"Yeesh. This guy is on a whole other level."
Esil and I stood in an old medieval town that seemed to span for miles. The sky was dark, and a small snowstorm was bellowing throughout the sky.
We watched as a giant white dragon landed on a destroyed clock tower and perched itself. On its back was a tall, grey, well-muscled demon with white flames as hair behind his two large horns. On his shoulders were golden pieces of armor that gleamed in the moonlight. In his right hand was a massive glowing sword that sparked with power. A harness in his other hand allowed him to steer the dragon underneath him.
[ BALAN, THE DEMON MONARCH ]
[ KAISELLIN THE WYVERN ]
Despite the danger, I have to respect the cool entrance he did. Esil fell to her knees as she stared at Balan in sheer terror. Her body shook uncontrollably, and Balan sneered at us above his dragon. Kaisellin's wings flapped with power and flew high into the dark sky. Balan raised his long sword from above his mount and pointed it at me and Esil. From the other side of the town we stood in, dozens of purple doors rose to life from the floor.
[ Demon soldiers have been summoned. ]
[ Demon knights have been summoned. ]
[ Demon generals have been summoned. ]
"There's gotta be at least around a thousand demons. Is this it, or is this the first wave?" I said calmly while Esil looked at me in a panic.
"Hachiman! W-what should we do?!" Esil said. In her panic, she had used my first name.
As if spurred by her call, all the demons rushed at us with a roar that filled the town. The ground beneath us shook as they charged at us with intent to kill. Esil continued to ask me what we should do, but I waited. Once the large demon army was within my range I activated one of my Monarch skills.
Now!
[ Skill: Monarch's Domain ]
I summoned my entire shadow army from beneath the demons, using the element of surprise. They all managed to kill a large majority of the demons with ease. Once they were done, they all fully rose from the ground. Instead of their usual glowing blue flames, they were now a dark purple. Indicating that Monarch's Domain has buffed them.
"Destroy them all! Hold nothing back!" I yelled, and my army dashed toward the legion of demons. My major shadows began to annihilate everything in front of them. Shinai and Radahn played a major part in taking down hundreds of demons at a time. I had given the orb of avarice to one of my magicians and had them go to town on large portions of the demon army.
I looked away from my army and saw Balan looking down in confusion. It seems he wasn't expecting me to have an army myself. What is he doing? Balan lifted his head and opened his sharp mouth wide. His mouth released an explosion of electricity that flew into the sky. In a split second, the cloudy skies above were filled with electricity and glowed an ominous blue. Not good!
"EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" I yelled to my army and picked up Esil. I activated my dash skill and blurred away.
Dozens of lightning bolts shot down onto the ground and struck his demon army and those of my army who hadn't moved in time. I used ruler's hand to levitate Esil and me as the lighting continued to run along the ground. I sent Esil down once the lighting fizzled out and inspected my soldiers. They seemed to be frozen as electric currents ran through their body. That wasn't just standard lighting. It must have a paralyzing buff!
Using ruler's hand, I flew high into the air and aimed my bow at Balan. I drew back three arrows and charged my mana into them. I released them and used ruler's hand to propel them to even faster speeds. Using the bow's special effects, the arrows grew in size and multiplied. Balan commanded Kaisellin to evade the onslaught of arrows, but three arrows pierced through the wyvern's massive wings. Using this distraction, I pulled myself towards the dragon and sank my Ice Dragon dagger into its lower stomach while activating the fatal strike skill.
[ KAISELLIN THE WYVERN has been afflicted with Freeze. ]
Now unable to move its body, the large wyvern began to fall out of the sky with Balan and me in tow. As we fell, he glared at me and opened his mouth again. Not today!
[ Advanced Bow Handling Lv. 1 ]
[ For Bow's only. ]
[ Your skills with a Bow have increased due to your expert handling. Damage increased by 33% when using a bow. ]
I shot an arrow into Balan's right eye, which changed the course of his attack. Shit! I moved my body to the side, but the edge of his beam attack struck my chest and sent me crashing into the ground. Before impacting one of the town buildings, I used a ruler's hand and slowed my descent as much as possible. I crashed through the building in an explosion of dust and debris.
