“Ah, that was great,” Arx commented as he swallowed a big piece of arbeast roast. “Thank you for the spices. It was delicious. I ran out… fuck, years ago.”

  I tilted my head as I wolfed down my own massive portions. “What about herbs? You’re in the middle of mountain forests. Surely there must be something.”

  “Well, yes. There is. But they’re not that good. And having salt is essential!”

  I snorted. “Well, I do love salt too. But the herbs here are definitely good. Top-tier, even. I often pick some to take home.”

  “Ah… That makes sense.”

  “It does!” I nodded strongly. “I’m not the best at cooking either, though. I don’t know that I can make something good with only the things found here. My girlfriend usually cooks at home.” And I didn’t need to eat whenever I was out hunting, like right now.

  Arx smiled. “That must be nice,” he said wistfully.

  I looked at the afternoon sky with him. “Yeah. It is.” I paused. “You know, when I introduced myself earlier, I only gave you my name, but none of the accompanying titles. You don’t actually know who I am, or what I do.” I faced towards him, and he met my gaze. “I am The Demon Queen Haell Zharignan. I rule over the Arisen City State, formerly known as the Astro City of the Edengar Kingdom. I have claimed their manor, and turned it into my own home. It is henceforth known as Pandemonium. The place oozes with curse, and you can’t possibly miss it. Visit anytime, whenever you’re ready. I give you, Arx, an open invitation. It lasts forever, unless I say otherwise.”

  The silence stretched on. Arx continued to stare at me. He opened his mouth, and then fucking laughed.

  My brows furrowed irritably. Here I was trying to help!

  Thankfully, Arx’s mirth did not last very long.

  “You’re not kidding, are you?”

  I clicked my tongue. “Of course not. Dumbass.”

  He chuckled some more. “Well, then I’ll keep it in mind, Demon Queen.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “That feels insincere.”

  “My, my.” He covered his mouth with his claws. “That is surely an overreaction, o great Demon Queen.”

  I thought it over for a moment, then stood. “That’s it. We’re fighting.”

  “What!?” He sputtered over the last bites of his meal. “That’s uh, take a joke, come on.”

  “I can take a joke,” I snorted. “But I’ve been wanting to have a spar with you anyway. Impressive moves you showed back there.” I thumbed towards the still massive corpse of the arbeast he’d killed.

  “...Yes. I’m sure it was.” He finally stood and then looked at me incredulously. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’re like, Level 40.”

  My evil eye twitched. “Oi! Are you already convinced that I’ll lose?”

  “No, no. Of course not.” Arx waved his front limbs placatingly, like he was talking to a fucking child. “You do give off a very dangerous feeling somehow, so I have been curious about how you fight. I haven’t had a friendly spar in a long time, and I’d love to see if you can really give me a challenge despite the gap in levels.”

  “That’s what I mean! Stop talking like I’d already lost!” I fumed and stomped my hooves.

  “That’s really not what I meant,” Arx laughed good-naturedly, but then took his position as the distance between us widened. His whole presence suddenly sharpened, though I could tell he still wasn’t taking this nearly as seriously as when he was fighting the arbeast earlier. “But alright. Whenever you’re ready.”

  “Fine.” I too got serious and drew Devilcalibur. My hooves dug into the mountain ground, and then I charged. A thunderous boom cracked through the air, and Arx stiffened upon my approach. Devilcalibur swung down, and was met by his mandibles. A shrill sound rang out, and my opponent grunted. His mandibles had been dented, but I had no intention to give him time to process.

  I pressed the attack! Another slash immediately followed, and then another. Arx scurried back every time he was forced to defend. But then his sharp and massive front limbs came up and stabbed towards me. I maneuvered with my tail and avoided both of them. I slashed again, but found Devilcalibur handily parried by a front claw. The other one was still free to stab me, and so did his manidles try to grab my own head. I only managed to fully dodge the latter, but the front limb managed to heavily depress my armor and draw blood from the hole the attack opened. Another exchange like that followed, before I pulled out more of my bubbling power.

  A hurricane of magic spilled unto reality and saturated the entire space around us. My opponent screamed upon the torrent of hellfire and curse.

  His response was to redouble his efforts to defeat me for good. Arx ignored the excruciating pain and pressed the assault with his many frontal weapons. But I yet proved able to protect myself, for while I would certainly lose a normal struggle, I could at least survive for a decent while if I stayed on the defensive.

