust yet. ¡°Ah, that explains a lot of things,¡± Bugat exclaimed. ¡°Thank you for that info though, it¡¯s better than having nothing.¡± Now that that affair was over, I had some time to relax before Bugat would give me my new orders because he needed to think a little by himself. Once again, I entered my luxurious room¡ªby demon standards¡ªand my bed looked really appealing considering I was somewhat tired after everything so far. So I lied down and had another small nap, this time without a demon king trapping me inside their personal realm. After sometime, I awoke and looked at my aching arm. For some reason, the blackness seemed to have increased in surface area for some reason. I stared straight at Othidas¡¯s eye, but it didn¡¯t move a muscle. I sighed, and decided to talk about the matter along with everything I discussed with Bugat when Othidas was actually awake. Soon, Z came knocking on my door to alert me that it was time for my new orders to be given out. Bugat looked more tired than usual, the bags under his eyes (even demons can get bags under their eyes) were visible and his eyes kept closing by themselves despite Bugat¡¯s struggle to keep them open. He greeted me and gave me my new orders efficiently since I could tell he was going to fall asleep any second. ¡°I need you to go find my dad and relay the info you just told me,¡± Bugat ordered. ¡°That info you have me might help with his search for my grandfather.¡± "Do you have his location?¡± I inquired. ¡°Head northeast until you reach a castle situated on a mountain even bigger than mine, that¡¯s where you¡¯ll find my dad,¡± Bugat directed. ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll come back if I get lost or run into any trouble,¡± I said. ¡°You won¡¯t get lost if you follow my directions, and even if you do just ask any wandering monster for the direction of my castle and they¡¯ll tell you,¡± Bugat seemingly whispered as his eyelids closed. Time for me to go and let this Demon King have a nice, revigorating nap. *** I finally found the Demon King¡¯s father after following the path Bugat pointed out for a few hours. I passed by a lot of similar monsters that I had seen back when I first entered the Demon Realm such as trolls and orcs. The castle I finally discovered was two times the size of Bugat¡¯s and even more menacing. Everything was enlarged, the lava was hotter and felt more sinister, and the pillars and doors were more pointed and rigid. Even the mountain was a darker shade and seemed more devilish. I approached the gate with caution, in case any uninformed monsters sprang a surprise attack but I didn¡¯t spot a single monster nor guard. Even the gate and doors leading to the throne room were unlocked. Bugat¡¯s father¡¯s throne room was in an open courtyard instead of indoors, and the sulfuric acid normally in the air was more filtered and pure in the courtyard. Did all castles have better air than their surroundings? On my way to the open aired throne room, I didn¡¯t see a single monster at all. The halls were silent and felt eerie, but even with my chaos enhanced vision I couldn¡¯t see any monster silhouette within a few hundred meters. That was until I felt an immense pressure coming from behind the throne. When the demon who had his hands shrouded in darkness energy showed himself, I could immediately tell that he was Bugat¡¯s father. All their features were alike and the air around them were similar. Also, I understood why my chaos enhanced vision wasn¡¯t working before, Bugat¡¯s dad¡¯s darkness energy was interfering with my chaos energy since it was the evolved form. ¡°Hello human, welcome to me¡ªBahmt¡¯s¡ªcastle. Prepare to die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not human! I have a messa-¡± My words were cut off by Bahmt¡¯s sudden explosive attack aimed straight towards my heart. *** ¡°Your majesty, it seems like sir Dark Orchid has arrived at your father¡¯s cas-¡± Z tried to say. ¡°Oh no!¡± Bugat yelled. ¡°I forgot to tell my dad that he was going to deliver a message! I even said it would be fine to Dark Orchid but I was so sleepy that I forgot to inform my dad.¡± ¡°Will he be fine?¡± Z asked worriedly. ¡°He...should be fine,¡± Bugat said uncertainty. ¡°He should have enough energy to last until the message I¡¯m about to send arrives at his castle.¡± ¡°We can only pray for sir Dark Orchid to be safe,¡± Z said. ¡°I guess so¡­¡± Bugat whispered in a concerned tone. Chapter 17 - A Stab Through the Heart Bahmt¡¯s sudden lightning fast approach left me fazed, but I quickly regained my senses and dodged right in the nick of time. I wasn¡¯t safe yet though, Bahmt regained his footing and proceeded with a flurry of attacks all aimed at my vital spots. The air trembled intensely from his attacks, I could feel the vibrations in my bones but I could only keep on dodging. The speed of his attacks were almost on par with mine, so I retreated a good distance away so I could check his power level.
{Bahmt} [Title] Demon King¡¯s Father [Power Level] 1678 [Threat] Large
  • Can manipulate Darkness Energy
Bahmt had a large threat to me instead of medium and since his power level is higher than Bugat¡¯s, he must pose more danger against me than his son. Also, his ability to control darkness energy was once again confirmed by his stat page. ¡°Oho, someone that can dodge my attacks has finally appeared,¡± Bahmt chuckled as if this was all a game to him. ¡°Even my son: the current Demon King couldn¡¯t dodge my attacks so I¡¯m impressed!¡± ¡°I can kill you if I strain myself too,¡± I boasted in order to see his reaction. In reality, I could kill him if I used Othidas¡¯s power which would be this demon¡¯s dad, but that isn¡¯t that great of an option. ¡°I see,¡± Bahmt said as his eyes narrowed and tendrils of darkness floated towards his eyes. ¡°So you can use the power of darkness too, you aren¡¯t some ordinary being then. You¡¯ve gained my respect.¡± We were facing off in opposite corners of the giant courtyard, the sky glowing crimson. Neither of us took the initiative to attack, the process of collecting information about the opponent was taking place instead. ¡°Then how about you give me time to explain?¡± I offered. ¡°It¡¯s not in our best interests to fight anyways, I doubt you want to face off against someone that could potentially kill you and I don¡¯t want that either, so let¡¯s just talk this out.¡± ¡°Speak,¡± Bahmt finally said. ¡°I came to deliver a message as requested by your son, Bugat himself,¡± I explained. ¡°If you still don¡¯t believe me, I¡¯m also the General of the North: Dark Orchid.¡± I showed him the contracts that I received upon becoming the General of the North, and was satisfied to see that Bahmt loosened up a bit. ¡°So you were sent by my son,¡± Bahmt said as he looked like he was deep in thought. ¡°The only time I said to him that he should contact me was when it was important and if it wasn¡¯t, punishment would be served.¡± ¡°I can guarantee this information will be of help to you,¡± I laughed. ¡°It¡¯s about your father after all.¡± Instantly, Bahmt appeared by my side but I hadn¡¯t reacted because I hadn¡¯t sensed any evil intent behind the action. He even got on to the floor and started begging for me to tell him, which was unexpected of someone of his status. ¡°Stop begging, it¡¯s unfit for someone like you,¡± I scolded. ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you the information anyways, so get off the floor and act like a proper demon king.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a Demon King anymore though,¡± Bahmt blurted. ¡°Yes I know, I was just saying¡­¡± I replied. ¡°Let¡¯s just get onto the important stuff.¡± ¡°We can head to my private quarters even though I emptied this place of monsters after sensing a powerful presence headed towards my castle,¡± Bahmt awkwardly said. ¡°Ah, that''s why there weren''t any monsters around,¡± I thought. ¡°I should really remember to keep my presence concealed starting from now. If this wasn¡¯t Bugat¡¯s dad, the situation might become dangerous if anyone was aware of my presence and didn¡¯t know beforehand that I was here with friendly intentions.¡± The older version of Bugat lead me to his private quarters, which no surprise, had whatever one needed. Be it a bedroom, office, library, or even a huge dining room filled with expensive decorations and furniture. Since we wanted privacy, we headed to his office which was soundproofed. The chairs were made of an unknown type of material, but it suspiciously looks like a skin of a living creature. There were also portraits of past demon kings hanging on the black walls.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Did I mention that the room had no lights? Add in all the furniture that was coloured black and the occasional decoration that was colored red, it was almost impossible to see for a normal person. That wasn¡¯t a problem for us though, since we could use darkness energy or chaos energy. Before I delivered information about Othidas though, Bahmt asked me an interesting question. ¡°You¡¯re not a demon right?¡± Bahmt declared. ¡°How did you come to possess the power of darkness energy? That power is only limited to the demon race and so far no other kind has come to awaken or develop the power.¡± ¡°Oh, so that was the case,¡± I realized. Of course an evil energy like this would be associated with demons, I should''ve realized it sooner. ¡°Sadly, I can¡¯t tell you that since it¡¯s personal information I¡¯m not about to give away.¡± ¡°I thought you¡¯d say that, it¡¯s just that¡­¡± Bahmt trailed off. ¡°Never mind, it¡¯s probably just a rumoured legend anyways.¡± Not knowing what Bahmt was talking about, I moved on to do what I came here to do. After relaying all the information about Othidas to his son, Bahmt was left speechless for a good few minutes. Then, he started thanking me passionately since I had provided him with enough clues to continue his search for his father. I was a great help to him, since his wife had died a few years before to a bunch of humans and he didn¡¯t have the motivation to keep on looking. ¡°So he got sealed away,¡± Bahmt said unsurprisingly. ¡°I even told him to be careful but he still went and got sealed away by those wretched angels.¡± ¡°Speaking of the angels, can you tell me more about them?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Sure, the angels are basically the direct opposition against us demons,¡± Bahmt explained while also gesturing with his hands. ¡°Everyone thinks humans are the mortal enemies of demons, but it¡¯s actually the angels. It has been this way since way before I can even remember.¡± ¡°So I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s an Angel Realm as well?¡± I guessed. ¡°That¡¯s the official name, but it¡¯s more well known as ¡®Heaven¡¯,¡± Bahmt told me. ¡°The same goes for our Demon Realm, it¡¯s more commonly known as ¡®Hell¡¯ which is a pretty suitable name.¡± ¡°Cool,¡± I said. ¡°How strong are the angels?¡± ¡°Us demons and angels are equally matched so far, but back when Othidas was still here we were stronger,¡± Bahmt declared. ¡°Othidas who could perfectly control the power of darkness could wipe out whole battalions of angels in seconds, but the 4 archangels of Heaven¡¯s army probably sealed him away with their combined strengths.¡± ¡°Thanks for the information,¡± I gratefully said. ¡°I¡¯ll head back to Bugat¡¯s castle now if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Oh ok, have a safe journe-¡± Bahmt¡¯s words were cut off as my left arm instantaneously moved by itself and buried itself in Bahmt¡¯s body where his heart should¡¯ve been. ¡°W-Why....