Chapter 7: Bloodbath

Why am I soaked?

Sarah peeled open her eyes to find the sun had already set above her, and the first night of the apocalypse had arrived. In the fading light she glanced down at her body and saw that it was not water she initially thought, or rather hoped, was drenched with, but rather blood. Guess this cloak has bigger problems now than that tin of goat’s blood.

She waited for a second or two, expecting the cynical reply of her inner demon, but there was no response. Using her [Soul Sense], she took a look at where Lucifer had staked his territory, and while she could still see the fiery smoke that made up a portion of her soul, she could also notice the color had dulled. No longer giving off its vibrant hellish flame, it was pretty clear that whatever lucifer had done to her seemed to take him out for the count. The knowledge that Lucifer could not just possess her wantonly was surprisingly less comforting than she expected, especially now that she had lost her guide to survival that she had become fairly reliant upon.

The fact that she was both alive and covered in blood gave her some indication of what had happened when lucifer had taken control, but her worries could only grow once she cast her eyes around her.

She originally thought herself lying in a small ditch, but as she stood up, she realized she was standing in the epicenter of a crater about 10 meter across. While no Sherlock, taking a glance at the ash coated ground and demonic mana that still lingered in the air, while she herself stood at the center, she felt she might have had at least a tiny little part to play in causing this destruction. Well, let’s see what I got out of it, Status.

Status:

Name: Sarah Rose

Race: Half-Greater Demon

Title: First Among Equals (+1all)

Level: 3 Class: Hellbringer

Strength: 8->10(+1) Agility: 7(+1)

Wisdom: 28(+1) Intelligence: 32->67(+1)

Vitality: 8->9(+1) Endurance: 7(+1)

Charisma: 8(+1) Luck: 14(+1)

Unused Stat Points: 0

New titles Unlocked:

[Blood soaked]

- Bathe in the blood of your enemies. +1 Vitality.

- +1 Endurance when equipped.

[One against many]

- Kill 10 foes all at a higher level than yourself in a single battle. +2 Strength.

- +4 Strength when equipped.

So, I got 2 strength and 1 vitality from the titles, and then 7 levels giving me 35 stat points which seem to have been already put in intelligence. Guess that does help a bit in explaining the crater.

Abilities

Abilities:

[Ritual Magic] Level 10 (MAX)

[Demonic Mana Manipulation] Level 3->5

[Soul Sense] Level 1->2

Well my [Demonic Mana Manipulation] has gone up two levels. Its no wonder really considering that if Lucifer is controlling me with his likely very high manipulation then mine should go up. But 7 levels… he must have killed more than just those wolves.

Before she could get any further into it, she could hear some voices approaching from the distance in what could only be described as a stage whisper. “But like imagine how much a boss monster could give us. It’s got to be something special.” The first person seemed to argue.

“Dude we’re like level 3, something able to make a pillar of fire and literally cause an earthquake isn’t gonna be killed by us.” Another replied, in such a tone that Sarah could practically taste how fed up he was with the shit of his companion.

“Yeah but what about its horde, all the boss monsters have a horde.” A third voice this time, all the while coming closer.

Sarah turned in their direction, and only a moment after she could see 6 sets of eyes peek over the rim of the crater she had adopted.

“…”

“Like maybe is this one of those things where we save the hot princess that the boss has captured?”

“Yeah but you’d figure the princess in question would be covered in a bit less blood. Just for aesthetics yaknow.”

“…”

“You realize I can hear you right?” Sarah said.

“…”

She took a step in their direction and immediately the whole group of 6 mirrored her by taking a step back.

“I don’t bite.” Sarah said.

“We get that, but you sure do look like you do.”

“Yeah, um, you wouldn’t happen to have a change of clothes with you, do you?” Another added.

After standing there for a minute while the group of six were whispering to each other, a much quieter whisper this time, it seemed they had finally come to an agreement. One of them pulled a bag of his back and threw it at her.

“There’s some shirts and shorts inside, hope they fit.”

“… “ An awkward pause followed where they just stood there staring at eachother…

“You’re supposed to turn away” Sarah said.

She first peeled the robe off, before checking inside the bag and seeing an assortment of clothes, some water and some rope. Taking the water and discarding the robe, she tipped it over herself to wipe off the blood that coated her hands, legs and face. And everywhere else. Her body surprisingly only had faint white marks over areas like her forearms and other places where she was previously injured, and she could intuitively feel even those healing as the demonic energy in her body moved around. Still slightly bloody but feeling far fresher, she got dressed quickly in a shirt only slightly too large for her and a pair of shorts she made fit with a belt that was also lying at the bottom of the bag.

Finally leaving the crater, she made her way up to the group that now turned to watch her approach. Seeming much more welcoming to her new appearance, they introduced themselves to her. A group of six, four guys and two girls around Sarah’s age of 21, who were previously at a house party when everything went down. From her, she was able to hear about all the bizarre things that first came during the time she blacked out after first meeting lucifer for what she now worked out was only about 2 hours. However, from what she heard it had almost been two days since the explosion, meaning she had likely been passed out in the crater all that while. The group introduced themselves as Jason, Billy, Zack, Tommy, Trini and Kimberly, names she felt were suspiciously familiar. After enough tension, the group couldn’t help but ask the question on their mind.

“So, did u kill the boss?” Trini blurted out.

“Um… what boss?” Sarah asked.

“So how did you just end up in the middle of a massive crater then?” Tommy added.

“Well…. I don’t really remember….”

The group all turned to look at Kimberly, who nodded in confusion. “She is telling the truth.”

“Wait, how can you tell?” Sarah asked.

“Kim got a cool rare class” Billy butted in, making the whole group roll their eyes at him. Sarah could already tell he was the one winding the group up when she was listening in before.

“What’s your class?” Billy then asked.

“Shut up dude” Said Zach, “You know that’s like personal shit, that’s what the general said, can’t go asking for others personal information, he almost stabbed you when you did.”

Intrigued at the conversation, she couldn’t help but ask. “The general?”

Billy couldn’t help but take this as his cue to butt back into the conversation. “So like there’s this dude that leads what’s left of the army and he’s super strong and everyone calls him the general. I think he’s like level 10 at least. But everyone says he’s gonna die because of a curse. Anyway, he seems to lead the survivors now, or at least those that have found him.

Sarah couldn’t help but take away from meeting this group the fact that while she was far more overpowered than her level 3 companions and could probably finish them off with some demonic bolts quite quickly considering her intelligence, hearing of the level 10 general it seemed others were rising alongside her.

Zach then cut back in, “Anyway, the general sent us out here to check on what caused this, but we think he was just trying to get rid of Billy. You want to come back with us to the camp?”

Ignoring Billy’s complains and finding herself somewhat lost in this new world, especially considering she had spent most of her time in it unconscious, she could only agree with Zach and follow the group. With Lucifer seemingly out of the count, it seemed it was now time to reunite with humanity.