As I look down at the king's corpse everything I went through when I was summoned plays through my head. I find I can't completely let go of everything just yet, I still have promises to keep. However, at least I can let go of some of it, making my shoulders feel a bit lighter.

"Who's the trash now?"

Turning away from the body I leave the throne room and start searching through the palace. While there are plenty of valuables I could loot they don't even register in my eyes. I am only looking for the remaining shadow demons so I can finish them off.

Threshlock I can sense down below me, he is either in the basement or in the pit. I plan to leave him for last, he might be a decent fight and I don't want anyone helping him. Although, shadow demons don't seem to be as good as normal demons in a straight up fight.

Even if I never came into the picture I doubt the shadow demons would have had a chance against the demons. Even making the entire peninsula into part of the shadow plane wouldn't stop the demon lords. If anything it would give them the chance to invade the shadow plane.

Considering how much they hate each other I am pretty sure the demon lords would want to invade. After all, I know from when I was part demon how tasty the shadow demons are. Not to mention how much they allowed me to increase the strength of my core.

Maybe I could even convince the demon lords to invade the shadow realm instead of the peninsula. They might be willing to if I can open a gate for them, and that would solve this world's problems. The shadow plane would end up in a mess, but it would save a lot of lives here.

It is something to think about later, currently I don't have the strength to open a gate to the shadow plane. If I did I would probably go back there for a while to explore and gain more strength. I would certainly like to talk to the shadow drakes more, or maybe even find a shadow dragon.

As I am thinking about the future and things I can do before the demons invade I am killing shadow demons. So far I have killed a dozen and I can sense only a few more left before I go after Threshlock. With luck I will get to him before he finishes healing from being hit with the naginata.

If not, I am not too worried, he really doesn't pose much of a threat to me. Even being in the same room will slowly kill him, now that he doesn't have a body to hide in. The only problem I can foresee is that if he tries to run I don't have a way to stop him.

So my best bet is going to be to somehow lure him out and then overwhelm him. I need to kill him before he realizes just how much stronger than him I am. Then I should be able to kill him before he even tries to run away.

Now that I have a plan of sorts I quickly deal with the last few shadow demons. Then I start searching for the way into the room that Threshlock is hiding in. It turns out that aside from the pit the palace also has a regular dungeon.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

In the very back of the dungeon I can feel that Threshlock is just on the other side of the wall. There is probably a secret door but no matter how I search I can't find it. In the end I get frustrated and just punch my way through the wall.

Threshlock says "You killed my puppet, my lieutenant, and all my servants! Just who are you?"

"I am your death!"

Threshlock says "Even if you kill me it won't matter! You are too late! I used the energy of all my minions that you kill to open the path! Soon the Destroyer will come!"

"It better not be the Staypuff Marshmellow Man!"

Threshlock says "Huh?"

As he looks at me in confusion I quickly dash around and get behind him. Then once I am between him and the nearest wall I stab him with the naginata as he turns around. When the naginata cuts him he screams in pain and runs towards the shadows.

When I see him running I cast Holy Light, which not only hurts him but for a second dispels the shadows. Threshlock runs into the wall and bounces back, so I again stab him with the naginata. Then before he can recover I channel a Holy Shock through the naginata.

As Threshlock is spasming I cast another Holy Light and use the naginata to pin him to the floor. Just as I am about to finish him off, the baby suddenly jumps out of the shadow pocket and onto the floor. Out of worry for the baby's safety I hold back my next spell and watch as the baby bites Threshlock.

As I watch in disbelief, Threshlock's entire body is sucked into the baby's mouth. The baby's stomach swells until it is as big as the rest of his body making him look like a ball with wings. The baby then slowly waddles back over to me and as soon as he reaches me he disappears into the shadow pocket.

When I look inside the shadow pocket I find the baby is already fast asleep. I have no idea what just happened, but the baby seems fine so I guess it's okay. Since Threshlock was a shadow demon, maybe the baby recognized him as food.

43 Rank 1 Shadow Demons defeated! 43,000 Exp gained!

12 Rank 2 Shadow Demons defeated! 24,000 Exp gained!

5 Rank 3 Shadow Demons defeated! 15,000 Exp gained!

3 Rank 4 Shadow Demons defeated! 12,000 Exp gained!

1 Rank 5 Shadow Demon defeated! 25,000 Exp gained!

1 Rank 8 Shadow Demon defeated! 80,000 Exp gained!

Congratulations! You have gained a level!

Level 15: HP +200, DP +100, Stat Points +5!

Spells: Holy Word level 7, Holy Light level 7, Holy Armor level 5, Holy Shock level 3, Mass Bless level 2!

Spell Upgrade: Cure Poison level 4 --> Cleanse level 5!

New Spell: Resurrect level 1!

Abilities: Holy Aura level 6, Aura of Health level 4!

'Sweet, level 15! I can resurrect without help now?! Awesome! Resurrect?'

Resurrect

Level: 1

DP Cost: 2000

Restores life to someone who died within 10 minutes.

'What? two thousand divine power?! That's everything I have! And they have to have died within ten minutes?! This isn't going to be as useful as I thought!'

Despite the tough requirements it is still somewhat useful, after all I can refill my divine power just by asking. So, if someone I care about dies in front of me I can just quickly pray and then cast it. Maybe the cost will lower when the level increases, but for now I need to worry about this Destroyer if it is coming.

"Krenocia, got a second?"

Krenocia says "Sure, what's wrong now?"

"Well, I killed the rank eight shadow demon, but before he died he said something disturbing. He said I was too late and he already summoned the Destroyer. Any idea what he meant? Or was he just bluffing?"

Krenocia says "Hold on, let me check."