Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was the next day and I was attending the [Guide on Defeating Devils for Dummies]

I was in a black room sitting on a chair. In front of me was a video screen. The voice was talking. Throughout the entire lecture, every time the voice would talk about something, a corresponding image would appear on screen.

Now, this is a devil!

A picture of a normal man showed up.

And this is a devil!

A picture of a dog showed up.

And this is a devil!

A picture of an apple showed up.

Do you get what I mean?

"Devils can take any form?"

Wrong!

"Then what?"

Okay, lemme start your education from another place. First off, screw every devil! Except for me and Piid, though I'm more of an angel than a devil, but then again, the two don't have that much difference…

"Wait! That's new information!"

Oh really? Well, Piid is for sure a devil, no way near an angel like me. Anyway, Piid and I, good. Everyone else, bad.

"Do you mean they are 'bad' in the sense of being 'evil' or bad because they are against us?"

Ehm… Will you work harder if I say the first one?

"Jeez man. Ugh. Go on then..."

Hehe, now, how do you kill a devil?

"You destroy its heart and brain at the same time?"

Wow, that's a hard task. Wrong. Tigersson was pretty unique, though he was average at the same time. Though we don't have to worry about the average devils. Then again, if we meet another Tigersson while you are still so weak, we're in trouble. We may get lucky a lot of times, but they only need to get lucky once. Can't you just call this crash course dungeon slaying off and let the girl die?

"You know, if Maria dies I might just get so depressed that I kill myself..."

Then immediately the air felt like it got colder.

Yeah, don't even think about it. It's in your self interest to never die for all of eternity. You made a deal with a devil, so death or heaven doesn't exist for you. And that's just from making the deal. If you break it, which killing yourself would entail, then torture worse than hell would happen.

The last image was a picture of a pit of volcano and next to it a greater than sign.

"Wait! What the hell! Fuck! Why did I agree to this shit!"

Light tone again.

My my, just chill. The contract has its benefits as well. Piid was considering cutting into your brain and doing some editing once you made him stronger and have you be a slave, though I talked him out of it because of the consequences of breaking his symbiosis, though he kept thinking about taking the horrible consquences just to ensure sticking it to Devil King. At least now it's impossible for him to betray you!

"What in the… this was supposed to be a lecture on defeating devils! And how can I even know he won't do that? the contract didn't say anything about him not being able to do that, just "I will make you stronger forever, in exchange protect me forever"?"

What? That's not the contract you signed? You both just signed an equal partnership, though that line is pretty much what it entails. If you don't believe me you can use a third party tool to ascertain what contract your soul is under. And oh yeah. Forgot about that. whole lecture thing we are supposed to be doing. Anyway, devils don't have souls and they live in 'hell'. So they work by taking over living things, basically. The most common way of a devil to appear in the world is by someone selling their 'soul', or rather their body, to a devil in exchange for something. So just kill the body and you kill the devil, though it's hard to define it as killing since devils aren't living anyway.

"Wait, didn't Piid say something about how all beings are safe from devils?"

Yeah, they are. Unless they break the contracts from heaven.

"What contracts?"

Ehm… we're getting sidetracked here. The contracts from heaven is what protects all beings from simply being killed by devils. Aside from directly selling your soul, it's really rare and hard to break the contracts. Mainly it's just doing stuff that's evil in the eyes of heaven, and being weaker than the severity of the crime. But your definition of evil and heaven's isn't exactly the same, so to you some of the reasons seem absurd. Even fruits can break the contracts, pretty absurd, right! Once when I was starting out and still a newb I possessed a fruit! Ha, would you believe! It was the picture of the apple I showed you. Anyway… Analyse your opponent, and kill their body. Normally it's hard to detect devils but Piid and I have got you covered there, hopefully and probably. If possible, for example if the battle against the devil is occurring inside Piid, or if we have some reliable information, we'll also analyze him for you.

"Oh, like when Piid analysed that Tigersson Devil?"

Tigersson wasn't a devil. He had a soul, remember? He was simply a minion of the Devil King. Screw that dude.

"Screw who, the Devil King or Tigersson?"

Bof.

"Why is he after Piid anyway?"

