10 reviews = bonus chapter
500 gems = bonus chapter
Advanced chapters at:
www.patreon.com/posts/reborn-as-sung-124287235
***
Aesil stared dumbfounded at the blazing castle.
Yes, another demon castle in the Demon Castle. Only this time, I didn't negotiate with anyone, and just unleashed my army on this house of noble demons. Chthon simply demolished part of the castle wall, and then swept his paw across it, demolishing into a bloody mess the demonic knights that were holding the defences on that wall.
Here, Igris ran down Chthon's back and took off in a swift leap, colliding with some noble demon. But, he was my strongest shadow. The marshal of my army also possessed a corresponding power that surpassed ordinary archdemons. The quick clash ended with the lord shredded and the marshal travelled on.
Over on one of the walls, Iron faced a group of demonic knights. And under his cover, Baruka pounced on the monsters.- You... so fast... - Aesil watched mesmerised as the demonic castle turned into ruins in a matter of minutes.
And finally, Igris returns, throwing the heads of noble demons at my feet.
Archidemons, noble demons, each with a minimum of S-rank. Representatives of the ruling families of demonic houses. And the higher the floor, the more powerful the houses were. Though that didn't mean that all the archidemons of the higher floors were stronger than the archidemons below. It was just that there were more of them. But there were some particularly strong demon lords encountered.
- Hmm, next floor, Igris, bring me a live one.
- Yes, Lord. - The marshal bowed his head.
That's when Baruka appeared, handing me a pass taken from the local demon lords, and we went straight on.
The next floor was just as easy. I wasn't even involved in a battle. Fighting such weak opponents wouldn't make me stronger in terms of skills. I was also getting experience for using shadows. And here Igris brought me not some random demonic knight, but an archdemon, the lord of the floor himself.
- Y-you-" The demon hissed furiously. - How dare you! My house... Who the hell are you!?
I didn't talk to him much, but just proceeded with the experiment.
- Khaa..." The demon's eyes bulged as he was bombarded by my magic.
The aggressive mana just gnawed into the demon's body, making it twitch in agony. I was forcing the native infected mana out of him, replacing it with my own.
- Ghraaah! - The demon roared in pain.
Magical light shone from its eyes.
And the next moment, my hand pierces its chest. And I pull the shadow out of the demon.
- So that's it...
Dazedly collapsing on his knees, the shadow archdemon looked up at me.
At the same time, his body relaxedly collapsed to the ground. Igris let go of the lord as he choked on his last scream. In front of me now knelt an elite shadow knight, quite strong, ready to be promoted to the rank of general. But, he was clearly weaker than when he was alive. My way of bypassing Mana Infestation had created a new shadow, but it had clearly wasted some of its strength. And, now I could feel it even more clearly. That this demon was no longer the same lord.
I finally understood how my servants rose from the darkness.
The shadow removal skill uses the mana left in a dead body. It uses it to create... a sort of mould of the soul. A mould that fills with darkness and becomes flesh.
While I was in some sort of awe, the demon's shadow drew closer. His confused posture became confident, and he rose, already on one knee, put his hand to his heart, and lowered his head in deference to his new master.
- You... ripped out his soul... - Aesil exhaled dazedly.
- Almost... - I whispered.
I felt his soul too. At the very moment that the shadow extraction had torn that 'cast' from his soul, the soul itself had slipped into oblivion. Its memory was ripped out of it, almost all of its strength, leaving only the core, which disappeared from me.
So that's how it works...
It's true that this method wastes a lot of energy. Like a dozen powerful spells! But, it seems to depend on the strength of the demon itself. How much mana it can hold. Nevertheless, after training in the red gate, I myself now had enough mana to turn about a dozen more demons into shadows on the next floor.
And then...
After drinking the mana elixir, I moved on.
However, there was one more inconvenient point. A few times to replenish mana with potions is still okay, but already on the fourth bottle begins unpleasant heartburn and such a nasty lingering feeling in the stomach. So, for a while I stopped raising shadow servants, just going upstairs and letting my shadow army deal with any issues that arise to grant me a pass upstairs. Combining this with destroying bags of experience in the form of archdemons and demonic knights. On top of that, the floors were still full of strong half-intelligent demons as well.
