Chapter 101 - Crusade Mission

After Rias's detailed explanation, Aoki felt he might have been tricked.

If it weren't for the special advancement requirements of the martial arts, he might have been promoted to A-level through dual cultivation.

But he can't say for sure...

Rather than waiting for the intermediate extraction of magic power, which I don't know when it will happen, he might as well try it first according to the martial arts's innovative method.

If he really can't break through after the extraction, he will still have to use this method at that time.

Aoki's idea was unanimously approved, and Rias and the others happily handed over the crusade mission to him.

"Ao-chan, I'll leave the crusade mission to you."

Akeno Himejima smiled and took out a stack of documents.

"We can go and clean up the commissions we've accumulated before."

"I haven't completed a contract for a long time, and I feel like my strength hasn't improved in ages."

In addition to cultivating on their own, demons can also accumulate strength by completing contracts with humans

Otherwise, Rias and the others wouldn't be idle while responding to the calls of ordinary people.

Because of his dual cultivation ability, Aoki despised this method and basically never completed similar commissions.

"Without further ado, I'll be leaving now."

Aoki stood up and walked to the center of the room.

"The previous battle wasn't pleasant at all."

Rias said, "Although I haven't fully confirmed it yet, Ao-chan and the martial arts are very similar."

"Ara ara~"

Himejima Akeno deployed the magic circle again and again and said with a smile, "I like close combat. I have a great enthusiasm for fighting, and psychologically, I don't feel guilty at all about attacking the enemy..."

Aoki: (?_?) 

Stop talking.

The more talks, the more he feels cheated. 

Waiting blankly for the teleportation magic circle to complete, Aoki stepped inside immediately. 

… 

In the dark and silent forest, a figure appeared out of nowhere. 

Aoki grabbed onto the tree trunk and shook his dizzy head. 

This is my first time using a magic circle for spatial transfer, so he still need to get used to it. 

After resting for more than ten seconds, the dizziness vanished due to his strong physical condition and spirit. He raised his head and observed his surroundings. 

He could see the church spire.

Well, the location is right. This is where the mandrill last appeared. 

'Atypical Devil' does not refer only to devils; the key point is the word outlier. 

All beings that do not obey the rules, escape jurisdiction, harm humans, or betray their masters are classified here. 

Possible demons, monsters, fallen angels, angels, hybrids, and even humans fit this category. 

Aoki's target today is a mandrill.

According to intelligence, this monster enjoys attacking children and then taking them to the mountains to eat. 

The last attack was just three days ago; it hid in the forest and never came out. 

After confirming that Akeno Himejima was not teleported to the wrong location, Aoki opened his eyes with insight, and magic power slowly flowed through his body. 

In the dark and silent forest, the thick branches and dense leaves swayed gently in the breeze, and the moonlight filtered through the treetops, casting sparse points of light.

Aoki stood in an open space, and in his perception, the entire scene began to become clearer.

A ray of magic surged like a thread, connecting his perception to the world.

He could sense the vitality of the earth, the vitality of the trees, and the resonance of everything around him.

And… the threats hidden within.

During the summer vacation, Aoki did nothing but martial arts and dual cultivation.

Having obtained three new talents, he naturally had to make good use of them to increase his overall strength.

His goal is to become the perfect warrior of the hexagon.

Under the influence of the perception talent, Aoki quickly mastered reconnaissance magic and perception magic, and combined with the eye of perception, he instantly reached effective combat in intelligence detection.

The spiritual contract pertains to the contract talent.

After learning a few contract magics, Aoki found them meaningless at the moment, so he set them aside.

As for the toughness talent, its effect can be seen as becoming stronger with more battles, increasing physical and mental durability.

For today's Aoki, the effect is relatively small. Fortunately, it has a passive and permanent effect, so it can be considered a good talent. 

The perception range gradually deepened, and suddenly, Aoki's vision began to become strange and magical.

The outlines of the trees began to blur, and the entire scene seemed to merge, with only a dark shadow becoming increasingly clear.

Turning off the detection magic, Aoki smiled lightly, "I found it."

After confirming the direction, he lightly walked through the gaps between the branches and quickly approached the target. 