I jumped out of the rubble and looked up to see Balan pull out the arrow from his skull. He was walking out of a deep crater as he stepped towards me. In the background, Kaisellin crash landed on several buildings with a resounding crash; I used a mental command and sent Igris to slay it. I glared at the Monarch and tore off the scraps of fabric that were left of my shirt, leaving me shirtless. This guy isn't going to go down easy. Well, neither am I!
Balas opened his mouth once more and sent another blast of magic power towards me. Sadly for him, I was already running off to the side using my dash skull. My body was nothing but a blur as I appeared beside him. He stopped his blast attack just in time to receive a powerful left punch from me. His neck snapped to the side with a thunderclap.
Before I could land any more strikes on his body, I had to raise my left guard to minimize the damage from his high left kick. I skidded along the ground and came to a stop. I moved to the side just as he swung his long sword where I once stood. Using Shizukas training, I focused a series of punches into Balan's wrist, forearm, and elbow. He clenched his sharp teeth as his arm went slack, causing him to let go of his sword briefly.
I kicked the sword across the battlefield and summoned my katana. I slashed across Balan's ribs with a quick turn. He roared at me and slammed a foot onto the ground, causing me to go off balance. I raised my katana and held it in front of me to absorb a powerful right punch. I was thrown back several feet but was quickly caught by Iris. We came to a stop and dashed back towards Balan. We met in the center and began a two versus one fight.
Despite her several level-ups, Iris was still too slow to avoid a wild backhand from Balan. Her upper body exploded into shadows but quickly reformed. I jumped over Balan's head and jammed the Atlantean blade into his right shoulder. I pushed myself away from him with ruler's hand just in time to see a Radahn bulldoze Balan with his large armored shoulder.
[ BALAN, THE DEMON MONARCH has been afflicted with Poison. ]
[ You have used Mana Flask. ]
[ +35% Mana ]
[ 1/3 ]
I ran after Balan and Radahn just in time to see Balan slice off half of Radahn's body and take out the dagger from his shoulder. I turned my head to see Iris kill a demon soldier. That bastard must have brought Balan his sword. With incredible speed, Balan beheaded Iris in one fell swoop of his blade. I blurred beside him and attacked him across his back with my katana.
[ Fatal Strike Lv. 1 ]
[ 70 mana required ]
[ For Katana's Only ]
[You've learned how to attack more efficiently. You can spot an opponent's weak spots and inflict lethal damage. ]
I weaved one of Balan's sword attacks and sliced across his left thigh. Blood exploded out of his wound, and he roared in annoyance.
[ BALAN, THE DEMON MONARCH has been afflicted with Bleed. ]
We began to cross blades throughout the town. Our fight moved to and from location to location. Explosions of destruction followed our wake as we moved. Balan seemed to grow annoyed by the fact our fight was lasting too long; he opened his mouth and, in a blink of an eye. A massive explosion of magical energy shot out from his body in a wave. All I could do was raise my guard as the attack struck me. I shot out like a torpedo and crashed through several buildings.
"Fuck… my back." I winced as I tried to stand to my feet, but a wave of pain caused me to grit my teeth. As I was about to stand, I saw Balan's body over my own with his massive blade over my body.
I looked far behind him and saw Radahn, Iris, and the rest of my shadows stuck in intense battles with Balan's demon generals. They were too busy to come to my aid. Before I could roll over, Esil dashed beside Balan and slashed him across his neck with her short sword. Leaving a shallow, bloody cut.
"S-stay back!" Esil shouted and stood protectively in front of me. The sword in her hand shook. Tears were in the corner of her eyes as she glared at Balan. "I won't let you past me!"
"Damn it, Esil! Get out of here!" I said as I rose to my knees. In my panic, I had forgotten to use a health potion or summon the B-ranked healer shadow from the Ozaki's old party. "Esil, mov-"
Balan's blurred beside Esil and slammed his large fist across her body. I watched with wide eyes as Esil's body crashed through several buildings. My eyes zeroed in on her body as she rolled to a stop down the road. A trail of blood followed after her body.
"Don't worry, I'll protect her with all my power. You have my word."
"Wow! That's really tasty! Here, try this one; it's a demon delicacy back home!"
"Esil, you can't feed Kuma. He's just a shadow."
"Growing up, I didn't have friends. Being a demon princess made it impossible to have any."
