‘Everything hurts. I was reckless’

Shengyn, while very strong, was not invulnerable.

In fact, his specialty is assassination, not combat.

Fighting a single target is what he was proficient in, not fighting multiple opponents, but considering he was much stronger than most of them, he managed to do rather well.

But unlike the other members of Divine Lords, some of whom possessed magic that caused massive amounts of devastation, Shengyn’s techniques paled in comparison.

The reach of his weapon may not be as long as that of other Divine Lords, but his control over it was impressive.

If a warrior who causes massive amount of devastation in the battlefield was considered a longsword, Shengyn would be more like a dagger, smaller but far more precise.

Stronger members of Divine Lords can singlehandedly wipe out the population of an entire city, so compared to them, Shengyn’s arsenal could be considered inferior.

Though, it was not like Shengyn was a weakling among Divine Lords, frankly, he was somewhere in the middle.

What he was best known for was his work efficiency.

He always got his missions done, regardless of how much effort it required.

Never stopping until his task was finished, he kept pushing on and on until every obstacle crumbled into pieces.

That was one of the reasons Lord Morphus entrusted him to handle the mission within the Kalkan kingdom in the world of Sulum.

Phase 1: get to know everything necessary within the Kalkan kingdom and get all the Intel available.

For that purpose, Silver Sparrow’s aid was essential, for before this mission, Shengyn never visited the world of Sulum; in fact, he was born in human world of Alem, where he spent most of his life in.

Apparently Silver Sparrow was once a native of Sulum, but ended up being banished to human world of Alem, where after many years, she was recruited by Morphus, who removed the seal of banishment off of her body, allowing her to return to the world of Sulum.

Ever since then, she has been watching everything that was going on within the Kalkan kingdom, serving as Lord Morphus’s eyes and ears.

Phase 2: Remove any threats that could interfere with the plan.

In order for everything to go the way Lord Morphus intended, the previous Demon King, Akil Ras, had to be removed from the picture.

If Akil Ras was still alive, without a doubt, there would be far less conflicts among the clans out of fear of Demon King’s power.

But now that the Demon King was gone, all the power hungry clans were on the loose.

In order to get the most suitable leader emerge, all the demons should be able to clash against each other without restraint.

Phase 3: Participate in the Trials for the Selection to make sure someone strong manages to become the Demon King, for this purpose, all those whom Shengyn deems as weak needed to be weeded out.

However, in the scenario that none suitable shows up to take up the throne, Shengyn would have to take the power of Demon King for himself.

Either way, a new leader was needed for the Kalkan Kingdom, someone strong that can be manipulated into coming into conflict with the human world of Alem.

After the failed demon Invasion ten years ago, Akil Ras made sure to follow the policy of isolationism when concerning the human world.

That was another reason that he had to be disposed of.

‘Everything is going exactly as planned, I am glad…Master Morphus even sent me some help…’ Shengyn looked over at the succubus demon near him.

He rarely needed any help, but it was mostly due to belief that he could get the job done by himself.

However, his Master had deemed that he would need assistance, and Shengyn was not prideful enough to refuse.

‘Did Master Morphus tell her about me? She seemed so familiar with me…Well, she needed to know at least a little bit about my background to recognize me, so it couldn’t be helped.’

‘Her fighting capabilities are very weak, so obviously Master Morphus intended for her to be my support. He must have known that I would act recklessly and end up using up most of my mana.’

‘Still, even if she did heal my wounds, my mana will not recover for some time, I will have to refrain from using my own magic.’

Using magic rapidly depletes the mana that is stored within the body, and since mana was literally the life force of a demon, severe mana over usage could be fatal.

Of course, Shengyn did not push himself so far to make it dangerous for him to expend more mana, but he knew that if he used up any more, he would be risking his life.

Even for someone like him, who has massive mana reserves, fighting off more than sixty demons in one day is no easy task.

By this time, he knew he needed to conserve his mana and let it recover to a normal level.

‘I could have avoided wasting so much mana had I just avoided the incoming demons instead of fighting them head on, but the demon blood in my veins was so eager to battle and I was in no position to refuse’

‘If I have to refrain from using my own mana, I might as well use this’

He proceeded to pull out mana sealing cuffs from his storage ring.

Shengyn proceeded to put the cuffs around his wrists. They cuffs closed with a small click.

Unlike most mana sealing cuffs, these ones opened without a key, but they stayed closed before the user squeezes a certain area of the cuffs.

‘This way, I will not slip up and end up accidentally using up my mana’

Mana sealing chains or cuffs could stop the user from releasing mana out of their bodies, in a way, it made most magic casting impossible.

Internal mana usage was still accessible, of course, but no mana leaked out of the body.

So, he could still use his ability to harden his body to fight, but casting long ranged spells was not possible with mana sealing cuffs on.

If the enemy uses a long ranged magic, he would have to either dodge or use a skill Lord Morphus taught him, which he called ‘mana control’.

