Percy was surrounded by corpses. There was a pile of Minos bodies to his left and a river of Gynll carcasses to his right. Both pile and stream were surrounded by the corpses of Lifefeeder, Cursias, and Pleacis. There were fewer Elite Demon corpses, but they all had one thing in common.
The Elite Demons had been killed with one decisive strike.
After upgrading [Blade Mastery] to [Master of the Blade], Percy’s understanding and comprehension of the blade skyrocketed. Combined with [Hawk Eyes] finding the perfect openings and both [Intermediate Strength Boost] and [Intermediate Agility Boost], Percy didn’t even have to use [Berserk] to increase his prowess. It was easier to defeat the Elite Demons without unleashing [Berserk] as it allowed him to retain a calm mind to fight in the most efficient way rather than sacrificing efficiency for power.
[Cyromany] wasn’t something Percy was great at, but Blue helped him create volleys of icicles in a quick fashion. His mastery of mana was extraordinary, which made it easier for others to teach him simple techniques. That was how Percy learned how to fight efficiently with Dragon Fang while releasing a series of six icicles into the surroundings every other second. The icicles either killed a Lesser Demon on the spot or struck an Elite Demon before it could injure him. The impacting force was enough to block the incoming attack and to create an opening for a counterattack.
Percy’s defense might not be the greatest on the battlefield, but he surely embraced the saying, ‘The best defense is a good offense.’.
His attention flicked to the Gnoll Warrior at times. Hyean fought near him and embraced the same tactic as his master. But instead of fighting as efficiently as possible, Hyean accepted his wild side. The Gnoll Warrior triggered [Berserk] and used [Master of the Blade] to cut his enemies into tiny pieces. The Gnoll Warrior was physically stronger than most of the Elite Demons present. Not even the strongest Pleacis had an easy time-fighting Hyean, even less with [Master of the Blade] active.
Hyean overwhelmed the Pleacis and other Elite Demons with their tremendous physical strength and his terrifyingly high mastery of the blade. He defeated dozens of Lesser Demons and killed half a dozen Elite Demons in no time.
Blue was not usually competitive but since Percy had started Ego-enhancing both Monster Cards simultaneously – the bridge connecting the Monster Cards to Percy growing stronger with every enhancement – the Blueflame Hawk started considering Hyean as a rival.
Still, Blue didn’t focus much on the Elite Demon. Defeating injured Elite Demons, or those who didn’t even know that the Blueflame Hawk was nearby, were easy to defeat, but Lesser Demons were even easier enemies to best. One well-aimed icicle was all it took to kill the most formidable Minos. It was that simple for a creature nobody seemed to notice.
[Silent Reaper] allowed Blue to stay hidden at all times, whereas [Hawk Eyes] was great at discovering the most perceptive Demons and killing them before their existence was exposed.
The rest was easy. Blue didn’t have as much mana as Percy, it wasn’t as pure either, but despite that, Blue could conjure four icicles at once. Aiming precisely from an elevated position and increasing the distance was also not easy, and it took time. Nonetheless, four Lesser Demons fell victim to Blue every five to ten seconds.
“Is everyone alright?” Percy shouted at the top of his lungs after cleaving through a Pleacis, splitting the Elite Demon apart.
He turned around and checked on everyone but couldn’t see some of the nobles and two Imperials.
“We are alright. Some of these idiots got injured by a Mutated Lifefeeder, but Fiona is tending to them,” Melissa responded before adding, “Most Elite Demons are down.”
Percy frowned at first, but the last bit relieved him. As long as nobody was dead, other than their enemies, everything would be fine.
***
“Four got injured from a single Lifefeeder, but other than that, we got no injuries,” He glanced at Fiona, “Or she healed them fast enough to keep the injuries a secret.”
One Imperial and noble paled a little, but Percy shrugged, “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad everyone is mostly fine.”
“If you need some potions to tend to their wounds, I have enough high-quality potions to spare,” Percy offered to Fiona, who shook her head. She sweated a bit, but her smile had yet to cease. Their Healer wasn’t exhausted just yet.
“I am fine,” She muttered.
“In that case, Melissa will report to the crown while I will [Consume] the corpses,” Percy turned to Melissa, who cursed quietly, “Why do I have to do this?”
Percy smiled at her misery, “Because my parents keep bothering Herbert to ask about my well-being. They do not believe me anymore after I kept silent about my injuries.”
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Did they expect me to remain unscathed after fighting three Greater Demons? Am I some sort of deity or what?!
“But they trust me?” Melissa grumbled, to which Percy responded with a decisive nod, “Yes, they do.”
Melissa cursed again, but she followed Percy’s order and reported their 10th and hopefully last fight with a Demon horde in the foreseeable future.
Now to the fun part.
