Percy wasn’t impressed by the cave. Its entrance was rather large, with a height of five meters and a width nearing ten meters, but that was about all that could be considered extraordinary. Otherwise, it appeared to be an average cave.
“Is that all you can tell me? Give me some more intel, kid!”
Percy frowned. There was little more to tell, “I can only see two Grand Hellhounds. That’s it. The Demons are in the cave, which means your Beastmen are also inside.”
“The Beast Legion cannot charge inside simultaneously, and we will have a hard time using some abilities if we don’t want to destroy the cavern system,” The Beast King grumbled. He was still enraged, but the rational part of his mind was slowly taking over, “My Purgatory Fire will cause too much damage, and so will fighting the Demon Lord – or Lords – with full power.”
He looked at Percy, “Your people and mine will deal with the Lesser Demons and the Elites, but the Beast Legion will have difficulties dealing with creatures like Grand Hellhounds. I hate to acknowledge this, but there is no other way…”
The Seventh Beast Legion wasn’t the strongest by any means, but most war veterans were members of the Seventh Legion. That should account for something, even if it wasn’t enough to throw them against masses of Greater Demons.
“You want me to fight the Greater Demons?” Percy asked in a neutral tone, which surprised the Beast King. He learned much about the Kainesh Kingdom’s crown prince in the last few days and understood that he was honest, loyal, and quite powerful. The Beast King recalled how his body had instinctively reacted, pushing him into a defensive stance, when Percy attacked him with full power. Still, he didn’t expect the crown prince to be so calm about such a task.
Was this bravery or stupidity?
“Do you think you can handle it?”
“I will probably die,” Percy responded as nonchalant as before, “But with Fiona healing me, I should have no problem handling one or two Greater Demons with average combat prowess. If I drench them in my blood, it should be possible.”
“Your blood?”
“Yes, I awakened the Azure Dragon’s bloodline not too long ago. It seems like my blood is either too potent for them or that it’s like acid to them. I’m not sure yet. It hasn’t been long since I found out about it.”
The Beast King studied him for a while but shook his head as if dismissing the ideas popping in his mind.
“The Azure Dragon’s Essence is powerful, and it should already be surprising that you are alive and well. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us. Can the other members of your envoy empower you somehow? Maybe they have an Ego or Augmentations to strengthen you. If not, I can order some Beastmen to follow you and enhance your Agility and Durability. The seventh Legion is not the strongest, but they have some feisty powers.”
Percy tilted his head. If some Beastmen were to follow him, they would have to focus on enhancing him while surviving against Greater Demons in narrow tunnels. Of course, there might be large halls underground, but Percy expected the worst while hoping for the best.
“Do you have something valuable?” Percy asked, an idea popping into his mind.
If everyone surrenders their corpses while fighting, I can earn some Prosperity to use. That is great…but probably not enough. Or is it?
Percy closed his eyes briefly to check where the Glacial Roc was and was pleasantly surprised when he saw himself through Blue’s eyes. The Beast Legion and the royal envoy would arrive soon.
“Something valuable?” The Beast King narrowed his eyes.
“You saw me consume the Demonic Gifted’s corpses,” Percy responded as if that was all that had to be said.
“...”
The Beast King didn’t take the hint.
He is very fortunate to be powerful. Even I wasn’t that bad a year ago…I hope…
“That was your Ego,” the Beast King realized. You are growing stronger through consumption.”
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Finally!
Percy nodded, “The more I consume, the more my Ego progresses. The more valuable, the better. That’s why you must surrender your ownership to the Demons you defeat on your way to the Demon Lord. I can consume them and turn them into power.”
“That’s great and all, but I don’t have anything I can spare with me. I don’t carry spatial storages with me. My whole body is a weapon. I do not have to bring anything else.”
Good thing I exposed my Ego’s secret for nothing.
“But I can kill the Grand Hellhounds for you. Once the Beast Legion and your envoy is present, they will discover us, either way,” The Beast King offered, his eyes narrowing to slits when he saw something behind Percy.
