Chapter 136
Practicing Magic — Part 1
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Editors: Speedphoenix, Joker
“Is that all you’ve got?” I cackled like a maniac as I mocked the monsters before me . “Why are you so scared? What happened to those dumb looking smirks you had a second ago, huh?”
Some tried to escape, but I chased them down and lopped off their heads before they could get much of anywhere at all . Their blood-curdling, dying cries rang through the Wicked Forest as they fell one after another . Although I normally would have reacted to their screams with displeasure, I found myself relishing in the exact opposite emotion . I ran rampant and launched all sorts of different attacks as I transformed the monsters into unrecognizable corpses . Not even larger groups could survive my wrath . I literally dove straight in and plowed my way through, killing everything I crossed in the process .
Only after losing most of their members did the pride I had assaulted realize that defeating me was a pipe dream . The beautiful forest had been warped into a scene that looked as if it had been ripped straight from the seventh circle of hell . Blood, guts, and disfigured corpses lay strewn all over . A small group that I suspected to be a family turned and tried to run . But they couldn’t escape me .
I flapped my wings, overtook them, and landed right in front of them .
“Hah! Nice try,” I scoffed . “Did you really think I’d let you get away?”
My grin was a complete contrast to the looks of despair worn by each of the family’s members . They launched one last desperate attack in an attempt to get a lucky hit on me; every single member of the family charged and attempted to rush me down . But I struck down even their very last sliver of hope with ease .
“Not happening . Say your prayers, assholes!” I weaved between their attacks and decapitated them with just one stroke apiece . My actions were smooth . It was almost as if the whole dodge sequence had been a single fluid motion .
Their deaths were followed by a roar, one that expressed a mix of decimation and rage . Its source was none other than the pride’s alpha, a creature significantly larger than its peers . Its anger and resentment were clearly reflected in its eyes . As the sole survivor of its pack, it stepped forward; it approached me in order to take me down and avenge its peers, roaring in provocation as it did . I responded to its challenge in the most natural manner possible .
I roared back .
Despite his irritation, the pride’s leader immediately froze in the midst of his charge . His anger was gone, nowhere to be seen . In its place was a look of terror . Huh . Sovereign Pressure seems pretty useful .
Sovereign Pressure reminded me of the thing I had learned when I first visited a human settlement . Like dispersing mana laced with bloodlust through the air, it had the effect of terrifying my foes . Except better . It felt like more or less the same thing with a few upgrades slapped on top of it .
One of the skill’s most appealing aspects was that it was extremely effective against weaklings like the one before me .
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“Oh come on, you’re bitching out already?” My prey took a step backwards, so I matched its action with a forward step to ensure that the distance between us remained unchanged . And as I did, I smirked .
My choices inspired the alpha’s fear to grow . It began growing desperate, and, in the end, launched an attack in much the same manner as a cornered rat . But it didn’t matter . It was far too weak; I could see through its attacks as easily as I could a piece of glass .
A metallic screech rang through the forest as I met his claws with Zaien’s blade .
“What, that’s it? Alright, have fun in hell then . ” I cackled as I swung my sword and defeated the last monster, the last manticore, left standing . Though I stood in the midst of a field of blood, guts, and gore, my voice was filled with rapture . “Oh man, that felt good . ”
“You seem to be enjoying yourself, Master,” said Enne .
“Yeah, lots . I’ve been pretty pissed at these things ever since one bullied the hell out of us that one time . ” I smiled . “And I gotta say, revenge turned out just about as sweet as I’d imagined . ”
Though I had intended on wiping them out, today’s encounter with the manticores was purely coincidental . I had felt rather confident in my newfound stats and I was fairly certain we would be able to make it at least halfway through the western region without too much issue, so Enne and I had decided to head towards the area with the toughest monsters in order to test out her blade . Wandering about had coincidentally led us to stumble across a group of our old “friends . ”
I immediately came to the conclusion that our chance meeting had been a bit more than just that . It wasn’t a coincidence . God was guiding me down the path of vengeance . With the will of the divine as my guide, I happily plunged into the midst of the manticore pride and tore it to shreds .
In the past, I had thought of manticores as extremely powerful foes that could clobber Rir and I even if we worked together . But now, they were insignificant grunts I needed no effort to destroy . I know I said it already, but I really gotta say it again . Oh man, that felt good . Overpowering these bastards and wiping them out felt hella good .
One unfortunate result of relishing in the slaughter came about as a result of letting myself get a bit too carried away . I started acting like a stereotypical villain . I wasn’t exactly keen on continuing the behaviour but figured that it wasn’t particularly unseemly given my identity as a demon lord .
On the matter of identities, analyzing the largest manticore proved that he had been exactly who I had expected him to be: the pride’s alpha .