"Is that so? Then… I'll be your friend then, Esil. What do you think?"
"R-really, you mean it?!"
What is this sinking feeling? My chest feels like it's being squeezed. I can't breathe. I can't hear. I don't like it. I don't like it. Esil? Esil, stand up. Stand up. STAND UP! ESIL!
Balan raised his long sword above my frozen body and grinned. With a jerk, he brought it down.
[ You have unlocked a hidden skill. ]
[ Skill: Berserker's Wrath ]
[ All stats will be doubled for the next sixty seconds. ]
[ Player will feel no pain. ]
[ Player will lose logical thinking. ]
x x x
Balan swung his long sword down onto Hachiman's frozen body. But before his long sword could obliterate Hachiman into an explosion of blood and gore. His arm shot up and grabbed onto the sword's blade, stopping it in a blast of electricity and gusts of wind. Balan watched in shock as Hachiman's hand began to burn away from being in contact with the blade.
"RAAAGHH!" Hachiman roared as he stood up from the floor. Balan tried to overpower him by pushing his sword down further, but Hachiman's strength was now double what it originally was. Hachiman then moved to the side and released the sword, causing Balan to stab it deeply into the ground.
[ Time remaining: 00:55 Seconds]
Hachiman grabbed Balan's horns and used them to pull himself upwards to deliver a powerful knee strike into Balan's face. The demon winced as his skull shook from the attack, but he quickly roared in agony as his horns were ripped from his head. Hachiman used the horns as long shivs and began to stab into Balan's body repeatedly and without pause. His eyes were glowing a deep purple as he danced all around Balan's body, landing attack after attack.
[ Time remaining: 00:36 Seconds]
Balan grew enraged and punched Hachiman in his chest. The young man slid back and coughed out a large glob of blood. He only glared at Balan and ran after him; his body was moving in an animalistic manner towards the demon, and he jumped over a low swing from his newly summoned twin daggers. Hachiman landed on Balan's shoulder and began to land a series of hammer punches into the demon's skull.
[ Time remaining: 00:19 Seconds]
Balan's head began to cave in, but he quickly grabbed Hachiman's torso and pulled him off. Balan slammed him onto the ground, and a massive explosion rocked the earth. Hachiman coughed and forced Balan's hand off his seriously damaged torso with a yell.
[ Time remaining: 00:08 Seconds]
Rolling onto his feet, Hachiman grabbed both of Balan's wrists and jumped onto his chest. He stood on the demon's torso with his wrists in his grasp. The young man began to roar as he used Balan's chest as leverage to pull off his arms slowly. The demon roared in agony, and with a sickening pop, his arms were ripped off his body. Hachiman flew back and rolled to a stop. Balan's arms fell beside him.
[ Time remaining: 00:00 Seconds]
x x x
I looked up and saw Balan looking at me from several feet away. His arms were nothing but bleeding stumps as he glared at me. His chest rose and fell quickly as he opened his mouth and charged another magical attack.
My body was wracked with pain and agony. I ignored the pain with every fiber of my being and stood up. I dashed towards Balan and stopped in front of him. He looked down and was about to unleash his attack when I slammed my hand into his lower jaw. His mouth closed with a snap, and his battered cheeks began to expand and glow. Holding his mouth closed, I dug my fingers into his jaw.
"Let's finish this already!" I yelled and summoned the Black Knife into my right hand. I stabbed it through Balan's lower jaw and into his skull. I dashed away but tripped on a large piece of debris and rolled to a stop. I looked up and saw Balan still alive and marching towards me. My knife was still stabbed into his lower jaw, but it was seemingly being ignored. I lifted a shaking hand and smirked.
"Gravity bolt!"
I snapped my fingers repeatedly and watched several bolts of purple lighting strike Balan's body one after the other.
[ MP: 0/6,987 ]
I continued snapping my fingers, but no more lighting fell from the sky. Balan's charred body stood in front of me, unmoving and smoking. I stood up and glared at the demon, with a mental command. I summoned my katana into my hands. Using pure speed, I dashed toward Balan and cut off his charred head with a slash. It rolled down its body and stopped next to his muscular legs. Balan's corpse fell forward with a crash.