¡± Bahmt collapsed on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. He had just died in a few seconds without being able to retaliate. ¡°What the hell Othidas! What was that for!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs. ¡°Why¡¯d you kill him!? Your own damn son!¡± ¡°Just you wait and see boy,¡± Othidas replied calmly. Suddenly, a booming voice resounded throughout the room that shook the ground. ¡°I knew something was fishy, I never knew that my dear father would be hiding in this person¡¯s arm,¡± Bahmt¡¯s voice bellowed, echoing off the walls. ¡°Trying to possess people again I see, what are we going to do about this¡­¡± Bahmt¡¯s body materialized out of nowhere and gave me a nod. It seems that that version of Bahmt was only a puppet, I somehow didn¡¯t notice but of course Othidas would. I still have a long way to go before becoming the strongest being in this world. ¡°Son, don¡¯t get mad this was the way I could get out of that seal those damn archangels put on me,¡± Othidas somehow spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll be back to my normal self as soon as I absorb this guy''s body.¡± ¡°What, I thought we struck a deal!?¡± I said confused while also contemplating if I should take any action against Othidas in case this was true. ¡°I¡¯m just joking with you boy! That was a pretty funny reaction,¡± Othidas chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t break my promises.¡± Bahmt stood to the side watching us bicker until he finally spoke. ¡°So father, now that I know you¡¯re alive are you going back to lead the demon realm army¡¯s forces against the angels again from the frontlines?¡± ¡°As you can see, I haven¡¯t regained my former strength yet, that¡¯ll take a little time and cooperation from my host,¡± Othidas sighed as his eye looked at me. ¡°Unless we can share the same body without any conflicts, Othidas won¡¯t be fighting anyone anytime soon,¡± I made known. ¡°Perhaps as time passes, we might trust each other more and come to a more beneficial agreement, but the situation as it is won¡¯t be changing anytime soon.¡± ¡°Dark Orchid, I advise you don¡¯t rely on my father¡¯s power too much,¡± Bahmt advised as if he knew everything about the relations between the transfer of power when someone possessed another. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to lose control of your body and only stay as a helpless soul attached to your shell, don¡¯t overuse that lent power.¡± I assumed that meant the and not the boosts to my other stats like power level and MP Storage because I had no way of restricting those buffs from doing their thing. ¡°I¡¯ll take your warning to heart, thanks,¡± I said towards Bahmt. Othidas stayed quiet throughout the whole exchange of words, leaving me pondering if he was planning something. Also, I had to think about what I was supposed to do next at this point. Just following Bugat¡¯s orders would lead to a very boring life, and I still had potential to get stronger! Maybe mastering Othidas¡¯ power and merging completely with him without any problems would be my next goal. As if reading my mind, Bahmt gave me a suggestion. ¡°If you want to train your synchronization with my father and your teamwork, I suggest you go train at the Wastelands to the west,¡± Bahmt told me. ¡°There are many monsters that aren¡¯t associated with any of our fellow demon¡¯s armies that need to be taken care of. They aren¡¯t too strong and I still find that it helps me to practice against them occasionally.¡± ¡°Thanks for the tip, I think we¡¯ll go do just that,¡± I said in place for Othidas who stayed silent throughout the whole exchange, not voicing his opinion once. Here I thought that he would want to speak more with his precious son, but maybe those were just my thoughts. ¡°I hope to see you some other time!¡± Bahmt said as he waved goodbye. ¡°Bring that lazy Bugat with you too!¡± I agreed and left the castle and headed west. Meanwhile a sleepy Bugat felt a shiver down his spine. ¡°Is someone talking about me?¡± Bugat thought before falling asleep once again. Chapter 18 - The Synchronization of Consciousnesses Heading west towards the Wastelands, I wanted to strike up a conversation with Othidas who had been unusually quiet this whole time. Maybe it was just his silent opinion of not wanting to work with me to share our body and rely on each others power. ¡°Othidas, don¡¯t you want to at least try to practice synchronizing ourselves a little bit?¡± I said frustratingly. ¡°You probably just want my body for yourself, but that won¡¯t happen so this is the next best option.¡± There was still no response, so with a deep sigh I continued speeding over the terrain towards my destination. The Wastelands weren¡¯t that far away, about a few minutes away at most if I went at full speed but that wasn¡¯t the problem with traveling there. The closer one got towards the Wastelands, the more sulfurious and suffocating the air, and the difficult terrain full of sinkholes and lava pools to trek. I didn¡¯t see why this would be a good area to train in until I headed deeper. That¡¯s when I noticed the weird, black trees that seemed like they had a consciousness. Their branches remained motionless, but I could detect a soul inside the creature which definitely meant that this was some sort of monster. Luckily, these things couldn¡¯t move because their dark grey roots were buried deep in the rocky ground. Now I understood why Bahmt told me here to train with Othidas, these monsters were perfect because they wouldn¡¯t be able to attack you unless you attacked first. Bahmt may have given me a location, but I still needed a training method specifically to enhance the connection between me and the demon living in me. Maybe letting him control one side of my body and me controlling the other side? Let¡¯s try it anyways since this is basically a matter of try and try again until you succeed. I poked Othidas¡¯ eye and it immediately shot open. ¡°What was that for!¡± Othidas said in a rage. ¡°Wake up, we¡¯re training together now and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love the freedom I¡¯m about to grant you,¡± I said mysteriously. Up until this point, I had never fully allowed Othidas control of my demonized left arm and leg since that wasn¡¯t part of the agreement, he could only watch as I accomplished his goal of human extinction. That¡¯s why Othidas was overjoyed when I told him that he could experience the feeling of having a physical body again. I could feel the left side of body turning numb as my nerves were disconnected from my muscles. They were replaced and connected to Othidas instead which made a visible change. With a flash, my left arm and leg starting glowing with a savage red aura and the black that used to cover it seemed to come alive. It was like it could freely extend itself and make unpredictable movements that defied the laws of physics. To make it easier to understand, I just thought of this black substance as Venom from the Marvel Universe back on Earth. ¡°Finally! I got somewhat of a physical body again now and damn does it feel amazing,¡± Othidas giggled like a little child that had opened a present. ¡°Since you seem like you¡¯re in a good mood, let¡¯s start practicing our synchronization during battle,¡± I said in a somewhat lecturing tone towards Othidas. ¡°Before that, I need to be able to see what¡¯s happening from a better point of view¡­¡± Othidas demanded. Suddenly, I felt the same numbing sensation in my left eye as Othidas took control of it. I guessed that the left side of my face was probably looking around the same as my arm and leg now, not that I cared about my appearance that much. ¡°Who said you could demonize my face as well you little rascal,¡± I said unsatisfied with the unexpected move on Othidas¡¯ part. ¡°You should be glad I didn¡¯t take over your whole body, since I now have regained enough of my previous power to do so,¡± Othidas spoke using my mouth even though he had to struggle a bit. Before, he had been using his power to project his voice into the air, but now he was directly speaking through a mouth which was easier and expended less energy¡ªeven if he had to struggle a bit to control the muscle. ¡°Whatever you say, let¡¯s get on to practicing ok?¡± I pestered. The sooner I could synchronize our powers, the less chance of risking the loss of control of my whole body. I tried walking forward towards one monsterized tree, but I felt a tug in the opposite direction and fell down immediately. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be, who knew even walking could be this hard! It¡¯s even more difficult than a three legged race! Now, I really feel hesitant about going forward with this plan. At any time, I could always just suppress Othidas with a rare treasure or through a special method but that would require some time. This harsh training might even take more time than if I went searching. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Kid, if you want this to work we have to connect our minds somehow,¡± Othidas said frustratingly. ¡°I had a subordinate once that had this problem but all he had to do was connect his mind with the other being first.¡± ¡°How are we going to do that?¡± I asked unconvinced. ¡°You need to trust me firs-¡± ¡°No way,¡± I declared. ¡°If anyone¡¯s gonna be doing the trusting, it¡¯s gonna be you.¡± ¡°From the time I¡¯ve been with you so far, you do seem trustworthy. But that could just be a facade,¡± Othidas mumbled secretly. ¡°Fine, but if I find out that you use this chance to repel me completely, make sure you prepare to be cursed a thousand times!¡± ¡°Ok,¡± I said. ¡°So what do we do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of like merging our two consicouness together, you have to relax and put down all of your mental barriers and let yourself be absorbed into the other person¡¯s consciousness,¡± Othidas explained. ¡°Ok, what do I have to do?¡± ¡°Nothing, my consciousness will naturally be attracted towards yours since its no longer connected to my body by an anchor. It¡¯s just floating about and since it¡¯s not attached to anything it¡¯ll naturally try to merge to form a more powerful and resilient consciousness,¡± Othidas lectured. ¡°Tell me when you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready to absorb your consciousness,¡± I said in a seemingly joking tone. As Othidas started cutting off his connection to his consciousness, I could feel my left side of my body again but there was a new feeling deep inside me somewhere. It wasn¡¯t exactly in my brain but it was mostly concentrated on that part. This merging of consciousnesses didn¡¯t feel painful, it was just like receiving too much information at once or being force fed even though you were full. Control of my body was once again mine, but my brain and consciousness were altered; new emotions such as resentment and anticipation bubbled forth and a familiar voice appeared in my mind. His voice was just like that voice that speaks in your mind when you¡¯re reading something in your head and not out loud. [*** and 2 others have been unlocked due to being fully synchronized with Supreme Demon King Othidas.] Othidas and his merged consciousness was like a second brain connected to the same body that understood everything I was thinking and in a battle, exactly the moves I¡¯d perform and how I¡¯d maneuver my body. Also, since the Supreme Demon King was full synchronized now, I received a significant power boost. That¡¯s when I realized I had been arrogant since I had grown so strong, there were still many beings that were stronger than me in this world!
