Reject Human. Become Demon. [Book 2 Finished!]

After only a few minutes more of running, I spotted a dark shape rise above the purple canopy. It grew bigger and bigger as I drew closer, causing me to tense. I slowed down and kept my senses sharp, ready for anything. But it didn't take much longer until I realized that the dark shape was exactly what I was looking for.

Mirage City.

I was only confused because from how close it was, I should've seen it when I flew into the air earlier!

I ran a bit more just to be in easy reach of the near-black walls, and then I took flight again to test out a theory. The trees shifted in shape and color, and even the road disappeared as I rose in altitude, but the city remained. I flew further up and watched as the world disappeared below me, until finally even the large city below faded into simple unassuming trees.

This was a phenomenon hotly debated among scholars, but it was clear from this evidence that the disappearance of the weird wonderzone couldn't only be attributed to its trees. They did have weird varying illusory effects, but a big part of the city was surely well out of its range. Instead, it was Lost Reflections itself that hid the true nature of the forest. Just like how the Bottomless Oceanlake was very humid, or how the Singing Vortex Wonderzone had melodious winds that could topple entire buildings, so too did Lost Reflections fool the senses of everyone who dared gaze upon it.

…Or maybe Lost Reflections was only providing a medium and extending the range of its plantlife's illusions. These illusions just seemed so much… smarter, than any of the environmental effects other wonderzones had. It seemed like there had to be some intelligence behind the fake people and wagons traveling down the roads, or the weird creatures that weren't real. Not that a tree was all that intelligent either, usually, but it was easier to believe than this entire stretch of land being even somewhat sentient.

Then again, I've just had some very up-close and personal experiences with a sentient manor, haven't I? I wondered as I landed near the gates. The human and ishkawtan guards were not startled, instead they immediately and politely welcomed me.

"It is an honor to meet the demon hero, Haell Zharignan," the human woman bowed, and the ishkawtan man followed.

Being called a hero was still weird… because I really wasn't. But I did still get a small thrill out of that greeting. She at least placed my being a demon, above that of being a hero.

"Hello." I took off my mask and raised a brow. My armor was back to being a good off-white, because I had just finished getting all the blood out into a magical clump I tossed nearby. Deathmetal just had that tendency. It wasn't exactly porous, but it could retain enough blood on the surface to have that sinister look. I loved it. "You don't seem surprised."

"Well, we saw you were coming," the ishkawtan man scratched his head. "And we've heard a great many things."

Ah yes. There were a great number of his same species with the wall guards, and a fair few harpies flying about too. I also saw a… green tripedal giraffe creature walking along the ramparts. The people up there just ignored it, and for some dumb reason allowed themselves to just be trampled...?

Oh. Wait. It was an illusion. Obviously.

"All good things, I hope?" I joked.

"Well… good for us."

My smile grew thin, but more genuine. "That's fucking true." I looked back up at the green giraffe that persisted, now sitting on the ramparts and looking out into the world. "By the way, is that normal here? Or am I the only one seeing this?"

"Hm?" the human woman followed my gaze. "Ah! That's lochness. Yes. He comes by every so often."

"Lochness? So it's not an illusion?"

"Oh, no, it absolutely is," the ishkawtan guard answered. "But it's the same illusion that keeps popping up so we named it."

"Ah. Interesting. A recurring illusion. I thought the ones I saw on the way here were random."

"Oh, they usually are. I mean, many illusions will repeat throughout the whole forest and some areas, but they're rarely both so regular and distinctive as the lochness."

"It does also adapt," the human guard chimed. "This whole place, I mean. There didn't used to be roads here, and no illusions of caravans, but ever since the roads were built and people came through, they could now be often seen on the roads built."

"I see," I stepped aside to let a centaur pass, and then went through the gates myself.. "Thank you for the info. See ya around!"

"Oh of course!"

"Yes please!"

