182 - Journey of the End part 1
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An uneventful year had since passed after the attempted invasion by the demon army.
After thorough preparations, we began our counterattack. Leaving Iyori to guard the kingdom, Cress and I left to invade the demon lord's Castle. Unlike rumours, the weather over their territory was quite normal and the chatter citizens filled the streets. Demons were just humans with a horn or 2 attached, ranging from horns too small to be seen to horns larger than an arm, they varied in colour and quality. It was said that the tougher their horns are, the stronger the demon, though it was unknown how they tested hardness without breaking their horns.
The demons had also prayed to a similar god in their own cathedrals, hailing multiple various idols instead of a only a single god. On the other hand, they held contempt and presented Zet as a wicked being that oppressed their species, along with the humans. There was not much difference between the humans and demons, other than Ilnoa's abnormally high technological level, they portrayed each other as basically the same thing. The scourge of evil. Without the defeat of one, war would only continue on for eternity. Unless we were to seperate them with a wall for an uncountable amount of years, the resent has been set so high it was lost somewhere in the stratosphere.
One final notable difference, was that demons didn't have classes. Instead they had races, with different races giving different stat bonuses and skills suited to that race. Along with races came evolution lines, at some point the demon could lose their humanoid figure and become a monster. However the particularly stronger demons retained a base humanoid shape that granted superior ease of movement and intelligence.
It didn't take long to find the largest castle in their country, trudging along the cobblestone path, we went along the battle plan once more. At this point, I had received a new magic catalyst that served as a replacement for my vocal chords, while the sense of touch and feeling returned to my skin with training.
The moisture in the air felt cool to the touch, it seemed at this period in time, cold weather was much more common. It was the exact opposite back at Ilnoa. There were countless old fortresses on the way that looked like war had taken place over a few centuries, there was even a fortress that had been reduced to a 2 meter wall by the passage of time. Mountains lined across the shores, leading deeper into the demon's side of the continent.
As the moon struck straight at the top of the sky, most light had vanished, leaving a blank dark space. Only certain buildings like inns, some houses and the castle had lit up in this bleak environment. Vanishing into the darkness of the night, we arrived at the entrance of the castle, before Teleporting inside with [Shadow step-tier 4].
Flicking my finger up and down, any semblance of a security force was flung against the walls hard enough to leave cracks in them. Stepping on an old block of stone, arrows flew out from a random hole. Needless to say, the trap was futile and the arrows were disintegrated by my [Demonic energy] barrier before ever reaching me. Stepping past through the corridors, a myriad of other primitive traps flew out only to disintegrate. A notable amount of traps even failed to activate, leaving the walls and ceiling busted and eroded.
Progressing through the large castle, the walls were made of extremely old rocks, as if they had been built a thousand years ago. The reason why we had infiltrated demon territory was to assassinate their leader, the demon king. And what other class would suit more than mine? "Reaper" the evolution of the "assassin" class, specialising in reconnaissance missions and assassination. Ever since the demon army had retreated a year ago, Intelligence was able to infiltrate their country and obtain information on their king. The fact the king has returned evoked various different responses.
Cress herself had information on the demon King's abilities from the Queen's memories, the one that stood out the most was [One that destroys all
As we got deeper, the traps got increasingly deadlier and more durable, even being enchanted by magic to ensure the kill. Arrows enchanted with [Rewound] shot from the walls, it was a niche healer skill that allowed the user to expel toxins from a person's body, in this case the skill was used to keep an open wound on the opponent. It was nearly a conceptual level attack that operated on the basis of healing, hence it was nearly unstoppable in causing the opponent to lose blood uncontrollably.
The saving grace was that due to the speed at which the arrows were launched, it was trivially easy to dodge them. A problem was the unpredictability of the traps, the next second a skill could be applied to enhance accuracy, ensuring the attack hits. In that case, we had to physically intercept the trap or shoot magic at it for deflection.
As we progressed through the castle, time withered by leaving our enthusiasm in the dust. Our hearts shook as a large presence could be felt nearby, it was no doubt the demon king. The power emanating, itself was large enough bring the demon generals to shame.
"KAAHHHH!" (Cress)
A shrill groan of pain resounded, looking over, a pale slender arm was peaking out of Cress's torso. Blood drained out of her body at an absurd rain, her skin already going pale as is, went into a hue of further whiteness akin to that of a corpse. Gritting her molars, her saliva escaped through the cracks between her teeth and jaw, leaking out of the ends of her lips.
"kghhh, Lilith you have to run... We've been found out, we can't win a one on one... Im sorry but you'll have to leave with me... [The Witch's coffin] [Inhumane constitution] [Delay escape] [Abyss fall]!!! " (Cress)
Flashes of different lights envelop her body before vanishing as fast as they came, an unwavering light lit up in her eyes. Even in pain, she spoke with conviction and confidence. A slight melancholic emotion grayed her irises, I could tell. This wasn't what she wanted either. Tch, if only I wasn't so weak!
Infusing all my stamina into my legs, I leaped to the side before turning a 180 to retreat. In the past year and even before, we've trained in the dungeon together countless times. Graduating the institution was a breeze with how low the standards were comparative to my capabilities, the combat competition was more of a joke as well. In the final fight, I had simply avoided the combined attacks of Sakase and Valern, though their progress was remarkable for their age.
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