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 1750 (+2000) 11000 (+20000) [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
  • Darkness Contracts (MAX)
[Passive Skills]
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Darkness Manipulation (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
  • Enhanced Charisma (MAX)
  • Body Extension (MAX)
|Demon Synchronization| (100%) [Supreme Demon King Othidas is Fully Linked to your Consciousness and provides the following benefits]:
  • MP Storage +20000, Power Level +2000
|Othidas Body Synchronization| (100%)
I finally unlocked the hidden items on my system which turned out to be two new more passive skills and one more active skill. boosted my ability to be persuasive even though it wasn¡¯t the same as . It was more like your aura was more confident and powerful, which would garner the respect of others more easily without having to say anything. was probably that black substance that seemed like it was alive back when Othidas controlled my left arm and leg just like Venom from Marvel. This time though, the visible aspects weren¡¯t as visible since Othidas was fully connected to me now and the demonization of my body parts were gone entirely. I had unlocked before and was the same thing Bugat used with his chaos energy to place those things on the four generals, not including me, to open the portals to the Demon Realm. ¡°So the benefits of this are: we are basically fully synchronized and since I know everything you¡¯re thinking, the shaky trust we had for each other before is now firm and unshakable,¡± Othidas¡¯s voice resounded in my head. ¡°Also, since I understand your thoughts, I can naturally grasp how you fight and move so no more mobility problems anymore.¡± ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t tell me that we could read each other¡¯s thoughts!¡± I complained. I could feel that Othidas was satisfied with the development and even more satisfied with my reaction¡ªit seems like the reading of thoughts can go both ways. ¡°Stop complaining over this already, you can¡¯t revert it anyways and since you were so eager before, let¡¯s start practicing against those Dark Willows,¡± Othidas said ecstatically. ¡°Ok,¡± I replied, already indifferent to everything that happened. This time, walking was one hundred times easier, I could feel Othidas¡¯ understanding of my every move and control the left side of my body perfectly in sync. Like that, we finally arrived in front of a Dark Willow, which with Othidas¡¯ help I found out was the name of this weird monster tree. Othidas knew the range of attack of the monster, so he positioned us right outside of that area in order to stay safe. ¡°Are you ready boy?¡± Othidas asked restlessly. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me if anything happens.¡± ¡°It¡¯s on me since I allowed for this to happen, so I won¡¯t go blaming others anytime soon,¡± I replied with sincerity. ¡°Let¡¯s begin then.¡± We rushed forward while summoning out the darkness sword containing evil looking purple flames since there weren¡¯t any more downsides of using darkness energy anymore. It was time to use and to the fullest now since the feeling of wielding a weapon is pretty sweet! Chapter 19 - Vacation Plans while Slaughtering Monsters My sword gave off an ominous aura as I headed towards the Dark Willow closest to me. The speed that I traveled at was way quicker than before due to Othidas¡¯ complete assimilation into my consciousness, and when I swung my sword it felt a thousand times easier as well. Once I reached the 20 meter mark, the monster started swinging its poison tipped branches at me like a whip, attempting to entangle me in its grip. With ease, I evaded the attack and this time there were no faults as I zipped across the terrain getting ever closer. I didn¡¯t even have to think when the Dark Willow launched another branch attack since my arms moved by themselves. Maneuvering my sword with expert control to clash against the thick branches of the monster. CLANG! The tree branches were harder than I thought since they took a bit of strength to completely chop off, so my sword rang against the tough material several dozens of times. I still moved forward relentlessly, blocking or dodging every attack that came my way. I felt a tinge of excitement which took me by surprise, it seems my emotions have come back after disappearing for some time but that was probably only due to Othidas. ¡°Be grateful, it¡¯s not everyday two consiconsess and all their experiences get to merge together,¡± Othidas grunted. ¡°Especially with someone as strong as me that has knowledge greater than one can imagine!¡± ¡°Ok! I get it, let¡¯s just continue the fight,¡± I said as my heart skipped a beat. A branch almost landed a strike on me because I had lost focus for a second! I examined the Dark Willow¡¯s stats to see how strong it really was. It might not be as strong as one of the Generals of Bugat¡¯s army, but they were still relatively strong. Even though I was suppressing the strength of my sword for training sake, the toughness of the monster was about equal. I was mystified, who knew the difference between individual strength of the Human Realm and Demon Realm was this large!
{Dark Willow} [Title] Monster [Power Level] 367 [Threat] Tiny
  • Can manipulate its branches that are coated in poison at will
With a power level of 367, it posed little or no threat to me considering my power level was more than 10 times that at 3750. I could wipe out this little weakling in a few seconds but for the sake of connecting with Othidas more, I decided to continue suppressing my power and rely on pure technique alone, aquired through both my skills and Othidas¡¯ knowledge. Now, I was within a 10 meter range of the tree and I could literally smell the poison coated on the thick branches. I wasn¡¯t that surprised when upon closer inspection, saw the sheer size of the Dark Willow, needing at least 10 people holding hands just to surround the trunk of the tree. Willow trees were naturally huge after all and a willow tree in the demon realm that mutated would definitely be bigger. Suddenly, a few hundred branches appeared in front of me which blocked my path towards its trunk. They rushed one after another in an attempt to impale me and stop my approach, but using each other¡¯s skills and knowledge to the maximum, we were going to make it out unscathed. Instead of stopping to fight, my enhanced decision making skills showed its worth and I conjured a darkness barrier around my body instead and continued charging forward without being hit. My darkness barrier was basically impenetrable by normal things such as branches, even if they were harder than normal. How could such a high level energy be possibly broken by a monster as weak as this one? But I was kind of disappointed I had to rely on darkness energy yet again, what if there was a skill in the future that binded darkness or chaos energy and I had no other ways to defend myself? Now that would truly be unfortunate and I would strongly regret not cultivating my other skills and strengths back when I could have. I was 3 meters away from the base of the tree now. As a last attempt, the dark willow positioned every single one of its branches to block my unstoppable approach but alas it was all futile. I thrust forward with my sword, propelling forward while putting my whole body weight into the attack. I could almost feel the despair coming from the monster that was about to be impaled. Before the battle, Othidas had clearly told me of the spot to attack on the tree. It was an area dimly shrouded in red light on the trunk and striking that spot would one shot the creature. Finally, after breaking through the numerous branches that threw themselves in front of me, my attack that I had put my whole body weight into striked that vital point.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. With a hissing noise, the branches went still and all movements ceased. The tree monster was finally dead, with my darkness sword sticking of the trunk like an arrow hitting a bullseye. ¡°Phew, that took a bit of work,¡± I exclaimed, sitting down on the ground to rest myself. ¡°My mind was really worked there, especially when there was a voice in your head clashing against you over your decisions.¡± ¡°It was only one or two times!¡± Othidas argued enthusiastically. ¡°We could¡¯ve won way quicker if you had listened to me!¡± ¡°I guess there will always be problems even if we are more connected now,¡± I sighed. When one problem was solved another one would appear, it was really annoying and starting to get on my nerves...if only I had a vacation where I could just relax and tour the realms. ¡°Hey Othidas, would it be possible to change my appearance to visit the human realm?¡± ¡°Well, it certainly would be possible since the demon scent coming from me has completely disappeared and you give off no scent at all,¡± Othidas thought out loud. ¡°But that would be very boring wouldn¡¯t it? Conquering humans instead of living among them is more of my thing after all.¡± After merging my mind with Othidas¡¯, his hatred towards humans was quenched a bit and we were beginning to show signs of friendship and cooperation instead of aggression and indifference in order to insure our own survival. I think it wouldn¡¯t be too far fetched to consider Othidas as my close partner from now on, we can basically read each other¡¯s minds now. ¡°I think living among humans wouldn¡¯t be so bad, I need a vacation after all,¡± I told Othidas. No one knew that I had reincarnated in a new world and I wasn¡¯t about to reveal that information to anyone, but a piece of myself that really missed Earth and the lifestyle I had back there came back after my emotions were returned to me. That¡¯s why I had this sudden urge to experience life in a city again, even if it wasn¡¯t as modern as Earth. ¡°Even if I argued, you wouldn¡¯t care since you control our body anyways,¡± Othidas huffed with signs of disappointment. After some time, Othidas finally gave in with a sigh. ¡°Ok fine, we can go visit a kingdom in the human realm for a few days.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said happily as I grinned. ¡°You¡¯re such a great friend!¡± ¡°Who said I was your fri-¡± ¡°Let¡¯s train a little more before departing for the Southern Kingdom,¡± I interrupted. I felt revitalized due to the satisfying turn of events and was itching to kill a few more monsters before departing. ¡°I see a few more Dark Willows in the distance, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°You sure are happy aren¡¯t you kid,¡± Othidas said. ¡°Also, I¡¯m not your friend!