Chapter 35: The Demon’s Horn
The sky above Valeria dimmed into a sickly crimson, not from clouds, but from the rising tide of death charging from the forests.
It was not mere darkness—it was a wall of dust, wings, and hooves thundering with the hunger of a thousand beasts.
Jin stood unmoving atop Valeria's highest watchtower, the rising sun silhouetting his cloaked figure like a king cast in bronze.
A thick, leather-bound war manual lay open in one hand, pages fluttering against the wind, while the system's flickering tactical map hovered before his sharp, narrowed eyes.
He had read everything—battlefield tactics from lost dynasties, bestiaries written in blood, siege doctrines penned by mad kings, and even sarcasm manuals from court jesters meant to mock enemy warlords.
Today, theory would meet blood.
He turned his head slightly.
"Distribute the weapons."
The command flowed like steel.
Below him, warriors surged to the city armory, their eyes gleaming as if awaiting a divine gift.
And divine it was—for every weapon had been forged by Jin himself, built from the bones and cores of the beasts they had already slain.
Blades of obsidian-fanged direwolves, polearms bound in flame-lizard sinew, bows carved from shadow stag antlers, each humming with raw, spiritual resonance.
Runes glowed softly across hilts and shafts, etched not for beauty, but to channel qi and enhance reaction.
Armor followed.
Generals approached and knelt before crates lined with armor forged from apex beasts—scale mail from armored serpents, greaves of steel-ivory from demon bulls, shoulder guards crafted from spirit ape bone.
When they rose, they no longer looked like mortals.
They looked like war gods born of chaos.
Jin stepped to the edge of the tower as the tremors reached the city's edge.
"ARCHERS TO THE WALLS!"
The Silverwind Valkyries moved in unison, feathers tied to their shoulders fluttering, longbows raised in a perfect wave.
Riven, their leader, stood at the center with eyes like ice and fingers already drawing spirit-split arrows.
Jin raised his hand, counting the beats of the ground.
"Three... two... one."
He lowered it.
The war horn blew.
And fire painted the sky.
Hundreds of arrows soared like a meteor shower, igniting the evening with trails of blue, red, and violet flame.
Some exploded mid-air, raining spiritual shrapnel.
Others homed onto beast cores by blood resonance, slipping through armor and piercing hearts.
The first wave of beasts—boars with crystal tusks, wolves with twin tails, apes with eyes like lanterns—did not reach the walls.
They were ash before they tasted stone.
The soldiers cheered.
But Jin's expression remained flat.
"FORMATION: COW HORN BULL-EYE!"
Instantly, the field outside the gates shifted.
The trained militia surged into twin crescent wings, arcing out like horns, while Jin walked calmly down the center—alone.
He was the bull's eye.
The bait.
"A leaderless army is a dead army," he muttered.
"So give them a leader… then take it from them."
The beasts charged.
Thunder rolled as paws, claws, hooves, and bone spikes dug into the earth.
Jin moved like water forged into steel.
His blade danced.
A single swipe bisected a charging ironhide stag, its blood boiling as the Fangblade drank deep.
The soldiers surged in sync.
Lines of spears pinned charging beasts as swords carved the flanks, moving with precision no ordinary militia should possess.
Every step was calculated, every movement drawn from days of training under Jin's gaze.
The beast horde began to panic, turning inward, colliding with one another, collapsing their own momentum.
It was glorious.
Then the system screamed.
[System Notification: Danger Approaching]
[Arch Demon Detected – Power Level: Catastrophic]
A hush smothered the battlefield.
Even the beasts slowed.
It emerged like a shadow given flesh.
Towering, horned, its frame wrapped in flickering black flame and rags that pulsed like breathing veins.
Its eyes glowed deep violet, its aura thick as molten despair.
Lila dropped to her knees beside the wounded.
"That's… the demon that scarred my father... but stronger."
The demon floated forward as though gravity was beneath him.
His voice rolled like thunder dipped in silk.
"Valeria... a name born of defiance."
"You must be the new lord."
Jin stepped forward, raising the Fangblade.
The demon's grin spread too far.
"Why serve a dying kingdom? Join me. I offer blood, power, a thousand realms to rule."
Jin squinted.
"You talk a lot for someone with goat legs."
The demon blinked.
"...Very well. Then you die."
[Activating: Ancient Azure Dragon Bloodline – 35%]
Muscles expanded.
Dragon scales rippled over his arms, shoulders, and chest, silver-blue and humming with primordial might.
His breath steamed.
[Activating: Blood Demon Bloodline – 15%]
veins turned black.
His eyes shimmered—one gold, one crimson.
Blood from the battlefield surged toward him, absorbed into the Glabella at his brow.
Power ignited.
He vanished.
Jin and the demon clashed midair, the impact forming a crater beneath them as energy ruptured the air.
Steel met claw.
Shockwaves ripped trees from their roots and sent nearby soldiers tumbling.
They moved faster than thought.
Every strike was a thunderclap.
Every parry sent energy spiraling like hurricanes.
Jin ducked under a claw, twisted, and sliced upward—the demon's left arm flew.
The Fangblade gleamed, glowing crimson, greedily drinking the fallen essence.
\[Demonic Bloodline Surge – Glabella Absorption Initiated]
\[Blood Demon Affinity increased to 15%]
Jin roared, sound cracking stone.
His aura pulsed like a heartbeat, draining the qi around him.
Nearby soldiers staggered, stunned.
"He... he looks like a demon general," someone whispered.
Riven, atop the tower, whispered, "That is no ordinary man."
Jin's body trembled under the pressure.
Scales cracked.
Blood seeped from his arms.
\[Time Remaining for Demon Boost: 30:00 Minutes]
He pressed forward.
The demon countered with a flame claw engulfed in black fire.
It tore across Jin's side, rending armor and drawing smoke.
Jin didn't flinch.
He dropped to one knee, dug deep, then rose with both bloodlines blazing.
"Enough."
He roared.
[Activating: Tyrant Dragon Reaver Slash]
The technique melded both legacies—dragon precision and demon rage.
He leapt, spun midair, and released a cleave that tore through air, light, and sound.
The sky cracked.
A beam of gold and red arced through the demon.
Its head flew from its shoulders, still sneering, until it struck the earth with a wet, final thud.
Victory.
Jin dropped.
Riven ran, catching him mid-fall.
His body was warm, trembling with leftover energy—and hunger.
His hand slipped to her waist.
Lower.
Riven's face flared. "H-Hey. Not now."
She gently passed him to Lila.
Lila held him tightly.
"You did it. Gods, you really did it."
The battlefield was silent.
Ash rained like snow.
Fires flickered in the fading light.
The wall still stood.
Valeria had survived.
[System Notification: Battle Complete]
[Casualties: 13%]
[City Defense Integrity: 87%]
[Point Accumulation: 9,880]
[Level Up: Jin – Level 15 Achieved]
[+5 Base Stats to All Attributes]
Jin twitched in Lila's arms, murmuring in half-conscious fever.
Riven looked skyward, face unreadable.
Arielle and Sarah tended to the wounded, eyes red.
The people cheered.
Soldiers wept.
The storm had passed.
For now.
But peace… peace would not last.