Mhmmm… I'll tell you some other time. Anyway, gave you some basic information on devils, right? I did leave a lot out an sure are a lot of plot holes, but I got business to attend to elsewhere, see ya! Wouldn't wanna be ya!

Blink.

I was back home. I didn't even hear him say one of his classic "Congratulations, you have…"

Luna wasn't here yet, she was still at work.

"Open, Piid."

Blink.

I was in the white room again.

Welcome back. [Swordfighting] [Mana Manipulation Experiment (very painful)] [Exit]

It had been a while, so I chose to do some good old fashioned swordfighting.

I pressed the button.

Blink.

I was back in that forest area with the sand circle. In the middle of the circle, standing lifeless, was a big troll in armour and with a huge club.

"How does he even get them in that state? The voice did say something about Piid wanting to make me a zombie like that too, huh."

I held a little resentment thinking about that, but nothing to do. Actually I held a lot of resentment. I was grateful to Piid for making my life so exciting and better and making me rich and stronger, but still. I can't imagine it, but those consequences of losing this war sounded harsh. That I wouldn't even die. Or even the fact that death wasn't the worst outcome.

"Anyway, focus."

I looked at the big troll. I thought I could probably take it out with that spell if I hit him with a shot like with Tigersson, but that was unreliable just using all my mana in one go: I needed to get stronger. I should be able to take out 10 of those trolls, no a hundred, with just my sword.

I unsheathed.I spent a little time looking for weak spots, and couldn't find any besides the small slits of the armour in his armpits and the eye hole.

I stepped into the ring.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

The troll screamed at me. It was a little shocking, but after that experience with Tigersson and all those monsters, I had been desensitised.

It immediately swung its club. It had long reach so it didn't have to move to be able to hit me.

I quickly did a back step.

"Let's go!"

I wanted to test something out.

When the troll swung its club, I tried parrying it with my sword.

I barely stopped his club, and I was the one who absorbed the brunt of the shock, and I could tell he was stronger than me. Also, his speed was decent, like he had a lot more experience than the other troll.

"Hey, I don't know if you have intelligence, but I killed a bunch of your friends already. How does that make you feel?"

I did not expect this, but he flew into a rage after hearing that.

1st round:

Defeat him. I'm sending in 2 extra trolls in 10 seconds.

"What!"

Was Piid just trying to get me killed.

I will admit, I was a little relaxed before, but now I took it seriously.

I leaped above the troll's swing and tried thrusting my sword into his eye hole, but the last second he moved and I hit metal.

"Damn it!"

I quickly looked at my sword and luckily it wasn't chipped or anything.

Before the troll could launch another attack, I went on the offensive instead of waiting to counter attack.

I noticed that its gloves were mostly leather with small pieces of metal. For a quick moment I thought about what Piid does with the corpses and equipment of the slain monsters.

I attacked the gloves and actually managed to pierce one of his fingers.

"AAAAH!!"

It screamed in pain.I damaged the hand he used for holding the club, so he quickly switched hands.

"Smart huh?"

Then it did something totally unexpected. It suddenly threw its club at me. I was caught off guards and it managed to hit my shoulder, but I rolled with the blow."Fuuuuck!"

I flew outside the sand ring. The troll didn't miss a beat. While I was in pain he jumped up on me and sat on my stomach and chest and started strangling me.

"YOU WANNA GO THEN LET'S FUCKING GO!"

I pointed my right hand at its face and fired off a voiceless 100% mana Flashlight at its face.

The image was disgusting. There wasn't even and impact, just once second his head was there, the next it wasn't. The only thing that remained of his head was a very bloody and crushed helmet in the distance.

Its body fell backwards and I pushed it off.

Without a break, two new trolls in the exact same gear appeared in the circle and were immediately conscious. They screamed at the sight of their dead friend.

I still had my sword in my right hand.

Both were charging me in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder.

I stood up, and took a few side steps so I was more on the left troll's side than in the middle, so the two were off center.

They tried to correct, but were going to fast and the distance was too short.

I was on the side of where the head of the troll used to be, and there was a pool of blood that was forming at the torso, so I kicked that into the left troll's face.

I got a lucky hit in, and hit it right inbetween the eye holes in its helmet. It stopped but the other troll continued.

