NOVEL NEXT Chapter 184 – On The Hunt
Heading deeper into the crater to investigate the screaming with both Asmodeus and Petra on my back, trying to find anything inside this place is proving quite the challenge. Had to quickly go into phoenix mode otherwise those two would’ve fell quite the huge distance once Petra’s barrier had subsided.
Seriously though, I barely even noticed it when supernova was fully in colourful bloom but the bottom of this crater could be a mile deep. No idea on the outside really since the ends of it are out of sight, this portion of the demon world is now just a gigantic country sized crater. Maybe even a continent sized one…
Anyways, we finally land and get to the area the roaring sounded like it was coming from and find not much to see or hear. The demon lord in question isn’t already dead, is he? Surviving my supernova at full whack should be an impossibility but it doesn’t seem that way…
All of a sudden, a boulder flies to the side and underneath said flying boulder sits a creature indescribable in how red and buff he is. If I end up looking like that once I become a demon lord, muscles or not, I might just off myself. That’s not the good kind of buff!
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“ARGGGHHHHHH!!! WHICH OF YOU FUCKERS DID THAT!?!”
“Heh, morning my beloved brother Satan. Say, our wakeup call didn’t hurt that much, did it?”
“ASMODEUS!?! HOW DARE YOU RETURN TO THESE SACRED LANDS AFTER WHAT YOU DID! YOU DON’T DESERVE THOSE HORNS OF YOURS!!!”
“Heh, whatever you say big guy. We’re obviously not here to discuss philosophy with you”
“LITTLE MOTHERFUCKER!!!”
‘This guy needs his volume lowered a tad… status’
[Name: Satan | Species: Demon Lord | Level: 1,000]
[Health 1,042/166,666]
[Stamina 81,971/166,666]
[Magicka 166,666/166,666]
‘Only a thousand left? Damn, he really is hanging on by a thread’
[<Ikarus needs to be warned, this is the strongest person we’ve ever come across by a considerable margin. Extreme caution is advised>]
‘Chill Aesa, that last attack did most of the work anyways’
[<Aesa is being serious here, resisting our attack like that would require resistances equalling numbers yet to be seen. 1042 HP or not, this isn’t a foe we can take lightly so being cautious with abilities is ill advised>]
‘Don’t worry Aesa, I wasn’t planning to take him lightly…’
Just before me and Petra look to initiate combat to finish the demon lord off, Asmodeus just can’t help himself walking over to the barely breathing creature to share even more words.
“WHAT WAS THE ENTIRE MEANING OF THIS ASMODEUS!?! YOU DESTROY OUR ENTIRE SPECIES, AND FOR WHAT!?! A COUPLE OF MIXED BREED BIRDS!?!”
‘Hey! That’s phoenix racism! We don’t tolerate that sorta stuff around here!’
“You wouldn’t understand my reasoning brother so don’t even bother asking, all I’m doing right now is tossing you a bone. Renounce your demonship and we’ll maybe, just maybe let you live”
“RENOUNCE MY DEMONSHIP!?! THIS MADNESS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO PERSIST ANY LONGER!!! YOU ALL MUST BE CRUSHED…”
Intense rage clouds Satan’s mind as the hulking monstrosity enters some sort of a berserker mode making his eyes glow. It was obvious Asmodeus did that to piss him off but not entirely sure if it’ll help us.
“Heh, knew that wouldn’t work but might as well spit on the hornets nest so to speak. Both of you, activate that giant’s power and I’ll use the wind to keep him distracted. Satan’s wrath cannot be underestimated”
“Yeah yeah demon lord”
“…”
Both me and Petra nod in unison as the colossal monstrosity rushes towards us at a speed unparalleled to anything I’ve ever witnessed before. Even Petra in her dark eye mode hasn’t got nothing on this!
Thankfully, Asmodeus slows down his brethren massively when huge cyclones of wind emanate from his arms. It isn’t perfect as the injured brute is still able to push through it but it’s almost like he’s facing down a storm right now. Me and Petra aren’t going to let this opportunity go to waste…
‘Aesa?’
[<Confirmed, -aspect of gigantomachy- has been activated>]
Petra’s the first of us to attack launching her blade into the hip of the demon, didn’t realize aspect can be used in connection with her sword art but it definitely looks that way.
“YOU LITTLE PUNY PIECE OF SHIT!!! YOU DARE COME OVER HERE AND USE GIAN-, ARGHHH!!!”
Even as he receives the attack from Petra, the demon’s entire attention is only fixed to the wing magic user so I’m going to use this chance also.
Getting a good run up launching myself towards him plunging Excalibur deep into his back, that jumping attack must’ve looked gnarly from a different perspective but no time for style points right now. We’re taking this idiot down one way or another.
