Another month had passed. Jinda had managed to conscript almost all of Windport into Lord Wrath’s army.
A few files, namely, young females, were said to have been exempted from conscription, and taken elsewhere.
However, although rumours spread like wildfire, no one had managed to decipher where they truly went.
Furthermore, the most recent [Demon Lord] – one who ruled over both Lust and Gluttony was announced.
Due to the sheer rarity of a double lord, he was simply referred to as Lord Glust, a ruthless tyrant – even less ethical than Wrath. The towns under Glusts control were dealt with heartlessly.
Windport had been completely erased from the maps.
It was a ghost town, utterly destroyed, not even a flash of reminiscence possible. All that remained were ghastly ruins.
All the citizens were taken to army camps in Lord Wrath's manor.
But now, the five [Demon Lords], including the newly appointed one were discussing something far more trivial.
In fact, it could even, daresay, be dire.
However, despite this direness, only Lord Pride deals with the situation. Mistress Envy and Lord Wrath were brawling as usual, Mistress Sloth sleeping, and the new Lord Glust sitting on his throne, tapping his finger in annoyance.
For, you see, the humans had just announced to wager a war on the demons in just a mere five months’ time.
If this was not grim, then what was?
Lord Pride, or rather, Lin, surveyed the room. As the head of all [Demon Lords] in all but name, Lin found the use of formalities too systematic and overly precarious.
The table in the middle was carved from the now extinct Dryad trees, and the engravings must have taken several artisans years to decorate.
Each elegant, deliberate artwork told fantastical stories; a visual masterpiece that he had painstakingly imported from the Elven forests.
Selling this item that adorned the room would allow a person to live like nobility for their entire lives. Such was the quality of the instilled piece, its presence enough to overwhelm anyone who happened upon it.
This large, round table was also a great display of money, power, wealth.
However, everyone else in this room was ignorant to such public displays.
Lin sighed.
Once again, Doug and Kath were gibbering. Those two mixed as well as water and oil.
Their cooperation, or lack thereof, pained him.
Really, the land they ruled over was managed by none other than Lin himself. Those two bore no fruits when it came to governing, but the system had elected them as representatives of the demon race.
Even a prideful embodiment like him could not rebut the system itself.
Lolopop lay lazily on her chair, her head slumped to one side as she snored loudly -
The only proper [Demon Lord] here apart from him. Though, that in itself, was, perhaps nothing but a hapless façade.
He had sent a loyal vassal to watch Jinda attack Windport.
He wished to guise the ability of this recruit himself, but the reports he got were… nothing short of unsettling.
His aide, the one man Lin considered to be an equal, had sent one of his replicated clones to live in Windport for several years. Many of his informant clones were sprawled across the entire demon territory. Such was the ability of the rare [Reconnaissance] class.
The man, similar to Lin, had a distressing past. They grew up together and were brothers in all but blood.
Lin’s internal monologue got cut short as a lightning bolt crashed towards him. However, instead of dodging, He simply extended one of his hands, outstretched, and shot a tiny bullet of pure mana.
The purple lightning sizzled before dispersing.
“L…L-lord P-pride! I am so sorry!!!” pleaded Kath, as she bowed down frantically.
Even Doug appeared dead-serious, although Lin's heightened senses could notice the twitch in muscles, indicating that he was, allegedly, stifling a laugh.
More notably, the room had gone eerily quiet as an after hand of Kath’s blunder. Lolopop awoke with a start, and Jinda had also stopped his tap-tapping.
Taking this opportunity, Lin rounded everyone up, and at last, the conference had truly commenced.
“[Demon Lords],” he announced, his demanding voice whisking through the room, “Yesterday, the humans have declared war on us in five months’ time! I gather before you now, and, let me ask, shall we reciprocate the offer?”
Doug literally erupted in cheers, while Kath seemed to pout. Lolopop wearily mumbled something, rubbing her eyes in approval.
Lin twitched his head and saw Jinda bouncing in excitement.
“Yes! Blood!”
“Do I really have to fight?”