It wasn't until Aoki reached a spot less than ten meters away that the ferocious, ape-like monster reacted.

"I'm lucky. This is the first time I've encountered an opponent with B-level strength."

After saying that, Aoki quickly took action, and the thunder spear filled with killing intent instantly condensed and then stabbed the mandrill in the head. 

The mandrill's eyes turned red, and he quickly dodged.

After narrowly escaping the blow, he glared at Aoki viciously, "Magician… why are you attacking me?"

Aoki had no intention of explaining himself.

He simply used his magic power to activate the red crest on the back of his left hand.

Seeing the strange, incomplete round shape, the mandrill's eyes froze, and its figure suddenly expanded, growing from the size of a small monkey to that of a chimpanzee. 

"It turns out to be the little devil of the Gremory family."

The mandrill asked sadly, "Where is your master? Where is she hiding?"

"Buchou doesn't need to take action against you."

"Arrogant boy!"

The mandrill condensed a ball of dark demonic power, and the strange, powerful energy wave attacked Aoki.

Aoki crouched to the side as the black energy wave hit the ground, filling the air with black smoke and flying dust.

After the dust settled, a bottomless pit appeared at the site, surrounded by spiderweb-like cracks.

"Is that it?"

Aoki smiled, gathering a thunder spear once more while simultaneously casting several low-level instant spells to attack the mandrill for free.

The mandrill was extremely fast, and all of its magic attacks missed, but at the same time, Aoki moved closer to it.

Aoki wielded the Thunder Spear like a sword, and his fierce attacks periodically tore away pieces of flesh and blood from the mandrill.

The mandrill was only slightly faster than Aoki, but it was no match for Aoki in terms of strength or skill.

After holding on for a moment and realizing it couldn't escape, it gathered its demonic power and fought back with a powerful strike against Aoki, further increasing its strength.

The familiar sensation returned, and Aoki felt the membrane more clearly than in the previous ranking battle.

Thinking about this made him even more excited.

"Are you going crazy? The time is right!"

Seeing Aoki refuse to retreat, the mandrill secretly cursed him for being insane, but after using madness, there was no turning back.

If Aoki was not killed or driven away before the madness time expired, it would be the mandrill who would die today.

Boom!

The fierce battle scared away a flock of birds and attracted uninvited guests.

A piece of dark feather mixed with the birds began to fall.

A fallen angel in stylish attire stood on the tree trunk, and the bright moonlight illuminated her beautiful profile.

"That mandrill used a frenzied transformation, so it makes sense for it to possess such strength…"

Observing the two combatants fiercely battling below, Raynare, who had regained her true fallen angel form, felt shock and confusion.

"But what's going on with that new demon? It's only been more than two months. Why does it feel like he's almost reached A-tier strength?"

The difference between A-tier and B-tier is the essence of life

However, their combat power is not completely insurmountable.

Unless one attains S-tier, there will be a qualitative change in combat effectiveness.

Three B-tiers can besiege A-tiers and put them in jeopardy, but three B-tiers can withstand at most three attacks from S-tiers.

One individual is nothing more.

Under the observation of the Eye of Insight, Aoki discovered Amano Yuuma and felt a bit disappointed upon realizing the other party had no intention of intervening.

The mad mandrill pressed him somewhat, but he remained close.

Aoki appeared embarrassed, but he was not actually injured.

Seeing that the mandrill's movements were slowing down and his strength was diminishing, he felt disappointed and stopped wasting time.

Utilizing the four talents of physical mastery, mirror reflection, sword heart, and lightning simultaneously, the golden thunder spear condensed

Wielding the spear like a sword, he fiercely stabbed at the mandrill's fist.

There was a momentary stalemate, and with the 50% bonus reflected by the mirror, the mandrill's fist began to crumble first.

Then the thunder spear pierced through his arm like bamboo, and with the mandrill's groan of pain, the spear continued through his shoulder and penetrated into his head.

Pfff—— Bang!

The anguished scream faded away, and the mandrill's massive body slowly fell to the ground.

As the breath of life gradually ebbed, it shrank back to the size of a monkey.

Once smaller, the bloody hole on its head appeared even more terrifying.