Chapter 33: Monsters

“That’s it for today; hope you all have a great time.”

“HMP HMP HMP”

“And I'm sorry for teacher Dominio’s behavior today; I will take full responsibility and make sure this won't happen ever again.”

“HMPPPPPPPP”

From the corner of the class is a tree, just a log; it would look like a normal log if there weren’t any weird muffling sound inside it. Thane looks at it with amusement, puts it on his shoulder and proceeds to exit the class.

“Oh, and remember to prepare yourself; we will enter The Hollow next week.”

“Shit”

Shin cursed to himself; he had never seen a monster, but from the description that Mister Thane told, he wished that he wouldn’t encounter one.

Monsters are creatures that exist because of the chaotic nature of the world; usually, most of the monsters die due to the flaws in their anatomy.

Such a flaw becomes pointless when you calculate mana into the equation; from there, create a creature that has never been seen before, not only that, they can reproduce themselves, making them a dangerous threat to all living beings.

And to themselves, monsters kill any living things in sight, so they are no exception to themselves and sometimes even their own kind.

Not only that, monsters only have the advantage in quantity, not quality, and numbers are useless against the pillar of humanity, and monsters can only at best reach A-rank due to the flaw they possess.

Yet the threat is still there because of the existence of the Abnormal monster. Monsters are abnormality itself, so it’s even more surprising when there are creatures weirder than the monster. There are two types of these monsters. The first are mutated creatures that gained mystical ability or sentience, increasing the danger they possessed. For example, the goblin race is weak; the only thing they have is the ability to increase their number in a short amount of time. They are not more than pests, but among those goblins exists the goblin shaman, who can cast certain spells, or the goblin king, who possesses mind control over all goblins.

They are dangerous? Sure, but they are nothing compared to the demonic monster, the twisted monster that possessed twisted energy that gave them infinite potential and ability of other beings, just like a chimera but the difference is that they are no sign of fusion or anything, they are a completely new kind.

There are many speculations about them because demonic energy can't appear on a being naturally, some believe that these creatures are tied to the destruction before the new era

There are in fact records of them before the new era. Nobody knows what happened before the new era, but there is one thing that stands out: the demonic monsters were the rulers of Earth at that time.

Their power exceeds other monsters by a huge margin. If not for the work of the dragon god, Ignis, killing all of the calamities that can threaten the world, this earth would have become a wasteland for eternity. Then, all the other races begin their hunt for demonic monsters, almost driving all of them out.

To preserve their race, powerful demonic creatures dug to the ground with their high affinity related to earth and fire that most demons possessed. Creating The Hollow, a massive underground structure with many zones similar to an ant nest.

They will hide at the lowest point underground, lay rest, and strengthen themselves until they are confident enough to go out. Not only that, the creature will capture other monsters or beasts and put them in certain zones. It will feed the captive's monster its demonic, letting it grow to the point where it attracts others, creating a cycle and an army that will hunt down the intruders.

Stolen novel; please report.

But such a thing is rare among the demoniac creatures; there have been only

about 10 Hollows throughout the world, but if there is any outbreak, it would be a catastrophe.

So we need to go in multiple groups to weed out the weaker monster without attracting the entire colony before hunting that demonic creature.

But that isn’t the objective for the next lesson; that is for the midterm test. In the next lesson, we will just be going for a sightseeing trip, but it's no less very frightening.

“Hello there, friend.”

“Huh?”

Sitting beside me with his legs crossed, a tall, striking guy who seemed to be two years older than him boasted vibrant green hair that fell all the way to his shoulder, looking at me with his crimson eyes and a warm smile.

But that smile for some reason is contradicted to his eyes, but I don't know which part. He extended his hand forward, offering a handshake.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Wurl Mamon."

*****

“To think that such strategy works.”

“It’s all about the unknown, you see; that’s why information is important.”

In the park next to the dormitory, two figures are sitting on a bench with chocolate ice cream in their hand. After concluding that the search is over, Beelzebub, now back in his servant's garment, decides to watch the school from afar to plan out his next strategy.

“But don’t try pulling this off against a truly strong enemy; you would die before you jumped into the shadow.”

“Yes, mister.”

The truth is I just create a smokescreen so that we hide inside Black shadow and then go into the dark corner and trying to not leak any energy. With the dark mana residual from the explosion, it is easy to blend in.

Bone ability isn’t about opening a portal, but it is actually bone shifting, which makes him capable of absorbing bone into his mana core and creating something out of those bones. The portal thing is entirely something else; it doesn’t allow any living being to enter; only spirits or objects can enter.

So it is pretty much used for me to store some material for my ability and food; that’s all there is, but now it can trick people into thinking we can go to anywhere.

Looking at the hazy, crimson sky that is about to turn to the night sky, I can’t help but sigh. A day has passed and I'm quite tired now. Golem Watchguard, a flock of people with mana capacity that surpassed mine by tenfold, and annoying outsiders. The difficulty is getting stupidly tough for this shitty vessel.

…No, I’m getting weak. From the moment I crawled out of that wretched womb, my life has been nothing but a constant challenge; it would be no surprise if I died the next day.

But I lived and became the demon king not because of my strength but by my will... but I still die by that bastard's hand. What’s the point of willpower if… GET OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU FUCKER.

‘Tch, so you notice.’

“I don’t remember being a pussy boy like you, you fucker.”

This bastard is manipulating both my thoughts and my emotions at the most peaceful moment, but as time goes on, I grow more resistant to it. Kehkehkhe, this is the difference between a demon king and a mere parasite, you scum.

‘Well, I guess I should escape before I freak out.’

“…What?”

From the corner of my eye, a woman is approaching me, a woman that I just met yesterday. I thought she was supposed to be someone hard to find, but why

“It seems that we meet again.”

“It’s an honor, Lady Vi—“

“Vi-VILET IT’S VILET MORTEM”

This caused Vilet's face scrunch a little, like she was having a headache, but that’s none of my concern. Why did my little servant here scream like a little girl…Well, she is a little girl.

Still, What the fuck was that reaction just now?

“And who are you, little girl?”

“Oh, um, I—I’m Alissa.”

“Alissa, hm, you seem to be a dark mage, not only that, an excellent one.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“Say, it’s the spirit beneath—”

They are having a conversation... I didn’t think that bastard's sister would be so talkative, or is it because it is rare to have a female dark mage?

One thing's for sure: I am getting left out… Should I feel relieved or insulted by this? I guess I should keep on analyzing the school routes and runes.

Hmm? Someone wants to kill me? I turned around and saw two masked figures from far away looking at him with anger in their eyes. It is those two from back then—

But something shocking happens next. The two of them realized something and began to panic, but before they could do anything, violet-colored runes appeared out of thin air and formed a star shape similar to a ritual.

And then, the symbol lights up a bright, unholy light, blinding my eyes for a second, but from that second I can see the shadow of something emerge out of the symbol and crashed down to the ground.

As the light subsides, the two figures are nowhere to be found; what’s left is just a normal bush that has been there for quite a long time.

“What’s that just now?”

“Oh, don’t mind that about Alissa; now tell me more about your familiar.”

“…”