“Snoooreee…. ZzZzzzz”
“AHAHA! WOMEN!!!”
Lin took his leave, and took a deep sigh. Even if they want a war, he thought to himself, it's still me who does all the office work. My aide is far too busy right now.
After all, Lin’s trusty subordinate was busy infiltrating the human’s inner circles… His physical body was there, along his many clones, bound him to no limiting form.
It was similar to Jinda’s [Obsession], but any form could be taken. It was only restrained by the reigns of imagination.
However, these ‘clones’ were created from his aides’ very own soul. For every clone he made, a shard of his soul was ripped off to create that replicate.
Lin had urged him not to do it. Not to whittle his life away for the war efforts. Not to create that clone.
He still vividly remembered that day, almost a year ago.
“Aw, c’mon Lin! Can’t you have a bit of faith in your good ‘ol friend. I got this, yeah?”
“…If you say so… But promise me you’ll come back safe, okay?”
“Really? You know I don’t fuck around! I got this; I really do!”
A few days ago, he had sent an envoy back to Lin’s mansion. So far, it was rather successful, although he warned Lin about a [Hero] known as Ray – one that could easily reach the 9,999-stat mark.
Such a foe would be troublesome even to Lin himself, though he felt he still had the upper hand due to experience, technique and skill.
*
After Lord Pride left, Wrath took a gleeful clap.
“Yes! War, finally!”
However, no one else said a word. They all sat there, waiting for someone to make a move...
Thump.
The entire room, once bustling with noise, became eerily quiet.
They all had their eyes shot up, hair standing up on their backs…. Well, apart from Mistress Sloth, who was fast asleep.
However, Glust, Wrath and Envy all lay perfectly still, listening.
Knock . . . Knock . . . Knock.
No, they didn’t imagine it. Someone was knocking the door at a slow melancholic pace. The sound was that of a hand hitting a wooden board.
Glust listened closely. Wrath sat at the edge of his seat.
Knock . . . Knock . . . Knock.
Why am I getting so worked up over mere knocking? Thought Wrath, as he lazily walked to the door, slowly turning its handle…
And in front of him, stood a young girl, no older than 20. Although most of her face and body was hidden by a long, draped cloak, locks of hazel hair spun out occasionally.
Lord Wrath cocked his head and used [Battle Sense]. Better safe than sorry.
Immediately, he washed his instinctual feelings of fear away. She was an F-rank. Nothing more, nothing less.
“My, my, my, look at what we have here! A mere F-rank, bold enough to barge into the conference of [Demon Lords]!”
Instantly, his face soured, the fake façade of a smile replaced by a blood lusting grin.
“Say, WHY DON’T I REWARD YOU WITH DEATH???!!!”
He quickly drew his broadsword, slashing it at the foolish woman.
However, the woman seemed to easily dodge his attack, walking right past him as if unbeknownst of his existence.
And that made Wrath furious. What he hated more than being mocked was being ignored.
He encased the broadsword with mana, and ran up to the mysterious figure, flashing again.
This time, the woman grabbed this mighty weapon with her bare hands, which seemed slightly darker than the rest of her body.
Wrath pressed even further, but the woman wouldn’t budge. His arms began shaking, as he continued to edge downwards with his broadsword, refusing to admit defeat to a random woman who showed up out of nowhere.
And even worse, she’s an F-rank! Oh, the humiliation!
He released his grip, and bolted straight for the woman, ready to tackle her down before beating her to a pulp.
He smirked, as he managed to get a snug grip on the woman’s neck.
“Ha! That’ll show you to mess with-”
Yet, Wrath's sentence was cut short, as the woman suddenly vanished, before reappearing behind him.
To him, this turn of events seemed…unfathomable. The ability of [Battle Sense] didn’t vary based on experience.
Sure, Wrath had only recently attained his extra skills, but they should have been just as competent as even Lord Prides [Battle Sense].
But clearly, something was off.
No way – No way was it possible that this measly F-rank, the weakest of the weak, the runt of the litter had made a fool of him.
