A hidden danger. Tenth rulers of Mordox, Lilith

[Building collapse sound]

A huge shadow was thrown against the wall, and even though its body was crushed, it stood up and laughed.

" Hahahaha more! This feeling, war is wonderful!"

" Shut up and die! I will not let you harm anyone."

Haruki charged at the demon, but it disappeared like an illusion. In an instant, he could feel its presence behind him.

" Gahhhh!"

A violent wave radiating from Haruki stalled the demon's attack, he used that moment to turn around to stab its heart.

" Cough… Cough. Pretty good little hero. I sincerely wish you survived this war, and maybe after some time we will meet again in The hell of Mordox."

" Mordox will be destroyed. Only you'll go to hell."

The demon melted into ash. Haruki dropped to his knee, it was difficult for him to breathe, at these moments he recalled the time he was being forced to run 10km by his father. The demon he just killed was very strong, without Okura's Buff, he would have lost to it. There were a total of three demons like this, another was fighting with Azael's group, Tristina and Mitsuru was blocking the last. Now he would come to back them up.

" Okura! Can't you get out already? It's dead!"

" D-Did it?"

" Yes! Please, we don't have time."

Okura slowly crawled out of a pile of bricks, on top of him were countless items to reinforce his defense and hide his presence.

" Hahaha, that demon got what it deserves! It's too unlucky to meet our group, the strongest group in the squad!"

Okura had no longer paid attention to his wet pants since the start of the battle.

" It seems that Azael sensei's side was over, only Mitsuru remains. We'll go over there."

" Why don't we just take a nap-"

Haruki took Okura's neck and sprinted straight to Mitsuru.

" Hah… hah…"

" Are you okay, Tristina?

" Fortunately there was Azael sama. Otherwise, it would have been much more difficult. If they were at this level, the group of heroes would definitely defeat them."

" It seems so. I hope nothing could go wrong."

Azael and Tristina were the two most powerful people in the kingdom, their level of fighting power was much higher than Haruki's group. Even though they had a hard time with the opponent, they still believed Haruki's group could win because the hero group all had the special ability [Devil Killer].

On Mitsuru's side. The battle was also about to come to an end.

" Mitsuru sama is so cool!"

" Hahaha of course! Something like this was nothing."

Mitsuru was surrounded by a group of girls, one elf, one beastman, one dwarf, and one human. All of them were very beautiful, they were saved by Mitsuru and became his servants.

" You bastard!"

The demon engaged Mitsuru, unable to contain her anger. He was such an ugly demon that he had not been able to marry a wife for hundreds of years. Whether demons or humans, they all rejected him. So when he saw Mitsuru joking around with his harem, he wanted to slice the guy in front of him into hundreds of pieces.

" The bastard with the damn shield!"

Whatever attacks he sent were parried and countered. He couldn't even scratch Mitsuru. Among the heroes, Mitsuru was the one with the strongest defensive ability. Also, his attack power did not lose to that of the rest. If he were more serious, this battle might have ended soon.

" Give it up, you demons will never touch Sarila. If I were you, I would have left my ass to run."

" Bastard! I will kill you!"

" Hehe. Don't say I didn't warn you ~"

As the demon was about to attack Mitsuru, a loud noise came from behind him. A figure landed on the ground after a long jump.

" Mitsuru, let's finish it."

Haruki pointed his sword at the demon while Okura quickly escaped to a safe distance.

" Nah. I'm tired, you end it, Haruki."

" If we attack together it will be faster."

" If so why didn't you just stab it from behind, 'Hero'."

" Okay, I'll finish it."

Haruki didn't want to drag on this conversation while he knew Mitsuru's personality. Instead, he began to focus on the demon's movements.

" Don't underestimate me!"

Instead of facing Haruki, it charged straight at Mitsuru but was immediately deflected by his shield. Haruki didn't miss this chance, he stabbed the demon with a fatal blow.

" Aghhh !! Fcking coward!!"

The demon quickly turned into ash.

" A stupid demon." - Mitsuru

" So the war is finally over!" - Okura

" Haiz, let's rest! I haven't showered all day!" - Misuru

" Mitsuru sama! I also want to take a bath."

" Do those things later Mitsuru! There are still people who are fighting. We have to help them!" - Haruki

" Alright al mighty captain, I go."

Mitsuru languidly carried the shield in his hand and was about to leave, this man intending to wait till other people cleaned this mess up. There were only weak monsters left anyway. The EXP won't be worth his time.

Just as Haruki was about to call out to Okura, his spine went cold. Both he and Mitsuru turned around at the same time. No one knew when a figure of a demon silently stood behind them. Its whole body was crimson red, it would be an attractive woman if not for the hard scales covering its whole body like a lizard, large spikes grew out of its shoulders. The tip of its tail looks like an arrow wagging left and right. Two long sharp horns on its head were the signature of Mordox's supreme race. Two glowing golden eyes stared at Haruki, it licked its lips.

" Nice to meet you Haruki kun ~"

" You know me?"

