Freedom, At Last

Even after moving away from that mansion, I found myself in a dense forest, far from any sort of civilization. Dense and dark forests such as this one usually have some Imps or Minus Demons lurking around.

As defeating Demon Lords was the gods' main priority, weaker demons or hybrids were left alive, around the globe. They wouldn't pose a threat anymore, because Holy Heroes can deal with them easily. Killing pure blood demons was their main objective, letting aside any other that didn't get in their way.

Still, if pure blooded ones decided to try to hide away, heroes would hunt them until they were finished. With my current status, and weapons, it would be better to avoid a direct conflict, but since I am a demon as well, even in this incarnation, they wouldn't be able to feel the scent of my blood.

In our bloodline, there is a hierarchy, depending on the birth method. If a demon is born through dark essence, he is a pure blooded one, being capable of evolving into a Demon Lord. However, if he is born through the a blood sample of a pure blooded, he is a Minus Demon, created to serve the master who created him. By using darkness manipulation, any demon can create an Imp, which is a weaker sort of demon, without a brain or mind, focused on attacking and devouring any human that dared to cross its way.

Based on that, Minus Demons and Imps cannot track a pure blood by his smell, since they were originally created to serve them, and prey upon humans.

To be safe, I wanted to know if I got any other skills after leveling up. With a careful analysis of my surroundings, I could say that I was safe for a while, to take another look into the abilities panel. It came to light that my magic gaze was the main ability I had for now because my eyes were kept the same, even after reborn.

When I was about to open the menu, I held myself back, when I heard footsteps in the woods. Such an unfortunate timing, since without my original equipment, or status, even if it was a Minus, I wouldn't be able to react properly. Den Lumogus pushes my vital force to the fullest, and as a consequence, even if I had control over it now, this body would start breaking itself as soon as I wielded it.

By silently propelling myself in the air, I managed to jump from branch to branch, until I reached the top of a massive tree. If an enemy became unavoidable, I should try to attack from the shadows, avoiding being seen. And in need of a desperate attempt, I should focus on incapacitating such an enemy.

Because of this factor, I felt myself vulnerable, for the first time in many centuries. Though, it is better than dying, so I had to endure with it for a while.

My position was made, so even if a Minus showed up, he wouldn't find me that easily. An Imp suddenly came out of the shadows, while it furiously searched for his prey. Fortunately, as it was just an Imp, I could relax and take a breath.

However, my break was suddenly interrupted when it roared bravely as he stared in my direction. I determined that it was purely coincidental, but I disregarded, when it began climbing on the tree, latching onto the trunk with its sharp, long claws. Was it tracking me somehow?

As it kept climbing, I noticed what grotesque creature was part of our army: a purple, decayed body, with pink lines, sharp teeth, in a quite tall figure, with long claws, capable of aiding them into climbing a tree such as this.

Recklessness would be inevitable if I stood there, watching it coming up. After leaving the manor, I kept the knives with me, and as Imps are not that resistant, a holy enhanced blade wouldn't be required, nor would my skills be. Anyhow, lowering my guard would be foolish.

I ran down the tree, while walking on its trunk. When I finally managed to get closer to the Imp, it tried to pull me by my leg. However, right before it managed to knock me down, I parried it with a kick, and since it had only one arm to hold itself, if the other one was cut, it would fall.

By making a spinning motion, I cut off its arm, starting at the wrist, and continually slashing until a little before its elbow. Having a child's body has its advantages, to be honest, since this flexibility is perfect for the lack of abilities that I am currently dealing with. Before finishing with it, I watched as the Imp slowly fell down.

Either way, this situation wasn't done yet, so I jumped towards my prey, and pierced the middle of its chest with one of the knives, while I finished cutting off its leftover arm with the other. I pushed it away as soon as I was done and while I fell with him, I moved both knives to the right and left, quickly, slicing his entire body from his neck to his waist.

As far as I can remember, Imps are not defense specialists, however, they are very powerful in terms of offense. This being taken into account, I could say that it would be better to re-evaluate this army. After landing magnificently to the ground, I shook the knives, removing the pus left on them.

Despite being an easy prey, something was bothering me ever since it had found me: it really kept track of me, even though, regularly, it's not supposed to feel my scent. Was there anything different with this Imp?

I realized that my mistake was, even after committing the murder of humans, not realizing that the blood had ended up staining my clothes. At least, that explains why it showed up all of sudden, tracking a pure blooded.

Getting rid of the clothes which had the stains was easy, thanks to the protection the suit gave to the rest of my outfit.

However, by getting rid of these clothes, again, I heard even more footsteps. Hiding was no longer necessary, but knowing that there are some Minus in these woods, and that they could have higher status than mine, sitting idly could be a mistake, if I'm unlucky.

Tree tops were my best option to hide away, but this time, I picked up another one, which is not that tall like the first one, since the footsteps were already really close.

It then came to light that, by mana analysis, it wasn't a Minus, but a young human. A man, to be more precise, and sadly, I couldn't see much from this distance. Judging by his equipment, he is not a holy soldier, nor a combat expert, for he looks more like a looter. Or a bounty hunter, if he was looking forward into possibly facing a demon in this forest.

Bravery was notable, as he did not hesitate any into rushing here. From the shadows, a jovial woman, which was around his age, showed up as well.

''Are you sure you noticed something, Nikki?'', thanks to the magic gaze, I could also inspect what they were saying, even from far away

''Whatever it was, it had mana...'', admittedly, this man was interesting, knowing that he had no fear of what he could face by showing up like that, ''We are not leaving this place until we find it!''

This determination intrigued me, as I decided to keep watching them from this distance. His analysis showed that the creature which they were tracking had mana, so, if they tracked something nearby, it could be that fallen Imp. Magic gazes are not capable of being traced that easily, and also, he was just assuming that there might be a mana being around.

Imps release a lot of mana, granting me a bit of reassurance, knowing that if I used any mana, it was most likely disguised by the Imp's mana. Although, my assumptions were abruptly disregarded, immediately upon seeing that man observing me from afar.

''Target localized'', the boy's harsh tone indicated me that it wasn't merely coincidence that he had found me, but that he detected me that quickly

''Roger that!'', the woman next to him answered promptly, with a determined tone

And yet again, I ended up being a prey, to these determined and brave chasers. My initial reaction was to wonder how could I be so unlucky, but I didn't have time for distractions. Two of them was already a numerical disadvantage, while being weaker doesn't help me at all.

Against my will, I would have to find a way out of this, since they wouldn't make this so easy. Time to escape this place for good.