¡± ¡°Whatever you say,¡± I joked. Next, we proceeded to clear out all the Dark Willows in the surroundings to train our synchronization more for a few hours. I was sweating when we were done since there were thousands in that wasteland, so even if they were weak they still took energy to kill. Othidas informed me that I should probably explain to Bugat my vacation so he wouldn¡¯t be worried about where I went off to, so that¡¯s what I decided to do next. Remembering the way back to Bugat¡¯s castle, I rushed back to report the news about Bugat¡¯s grandfather and my vacation. Walking through the familiar black and red gates, the monsters on guard addressed me politely and opened the doors before I could place my hand on the handle. Being respected sure feels great! I should get some human subordinates next time, not just monsters because they¡¯re kind of bland. Hm, I think I¡¯ll have time to do that during my vacation¡ªif only I didn¡¯t have to leave Chyian. As I walked through the halls towards the throne room, I asked Othidas a question out of curiosity. ¡°If I manage to bribe the upper echelon of the Southern Kingdom to hold a competition for me, would that take too much time out of my vacation?¡± ¡°What kind of competition?¡± Othidas asked. ¡°A competition to decide who can become my subordinate, but I won¡¯t be showing my face till the end where a winner is chosen,¡± I specified eagerly. ¡°If it¡¯s efficient, it¡¯ll probably take a day or two at the most,¡± Othidas assured. ¡°But you¡¯ll need an incentive to get people to participate.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think of that later,¡± I said, tossing that matter to the side. ¡°Let¡¯s get this report over with so I can go on vacation!¡± Walking leisurely down the halls, I made sure to conceal my power this time so the pressure wouldn¡¯t be overwhelming or even noticeable to Bugat. I was going to tell Bugat about Othidas and me anyways, but I didn¡¯t want any possible misunderstandings to occur before I explained the situation. That¡¯s why when I walked up to a snoring Bugat, I appeared the same as when I had left the castle. ¡°Bugat you there?¡± I whispered in his ear. For some reason, Bugat¡¯s first reaction to that was a reflexive slap towards his assaulter. So basically, he tried to slap me for waking him up. Sadly, it landed and my face ended up with a red handprint imprinted on its skin. ¡°Oh sorry Dark Orchid!¡± Bugat apologized quickly. ¡°I didn''t know it was you¡­¡± ¡°You slap whoever wakes you up?¡± I questioned suspiciously. ¡°That¡¯s-¡± ¡°FORGET IT!¡± Bugat yelled, clearly embarrassed. ¡°Just give me your report!¡± Chapter 20 - Ambushes in Alleys I reported everything that I had told Bahmt to Bugat, even the fact that Othidas was basically one with me now since I thought that Bugat deserved to know. After all, he was his grandfather and keeping a secret about something like that isn¡¯t something I particularly like to do. Bugat showed expressions of surprise and many other conflicting feelings, but in the end what he really cared about was that he was alive. ¡°So, my grandfather can hear what I¡¯m saying right now?¡± Bugat asked while looking straight at me. ¡°Yeah, if you want I can let him talk to you for a bit,¡± I replied while inwardly telling Othidas to start talking. ¡°Just a little exchange of words is fine with me,¡± Bugat said, more relaxed than before. ¡®¡°Hey boy, you¡¯ve sure grown up!¡± Othidas¡¯ deep voice came out of my mouth this time instead. ¡°Already took up the position of demon king eh!¡± ¡°I made sure to keep that promise with you at least,¡± Bugat spoke. ¡°But you didn¡¯t keep your promise to come back from the war that day¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m alive now and that¡¯s all that matters anyways,¡± Othidas chuckled even though there were hints of sadness. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to see you in my old body anymore, you¡¯ll have to settle for this guy instead.¡± I could tell that Othidas¡¯ words were directed at me, so I let out some complaints. Bugat laughed while he leaned back on his throne. Like this, the minutes passed until finally we had no more to say to each other. It was about time I left for the Southern Kingdom, but I needed to ask Bugat for a favour first since I planned on holding that tournament to find myself a subordinate. ¡°Do you happen to have anything lying around in your treasury that you think the humans would kill to get?¡± I asked in a polite manner. ¡°I really need it for this thing I¡¯m planning on doing.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Bugat exclaimed. ¡°You brought my grandfather back so why wouldn¡¯t I? How could the worth of a little piece of treasure be compared to the worth of a family member?¡± Bugat¡¯s horns reflected the pleasant look on my face as he lead me towards his treasury once again. My plan was almost ready! All I had to do was bribe a person of status in the Southern Kingdom with whatever I was about to get, to hold a tournament for me. I didn¡¯t even have to show up until the last day to see who won the chance of becoming a loyal subordinate. To get participants, I could just tell the person I manage to bribe to offer some incredibly generous benefits that every citizen would kill for, it wouldn¡¯t be worth much compared to the treasure I would give away anyways. Once I arrived in the familiar room sparkling with treasures, Bugat handed me a nut sized ruby that was oozing a fiery aura. ¡°This is a Fire Gem, they are worth quite a bit in the human realm since they¡¯re rare one of a kind items,¡± Bugat explained carefully. ¡°But here in the demon realm, they¡¯re more common, not so common that anyone could find it but it¡¯s more abundant than in the human realm.¡± ¡°You sure know a lot about the human realm don¡¯t you!¡± I expressed with curiosity. ¡°You pick up a few things after attacking their world for a few decades,¡± Bugat muttered quietly. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in a week then Demon King!¡± I said as I gestured farewell. I pocketed the gem in a pocket on the inside of my coat and started heading in the direction of the nearest portal that led to the Southern Kingdom. Soon, I had crossed back into the realm where I first set foot in this new world. The portal was located in a forest, just like the portal near the Northern Kingdom. With my enhanced eyesight, I spotted the capital city of the Southern Kingdom, Cliffin, a few dozen miles away. Probably at my top speed I could reach there in a little under 30 minutes. After about 25 mins of continuous running and passing by countless villages , I could see a road filled with travelers and merchants that led to rising walls in the distance. ¡°Hey Othidas, how do I change my appearance?¡± I asked as I hid behind a large tree on the side of the main road. Many wagons pulled by horses were passing by, heading towards the entrance guarded by knights who were checking everyone¡¯s IDs. I could just fly in, but in case anyone spotted me flying over the wall as Ryan¡ªwho was well known in the Northern and Eastern Kingdoms, I would be disguised and unrecognizable. ¡°Just manipulate the darkness energy around your face to reflect a different face,¡± Othidas explained step by step. ¡°First, imagine a face. Second, imprint that image onto the darkness energy surrounding your actual face, and you¡¯re done¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. I couldn¡¯t think of anyone¡¯s face to conjure, they were mostly demons and monsters after all until I thought back. Using Chiyian¡¯s face wouldn¡¯t hurt, who doesn¡¯t want to feel younger again? Even though it might be a bit disrespectful to Chiyian, at least he¡¯ll know that he was used well. I followed Othidas¡¯ instructions, but I didn¡¯t know if I succeeded or not so I created an object similar to a mirror with darkness energy. Keep in mind that my power was still suppressed and concealed, so that none of the people around felt the immense pressure that would have weighed down on them. I saw brown hair and a youthful face when I glanced at my reflection. It seems like it worked, my face now looked exactly like Chiyian¡¯s, minus the body shape. WIth my appearance successfully altered, my black trench coat rippled in the wind as I flew over the wall and landed in a dark alley. I successfully bypassed all the guards and I was pretty sure I hadn¡¯t noticed anyone¡¯s presence focused on me. I was in the clear, now all I had to do was infiltrate the castle or somehow meet a noble to take the bribe. The alley was filled with garbage, there was rotten food and wrinkled papers in every corner. I even spotted a homeless guy with leftover food stuck in his beard. After continuously walking down winding alleys, I eventually found one that led to the main pathway which was lit up by lamps and had residents hustling about. Right when I was about to step out into the light, I heard movement behind me so I instantly turned around. Within the few seconds I had turned around, that homeless guy that had been sleeping had disappeared. Being spied on was really annoying, especially since I knew where all the people were hiding. ¡°You can come out now, I¡¯ll let the five of you go if you do me a favor,¡± I projected so that all the people tailing me could hear. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 5 seconds.¡± ¡°5¡± Still no movement, but I could feel that they were growing skeptical. ¡°4¡± One men turned towards the others and started speaking with them. ¡°3¡± It seems like they were arguing if I was bluffing or not, but they¡¯d soon find out that I wasn¡¯t. ¡°2¡± I could see that four of the five were preparing to show themselves, but one that was perched on top of an abandoned balcony hadn¡¯t shown any signs of movement yet. ¡°1¡± Right as I was about to stop suppressing my power and let them feel the pressure, four middle aged men appeared around me in a circle. They had surrounded me, but their pitiful power levels of between 40-50 really made me want to get down on my knees and laugh my heart out. ¡°At least you aren¡¯t so weak that you couldn¡¯t spot us,¡± a man looking to be about 30, with already greying hair and a pretty bulky build admitted. ¡°You¡¯re better than all the other kids that wandered into these allys.¡± ¡°Before we start all those negotiations, can the fifth guy come down please?¡± I asked earnestly. ¡°We don¡¯t have a fifth guy, our leader is right here-¡± The man looking to be about mid thirties directly behind me made a slip of the tongue. It seems like the teenager perched on the balcony was in fact, these group¡¯s leader. It made sense since his power level was much greater than these men, almost quadruple at 156. Everyone immediately stared daggers at the man that had made the mistake, I thought that was all that would happen but¡­ an actual dagger came flying from the teen boy¡¯s direction and pierced through the man¡¯s heart. All that was left now was a corpse with blood pooling around it, lying on the ground. With no reactions though from the others, it seemed like this was a regular occurrence. ¡°If you won¡¯t come down out of your own free will, I guess I have no choice but to come to you,¡± I said casually. In a flash, I had arrived behind the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. He was visibly startled, I could even see sweat dripping down his back, seeping through his clothes. Short and straightened black hair rustled against my hand that was still firmly grasped on the boy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You should listen, if you don¡¯t want to die,¡± I whispered in his ear. I made sure to project some killing intent in my voice to show that I was being serious and that I wasn¡¯t joking around. Confirming my suspicions, it didn¡¯t seem like this boy was a part of the Southern Kingdom¡¯s Knight¡¯s Order. No badge, symbol, uniform, nothing. Just plain old ragged clothes that would blend in with the dark. Yet why would someone strong enough to be the captain of the Knight¡¯s Order be roaming the dirty alleys of the city? Unless¡­ they had a special or secret mission which was unlikely. He wouldn¡¯t go tarnishing his reputation like this otherwise. It was more likely that this teen boy that looked no older than 20 had been cast away for some unknown reason. ¡°I¡¯d prefer if we talked down there where everyone can see you,¡± I spoke comfortingly even though I was doing anything but that. ¡°I would hate to be forced to kill all of you¡­¡± ¡°Fine!