—–
(Blake’s POV)
When I finally found my father, he was almost about to die. It seems he had slain a Giant Demon all by himself, which really surprised me. My father had also been leading the charge in the frontlines, and has been slaying dozens of demons, perhaps almost a hundred by himself. I had never thought that my father could be this strong, but I suppose that the Ki Breathing Technique I taught him coupled with the Cursed Weapon I gifted to him ended helping in the long run. My father is a highly skilled man, despite having a Talent that doesn’t aid him on battle, he had polished his own abilities over many years. I have to recognize him.
When I found him with my Familiars, I rushed to his side after having helped Erdrich and the rest recover through a combination of food and low-tier healing spells boosted through [Cooking] and [First Aid] respectively. The two girls, Elizabeth and Erika had been glaring at one another strangely, well, mostly Erika. I’ll have to deal with this later, although I am not interested at all in these girl’s love rivalry. There are more important things than that, such as the entire war going on against these demons. We have barely pulled out a victory in the backlines, slaying most of the demons there. I had ran straight towards my father, and when I finally found him and helped him, an explosion in the Demon Camp happened.
I immediately knew what happened there, as Eleanora was sharing her vision with me, she had decided to destroy the Demon Gate, and due to the instability of the demon energy, the souls, and the mana it was accumulating, it generated a powerful explosion that ended engulfing her and the Demon General that was chasing her. This demon was described to be a Gray Oni with golden horns, it was surely a strange color for a demon. Demon Generals evolve after a demon has devoured over a hundred souls, and they’re vastly strong compared to the Red and Blue Oni, superior to them and even the Demon Giants.
It is impossible for me to go see if the Demon General is alive or not right now, as I lack any tracking Beast Spirit Familiar. Sending a wolf might help, so I sent one. But unlike Eleanora that can easily climb trees and hide, the wolf might have a hard time reaching there in time, or it could get ambushed by a group of demons and die. I wish I had some sort of flying Beast Spirit Familiar, but there’s no flying monsters in this forest, or perhaps there was, but they’re long gone by now.
Well, there was no time to overthink things. There was a Giant Demon walking straight towards us, and another few already noticing what was happening here. Now that I had retrieved my father, the best course of action would be to retreat and bring him to safely, but with such a big opportunity to earn EXP as this one, I cannot help but feel the desire to stay here. My blood was pumping and my heart was beating fast. Was this the thrill and excitement of a good challenge? In my previous life I lacked the warmth of the living as I was born as a Vampire. But this feeling… it is very exhilarating.
I hate to admit it, but I might had always been a battle junkie. I am a man that loves challenges, battles against odds, and to struggle until the very end to defeat a powerful foe. I’ve never truly enjoyed stepping over pathetic ants as much as facing a foe way over my league. Perhaps I am someone obsessed with battle, or perhaps it is one of the few things that made me feel alive when I had a cold and undead body in my previous life… Perhaps that was one of the reasons that drove me into fighting someone like Lucifer. Whatever’s the case, I have already made up my mind.
This entire war happened out of nowhere, and I am still lacking a lot of information about how everything was set up behind my back, but I can’t help but praise the Priests and Knights for acting so quickly. I suppose the demons are also to be praised for how big of an army they had mustered, although over half of their numbers are down by now, there’s still the other half, furiously marching towards us, a sea of EXP… Perhaps this day I might finally reach Level 10. I cannot waste such an opportunity. I am, after all, quite the opportunistic man. And if that Demon General is still alive, aside from Ellergest, I might be the only one that could defeat him, as I know the weaknesses of most types of demons.
“All of you are too wounded, Lukas, bring my father to the backlines, there’ll be several priests there to attend all of your wounds properly. I could heal you but I have to save my own Mana.” I said, as Lukas, the knight, was surprised by my voice.
“Y-You’re Blank?!” Asked Lukas.
“He’s my son, Blake… What’s Blank?” Asked my father.
“A second name I took, but I guess that was for nothing at the end. Nonetheless, you two go away for now.” I said, waving my hand, as the wolves began to run to the backlines.
“W-Wait, Blake! What are you doing?!”
As my father cried but without the ability to move after fighting so much, I ignored him. I am sorry, father, but I will make up for it later. I can explain things later as well, but for now, I have to put all my concentration in what’s in front of me, a giant I wanted to take down by myself.
“GRUUOOHHH…!”
Demon Giants are an interesting caste of demons, I wonder how much EXP can I get out of one… Well, I can only find out if I slay one.
—–