Unlike releasing your own mana in order to achieve various effects, mana control involved taking over the mana within the surroundings and if the enemy uses magic, then it would allow the user to take over the enemy’s mana as well, but only if the user’s will is stronger than the enemy’s.

Using the mana within the atmosphere apparently was a separate skill which was closely related to control, but it required far more effort and training to achieve.

Compared to that, taking control over the mana of a weaker opponent was somewhat of an easier task.

This skill required a calm mind, focus, and an unbending resolve within the user’s heart.

While using mana control was not his style of fighting, Shengyn was no stranger with this skill.

But since he is using the mana sealing cuffs, teleporting is no longer an option.

Before his mana levels go back to normal, he will have to wear the cuffs as to prevent even more mana loss.

However, looking ahead, Shengyn couldn’t help but sigh at the vastness of the water in front of him.

Swimming from one side to another was not exactly applicable, considering the strong currents and his current exhausted state.

‘Then maybe…’ Looking at his companion, Shengyn smiled.

Lord Morphus, you really have thought of everything!

“Can you fly while holding up a person underneath you?”

“Wha…Yes! I can, young master” Shaula quickly replied after getting caught off guard by Shengyn’s question.

“Perfect” Shengyn couldn’t help but smile.

His aide, even if she was rather weak, was extremely useful in non-combat areas.

* * *

Shaula found herself flying up, holding up Ren by his hands underneath her, it was a rather awkward way to fly, but there was no other choice if they both needed to avoid contact with Holy Water.

‘Still, he thought of it this far…’ as someone who has the capacity of flight, she did not think too much about having trouble avoiding Holy Water, but she forgot that not every demon possessed wings.

Ren did not have any way of crossing the large bodies of water, there was not even a bridge in sight.

So, her assistance was essential.

‘Come to think of it, can Ren cast magic with his own mana?’ she once overheard Master Korgan talking about this with Ren, and from what she could discern from the conversation, Ren could not use his mana properly.

‘But he fought so many demons, yet not once did he cast magic, all he used was body reinforcement, which is internal mana manipulation rather than external release of mana. It seems like he really can’t use mana externally, but to think he can go this far on without casting spells…’

Shaula assumed that ‘Ren’ fought only using body reinforcement due to his inability to properly use mana, but in reality, for him it was not the case.

Shengyn had full access to his own mana and could use spells up to level 7, but he refrained from using them due to their high mana consumption rate, preferring to only fight using internal mana manipulation, which consumed less mana than casting magic.

Of course, if he is pushed to the edge, he will resort to casting magic, but he always left it as his last resort.

Unlike many demons that rapidly deplete their mana after using high level spells, Shengyn tried to use as little mana as possible in order to face as many opponents as needed.

‘Still, this place is truly bloody….’

Everywhere she looked, she saw many demon corpses that were unfortunate enough to land in Holy Water. Holy Water, to weaker demons meant certain death, while it caused immense damage to stronger ones.

No demon was safe from the effects of Holy Water.

Then, she heard her master shout.

“Dodge!”

She barely managed to make an aerial maneuver to avoid the water projectile that was sent their way.

“What was that?”

She then saw another water projectile shoot towards her; she skillfully avoided it by riding the wind draft upwards.

“We are being attacked…there, I can see her!”

A single demon stood on the ground, surrounded by the water she was manipulating with her magic.

The amount of water under her control was enormous.

“Fly me closer”

“Young master, what do you intend to do?”

Shaula was alarmed that Ren was asking her to get closer to the danger rather than away from it.

“Considering she attacked us, leaving her be is not an option.”

“Do you intend to fight her?!”

“Of course”

Shaula couldn’t help but gulp. She should have expected her master to say this, but this was Holy Water, how did he, a demon with no ability to use his own mana externally, stood a chance against a high level water magic user with access to Holy water, of all things!

“Young master, I do not wish to insult you judgment, but do you have a plan?”

She needed to know that ‘Ren’ knew what he was up against and knew what he was doing.

“Worry not, I always have a plan. Now drop me off, after that, make sure to keep a large distance away, I don’t want you get caught in the middle”

“Yes, young master!”

She now proceeded to have Ren land on the ground; she herself flew up into the sky, now she was merely an observer to the battle that was to come.

The opponent Ren was facing seemed to be injured, the left side of her face was scarred, and her torn up clothing suggested she was a little beaten up.

Her clothing used to conceal her entire body, but now, there were visible tears, especially in the left hand and back area and from those spots some damages were visible.

This demon had blue hair and two sharp horns on her head.

As to what type of demon she was, Shaula had no clue, aside from the wings on her back; she couldn’t place specifically what type of demon she was aside from the obvious fact that she was a bird type demon.

“I have waited for this moment for so long”

“And who are you supposed to be?” Ren asked, with a fake smile on his face.

“My name is Kokjan Ras; remember it well, fiend, for it is the last name you shall hear!”