***
General Information
Race: Manticore
Class: Sadistic Beast
Level: 120
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HP: 0/7100
MP: 0/11913
Strength: 1660
Vitality: 1876
Agility: 2250
Magic: 2092
Dexterity: 1987
Luck: 143
Unique Skills
Magic Barrier
Skills
Earth Magic V
Torture IV
Titles
Alpha
Torture Fetishist
***
It seemed that the name of the AT Field-like ability was Magic Barrier . Its description confirmed that it consumed a set amount of mana in order to create a magical barrier capable of defending against magic-based attacks .
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Gazing at its corpse really got me thinking . The relationship between the manticores and I had been completely turned on its head . I had become the hunter, and they had become the hunted . Heh . You know, I almost pity the bastards, but they brought this shit onto themselves . I wouldn’t have cared this much about them if they were any less obnoxious .
After contemplating the intricacies of assholes being assholes, I turned away from the manticore and looked over at my companion . He, my pet wolf and mount, was regarding me with the canine equivalent of a wry smile .
“What’s up, Rir?”
He shook his head and tried to play it off as if it was nothing, but upon reflecting on any potential causes, I came to realize that I wasn’t the only one that a manticore had pestered . Oops . Sorry boy, you must’ve wanted to kill one yourself . My bad . I probably shouldn’t have jacked all the kills .
“Sorry, my bad . ”
The fenrir tilted his head questioningly .
“Nah, it’s okay, I get it,” I said . “You were trying to let me have my fun, so you didn’t bother joining in even though you wanted to get them back for being douchewads . I’m sure there are still plenty of manticores around . I promise I’ll let you have a go at them next time we run into them . ”
“…” The wolf’s only response was to silently stare at me in exasperation .
Yeah, I know, I know . I’m still kinda new to this whole boss thing . I gotta make sure I let my subordinates cut loose and don’t hog all the fun . Oh wait, that reminds me…
“Uhhh, oops . Sorry Enne, I forgot to let you test out your wind magic . ”
“Mhm…” The sword on my shoulder responded in a tone laced with disappointment .
Testing out the effects of my stat changes had definitely been a part of today’s plans, but it hadn’t been all that high on our list of priorities . Today was supposed to be all about Enne . Her ability to cast wind magic had been our top concern . Alright, before you say anything, I’mma just go ahead and say that I didn’t forget . I just didn’t expect everything to die so fast .
…
Okay no . That’s bullshit and I know it . I mean, everything dying too quickly was a part of it, but honestly, it was mostly ‘cause I let myself get carried away . Whoops .
“Well uhhh… we’re kinda out of targets, but you wanna try doing the thing I talked to you about a bit earlier anyway?”
“Okay . ”
I held Enne behind me and channelled my magical energies through her . I activated Crimson Blaze and wreathed her in flame as she threw wind magic into the mix . Our efforts were met with an explosion; I was suddenly sent flying forward with all the force of a massive detonation .
An incoherent scream left my mouth as I accelerated uncontrollably and sped right through the surrounding environment .
“Raghghg!?” I couldn’t steer or affect my trajectory in any which way, so I ended up making a dumb sounding noise as I smashed face first into a tree and finally came to a stop .
“Oops . Are you okay, Master?” asked Enne in a worried tone .
Like the sword, Rir also seemed quite concerned for my well being, as he quickly dashed over whilst barking in a tone containing a mix of panic and surprise .
“Ow…” I shook my head from side to side to ward off the dizziness and rubbed the point of impact as I lamented over the failed experiment . The thing that Enne and I had just tried to do was use a mix of fire and wind to create the technological wonder that my people referred to as a jet engine .
Specifically, I had Enne coat her blade in fire and then enclose the flames in a layer of wind . The fire would naturally cause any air it came in contact with to heat up . The idea was for her to eject the hot air out from the tip of her blade to produce propulsion . Project Jet Fuel was a result of looking back at my battle with the Potatolord and realizing that I hadn’t been quick enough to shake him off my tail . I had realized that I needed to think up a way to increase both my acceleration and my top speed, and the conclusion I had come to was to turn myself into a jet . You know what? I think I’mma actually call that one a success . I managed to get myself some crazy propulsion . All I need to do now is iron out the kinks .
I began chuckling to myself as I worked everything out in my mind .
“Master?”
“You see Enne, this, this is what we call a challenge . ” A big grin appeared on my face as I continued to speak . “I’m going to master this and prove that nothing’s impossible . At least not for a demon lord like yours truly . ”
“So… again?”
“Yup . Let’s do this!”
I stood up, got Enne in position, and once again had her wreathe her blade in flame as Rir, the experiment’s sole observer, heaved an exasperated sigh .