Our souls were wellsprings for our emotions. Sometimes, when we experienced too much emotions at once, we’d be forced to escape from that overwhelm by any means necessary. Retreating into ourselves. Denying reality. Fleeing from it all.
I couldn’t let this be that moment.
A sense of greed pulsed in my core. Unsettling from the dark recesses of my being to claw into my chest, this new desire flowed through my entire being. Time slowed to a crawl as I turned my attention to the riot of emotions pouring through me like tar—thick and viscous. Fear trembled from the depths of my soul, itched through my veins and nervous system. The heaviness in my chest filled me as if by the weight of one grain of sand at a time.
The desire pulsed again, and I let the fire of anger pour into the yawning void of my core. I sank into that feeling as it poured back into me, more of a raging inferno than before.
This would not be the end. It would not be Harorin’s end.
【NOTICE】
You have strengthened your tether to your Demon Core.
[1%] → [2%]
I hadn’t meant to do that, and I wasn’t sure what I’d done to do it, but I felt stronger. More, somehow. I wanted to let this feeling consume my entire being until I understood the process, controlled it, breathed it.
But I didn’t have the time.
I activated [Forgotten Son].
【NOTICE】
You have activated Forgotten Son [Uncommon].
Your presence is suppressed so that others forget you, rendering you able to act freely without being perceived for up to five minutes a day.
You have 4 minutes and 51 seconds of use remaining today.
This would be the perfect time to run, but I refused to leave Harorin to be mutilated more.
The buzzing of [Cold-Blooded Nature] faded into the background, and I welcomed the calm clarity that fell over me.
Glancing at the demon taking a third bite of Harorin’s limp body in his grasp, I pulled out one of the [Daggers of Nowhere]. The problem with using them was that they only weakened a demon’s tether to their core by 5% at a time, which would draw out the fight to my disadvantage.
I was already at an overwhelming disadvantage, so I couldn’t have that.
Could I evolve it? [A Mother’s Last Request] didn’t say I couldn’t use my skill evolution points, so the real question was whether I had enough.
【STATUS】
Name: Geram Vulros
Patron God: Ket’ha ┃ Class: Hidden Slayer [Transcendental]
Soul: E-Rank (Stage 3) ┃ Cores: 1 ⌃
Level: 20 ┃ Exp: 5,900/20,000
STR: 295┃ AGI: 385┃ STA: 415┃ PER: 510
FP: 5 ┃ EP: 13
Skills: 6/6 ⌃
I had enough to evolve three skills or items from Common to Uncommon. Using them now would mean it’d take longer to accrue enough evolution points to evolve anything past that—and all but two were already stuck there.
【NOTICE】
Would you like to use 5 EP to evolve the Daggers of Nowhere?
[Common] → [Uncommon]
Item Name: Daggers of Nowhere [Uncommon]
This item weakens a demon’s tether to their core by up to 15%.
Thankfully, this seemed worth spending the evolution points. Evolving the daggers now meant I could do three times the damage in one hit. It’d take fewer strikes to weaken the demon’s tether enough for me to destroy its core, killing it for good.
…Or steal it, give it to Harorin as Mother had given one to me. Maybe he could be brought back to life like I had. But his body—
Yes.
【NOTICE】
You have successfully evolved Daggers of Nowhere [Uncommon].
What about [Demeot Eyes]?
【NOTICE】
Would you like to use 5 EP to evolve Demeot Eyes?
[Common] → [Uncommon]
Skill Name: Demeot Eyes [Uncommon]
This passive skill gives you the vision of a demon, allowing you to identify the core quality of a demon, along with their name and affiliation.
Name and affiliation? Honestly didn’t seem that useful, but something in me needed to know this demon’s name. Like there was power in knowing.
I’d just have to work harder to accumulate more points later.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Yes.
【NOTICE】
You have successfully evolved Demeot Eyes [Uncommon].
“Slayer?” The demon drew out the last syllable and smacked his lips. After Harorin’s shoulders, he’d gone for an arm. But he was no longer just ‘the demon.’
【NOTICE】
Your Demeot Eyes [Uncommon] have successfully identified:
Name: Irthrothun
Affiliation: Order of the Rational ┃ Title: Commander
Core: Epic
Irthrothun.
So that was the name of Harorin’s murderer. I turned the name over in my mind like I was sharpening a knife.
Irthrothun.
Irthrothun, I’m going to kill you.
A plan came together in my mind. To get the demon away from Harorin, the couple, and the girl, I’d lead him to Helas’s doorstep. That’d also buy me time to find his weakness.
“Where did you go, hm?” He made a show of looking around. “Did you run away? That’d be a shame. I’ll just finish devouring your friend and then devour the people and the little girl over there. Their deaths will be all your fault. Won’t the guilt eat you alive?”
He talked way too much.
The first step of the plan was to catch the demon’s attention.
【NOTICE】
You have deactivated Forgotten Son [Uncommon].
You have 3 minutes and 37 seconds of use remaining today.
“I haven’t gone anywhere,” I told the demon, activating [Revenge Best Served Cold]. The second step of my plan.
【NOTICE】
You have activated Revenge Best Served Cold [Uncommon] for the first time today.
Your awareness broadens to uncover up to two of your target’s weaknesses if they possess any. Please concentrate on your target...
Irthrothun had to have some weakness I could target to make the [Daggers of Nowhere] that much more effective. The head—likely. The chest—if I wanted to consider that a demon could have a heart.
The skill had only not worked on Father because he’d been that much more powerful than me, and this demon was nothing compared to him. It should work, even if it took time.