‘Gotcha bastard… status’
[Name: Satan | Species: Demon Lord | Level: 1,000]
[Health 41/166,666]
[Stamina 80,421/166,666]
[Magicka 166,666/166,666]
‘So, he only takes one percent of damage then? Aspect was always fifty thousand so me and Petra’s would make around a thousand’
[<It appears that way but Ikarus shouldn’t take that theory to the grave>]
‘Relax Aesa, we’ve got this’
Even after landing the hit and removing my blade, the demon will not stop trying to get to Asmodeus almost making me feel like he’s treating us like insects or something. We’re clearly damaging him a load, he really can’t afford to be just focusing on the guy pushing him back, right?
Once our opening attacks are finished, me and Petra go for a different but similar approach slicing and dicing the demon from each side landing a good three to four attacks before the demon finally has enough of the scratches we’re inflicting upon him.
“WILL YOU LITTLE PESKY BUGS JUST PISS OFF ALREADY!?!”
A gigantic force of power pushes us back originating from the huge guy, so much so Petra actually ragdolls a good distance away and I have to use my wings catching her in the process. Even after all this, he’s still not focusing on us and only plans on stepping closer and closer to Asmodeus.
“Heh, thanks for the save Ikarus. This is a pretty strange fight”
“Yeah, that angry dickhead isn’t even bothering with us. Are normal attacks really this weak?”
“Seems that way”
‘Maybe his resistance does actually hit a hundred percent to some attacks then? Status scan again’
[Name: Satan | Species: Demon Lord | Level: 1,000]
[Health 41/166,666]
[Stamina 80,420/166,666]
[Magicka 161,666/166,666]
Guess I was right, his health hasn’t dropped a single point. Even when I was opening this up, Petra’s sword flies trying to cut his neck and it doesn’t even break the skin. It seems we’re going to have to try things other than weapons to break that skin like armour of his.
“Fire won’t work against him orange one so don’t even bother trying that next…”
Like he can read my mind, Asmodeus stops me from charging up a fire tornado. The last demon lord wasn’t resistant to fire, was he? I guess it would be stupid to assume they’re all the same.
“…Light magic however will. Pretty sure you have something that can work?”
“YOU CAN’T HOLD ME BACK FOREVER ASMODEUS! ONCE I’VE RIPPED OUT YOUR SPINE, THEN I’LL DEAL WITH YOUR LITTLE BIRDIES!”
‘We seriously are being treated like mosquitos or something here. Guess I’ll just do what Asmodeus says, Aesa? Think it was called sun kiss?’
[<Affirmative Ikarus. Ability -sun kiss- is now in effect>]
“Great, let’s see if-… Shit! Cancel it Aesa!”
[<Too late now Ikarus. The bastard demon did suggest using this>]
As soon as I activate my attack, I realize that Asmodeus may have made a mistake here. Us phoenixes are resistant to light and fire magic but he might not be. The main problem is, this is an AOE attack. If this ends up killing the other demon, then our future may be fucked. I’m not stupid enough to only focus on my hatred of him despite me wanting him dead.
Still locked in what looks like a scene with two wizards, the much smaller demon continues to push about the bulky demon back with wind as he very slowly makes his way to his treacherous brother, now in arms reach. Obviously, us lovebirds are mostly getting ignored due to him wanting to smash his brother into pieces. Unfortunately for him, the roaring in the reddish skies and the blinding lights aren’t going to help both of them two here.
As the light disappears, the deadly god rays start to fall all around even trying to pierce Petra but proving fruitless. Those two now in contact wrestling each other are getting affected though…
“ASMODEUS!!!”
As soon as the god rays start to pierce both the demon lords, Satan manages to get his hands wrapped around his brother’s neck looking to squeeze the life out of him. The fact Asmodeus is still just all smiles must be pissing his brother off even more.
“Heh, time is running out brother. Can you kill me quick enough or will your soul depart this life beforehand?”
“YOU FUCKING LITTLE RUNT!! I’LL- I’LL… arghhh…”
Collapsing to his knees losing all grip on his masked brother’s neck, only one demon lord survives this encounter in a oddly dramatic way. At least, he survives for the moment…
“You might want to, you know, try and get away from this Asmodeus. Not sure on the range but this looks like it hurts a load”
Literally just standing there over his brother’s corpse and not even flinching as the heavenly light beams pierce his body, the demon ponders over my suggestion but seems more focused on admiring the dead.
