Demon King
Chapter 68 Wind Eutinus [3]

I teleported in quick succession with Ubiquitous, moving from the ground up into the air, from monster tails to their heads. My skills cause confusion through monsters every time I teleport, while I continue to increase my detection area to focus on the surrounding area. It felt like my head was going to explode, but I had to maintain all of these skills.

[Gonna!]

My feelings were focused on an entity created by the fusion of two monsters. The rest are raging about me, convinced of my destruction. They were all physically stronger than me, but the battle that took place in this Rookie Battlefield was not just a collision of physical forms. These monsters are not just physically attacking; after all, their souls will collide violently with my soul as they attack. ‘If I could make even one of their souls collapse, that would be enough.’ I must give it to them, their persistence to cling to life to the point where they can no longer be recognized as human.

I'm further expanding my detection range. No exception to my body and soul. I had time to analyze the Devil Claw protruding out from my left shoulder as I fought, starting to understand its power. I only know how to defend during my fight with L, but now I learn how to attack. It made me realize how much less defensive I was. Now it was as if I had another body that I could move at will, a body that I had left without protection. Now I need to learn how to deal with it.

I had to sharpen my soul, making it harder and more deadly. I focused on the Demon’s Claw, moving it from shoulder to hand, striking it with my sword. ‘Now it will be easier to actually use as a weapon.’ The claw was not an object with a physical presence, something I confirmed back then began to overlap with Blood Shadow. A low vibration pierced my arm for a moment. It felt as if the part of my soul that I had moved had been assimilated into Blood Shadow.

[Starter Devil Claw has become Lv4.]

“Now this will work.” It is still impossible for me to attack their souls by turning them into those tendrils; their mobility is less compared to these monsters. They must have intermediate, or even advanced skills. But it doesn't matter. The higher the level of the opponent's skill, the more effective the Predation will be.

[Kiii!]

[This guy.. is he one of us?]

I heard a human voice from one of the monsters but ignored it, once again leaping into the air by teleportation. Now that I have a better understanding of their skills, I can see why they are sensitive to my presence. They did not have a decent body, their souls and bodies mixed together, and now the boundary between the two was blurred. They were now in a form that shouldn't exist, and it gave them heightened senses and the ability to attack souls directly.

I only attacked their bodies, but they attacked my body and soul. I can feel their physical form, but they can feel my soul as well as my physical body. So, little by little, my detection failed, and the attacks slipped through my defenses. That's also why they see right through me, knowing that I am human.

But now, I can use my own soul to attack. Now the playing field is level. Even if I could move my soul form with great strength or finesse, it would still be enough for me to utilize.

I was everywhere. I increased the power of my confusion and Shadow Walk, dark metal hanging on my waist, trembling and crying silently. It was the second item Rain had given me, Drops of Darkness.

[Drops of Darkness [500/500] – Ancient Rarity. It absorbs all the noise that the wearer emits.]

Simple but very useful. It made my greatest weapon, Surprise and Fairy Tale, become stronger. I think their detection ability is too strong, so it's useless. But now, different. Now that I can control my soul through these claws, I can hide it from them. I jumped again; my goal was the head of that monster.

[Ciiiiihi!]

This monster, created by fusing three animals, had its head split open, polluted blood spewed out from its wounds. I barely had time to think before someone unexpected showed up.

[Convergence succeeded. The traces of his own soul are now hidden.]

[Superior Surprise became Lv10 and has grown into an Extraordinary Surprise. No matter how much you move, you are not there. A sudden attack will cause additional damage.

[Advanced Martial Arts to Lv7.]

I did; I could hide my soul. It's hard not to be excited by this advance, but I know that this is not the time to celebrate because I dodged the attacks from other monsters. “It's almost funny, I almost got hit by a monster because my plan worked, and it caught me off guard.” But it wasn't all in vain. I have mastered the art of stealth, but I must remain vigilant and not allow myself to be overconfident.