He refused to accept it.
His pride just wouldn’t let him admit it.
And his stupid, STUPID sister Envy was already sneering at him.
He turned back, shooting a [Dark Flame] behind him.
The fire spread around, and a hot mist engulfed the woman.
“HAH! Talk about wimpy! Who the fuck was that?!”
Wrath basked in his momentary glory, but he looked aghast as he felt a hand grab his neck from behind.
The entire room was covered in the mist now.
“H-Hey Envy, don’t screw with me!”
He expected Envy to be there, teasing him for being such a wuss. Instead, he heard another voice, cold and devoid of emotion.
It shook him to his core.
It really did.
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“Look, Doug, I’m not here for you. Leave me alone and let the pig repent”
How did this woman know his name?
And how did she survive his black fire?
N…no. I shouldn’t let it get to my head. He thought. She’s nothing but a wimpy F-rank.
He felt strong again. That’s right. It wasn’t that his pride wouldn’t allow him to lose. No. He WOULDN’T lose.
He physically couldn’t lose.
With both arms tied back behind his back and a blindfold, he still wouldn’t lose.
“Do YOU know who I AM?? I am WRATH, the DEMON LORD of Wrath! Die by my hands!”
Wrath, infuriated by even breathing the same air as an F-rank, lashed out, shooting out his strongest attack, a hellfire of dark flames.
If the room burned, Lord Pride could punish him, but now, such an inconsequential matter meant nothing.
He spewed a torrent of dark flames, strong enough to collapse the entire room and engulf it into ashes.
He grinned, expecting an easy victory, but-
“W-what?”
The woman simply negated his attack with her own.
The blackness from her attack cloaked his eternal, everlasting flames, and the fire dispersed.
Now, Wrath was visibly taken aback.
Even Envy looked shocked.
At first, he had just dismissed the woman because she was an F-rank, but that shadow looking magic – only they had access to it.
Any dark related magic was only accessible to ones with that title.
Which meant...
““Greed?”” questioned both Wrath and Envy in perfect unison.
They couldn’t see her face clearly because of the hood, but what the F-ranker did was most definitely some elemental branch of [Dark Magic].
Perhaps it was [Dark Wind] that had distilled his flames?
The woman cocked her head, before starting. “Me? No thanks, I’d rather not be a [Demon Lord]. I told you, I’m here to satisfy my vengeance.”
Even if she was a [Demon Lord], Wrath had enough. If she really was Greed, she should still respect her senior – him.
He surveyed the room. Apparently, Envy agreed, and for the first time since they were children, the siblings nodded their heads in agreement.
If this Greed died, a new one would be born soon enough.
“No point keeping those who don’t submit to power, “sneered Envy, her voice both mocking and angered.
The [Demon Lord] of Greed – or at least, he thought it was Greed, sighed in disappointment.
“Look, I already told you I wasn’t looking for a battle with you, the woman in skimpy clothing, or the one snoring like a hippo over there,” she commented, pointing at Mistress Sloth. “I’m here for piggy”
Her once disinterested and fruitless voice brimmed with rage at the last sentence.
What had Glust done to Greed?
Wrath turned towards his prior subordinate; Glust, who looked as pale as a sheet.
“Glust, who is SHE?” demanded Wrath.
Glust stood there, inmoving, before he managed to put on a brave act by disguising his fearful face as a scorn.
“I think… a Windport survivor,” replied Glust, his voice loud yet shaky. “I don’t know what you mean when you say she’s the [Demon Lord] of Greed or whatever. I’ll clean up my own mess.”
“Perfect,” replied the hooded woman. “Makes it easier for me.”
Greed dashed towards Glust, before quickly planting a hand on his forehead.
Glust flinched back, a black circle orbiting his head.
Wrath and Envy watched silently, as the blackness grew larger and larger, before engulfing Glust.
His screams were consumed by the shadows, and then – he disappeared.
“Why you!” screamed Wrath, as he made a lunge for the woman.
However, she simply warped away, out of his line of sight.