  I received several stab wounds that broke flesh, muscle, and occasionally organs if I could not evade well enough. My blood magic healed me the next second, with mini-rituals used if crucial organs had been damaged. I found the rare chance to counterattack, and I wrenched my enemy’s front claw aside with a sacrifice of my inner blood. Another time, I managed to meet its mandibles with the confluence of my wrath, only I had to restrain its cursed shockwave as the face was too vulnerable, and this was still a spar.

  “OW! MY FACE!”

  Arx suddenly leapt away.

  I followed for a moment, and then thought better of it. Sure enough, he ran along the trees, and then leapt back into the fray. The wind roared as he reached speeds far beyond mine, but my opponent could only move in a straight line like this. I dodged his grabbing mandibles, met his frontclaw with my sword, and found myself only tossed like a meteor towards a tree. The trunk broke from the impact, I stabilized myself with my wings, and then I met Arx’s pursuit. My wounds from that clash were swiftly healed, and our battle returned to the previous status quo, of a magic storm brewing around our melee.

  “Hellfireball.”

  I managed to finish a magic circle and cast a small ritual. The projectile streaked towards my opponent, and he screamed once more upon blocking it with a front claw. It had been steadily damaged by my auto-retaliation, and now the thick chitin was finally beginning to grow weaker. I used this opportunity to get a good slash into his torso through the likewise damaged and thinner chitin, dealing a massive amount of damage. Arx then swiped me away, and no opportunity like that came again as he made sure to destroy any attempt at a full-bore ritual I tried to make.

  But it didn’t have to be full bore.

  The damage to Arx’s chitin was extensive, and the flesh within had surely suffered as well thanks to the elements I favored. Trying to properly defend from my magic would open him up too much from the front. I aimed to finally finish this when I detonated the many patches of my blood left on him, from all the times he hurt me. He screeched even louder than before, the damage was greater just due to the sheer volume of it, and pieces of chitin fell off.

  I aimed for one such vulnerability, when I suddenly had a premonition. I felt through my spatial senses that his stance had shifted somehow, though I had no idea how. Still, I followed my instincts and steeled myself.

  It turned out to be the right choice.

  Arx fucking leapt at point-blank range.

  We collided in a heap, but only I was bowled right over, because the sheer mass and momentum of Arx’s body was far greater than my own. I managed to protect my vitals, but his three mandibles still caught my right arm. They dug into my armor, bending the metal, piercing through, and then crushing the flesh underneath in a spray of rushing blood!

  “Okay, okay! Holy shit!” He panted before I could properly react. “It’s over!”

  “NOT YET!” I screamed and pulled myself forward despite the pain.

  The flesh of my muscles were sheared off, tissues outright spilled.

  Even the bone was not spared, unsteadily shaved and cracked open.

  Still, I raised my greatsword with my one good hand and smashed it into Arx.

  Once, twice.

  I never stopped screaming as I lost myself in the sheer chaos of battle.

  And then the pressure on my right arm suddenly disappeared.

  There was also no one left in front of me

  I immediately glared at the inhex man who had foolishly let me go.

  He beat me to the punch and screamed. “STOP! STOP!!! WHAT THE FUCK! HAELL! YOUR ARM! HOLY SHIT!”

  I stared at him for one long moment.

  “Huh?”

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘HUH!?’ Your arm! Look at your arm! Holy fuck, I’m sorry!”

  I briefly looked at my limbs, and then turned back to him. “You give up?”

  “Give up…? NO! YES!? This isn’t the time for that! It was supposed to just be a spar!!”

  “...It is.” I took a deep breath and finally calmed down. My desire to kill this screaming cunt sealed away, sublimated into the oceans of my ego. “What’s the problem?”

  “It’s because you just pulled your arm along my lock! Now it’s…” he stared the the red flesh that had been revealed. The similarly colored blood still covered it, but the holes had clearly closed up. “Oh. You’re fine. That’s… good. But I was worried! What if the wound turns permanent?! That was reckless and dangerous and stupid!!”

  I furrowed my brows. I finally understood his worry. It was annoying. I didn’t know how much I should reveal either. This was such a big trump card, yet I just casually showed my whole arm regrowing to the Demon Aspires before. What the fuck was I thinking!? Did I want to show off that much!?

  I did appreciate Arx’s concern, though. Genuinely and sincerely. It was warm.

  “Don’t worry. It’s not the first time this happened. I’m very used to it. I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  Arx considered me for a long moment, and then sighed. “Fine. If you’re that confident.”

  “I am,” I confirmed. “You need a heal?”

  “Yes, please.” He heaved another sigh as I conjured a blanket of my own blood. He shied away.

  “Don’t worry. This makes blood magic healing much more effective than simple contact.”