I chuckled and then stared at my new surroundings… to find the most brutal and simplistic architectural style of all. The engineers of modern Earth would have pitched a tent at the blocky rectangular houses of stone, and their angular no-nonsense roofs. I too would've wept had I cared enough, for the one thing I loved about this place since birth, even under the Angelorian regime, was the beauty ever-present in their cities. But Mirage City had done away with all that. It was the exact opposite of what I had expected.

Fireballs suddenly fell from the sky, and I immediately drew my sword, but the crowds of people around me had a more subdued reaction somehow. They had still flinched from the display, but very quickly calmed down after some gestures from the guards.

"It's not real!" one of those very guards shouted.

"You're fine!"

"Carry along!"

I understood what they were saying. It wasn't hard to believe considering the things I had already seen in the short time I'd been here. I stepped to the side so my body wouldn't be completely engulfed just in case, but I did outstretch my hand to touch the illusion. I was curious, because I already felt the temperature rise a little. And when the fireball nearest to me finally landed, I felt the warmth of a campfire in the winter evening.

Most of the people around me did also dodge the barrage, but a few didn't even bother to do that. The flames swallowed them whole. It spread from roof to walls, and then the roads and the many wagons and creatures on it. The illusions didn't much longer, disappearing just as quickly as it had come, revealing everything to be undamaged and unhurt. Except for a woman who had run into a lamppost in the confusion.

Okay, so my earlier assessment of some ghost-ridden fog being real because it was cold might not be entirely true either? But it did also feel wet…

I walked into the largest street, and observed the people around me, but not nearly as much as they did me.

"Hey, hey."

"That's Haell right?"

"Haell… you mean the demon? Haell Zharignan?"

"Isn't she supposed to be captured?"

"I heard she's dead!"

"Have you idiots been living in a fucking rock!? She burned down the manor of our enemies, and opened the gates for our army to invade!"

"What!? No way!"

"What's that thing on her chest? It looks cool!"

"Eh, a bit tacky, but it's fine, I guess."

"I thought the soldiers freed her?"

"Nah. That siege has been going on for a long time. They couldn't break through until she did. My sister told me all about it!"

I raised a brow, but chose to just accept the praise that came my way, without answering any of the actual questions. I smiled, and waved, and laughed, and punched a fountan guy who tried to go for a hug after I'd explicitly warned him 'no.' The show of violence calmed them down a little, and gave me a little more space, but still not really all that much.

My tail whipped back and forth behind me and I shouted, "Alright! That's enough! I've got places to be! I don't need you to clog up my way!"

Half left. That meant the other half stayed. I clicked my tongue, and a faster whip of my tail cracked a little bit of the road, which did clear more space. It was enough for me to move.

Some of the guards were looking at me weirdly, so I fished around the pack on my belt, and then tossed them some gold.

"For the damage. And, uh. Also the road leading here. I broke some things along the way."

"What? Where?" a dwarven guard asked.

I looked at her hair-covered face. "I just said. It's on the road leading here. So from Real Town to Mirage City. That entire stretch. But only in a few places. I did try to control myself."

"...When did this happen?"

"Just… maybe half an hour ago? Certainly less. Shouldn't have taken too long. I'm very fast."

"I see."

She left, and then a human man took her place.

"Would you… please come with me, Miss Haell?"

"Huh? Where?"

"To the administration offices. We need you to submit a report about the incident."

I narrowed my eyes. "Do I have to?"

"I'm afraid so."

I took a moment to think. I needed a second to stew. I was offended and annoyed and angered at having all this paperwork dropped on my lap. I was the fucking Haell Zharignan. I could burn everyone here to dust before they could even fucking react.

But, I didn't actually disagree that someone had to report it. I just really did not want to deal with bureaucracy. Although acting like some entitled noble would also annoy the shit out of me.

I growled, to which the guards backed off, and then I stared at the one who wanted to foist bureaucracy on me. I had come up with the perfect excuse. "I'll have my lawyer take a look later!"

"What? Wait–" he began to say as I was already walking away, but then an older centaur clapped a hand to his shoulder. He was almost level 40. That wasn't bad.

