I take a few steps into the dimly lit hallway, behind me are the corpses of hundreds of demons that attempted to block my path. There were no windows or candles, it was merely illuminated by some mysterious light coming from the walls. Said walls were also drenched in a thick coating of a combination of human and demonic blood. Most likely from past adventurers, they must have been complete weaklings if they got injured this early on. Pathetic.

I was set on a mission to eradicate the demon boss of several dungeons and then steal their eggs as a way to further increase the Man of Stone’s army. In the past, we had simply enslaved the demons, but we quickly realized that they were too weak. In order to fully maximize their potential, we would have to begin training them the moment they hatched from their cocoons. If luck is on my side, I may even be able to spot and catch a breeder demon: they are the main creatures that are able to give birth to the numerous demons within these dungeons, and they can even convert adventurers into demons--in fact, that’s how some demon lords are birthed, some spawn from strong adventurers. Unfortunately, this is the fifth dungeon and I have yet to find this rare breeding-type of demon.

But, it has been quite a boring time so far. These dungeons can be so abstract and time-consuming. This one in particular has been nothing but a maze with hallway after hallway. These demons are far too weak. A single shot is all it takes for their bodies to collapse, it’s as if I am in a shooting range. Sigh. But, orders are orders.

“Shreeeeee. . .!” Suddenly, I hear a high-pitched screech echo within the walls. The ground begins to shake and my orientation is flipped as the ceiling has now become the floor. Ah, I see. No wonder I’ve been having such a difficult time finding the boss. This labyrinth is somewhat sentient. In fact, this whole entire system of hallways and corridors seem to have walls that resemble intestinal-lining. How amusing, it seems like I’ve been inside this creature’s small intestines the whole time. It looks like it has finally awakened due to my meddling after so long. I do wonder why there were so many demons within its body, but I suppose this is an irregular. I quickly take out my shotgun and pull the trigger as a large hole---about the size of an elephant--appears from the location I aimed at. Sigh, seems like I held back a little too much. I was planning on doing more damage than this, oh well, I can see the outside now. Time to face this demon head-on.

I jump out from the hallways that had trapped me for so long and land onto the rocky terrain. I look around and take notice that the environment looks like that of a volcanic catastrophe as molten magma floods the land as if it were an ocean. There are quite a few large patches of land that seem to resemble small islands. The sky was a clear red hue with some brushes of orange and yellow, with occasional flying demons that hovered around volcanoes surrounding the area. They were constantly erupting, shooting out flaming pieces of rock that would either crash into the islands or simply be engulfed into the large ocean of magma. And of course, in the center of it all, the demon that I was within this whole time: a gigantic mass of volcanic stone and demonic flesh, its overall shape was very similar to that of an ape. Interesting, I have never seen a demon that was a mix of rock and flesh. It seems like most of its epidermis is made up of red molten rock, serving as a layer of hard protection. While some portions are still exposed, its general skin and flesh still seems to be durable enough to protect itself from magma, as its feet are nonchalantly submerged in the ocean of flames. Overall, it looks quite strong, I feel a smile creep onto my face. This is good. I want to completely ravage this demon. I glare at the colossal demon before me, it’s easily over 50 meters tall, approximately 164 feet. Yet, my glare reaches it. And it responds to my presence by letting out a large roar, causing the air to vibrate.

“Yes, that’s the spirit my dear demon! Let out all of your bloodlust and I shall follow suit! Let us have a battle to quench our thirst!” I respond back, roaring out.

Fight Music

Instantly, the Colossal Ape jumps into the air and slams its huge hands onto the island I stood on. Despite being so big, its agility and dexterity were on par with that of a skilled martial artist. Very impressive, however it’s still not enough. The Ape looks down and struggles to find me in the rubble he had caused, magma begins to flood into the cracks and slowly begins to cover the land.

“I’m over here, my dear demon.” I speak out, in a mocking tone as I appear right in front of its eyes, I was resting on his shoulder and had my revolver out--aiming at its left eye, I pull the trigger and a streak of blue was all that could be seen as the Ape’s eye vanished, replaced with a vacant hole. But, it seemed like that amount of damage was trivial to it, as it quickly retaliated and attempted to swipe at me like I was a fly. I easily dodge and jump onto its arm and begin to run up his gigantic body. He seems to be quite angry at me as he begins to fling his body into the air and then scrunches up his body into a ball. Tsk. I have no choice but to get off, he’s attempting to crush my body as he crashes into the magma ocean. However, as I was getting ready to leap off, he dislocates his arm causing me to lose my balance, quickly taking advantage of this, he then squeezes me right in between his shoulder and neck. I can feel his breath as I glance over to his face. A devilish wide grin meets my gaze, I can see his pure red eyes. He looked as if he was pleased with himself by catching me off-guard. This creature was a lot more intelligent than I had thought, it is fully capable of utilizing strategy. Interesting--

I am interrupted as I feel the sensation of the gigantic Ape’s body crashing into the magma, the molten liquid submerges both of us as we dive deeper and deeper. The Ape is completely unharmed as it gets back up and lets out a mighty roar after noticing that I was no longer on its body. It quickly pops its dislocated arm back into place.