  “Are you sure…?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you say so…”

  “Oh, ye of little faith.” I engaged my healing magic, and he immediately relaxed.

  Arx collapsed to his belly and said, “Okay. That is pretty fucking good.”

  “Told you.”

  “That was too nasty!”

  “Huh? You just said it was good.”

  “The healing is, yeah. But what the fuck was up with your magic? It felt like… it felt like actual torture! I could hardly think! What the fuck!?”

  “Ah… Yeah. Fire does that.”

  “That’s not normal fire,” he observed.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “It’s not.”

  He sighed again and then stood back up once he was fully healed.

  I did the same and stretched my weary body while swinging Devilcalibur a few times.

  “So, another go?”

  “NO!”

  “Ehh? Why?”

  “I just told you. The way you fight is too nasty. And I’m used to battle. I’m used to being injured. But that… it’s too much.” He looked at me askance, or an approximation of it, with his beady insect-like eyes. “Also, it’s too dangerous. What are you going to do if I end up permanently injured, and a Mutation just shuts off!?”

  “Ah… that’s never happened. I do hold back some already.”

  “I think you’re skirting around the edges of danger, and I’d really just rather fight you again. I thought a spar would be fun and light if still a learning experience. But NO. I would prefer fighting to the death with random monsters over you anytime!

  “Rude,” I clicked my tongue, then sighed. I just did not have anyone I could regularly spar against with all my power. Grandpa was willing, but he was too old and weary to be exerting himself like that. Elfrafim was fucking immortal, but she often refused now whenever I invited her! So lonely! I sighed deeply. “Fine. I guess I win our one and only bout. And then we won’t have another.”

  Arx glared at me for one long moment, before just… relenting? “Fine. Sure. Whatever you say. It’s your win.”

  “If you’re unconvinced, then we can have a rematch to be sure–”

  “No.”

  ~~~

  “And that’s where the borders are now,” I tapped on the accurate map I’d carved over a smooth piece of wood with my dagger. It was dark out now, but we could still clearly see with how powerful we were. I lit a small patch of hellfire nearby anyway.

  “Edengar has lost a lot,” Arx bobbed his head as he loomed. The last time he’d gotten an update was from a friendly passing harpy years ago. “Good. How’d you manage to get the coastal cities? The angels just let it go?”

  “Eh, there was a breakout of cursetaceans like a decade ago. The cities got overrun, they were forced to abandon some, and Southern New Grandera took over the ones that were close enough. I heard that some perceptive admirals and generals even joined in the attack themselves.”

  “That’s great. Very lucky. I wish those cursetaceans would always do that.”

  “I don’t know if that’s even possible,” I chuckled, without mentioning that it was very likely by my own actions that they had surged that time to begin with. “But yes, we have not been able to take more. It’s just too dangerous. The dwarves and harpies are accustomed to fighting the angels, but their true elites would not descend from their mountains lightly. Even if you count me as hero-class, and maybe I have one more ally at that level… angels are really fucking strong for their level to begin with. I think we’d need at least one more Hero-rank person to complete our formation.” I turned to Arx. I was no coward who would subtly pressure a friend. “That could be you. I think you’d be very good for it. If you ever feel up to the task, then I’d love for you to join me in an Angel Hunt.”

  Arx was quiet for a long moment.

  “A dead angel, but in exchange, my people will lose and suffer even worse. It… I want to say it’s not worth it, but it would have to happen at some point. But not now. Not yet.”

  I shrugged. If they’re going to suffer either way, then why not at least land a hit on your enemy!? “It’s completely up to you.”

  He grunted. “I’ve seen how strong you are. When the time comes, then I would like to cooperate with your group.”

  “Of course,” I raised a fist and hesitated for a second, “friend.”

  He bumped his big claw with mine, and I smiled.

  ~~~

  A green-black severed arm flopped wildly around a table, like the world’s worst worm. It grabbed and flexed, and managed to jump quite high, before falling down and ever so slowly destroying itself.

  “What is that?” I finally asked.

  “A prosthetic,” Moonwash simply answered.

  “Is it safe???”

  “No.”

  “Then why?”

  “I’m still in the testing phase. But I have managed to use dead flesh, a goblin’s seed, and then a blood magic ritual, to create a living arm.”

  “Ahhhh. Yeah. That is impressive. Good job! I was just joking earlier…”

  “I know. Thank you.”

  We stared at the flopping muscular arm for a while longer.

  “So can it be used? As a prosthetic, I mean. We giving it to Luine?”

  “No. It’s not ready. I haven’t figured out how to get it to listen to commands to begin with.”