"Arlon! What are you doing?"

"Oh, well she broke some roads, so I was going to take her to the City Hall to have that sorted out?"

"Huuh? You idiot. Do you not see who that is?"

"I've been told, but…"

"Well, you clearly don't understand if you want to make a massive scandal out of this. She has enough money to pave a thousand roads like that over. And I think that's probably the least scary thing about her." He turned towards me. "Sorry about him. He's new. Still too… inflexible. You know how it is."

"Oh no worries," I waved as I walked further away. The centaur man knew exactly how to flatter me with those words. I was indeed fucking terrifying, and they should know it! "I understand."

~~~

I explored the City of Mirage for the rest of the afternoon. I'd say that there was a disappointing lack of mirages given its namesake, but that wasn't at all true. There were plenty of weird artsy bullshit happening, and it was, I had to admit, probably a good idea to make the place very bland when there were sparkling lights, devouring voids, and all manner of imaginary(?) chimeric creatures I'd never seen before, just popping up out of nowhere.

Even the indoor establishments weren't spared from the wonderzone's mischief, although it was rarer. A waitress screamed and dropped my trays of food when a snake slithered out of the pasta, an old fountan woman didn't care when a ghastly creature suddenly peeked out from between the hangars of dresses I was thinking of buying, and the teenage crustecar that had fallen asleep on the job yelped when the shelves of books started farting.

The dwarves and harpies too had built their own pyramid here, as they did for most New Granderan cities. The one here was even larger and more elaborate, if anything, because of course they wanted to take advantage of the wonderzone. They coped with the unique… quirks of this place better than the general populace too. The harpies had the easiest time, because they had so many wind mages, and the magic was at least able to disturb most illusions. Meanwhile, the dwarves here carried their shields around everywhere, even while they slept, I imagined. Everyone in the area would take a defensive stance whenever something weird appeared, like say for example a howling penis-shaped monster in their gaping tunnels. The dwarves remained stoic, they didn't even smirk when I was already clutching my stomach and rolling on the floor laughing. Someone calmly walked up to the penis, poked it with a spear from behind the shields, and then everyone retreated and went about their day as if nothing happened once it was confirmed that the living dick was a fake.

This place was fun.

~~~

The following day, I woke up to a strange feeling in my chest. The Mark of The Beast shone through my breastplate as it was always wont to do. The inn was… decent, but I had kept some of my armor on even when I slept. Certainly enough to protect my head and chest. I just… couldn't bring myself to sleep without it, in an unknown land such as this. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to sleep outside of Pandemonium ever again. There was no reason to make myself vulnerable, when I could so easily return home to rest.

I refocused on the devilish symbol on my chest and the faint pull it had been making since I woke up. I spent some minutes to send a questioning feeling back to Pandemonium. This was a mode of communication that we could use, no matter how far apart, as we had discovered. The amount of information we could convey, however, was very limited.

I received a tug back, but not urgent. My friend probably wanted me to return sometime today. I shrugged, put on my other pieces of armor, availed myself of their delicious rabbid breakfast special, and then left the inn for the colorful forest beyond the walls. I could wash up later once I was in a more secure place.

"Oh, going out err… Lady Haell?" one of the gate guards asked. They were different from the ones here yesterday.

I snorted. "I'm no noble. Just Haell is fine."

"Hello then, Just Haell!" the other centaur guard exclaimed, and I laughed.

Curse magic really was a pain in the ass, when it could get so offended over harmless jokes like that which I actually loved.

I waved them goodbye, and then went deeper into the wilderness of Lost Reflections. Two horned rabbids had immediately attacked me, one of which wasn't real. I released my aura to remain undisturbed after that, ran for a short while, and then sat down on the purple grass once I was sure that I was alone. No, the stalker behind that tree wasn't real. I'd already stabbed it with my sword to make sure.

