The tides of the battle threatened to change again. The Doom of Power might be no more, but the wave of Demons was terrifying to face.
A young noble, covered in dark blood, had just killed half a dozen Lesser Demons with a whirlwind of attacks when a Pleacis appeared beside him. The Elite Demon’s bladed arms lunged at the noble, threatening to behead him when a mana blast whizzed past the human’s head.
The mana blast propelled through the air with horrifying velocity and impacted heavily. The Pleacis was struck in the chest and hurled through the air.
“Oh shit,” The young noble sighed in relief, his eyes locked onto the Pleacis. The Elite Demon landed hard on the trampled grass and drenched it in dark blood. It writhed a few times before it stopped moving once and for all.
“Good shot!” The noble exclaimed, turning to the shooter, only to frown deeply, “That was you're doing?”
Percy glanced calmly at the young noble and remembered him faintly.
“You’re the nagging child. I remember you.” Percy nodded, glancing at the dead Elite Demon for a second, “And I did kill the Pleacis, yes.”
He clutched the Staff of Leech tightly and turned away. After taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Percy was ready again.
Killing one of them won’t be enough. We need more powerhouses to help deal with those mutating Pleacis!
If Percy hadn’t seen the insignificant damage the mana bursts inflicted on the mutating Pleacis, he would have attacked them instead. They were the bigger threat and had to be killed immediately. But the Staff of Leech wasn’t strong enough.
His mana and lifeforce were drained as thoughts flashed through his mind, and Percy jumped into action once the Staff of Leech was charged again. A bead of sweat trickled down his temples after he released the second mana burst, which struck one of the Doomfeeders square in the face. The Elite Demon’s skull burst into countless pieces, killing the evil creature.
As the Doomfeeder dropped dead to the ground, Percy had to gasp for air. The Staff of Leech drained more mana and lifeforce, but there was more to it after the second mana burst. More was sucked out of him.
Whatever! They need to die!!
Percy released a third and fourth mana burst, killing two more Elite Demons before they reached the defense lines. His sight was hazy, but [Hawk Eyes] helped him retain some vision. It was better than nothing. Still, Percy coughed up blood, and his legs threatened to cave in.
Not much of his mana and lifeforce was left, which the Staff of Leech must have noticed because it drained less mana and lifeforce and focused on something else instead.
When the fifth mana burst propelled through the air, bursting another Doomfeeder skull apart, confused murmurs rang through the surroundings. The young noble Percy had rescued alongside a handful of commonbirth Egos and Knights had seen how many mana bursts Percy had released in quick succession without collapsing to the ground.
He was barely standing on his two feet, but he stood. Most commonbirth Egos couldn’t go on after the first mana burst, while some nobles could release two, maybe three mana bursts through the Staff of Leech.
Seeing Percy release five mana bursts was surprising, but the size of his mana bursts was the most surprising. Not even Melissa’s mana bursts glowed as bright as Percy’s. They weren’t as large and powerful either.
“Stop shooting, Percy!” A shout reverberated through the clearing, forcing Percy to look up.
He turned to the voice’s source and found Melissa staring at him with a mixture of surprise and worry.
What’s wrong with her? Is she actually worried about me? That’s…new.
Percy shrugged and winked in Melissa’s direction in response. A moment later, he was already occupied with dozens of Lesser Demons and a pair of Elite Demons coming his way.
“I hate you!” The young noble from before shouted before moving in front of Percy, “Can you handle another shoot or two?”
The noble’s voice sounded as worried as Melissa’s at the end of the sentence. That confused Percy, but he nodded.
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“That shouldn’t be a problem. I might collapse after that, but the death of seven Elite Demons and whatever my summoned Monsters are doing should be enough to have some impact on the battle.”
Percy was already drenched in sweat, his body was drained and weakened, but he was perfectly fine emotionally. Of course, his condition wasn’t great, but he had another Intermediate Healing Potion, which he could Ego-enhance, and by consuming the Demon's carcasses and using more Prosperity, Percy could rank up and refill his mana. He would be fine!