  “Oh yeah. It’d be pretty bad if your hand won’t listen to you.” I grabbed my left hand and writhed in apparent pain. “Ugh! The demon sealed in my hand is breaking free! I can’t control it!!!”

  “Why would you be trapped in a hand?”

  “Not me.” I straightened back up. “It’s just a common trope in the fictional stories of Earth. I was reminded of that.”

  “I see. Tell me more.”

  “Later. Remind me. More importantly, how did you actually do this!?” I gestured at the arm flopping about. It had fallen to the floor, so I picked it up to put it back on the table. The limb grabbed and clawed at my arm, and I sensed that it would’ve actually drawn blood were it not for my armor-dress. Offensive power of around Level 20. Interesting.

  “I can show you.”

  And Moonwash did. We went to Ritual Hall above, and my girlfriend placed a slab of arbeast flesh at the center of it. A goblin seed was inserted, and she drew a complicated ritual around the thing. A thousand legs sprouted from the walls and ceiling.

  “Goblinoid Leg Creation.”

  She spoke the ritual to life, and a vast amount of blood magic poured into the slab of flesh. The legs all around us kicked and writhed. The transformation of the piece of meat accelerated, elongating and compressing. But it didn’t even get the chance to suggest a goblinoid figure before massive chunks of muscle and fat were devoured by the process, or fell right off.

  In the end, the attention of the greater magic receded, and a single blackish green leg was left in the center of the hall.

  Moonwash looked at me, and I looked at her.

  “That’s amazing!” I finally gushed as we left for the courtyard. My girlfriend talked about the difficult process to get to this point, much of which I was present for. From the inert and lifeless first iterations, to finally the living and kicking version we had just seen. The limbs did actually possess a certain level of… animalistic thought. A violent sort of instinct, certainly, which was unavoidable when the limbs still came from a goblin seed. They had no Status at all, and was generally very similar to biomancie’d Mutations that no longer leveled up.

  A thought suddenly struck me as we sat by the courtyard and ate ice cream. “Hey, by the way. How’s your work on immortality?”

  “Bad. I’ve tried what I could, but the body’s components just naturally degrade and weaken over time. Even healing magic can only temporarily alleviate the symptoms. I can’t find a way to solve it.”

  “Damn… What about straight-up Biomancy? Shift their body to a younger form. Even if you have to break their Mutations to do it.”

  “It won’t work. I tried on elderly animals already. It even accelerated their demise. Put too much strain on their body.” And we were only able to try at all because some life mana suddenly came up for sale in the Capital City of Granola. That place really had everything!

  Except, evidently, not enough. Maybe Moonwash could succeed if she had more to work with.

  “Fuck!” I clicked my tongue. “Come on. There has to be something. Grandpa is dying! And he won’t be the only one. I can see everyone getting old. And they’re not getting any stronger.”

  “I’m doing what I can. I want them to live too.”

  There was no noticeable change in her, but I could tell that I’d struck a sensitive nerve.

  “Ah.” I winced and then pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. No uh, no pressure. Don’t blame yourself if it doesn’t work out.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Errr… please do it?”

  “Fine. If you insist.”