I hugged my usual bag, and then the other larger one I'd bought yesterday, as I began the process of teleportation. I connected with Pandemonium, felt it respond just a little slower this morning, and then my world twisted as I was suddenly flung to a different place.

It wasn't the room I was anticipating.

Well, it was that room, in the barest sense, but it was also completely different. Instead of the dark and dreary surroundings with walls painted in blood of the same symbol I bore in my chest; what greeted me instead were colorful walls, bright decorations, pieces of paper… confetti flying through the air (No need cut them down. Put the greatsword down.), and last but certainly not least were the smiling faces of my family and friends who did not even flinch when I took out a weapon.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Instead, they shouted in unison, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAELL!!!"

…

I blinked. They almost swarmed to hug me, but thought better of it at the last second. Even my grandpa was here, able to fit in anywhere because Pandemonium could adjust every door and ceiling.

My vision blurred. A single tear rolled down my cheek as a thousand indiscriminate voices echoed in my head. This is my room! It's an ambush! How DARE they!? I mustn't cry! I'm not fucking weak! They've seen it! Shame. SHAME SHAME SHAME! Kill all witnessess!!!

"Thank you," I wiped my evil eyes, and let only my joy shine through. "Thank you!" I dove into their arms, and gave them hug that was once stopped dead in its tracks. I embraced each of them in turn as they also enveloped me with their arms. I kept my power in check the whole while, and only squeezed a little too hard on a few occasions. Never enough to cause serious injury.

~~~

"Alright, Haell! Let's go have a party!" my mom cheered and pulled me out of my now decorated-out teleportation room.

"A party?" I asked, tasting the word. It was the obvious thing to do during my birthdays. I just… I hadn't thought about it at all in what felt like a very long time. I hadn't even remembered that it was my birthday today… and that was because I didn't care to remember. I had the best memory out of everyone I knew. "Sounds great! Let's go!"

I jogged ahead of her, and strode through the fleshy hallways. Pandemonium had actually toned it down a bit, and completely gotten rid of any effects on the floor.

"Thirty-four, huh?" Dad mused from behind me as everyone else followed. "It feels like almost yesterday that you were a small child."

"Really? It feels like 34 years ago to me."

He laughed and shook his head.

It didn't take long until the corridors transitioned into the normal black, adorned with art both made by Moonwash or bought buy Granuel. Pandemonium had agreed and learned to at least not damage them whenever he shifted around.

We curved through a few more corridors, until we came upon the main hall. The usual bare decorations had been replaced with blood statues of me, more peaceful depictions, paintings, trophies from the many things I'd killed, and more.

"Wow, this is awesome!" I laughed. I did love to see all my accomplishments laid bare like this, and I didn't care to act otherwise.

I stopped right underneath the massive sigh painted over the roof, and and smiled.

'HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY HAELL ZHARIGNAN," it said.

Only, it wasn't so empty today. From blood statues and cardboard cutouts of myself in battle, to the more regular affair of balloons and plushies and big center table. They had a whole thing pinned to the wall that said, "Happy Birthday Haell Zharignan!"

~~~

Before the party could properly start, Moonwash pulled me into a sideroom, where I got to change into a beautiful silver-lined black dress fit for a fictional empress, complete with a massive collar that extended past my head and really put it into focus. The color of my clothes actually prompted the Mark of The Beast's imprint to turn silvery so that it could be seen, though when I peeked underneath, I saw that the tattoo remained black on my skin. This was something we had already tested before, and the silvery patterns embroidered into the dress, save for the chest that was fully black, complemented my permanent unconcealable mark perfectly.

"Should I… kneel?" Angerly asked once I came out, and I snorted.

"You look great!" Mom complimented, and everyone else proceeded to do the same.

I smiled and accepted them. It meant a lot more than the scattered prattlings of strangers.

We had a massive meal after that. It was a veritable feast large enough to be a buffet. And yet there was still less than a dozen people here. But that was no problem when some of us could eat enough for a village. My appetite was enormous, and so was my grandfather's. Everyone else also ate enough for at least multiple people.