[ You have defeated [ BALAN, THE DEMON MONARCH ] ]
[ You have acquired Balan's soul. ]
[ You have completed [ Quest: Collect Demon Souls ( 2 ) ] ]
I dismissed my katana and ran toward Esil as fast as I could. I lifted her into my battered arms and shook her. Esil's eyes remained closed, and my breath hitched; I lowered my head onto her chest. Yes! A heartbeat! Esil had a weak heartbeat. I summed one of my healer shadows and had them heal Esil immediately. I'm so glad I extracted the Hunter's shadows.
"Sir Hikigaya?" Esil whispered as she woke up. Once she was fully awake, she looked over my body and was shocked to see that I was covered in heaven cuts and bruises. "W-what happened?!"
"Haha… we won." I said slowly, and my shadow soldier, whom I was now naming Keiko, began to heal me. "We won, that's what happened."
Esil's panic disappeared as she saw my wounds slowly disappear. Without warning, she jumped into my arms and hugged me tightly. I was stunned for a second, but I hugged her back. We sat on the ground and enjoyed each other's embrace. I saw my shadow soldiers walk over to me and kneel. It seemed that they had also just
finished off Balan's demon army.
"Esil. You can tell your father that the Radir Clan is now the number one demon family." I said. Esil laughed in my chest and nodded. From behind us, the sun had begun to rise over the horizon. Bathing the desolate and destroyed town in its warm orange light.
x x x
[ ITEM: DEMON MONARCH'S RING ]
[ TYPE: ACCESSORY ]
[ CLASS: S ]
[ +20 Agility ]
[ +20 Intelligence ]
[ Set effect will activate if this item is equipped along with [ DEMON MONARCH'S NECKLACE ( Equipped ) ], [ DEMON MONARCH'S EARRINGS ( Equipped ) ]. ]
[ Set Effect 1. All stats +5 ]
[ Set Effect 2. All stats +10 ]
Esil and I sat on a large boulder and watched several of my lower-ranked shadows rummage and scavenge the battle for all the loot there was to offer. Just like I had them do through every floor. Unlike in the past instance dungeons I've done, the higher-ranked demons had begun to drop essence and mana stones.
I had taken this time to get myself back to full health and refilled my mana. So, other than being a little dirty and sweaty, I was back to fighting shape. I had even slipped on a new shirt. I had thrown several extra articles of clothing in my inventory for such an occasion.
[ DEMON MONARCH SET ]
[ Set Effect 1. All stats +5 ]
[ Set Effect 2. All stats +10 ]
[ ITEM: BALAN'S HORNS ]
[ TYPE: MISC ]
[ CLASS: S ]
[ Can be sold in the Store or used for Crafting. ]
I sat and watched as my soldiers brought me all the drops from the battlefield. With each new item, I couldn't help but reflect on my fight with Balan. I had made a devastating mistake towards the end, which resulted in my almost being killed. If it weren't for Esil's timely intervention, I'd most likely be dead.
[ DEMON MONARCH'S SWORD ]
[ TYPE: SWORD ]
[ CLASS: S ]
[ +350 Attack ]
[ This sword contains the power of the Demon Monarch Balon. Whenever you swing the sword, [ Buff: Storm of White Lightning] will be applied. ] [ BUFF: Storm of White Lightning: Stir up a storm with never-ending lightning in a certain area. ]
[ DEMON MONARCH'S DAGGER ]
[ TYPE: DAGGER ]
[ CLASS: S ]
[ +220 Attack ]
[ A dagger acquired from the Demon Monarch Balan. When you use both Demon Monarch's Daggers, the set buff will be applied. ]
[ SET BUFF: Two in One: Extra attack power equal to the current strength stat will be added to each dagger. ]
It was an odd thing. Owing your life to another, but here I sat with the person, uh demon, who had risked her own life for mine. I was thankful.
[ You have discovered [ Material Item: Purified Blood of the Demon Monarch ]. ]
[ PURIFIED BLOOD OF DEMON MONARCH ]
[ TYPE: MATERIAL ]
[ CLASS: ? ]
[ This liquid was made by purifying the blood of the Demon Monarch Balon. ]
[ It possesses powerful magic but still contains traces of poison even after purification, so World Tree Frogment and Spring Water from Echo Forest are required to neutralize the poison and use it as medicine. ]
I could now craft all three materials with the final item acquired for the holy water of life elixir. Esil watched in curiosity as all three items floated in front of me. During the crafting process, my intelligence stat played a major role in determining the quantity of elixirs that would be created. Fortunately, my intelligence stat was at a comfortable two hundred and five.