  “I do.”

  ~~~

  _________________

  Name: Haell Zharignan

  Species: Archdemon

  —Mutations—

  Curse Heart: Level 55

  Demon Brain: Level 53

  Demon Skin: Level 52

  Evil Eyes: Level 52

  Demon Flesh / Demon Bones / Demonic Musculature(synced) : (All) Level 52

  Demon Arms: Level 53

  Demon Hooves: Level 53

  Resentment: Level 40

  Demon Horns: Level 53

  Mana-infused Blood: Level 54

  Regen Heart: Level 54

  Demon Wings: Level 53

  Hellfire Heart: Level 54

  Unbreakable Memory Core: Level 52

  Extradimensional Demon Blood Storage: Level 53

  Demon Tail: Level 52

  Localized Dimension Scanner Matrix: Level 53

  Rapid Combat Nervous System: Level 54

  Blood Heart: Level 54

  Blood Eater: Level 53

  —Soul Feats—

  Reincarnator

  Progenitor

  Imp Progenitor

  Progenitor II

  Demon Progenitor

  Demon Harbinger

  Progenitor III

  Archdemon Progenitor

  Slaughter of the Astro Manor

  Pandemonium

  Mark of The Beast

  _________________

  I smiled upon reviewing my Status again. My progress had accelerated once more with the recent changes to my lifestyle. And it wasn’t just the things reflected in my status that had grown, but all the new things I’d learned as well.

  Like this.

  Blood was pulled out of my body from a small cut made from the inside. The sinister red liquid floated only briefly before neatly but rapidly arranging itself on the ground of the rooftop. From the familiar contours of my hellfire, to the power of blood coalescing around it. I did not need to painstakingly keep a ritual still and afloat if I just painted with it like a normal person!

  I took a deep breath, and breathed the ritual into being.

  “Hellfireball.”

  And a red sun bloomed. It was scorching hot and painful, even for me. I took a few steps back, but without taking my eyes off the beautiful working of magic. This was the most torturous element I’d ever encountered, and I should definitely not be thinking that it was beautiful.

  The ground beneath shivered.

  The several massive eyes around me either turned away, or closed their eyelids.

  “Sorry, sorry,” I apologized to Pandemonium. It had eyes now upon its rooftops. This would allow it to better keep an eye out for our surroundings, especially against aerial threats. There were some on the outer walls too, which I was sure my neighbours appreciated. I heard Pandemonium even waved at them sometimes!

  “Ah, Haell!” a voice suddenly called while I was in a glaring contest with Pandemonium.

  I looked down the railing and saw that it was Larah of the Demon Aspires who had spoken.

  “Ah, you three!” I waved, speaking loudly. “How are things?”

  “Good, good,” Marcus answered, also shouting. “We were just about to go out to town. We were wondering if you’d like to join? Unless if you’re busy, of course!”

  I looked to the bright noon sky. “Sure. Why not?” I chuckled. “I’m not–I don’t have to be as busy as you think.”

  Then more softly, I said to the ground beneath my hooves. “Ask Moonwash for me if she wants to join, will you?”

  I caught up to the Demon Aspires, and we took a leisurely stroll through the courtyard. By the time we’d made it to the gate, a bottomless stairway opened where my girlfriend emerged from the darkness.

  We kissed briefly, and then I held her hand.

  “Let’s go!”

  ~~~

  What followed was a very fun afternoon. We ate through several restaurants, attended plays, and spent a fortune on whatever the fuck we wanted to buy. I got to stroll around what was indeed my city, unbothered by the attention I inevitably attracted, so long as they didn’t really do anything. There was a whole district of nearly all shepherds, and they were definitely the most welcoming towards me. We had an ample supply of amulets to counter their mindfuckery, and Arisen City turned out to be quite a bit friendlier with them than any New Granderan territory, so a whole bunch of them had come here to settle. Moonwash recognized one who didn’t actually have their amulet turned on, and I immediately pointed Devilcalibur at her. She immediately bowed and apologized and flipped the enchantment on, claiming it was an accident.

  I let the issue go without allowing it to ruin the rest of my day. Only one person being stupid like that was impressive in itself. I was sure Granuel or someone else of his people would take care of it.

  We ate in another restaurant come nightfall. There were really a lot of those here.

  “So. Have you guys thought about whether to continue with becoming a demon some more?”

  “Well…” Marcus hesitated. It’d been over a year since they came here, and they hadn’t really brought it up again. But they still stayed at Pandemonium, and honestly, they weren’t bad company. I didn’t mind if they stayed.

  “No rush,” I interjected. “It’s a big decision. You actually know what being a demon entails, where I did not. So definitely think it over.”

  “...Why did you do it then, if you weren’t sure?” Ragnar asked.

  “I was determined,” I shrugged. They knew I was still withholding some vital information about myself, but didn’t press. Then again, it was something I’d once shared with the whole of the Harvesters, so therefore, it’d probably spread by now, thanks to Therick..

  “I see…”

  I looked at him. At the three of them. Moonwash held my hand under the table. I squeezed her back, feeling all sorts of warm that she actually noticed anything.

  “I’m a reincarnator. Demons are just fictional creatures, but ones I desperately wanted to become to the point of obsession. The reality of this world is what finally allowed me to fulfill that dream to my highest satisfaction.”

  ““WHAT!?””

  I outright cackled at the completely predictable reaction, and explained.

  ~~~

  “Do you regret it?” Ragnar asked after we’d finished our meals. Now it was time for dessert! “Would you not become a demon if you knew… well, about having curse mana in your body, and um, being driven to insanity?”

  “No,” I said clearly, confidently. The view of my city was beautiful from this high. “I would become a demon all over again.”

  If I had a nickel for every time Haell had to explain the exact same thing again--

  I'm not quite sure about how the interaction with the Demon Aspires went, purely because of how short it was! But... my instincts screamed at me that it's correct. And I really can't think of anything to add that would actually make it better. So I just stuck with it!

  Please consider supporting me on and read 30 chapters ahead! Thank you!