"Y-You're that damn kid from before?!" The demon asked in shock, suddenly realizing it was me. He was able to detect scents like a damn dog, so perhaps he realized it was me based on scent alone.
I only responded with a punch on his face, blowing him away into the distance.
His body hit the ground, cracking the floor, and generating a crater behind his body. The Gargoyle vomited a mouthful of blood, as his dislocated nose was quickly fixated by his own hands. He was on his last moments by now, after having been bathed in several attacks from all sides, he seemed to be finally weakening enough for me to take him down.
And calculating things out, I might have only a minute in this form before I drop half-dead in the floor.
Without any second to waste, I reached the demon, flying up into the skies using my newly acquired Blood Wings, and then falling into the demon with everything I had. He attempted to evade but the kids suddenly stopped him with their long-ranged attacks.
Yes, keep yourself right there!
I gathered the powers of Eleanora within my hands, as I suddenly felt Gluttony's two halves emerging in my hands, fused back again but different… It took me half a second to realize it was different because Eleanora's spear, Envy, had merged with them as well. So this power even allow our Cursed Weapons to fuse? This is not something I had expected, but it is greatly welcomed!
"Blood Spear Technique: Blood Hydra!"
In a split of a second, I gathered all the energies I had into the newly acquired spear, swinging its blade countless times against the demon while falling from above like a rocket. The spear suddenly generated dozens of phantoms made out of blood energy which shaped into nine serpentine heads, all biting and tearing apart the demon's body, and then detonating at the same time!
"Uuuaaggh…! Unnggh…! Y-You damn… I can't… die here…! This is…!"
The demon cried, but it was futile. I mercilessly slashed away his arms so he couldn't struggle, but was surprised that he was still somehow fighting, giving me kicks all while his body had sustained tremendous damage. I cannot imagine how annoying he could be if he had his natural regeneration ability, as his resilience was already too much for anybody here to handle…!
As I clashed against him with my fists and my spear, he parried some attacks with his Soul Aura shaped into two arms, he punched me but barely did any damage, while attacked with everything I had, pushing him back dozens of times, I was using my Vampiric Eyes of Paralysis constantly, but through sheer physical strength, he was constantly breaking out of the Paralysis.
This was dragging for so long that it was honestly annoying, I barely had a few seconds before this transformation stopped.
And then, a factor I had completely forgotten emerged within the skies, a large ray of light fell down. This was… the combination light-attribute spell from the priests! If I get hit with that, I don't know if I can survive. I immediately decided to jump away, only for my leg to be grabbed by the demon's tail.
"Y-You'll die with me!" He laughed.
I wrapped his body with blood threads and slashed his tail with my spear, jumping away and flying using my Blood Wings, seconds before the enormous ray of light were to hit the demon with the total power of Holy Light!
The demon cried in agony and despair, as his entire body was burned to a crisp, his soul quickly stopped to struggle, dissipating into pure essence, and disappearing. The light quickly disappeared as well, as smoke covered the surroundings. I looked into the distance, as the demon was more than dead now… At long last, I could rest.
I dropped into the floor, as the fusion immediately stopped, Eleanora went back to my Spirit Orb due to her exhaustion, as I felt that my body was completely paralyzed. Several of my bones were dislocated, and all of my ribs were broken. I had truly… gone a bit too hard there.
"Hahh… Hahh… Ungh… Eleanora…"
"M-My lord… We did it…"
"Ah… Y-You thanked me?"
"Is it… too rare for me to be grateful?"
"You've always… held such feelings deep within your heart, so you never say these things too much.
"Hmph… I said I was going to change in this aspect… Ugh…"
"W-We really overdid it… C-Can you move?"
"I think all my ribs are broken, and my four limbs are dislocated… Ah, one of my arms is completely broken."
As I felt like falling unconscious at any moment, I suddenly saw the Grimoire's notifications.
[Calculating EXP earned…]
[You gained Bonus EXP]
[You earned 280000 EXP!]
[Your Level has increased from Level 7 to Level 8!]
[Your Level has increased from Level 8 to Level 9!]
[Your Level has increased from Level 9 to Level 10!]
[Your HP and MP have recovered by 50%, your wounds have been healed]
[You won't be able to heal wounds through leveling anymore]
[Your Spirit Orb Realm has increased from [Rank 1 Middle Stage] to [Rank 1 Upper Stage]
[All of your stats have increased, you gained Stat Points and Skill Points to distribute]
[You have reached Level Cap]
[You can now access the [Job Class and Subclass Change] Feature in the Soul Grimoire]
[By Changing Job Class and Subclass, your Level will be reset, but you can learn Talent-specific Skills, and raise your stats further through Leveling, you can only change Talent after reaching level cap]
[You acquired the [Slaughter King: Lv1] Title Skill]
[You learned the [Blood Edge: Lv1] Skill]
I… did it. My Level is ten. I did it! I truly did it! After… eight years of training constantly? I've finally reached level ten, the cap… Only for this to emerge, a new feature that can change my class?
With this my level will be reset but I can raise my stats further… I suppose this is the next step.
And above all, my body feels better now. My ribs were healed and all the wounds are also fully healed. My HP is still rather low, but I am fine, I can even move and walk? I guess this is the last time I'll receive such a level of healing from leveling up.
Starting now, things are going to get even harder. But I can't help but smile. I wonder how exhilarating everything will be. Lucifer, you bastard, you're only making me stronger. Is your desire for a rematch this much? Fine, I'll make sure to grow strong enough to kill you for sure the next time we meet, even if it takes me hundreds of years.
In a hellish and unforgiving Realm covered with boiling magma oceans, blazing flames burning through the entire landscape, and the wailing souls of the damned screaming as they're tortured by countless demons, a man with long blonde hair and sharp crimson red eyes glanced into a crystal ball with a sharp gaze, a smile emerged not his slightly feminine and beautiful face.
"Hahh~ Isn't he incredible?! He actually beat that Demon General! Hahaha! This is truly Hell Mode now! Bwhahaha!"
The man laughed his ass off while a tiny Imp at his side seemed slightly uncomfortable about everything happening within this strange world, often named "The Spirit Realm".
"M-My lord, if you forgive my rudeness… Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"W-Why are you trying to make the man that almost killed you… grow stronger to come kill you again?! It doesn't make any sense!"
"Oh, why? Well… Isn't it fun?"
"F-Fun?! He's a Monster! He defeated that Demon General at the end… even against all odds!"
"So? Isn't that amazing?! Hehe!"
"M-My lord… He's your enemy, not someone you must admire…"
"Ah, come on, what's wrong with a bit of fun? He was the first ever lifeform to put such a big wound on me… And well, I've been wishing for a while to send someone like him to the Spirit Realm…"
"That place where humans can develop spirits… Isn't this Realm… One of the Primordial Fragments of Existence? Do you think you should be messing more than we are already doing?! The other Archdemons are already trying to conquer this Realm, it has been billions of years, and there has barely been progress! This Realm's secrets and powers are quite unfathomable…"
"That's what makes it fun, fool! After he grows strong enough, we'll have a rematch, and this time, I won't be as humiliated as before…!"