Kaareeeeiii!!
The demons launched themselves at Damien with a guttural roar, their claws glinting in the flickering firelight. Damien stood his ground, his sword glimmering in his hand.
“Stay back,” he commanded, his voice sharp and firm as he turned to his two summons. Cerbe growled lowly, its three heads snapping toward the demons, but it didn’t move forward. Luton pulsed faintly, its gelatinous form rippling in place. Both summons obeyed Damien’s order, watching as he prepared to face the demons alone.
The two Grade Five demons moved quickly, their twisted bodies propelled by powerful limbs. One lunged at Damien, its claws swiping in a deadly arc, while the other circled around, aiming for his blind spot.
Damien stepped into the attack, his blade flashing as it intercepted the first demon’s claws. Sparks flew as metal clashed against hardened flesh. With a twist of his wrist, Damien redirected the momentum, sliding his sword along the demon’s arm and cutting deep into its shoulder.
The second demon snarled, seizing the opportunity to attack from behind. Damien pivoted, ducking under its strike and driving his knee into its midsection.
Bang!
The impact sent the creature staggering back, but its glowing red eyes burned with fury as it charged again.
The fight was relentless. The demons were coordinated and ferocious, their strikes coming faster and harder with each passing second.
Damien’s sword danced through the air, deflecting, slashing, and piercing with precision. His movements were fluid but calculated, each step and strike a testament to his rigorous training.
Cerbe and Luton watched in silence, their glowing eyes tracking Damien’s every move. They seemed content to let him handle the battle, their postures relaxed but ready to act if commanded.
Finally, after five grueling minutes, Damien found an opening.
Swoooosh!
With a swift, powerful strike, he severed the arm of the first demon, following up with a decisive slash that ended its life.
Graaaaa!!
The second demon roared in anger, launching itself at him in a desperate bid to overpower him.
Damien sidestepped, driving his blade deep into the demon’s chest. It gurgled, black ichor spilling from its mouth as it collapsed to the ground.
Breathing heavily, Damien wiped his blade clean on the grass before sheathing it. He turned back to his summons and gave them a nod. “Let’s get back to the fire,” he said.
The three of them returned to the warmth of the campfire, where Damien sank onto a fallen log. His eyes scanned the surrounding darkness as he prepared for the next wave of creatures.
Far from the campfire, Aquila perched at the edge of a flattened clearing. The area stretched over twenty meters, the ground littered with splintered trees and the mangled corpses of mana beasts and demons. Aquila’s wings were folded neatly against its sides, though faint traces of blood streaked its feathers.
The Griffin leaned down, its sharp beak tearing into flesh to locate the essence core of a fallen mana beast. It crushed the core with ease, absorbing the energy into its own body. One by one, Aquila devoured the cores of the slain mana beasts, ignoring the demonic essence cores of the demons scattered among them.
Though it had killed four demons during its rampage, Aquila showed no interest in their remains. It avoided the demons entirely, focusing instead on the mana beasts it had felled.
The clearing was silent save for the sound of crunching bones and the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind. Aquila remained alert even as it feasted, its sharp eyes scanning the perimeter for any sign of movement.
Satisfied for the moment, the Griffin let out a low, rumbling cry before returning to its meal.
Unlike Aquila, Fenrir left no trail of corpses behind. Wherever the Monstrous Wolf went, only bloodstains and crushed foliage marked its path.
Fenrir’s (Devourer) skill had left it insatiable, and it consumed everything it killed. Beasts, demons, it didn’t matter—each victim was swallowed whole, their essence cores adding to Fenrir’s power.
Now, the wolf faced a formidable opponent. A Grade Four demon stood before it, its sharp, pointed tail lashing out like a whip. The demon’s blackened body gleamed faintly under the moonlight, its glowing eyes locked onto Fenrir with murderous intent.
Fenrir growled, circling its prey with slow, deliberate steps. Its glowing eyes tracked every movement of the demon, and its massive paws left deep imprints in the ground.
The battle was brutal and unrelenting. Fenrir lunged forward, its powerful jaws snapping shut inches from the demon’s tail. The demon retaliated, its tail whipping through the air and slicing across Fenrir’s shoulder. The wolf barely flinched, the pain only fueling its rage.
Fenrir struck again, its claws raking across the demon’s torso and leaving deep, jagged gashes.
Graaaah!!
The demon roared, swinging its tail wildly, but Fenrir dodged with surprising agility.
With a feral snarl, Fenrir clamped its jaws around the demon’s arm, shaking it violently before tearing it free. Black ichor sprayed across the ground as the demon howled in pain.
Then, Fenrir stopped, its glowing eyes narrowing as it prepared to end the fight. Its jaws opened wide, and a vortex of energy began to swirl within its mouth.
The (Devourer) skill activated.
The demon froze, its body trembling as the energy surrounding Fenrir pulled it forward. The vacuum-like force grew stronger, dragging the demon closer and closer until it was swallowed whole.
The clearing fell silent once more, the only sound the faint rustle of leaves in the wind.
At the campfire, Damien leaned against the log, staring into the flickering flames. His body ached from the earlier fight, but he didn’t let it show.
Then, a familiar chime echoed in his ears.
Ding!
A notification appeared in his system panel.
«Grade Four Mana Beast devoured! 208 more for Fenrir to advance!»
Damien chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Gluttonous as always,” he muttered, a faint smile playing on his lips.
The night was far from over, but Damien felt a renewed sense of determination. With his summons at his side and his goals clear, he was ready for whatever the forest threw at him next.