Percy smiled around the bloodied battlefield and allowed his Ego’s Abomination to let loose. He activated [Consume] and devoured the dead Demon horde in one go.
It’s nice when nobody causes any trouble. Everyone waived their rights to the corpses before I had to remind them. Finally, some professionalism!
The Abomination gushed out of Percy’s palms and shot high up into the sky. It shrouded the sun for a quarter of a second, casting a shadow over the royal envoy before splitting up, transforming into countless streams of pitch-black darkness. The darkness spread across the battlefield and crashed into the demon corpses with its maws wide open.
The nobles and Imperials shuddered for the Xth time seeing the Abomination and what Percy’s Ego was capable of, but the crown prince just smiled as the Abomination returned to him, accompanied by countless notifications.
[1032 Lesser Demons (Gnylls, Minos) have been consumed. 12,217,601 Prosperity has been added.]
[113 Elite Demons (Cursias, Lifefeeder, Pleacis) have been consumed. 21,361,993 Prosperity has been added.]
His Tier progressed quickly as his Ego digested the corpses. The 1000ish Demon carcasses weren’t enough to push him to the 5th Rank, but that was no problem. He had enough Prosperity to upgrade his Monster Cards, which should be enough to deliver the final push.
He de-summoned Blue and Hyean and used [Consume] on Prosperity to check the Monster Card’s state before proceeding with a vibrant smile.
[Gnoll Warrior Card’s Potential -[Evolved⭐⭐] has been upgraded. 30,000,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Blueflame Hawk Card’s Potential -[Evolved⭐⭐] has been upgraded. 30,000,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Gnoll Warrior’s Potential increased to [Evolved⭐⭐⭐]. Gnoll Warrior advanced to Gnoll Warlord.
[Blueflame Hawk’s Potential increased to [Evolved⭐⭐⭐]. Blueflame Hawk advanced to Glacial Roc]
[Your Tier increased by one rank.]
Mana flooded him, filling every part of his body to the fullest, but Percy was more focused on his Monster Cards’ evolutions.
I heard about Warlords and Rocs, but it’s the first time I heard about Gnolls having a Warlord. Well, I never knew a Gnoll could become strong enough to become an Evolved Monster in the first place. As for Rocs…aren’t Rocs at the Overlord Tier? I never heard about Glacial Rocseither. Are they weaker than the norm?
Percy was fortunate to check the Cards’ interfaces because they explained everything.
[Gnoll Warlord(Unique)(Evolved –⭐⭐⭐) – [Master of the Blade⭐⭐],[A Hunter’s Smell⭐], [Intermediate Strength Boost⭐⭐⭐⭐], [Berserk ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]
[Glacial Roc(Juvenile) (Evolved –⭐⭐⭐) – [Hawk Eyes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐] – [Cyromancy⭐], [Intermediate Agility Boost ⭐⭐⭐⭐], [Silent Reaper ⭐⭐] ]
The Warlord is a Unique type of Gnoll…that’s neat. As for Blue, he is a juvenile all of a sudden. That’s interesting. He was fully grown before, but now…
Percy chuckled and summoned his ‘new’ Monsters.
The Gnoll Warlord was the first to emerge before Percy, stupefying him when he had to look up. Before Hyean evolved, the Gnoll Warrior had been around Percy’s height. There might have been a few centimeters difference between them, but it hadn’t been noteworthy. But now…now the Gnoll Warlord was a three-meter-tall – maybe even taller – monstrosity. Hyean was covered in bulky muscles like before, but the muscles seemed to have grown exponentially. If not for the Hyena-like face, Percy would have been certain Hyean was a full-blown giant.
Then again, Hyean is also a little furry. If not for his face, he would fit more into the category of a dirty Yeti.
Percy retrieved the Silvron Sword and handed it to Hyean but quickly noticed that the longsword Artifact looked like a toothpick in the Gnoll Warlord’s hands.
“Sorry, my friend. It looks like I need to get you a new weapon. That might take a while since we are in the middle of nowhere,” Percy thought about it for a second and nodded slowly, “Maybe I can get you something from the barracks of the border armies. There should be some broadswords or massive war axes to spare. They would be happy to exchange them for a Silvron Sword Artifact, probably. If not, I will use my connections.”
Percy winked at Hyean, who giggled like your average hyena.
“Is that…” Mathis, the Imperial with the Purge Ego, approached Percy, who responded with a vibrant smile, “Yes, that is Hyean, the former Gnoll.”
“You…”
“I enhanced it using my Ego, yes. It evolved, just like Blue.”
“You triggered an evolution in both Monster Cards? Wait, the Blueflame Hawk evolved as well?!”
“Yep,” Percy’s cheeks hurt from smiling, and he summoned Blue to check how much his partner had changed.
Not to show off. Definitely not to show off…
Maybe a little.