After the feast came the games. We played some truly massive boardgames, among them one that was entirely based on demons. It was something Granuel and I had talked about before, and the final product was something all eight of us could play. It was called Demonmon, and on the cover was a drawing of someone that was clearly meant to be me. The mechanics didn't reveal anything the public didn't already know, and even contained a lot of misinformation, if someone were to try and deduce my abilities from them. No, I wasn't weakened by the morning. Nor by being in a church. Nor by their symbols. I… didn't run out of fire that fast. There was no way demons as a fucking species were all scared of… doves? I wasn't above tricks, but painting demons out as very weak in direct confrontation was ridiculous. And the elements wielded by my species had now become… nothing! We were actually using wands and staves or other magical apparatuses like normal people, and the game had so many elements to choose from!

The game began. We raised our demons, guided them through many battles, leveled up, grew in power, forged alliances, betrayed and killed each other, until finally only one demon remained, and she became the demon lord.

Berry had won!

And I got fifth place. Fight place on a game about demons! I was the only true demon here!! How could that be!!!??

I laughed it off, and enjoyed the emergent emotions that wished to actually make a big deal out of a fucking game. I always hated people who couldn't control themselves for even small things like this. And that had not changed, even in the 34 years I'd been in this brand new world.

"I've played a bit with Angerly… and some others," Berry claimed. She would have blushed, were her carapace capable of it.

Some more activities followed. The more musically gifted of us sang and played instruments. We played charades, which gave so many laughs. We released live monsters and hunted them in the large courtyard while calling it bloody pinnata. Not everyone participated, namely Berry, for she had finally decided to settle down and live more peacefully, and she didn't really enjoy this kind of thing. We cooked the monsters fresh, and had another big meal. We ended the day by starting one massive campfire, and then dancing around it as we pleased. I stayed a little too close sometimes, for it was warm and inviting, instead of the usual hellfire around here.

Pandemonium had a sudden idea, and made a game of disrupting our steps. I laughed as we jumped around like idiots while a whole fucking earthquake raged around us. Many stumbled, but we were actually all too strong to fall just from this. We each decided to crash into the ground anyway, including my massive grandfather, just for fun. I had to swallow my pride to do the same, but it was a sacrifice I very easily made.

"Thank you. This was the best." I breathed contentedly as I stared at the stars far above, sprawled out like everyone else.

