470. Wildmaster Fiend

A giant hulking mass of chitin and bone emerged from the site of the ritual. It tore through the side of the palace, its eight legs scything out like massive blade blades. Its eyes glimmered crimson— brighter than even the red pillar of light reaching for the sky behind it.

It was a hundred feet tall, but at least five times as wide. It had four main segmented sections of its body. The largest of the bulbous parts was at its rear, where bone-like spikes jutted out and curved around the rest of it like a second armor.

I stared at this creature with wide eyes.

[Archarachne - Lvl. 165]

It let out a terrifying screech. It swept a single leg forward, knocking down houses and buildings in a swooping, mindless attack.

“What are we going to do about that?”

I asked, turning to Helena Warshade. The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy narrowed her eyes. Surely she’d know what to do, right? She was even higher-leveled than that wild Primeval Demon! Except—

The [Archarachne] wasn’t alone. I blinked as black blood poured out of the wild Primeval Demon’s back. Or, at least, I thought it was blood. Large black droplets of liquid spilled into the ground, splashing over the streets. Then the blood began to move, crawling all over Ertos and spreading out.

It took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t staring at blood. That blood couldn’t move— unless it was being manipulated by blood magic. But I was certain that wasn’t blood magic. Instead, it was a huge cluster of black Demon spiders.

They had been clinging onto the [Archarachne]’s back, following it through the portal. There were thousands of them. They weren’t small, but they weren’t large either. Each was about half the size of an average Human man. They charged forward, clicking their mandibles— causing a cacophonous chittering that reverberated throughout the city.

[Aranea - Lvl. 15]

[Aranea - Lvl. 21]

[Aranea - Lvl. 19]

…

“Huh.”

I blinked a few times, watching them wash over the streets of Ertos. They weren’t too high-leveled. But through sheer volume alone, and with the [Archarachne] accompanying them, this was a major threat to the Human army. They could kill thousands of soldiers and adventurers before they were even brought down. And that was not to mention the fact that the Legion army was still alive.

Helena Warshade pursed her lips.

“If I had my Grand Skill, I could wipe out all these Demons off the face of the world in an instant.”

Her eyes flickered to me. She repeated herself.

“If I had my Grand Skill.”

I shrugged.

“Hey, don’t blame me. That was not my fault, alright?”

The Archmage didn’t argue. Instead, she raised her staff and unleashed a storm of lightning at the approaching deluge of Demons.

“We have to stop them before they reach the army. We will lose too many unnecessary lives if that happens.”

“Right.”

I joined her, sending a wave of blue flames to the [Archarachne]. But the attack practically bounced off the wild Primeval Demon’s carapace. I bit my lower lip and backed up.

“This… isn’t going to be easy.”

“Then get your friend to help us. He is the reason why I can’t use my Grand Skill just yet.”

Helena Warshade cursed as she ascended into the sky, sending a salvo of spells down to cull the [Aranea]’s numbers. I hesitated. I glanced back, searching for ‘Mori Gladius’ amongst the Human army.

“Where is that stupid—”

Then I paused. I heard a faint voice shouting through the ruckus of the battlefield. It sounded like it was coming from the mass of wild Demons. But that couldn’t be right— they were wild Demons. They couldn’t speak!

And I was right. The voice didn’t come from them. Instead, I saw a figure flying behind the [Archarachne]. A man who hovered with his arms raised, his cloak billowing in the wind behind him as he yelled.

“That’s right! Destroy the Humans! Kill them all! Obey my command!”

He was a Demon. He looked a bit like an ordinary [Fiend], although he had a natural pair of wings growing from his back. He had gray skin, and two stubby little horns poking out of his head. He laughed as he continued to shout orders at the [Archarachne].

“Why isn’t it attacking him?”

I narrowed my eyes. Wild Demons were… well, wild. I didn’t see why they were simply ignoring that [Fiend]. Even if the [Archarachne] wanted to kill us Humans, I fully expected it to have killed him first since he was in their way.

But the wild Demons continued to heed his command. I hesitated. I turned back to face Mori— he probably wouldn’t be able to help us here. Not in any substantive way. Even if he could fight to his full potential— and by he, I meant Belzu— the truth was he could not take down this [Archarachne] easily.

The most he could do was slow its approach with his curses or distract it with his illusions. However, if my hunch was right, then—

“Maybe…”

I shook my head and flew forward, ignoring the fake Mori Gladius, and heading straight for the [Archarachne]. Helena blinked as she caught a glimpse of me flying past her.

“Salvos? Salvos! Where are you—”

The Archmage called after me, but I ignored her. I swooped around the wild Primeval Demon, sending a blast of blue flames at the horde of [Araneas]. They burned by the hundreds, and the city’s streets caught aflame. I dove under a reckless swing by the [Archarachne], but its attention was hardly on me.

Most of its focus was entirely on reaching the Human army. Even with Helena Warshade challenging it, the wild Primeval Demon only had one goal. And that was why I charged straight for the [Fiend].