“UOOOOOAHHH!” It begins to pound its chest with his hands, the sound of which echoed into the skies of the realm. The Ape jumped from one foot to the other in a celebratory fashion, praising itself for my demise. But, unfortunately, no matter how intelligent, large, or demonic it is--an Ape will never be anything more than a mere animal.

“Over here, silly Ape.” I speak out in a slight giggle as I casually emerge from the magma, and onto a nearby island, as if it was nothing but a dip into a pool. My clothes were completely fine as I had a thick coating of aura surrounding my body, protecting myself. “I honestly don’t need to go through the trouble of utilizing aura as protection against something like you. But, I don’t feel like ruining these clothes, I still have a few other dungeons to travel to after this.” I speak out, my condescending tone seemed to hit a nerve within the Ape as it roared out once again and grabbed an entire island of rock and hurled it towards me. I smile, but it slowly disappears as I realized that it was pointless. I can’t seem to enjoy this fight anymore. I let out a sigh and take out my pistol and shoot out 3 bullets simultaneously at the airborne island, completely eviscerating it, leaving not a single pebble in its place. At the same time, the Ape suddenly appeared before me, erupting from the ground. It began to unleash a flurry of powerful and quick consecutive punches and then finished it by slamming both fists down. The island was now gone, and lava began to flood the gigantic hole. The Ape’s eyes darted around, trying to find my corpse, to no avail. Finally, it realized where I was. He quickly raised his head and began to roar as its eyes met mine. I was falling down from the sky due to a leap I had made during his attacks, I was too quick for even the demonic creature to see. I now had my rifle out and readied my shot as a large concentration of mana begin to surround my gun alongside streaks of electricity that crackled. Even the Ape began to feel the intensity and dread of the sheer density of mana that was being focused in one spot. I saw his body begin to enlarge even more than before, his muscles began to increase in density. It seemed to also be utilizing mana and aura to amplify his power. In a flash, it’s glowing red eyes trailed his path as he leapt towards me, he was so quick that the faint tint of red was all that could be seen before he reappeared in front of me. The Ape then let out another powerful roar as he threw his strongest attack throughout this entire brawl: a fist with enough mana and aura to obliterate an entire city.

The sound of his rock-covered fist making contact with my body was heard throughout the red skies of the demonic realm. All the flying demons looked from their spots and stared at the impossible sight. The Ape’s fist did in fact make contact with me, but not my entire body as he would have expected. Despite utilizing the utmost of his ability, I had swatted away his gigantic fist with just my right hand.

“UOAAHHHH?!” The ape screamed out, its large red eyes, once filled with immense pride and arrogance towards me--had now shifted to that of pure despair. I was but an ant to this colossal Demon’s eyes, but the power difference between us was ironically represented inverse to our sizes. To me, this creature was nothing but an insignificant bug in terms of power.

My smile is completely gone. My fun barely lasted in this battle. I am merely disappointed. I had expected more from this dungeon, but instead I was met with larger fodder. My yellow eyes glare one final time at the frightened animal, and I pull the trigger. The result was a gigantic burst of blue that completely overwhelmed the land with an abundance of bright light accompanied with numerous flashes of electricity that were like bolts of lightning. The air pressure from the shot was so strong that my body couldn’t help but move a little back before I stabilized myself, my hair followed the direction of the wind as the world shook as if a gigantic earthquake had occurred. The sound then came afterwards, the boom of which had shaken the dungeon, causing all the demons to retreat in fear. I then landed on top of the magma and began to walk on top of it by creating a small platform made out of mana. I look in front of myself and am met by the sight of emptiness. I had completely obliterated the Ape, leaving no trace, and the land was now a gigantic crater that seemed to be bottomless. The magma attempted to fill it up, but it just continued to drop down to nothingness.

“Sigh. Even with all those handicaps I placed on myself, that was pretty bland. I thought it would be a little more interesting if I just went easy on it. Guess I’ll have to do better in the next dungeon.” I say out loud, completely unamused by the result of the battle. I didn’t even use a fraction of my power, I barely even used my aura or the mana until the end and that was just because it was getting so boring. . . Oh, wait a minute, I think I see some demonic eggs near that volcano, it looks like it was hidden behind all those mountains I destroyed with that shot. At least something rewarding came out of this dull dungeon.

As I gather the eggs and put them in my pocket dimension via my magical bag, I head out of the dungeon from the portal that opened up after killing the Ape. As I made my way out, I suddenly felt an incoming call coming from my communication device. I answer the call and am met with a holographic image of my commander: The Man of Stone.

“It seems like I’ve finally reached you, Archer. I have been attempting to get into contact with you since yesterday, we have recently been notified of some problems.”

“My apologies, I was preoccupied inside a dungeon. I just finished defeating the one ruling over it, and have gained more demon eggs which you should be able to access through the shared pocket dimension. So, what seems to be the problem?” I answer back to him. I do wonder what had happened while I was gone, hopefully something trivial so I can utilize my Reapers.