“Now, if you’ll let me continue…” she said in a casual tone, “You might want to search for another [Demon Lord] soon. Although since he won’t be dying for a while, you’ll need to wait for a long time before another [Demon Lord] pops up.”
After finishing her sentence, the woman vanished.
Envy frantically searched the room but found no sign of the hooded figure.
“What did she mean by finding another [Demon Lord]?” asked Envy in a startled tone.
Wrath stood there, thinking.
“Perhaps we should consult this with Lord Pride…”
“Pretty ironic that the one time we get along, we… Well, it’s ironic that we’re getting along, okay?”
Wrath resisted the urge to taunt his sister for that huge fumble. Even he knew, no matter how Lord Pride would respond, this situation was serious.
--- Some time earlier ---
A year. I was training in my dungeon for a whole entire year!
And by an entire year, I literally mean a whole year, purely dedicated to slime killing!
As I predicted before, the stats stolen from others starts to scale down the stronger I get.
When I walked into my dungeon, my stats were 2,000. Now, they’ve just climbed up to a minimum of 5,000 each!
To be honest, it’s really, really hard to stay all vengeful and stuff after a whole year of social isolation!
Sure, thinking of Jinda the piggy makes me pissed, but… yeah. That’s it. I just get pissed.
My wrath and rage are gone.
Instead, it’s been replaced with… some sort of serenity?
Like, you know those monks who seclude themselves from the outside worlds and spend their whole lives meditating?
Kind of like that.
Well, it’s been a whole year, hasn’t it?
And that means I’ve got a lot to report!
First off, let’s use [Appraisal] – a sub branch of {Omniscience] to see my status!}
I’ll get to the {Omniscience} part later.
Name: Rena Shinohara Level: 52 Rank: F Class (primary): None Class (secondary): None Health: 5,213 Damage: 5,638 Mana: 6,007 Defence: 5,073 Speed: 5,895 Luck: 125 Titles: [Underdog], [Monster Hunter], [Monster Slayer], [Dungeon Master], [Demon Lord], [Monster Calamity], [Supreme Hunter], [Monster Disaster], [Monster Catastrophe], [Fearbinger], [Champion], [Gladiator] Skills: [Absorption], {Omniscience}, [Melee Lv10], [Dark Magic Lv10], [Gorge Lv9], [Vampirism Lv10], [Empowerment Lv10], [Reduced Consumption Lv10], [Pain Resistance Lv8], [Reparation Lv10] Extra Skills: [Aura], [Battle Sense]> Whew! Sure, is a lot, huh? Well, I suppose I should begin from stats and move downwards in the same order [Appraisal] does it. Alright. Here goes nothing! All my stats took massive leaps forwards! Thank you, slimes! However, my luck stat barely went up. Why, you ask? The reasoning is actually a lot simpler than you think. [Absorption] can only steal stats from other entities, right? And do the slimes I farmed off have any luck stat? NOPE! So, from level 27 onwards, I just allocated all my CP into luck. I’ve been playing around with luck, and I can see that it affects the real world, even if it’s merely a slight alteration. I carved out a coin with my daggers, and even got [Appraisal] to check it was a fair, unbiased coin. Which means if I flip it 1,000 times, it should be 500-500, right? Well, I bet on tails every single time, and the results were 586-414, tails way. So, yeah. Luck works. It’s just not super apparent to the naked eye. Aside from luck, I’ve essentially become a low Mithril! After stats, come my titles. I got a bunch of [Monster ______] titles, which further increase the damage I do to monsters. No joke, a single flick of a finger can kill three or so slimes now! And since my defence is so high, I can literally sleep with the slimes and wake up unscathed. I even took a slime out, and named it ‘Harlew,’ which was inspired by a certain someone. It lives in bean-bag haven with me now! Apart from the [Monster ____] series, I also got [Fearbinger], [Champion], and [Gladiator]. [Fearbinger] lets the user excrete fear passively. To be honest, it isn’t the best title, but it’s funny watching the slimes scamper around the room when I activate it. [Champion] is a title anyone who exceeds level 50 can get. Basically, [Champion] slightly buffs other titles. It might sound bad, but when you have a ton of titles like me, it means the world! Namely, getting the [Champion] title gave me 10,000 more customisation points, allowing me to create