Like this, the earthquake felt more like a massage. I could just… fall asleep…

~~~

The next morning, I teleported back to Mirage City. Or at least, in a patch of purple forest nearby. I didn't enter the city, but instead circled around the walls. The guards atop the ramparts noticed me, and I waved back.

I started running, going roughly towards the center of Lost Reflections.

It didn't take long until I was attacked. It was another horned rabbid, and I simply plucked the creature off the ground, killed it, and then harvested only the horn and mana repository. The rest of its corpse wasn't even worth taking. I needed the space for other things. Three more of the damned creatures attacked me in succession, followed by a fake bear, until finally I found something new. A bird the size of a common human, armed with wickedly sharp claws, fluttered down from behind me while I dismembered another cute bunny.

This new arrival made no sound at all. The air hardly even reacted to something that big flying, which was weird because that was how birds flew to begin with. By pushing off the wind. It didn't work, however, for the creature stood out in my spatial senses all the same.

I twisted around at the last second, and then bisected the bird half again my size in two.

The lumby was an interesting creature, really, colored in shades of greenish whites and white-ish greens. It didn't have direct access to magic, but its abilities seemed to have more to do with the wind. And yet it was here, and not at the Singing Vortex Wonderzone. It deepened the mysteries of this place even more.

My body was rejuvenated by the lumby's blood, and then its separated remains were chopped up and put in a bag. I naturally set aside some blood samples in a bottle as well, instead of eating all of it. I wasn't that much of a glutton.

Clouds began to gather as I moved on, only for that to turn out to be an illusion all along. I couldn't actually tell for something that's supposed to be so far away. Did the wonderzone's effects extend to there, or was that just a projection that originated from much lower down? I came across another camelion, and this time I was able to get the drop on it. It wasn't quite as good at hiding as the last one I met.

I didn't go on a straight path, but instead explored as I circled around the wonderzone. So many of the brightly-clored trees turned out to be illusions now, whether caused by discernible creatures, or just the ambient magic of this place. My eyes tricked me, and my senses were a mess that all told me of different things. From a sweet taste in the air, a smell that was the opposite, sounds that whispered and screamed, and even quick caresses that were never there. Of course they weren't. How the fuck would they have even reached past my full armor without my knowing!?

And yet I still reacted. I swiveled around when someone shouted a violent warning. I still had to check it out when my nose led me to freshly cooked food. And that creepy touch I felt, was met only with a wall of hellflames that had now eaten through several trees, and was quickly expanding.

"Shit," I said sheepishly and deployed my magic to try and put out the flames. Hellfire mana covered the blaze and ferried them away, even as my mind screamed for everything to 'Burn, and burn and BURN!' Twofold, threefold, tenfold. To take out the fire went against my every instinct, but I did it anyway. I remembered how I'd once promised Elfrafim to at least consider it. And it wouldn't hurt me to do this. If anything, it was good for me to reassert my sovereignty over my own instincts as manytimes as it fucking took.

A whole horde of orange monkeys suddenly attacked me, weaving through the trees and clamoring over each other on the ground, yet somehow hardly disturbing the purple blades of grass. I raised my own blade, allowed the horde to pass through me, and then swung at the orange monkey at the very center of their formation.

The creature was tossed away, and every other monkey flickered, for only one of them was real! And now that original primate crawled away, impressively having survived, but in no condition to fight any more.

I put it out of its misery, and fit the entire fucking thing on my pack. This was a marassa, a rare encounter in this already confusing land. I was sure Moonwash would appreciate everything I'd collected later.

This place was truly right for me, for all that it could be annoying. There was opportunity in every problem. I had come here with the main goal of killing a level 80 monster for the very first time, true. And my dimensional scanner was unrivaled and unmatched in the art of piercing through even the strongest stealth. But I could still be overwhelmed. The camelions taught me that even my spatial senses could be hidden from. I could still fall to the same kind of ambush that had once brought me so low. Just having the right parts wasn't enough. My dimensional scanner was new and untested. I had to learn how to properly use it!

And so I ran. In search of greater stimulation, I charged. I wanted to learn, and I wanted to adapt. Against unthinking monsters, before I had to face the more unrelenting monstrosity of people again. My footwear clicked into activation. The ground behind me exploded, and so did the air in front. The vegetation was no longer as thick here, as in the regular rainforest. I had more room to maneuver and I took advantage of that. I only full-on collided with the occassional tree. They were also a little sturdier than normal, but I wasn't bothered. My deathmetal armor might be compromised if this continued, but it was actually easier to fix than anything of comparable strength. Everything else could just be healed.