[ CRAFT ]
[ Consumable: Elixir of life ( 3/3 ) ]
[ Would you like to craft [ Elixir of life ]? ]
[Crafting [ Elixir of life ] ]
[Crafting… ]
[ the rate of success and item quantity will vary based on the crafter's intelligence level. ]
[Crafting was successful! ]
[ You have acquired 8 [ Item: Elixir of Life ]! ]
[ ELIXIR OF LIFE ]
[ TYPE: CONSUMABLE ]
[ CLASS: S ]
[ A mystical potion that cures all diseases using powerful magic. An entire bottle must be consumed for the full effect of the potion. ]
Once done, I raised a small elegant bottle filled with red liquid. After clearing one hundred floors of demons, I finally achieved my goal. With this, I should hopefully be able to help Shouko. When it was all said and done, I still had a large chunk of world tree fragment and some purified demon monarch blood. The only material that was used up was the spring water of the echoing forest.
"Congratulations, Sir Hikigaya." Esil said as she clapped her hands. I placed the potion away and turned to her.
"Hachiman. Call me by first name." I said with a small smile. Esil looked away from me, her face flushed red. She gave a slight nod and placed her hands between her thighs.
"O-okay. Congratulations, H-Hachiman." She said slowly. I nodded in satisfaction and looked up to see Igris and Iris dragging over the dead body of Balan's white wyvern.
I hopped off the rock with Esil in tow and walked over to the dragon. I looked at my shadows and smiled in appreciation. "Good work, you two." I said. They both bowed their heads in thanks to my praise and stepped away. I placed a hand on the wyvern's head.
"Arise."
It seems wyverns can be extracted into shadows here; it would have been nice if I could have added an entire demon army to my ranks. I grinned and watched a giant wispy black and flaming blue wyvern rise from its old corpse. His large flaming wings flapped, causing a strong gust of wind to bellow into the town clearing we were in.
"Your new name will be Shiro." I said. Shiro roared in triumph as his wings spread out wide. Esil walked up and stared at him in awe.
"With this wyvern, we'll be able to return to Radir immediately!" Esil said happily. "Once we return to my clan, we'll celebrate with a large feast! I'm sure my father will be very happy!"
Esil, dear. You had me at free food. I nodded at her and then remembered my quest rewards.
[ You have completed [ Quest: Collect Demon Souls ( 2 ) ] ]
[ Rewards: ]
[ Rune Stone of the Highest Rank ]
[ +30 stat points ]
[ Mystery Reward ]
I lifted the rune stone and saw it would grant me the shadow exchange skill. I crushed it and was flooded with power as shadows danced and swirled around my body.
[ Skill: Shadow Exchange Lv. 1 ]
[ Job Exclusive Skill ]
[ No mana required ]
[ The caster may switch locations with a designated shadow soldier. Once used, you may activate it again only after a three-hour cooldown period. Wait times can vary depending on skill level. ]
So I was right. It's practically instant transmission. So cool. I then deposited the thirty stat points evenly throughout all five categories. The last reward was a new title, Demon Hunter. However, I still hadn't accomplished all the prerequisite conditions to unlock it fully. One hundred floors aren't enough for you?
Now that all my rewards were accepted, I turned back to Esil and saw her fully packed. I had my shadow soldiers make a line, and I began depositing all the loot into my inventory. With nothing more to do here, I dismissed all my shadows but Shiro. Esil and I got onto Shiro's back. She again insisted on holding onto me tightly as we flew back to her clan's floor.
x x x
Once Esil and I returned to floor eighty, she rushed to her father and told him all the upper demons had been defeated. Leaving the Radis clan as the topmost demon clan in the tower. He immediately started a celebration and instructed his chefs to cook a grand feast.
I was provided with an immaculate black and red tux for the occasion. Esil herself wore a stunning black dress with several articles of golden jewelry. Once we joined the celebration, we were washed with cheers and praise from the other goatherd clan members. The guards themselves were posted to their duties, but as I passed them, they nodded at me with respect. Overall, the celebration was a nice change of pace from the nonstop fighting and leveling.