a third storage room. It works like [Spatial Magic]. You see, while I was goofing around, I realised I could open a ‘doorway’ to both rooms at once. Then, I experimented, seeing how far I could exploit this. So, I came up with an ingenious solution! A third room linked to the fabric of space. It isn’t a physical room, so the only way to access it is through these doorways. Even better, since it isn’t physical, it can hold an infinite number of objects! And by infinite, I mean INFINITE. It was a good call making the storage room. Now, if the slime spawner reaches full capacity, all those slimes get sent to my storage system, and the number of slimes in the room goes back to 0, letting me essentially bypass the spawner cap. Thank you, [Champion]! Finally, there’s [Gladiator]. I was bound to get it, since this one time I lived in the slime room for about two months or so without ever leaving. Fighting endlessly in an enclosed area? Bam! [Gladiator] title, no questions asked! It basically makes me stronger the more enemies I face. That’s all for titles, but there’s… a lot to explain for skills. A whole bunch of things happened to my skill slots, and half of them are different. Right now, my skills include: The new skills I got are {Omniscience}, [Gorge Lv9], [Empowerment Lv10] and [Reduced Consumption Lv10]. Ugh, I hate listing stuff! But {Omniscience} isn’t actually a new skill. It’s just [Appraisal] having a glow-up! Hmm… To explain it, I have to go back in time a bit, so I might as well explain what ‘extra skills’ are, since they correlate with [Appraisals] evolution. So, like usual, I was killing slimes, right? At that point, I was dozing off a bit because I got bored, when a system notification suddenly popped up, saying my base stats had all reached 5,000. So first off, it let me choose a skill to undergo ‘ascension’. At first, I was confused what the system meant by that, but basically, one of my skills could be incorporated into some ‘unlimited system’. Even now, I’m not sure what this ‘unlimited system’ is, but essentially one of my skills became super overpowered. I was contemplating on whether to ascend [Absorption] into {Insatiable}, or to ascend [Appraisal] into {Omniscience}. On a whim, I chose to ascend [Appraisal] instead since [Absorption] sort of fell into a stand-still. And boy, oh boy was that the best decision ever! I chose [Appraisal] to undergo this ascension. Moments later, the system said something about creating the unique skill {Omniscience}, and [Rationality] as well as [Concentration] both became integrated into the new skill, fusing them together. After that, I had two empty skill slots, so I browsed my available skills as well as the skill shop, before deciding to get [Empowerment] and [Reduced Consumption]. Essentially, [Empowerment] eats up some stamina for temporary stat boosts. I can choose for [Empowerment] to consume mana instead for the same effect. Unfortunately, it can’t take both mana and stamina for a twofold boost, but the effects are still really nice. By pouring a select amount of mana into [Empowerment], I get a stat boost based on the mana I poured into speed, damage and defence. It’s still confusing, isn’t it? I guess the easiest way to explain is with an example. Say I dump 1,000 mana into [Empowerment], right? I then get +1,000 to damage, speed and defence. There. That should make more sense. The other skill, [Reduced Consumption], is essentially an inferior version of the Sloth-line skills. As the name suggests, it essentially dampens the cost of mana. I pumped both this and [Empowerment] to level 10 by grinding, and with that, I’ve managed to make some calculations by spending mana and seeing how much my skills went up. So, [Reduced Consumption] decreases all costs of spells and such by 30%, which is SUPER STRONG! A lot better than you think! Oh yeah. It also applies for stamina, but that’s kind of irrelevant right now. My high stats already mean a naturally high endurance. And, since I got some new skills, I figured to get rid of another useless skill and replace it with something else. Namely, [Run]. I mean, come on! I haven’t touched that skill since my mole days! Back when I was still a measly lower Bronze… So yeah. I deleted it, but I couldn’t find a good replacement skill, so it was left empty for a while. …Since I’m going in chronological order, I suppose I’ll leave that to later. I got those and ascended [Appraisal] into {Omniscience}. Then, the system said I got some extra skills – [Aura] and [Battle Sense]. [Battle Sense] is just an inferior version of [Appraisal] that costs mana to initiate. And it only shows the rank and level. You have to know that person’s name, or else the results will just show that name as ‘???’ It’s really just to guise the general strength of your opponents. [Aura] on the other hand, is pretty interesting. It also costs mana to use and emits some fainting or unerring haze similar to the effects of the [Fearbinger] title. Except, maybe tenfold as effective? The interesting thing about [Aura] is that its effects vary based on the individual it's targeted to. Say I have a subordinate that sees themselves as inferior to me. [Aura] would be much more effective against them than against some bulky guy who sees themselves as superior to me. It’s kind of like the pig’s skill, [Contemporary]. Except, if you have a strong will, you can technically resist [Aura] despite being far weaker than the opponent using [Aura]. How, you ask? Simple: Gaslighting! If you genuinely think you’re stronger than someone even if you aren’t, the effects of [Aura] are still lessened. I should keep that in mind. So, I can just gaslight myself into resisting [Aura]. After that ‘5,000 milestone’ jump scare, I did some tests with {Omniscience}, trying to figure out its abilities. {Omniscience} is basically… how should I put it? Basically, {Omniscience} is a combination of a bunch of mental skills such as [Appraisal], [Foresight], [Concentration] and co. I can [Appraise] like usual, but this skill also helps me in actual combat! I can predict enemy moves by slightly seeing into the future. Paired along with my high speed, almost nothing can hit me! However, if the opponent somehow has a future-sight impairing skill, I can still predict their next move by sensing which muscles twitch in which direction and stuff like that. {Omniscience} doesn’t just improve my defensive ability. It also locates my enemies’ weak points, such as a dent in the armour, a previous wound, or a pressure point. So, {Omniscience}, paired along with [Underdog] makes me hit like a tank! Here’s the even cooler thing: I can only ask [Appraisal] questions, and it responds to me, right? Sort of like a one-way conversation. But, for {Omniscience}? NOPE! It also asks me questions and gives me suggestions! Because of this, my knowledge has grown, and my roots of Wisdom have extended along the plane! You know how I was looking for a replacement skill for [Run], right? I was cuddling with my slimes (and killing some by hugging too hard), when {Omniscience} took the lead and went something like: Okay, there weren’t any robot sounds… But then I was confused. I mean, {Omniscience} can’t just go around gifting skills! So, I asked it, and guess what? I got a WHOLE CRITERIA SHEET ON HOW TO UNLOCK [GORGE]! I seriously wasn’t expecting that! And so, I built proficiency for a super rare skill, before I finally unlocked it. [Gorge] is essentially the inferior version of [Gluttony]. It seems every exclusive sin skill, only accessible to [Demon Lords] has some weaker version that the public can use. Yeah. [Gorge] lets me stack up a bunch of health, mana and stamina regeneration. [Gorge Lv9] can accumulate a maximum of 900 points in each category, so I’m assuming [Gorge Lv10] can store up to 1,000. Gorge isn’t maxed out yet because the proficiency for it is super hard to earn. The only other skill I don’t have maxed is [Pain Resistance]. It only levelled up once, because, well… Look, nothing here can break through my defence anymore, okay? Meaning that even if I wanted to, as long as I stayed in the dungeon, I couldn’t feel pain. Aaahhh…. Finally, stupid explanations are over. For the first time in forever, I take a dire step outside my dungeon. The light is almost blinding, and I imagine myself hissing like a vampire. As I step out of my dungeon, I grab my daggers and a long, hooded cloak from my storage. Taking a deep breath, I walk past the desolate streets of Windport, slowly but surely marching to Lord Prides manor – the place [Demon Lords] hold their conferences. I made a promise, and I’ll fulfill it. That pig will suffer. Just like I did.