“Well, it seems like my premonition has come true. Your Reapers seem to have been defeated by the two Heroes that were summoned.” He replies.

Archer Angry Music

My left eye suddenly twitches. I feel my blood begin to boil as I shape my hands into fists and grip them so tightly that I begin to shake. What did he just say. . .? My Reapers have been defeated? Impossible. . . That’s completely impossible! They may have their individual flaws, but they should have easily been enough to defeat those pathetic heroes. A single Reaper should be able to destroy their entire team. How did all four of them get taken down?!

“Sir. Surely you're joking around. It has been several weeks since they had been sent to kill the heroes. And there were reports that both heroes weren’t seen after the initial week. They should be dead.”

“Unfortunately, Archer, that does not seem to be the case. Not only have we recently been notified that both heroes and their respective parties are perfectly fine. But, we have also been notified that Lancer and Thief have been killed. We could not find their corpses due to them being almost non-existent now. We only know that they were defeated by the heroes and their allies.”

I am silent. I cannot respond back to him. I can feel the pounding of my heart beating, the sensation of my aura developing around me as the ground begins to quake in fear. Blood begins to drip from my hands as my wide eyes stare at the hologram before me. He then continues to speak.

“We have also received reports that Monk has abandoned his title as a Reaper and has disappeared. We do not know where he is, or if he is even still alive. Furthermore, Swordsman has defected and is now on the Second Hero’s team. She was apparently a big help to the demise of Lancer. Her family has also gone missing from the cells they were kept in.”

Those imbeciles. . . they dare mock me? Lancer and Thief may have been useless tools who couldn’t even fulfill a single mission--but at least they died for their lack of strength. These two cowards. . . I shall make sure they feel nothing but pain and terror as I slowly rip their limbs and heal them enough to retain consciousness. I will begin with that useless woman, she may have had incredible potential, but I am no longer ammused by her idiotic antics. I will rip her insides out and force her to watch as I gut her like the animal she is. I will skin her alive. I will make sure she witnesses it all until I take away every single one of her senses. I will make sure she realizes her sin.

“I will be frank with you, Archer. I am disappointed. Not only did you underestimate the two heroes, but you seem to have overestimated your own Reapers. You were too overconfident in your men, and as a result we have done nothing but cause the heroes to become only stronger by gaining the aid of one of your prized Reapers. Pathetic. I believed that you had those men under your control, that they were loyal and reliable dogs. But, it seems like they were weak enough to be defeated, and two-faced enough to betray us. So tell me, how will you make this up to me, Archer?”

More Creepy Angry Archer Music

“Simple. I will massacre them all. I am not merely referring to the Two Heroes. No no no no no no. . . I will annihilate the entirety of their friends, allies, lovers, slaves, horses, guild, their city. Everything shall burn in my presence. You have my word, sir. I will make amends to these blunders and bring you back nothing but overwhelming victory.” I respond back instantly. I can feel veins appear on my forehead as my anger continues to bottle up, storm clouds begin to form above my position. Lightning flashes around, followed up with strong thunder that echoes throughout the land. My unblinking eyes stare at the man’s hologram. I can feel my murderous intent leaking out further as the environment continues to cower in fear.

“Very well, Archer. I cannot disregard your countless accomplishments. You are only second to me, you are an exceptional man so I shall pardon this blunder. But, do know, Archer--if you fail me once again, that will be the end.”

“Yes. I understand. Do not worry. But, first, I shall finish my current mission. I will take down the next 5 dungeons. And then, I shall unleash Hell upon the Two Heroes and their land.”

“Good. May you succeed, Archer. Do not forget, even for a man like you, this is your last chance. Do not disappoint me again. Farewell.” The man finishes as his hologram disappears alongside the end of the call.

I continue to stand in place. The nearby greenery around me had now become drained of life as the trees crashed down, the lifeless plants drooped down and shrunk until they were but prunes. In my rage, I had converted the majority of the mana around me to my own aura. I can feel my bloodshot eyes strain as I barely begin to blink. My eyes continue to twitch involuntarily as electricity and flames surround myself. I raise my head to the sky to see the storm above. A large grin appears on my face, I can feel it stretching my cheeks harder than ever before. My eyes dilate and I can feel myself begin to shake even more violently. I let out a large stream of laughter and thunder roars alongside the echoes of my sound, as if it was joining me in my state of insanity. My spirit creature appears before me and adds on to my immense reserves of aura. A unique creature, a being made out of pure mana that can only manifest to those that it deems worthy. Proof that I am superior to all those around me and before me. I am a true prodigy. I have been acknowledged by nothing short of a Divine Being. With my spirit creature, I have an almost limitless reserve of aura.

They will all die. In one week, I shall destroy all traces of my mistakes. Those two heroes are nothing but reminders of mistakes. I do not make mistakes. That is not who I am. I will erase them. They will disappear. I am incapable of making mistakes. I am perfect. I have been chosen. I am superior. I have to erase them. Nothing shall tarnish me. I am what demons fear.

I am a true Devil.