¡± the boy seethed. ¡°But you¡¯ll listen to my demands first-¡± He was pretty unwilling to back down and arrogant, I had no other choice but to force him to step down through some unwanted slaughtering. In the span of a few seconds, 2 of the remaining 3 that had been looking up at the two of us collapsed on the ground with holes where their hearts had been. They were just like the man that had been struck by the boy by the dagger from before, corpses surrounded by a pool of their own blood. I had made sure to leave one alive, the man that looked to be in his thirties with greying hair since he was the second strongest out of everyone here. To the boy who had only felt a breeze of air pass by, it was like I didn''t move at all but two of the group¡¯s members were already dead. An expression of realization and fear appeared on his shocked face. Even his body was frozen still, not wanting to budge an inch. If that had been him, he wouldn''t even had time to know what hit him¡ªit would be instant death. ¡°I think you have a grasp of my power now,¡± I said, amused. I hadn¡¯t broken a sweat and my heart hadn¡¯t even sped up, this kind of performance was child¡¯s play to me. ¡°Y-Yes sir,¡± the boy stammered. He even added in a sir in there which was unnecessary, but I was accustomed to it, what with Z addressing me by that every few hours. ¡°Good, let¡¯s start talking then!¡± Without any hesitation and with my hands in my pockets, I stepped off the balcony and landed gracefully in the middle of the ambush that was no more. Chapter 21 - A Pure and Innocent Mind ¡°I¡¯ll speak first, why were you tailing me,¡± I questioned the boy and man who were seated cross legged in front of me. ¡°We just needed some money to live off of, so we just ambush stray citizens in the alleys,¡± the man said, his voice wavering. ¡°So it was to survive then,¡± I contemplated. If it for the sake of living, I think I could let them go free but what would I benefit from this? Revealing a portion of my power but not gaining anything would by a terrible mistake. ¡°I have an offer for you.¡± I pointed at the boy who then flinched, but corrected himself, clearly embarrassed. Why not tell this boy to enter that tournament that I was about to hold, it would be the perfect opportunity for this thief and for me too. ¡°There will be a tournament coming up which will determine who will be able to make it into the King¡¯s personal guard,¡± I explained leisurely, pacing back and forth. ¡°I want you to enter this competition in exchange for your lives. I think you¡¯ll love the benefits that come with the position too.¡± The boy stared at me absentmindedly, and a chuckle came out of his mouth a few moments later. ¡°You think I¡¯m scared of you? Before I was just surprised, that¡¯s all!¡± the boy laughed nervously. ¡°And do you think I¡¯ll really willingly go back and meet to the so called King of this kingdom!?¡± The way he described the king was weird, but I didn¡¯t have time to think about that since this matter was starting to get on my nerves. Initially, I had planned to keep the two of them alive but I was becoming impatient so I lashed out at the middle aged man. A decapitated head landed in between the boy¡¯s legs and I could tell that he was on the verge of fainting from fright. ¡°Just listen boy,¡± I said, calmer and more tolerant than before. ¡°You¡¯re the same age as me,¡± he silently muttered to himself. ¡°Just listen, the benefits you¡¯ll receive are huge if you manage to win and even if you don¡¯t, you¡¯ll still have proved your strength and individuals will come flocking to you with requests,¡± I explained. ¡°Give it a try, you clearly have the strength to do so.¡± Maybe this was the first time his strength was acknowledged because for a second, a flash of happiness showed in his eyes before disappearing. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll give it a try but why are you asking me to do this?¡± he asked with caution. ¡°What¡¯s in it for you?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll find out eventually,¡± I teased mysteriously. ¡°You can go now, I still have matters to attend to so scram.¡± Without a moment of hesitation, the boy scrambled away into the shadows of the alleys. As I started to walk towards the main pathways, I remembered that I didn¡¯t even get the boy¡¯s name! What a bummer, I didn¡¯t even manage to get his name so how will I make sure that he actually registered! This might become a disastrous blunder, but I trust that he would participate. It¡¯s not any day where you can turn your life around by winning a tournament, especially a tournament where all you had to do was swing your fists. The alley led to a well maintained pathway, with the ground made of stone instead of dirt and lamp posts that lit up the area. Just like the Northern Kingdom, there were stalls set up everywhere and even buildings filled with stores for all kinds of things. Clothes, inns, restaurants, there was even a store that sold weapons. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring any money with me so I couldn¡¯t afford to buy anything at all. The goal now is to find someone with a high enough status to bribe. They¡¯re mostly located towards the innermost part of the city so I guess I¡¯ll head there. Since this was my vacation, I took my time leisurely walking towards the middle of Cliffin, trying some free samples here and there and looking at stores that I found interesting. With my face disguised, I didn¡¯t have to be worried about people discovering who I really was but I still had to stay cautious. Back in the alley, I had found several worn down wanted posters with my face. How they got a photo of me, I don¡¯t know but the bounty was definitely not a small sum. 10,000 Gold for a single person, if I remember correctly, 1 copper was equal to $1, one silver was equal to $100, and 1 gold was about equal to $1000. All of this was if the currency was exchanged for US dollars back on Earth. That means that I have a bounty of $10,000,000 on my head. It was kind of exciting finding out how much you are worth, but the excitement passed and was replaced with distaste. If I hadn¡¯t thought to disguise my face, I¡¯d have people coming for me from all over just to get the bounty like those people from before. That would¡¯ve been very tiring and my vacation would be basically ruined. My good mood was gone, so I decided to stop taking my time and just get to the rich part of the city as quickly as possible.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The more I walked, the more fancy and decorated the streets became. The lamps were more elegant and bright, the pathways more arranged with smooth stone, even the residents wandering around wore expensive clothing often embroidered with gold and other rare minerals. Back in the poorer parts of the city, I blended in but now I stuck out like a sore thumb. Mostly due to my clothing choices since my black trench coat contrasted everyone else¡¯s sparkling gold and clean white outfits. Occasionally some passersby would glance at me, but I paid them no mind and continued my stroll towards the castle. Eventually, I reached the castle¡¯s gates which were less than half the size of the main gates surrounding the city. These gates though, were guarded by more powerful knights in golden armour instead of the plain silver armour the weaker ones wore. It seems like I wouldn¡¯t be able to get through and since I¡¯m not here to cause trouble, I may as well go searching for other nobles that aren¡¯t as important as the royal family then. The Southern Kingdom was run differently than the other three kingdoms. It had more of a democracy than a dictatorship since the position of King wasn¡¯t only determined by bloodline. If one person received enough votes from the citizens, enough to dethrone the current King, then they¡¯d become the new king. If no one wanted to become the King though, the position would continue to be handed down to the younger generations of the Royal Family. On the way here, I had spotted many posters plastered everywhere where one could fit them. A man by the name of Josan Hertobelt was running for the position of king. He had a slim face with a full beard, curly hair and a stern expression. He even wore a white, silk tunic embroidered with jewels. The vibe I got from him was that he was stubborn and possibly arragonant, but for some reason I thought he¡¯d be pretty easy to bribe if offered a suitable amount of money. Perfect, when I walked close enough to a poster out of many hundreds in the area, I memorized the person¡¯s face. Then, walking into a secluded area of the street, I enhanced my eyes with darkness energy while being extra careful for none of it to leak out. Instantly, the world turned pitch black but the people that were still walking along the street were highlighted in white. Sadly, I couldn¡¯t find Josan this way since only the outlines of their bodies showed, not the details such as what their face would look like or the types of clothes they would be wearing. ¡°I guess you are still a beginner with wielding darkness energy,¡± Othidas sighed in my mind. ¡°You sure have a lot to learn about what you can do when you have perfect control over that power.¡± ¡°What do you mean,¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Are you saying that I can find Josan using darkness energy in a different way?¡± ¡°Precisely, but you¡¯ll need that poster over there if you want to have any chance of finding him,¡± Othidas confided. I finally understood what Othidas was hinting at, I could just narrow down the choices by focusing on one target instead of the whole vicinity. Immediately, I discreetly snatched a poster from off the wall and went back to where I had been standing before. This time, I memorized Josan¡¯s face and imprinted it into my mind. Then, I searched again using my darkness enhanced vision but this time, for the face imprinted into my mind. Almost instantaneously, my vision zoomed in on a fit man in an alley about 50 meters away from the inner gates that led to the castle. Josan wasn¡¯t alone though, he was with a girl with a head that for some reason, looked like it was connected to Josan¡¯s. ¡°I wonder why their outlines are overlapping each other¡¯s in a suspicious place like an alley,¡± I thought as my eyes returned to normal and I dashed towards their location. ¡°I think we¡¯re about to walk into the middle of some private business Ryan,¡± Othidas smirked, and for some reason, I could feel that he was amused. He saw through the same things I saw so he had seen the scene as well, but it seems like he knew something I didn¡¯t. While quickly getting closer to the alley, I asked Othidas what was so funny. ¡°Oho, could it be that Ryan here is still a pure and innocent man?