At that moment, two humans in heavy armor emerged from the narrow landscape.
“Did the distress signal come from here?” one of them asked, uncertainty in his voice.
“I’m not sure. This place feels way too quiet,” the other replied, his eyes scanning the eerie surroundings.
“Wait… What the hell?!”
One of them cursed loudly as his gaze locked onto the massive army of demons, with two imposing, humanoid figures standing at the forefront. The weight of the situation hit them immediately.
“Bill, we need to go, now!” Gill shouted, already bolting in the opposite direction.
Gill quickly glanced where Bill had been looking, his heart hammering in his chest. Panic surged through him as his face went pale, and without a second thought, he sprinted after Bill.
“Oh, what’s the rush, humans?”
Sen grinned, effortlessly catching up to them. In an instant, Sienna appeared beside the other one.
Bill and Gill’s faces fell, terror sinking in as they desperately fought back with everything they had.
“Pathetic,” Sen chuckled, easily subduing them both.
They dragged the two struggling humans in front of Aengus and his subordinates, who appeared to be waiting for their arrival.
Aengus glanced at the battered duo, their armor dented and their faces bruised. He stepped forward, his eyes cold. “Where are you from? If you value your lives, lead us there,” he commanded, his voice laced with menace as he activated his Darkness Haki, enveloping them in an oppressive aura.
Bill and Gill exchanged horrified glances as they felt the darkness seep into their very souls, suffocating them.
“W-Wait… Don’t kill us!” Bill stammered, trembling. “We’ll take you there. We have families—wives and kids! We were forced to come here. Please, your excellency, let us live!”
Their resistance crumbled instantly, and they begged for their lives, recognizing Aengus as the one in charge. Behind him, Bella watched the scene unfold with interest.
“Just shut up and lead us there,” Aengus ordered with indifference, though a deeper part of him recoiled at the senseless violence. If they surrendered, they would be spared. He knew these men had families waiting for them, just like anyone else.
“Y-Yes…” Bill and Gill sighed in relief, hastily leading the way.
“Let’s go, darling.” Bella smiled, leaning in closer. She took his hand and gently pulled him toward the sky, her carefree spirit contrasting with the weight of the situation.
“Tsk… what a show-off,” Sienna muttered, a tinge of jealousy in her voice.
Sen chuckled at his sister’s reaction and picked up his pace, matching the speed of the others.
Behind them, Butler Yu, the Hellfire Wolf King and Queen, Gourmond, the Orcs, and the rest of Aengus’s subordinates followed in an orderly formation. Nearly a thousand in total, with 300 or so Greater Demons and the rest Lesser Ones, they marched through the land, unchallenged.
After some time, they arrived at another village.
“This is an Ogre village,” Bella said, hovering in the air. “This place falls under Marquis Reynard’s domain.”
Aengus narrowed his eyes, surveying the devastation below. The village lay in ruins, its ogre inhabitants being slaughtered one by one, their demon cores harvested like mere trophies.
“Abominable… these humans have grown bolder,” Bella muttered in disgust. “But where is that damned Marquis Reynard? Hasn’t he heard the news yet?”
Her frustration was palpable as she scanned the skies, expecting resistance but finding none.
Aengus, hovering with his Hell-flareborne wings, began his descent, the powerful flapping of his wings sending gusts of wind across the ruined village below.
“Master, I have synthesized all the new skills obtained as per your instructions. You can review them now,” Manas informed him telepathically.
Aengus nodded in acknowledgment, already feeling the presence of the new skills etched into his soul. He took a brief glance at his status screen, his eyes quickly scanning through the list of freshly acquired abilities.
[ Name: Aengus Degaro ]
[ Age: 18 ]
[ Title: Naga King Slayer ]
[ Race: Half-Human Half-Demon ]
[ Level: 32 ]
[ Occupation: Baron of Dark Valley ]
[ Class: None ]
[ Bloodline Lineage: Beelzebub (Partial-Royal), Viperscale Naga (Half-Noble) ]
[ Special Trait: Energy Converter (Artificial) ]
Physical Stats:
[ Strength: 510 ]
[ Agility: 500 ]
[ Defense: 521 ]
[ Mana: 30,000 /60,500 ]
[ Nether Energy: 30,500 /60,500 ]
[ Attribute points: 5 ]
Skills:
– Active:
• Doomscale Dragonification (B) ← Dragon Wings + Dragon Claws + Dragon Enhancement + Doombringer Fortification)
• Spectral Blade Storm (B) ← ( Blade Tempest + Azure Ghost Blade)
• Venomous Flash Strike (B) ← (Quick Step + Power strike + Quick Draw + Venomous Ripper)
• Hellfire Dive – 11 (C)
• Earth Manipulation -22 (D)
– [ Passive: Quick Reflexes (C), Melee Combat (C), Blazing Purge -10 (D), Predator’s Instinct -37 (E), Health Regeneration -2 (D)]
[ Special skills: Monster Breeding (Level- 3) ]
[ Demonic Abilities:
– Peak: Heart of Darkness
– Intermediate: Gluttony of Darkness
– Basic: Darkness Pulse, Darkness Veil, Darkness Haki, Blood Regeneration, Hellfire Control, Poisonous Miasma Control, Body Duplication, Armoured Black Scales, Naganian Transformation, Spectral Death Strings, Pain Resistance, Hell-flareborne Wings.
