Chapter 7: Bloodbath

Why am I soaked?

Sarah peeled open her eyes to find the sun had already set above her, and the first night of the apocalypse had arrived. In the fading light she glanced down at her body and saw that it was not water as she initially thought, or rather hoped, that she was drenched with, but blood. Guess this cloak has bigger problems now than that tin of goat’s blood.

She waited for a second or two, expecting the cynical reply of her inner demon, but there was no response. She laid there for a moment before deciding to try our her [Soul Sense] for the first time and look at herself.

And a quick glance told her there was a problem. She could instinctively tell where Lucifer had claimed his territory, with her soul like a small planet within her that looked like it had collided with another planet of fire. One half of her soul was a light red, clean and clear with a faint blue glow, obviously her own soul now influenced by demonic mana. Meanwhile, the other half of her soul looked like a volcanic eruption had taken place. It was charred black and cracked in many places, with a red magma-like liquid coming out of these trenches and black smoke billowing from the cracks. And it felt damaged. Her [Soul Sense] ached as she looked at these deep scars and she could already feel a headache as she quickly turned away.

[Soul Sense] Rank 1 Level 1-> Level 2

Was it like this before? She should have taken a look at her soul previously to make a comparison but then had just been more pressing things to at the time. Either way, she could sense that based on the damage to that side of her soul, Lucifer was likely not going to be saying anything anytime soon.

Or maybe he’s dead? Strangely she didn’t want that. Stockholm syndrome maybe? But she was getting strangely attached to the demon. Its help was definitely invaluable at a time when she was sure she would otherwise have been in a panic and possibly dead.

And now she was alone.

All of a sudden adrenaline hit her as she quickly sat up. Stupid, just lying here in the middle of an apocalypse. First she took stock of herself, noting that she felt strangely ok. Apart from a dull ache coming from deep inside her, all evidence of her prior fight against the wolves was completely gone.

The fact that she was both alive and covered in blood gave her some indication of what had happened when lucifer had taken control, but her worries could only grow once she cast her eyes around her.

She originally thought herself lying in some kind of ditch, but as she stood up, she realized she was standing in the epicentre of a crater about 10 meters across. While no Sherlock, taking a glance at the ash coated ground and demonic mana that still lingered in the air, while she herself stood at the centre, she felt she might have had at least a tiny little part to play in causing this destruction. Well, let’s see what I got out of it, Status.

Name: Sarah Rose

Race: Half-Greater Demon

Class: Hellbringer

Level: 11 -> Level 16

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Wisdom: 59 -> 69

Intelligence: 59 -> 94

Vitality: 13

Endurance: 7

Charisma: 13

Unused Stat Points: 25 -> 0

Abilities:

* [Ritual Magic] Rank 2 Level 1

* [Demonic Mana Manipulation] Rank 1 Level 6 -> Level 9

* [Soul Sense] Rank 1 Level 1 -> Level 2

* Empty -

* Empty -

Perks:

* [Adaptive] - +1 free stat points per level.

* [Ritualess] - You may substitute reagents for mana in your rituals.

* [Demonic] - Your mana has the demonic attribute.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

What did Lucifer do? She wondered, noting the 5 levels she gained. Each level up gave her two intelligence, two wisdom, and five free stat points, and it seemed all 25 free stat points had gone into her intelligence.

It’s a bit concerning that Lucifer is capable of using my free stat points for me… but its kept me alive I guess.

Her [Demonic Mana Manipulation] had also gone up several levels, unsurprising given a demon much stronger than her was taking control. Maybe I could use this as a way to quickly gain levels? Just have him wipe out some monsters every now and then…

Her musing was quickly interrupted as she heard some voices approaching from the distance in what could only be described as a stage whisper. “But like imagine how much a boss monster could give us. It’s got to be something special,” the first person seemed to argue.

“Dude, we’re level 5, something able to make a pillar of fire and literally cause an earthquake isn’t gonna be killed by us,” another replied, in such a tone that Sarah could practically taste how fed up he was with the shit of his companion.

“Yeah but what about its horde, all the boss monsters have a horde.” A third voice this time, all the while coming closer.

Sarah turned in their direction, and only a moment after she could see 6 sets of eyes peek over the rim of the crater she lied in.