¡± Othidas teased. ¡°You¡¯re already a man yet you still haven¡¯t even done ¡®that¡¯?¡± ¡°Done what?!¡± I asked flustered. I had this gut feeling that I was being made fun of, but I still didn¡¯t know why. ¡°Nevermind, it¡¯s hard to find youngsters as pure as you these days, so I won¡¯t interfere,¡± Othidas grinned. ¡°How am I pure?¡± I demanded. ¡°I¡¯ve killed thousands yet you still call me ¡®pure¡¯?¡± ¡°Just,¡± Othidas didn¡¯t continue, but I could still tell what he meant since our consiucouness had merged. Therefore, I knew what he was thinking and I instantly gagged. ¡°Josan and that girl are doing ¡®that¡¯?!¡± I murmured, my cheeks flushing red. ¡°That can¡¯t happen! It¡¯s too unsanitary!¡± Now, I was close enough to hear screams of someone that was struggling. ¡°Stop! Let go of me-¡± The sound became muffled as I saw the body of a man pushed a girl looking to be about 17 up against the damp alley wall. My fears had been confirmed, they were indeed kissing! Something that I had never experienced in my past life, I had been forever alone and was destined to be a virgin forever! That was why, somehow my mind had remained pure and untainted until this very moment. I had become so flustered that I had no time to think before my body moved by itself. The girl stood shakily, with her back leaning against the wall as I held Josan by his neck, a few feet off the ground. ¡°U-Unhand me this instance before I-¡± Josan struggled to speak as spit flew out of his mouth. I loosened my grip a bit before placing him back on the ground. ¡°Explain,¡± I said forcefully, the red on my face was beginning to disappear as my skin went back to the smooth pale colour. Luckily, my face was disguised as Chiyian¡¯s so the changes that my face had underwent didn¡¯t appear on the outside to others. Still, assaulting a girl like this was unforgivable, it damaged the pride of all men! ¡°Talk quickly or I¡¯ll end your life in the blink of an eye!¡± Chapter 22 - Siblings ¡°I-I was just having a little bit of fun!¡± Josan was struggling to get his words out, because my iron grip had left his throat temporary injured. ¡°No you weren¡¯t! You came out of nowhere and pinned me against the wall!¡± the girl yelled, still exhausted from the struggle. ¡°If this man hadn¡¯t saved me, who knew what you would have done to me!¡± The girl tidied up her blonde hair as she nervously looked at me with her ocean blue eyes. I had time to get a closer view of her, her clothes were dirtied but that couldn¡¯t hide the fact that her clothes were still high class. An elegant, white one piece dress that was laced with gold and looked to be made of silk. ¡°Thank you for saving me, could I get your name?¡± the girl asked before realizing her mistake and introducing herself first. . ¡°My name is Ciarah Casvat
{Ciarah Volsat} [Title] Human [Power Level] 143 [Threat] Very Tiny
  • A human that comes from a noble family in the Southern Kingdom
I was confused when I looked at her stats though, so I didn¡¯t answer. She had a power level of 143 so how come she didn¡¯t defend herself earlier? Along with the high power level, she even lied about her last name! Something fishy is definitely going on here. I gave Ciarah a quick discreet glance before turning away. Hm, maybe she doesn¡¯t want others to know and is purposely concealing it? If that¡¯s the case, I won¡¯t speak any more about the topic. She was also from a noble family, but since I didn¡¯t know anything more about them, I would only be wasting time digging into the matter. On the bright side, I think I may have found another contestant for the tournament! Plus, I had some blackmail material now since exposure of this assault could ruin Josan¡¯s chances of becoming the next King. ¡°You can go now, I have some business with this guy,¡± I said nicely to the girl. ¡°But I have to repay you somehow!¡± the girl practically begged. ¡°I can¡¯t leave without rewarding my saviour!¡± ¡°Then enter the dueling competition that rewards a position in the King¡¯s royal guard tomorrow,¡± I proposed. ¡°Participating in that will be you returning the favour.¡± The moment I mentioned a dueling competition and the king, I felt a slight change in the vibe the girl was giving off. It had been all cheery and thankful before, but then it changed to a suspicious and cautious one. I even thought I sensed some killing intent, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. ¡°Is that so,¡± the girl pondered. ¡°I¡¯m probably too weak to even participate though, I can¡¯t even beat an average man so the chances of me winning are next to none.¡± I don¡¯t know why she kept up the act of remaining powerless and weak, but who was I to judge. Maybe she just wanted a vacation from all the complicated things just like me. ¡°You can do what you want, but I suggest you at least try,¡± I advised. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± With a somewhat dissatisfied expression on her face, she gave Josan one last disgusted look before turning around and leaving. I had tried to persuade her to join because my plan was to gather many participants as I could for this tournament. The more the merrier, because there were more chances for there to be a suitable subordinate. Before I started interrogating Josan, I had a weird thought. Could that boy from before be related to Ciarah Volsat? I thought back to the encounter and something instantly stood out, he had the same blue eyes as her and even though I didn¡¯t catch his name. In the brief moment I looked at his stat page to see his power level, I had seen a V at the beginning of his last name They both had irregular power levels, the same ocean coloured blue eyes, and possibly even the same last name. Plus, their reactions when I mentioned the King were unordinary. There was no doubt, relations between the two. But I had no time to solve this mystery at the moment, so I¡¯d deal with it later.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Well Josan, I¡¯ll be straightforward and direct with you,¡± I whispered into his ear. He was pinned against the wall and had no way to resist, but I left him enough movement so that he could talk. ¡°I need you to hold a tournament for me. If you do it, not only will I not expose your bad deeds but also reward you with this.¡± I brought out the Fire Gem that sparkled in the dim lighting. Josan immediately showed a bewildered expression, his eyes were wide open in shock and even his mouth was agape. It seemed like this Fire Gem really was a rare and precious gem in the human realm. ¡°W-Where did you get that from!¡± Josan struggled quickly stammered, struggling to speak. ¡°You can have it, I just need you to do one thing for me and it''s all yours,¡± I persuaded, hoping that my passive skill was working. Before long, Josan accepted without any difficulties or unnecessary question and we discussed the details. Depending on how many people participated, there would be a set amount of duels to start for the first level. Whoever won those matches would move on to the next level and fight with others that won their first match as well in a duel. Whoever won their second match would move on to the third level and do the same thing. This process would be repeated until there was one winner. It just happened that Josan and the King had been talking about their personal guards a few days ago and the King had an extra position available. This was perfect, with Josan¡¯s authority I could get the approval of the King with a false cover while not acting suspicious. The King thought the tournament was for him when it was actually for me. The winner would become my subordinate, not the King¡¯s. Now all I had to do was wait for Josan to get back to me with the location and time for the tournament. Hopefully, it didn¡¯t take too long since my vacation was too short but I trusted that Josan wouldn¡¯t disappoint. There was a presence behind me, I had noticed it in the middle of my conversation with Josan. I debated if I should confront them or just leave it alone, but I ended up choosing the lazy option and letting the spy go. Little did I know, that presence with stunning blonde hair had only stumbled into the conversation, she had only been curious about what would happen to her assaulter but accidentally heard vital information instead. *** The next day, after hours sitting in that alley with no one to talk to except for Othidas, Josan had finally sent a subordinate to provide my with the news I wanted to hear. The tournament had been announced and would take place the day after tomorrow. The location would be the Official Tournament Arena where all sorts of tournaments were held yearly and it would start at noon. Satisfied, I decided that I would pay that boy from before a visit and try to confirm my suspicions about his relations to Ciarah. Also, I would remember to try to persuade instead of order him this time to make sure my worked. hasn¡¯t shown any noticeable effects so far, but it hasn¡¯t have any opportunities to shine lately. Perhaps it would aid me in the future when I had to convince more people to do favours for me or just talking to others in general. Focusing back onto the relationship between the girl I had saved and the boy from the alley, if they really were siblings, why was one living lavishly while the other suffered from harsh living conditions everyday? Was he disowned or something? I used my enhanced vision to find the boy and before long I spotted him in another alley. This time, he was by himself since I had slaughtered his gang and that would make it easier for me to hold a conversation with him. Making my way towards his highlighted figure, another person suddenly came into view. It was Ciarah! She looked around to make sure no one was looking at her before ducking into the alley and making her way towards the boy. Today, she wore a plain white coat and grey pants¡ªprobably an attempt to disguise herself. I knew it! I knew she was related to that boy somehow! I decided to just stay hidden and listen in on the conversation, maybe I could gather some more clues about them if I simply stay hidden. Soon enough, Ciarah greeted the boy rather intimately and begun talking in a hushed and nervous voice. ¡°Be careful Sefton!¡± Ciarah said, looking concerned. ¡°You know that tournament you told be about yesterday? You won¡¯t become part of the King¡¯s personal guard, you¡¯ll become some man¡¯s subordinate instead!¡± ¡°And how do you know this?¡± Sefton, which I found out was the boy¡¯s name, chuckled. ¡°This is the only way for me to redeem myself, even if it means I¡¯ll end up working for my father.