I came up with another strategy mid battle. Instead of trying to shove my sword into the eye holl, I lowered my center of gravity a little, and then jumped into its helmet and smashed it with my body so it fell to the ground. Just as it slammed the ground, I thrust my sword into the eye hole and kept stabbing and stabbing.

While I was distracted stabbing, I flew again and hit a tree.

*Cough

Blood came out of my mouth.

The other troll was now charging me right after it had hit me with its club.

I recognized a movement pattern while it was charging: it was about to throw its club.

I managed to jump out of the way.

This was too dangerous I had no idea why Piid was putting me in this situation.

Though I had managed to evade, right after the troll kicked me and I flew again.

That was the big disadvantage of having the strength of a troll, but not its weight.

The troll kicked me too far, and though it managed me, it gave me a little time to adjust.

Probably in the beginning, the pain would have affected me, but now it was just a background thing and the adrenaline was pumping. I even managed to gain my breath quickly after having the air in my lungs pushed out.

All this time, I hadn't dropped my sword. That increased strength really came in handy when it came to holding things.

The troll had picked up its club and was charging me again: I could see that it was about to chug the club at me again.

"How old!"

Right as it was about to throw, I threw my sword at it and it pierced its stomach armour.

"Wait, I could just cut through the armour?"

The troll didn't stop its charge, but didn't manage to throw its club.

I lowered my knees again and got ready to jump.

"KREEEE!"

I smashed into its face and it fell on the ground. I took out my dagger to stab through the eyes, but it was too short to hit.

Just as it was about to punch me away, I went back to its stomach and started kicking the sword farther in.

I heard it scream in pain.

I took out the sword, and jumped back. The troll, now tired and injured, staggered towards me. It had dropped its club.

I cut off its leg first, then chopped its head off.

1st round

Defeat him. I'm sending in 2 extra tolls in 10 seconds

Completed

Congratulations, you have defeated 3 B-Rank monsters.

Blink.

I was back at the apartment, covered in blood and mud and felt horrible inside.

"Hey! Open Piid!"

Blink.

Back in the white room.

"How about you heal me before sending me out? Give me one of those yellow potions, or at least a mana potion so I can do it myself!"

A mana potion teleported in front of my eyes and dropped to the ground.

"Thanks a lot!"

I grabbed it, drank it, then left the bottle and pressed exit.

Blink.

Back in the apartment, I used my Healing Magic to get rid of the injuries.

I healed myself about 90%, and was competely drained from mana exhaustion and from being kicked around like a ball.

I spent about an hour loafing around and felt down. I decided to go for a walk. I saw the library and went in.

"Hello, Jack!"

As Emma waved me over, her boobs wobbled which was an ease for my eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, sorry, just feeling a little down. Almost got killed my trolls again."

"Whoa, really? You don't have any injuries?"

"Oh, used healing magic, I learned it recently."

"Woow! Oh, ehm, I keep thinking about that Piid thing you told me about. I*m really curious…"

"Oh, I'll tell you more if you tell me something…"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?"

"Do you know about devils and angels?"

"Mhmm… didn't you pay attention in kindergarden?"

"Never was one for school, though I've heard devils and angels and heaven and hell thrown around a lot, but never really cared to learn about it."

"Well, I can give you a summary, though I'm not an expert on the subject I have more knowledge than the average person. So, in ancient history, like the beginning of humans, the evil devils went around killing almost everyone and causing mayhem. At least that's what the religious books say but there's no actual note about what they did except for killing people and taking territory and bodies for some reason. But then the good angels came and saved all humans, and battled the evil devils and drove them back to hell. After that the devils never attacked the humans, and the angels stayed in heaven."

"Huh? that's very vague. Where is heaven and hell?"

"Who knows. Though, and here's where my theory comes in, I think that maybe those hidden dungeon, have you heard about them?"

"Yeah of course, riches and adventures and stories of legends…"

"Well, my theory is that dungeons are actually hell."

"Then what about heaven?"

"Well, probably up in the skies, else it wouldn't be called heaven."

"Mhmm…"

"Well, now your turn…"

"Okay. Your theory about dungeons being 'hell' is absolutely true. I can give you no explanation of why I know that and further details."

"Whaaaaat! Come on! Give me deets!"

"Nope. Well, I've gotta go. See ya!"

"Wait!"

And so I ran away from beautiful Emma and back to my apartment. Luna wasn't back so I figured I'd do something else.

