When it happened, it took a great portion of the wide battlefield by storm.There had been no prelude – no surge of Spirit Essence, marking its advent known.When Arlosse opened the Hermetic Vault, he didn’t hesitate to send out one of the Immaterial Slashes he had stored from his exchange with King Alabas, the Flying Reaper Sword.To maximize damage, ensuring that he caught the largest body count possible, which would immediately free him from the crowd of assailants, he had the disembodied slash materialize an inch from him, its lethal edge lateral.A loud noise, not too dissimilar to a vicious boom rolled out across the battlefield.Because of the sheer speed the Immaterial Slash charged forth with, it butchered nearly fifty bodies directly in front of the Hollow Demonling at once, creating a sound akin to an explosion. Those who had been struck barely registered that their lives were forfeit, but the attack itself neither waited nor cared.It traveled far and wide, culling human,
“What did you have to kill many of our own for, you fool?!”“Uhh…” Arlosse murmured, unsure how he was to answer this question if it even required him to give a lengthy explanation.Besides being stunned by the question, the Incarnate was also taken aback by the appearance of his fellow demon.Back in his old days, Arlosse wouldn’t have pegged himself as someone who had any right to judge another individual’s appearance. He didn’t have that luxury and wasn’t exactly a handsome model of a man himself.However, today… right now…Long story short, the poison green half-mantis, half-caterpillar creature packed before him, dressed in leather armor and shawl that somehow fit it perfectly well… was atrociously hideous!It had a thick, black chitinous layer on its back that extended to its small head, which was decorated by dark, beady eyes and sharp mandibles that clacked when it spoke.“Well? How are you going to explain this to the Generals? And come to think of it… How come I’ve never see
The blaring sound of the horn, so mighty it caused the ground to tremble, came to a sudden halt, puzzling Arlosse.What was that sound?Why was the abomination beside him along with the other demons getting so excited because of it?What was the shroud of crimson the Hollow Demonling was seeing, brimming around each and every one of them?Why was he untarnished by this energy?Arlosse didn’t know what to think. Even the mount he and the caterpillar-mantis were riding was coated in this curious energy, and, though it might have been a mistake, the Demonling felt the galloping beast’s muscles toughen up.Eager and curious, Arlosse sought the source of the blaring noise that had prompted everything. With quite some difficulty, he turned and surveyed the battlefield. It took him a few moments, but soon, he spotted it. It indeed was a horn, as far as he could see – a gigantic horn whose details he could hardly see.The horn was far, far away, roughly four kilometers south; its location was
Three hours passed on the battlefield, and to the Hollow Demonling’s surprise, the fighting only intensified.The humans had been indeed put at a disadvantage when the great horn sounded, most of them – the weaker ones, Arlosse had noticed – pushed to retreat to safety. However, while rallying around powerful human warriors whom the Demonling heard being called Tenet Commanders, the human forces found their footing once again and charged, ripping the frenzied demons to pieces with clever formations.Arlosse had watched without openly engaging for a while. He needed to learn more about the nature of this conflict. What was the Shard his fellow abomination had referenced? What were the staves issuing the golden beams of light?While trying to figure these things out, Arlosse had used Reform to heal the wound on his back, which, thanks to his ability to not bleed out – which was further reinforced by the recently earned 225 points to his Spirit Essence – hadn’t caused problems too great
The moment Arlosse saw the horse and took in its deep desire to protect its master despite being injured, a thought rapidly sprang up in his mind; it was something that he had been introduced to rather recently.The Bond System.After completing the First Floor, he was given a new privilege that allowed him to create bonds with living creatures and have them accompany him on his trials to become the Hateful Demon Tyrant.At once, the Incarnate imagined himself astride the large white horse as its master, having completed the conditions required to earn its loyalty and invoke the Host Guide’s Bond System. It was a fleeting image, but it was wonderful indeed.The Incarnate felt a tug at his heart… hearts. Perhaps, a greater contributing factor to how he was suddenly compelled to charge forth and kill the demons now attempting to breach the tall walls of ice the white horse had created, was that he had also had a loyal horse he had known for a time in his previous life.The horse had bee
The tall demon was adorned in a scale armor that featured bursts of rugged, brown fur at the joints on his steel bracers and just above his greaves. What looked like a scarf of braided blonde human hair was wound around its neck, pairing beautifully with his pale, yellow skin.The demon was rather handsome. He had sharp features on his face that were all nearly human-like except for two small extra eyes on either side of his face. His long, dark hair cast a shadow over his face and as he looked from the hulking warrior to Arlosse, his fury was unmistakable.The great, bloody battle axe in his hand was suddenly suffused by a raging crimson tide of energy the likes of which the Incarnate had yet to see on any demon much less a weapon.“What is going on here, hybrid?” he said in a sharp tone, his blood-red eyes constricting on Arlosse’s figure. “I desperately wish, for your sake, things are not as they appear.”Arlosse stammered.He wanted to speak and quickly explain, but something abou
A young human soldier had appeared, begging for his life, tears spilling from his eyes which bulged at the sight of Arlosse.He shook and retreated to the wall of the protrusion, looking as though he’d seen a ghost. The degree of terror in his eyes intensified tenfold.Arlosse raised a brow.What had this young man expected to see when he leaped out pleading for his life? Was he, Arlosse, that ugly?The Incarnate looked closely at the trembling mess of a man.The young man had dirty blonde hair, a square-ish face and downturned, brown eyes. He was wearing a surprisingly high-quality armour. It didn’t look as though it had weathered through any conflict at all in the last three hours and however long the battle had been raging on before Arlosse showed up.Curious…The Incarnate didn’t let his guard down at the sight of this human, but he didn’t feel enough of a threat from him to keep his sword pointing at his face.He scoffed and muttered, “You look like you haven’t spent a day on the
Arlosse snorted.“Now’s the right time?” he said, but his thoughts were busy with everything else that the young human warrior had said.A great human Emperor?The mention of another authority figure spurred Arlosse’s mind. This place, the entirety of the ten Floors he was supposed to go through, was called Bahathraden, the Compound Demesne of Fallen Authorities. Did it mean that the nature of each Floor would revolve around an authority figure? A King, a Queen, an Emperor, a Lord, a Prince and whatnot?That seemed to be the theme.But this Triayt the Unbecoming was long dead. Did that mean Arlosse didn’t have to interact with the authority in focus within the Floor? Was he, perhaps, meant to grapple with the ideals left behind by Triayt? The story the young warrior had shared so far, was livid with Triayt’s ideals. The bastard had actually informed the demons about this relic, the Last Shard, which he had hidden away to ‘deliver the world’. What did that even mean?But then…‘I’m a d