“Relax orange one, what do you think I’ve been preparing for? Us majin are terrible against anything light based so this kind of torture is nothing new to me”
‘He says that but the blood dripping off him says otherwise… status’
[Name: Asmodeus | Species: Demon Lord | Level: 1,000]
[Health 65,758/166,666]
[Stamina 81,971/166,666]
[Magicka 133,268/166,666]
‘His health is still dropping even now, at least he seems confident he’ll survive it’
[<Does Ikarus and Aesa really care if the bastard demon ends up dead?>]
I’ve been getting more and more hints from Aesa about this but damn, she hates him just as much as I. It makes sense considering he’s hurt our wife… sighhh. I’m using our instead of my now.
‘Obviously not Aesa, but at least try and be practical about this. We both hate him and all but do we really want to risk what happens if he dies right now?’
[<Aesa reluctantly agrees… suggestion is to give him a potion when attack has finished>]
Eventually, the God rays do stop just leaving just us lovebirds and a bloody and beaten masked demon lord standing around. The fact he’s still standing after receiving all that is honestly astonishing to me.
Before getting the chance to try and give him some help, Petra seems to be curious on something.
“Asmodeus, how long did it take for you to even build up this tolerance? By the sounds of it, this is demonkind’s biggest weakness, correct?”
To be honest, I agree with Petra on this. If there were any magic you’d think demons would be weak to, it would be either something holy or light based, they’re basically the same thing anyways. You could imagine angels would be weak to dark magic or anything evil as well.
“Couple hundred years give or take? You can train any resistance with enough grit and determination dark one. I’ve been inflicting excruciating damage on myself everyday trying to get over this weakness of ours but alas, it’s impossible to completely remove. While I’m been solely focusing on light damage though, brother Satan had resistance to everything so taking him out first was crucial”
Is it that surprising Petra’s father has experienced endless pain as well? All that’s left to confirm is the oracle but think it’s safe to assume that vile dragon has a troubled past of sorts. Let’s just hope I’m not going to experiencing anything like that despite me basically marrying into the family now.
“Don’t you be getting any ideas Petra. Whether it could help us out in the long run or not, we’re never copying what he does”
Imagine if me and Petra decided to go down that route continuously inflicting pain on ourselves in an attempt to nullify damage? At least, it would make for a damn edgy ark but fuck that! Pain sucks!
“Heh, you sure you don’t want to continuously poison and stab each other over and again Ikarus? We’d be practically immortal in a year or two!”
“We basically already are... You know, you’re such a sarcastic pain in the arse at times… give me a quick kiss before we head off though…”
__________
Anyways, once the adrenaline has calmed down and I’ve given Asmodeus a healent potion to speed up recovery, he still can’t help but stare deep into the eyes of his dead brethren. Pretty sure he’s still grinning madly under that mask but is there a sense of regret from what he’s done? No, that’s far from the case.
“Brother Satan was never the most intelligent of us because of his never ending wrath of his but at the end of the day, he always had strength comparable to Zeus. Actually playing it out rather than watching was way sweeter than I imagined, you two phoenixes really know how to warm a demon lord’s heart”
Hearing Asmodeus praise us gives me a really uncomfortable feeling and it’s not usual one I get. It just makes me trust him even less even if it sounded like it was coming from an honest place.
“Anyways… you say he had strength comparable to Zeus? Does this mean we’re ready to take on the big guy?”
It doesn’t take a lot to understand the demon just mockingly grinned under his gasmask from my stupid question. At this point, I can basically just sense it.
“Heh, partially orange one. Strength wise comparable, everything else not even close. Once we get to the heavens, you’ll find out firsthand what influence he has but best not dive too far ahead. Live in the moment and all that… you also have some abilities to purchase as well?”
[<Now that the bastard demon has segued Aesa in this conversation, Aesa will annoyingly bring up the status screen>]
[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 709]
[Health 166,666*/166,666*]
[Stamina 75,396*/80,000*]
[Magicka 166,666*/166,666*]
[You currently have 67834 unassigned points]
‘That’s great and all Aesa but give me a second…’
“…Hey Asmodeus, I shouldn’t have got EXP from that fight. I killed the demon lord using an ability that shouldn’t provide anything”
Almost noticing what I’m referring to immediately, it honestly doesn’t feel terrible to have another person in the world who understands all this system lingo. Obviously, he isn’t going to be the same as us phoenixes with all that but at least he understands what I’m getting at. My brain is always at constant odds communicating with really.
“Hmm… us majin lords work a little differently to other beings, maybe that’s the reason why? If you’re powerful enough to best one of us, the other has to give up something of value and you’d be the obvious candidate for the reward. If you want a more specific reason, let’s just say it’s down to the nature of higher beings and leave it at that”
[<Aesa reluctantly agrees. This seems like one of those things even Aesa can’t fully explain. At least it allows Ikarus to fight without worrying about wasting experience>]
‘Eh, I guess so... Enough discussing all this now, let’s find the next demon to hunt…’