“Oh, good,” he said, his rotten tongue twisting against his sharp teeth. It made me want to set his head on fire like Harorin had. His soulless black eyes caught my attention. “Your core brightened. Why is that, Slayer?”
“If you catch me, maybe I’ll tell you?” As if I even had the answer. It was a great question, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it; it was time for the third step of my plan.
All I had to do was get to Helas.
I backpedaled first, testing if he’d follow. In fact, he growled and then rushed at me far quicker than I’d expected. I’d been hoping I’d have to set his head on fire to piss him off and get him to chase me.
As he took off after me with a scream into the dark sky, I had to admit he was fast, but he wasn’t as fast as Father had been when he’d torn out Mother’s demon core while her back was turned on him. What a fucking coward he’d been.
Anger washed over me anew, and I took off further down the street toward Helas’s house and away from Harorin’s bleeding body, as well as the couple and the little girl, who were all starting to realize something was wrong.
With that, I’d accomplished one objective and gained another. I needed to learn more about demons—quickly. The system hadn’t even registered my encounter with him as dangerous as it did with other Cored Beings. I could stumble upon a well-meaning kobold or orc, and I’d get a system notice about it anyway. The system would make quests for the most mundane tasks, like assigned homework, or the smallest of goals, like gaining a mentor.
But I’d gotten nothing when we’d encountered the demon. As if he wasn’t real. He was real, though, and he was clearly stronger than me. He’d been so strong that Harorin’s fire magic had barely damaged him when it should’ve been enough to stop a Cored Being like him.
Then again, Harorin’s shield shouldn’t have pushed me away, either; magic didn’t really work like that on Souled Beings, as if something about the System prevented it from working. I didn’t only have a soul anymore, though.
Irthrothun had a soul and a core, just like I did. Did that mean he’d gained access to the system as well? If that were true, then maybe I could judge his stats against mine to better judge my chances against him.
Two blocks down, I took a sharp left. When he rounded the corner after me, I pushed my speed to the limit and used my perception to track the distance that grew between his presence and mine.
He raced after me, the gap failing to widen as much as I’d hoped. And it looked like he’d be fine chasing me to the ends of the continent, his agility and stamina close enough to mine that I couldn’t slack for a second.
So he probably had higher strength, agility, and stamina.
Not great. Really not great at all.
But that left one last stat to judge against my own, and I was most confident in my perception. Given how high my estimations were for his other three stats, I could reasonably assume his perception was lower than mine. Maybe not by a lot—but even a little was something.
That was how I’d get to Helas. Rely on my perception and skills, exploit whatever weaknesses [Revenge Best Served Cold] revealed to me, and weaken his tether with the [Daggers of Nowhere]. But before I found her, my life would be on the line.
There was no other way.
I activated [Forgotten Son] again and took a hard right at the next block as a shudder swept through me. Whispering an apology to the families living nearby for the destruction I’d just led to their doorsteps, I leapt onto the awning of a nearby two-story house then up to the roof to watch Irthrothun charge down the street toward me.
“Slayer,” he roared. Somehow, his dark yellow core glowed stronger than before. “Hiding won’t work forever!”
I hated that he wasn’t wrong.
【NOTICE】
Your target has these two weaknesses that you can exploit:
Eyes┃Core
You may activate Revenge Best Served Cold [Uncommon] once more today.
Well, it was something.
He stopped only a few blocks past where I’d perched, his eyes level with the rooftops. I readied my grip on one of the [Daggers of Nowhere] and sprung from roof to roof at a run to launch at him.
There was risk in making contact with him, but he’d set it up so well for me.
I touched down on one of his hulking shoulders, stabbed the dagger into his eye with a squelch as he screamed again—enraged, reaching to bat away the pain—and kicked off him.
【NOTICE】
The Daggers of Nowhere [Uncommon] have weakened the tether to Irthrothun’s core by 15%.
His screech swelled up from somewhere deep inside of him—loud, raw, guttural, visceral.
“Slayer!” he screamed again, trying to taunt me into showing myself.
He held a clawed hand over his mutilated eye, black blood running down the front of his horrifying figure. His chest rose and fell in sync to the pulsing of his core, rapid and aggressive.
“Show yourself!” he demanded.
Why would I do that?
I threw one of the [Daggers of Nowhere] straight into his other eye, black blood spurting all over me, and relished in his howl of agony.
【NOTICE】
The Daggers of Nowhere [Uncommon] have weakened the tether to Irthrothun’s core by 15%.
He should hurt more for what he did to Harorin. Anyone a few blocks radius who hadn’t startled awake yet were now by the demon’s wail of pain. I willed them to stay inside their homes, safe and sound, so they wouldn’t be the next to be crushed in the demon’s grip as well. I couldn’t save them when I wasn’t sure I could save myself.
As I ran, Irthrothun chased after me. He seemed to be gaining on me faster than before.
He yelled, hatred like gravel in his voice. “Fuck this stupid quest!”
Fury fell over me like darkness. Now I had to wonder if Harorin had been killed because of a quest. For experience points.
That wasn’t how the system was supposed to work. The Demeot didn’t belong on this plane, let alone with access to a system that was meant to protect us from them. Yet this demon was using it to grow stronger by harming us.
I deactivated [Forgotten Son] again. Not because I wanted to pretend to be some hero but because I despised that I hadn’t stopped him already. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to throw my life away. I didn’t want my death to earn him a few more level ups.
But I had to keep trying to bring Irthrothun down.
【NOTICE】
You have deactivated Forgotten Son [Uncommon].
You have 2 minutes and 12 seconds of use remaining today.
More than enough time to lead this fucker to Helas.