He was somehow controlling the wild Demons. Like a [Beastmaster] of sorts. Except he hadn’t entirely tamed them. He simply could influence their thoughts. And drawing the Demon’s attention away from the army wasn’t going to be easy if that was the case.

I flew to a halt right before the [Fiend] as he inclined his neck to face me. We flew across from each other— the Archdemon tilting his head curiously.

[Fiend - Lvl. 137]

“Oh, you somehow survived the [Archarachne]’s attacks. I’m impressed.”

He snickered as he crossed his arms. I eyed him with a frown.

“How are you controlling it?”

“What could you possibly mean?”

He asked me with a mocking smile. I waved a hand dismissively.

“You know what I mean— that wild Demon… it ignored you. It’s hardly even paying attention to us. You’re controlling it so it would destroy the Human army.”

“And so what if I am?”

“Just answer the question.”

I glared at him as he continued to give coy responses. Finally, when he realized I wasn’t entertaining him, he just sighed.

“You Humans are so close-minded. Do you really believe everything in this world is constrained by your own understanding of Skills and Classes?”

“Actually, I don’t—”

“Mind magic. All you need to do is touch into their essence with some mind magic. I cannot tell it what to do, but for a mindless beast, I can easily influence some of its thoughts. For example, I can make it prioritize killing you Humans over killing me. And by the time it is finished, I will be out of here, alive.”

The [Fiend] just laughed as he gestured towards the [Archarachne]. I glanced back at the wild Primeval Demon as Helena Warshade barely slowed it down. I shook my head and faced the Archdemon.

“I think you’re mistaken. You’re not going to be leaving this place alive because I’ll be killing you right here.”

“Oh?”

He raised a brow at me. Then he gestured at himself with a savage grin.

“A Human like you wishes to challenge me? Me? Forti? An Archdemon of Sloth? Please, do you really believe our level-difference really matters?”

He chuckled, covering his mouth as if to hide his smile.

“Please, I am—”

And I appeared next to him, slashing down with my Divine Nebular Scythe. Forti barely backed away just in time, but the attack still landed. I dragged my blade across his chest as he screamed in pain. He hovered across from me, clutching at the wound as his eyes went wide.

“H-how…?”

He started, but I didn’t bother to let him recuperate. I charged him once more, swinging wildly as I aimed for his head. He ducked back and dodged the [Barrage of Cinders]. He circled back around me, only to be knocked back by a hard kick. I grinned at him, holding my scythe to the side.

“What were you saying?”

Forti gritted his teeth. He stared at me as he continued to fly back. Then he raised a finger and pointed.

“How dare you! I will make you bleed! [Perception Disarray]!”

I blinked as my gaze seemed to split into two. Like I had been cut in half vertically.

“What?”

I looked around, and my vision continued to split. The world had been broken into two halves— then into four quarters. I furrowed my brows as my vision continued to break into smaller and smaller pieces, like it was shattered glass. And when Forti spoke, his voice came out as an echo from all directions.

“You think—”

“...think—”

“You think that—”

“Do you think that you can harm me—”

I spun around, unable to pin down where the Archdemon had went. I gritted my teeth as I saw a flicker of his figure coming from all directions. He cackled.

“Do you think you can harm me and get away with it, Human?”

He swung at me with his clawed hand from all directions. I couldn’t discern where he was really coming from. I could barely even tell where I was. I braced myself—

And caught his forearm. Forti gaped at me as I smirked back at him.

“Nice try.”

“What…?”

He tried to pull back right as I swung up with my scythe, tearing through his forearm. He yelped in pain, and I just huffed.

“I don’t need to see to dodge your attacks.”

After all, I could detect everything that happened around me with my spatial senses. Forti growled as he clutched his bleeding arm. I shrugged, tossing his ripped off arm back at him.

“Also, you’re mistaken—”

“I haven’t lost just yet, Human!”

Forti started, raising his remaining hand and pointing at me. I shrugged at him.

“You keep calling me that, but I am not a Human.”

“What are you talking—”

And right as his ripped off arm fell past him, I snapped my fingers.

“[Demon’s Mark].”

With that, a blast of crimson flame engulfed him. The Archdemon screamed in agony— a guttural cry that was slowly drowned out by the raging flames. My vision began to return to normal, repiecing itself as a set of notifications resounded in my head.

Defeated [Wildmaster Fiend - Lvl. 137]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Daeva Cambion] Level Up!

[Daeva Cambion – Lvl. 144] -> [Daeva Cambion – Lvl. 145]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

“Huh. Five more levels.”

I murmured to myself. I had almost thought that I would get another chance at an early evolution— but it seemed that that wasn’t going to happen this time. Well, even if I had been offered a chance to evolve right now, I probably wasn’t going to take it. As my dad had told me, it was probably better to wait rather than evolving early since the options would be far more limited.

Still, I was getting rather antsy just thinking about it. But that just meant I had to fight stronger opponents. And—

I heard a terrible screech echo from the side. I turned to face the [Archarachne] as it finally snapped free from Forti’s command. I twirled my scythe behind my back and grinned.

“One small step at a time…”

I whispered, before charging back towards the wild Primeval Demon.