- Master... you've already... completely destroyed thirteen demon families... - Aesil remarked with a tremor in her voice.
- And you led me to them. - I grinned.
The demoness swallowed excitedly.
- W-why did you... spare my clan?
Did she forget about our pact? I still need a guide, don't I? I can certainly find these castles on my own, but it will take longer. Nevertheless, I answered differently.
- I just like you.
And the demoness looked away sweetly.
I, on the other hand, wondered if I could take her away from here. As part of the squad, she can travel with me between the floors of the Demon Castle. But, can I take her with me to the human world in the same way? I feel like I just have to check it out. This demoness is really cute. I want her for myself.
I guess it's because I've been without female affection for almost a week now that my thoughts have been flowing in that direction. You get used to the good stuff. After I finish the Demon Castle, I'll have to meet Hee Jin.
Meanwhile, we climbed higher and higher.
When my mana recovered, I experimented with my new magic skills some more.
I especially liked lightning. Even though this spell doesn't hit far, but it's so cool to control the flow of flowing plasma in my hands. It's like a sparkling white flame. Earthquake turned out to be an interesting spell too. I could just burst into a crowd of demons and create a concussive wave that causes the ground to tear deep chasms. Demons fall into them, and when shaking these crevices and wipe the monsters into a bloody mess, clamping them. And even those who managed to avoid the fall, find themselves dazed by the violent shaking. At this point, the disoriented demons are begging to be hit with something else. Vacuum blast, fireball, what better way to attack the squares.
And yet, as we approached the top floor, I decided to call it a day.
On the ninety-ninth, we encountered the strongest subordinate house. That is, there is still the house of the demon king himself. But of his servants, these demons were the strongest.
- Guoooo... - Cyclops wailed painfully.
The destructive beam simply vaporised his head. The local mage lord archdemon, flew high above his castle and channelled deadly magic against my servants. His body was covered in black armour, and behind his back were sinister demonic wings. His head was crowned with fearsome horns.
Igris glared at him and quickly climbed into Chthon's hand, telling the beast to hurl it at his opponent. Yes, my marshal is a desperate fighter.
- What are you doing up there? Come down! - I'm shouting to the archdemon.
Iron stands in front of me, putting up a shield, which is struck by a scarlet orb. And a massive explosion shattered the shield, knocking my tank back.
- Oh, for fuck's sake! Fire arrow!
In an impulsive impulse, I created three spells at once, clutching them tensely like katars in my hands.
- Take that!
Bursting with black fire, the flaming spears flew upwards. The demon tries to dodge, but I still feel control over the magic and point the spears straight at the target. With a fierce grim flash, they simply burn through the enemy, sizzling part of the archdemon's wing, his legs, and the left half of his chest into dust. But, he was still alive, only now unable to stay in the air.
Igris wanted to catch the falling demon with his sword, but I went out to finish the enemy myself. Since I had knocked him down myself. Especially since I need the demon still alive to raise the shadow.
- Grraa... Lord... - The archdemon growled furiously.
Using magic, he managed to regenerate his wing and tried to regain control of his flight, but now he was close enough. So I just crushed his wings with the Monarch's Power, after which the monster collapsed right into my hands.
- I'll need you later..." I grinned into the demon's face.
Its eyes burned with rage, but as my mana burst into the monster, those eyes flashed blue fire, causing the demon to wriggle and scream in pain. The corrupted mana oozed out of its body in a purple haze. The transformation process itself took about a minute. This archdemon was much stronger than the ones I had raised before, and it took longer to transform its mana, during which I used up almost half of my remaining energy. But, the moment had come, and I simply snatched its shadow from the enemy's body.
- Haa... Lord... - He exhaled.
- A general at once. - I grinned. - I name you Annatar.
The eyes of the shadow demon flashed with violet fire, and his power increased a little more.
- It is my good fortune to serve you, Master. - He said enthusiastically.
Sighing, I strode across the battlefield the same way. Chthon was pinning a wounded prince to the ground, another archdemon who had become my servant. But he was weaker than his father. Another acquisition was a strong guardsman, a demon knight. I didn't have enough mana for more, so I just finished off the rest of the demons.