"Open, Piid."

Blink.

White room.

I ignored the pop up screen.

"I'm so tired of this! I want real answers. Tell me about you and devils and angels!"

Geez… Yell much? You're stressing Piid out. I told him I'd handle it and to take a nap. Okay, I'll say this once then shut up.

Blink.

We were back in the dark screening room. The voice used the video screen again to show pictures of what he was talking about.

Now for, the dark side of history… da da da. Or: the hidden side of history… da da da. Or— okay I can see you rolling your eyes. Not many get the chance to talk to an angel you know… actually, pretty sure you're the only one. Okay, lemme get on with it:

With the birth of humans from monkeys, souls became a lot more complex because of advanced intelligence and consciousness. This allowed for 'byproducts' of souls, what you humans called 'devils'. Which are basically soul 'viruses'.

Most of the oldest devils died. But the current oldest devil who survived is called Devil King. And after him the other oldest devils are called 'Leaders of Heaven'.

At first, Devil King, the oldest surviving devil, became the most powerful devil and still is, and started his own faction where every devil followed him and promptly whiped out almost all life.

He, and the other devils, quickly realized that the death of life was the death of them. The other next most powerful devils created their own faction against the Devil King to ensure their own survival and because they wanted more power and safety against Devil King. Alone each of these old devils couldn't stand against Devil King in strength, but together they were deemed quite a threat.

Devil King was smart, so he and the leaders of the other faction held a convention, which is now known among devils and angels as the Convention on Devil Survival.

That's where they made the rules. You cannot kill any life unless they have broken the contract of heavenly protection by committing 'evil'. You can only kill a soul and take over its body if that soul signed a soul contract. And they discussed some other things at the convention I won't get into to spare the boring details.

The Devil King and the strongest devils of the other faction, which you humans named Heaven, forced every devil, including themselves, to wire these rules into their very 'being' so they would self-destruct if they broke them.

After that, Devil King and his faction, which you humans call Devils, lived in Hll (which is basically territory on earth taken over by the devils). And the devils from the other faction, whom you humans called 'Angels' did vice versa and the territory they took over became known as 'Heaven'.

Okay, so why is the Devil King, this apparrently strongest devil, after Piid?

Well, Piid is actually quite a young devil, only a few hundred thousands of years old!. It was only this year Devil King realized his existence, and then realized that Piid could potentially become stronger than him, so he secretly started killing Piid. Piid was about 99% dead when I swooped in and rescued him secretly. That's when Devil King publicly put a bounty on Piid's head. And when you met him.

Wait, what do you mean Piid has the potential to be stronger than Devil King?

Well, Devil King feared what exactly happened would happen, that Piid merged with a human. I don't think you realize it, but if you just survive this infant state of yours, you'll be the most powerful being for all of eternity. Pretty cool, eh? Assuming you survive of course, which is very unlikely...

I don't get it, why doesn't Devil King just come down himself and kill us?

Oh, he very much wants to. But the leaders of Heaven are keeping him in check, since one of the agreements were that Devil King couldn't step foot outside Hell. Also, the existence of Piid has been kept under wraps. I'm actually the only angel who knows of his existence. If the other angels knew about Piid, the entire world would go into war because of how Piid could shift the ancient power dynamic. Oh, by the way, I'm the next oldest devil right after Devil King. Apart from eating all of our friends and trying to eat me before I gathered the other devils to put up a fight, he's a pretty nice guy. Though screw him. When you become the strongest in a few million years, make sure to withdraw my friends from his belly.

What the hell…

I know, right?! if you're just able to survive the first wave of attacks in these first thousand years, then no one can kill you and we'll just train you extra to be stronger than Devil King. Luckily for you, if Devil King steps foot onto earth he will literally shatter into pieces. Pretty cool, and good news to you.

O-Okay.

You know, not to be that guy, but a thanks would be nice? I'm constantly working keeping you and Piid secret and safe. I'm the only reason why a devil hasn't swooped in and killed you yet.

Thanks… what's your name?

We devils don't have names actually, names is something only humans bothered inventing. But, eh, keep calling me 'voice' I guess. And keep calling Piid that random name I came up with. Hehe.

Blink.

I was back home.

"I gotta take a nap…"