More nobles, mercenaries, and knights came to support Percy after seeing what he could do with the Staff of Leech. They protected him and gave Percy enough time to prepare for the next attacks.
“I need everyone to surrender your property rights of the Demon corpses,” Percy said when his mana was sucked dry. His Lifeforce wasn’t faring well either, but the other source drained to empower the Staff of Leech was more troublesome. Percy felt worse as more of the unknown force was drained.
“I sure hope you have enough Essence to spare before the Staff incinerates your soul,” The noble cursed, taking Percy by surprise as someone next to the noble added.
“Ordinary Egos would be dead already. I think he knows what he does.”
Actually…I don’t think I know anything. Is my soul being sucked dry by the Staff of Leech?!
Percy was scared, but only for a moment. Even if it was a little uncomfortable to have his soul sucked dry, Percy didn’t think it was all that painful. If not for his mana and lifeforce being drained at the same time, Percy wouldn’t feel much different, and it would be no problem to release a dozen or so mana bursts.
That was how Percy felt.
Whatever! It is looting time!
More than a hundred interfaces popped up as everyone around Percy surrendered their right to the Demon carcasses’ possession. Percy claimed possession instinctively and unleashed the abomination stored within [Consume].
The abomination burst out of his hands and shot high into the air, where it split up. The abomination shot into all directions and consumed the corpses of all dead demons while Percy added another task to his Ego. He used [Consume] on Prosperity and jumped into action, one of his hands reaching for the second and last Intermediate Healing Potion.
[500,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Potion of Intermediate Healing’s [Surge of Life⭐⭐⭐] is overflowing with Prosperity.
Dormant effect has awoken.]
[152x Lesser Demons have been consumed. 1.963,036 Prosperity has been added.]
[11x Elite Demons have been consumed. 2,019,911 Prosperity has been added.]
[75,000 Prosperity has been consumed]
[Potion of Intermediate Healing’s potency is overflowing with Prosperity. Potency rank increased: Ordinary ⭐⭐→ Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐]
[150,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Potion of Intermediate Healing’s potency is overflowing with Prosperity. Potency rank increased: Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐→ Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐⭐]
[300,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Potion of Intermediate Healing’s potency is overflowing with Prosperity. Potency rank increased: Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐⭐→ Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]
[1.200,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Potion of Intermediate Healing’s potency is overflowing with Prosperity. Potency rank increased: Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐⭐→ Rare ⭐]
[2.500,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Your Tier increased by one rank.]
The mana flood came at the perfect moment. The mutant Pleacis barged through the defenses of the Knight Captains by impaling one of the Imperial Instructors while one of the Knight Captains was cleaved in two parts. The Blueflame Hawk warned Percy of the impending danger as the Pleacis charged in their direction.
He swung around while removing the cap of the Intermediate Healing Potion, drained the content, and responded instinctively.
A pair of mana bursts, much larger than the previous attacks, shot out of the tip of the Staff of Leech with shocking velocity. They reached the mutating Pleacis instantly and struck them in the center of the chest.
However, instead of leaving behind a small dent and mere burn marks, the mana bursts penetrated the mutating Elite Demon’s thick hide before proceeding to pierce the evil creature’s pungent flesh and dark bones.
The Pleacis halted and looked down at their chests, the shock in their black eyes visible.
They looked up simultaneously and stared straight into Percy’s azure blue eyes before collapsing to the ground.
At that moment, the battle in the clearing came to a sudden stillstand. Not a single cough or screech resounded as all attention pulled toward Percy, who was still standing strong.
How was that possible? Percy shouldn’t have survived this. No. The Staff of Leech should have incinerated his soul after the first batch of mana bursts already. Yet, the same young man was still standing after releasing two massive mana bursts that would have killed the younger nobles instantly.
“Who, in the seven hells, is he?!”