[ Unique Skills: Appraisal (Basic), Nullified Mental Attacks (Rare), Skill Absorption (Mythic), Universal Synthesis (Ultimate) ]
[ Equipment: Space Bracelet (D), Holy Mythril Blade (C) ]
Aengus felt pleased as he reviewed his new synthesized skills, each one bringing him closer to his ultimate goal.
However, a lingering pain throbbed in his soul, a reminder of the injury he’d sustained. He knew he needed to find a way to heal, or perhaps even strengthen his soul. But the real question was where to find the necessary treasures or medicine.
He considered asking Bella, but for now, there were more pressing matters to handle.
Down below, the human soldiers wore cruel smiles, their expressions dripping with sadistic anticipation as they continued their slaughter. But that quickly changed when one of them caught sight of Aengus, Bella, and the approaching demon army.
The soldier, his armor emblazoned with the symbol of a dragon, quickly rushed to a large tent where several high-ranking officials were gathered.
“Commander, we have unwanted guests outside. Hundreds of demons are marching toward us,” he reported with a solemn expression.
The commander, a hardened man in his forties with a face marked by scars and a thick beard, furrowed his brows. The other high-ranking officers exchanged uneasy glances.
One of them scoffed. “Only a few hundred demons? What’s there to worry about? We have 2,000 soldiers at our disposal. We can crush them easily.”
“But, Your Excellency,” the soldier stammered, lowering his head, “those demons looked powerful, especially the two leading them. I’m afraid we don’t have the strength to confront them head-on.”
The commander, sensing the gravity of the situation, stood up and silenced the room with a stern look. “Enough with the pointless chatter. Let’s go see who these newcomers are.”
With that, the officers picked their weapons and prepared to face the threat, marching toward the battlefield with grim determination.
—
“Whoa! Two half-breeds leading a thousand demons? That’s rare,” one of the human leaders commented, his expression arrogant as he flexed his muscles.
“Tsk, so what? Just a succubus—and what is this male one, again? Some Hybrid maybe?” another said with disdain. “He looks pretty humanlike, except for the horns,” he added, somewhat intrigued.
“Silence! Be serious!” the commander snapped, berating them. He could feel the threat emanating from the pair, especially the succubus in front.
“Everyone, at my command!” the commander roared, standing at the front. Behind him were nearly two thousand human soldiers clad in armor bearing the dragon insignia. They were from the Dragon Empire, and their disciplined formation exuded an intimidating presence.
Aengus and Bella grew serious; this was no battle to be taken lightly.
“Darling, I’ll handle the commander. Can you take care of the rest?” Bella asked, her confidence unwavering as she looked to Aengus.
“Yes,” Aengus nodded before turning to his army, the Army of Liberation.
“Soldiers, tonight you are the darkness that snuffs out lives. The humans before you are our target, but they will not be the last. Emerge victorious, and I shall grant you new power!” Aengus’s voice boomed across the battlefield.
The demon soldiers’ morale surged as they chanted in unison:
“Long live Lord Aengus!”
“Long live the Lord of Liberation!”
The human soldiers and the Liberation forces stood across from each other, the humans with focused eyes, weapons ready, and their skills prepared, while the demons radiated a sinister, dark energy.
Some of the human soldiers, who were well versed in demon language, understood what they were saying.
“Lord of Liberation, my ass!” one sneered.
“They’re so full of themselves, aren’t they?” another battalion leader scoffed. “We’ve got three thousand soldiers, ten C-Ranks, and five hundred D-Ranks. Not to mention, Commander Tyrel is a B-Rank powerhouse. They don’t stand a chance.”
Suddenly, a shout of alarm came from one of the soldiers, “Hey, guys, look at this!”
“What is it now?” The C-Rank battalion leaders turned, only to be left speechless.
Out of nowhere, hundreds of additional demons materialized on Aengus’ side.
“What the hell? Where did this Demon summoner come from? I thought only humans had summoners!” one soldier muttered in disbelief..
“Commander, looks we have found another anamoly like those Otherworlders,” one of them said with grave expression.