The creatures of this place often chose to run away, but a few actually chose to resist. I was gone before they could give me their best attempt. A fat squirrel creature covered in leaves dropped to where I had just been, and its presence I completely failed to notice. I might have only been level 20 too, from the slight impression I got. It was hard to tell, however, because I was moving so fast that I couldn't process everything my many senses fed into my mind.

It all came to focus when I spotted a camelion ahead. I skewered it on the side, but found no time to celebrate. A great flood, like a tsunami had just hit, was approaching from the left and toppling any trees in the way. I immediately flew away, marveling at the sheer devastation, only to then realize that the whole scenario was a fucking illusion once the massive wave of water finally passed below me! The trees were rustled terribly, and pink-purple leaves flew in the air, but most of them survived and remained standing, no matter what it was my evil eyes saw.

I decided that it was good practice to avoid the coming calamity anyway. It would not be good to get into the habit of just ignoring massive disasters like that.

I landed once the previously devastated trees 'regrew' back to their former selves. My face was twisted into a big grin. That was fucking awesome! I loved it! I broke into another run due to the sheer hype that I felt. I wished Moonwash could've seen it, but it still carried some measure of danger to carry someone else with me in my teleports. It wasn't rare for my bags to get a little bit cut up from the sheer stress of the travel.

I suddenly felt a presence in front of me at the last moment, before I instantly drew my sword as fast as I could. Something pointed and sharp clashed against blade, and scratched the flat of the herokane metal. I won the push, however, and I could somewhat tell that my opponent staggered back as my own charge came to a stop.

I still saw nothing. I felt nothing. Even my dimensional scanner was only able to perceive a very faint shape. Like a gust of wind given form, weightless and fleeting. My enemy was completely invisible. Maybe it wasn't even an enemy. The creature was bipedal just like me.

"Hey! Are you–" I detected a sudden movement, but nothing precise. It might only be my imagination. I acted on it anyway, and managed to clumsily parry the next blow. Another one immediately followed, and I began to understand a little more of my opponent's anatomy. It either had a lance on either hand, or where its hands should be were instead singular pointed claws shaped like thick and girthy lances themselves.

I smiled, for this was exactly what I came here looking for!

My sword swung many times over in front of me, to counter the many more thrusts that followed. I had the edge in speed, but my opponent had two weapons to work with, and it knew how to use them. My own attacks were parried easily, because my enemy could see me while I couldn't say the same. I fought like my life depended on it, because it fucking did! I hadn't had a good lethal fight in a long time!!

Our exchanges continued. Several thrusts got through my guard, and managed to gouge some deep cracks into my armor. My unseen foe had two weapons that I could not see to work with, while I had only the one. But none of that meant for a second that I would give up. My movements became more precise, more compact, as I sought to be more efficient. To not overextend. To block every invisible attack coming my way.

That was the goal, anyway. I wasn't always successful at it. Rather, I was able to at least redirect most attacks, but not without suffering more damage to my armor. A good stab made it all the way to my ribs, and I felt my right lung cry in agony. The monster immediately pulled back, and then I saw the blood be removed from its lance arms, somehow. My own wound healed rapidly, but it still left me on the defensive. The monster pressed its advantage. Its sharp appendage was able to break through my armor when taken head on, and the next clean hit it landed sank right into my guts.

I coughed blood into my mask. But contrary to the gruesome affectation, my mouth had twisted into a grin underneath. That was just what I was waiting for. I swung my sword, and it fucking ravaged the arm that had dared piece into my beautiful intestines!

Flesh fell apart, and bone cracked, but barely held the line.

The creature reeled back but made no sound. It bled, but its blood too could not be seen with the evil naked eye. Except it did become ever so mildly visible as it pooled lightly on the ground. My awareness of the substance suddenly expanded, as the blood now stood out to my spatial senses, like how any normal puddle of liquid should.

The brief lull passed, I clenched my muscles ready, and the monster… ran away.

"WHAT!?" I screamed. We were just starting to have fun! I chased after it, but it was hard to do thanks to how fucking invisible it was. Tracking its footsteps through the colorful purple grass was almost more reliable than relying on my spatial senses. I wasn't even that much faster than it, but it disturbed the wind remarkably less somehow.