" Does anyone not know you, human hero? I don't like beating around the bush, could you please become my slave?"

" Hahaha captain, that's not a bad idea either."

" Shut up, Mitsuru."

" Mitsuru, the strongest arcane knight. You are fine too. Want to be my pet? I will not mistreat you."

" You sure are pretty, but only by the standards of the lowly demons! How could you compare yourself to my team? Mitsuru shook his chin hinting at his harem."

Pretending to be joking but Mitsuru heightened his shield and the whole team start to get into combat positions. Sweat ran down Haruki's forehead. He couldn't see the level of the opponent in front of him. Currently, the hero group was at level 180 on average. Haruki was the one with the highest level and was about to break through 200. If he couldn't see his opponent's stats then this demoness should be at least Lvl 251.

In this world, the higher the level, the larger the gap between consecutive ranks. For every 50 levels, a person's combat power will increase significantly. The distance of 100 levels would be like heaven and earth. For example level 50 will be slightly stronger than level 49 but level 51 will be stronger by 1.5 times compared to level 50. Level 101 would be the level of class ascension that would be twice as strong as level 100.

Fighting against those who had higher tier ascension was impossible, it would be like putting a child in a lion cage. However, the hero's group still had some chances because their strength increased significantly when fighting demons, especially with the Daeric race. In Haruki's case, his power would go skyrocket when he met a strong demon. Hence it could not be said that this battle was hopeless. However, strength was one thing, high level demons would have more experience and more dangerous skills.

" Haruki kun, I can even help you get to the one you love."

Those soft words whispered right next to his ear before he could even react. The demoness did not do anything, she just look at him and smile innocently. Haruki activated his [Divine Armor]. Sacred flame burst out from his body causing the demoness to burn. In an instant, it returned to its original position and the sacred flame burning on its body was extinguished.

" Ara looks like I need to fix your behaviors so you could become good pets ~"

Once again, the demoness disappeared.

" What the hell was that? Where is she?"

The panic started to fill Mitsuru's mind. There was a time when the hero team had to fight a monster four times faster than them, but they were still able to keep up with its movements. But this time, something was wrong with this demoness. As Haruki activated [Great Devil detection], he immediately caught its position.

" Mitsuru! Watch out!"

" What—"

The shout of Haruki came too late. A sword suddenly pierced Mitsuru's stomach.

" Agh! You …."

" Sophie! What the hell are you doing?"

" Get her out of him!"

The two girls in Mitsuru's harem were startled to see their comrade, the human girl Sophie suddenly attacking Mitsuru. Just as they were about to drag her away from him, tentacles sprouted from Sophie's back and wrapped the two girls' bodies. The Beastman girl intended to cut it with her sword, but before she could do anything, a terrible pain sprang through her arm.

" Aghhhhhhhhhh!"

Spikes grew from the tentacle pierced her elbow and almost cut off her left arm. Sharp giant spikes pierced her stomach. The tentacle crawled out and wrapped both the Beastman and Elf girls tightly, making them scream in pain. Sophie's face began to deform. Some red scales appeared on her face and her eyes turned yellow.

" L-Leave them alone!"

" Don't wanna ~ You're made me sad, Mitsuru kun. How could you say they're prettier than me? I have no choice but to modify their shapes a little."

" Aghh!!"

Mitsuru grudgingly activated his ability but to no avail. Since being stabbed in the stomach by Sofie's sword, the mana inside him became so chaotic that he felt like it could explode from within.

Haruki wanted to help the girls and Mitsuru, but his attacks were stopped by the tentacles using these girls' bodies.

" You bastard? What did you do with Sophie ?"

" You mean this body? I killed it a long time ago ~"

" What?"

The angry expression showed clearly on his face of Mitsuru when hearing that. Reverse slashing his own shoulder he plan to cut off its neck, but the sword was stuck in a tentacle. Mitsuru let go of his sword before another tentacle struck him. He used all his strength to strike the sword with the shield in his hand. When both of them collided, they created a powerful force that tore off the tentacle. Mitsuru took the sword and stabbed Sophie's neck making it bend on one side and almost fall out of her soldier.

A normal creature would die in an instant but she leisurely jumped back not before pulling the sword out of Mitsuru's stomach causing blood from his wound to spurt out. Mitsuru hugged his stomach to stop the bleeding. All the healing potions of his group were kept by Sophie. He silently cursed his foolishness.

" Ara, honestly. Don't need to be that angry. This thing died before it met you. I have to say we got along with each other pretty well."

" Impossible! For the past three months, we've always been with Sophie. Even Sarila saw it. No demon can surpass Sarila… wait, but why, I can't remember how I met Sophie? "

Realizing something, Mitsuru trembled.

" You-You tricked us! From the very beginning, Sophie did not exist."

" Bingo! I like quick people, Mitsuru kun ~. I was only with you when you came to this city ~"

" Illusion? Mind control?"