¡± ¡°Not your father! A freak with too much strength for his own good!¡± Ciarah openly insulted me. ¡°He could¡¯ve killed you!¡± ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t have told you about that last night,¡± Sefton grumbled. ¡°I know you care a lot for me dear sister, but there¡¯s no need. I can handle it by myself, and the chances of me winning are slim anyways.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s a chance that is highly likely!¡± Ciarah retorted. ¡°We both know we¡¯re practically unmatched here in Cliffin, you beat the Captain of the Knight¡¯s Order when you were 15!¡± Aha, so they were indeed siblings. But not ordinary siblings, they were the son and daughter of the king! Which meant they were princes and princesses, but it seemed the boy, Sefton, didn¡¯t have a good relationship with his family. I should¡¯ve noticed sooner, after all the King¡¯s name is known by everyone. If only I tried matching their last names up earlier. ¡°I¡¯m telling you! You will become a slave of that man!¡± Ciarah shouted, she even started tearing up. ¡°I will not allow my brother to suffer like this!¡± I sensed a great opening, it was about time to make my presence known to the two siblings. I wasn¡¯t about to emphasize or act friendly. This was for my own sake and I didn¡¯t care what others felt, so long as I got a good subordinate. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you win instead?¡± I declared charismatically. The two jumped in fright when I seemingly walked out of a wall. ¡°You¡¯ll save your brother by taking his place and I still get a decent subordinate in the end. Everyone wins!¡± Chapter 23 - The Ring of Speech The brother and sister duo shrunk back in fear, but Ciarah played the part of a protective sister and stood in front of her brother even though there was no need to fear. I could see the urgency in the boy¡¯s eyes, like a caged animal. The girl¡¯s were similar, but there was a bit of determination there too. She seemed to recognize me as the man from last night. ¡°Go away!¡± Ciarah shouted indignantly, unlike how a princess should act. ¡°If you associate with us anymore, I¡¯ll have no choice but to tell my father to have you captured and locked away!¡± I chuckled to myself as Othidas did the same. Little did these puny humans know, I was already wanted in all four Kingdoms, two which were already in ruins because of me. What could the King do against me? Even though I was interested in these two participating in my tournament, it wasn¡¯t like I had to get them to join. All the words she spewed were only empty threats in my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sure you two understand the situation already, so let¡¯s just have a little chat instead of summoning an army to kill me ok?¡± I suggested as I took a seat on the floor, leaning against the alley wall. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Ciarah said, feigning ignorance. ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m sure we both know who was spying on who last night,¡± I said. Ciarah tried to act indifferent, but I could tell that what I had said struck a nerve. ¡°Assuming I do know what you¡¯re talking about, we have no obligation to participate,¡± Ciarah said, in a crafty tone. Sefton tugged on Ciarah¡¯s sleeves and whispered into her ear. I overheard them since a distance of this much was easily in the range of my hearing. ¡°I didn¡¯t mention it before, but I kinda promised him that I would participate in that tournament of his,¡± Sefton whispered awkwardly into Ciarah¡¯s ear. ¡°Don¡¯t provoke him too much, he could probably easily slaughter the guards if he wanted to.¡± They discussed back and forth, but I was losing patience with every second. So I decided to interrupt the two arguing back and forth, getting straight to the point so this conversation could be finished. Staying here longer than I needed would only expose myself more. ¡°Sefton already agreed to participate Princess, so let him do his thing,¡± I said with an assertive tone. ¡°I will not!¡± Ciarah bitterly, already knowing she had no chance to get the outcome she wanted but still stubbornly trudged on. ¡°Just let us go-¡± A streak of black energy exploded out of my hand and passed her face by inches, still managing to cut her face. A trickle of blood flowed from her cut as Ciarah remained motionless before slowly turning her head around. What she saw was a crumbling wall that was slowly getting eroded away by the chaos energy. Darkness energy would be overkill and revealing your trump cards to your enemies isn¡¯t a wise move to make. It was quiet for a long time until I decided that I had given enough time to the two to comprehend the situation. ¡°Either you both participate or you both die, I¡¯ve had enough of your stubbornness,¡± I said with an exasperated tone, clearly not wanting to lose two precisou candidates. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 10 seconds, 10, 9,¡± ¡°W-Wait!¡± Sefton shouted shakily. ¡°How about we both participate but the reward is different?¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± I said amused. ¡°We¡¯ll both enter the competition and if we win, you need to promise you won¡¯t associate with us ever again,¡± Sefton declared, gathering his courage. ¡°And if you lose?¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll both become your subordinates instead of only one.¡± I sensed no disagreement from Ciarah so I guess I¡¯d accept this proposal. But that didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t make my way around the agreement and make them my subordinates another way. ¡°Fine, but how do I know you¡¯ll keep your word?¡± I asked, already forming a new plan in my head. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know that our father is the king,¡± Ciarah and Sefton muttered. ¡°We could pull a few strings and get a contract ready¡­¡±
{Ryan¡¯s Stat Page} 1750 (+2000) 11000 (+20000) [Active Skills]
  • Stealth (MAX)
  • Darkness Contracts (MAX)
[Passive Skills]The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
  • Absolute Defense (MAX)
  • Absolute Strength (MAX)
  • Mastery of Weapons (MAX)
  • Darkness Manipulation (MAX)
  • Persuasion (MAX)
  • Resistance (MAX)
  • MP Recovery (MAX)
  • Enhanced Charisma (MAX)
  • Body Extension (MAX)
|Demon Synchronization| (100%) [Supreme Demon King Othidas is Fully Linked to your Consciousness and provides the following benefits]:
  • MP Storage +20000, Power Level +2000
|Othidas Body Synchronization| (100%)
¡°No need, I have a contract ready for you,¡± I said. I activated and a scroll that was radiating black energy appeared in front of me. I inscribed the terms that we had discussed and signed my name off at the bottom. Luckily, Othidas had informed me of this skill I had in my arsenal or else I would¡¯ve never thought of it. I hadn¡¯t checked my stat page in a long time and skills I never used were easily forgettable. The two were already numb to the shock of the things I could do, they just mindlessly inspected the terms and signed off with their blood. Othidas told me that it was normal for people to sign contracts with their blood so I managed to keep up the image as a prepared and knowledgeable person. Hopefully, there would be no resistance from the two because I had made sure was activated since I needed them convinced and not questioning my actions in order for my plan to work. The terms on the scroll had been simple, they win and I won¡¯t mess with them, they lose and I acquire both of them as subordinates. Simple terms like these had plenty of loopholes and I made sure my skills were used to the max so they didn¡¯t notice and just signed off without thinking. For example, they could easily bribe everyone so that they could win the tournament but I could just as easily enter the tournament and win instead. The contract didn¡¯t state that I couldn¡¯t participate anywhere and even if Sefton and Ciarah had a clear mind while signing and had a plan to win, it wouldn¡¯t work as long as nothing happened to Josan and I used my overwhelming strength to come out on top. Nothing feels better than some old fashioned scamming! ¡°Oh yeah, I hope you know that if you try to involve your royal family with this, I won¡¯t hesitate to slaughter everyone you love and cherish,¡± I said in an upbeat tone, making sure to grin like a madman. I hoped this threat was imposing enough that the two siblings would keep their mouths shut for the time being and not involve anyone else with this matter. The two just glared at me before departing their separate ways. Ciarah headed back to the open streets while Sefton went deeper into the alley. Being cast away from the royal family sure is tough¡ªin dangerous situations like these you can¡¯t even ask for help! Whistling, I stuffed my hands in my pockets before setting out to explore the city. It was still my vacation, and the plan had been set in motion. All I needed to do now was wait for the day of the tournament and enter with another face. Sadly, my vacation would be cut short by the unexpected turn of events but fighting in an arena again would definitely be thrilling. Crowds cheering and a festive atmosphere improves your mood greatly, if you¡¯re winning that is. I visited many shops, but nothing stood out to me. All the items that were scavenged from monsters were useless junk in my eyes, the clothes didn¡¯t suit my taste, but the food was worth trying. It was similar yet different to Earth¡¯s food, there were more exotic flavours like Monster Melon Ice cream which surprisingly didn¡¯t taste half bad. There was one final shop to visit before I would settle in at an inn for the night. The tournament would be tomorrow yet I still didn¡¯t have a plan on how to participate in the competition. Sefton and Ciarah would recognize my voice in seconds even if I did have another face on, so I had been simulationsuly enjoying my vacation while looking for things that could assist me in solving this problem. ¡°Othidas, can darkness energy change my voice too?¡± I asked in my mind. ¡°Unfortunately, it can¡¯t because that would just corrupt your vocal chords,¡± Othidas explained in a monotone voice. ¡°The outside of your body may be resistant to darkness and chaos energy, but your insides aren¡¯t. Voluntarily moving concentrated evil energy into your internals is something only an idiotic child would do.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°But there are items that can change your voice and appearance. I¡¯m pretty sure a city as large as Cliffin is bound to have some of those items.¡± I could only pray that I was lucky enough that this next store would have an item like that. With effort, I had scanned the previous stores entirely for items with a description that matched to no avail. If one appeared now, I would be overjoyed! Anticipation bubbling, I stepped into the last store which was modeled just like the rest. A cashier at the front with rows and rows of shelves containing all sorts of potions, books, scrolls, and most importantly items. Browsing through the shelves, I finally spotted something worthy of my attention. A silver ring that had a special effect!