My aura flared, and my evil eyes bore a metaphorical hole through the space where the monster was supposed to be. As expected it didn't work, for this monster had to be above level 80 to be this strong, and I didn't actually fucking know if my evil eyes could latch on to anything I couldn't truly see. It'd never been a problem before!

But that was fine. I had an endless bag of tricks. I was glad to finally have someone to use it against. I formed a ritual in mere seconds and shouted the name.

"Hellfireball!"

The results of my training. It was hotter but smaller than what I could normally produce in that timeframe. The blood in the air turned to rapidly disappearing mist, and the resulting angry red fireball predictably missed and set a nearby innocent tree on fire!

I was just getting started.

I kept up the chase as a bombardment followed.

Bullets of curse were dodged next, and then hellfireballs made normally suffered the same fate. I gathered wider blasts of them to catch my enemy in a wider net, but the monster dodged those too. My magic could somehow follow me when I moved, but the truth was that it was actually slower than my top speed. It did, however, follow me at the same speed, if I ran while holding a spell.

I made use of that. I pulled the ol' twister maneuver, and surrounded myself in a cyclone of magic. Hellfire and curse. I left a trail of destruction in my wake. The vivid forest behind me burned and rotted. My ring of magic extended around me, reaching a dozen trees deep, more! I just went for the general direction my enemy was supposed to be, and it dutifully burned and presumably rotted as it was engulfed by my rage!

I saw the blood-red hellfire climb around the general shape of its body, but the fracturing of its extremeties remained invisible to me. The monster jumped, and then redoubled it efforts to get away. When I proved able to keep chase, it suddenly turned around, parted through my ring of magic, and then stabbed right for my head!

I parried the attack. A second flurry of exchanges followed. My greatsword swept from side to side, and then I sundered through what should be my enemy's torso.

The monster made no sound, made a few desperate stabs, and then just started running away again.

I growled in frustration at not being able to get the prolonged fight that I wanted, but I consoled myself in the knowledge that this too was a scenario to prepare for, and followed.

Still. That was weird… I mused. My enemy had only used one arm in that battle. Was it saying that I'm not even worth the trouble of using both hands!!?? But… no. No, that wasn't the case! I hadn't noticed at all earlier, because that was the entire point of my opponent's endless stealth, but its other arm must be so much more heavily injured than I presumed. My wounds were long gone by now, but my prey was still struggling with the hits it'd suffered!

I grinned evily, and chased after the fleeing enemy with renewed bloodlust. It had gotten ahead of my ring of magic, but that was fine. I stopped indiscriminately attacking the forest for a change, and then began to push myself even harder to catch up. My blood melted at the last stretch, and I swung my sword for a decisive strike, but the monster fucking dodged! My wide swing had missed, and I barely twitched my body fast enough to take the hit on my shoulder instead of my head. The blade punched through my armor, and cracked through my bone enough to disable my left arm.

The monster naturally did not let up on the attack. It pulled its sharp claw-lance out and aimed for my head again. The sudden burst of magic that exploded out of me like steam from a broken vent barely phased it, but the bone-breaking parry from my right hand sure did. The appendage veered well off target… and landed in my fucking left arm again! Now I truly could not move it, and it leaked large amounts of blood. An idea struck me, and I fucking blasted the blood into my enemy right from those ready made holes. For the first time I saw what the monster looked like in full, with its beastly legs, two arms that ended in big bulky lance-like protrusions, and a bug-like face without the chitin for everything was skin.

The red blood that covered it then quickly disappeared, eaten away into clumps of clod that fell to the ground. The… phenomenon was caused by… the thing's sweat, and the blades were the last to be cleansed as the sweat had to flow down to it. I did not get the chance to activate my miniritual, and those clods cut off all my connection. The last I saw of the monster was that its one working hand was raised, and about to come down for my head again. My tail had already allowed me to make a quick turn, my hooves stepped ahead of me, and I burned my blood to get away.

The blade still dug through my back and a part of my spine, causing me to stumble, but curse magic was good for allowing my body to work when it really fucking shouldn't. I had thought it a quality of all body enhancement, but blood magic was significantly worse at it, it seemed. What it was good for, however, was healing, and I made liberal ritualistic use of that as I made my getaway. My injuries rapidly healed at the same time that my wings unfurled from my back, which I actually used to run even faster. The sonic boom howled through the colorful forest as I circled around back to my prey… but it was long gone.

Of course. Of fucking course. That was obvious.

I made a token effort to go looking for it, but I predictably could not find it.

"FUCK!" I shouted. I was so excited too, to show what I fucking caught to my beautiful girlfriend.

[Demon Hooves have reached Level 41!]