This brings me back to the present, where I was standing outside the castle courtyard. A large garden and hedge maze stood behind me as I stood under an extravagant quartz and gold-lined gazebo. I held a small plate of food in my hand; this was my third helping of food. Safe to say, I absolutely loved the demon chefs cooking. Maybe I can ask them for some recipes before I leave?
At the sound of footsteps, I turned and saw Esil walk towards me with her hands in front of her. She acted like a proper princess since she had to keep up appearances with all the other demon nobles today. Her hair had been styled into a side ponytail while a small golden tiara sat on her head. She stood beside me and joined me in looking at the dark red sky.
"Hachiman, will you… will you be returning to your world now?" Esil asked in a whisper. I swallowed the food in my mouth and drank some red wine. I didn't have to worry about getting drunk; the system automatically cleansed the alcohol from my body. I drank it mainly for the exquisite taste.
"Yeah. Once the party ends, I'm going to head back home." I said. Esil's face saddened, and she gripped her hands tighter on the gazebo's handrail. I sighed and pulled her into my chest in a half hug. She squealed but didn't try to escape my hold. "Don't worry, I'll visit when I can. I do have the key to this world, after all."
"I see. I'm happy to hear that." Esil whispered and leaned her head into my chest. "Can I… be honest with you, Hachiman?"
I let her go and turned to her. "…yeah. What is it?" I watched Esil shift her weight back and forth; she then took a deep breath to calm her nerves. I stood back and watched her look up into my eyes.
"This may be selfish of me... but I can't help how I feel or what I want. Hachiman, I… I love you." Esil said with a smile. Her cheeks were flushed as she looked at me tenderly.
I stood frozen and looked down at her. Did she actually confess? Just like that? Even though we hadn't known each other for too long, she still confessed her feelings to me. Why? Is this just gratitude misconstrued as love? Despite myself, I felt my cheeks begin to grow warm. "Are you… sure?"
Esil snickered and began to chuckle lightly. She turned away from me and looked back up at the sky. "I'm sure. I understand you might not feel the same, and I don't expect you to force yourself to like me back. If I learned anything after traveling with you for a few days, I learned that you're not very open with your feelings. But… I'm willing to wait for you. Whether you return my feelings or not."
"Esil… I…" I muttered but found that I had nothing to say. She was right. I didn't know how to respond. I've grown up being rejected by my peers and ignored by my female classmates. I never thought anyone could grow to like me in such a way. Especially to the point of falling in love with me. Had my past bullying and ostracizing led me to believe that I wasn't capable of having others fall for me? "I'm not sure what to say."
"That's okay. But… don't keep me waiting too long, okay?" Esil walked closer to me and placed her small hands on my chest. I looked down at her nervously as she leaned her head up at me. "You may already know this about me. But as a princess, I can be quite selfish. So I'll be taking a small reward for my troubles."
Esil jumped up and suddenly planted a kiss on my lips, causing me to step back slightly. My eyes grew wide in surprise while my face grew increasingly warm. Esil smiled beautifully at me and began to laugh into her hand.
If you had told my junior high self my first kiss would have been with a demon princess while we stood in an expensive gazebo outside a majestic castle in another world, I'd call you bat-shit crazy and that you belong in an insane asylum. But that long-winded sentence was true. I indeed had my first, stolen, kiss in such an outlandish setting.
x x x
[ STATUS ]
[ NAME: HACHIMAN HIKIGAYA ]
[ JOB: SHADOW MONARCH ]
[ TITLE: The One Who Overcame All Odds. ]
[ HP: 25,690 ] ( +1% x 60 sec )
[ MP: 7140 ]
[ LEVEL: 94 ]
[ FATIGUE: 0 ] ( +20 )
[ STRENGTH: 191 ( +105 ): 296 ]
[ AGILITY: 177 ( +127 ): 304 ]
[ SENSE: 151 ( +35 ): 186 ]
[ VITALITY: 151 ( +50 ): 201 ]
[ INTELLIGENCE: 151 ( +60 ): 211 ]
[ REMAINING POINTS: 0 ]
PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 84% ( +15 )