“You forgot to tell me our people are coming, didn’t you?”
Percy pressed his lips together, “I…was just about to tell you.”
The Beast King raised an eyebrow before turning to the clearing. He strode forward, leaving the range of Percy’s [Silent Reaper]. Percy saw the Grand Hellhounds sniff in the air from the corner of his eyes. Their heads flicked around before the Beast King transformed into a black flash. His entire body was wreathed in blazing flames as he burst through the magical barrier, but the chaos didn’t end there.
The Purgatory Fire connected to the magical barrier and expanded rapidly. The translucent barrier trembled and wiggled as if discomforted as the blazing flames spread out. The Purgatory Fire damaged the magical barrier greatly when the Beast King barged through it, but the expanding flames were the finishing blow, destroying the barrier.
The invisibility and the repelling force were no more, and it only took another minute before the envoy riding their summoned mounts reached him. Blue cooed as he landed before Percy, but the Glacial Roc’s mission was unfinished.
“You need to return to check the surroundings. We don’t want any Demons to escape, right?” Percy patted the Glacial Roc’s ice feathers, picked his friend up, and helped him back into the sky. A moment later, he turned to the envoy and Apex Dex.
“We aren’t certain what awaits us in the Demon’s lair, but we are – I am – certain there is at least one Demon Lord in the lair. This is an emergency and nothing to take lightly. The cavern tunnels will be narrow in certain areas, and the tunnels may collapse when we apply too much force,” Percy took a deep breath, granting everyone a second to digest what was happening.
“The Beast King will deal with the Demon Lord, or Lords if there are multiple, but he cannot promise our well-being. If the tunnels collapse, we will be on our own. Everyone willing to charge into the Demons’ Lair should remember two things. First, we are allies and must work together to minimize the casualties. Our main mission is to rescue as many children as possible and to survive. Defeating the Demons is not more important than our health.”
“Second, you must surrender your rights to the Demons you’ll kill. I need to consume them to grow stronger mid-battle, which I can do with my Ego,” He sighed deeply, “Because I am fairly sure there will be a bunch of Greater Demons. Two Grand Hellhounds are guarding…have been guarding…the lair’s entrance, and they won’t be the last ones. I will fight the Greater Demons, so focus on the Elites and Lesser Demons!”
Percy could say a lot more, but there was no time. The Beast King had already taken care of the two Grand Hellhounds, tearing their heads apart. They must have attempted to burn the Beast King alive, given the orange-burning grass behind him, but it didn’t harm him. The Beast King’s natural resistance to fire was greater than the Grand Hellhounds’ hellfire.
Percy rushed to the cavern entrance, where two interfaces appeared before him. He glanced at them and smiled.
[Grand Hellhound – Demonic – 3,235,355 Prosperity]
[Grand Hellhound – Demonic – 2,812,035 Prosperity]
There was no hesitation in his next move. [Consume] was activated, and the Abomination burst out of his palms. At the same time, Percy retrieved the Syreablade, preparing for what awaited them next.
The crimson lines on the Syreablade pulsed wildly while the corners of Percy’s lips curled upward. More than six million Prosperity were added to his balance, and he was certain this would be only a small portion of the fortune he would earn today.
Still, not everything was great. The kidnapped children were probably dead.
Hopefully, they were dead.
Percy did not want to imagine what had happened to the children or how much they had gone through if they were still alive.
He didn’t wish to imagine what could have happened to them, but like always…reality was worse.
They were just about to barge inside the cavern when Percy and the Beast King discovered something near the end of the tunnel leading downward.
A Beastman with pitch-black eyes, purple hide, and massive blade-like claws emerged from the deeper tunnels.
“Pain…” It growled, its voice battered and broken, “Blood…”
The Beastman turned in their direction, revealing its razor-sharp teeth as it flashed a vibrant smile.
“Death!!”
A moment later, the Beastman charged at its king.
Yet, the Beast King did nothing. He stood there, staring blankly at the Beastman. No. At what this creature had once been.