They’d only resumed their journey when Damien paused, gazing at the group trailing behind him.
He’d noticed a troubling pattern: it seemed his presence was attracting demons of higher grades, far more dangerous than the ones the group could usually handle.
While he could easily eliminate the threats, the others weren’t so fortunate. Arielle was safe with Aquila by her side, but the rest were vulnerable despite their skills.
Damien’s silver eyes narrowed as he made a decision. He walked over to Axiom, who was discussing strategies with Vel and Jallen, now fully recovered from his earlier abduction.
“I’m going ahead,” Damien said bluntly.
Axiom blinked in confusion. “Ahead? Why?”
“Because it seems like my presence makes things harder for you,” Damien replied. “The demons I attract are too strong for this group to handle. If I move ahead, I’ll draw them away.”
Arielle frowned from her perch on Aquila’s back. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I’ll be close enough to intervene if anything happens,” Damien assured her. “Aquila and Luton will stay with you. If there’s any danger, they’ll protect you.”
Arielle hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. “Fine. Just… don’t do anything stupid.”
Damien smirked. “You’re talking to the wrong person if you want promises like that.” His eyes ended up landing on Jallen as he spoke.
With that, he turned and began walking ahead, his silhouette disappearing into the darkened forest.
Damien moved silently, his steps deliberate as he entered deeper into the forest. The trees were dense here, their gnarled branches creating a canopy that drowned out the moonlight.
Unlike before, Damien didn’t wait for the demons to come to him. He actively sought them out, using his heightened senses to detect even the faintest traces of demonic energy.
He found his first targets within minutes—a cluster of Grade Seven demons skulking in the shadows. They tried to flee the moment they sensed him, but Damien was way faster.
“Not this time,” he muttered, his blade flashing in the dim light.
The fight was swift and brutal. The demons barely had time to react before Damien cut them down, his movements precise and efficient.
As their bodies hit the ground, he extracted their essence cores, storing them for later use.
The pattern repeated itself as Damien continued his hunt. Each time he sensed a group of demons, they attempted to escape, but Damien always caught them. His blade was relentless, cutting through their ranks like a scythe through wheat.
With each kill, his confidence grew, but so did his kill count. He wasn’t just fighting to complete his kill count—he was preparing for the inevitable battles ahead.
By the time he encountered a pack of Grade Six demons led by a single Grade Five, Damien was ready. He activated his (Elemental Integration) skill once more, combining wind and fire to create a scorching cyclone. The fiery whirlwind tore through the pack, leaving nothing but scorched earth and scattered remains.
Damien walked through the aftermath, retrieving the essence cores from the charred corpses. “You should’ve run faster,” he muttered under his breath.
As Damien moved further into the forest, he encountered a larger group of demons—nearly twenty in total. Among them were two Grade Five demons and one Grade Four.
A savage grin spread across Damien’s face. “Perfect.”
This time, he didn’t rely on his elemental skills. Instead, he fought them head-on, using only his blade and raw physical prowess.
The Grade Four demon charged at him, its massive claws slashing through the air, but Damien sidestepped effortlessly and delivered a fatal blow to its neck.
The Grade Five demons followed, attacking him in unison. Damien parried their strikes with ease, his movements fluid and calculated. He was stronger than Grade Four demons so Grade Five were less of a threat to him.
With a quick spin, he severed the arm of one demon and plunged his blade into the chest of the other.
The remaining demons hesitated, their confidence shattered. Damien didn’t give them a chance to regroup. He lunged at them, cutting them down one by one until none were left standing.
Breathing heavily, Damien stood amidst the carnage, his blade dripping with black blood. He wiped it clean on a nearby tree and began collecting the essence cores.
As Damien retrieved the last core, a familiar notification appeared before his eyes.
Ding!!
«Congratulations! You have completed your kill count.»
«You now have the chance to summon a new mana beast.»
Damien smirked as he read the message. Finally, the moment he’d been waiting for had arrived.
He sat down on a nearby rock, his breathing steadying as he focused on the system.
“Let’s see what you’ve got for me this time,” he said, summoning the interface for his mana beast selection.
Meanwhile, back with the rest of the group, Axiom and the others were holding their own against a small group of demons that had approached them.
With Aquila and Luton providing support, the battle was manageable, but the absence of Damien was keenly felt.
“Do you think he’s okay?” Arielle asked, her voice tinged with worry.
Aquila let out a reassuring cry, as if to say that Damien was more than capable of handling himself.
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Axiom said, slashing through a demon. “If anything, I’d feel sorry for whatever demons are unlucky enough to cross his path.”
Vel nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but still… I can’t shake the feeling that he’s up to something.”
Arielle glanced toward the direction Damien had gone, her thoughts echoing Vel’s sentiment.
Back in the forest, Damien finally made his decision. “Show me how much magic essence I have left.”
«Magic Essence Units left: 110,000.»
Seeing the number before him, Damien smiled. “Let’s do it then.”
«Summoning a Random Mythical Beast…»
«Congratulations! You have summoned a Shadowfang Wyvern (a Winged Tyrant)!»
«-85,000 Magic Essence»
The system prompted him with a notification of the mana beast he’d summoned this time, and Damien didn’t hesitate to grin. He felt his essence get sucked into the summoning ritual, feeling a slight drain on his reserves as the air around him began to shimmer and warp.
A large blue portal opened above him and Damien immediately felt the beast’s pressure press down on him.
Roaaaaar!!
A loud, guttural roar echoed through the forest as the summoning completed. Before Damien stood the Shadowfang Wyvern, a sleek, dragon-like creature with obsidian scales that shimmered in the moonlight.
Its piercing violet eyes locked onto Damien, and it let out another roar, this one filled with power and defiance.
Damien grinned. “You’ll do nicely.”
With a thought, Damien summoned Fenrir and Cerbe through similar portals.
Roooooar!!
Both mana beasts roared terrifyingly, frightening the defiance out of the Wyvern.
Their presence swallowed the Wyvern’s completely, making it rethink it’s choice of defying the being before it.
Grrrrr…
The wyvern lowered its head slightly, acknowledging Damien as its master.
“Time to get back to the others,” Damien said, climbing onto the wyvern’s back.