" Tsk Tsk I don't think I have an obligation to explain ~"

The situation was really bad, two members of Mitsuru's private group were taken, hostage. They were fighting a very strong demon maybe he needed to sacrifice them, thought Haruki. But if he did that, the hero's team bond could be destroyed. Besides those thoughts were not something a hero could do either.

"Aghhhh!"

" Stop it!"

The two tentacles began to tighten. Drops of blood could be seen dripping onto the ground. The demoness smiled contentedly upon seeing Mitsuru's panicked expression.

" How about this Mitsuru kun, Haruki kun ~ We'll play a game. If one of you guys dies. I will release these two ~"

" What?"

After a moment of hesitation, Mitsuru pointed his sword at Haruki.

" Mitsuru. Don't let that thing fool you, there's no guarantee that it will release them after we fight."

" But if I don't do this it will definitely kill them!"

Mitsuru rushed forward and dropped a blow to Haruki's head, it was a killing blow but Haruki dodged it with ease. Haruki used a kick that sent Mitsuru flying away, and even though he could use his shield in time, his entire body itched all over.

" Mitsuru, are you serious?"

"Just shut the fck up and fight."

Mitsuru continued to attack, each of his attacks was aimed at fatal points, whereas Haruki just dodged and used blunt attacks to stop Mitsuru. Though Haruki had one of his hands behind his back, Mitsuru was the real one in a disadvantageous situation at the time. His stomach was injured, although he stopped the bleeding in time with mana, that didn't mean it had recovered. The mana inside him was still chaotic, it was difficult for Mitsuru to use high-level skills. If Haruki really want to fight back, Mitsuru would have no way to win and he knew that too.

" Well, forgot to say, if no one dies in 2 minutes, I will kill one."

Mitsuru's attack became more furious but at the same time more chaotic. Haruki just needs to move lightly to dodge all of Mitsuru's attacks. On the contrary, the number of attacks he received from Haruki getting more and more. His whole body was swollen and he started coughing up blood. Dropping on one leg, his eyes stared at Haruki.

" 10 seconds left ."

" Aghhhh !!!"

" ten"

" 9 ~"

" 5 ~"

" Finish it!" - Mitsuru

" If that's what you want…" - Haruki

Haruki's blade was glowing, the space around it was light violently distorted.

[Incineration!]

A beam of light that could turn everything into ashes shot at Mitsuru, he neither dodged nor protested, instead, he smiled. Mitsuru lifted his shield and activated the skill.

[Mirror]

Mitsuru shield becomes transparent and the direction of the beam reflexed to a different direction.

" Ah—"

Sophie's entire body was blown away. Two tentacles fell to the ground motionless.

" Mitsuru!" - Haruki

" No problem!"

No interest in his injuries, Mitsuru ran over to his two girlfriends he tried to remove the sharp spines out of them.

" Mitsuru sama …"

The demon deliberately did not inflict fatal wounds but they still lost a lot of blood, the beautiful white face of the Elf girl was now covered with scars. The Beastman girl was better, but her arms are almost severed. Even if a priest used holy magic for a long time, it would take years to recover.

" Mitsuru sama?"

" It's okay, everything is fine now."

Mitsuru hugged the two girls, but his gaze was fixed on the elf.

' This is fcking suck. If it was damaged to this extent, even if she recovers, it will still leave scars. I hope this world has a way to solve that.'

" Well, hurry up and get back to the rescue team."

As Mitsuru just stood up, a large pillar of ice grew behind him. The beastman girl was trapped in it.

" Hey Azael, what the hell are you -"

" Get out of there, idiot!"

Tristina kicked Mitsuru off, at the same time she used her sword to block the attack from a tentacle that was about to crush the Elf's head.

" What? Haven't we destroyed it already?"

The chilling mist began to fade. The group gasped at the scene before their eyes. In the giant block of ice, the face of the Beastman girl had changed, vicious sharp teeth were protruding from her mouth, and atrocious-looking tentacles shredded from the inside of her body. The monster smiled, crackling noises resounded, and then the ice gradually shattered.

[Incineration!]

[Divine Wrath!]

Without waiting for the monster to escape the ice, both Haruki and Azael used their strongest attacks. But when the smoke faded, a large black cocoon appeared. A hand tore off the cocoon and stepped out. The demon looked like the first time Haruki and everyone saw it except for the skin changing from red to obsidian.

" I-Impossible."

" Long time no see little boy ~"

" Run …"

" Azael sama?" - Tristina

" I will try to hold her back, everyone rushes to Sarila sama!"

" But—"

Before they even realized it, Haruki's hand and the other's were constantly shaking. Their whole bodies became heavy, they could feel their mana running amok. This phenomenon was called Mana Dominance when a person's brainwaves were strong enough to affect the mana around him/her. Only a few people in this world have the ability to influence mana from the surrounding environment, they were usually high-level mages and this only happens when the mana level of the two sides was too different.

" Great one Lilith… Her level is… 301."

As Azael spoke, despair started to spread among the hero group.