As the reality of his advancement dawned on him, Damien couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter amid the attack around them.
“Hehehe…” Damien chuckled, his voice and tone sounding like he’d been possessed. “I can feel it. It’s different from the rise to Level 30. There’s something different…”
Just then, the other demons arrived and as they attacked Damien’s summons, Damien himself had to face one head-on.
He didn’t mind though. He too wanted to test the extent of his new capabilities. Of his new rank.
Booom!
There was an explosion as the demon’s fist slammed into the flat side of Damien’s sword, slowing down its advances. Damien didn’t waste the opportunity and took the liberty to attack.
Damien stabbed his sword into the ground and using it as support, he leaped into the air performing a roundhouse kick that connected with the demon’s jaw, sending it into the air for a few metres.
Kaaareeei!!
Still in mid-air, the demon screeched furiously, its wings opening in the air to regain its balance and then its eyes pinpointed Damien on the ground gesturing for it to come back down.
The demon didn’t understand but the mere fact that it had been thrown into the air with a single kick infuriated it and so it attacked again.
It flapped its wings powerfully and began to descend, its speed increasing with each flap.
As it closed in on Damien it aimed its horn at him and began to spin like a drill ready to penetrate Damien.
Damien watched this happen and decided on a way to counter immediately. Since he knew it would most likely be a dangerous attack, he chose to evade and counterattack.
…swoooosh!
The demon’s spinning body shot toward Damien with a powerful force that kicked up a whirlwind behind it, blowing up dust and dirt and momentarily covering the battlefield with it. It was intent on pinning Damien to the tree behind him using its horns.
Damien also raised his sword, preparing it in advance for his counter-attack and as the demon finally arrived to deal damage, Damien swiftly sidestepped, moving out of the demon’s path of attack with a shocking reflex.
It was too late to stop its attack now and so it rammed its horns into the very same tree it had been planning on pinning Damien to.
Boooom!
There was another explosion as the demon’s horn dug deep into the tree, giving the tree’s trunk a notable rear that ran halfway through its length.
Kaareeeei!
The demon screeched as it immediately sensed something was wrong and it repeatedly tried to pull its horns out of the tree but it was already too late.
“Return to wherever you all spawned from!” Damien, standing beside the demon, roared as he brought down his weapon in a powerful slash.
Thuck…
Thud!
There was little to no resistance as the blade cleanly sliced through the demon’s neck leaving a thin line before digging into the ground.
Thud!
The demon’s body collapsed to the ground but the head remained pinned to the tree by the horns. With that, another demon was dead.
Their numbers were slowly dwindling and for the first time, Damien got a system notification that made him frown slightly.
Ding!
«You have slain a Grade Five Demon! +10 Exp!»
Even though he’d anticipated it after advancing to level 40, it still didn’t sit well with him. Now, he would have to hunt for even more Grade Five mana beasts and demons to fill his Exp before he could level up. He would need ten times more Grade Five mana beasts than before to level up.
The only other option was to hunt Grade Four mana beasts or demons but if he recalled clearly, those were out of his league currently.
Except he would create Grade Four beasts of his own. He turned toward his left where Fenrir and the other summons were engaged in a fierce battle with the remaining five demons. They’d managed to kill one and two more were injured.
“I’ve got the resources required for them to advance right here, so why not?” Damien lunged forward with no single ounce of hesitation. He would end the fight as quickly as he could so he could give his summons the chance to advance.
As Damien arrived and joined his summons, he immediately went after the two injured demons who now took refuge at the back of the others yet to fall.
“Not on my watch!” Damien’s voice was a valiant roar and so was his first strike.
Bang!
The flat side of his weapon slammed into the abdomen region of one of the injured demons pushing it into the air and in a second, it vanished from the sky.
Luton had never joined the fight and instead remained on Damien’s head, wobbling gently with every movement Damien made. Now that it had been presented an opportunity by its summoner, it took it.
Luton leaped off Damien’s head and expanded into a five-meter ball of red liquid and in a split second, it engulfed the demon, swallowing it immediately before returning to its initial size.
Boing!
It landed on Damien’s head once again as though nothing had happened. “That was smooth.” Damien complimented as he went for the second demon, cleanly decapitating it in seconds.
The third demon was impaled by Damien’s sword and as it turned to deal with Damien, Luton swallowed it whole.
As the last, the fourth demon had screeched and wanted to escape but it wasn’t possible. Not with five beings of the same rank surrounding it.
Fenrir, Cerbe, and Aquila—Damien’s new summon—had immediately attacked, biting and clawing before eventually splitting the demon into multiple parts.
Fenrir wasted no time as it immediately activated (Devourer) and swallowed the demon whole while Cerbe went after the cores of two demons.
Ding!
«Grade Five Demon devoured! Fenrir will now begin its advancement!»
Ding!
«Two Grade Five essence cores devoured! Cerbe will now begin its advancement!»
A smile threatened to break out of Damien’s face as he read both notifications.
The mere thought of owning Grade Four Summons, “Let’s grind a little more, shall we?” Damien was excited but he wasn’t satisfied.