Now I can move forward and show my true strength against these monsters instead of being bound and fighting to kill them. My first wound towards this huge beast in front of me did not look as impressive as I had thought before, but it was the beginning. Their souls strengthened their bodies. Other than hard flesh, they gained a lot of strength by projecting their souls outside of their bodies. But in doing so, they also exposed their weaknesses.

[Kill him! Make him one of us!]

[He devoured everything!]

I revealed my presence to them after my attack, watching their soul tendrils fill the air and walking towards me. I could have jumped away from him but instead stood up straight. I don't have to run anymore. I swung my sword, strengthened by the Demon’s Claw, and easily cut off all the tendrils before they could reach me. Fragments of body and soul scattered in the air, fading from existence. “If only I could eat that too.” But I guess devouring a pure soul fragment is impossible with Predation. That's not necessary anyway. The fact that I could block their attacks and injure them was enough.

[Yes!]

[He's like us. Join us!]

One of them rushed forward, only able to catch my alter ego which I left behind as I jumped away. The alter ego only had physical strength, but it managed to stab into the monster's eyes before disappearing. I moved to the head of the monster that I had previously broken with my initial surprise attack.

[Bottom everywhere becomes Lv4.]

My head was full of information as I read the movements of those united in body and soul, precisely controlling my strength all the time. It was an exhausting task, but if I did not do it, I would die. I danced on a needle, each moment just as wide as a hair from death. Blood Shadow was sharpened even further by Demon’s Claw. The monsters were approaching all around me, but all I could think about was taking their lives as my sword shot out again and again.

With a firm grasp on the trajectory of their souls, I leapt forward with Ubiquitous and attacked the giant monster again. His head, shaped like a huge castle, slowly split apart due to my repeated attacks. The spirit tried to grip me, devouring me, but I cut off his movements with my sharp blade and retorted, pointing my sword at his head again.

[Agg!]

[No, stop!]

[I can't kill him. You guys, help me!].

The power of those monsters, born only of hatred, is too weak to hurt me now that I have a weapon that will hurt them. Their weapons are heavy but too slow and blunt to stab me right now. Blood Shadow penetrated deep into the monster's head, the sword spitting out flames and lightning like that.

[You gained 967,102 experiences!]

[You receive gold and 22 silver.]

[You have obtained the Fragment of the Fallen Soul.]

[Kaleeeeaa!]

A notification window appeared in front of me, its voice drowned by the wailing of a dying monster. “If Lee Chan-yu is here, the sound of madness may be enough to make him faint.” It could not crush me with its strong form or grip me with soul tendrils. So now he unleashed one inevitable attack. Makes sense, of course. It was a powerful strike that hit my resistance to abnormal status and threatened to overwhelm me.

But now I have a new source of food, and that's enough to stop me from falling into this last attack. By the time I get this Devil's Claw, this battle is over. Not to mention my new Predation. I turned towards this collapsed monster form, raising Blood Shadow. Black smoke billowed from my body, beginning to gnaw at this huge body. I let the power start to accumulate on my sword, black roses formed around it. Dark light started to explode, making my sword look bigger than before.

I can detect more monsters approaching the area. Not just one or two, but a huge wave of them approached as if they all promised to meet here. Most of those I know have already fused with at least one other. It then occurred to me that the purpose of the final sound of madness was not to paralyze me, but to call for reinforcements.

That thought made me smile. Thinking about the time, I thought it was about three hours until I could get back. “It's almost silly.” Monsters are now easy to kill, delicious prey full of experience. It would be a shame to go home so soon, especially when such an interesting hunting ground approached me.

“Come to me.”

[Starter Devil Claw becomes Lv6.]

[Lower Madness Noise becomes Lv5.]

In time, my party will be over. But for now, I can be happy with this opportunity to run and eat as much as I like. I jumped into the air with Ubiquitous.

Two hours, forty-seven minutes, and fifty-three seconds had passed in the end.

All the monsters that gathered were killed and consumed, and my level is now 110.