- Will you rest? - Esil asked excitedly.
I stretched my neck and took out a mana potion from my inventory.
- No... there's one last push left. And... you can already go home, only the demon king is ahead.
- I... - The girl hesitated. - You don't need me anymore?
And she's looking at me with that poor puppy dog expression.
- This is the top floor, a battle with the king could be dangerous for you and, I'll still find him easily.
- Please, let me come with you. I want to see... the outcome of this battle.
- You want to stab me in the back again when you get the chance, huh? - I squinted.
- No! - The demoness burst into flames. - I don't... I wouldn't dare... you...
- Come on... don't worry, I'm just messing with you.
- Under... stabbing you? - Aesil backed away.
- Well, it's just an expression, a tease. I like to see you embarrassed.
After saying that, the archdemon blushed desperately.
At the same time, the shadow of the local lord looked surprised at the demoness from the weakest clan. He still had no way of understanding what was going on here.
- And, yes, you can come with me next. But, just stay back, I don't want you to get hit by a random attack.
- I understand. - Nodded the demoness.
- Let's go... - I sighed.
The soldiers disappeared into my shadow. Esil and I headed for the fire tower that would take us to the top floor. My heart was beating vigorously in anticipation of the battle. Though, the demon king was unlikely to be as strong as he should have been in the past. Still, I expected that the battle with the Monarch wouldn't be easy. But with my current strength and the support of the shadow army, it shouldn't become too difficult either. I was ready to face this challenge.
The portal led us straight to a dilapidated burnt out castle.
This place was much smaller than the previous floors, though there was room to spread out here too.
And flakes of ashes were flying in the air like grey snowflakes.
A flap sounded high in the sky and, raising our eyes, we could see the winged monster approaching. It even felt different. In all the previous floors, it was as if I was travelling through real worlds that lived by their own rules. Here, even the very appearance of the king was like a script in a game, preceding the final battle with the main boss.
A large wyvern slams its claws into a dilapidated tower.
And from its back stares at me with fiercely blazing eyes ...
Demon King Baran
It's a good name.
And now, the demon's mouth lights up with a predatory grin.
- Aesil, get back.
The girl retreated.
And the demon king raised his white-hot sword and roared. I felt reality shudder with that roar. And, around the castle began to open numerous gates, from which immediately rushed hordes of demons. Many half-intelligent and completely savage creatures rushed towards me, while their king remained in place, admiring the movement of his army.
- My lord! - Esil exclaimed anxiously.
I let the monsters get a little closer and calmly used the Monarch's Possession, which filled almost the entire castle area with gloomy shadows and burst out further. Slender rows of shadows struck sharply out of the gloom, stringing the demons on spades. And in the centre, Igris lifted a particularly fast demon-knight onto his sword.
- GrrrrrAAA!" the Baran roared furiously.
A movement and his wyvern flew off the tower so that the demon king could attack from the air.
But, the Monarch didn't get the chance to fly.
- Get down! - Steel rang my command.
And the metal fingers of the gauntlet clenched, crushing the wyvern's wings with the Monarch's power. With a shriek, the monster began to fall, and already at the ground, the demon king himself jumped off the wyvern, attacking me.
In a leap, with a sword that was covered with lightning sparks, he looked very epic.
And in the next moment, the shadow sword with the base of the Greatest Shard of Light drew a line.
And the Monarch's decapitated body fell to the ground, while his horned pokeweed rolled onwards. The sword fell from the demon's hands. A heavy silence hung over the battlefield. The demons roaring in rage suddenly fell silent. But my servants continued to slaughter them with silent inevitability.
You have killed the Demon King Baran!
Your level has been raised! Х12
The task "Collecting Demon Souls" has been completed!
Reward:
Shadow Swap skill
+ 30 characteristic points
Demon Hunter title.
The demons finally came to their senses, but they were no longer thinking about fighting. The monsters were trying to flee, to escape me and my army. But the shadow soldiers were catching up with them. Igris personally led the hunt for the fugitives.
- Sir... you... killed the King... Baran..." Esil whispered in a low whisper. - So... in one blow?