{Ring of Speech}
  • Alters the voice of the host by mimicking a saved voice
  • Only lasts for two days before a different saved voice is needed
[Slot 1] N/A
The ring was a measly ten copper. The shop clearly didn¡¯t know the worth of this ring or else the price would be a lot higher, a few silver at least. I had been informed by Othidas that these rings with special effects were pretty rare¡ªthe only way to get one was if you managed to craft one or snatch one from a monster drop. Even then, the chances of that happening were low because you either needed someone that had a blueprint for the item, or had to wait for the 1/1000 chance that the ring dropped from a monster. I quickly paid for the ring with some counterfeit money I conjured from Darkness Energy and scurried out of the shop onto the busy streets. Putting the somewhat dirty silver ring on the same finger as my Darkness Ring, I looked around. All I needed to do now was record someone else¡¯s voice and save it. Once it¡¯s successfully mimicked, I can activate the special effect of the Ring of Speech and at long last I¡¯ll be ready for the tournament tomorrow! Chapter 24 - Duelling Tournament Commence! Strolling around, I look for someone that looks to be around 18 so that their voice won¡¯t seem out of place when matched with my mask. Eventually, I find someone that fits the description walking towards a clothing store. I walk in right after him and spot him lounging near a clothes rack, and since I need to be within a certain distance of him to record his voice I make my way to the other side of the rack. While he talks to someone working in the store, I record his voice into [Slot 1] of the Ring of Speech. It¡¯s a success! With a voice successfully recorded, I activate the special effect of the ring and I can feel a change occurring with my vocal chords. [Voice has been successfully altered to mimic . Your voice will go back to normal in two days.] To test my voice, I started speaking to myself quietly and I confirmed that my voice had indeed changed. Instead of the somewhat deep voice I used to have, it was now more high pitched with a kinder tone than before. Now that my final task was finished, I could just go find an inn and relax for the night. ¡°I think we should go to that one,¡± Othidas told me while mentally pointing towards a fairly small building that was worn down. ¡°It¡¯s better to stay low key in these areas even if no one recognizes you, we don¡¯t want your disguise to exposed this quickly.¡± Taking my friend¡¯s advice, I headed into the rundown inn which was unexpectedly crowded. The reception desk was surrounded by two pockets of chairs and tables which were occupied by burly men and a few women. As soon as I entered, everyone stopped talking and looked at me, but after realizing I wasn''t anything special, they went back to their conversations. Slowly walking up to the reception desk, an old man with greying hair greeted me with a forced smile. ¡°How may I help you,¡± he asked politely. ¡°I need a room for the night and food,¡± I said. ¡°That will be 10 copper since the inn has been busy lately and the demand for rooms and food has been high,¡± the old man explained. ¡°Ok then, 10 copper it is,¡± I murmured as I acted like I was grabbing the money from my pockets when I was actually forming them from darkness energy. Damn does this energy have so many uses! After paying for my room and food, I waited as the receptionist went to get the key to my room. While waiting, I overheard the other residents of the inn talking loudly over dinner. ¡°Have you guys heard about that tournament that Sir Josan is hosting?¡± one of the men asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard the reward is a position in the King¡¯s personal guard but that means that competition will be fierce,¡± another man said. ¡°But many people are so desperate for money that they are rushing here from nearby towns and villages just to enter.¡± ¡°No wonder there are so many people living in inns like this.¡± ¡°My friend told me that the legendary Golden Spear will be attending the tournament!¡± ¡°Then we definitely have no chance of winning, I thought about participating but I may as well give up now.¡± Their power levels were less than 50 so I didn¡¯t care if they participated in the tournament or not, but I am happy that the word has spread this much and supposedly legendary figures like the Golden Spear are joining. I was prepared to take my key and leave before I heard one of the men say something that caught my interest. ¡°One of my friends told me something about the host of the tournament,¡± one of the men whispered under this breath. He then motioned for his friends to come closer but I could still make out what they were saying due to my enhanced hearing. ¡°He mentioned that Sir Josan isn¡¯t actually the one who had the idea of the tournament. It was someone that wanted their identity hidden that thought up of the tournament instead!¡± ¡°As expected of you! You never stop impressing us!¡± the men laughed while raising their beers for a toast. They had sure gotten some details right but I feel like these men were too drunk to understand anything and were just spewing out random bits of information related to the topic. I turned my attention back to the receptionist who had with perfect timing, arrived back with a key to my room. ¡°Room 204, enjoy your stay,¡± the old man said with a smile. He seemed friendly, maybe it was because of all the business his inn was getting but I decided not to probe any further.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. My room only had the bare necessities, a toilet and a bed that was as hard as a rock. It seemed more like a prison cell than a room in an inn, but it was all I needed anyways. I could''ve chosen to go to a more expensive inn, but for the sake of staying lowkey and hidden, this inn was the right choice. Lying down in an actual bed, even if it was rock hard, was still better than sitting in an alley for the night. With relaxation, I drifted into unconsciousness spread eagled on the bed, full of excitement and anticipation for tomorrow''s events. *** The next day, I awoke early so I could make it to the registration table before anyone else at the Official Tournament Arena. It was located relatively towards the center of the city, just outside the gates that led to the Royal Family¡¯s castle grounds. Even though I had left 2 hours earlier to sign up, there were still hundreds of muscular men and women bustling about, talking to each other. They all had some sort of paint marking on their forehead which probably signified their acceptance into the tournament. The arena was shaped like a circle, kind of like the Colosseum in Rome but more sturdy, decorated, and colourful. You couldn¡¯t enter yet, you had to go through the registration procedure first and if you weren¡¯t a participant and only a spectator, you would have to wait until noon to be let into the arena. The registration table already had a long line in front of it consisting of a few dozens of people. Imagine how long the line would have been if I had came right before the deadline, an hour before the tournament started. I guessed it was about at least 3 hours until noon, so I had plenty of time to roam around after my registration. Perhaps I should get to know some of the participants like Dochet did at that Battle Royale or I could go looking for that sibling duo. I leisurely waited 45 mins until it was my turn for registration. During that time, more and more people arrived at the square like they were competing with each other to get here first. There had to be at least a few thousand gathered in this square right now, who knew the incentives I told Josan to put up as a reward would garner this much attention! ¡°Hello, are you here to register for the Dueling Tournament hosted by Sir Josan?¡± the receptionist lady asked. I nodded and waited as she asked a bunch of questions in order to fill out my form. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± she asked. ¡°Is there an option to be anonymous?¡± I said, trying my best to keep myself hidden from others. She looked up with one eye in a somewhat annoyed manner before writing down something on the form. After this, the lady asked several other personal questions so I just made up a bunch of relatively believable pieces of information to pass on. Eventually, the questioning ended and the lady drew a red line on my forehead. ¡°Enter that large gate right there to head into the participants area,¡± she said, already looking at the next person in line. Now that I think about it, everyone that had that line on their forehead were already gone from the outside square and had no doubt entered inside the arena already. Doing the same, I entered the gate, passing by two armed knights standing on either side of the entrance. They didn¡¯t even glance at me but I could see the arrogance glinting from their eyes. I didn¡¯t mind though because I could easily squash him like a bug. I walked down a short hallway before it opened up to a large courtyard filled to the brim with people wearing armour with weapons strapped to their waist. There were a few women that looked like knights as well with the classic armour with a sword getup. The majority didn¡¯t look like that though, about 2 thirds of the crowd were either wearing run down clothes or even rags. They brought nothing except rusting weapons and even a few bought whips. Some of them had spears while others had bows, there were many varying weapons of choice but the sword was the most used. I had set the requirements to be lax, anyone over the age of 12 could participate and you could bring any weapon you wanted. Of course, traps and other miscellaneous items were allowed if it were to be your fighting style, but absolutely no killing. You had to agree to all these terms during registration or else you wouldn¡¯t be allowed to participate. So far, I have not spotted Sefton and Ciarah anywhere¡ªI even tried looking for that Legendary Golden Spear to check out his power level but it seemed like he hadn¡¯t arrived yet. There was still time before the tournament started so I decided to just find a corner so stand in by myself. I might even be able to get some shut eye as Othidas kept watch. Since we both occupied this body, when I would lose consciousness, Othidas would keep watch, but when I¡¯m awake, Othidas would occasionally lose consciousness for a little nap. I didn¡¯t know this before but it seems like Demons need very little sleep. A Supreme Demon King like my partner didn¡¯t even need to sleep at all, which came as a surprise when I first heard it. I crossed my arms and close my eyes, trying to have a little nap but suddenly a man that was talking to a woman bumped into me as he tried to show off his muscles. ¡°Hey, watch it kid!¡± the man said with an annoyed tone. ¡°But you bumped into me,¡± I retorted, disappointed that I wouldn¡¯t be able to take a small nap. ¡°Shut your damn mouth kid,¡± the man growled, glancing at the woman who had just been talking to him out of the corner of his eye. ¡°If you know what¡¯s good for you, apologize and scram!¡± ¡°It seems that you don¡¯t understand what I¡¯m saying,¡± I slowly worded out. I had to stand my ground, to show that I wasn¡¯t easy to mess with even though I wasn¡¯t playing on showing off my strength here and now. Hopefully if this situation played out right, I would be seen as a kid that stood up for himself even though he isn¡¯t necessarily strong and that man would play out to be the bad bully. I firmly declared, ¡°You bumped into me first, so you should be the one apologizing.¡± It seems a fight would break out in an area that was loosely monitored. If I play my cards right, I won¡¯t suffer any consequences and will still be able to participate. I resolved myself to keep my emotions in check and not retaliate in full force, and play the role of the victim. What was about to happen next would definitely be a juicy, clich¨¦ situation and I planned to enjoy every second of it.