“…”

“Like maybe is this one of those things where we save the hot princess that the boss has captured?”

“Yeah but you’d figure the princess in question would be covered in a bit less blood. Just for aesthetics yaknow.”

“…”

“You realize I can hear you right?” Sarah said.

“…”

She took a step in their direction and immediately the whole group of 6 mirrored her by taking a step back.

“I don’t bite,” Sarah joked.

“We get that, but you sure look like you do.”

“Yeah, um, you wouldn’t happen to be an evil hidden boss monster would you?” Another added.

“No, mind giving me a hand out of this crater?”

The group of 6 all looked at each other, before taking another step back and whispering to each other, but in a much quieter tone this time. After 30 seconds it seemed they had finally come to an agreement. One of them pulled a bag of his back and threw it at her.

“Maybe get changed first, you’re covered in blood. There’s a spare pair of Trini’s shirts and shorts inside, hope they fit.”

“…,“ An awkward pause followed where they just stood there staring at each other…

“You’re supposed to turn away” Sarah said.

She first peeled the robe off, before checking inside the bag and seeing an assortment of clothes, a plastic water bottle and some rope. Taking the water and discarding the robe, she tipped it over herself to wipe off the blood that coated her hands, legs and face… and everywhere else. Her body surprisingly only had faint white marks over areas like her forearms and other places where she was previously injured, and she could intuitively feel even those healing as the demonic energy in her body moved around. Still slightly bloody but feeling far fresher, she got dressed quickly in a brown shirt only slightly too large for her and some denim shorts she made fit with a belt that was also lying at the bottom of the bag.

Finally leaving the crater, she made her way up to the group that now turned to watch her approach. Seeming much more welcoming to her new appearance, they introduced themselves to her. A group of six, four guys and two girls all around Sarah’s age of 21, who were previously at a house party when everything went down. From her, she was able to hear about all the bizarre things that first came during the time she blacked out after first meeting lucifer for what she now worked out was only about 2 hours. However, from what she heard it had almost been almost a day since the explosion, meaning she had likely been passed out in the crater all that while. The group introduced themselves as Jason, Billy, Zack, Tommy, Trini and Kimberly, a group of names she felt were suspiciously familiar. After enough tension, the group couldn’t help but ask the question on their mind.

“So, did u kill the boss?” Trini blurted out.

“Um… what boss?” Sarah asked.

“So how did you just end up in the middle of a massive crater then?” Tommy added.

“Well…. I don’t really remember….”

The group all turned to look at Kimberly, who nodded in confusion. “She’s telling the truth.”

“Wait, how can you tell?” Sarah asked.

“Kim got a cool rare class,” Billy butted in, making the whole group roll their eyes at him. Sarah could already tell Billy was the one winding the group up when she was listening in before.

“What’s your class?” Billy then asked.

“Shut up dude,” said Zach, “You know that’s like personal shit, that’s what The General said, can’t go asking for others personal information, he almost stabbed you when you did.”

Intrigued at the conversation, she couldn’t help but ask. “The general?”

Billy couldn’t help but take this as his cue to butt back into the conversation. “Yes but with a capital G. So like there’s this dude that leads what’s left of the army and he’s super strong and everyone calls him the General. I think he’s like level 15 at least. But everyone says he’s gonna die because of a curse. Anyway, he seems to have taken command of all the survivors now, or at least those of us who are still alive.”

Walking along with the group, Sarah’s started to go through all the new information. Without Lucifer to guide her, she had been worried she might struggle to survive, but it seemed others have been doing well on their own. Her new companions might only be level 5, and she could likely drop them in a single bolt, but it sounded like this general General was at the same level as her without any demonic assistance.

Zach’s voice cut through her thoughts, “Anyway, the General sent us out here to check on what caused this, but we think he was just trying to get rid of Billy. We’ll have to take you to him when we get to camp, if that’s ok?”

Slightly nervous, she agreed and began to get her story straight for the questions she knew would come. With Lucifer seemingly out of the count, it seemed it was now time to reunite with humanity.

Looking at the group chatting together around her, she couldn’t help but let out a smile. Before she relaxed, she quickly glanced around her. But thankfully despite being at the end of a chapter no enemies were in sight and no howls came out from the distance. It felt good to finally have some humans around her and to not be fighting for her life, now she just has to face the General.