Even focusing mostly on dodging I am still cutting down my share of the soldiers. While keeping tabs on the demon I try to watch Bones as much as I can, I want to understand his capabilities. I am a little surprised when I see him kill a soldier with a shield bash.

His offensive power is already higher than I thought it was, to kill a soldier with a shield bash is fairly impressive. They may be just humans with no levels but it still takes decent power to kill one in one shot. Normally, a tank has amazing defense but very little attack power, Bones seems to be above a normal tank already.

Bones has gained a level.

He is also leveling up quite a bit faster than I predicted, he is just becoming more and more useful. As he thins the number of soldiers there are gaps starting to form around us. Not only does that make it easier for me to dodge but soon I should be able to go after the demon.

Drog 'I see the demon! He finally stopped moving.'

'Yeah, I have been watching him for a while now.'

Drog 'He doesn't seem to like the results of this battle, he may be getting ready to run.'

'Oh, I have no intention of letting him get away! Dash!'

Using my full speed I zip through the gaps between soldiers to head straight for the demon. He is slowly backing up but hasn't turned to run quite yet. I don't plan to give him the chance to, rather than run right at him I use the speed of dash to get past all the soldiers and get behind the demon.

Before he even knows I am there I run him through with Blitz. Then I grab him by the back of the neck before he can pull himself away.

'Create Soulscape!'

As the demon and I appear in the soulscape I am surprised to find Bones with me as well. I know he resides inside me but I didn't think he was connected to my soul to allow him into the soulscape. While I am still gaping at the fact he is here, Bones has already started attacking the demon.

While Bones keeps it distracted I imagine myself appearing behind the demon, as soon as I appear I set my feet and use chop form. The chop completely severs the demon's left shoulder making it scream in pain. As I pick up the severed arm and shoulder the demon turns to attack me.

Bones quickly stabs the demon in the back as I step back away from the demon and proceed to eat its severed arm. Bones keeps the demon busy while I finish eating, he is able to withstand its attacks fairly easily. This fight is going to be even easier than I had hoped, even though the shadow demon is rank three.

The shadow demons that I have seen so far have all seemed much weaker in terms of actual combat. Maybe they are more powerful in other areas, but if so I haven't seen anything like that yet. Or have I, come to think of it, didn't this shadow demon control over a thousand soldiers?

Once this is done I will have to ask Drog what he knows about shadow demon abilities. For now though, it being weak in combat is to our advantage. With it focused on Bones I once again appear behind it and cut it down with slash form.

When slash completes the demon falls to the ground in four parts. I quickly crouch down and start eating them before they can start to dissipate. Of course it is the power I want, I am totally not pigging out because it tastes like chocolate.

Bones waits patiently for me to finish eating, out of curiosity I offer him one of the demon's hands. I know he can eat bone, but can he eat other things too? He takes the hand with a happy little chortle and starts eating it.

Bones obviously enjoys eating it but I can't tell if it made him any stronger. By that point I've eaten the rest so there is no more to give him to see if there is a change. Then again I don't really want to share the demons, they are too hard to find.

"Alright, Bones be ready, we are returning."

'End Soulscape!'

Core Upgrade Progress: 20% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 30% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 40% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 50% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 60% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 67%

As soon as I return I gag from the stench, the body of the demon looks like it has been dead for weeks. Bones is right next to me so he obviously went into the soulscape physically, which I didn't know was possible. The two hundred or so remaining soldiers are standing as if stunned and it only takes the two of us a couple of minutes to finish them off.

'Drog, what was with the body the demon was possessing?'

Drog 'When demons are summoned it takes energy to keep them here. Lesser demons can only stay so long before they run out of energy. Possessing a corpse lowers the required energy to remain in this world.'

'So, the more corpses they have the more demons they can bring over into this world?'

Drog 'Yes, master. With enough bodies they can bring over an army of lesser demons.'

As I look around at the field of corpses I start to get a sneaking suspicion about why the king started so many conflicts. I am not sure if the king himself is possessed or just made some kind of deal with the shadow demon, but things are starting to make more sense. I move away from the bodies and start pulling up grass to make a clear area.

"Bones, start bringing the bodies over here one at a time."

As Bones brings over each body I quickly check it for anything useful or any valuables before tossing it in the pile. Once the last body is on the pile I toss the grass on top and start it on fire. I don't like the amount of time it takes but from now on I don't plan to leave any corpses behind that the enemy can use against me.

In the end I find a hundred and forty-six gold, three hundred and fifty-four silver, one thousand two hundred and ninety-one copper, and a couple of jeweled daggers. Other than that none of their equipment is worth taking, especially since my forge won't work to melt it down without Ruby.

As soon as I am sure the fire won't go out I desummon Bones and start running to the west again. It has only been two hours since I first ran into the soldiers but the delay still worries me. Logically, I know the battle is probably already over but I still feel like I can get there and save them if I am fast enough.