I calmly placed my sword with the point on the floor. It looks like I was overpowered in the red gate, so now I boringly killed the demon king with one blow. But, that's a good thing, so the fight with the real Monarchs won't be much harder. Although, Baran's living counterparts should be stronger.
- He was weaker than I expected.
And without leaving the cash register, even though the moment was gone, I channelled my mana into the Monarch's body, along with the darkness. But my tried-and-true method of raising demons wasn't working here. Even without mana transformation, using the shadow extraction skill, I could feel my power clinging to the target's soul. Here, however, it was as if there was something different.
A hand gesture and the demon king's body rises into the air.
His armour is torn apart, his flesh torn and his bones coming out. The Monarch's power simply rips the pulsing heart out of his body, oozing white flaming plasma.
You have extracted the heart of the White Flame Monarch!
An immortal heart that contained the Monarch's essence within it
I didn't quite understand how to use this thing, and the system didn't give any clues. But, I could clearly sense the main thing - the demon's soul was centred in this heart. That's why I couldn't extract its shadow. And for now, all I had to do was to put this thing away in my inventory, where it fit quietly.
Attention!
The Monarch's heart has been extracted, the dungeon will be destroyed after it closes
What's this...
If I didn't take the heart, I could go back to this castle and go through it all over again? For just killing Baran alone, I was given so much experience that.....
With a melodious trill, the system gave me a new message.
You have reached level 100!
It's time to meet your destiny, the gate will open in 72:59.
Reward received!
Key of the Temple of Cartenon
Rank - S
Allows you to open the gates of Cartenon Temple in the secret dungeon.
Here comes the Architect inviting me to his dungeon.I also took a look at the loot from the Demon King.
The Demon King's sword.
Demon King's Blade x2
Horn of the ram x2
Demon King's Purified Blood
Demon King's Ring
I only took a quick look at the characteristics of the items. The Baran's weapon wasn't of much interest to me. It was nowhere near comparable to the Greatest Shard. Nevertheless, I found a use for these swords.
- Igris.
Bloody appeared in front of me, kneeling down, and I handed him the lightning sword that still had the Demon King's magic flowing in it, sparkling white plasma discharges across the blade.
- Take it.
The marshal held out his hands respectfully, accepting the weapon in them.
The king's blades were handed to one of the shadow archidemons who specialised in fighting with two swords.
Afterwards, I put on the king's ring, which also gave me a full set bonus, adding another ten points to my stats. And the nice thing is that this ring was equipped through the system and did not prevent me from putting on the same finger and the real magic ring from the auction of hunters.
Just like that, I also distributed all the new characteristic points and admired my updated stats.
Sung Jin Woo
Level 110
Speciality
Shadow Lord
Title
One who seeks the easy way
Health - 100%
Mana - 100%
Characteristics:
Strength - 350 (+57)
Dexterity - 350 (+53)
Stamina - 320 (+54)
Perception - 261 (+50)
Intelligence - 387 (+69)
Skills
Passive:
Fortitude level 9
Two-handed Blade level 9
Ant's Strength level 9
Dagger Mastery level 5.
Active:
Sprint - 9 level.
Suppression - 9th rank.
Ruthless Slashing - rank 9
Cloak - 9th level.
Monarch's Power - 9th level.
Shadow Extraction - 9th level.
Shadow Vault - 9th level.
Monarch's Possession - 8th level.
Fireball - 7th level.
Fortification - 4th level.
Furious Cut - 5th level.
Vacuum Blast - 6th level.
Fire Arrow - 5 levels.
Minor Healing - 3 levels.
Earthquake - 4 levels.
Lightning Strike - 4 levels.
Freezing - 3 levels.
Wind Blade - 3 levels.
Critical Strike - 2 levels.
Disappearance - 4.
I became even stronger, and the equipment bonuses gave me a very significant boost to my stats. I also checked my new title, but it only gave me a bonus to demon slaying. I liked my current title, which doubled my defence while actively wearing it, much better.
- Huh... yeah, by the way... - I glanced at the remains of the wyvern.
It didn't survive the fall.
- Rise.
And, gripped by a dark force, a winged monster rose before me.
- I name you Kaisel.
Now I have a car!
***
Don't forget to gift stones
And subscribe at:
patreon.com/FanFictionPremium