A mysterious aura enveloped the surrounding area, creating a cloud so dense that Daltonious' vision was completely obscured. He couldn't see a thing and flailed around in confusion, letting out a grunt.

"What's happening?!" he anxiously wondered.

A surge of energy was about to envelop Artoris, while experience points floated around him, penetrating his body and enveloping him in a dark and blinding light. Artoris didn't quite understand what was happening, but he accepted the potential bestowed by the experience points that were flooding into him. Suddenly, he heard the echo of the Clouk system:

"Master Artoris, you have reached the maximum level of enhancement. Now it is possible to access a higher rank. Do you wish to proceed?"

Artoris nodded decisively. He stretched out his arms and let himself be enveloped by the accumulation of energy. Suddenly, his horns grew larger and longer, becoming sharper. His slender arms were no longer covered in pale skin, but folds began to form, a much more resistant skin typical of demons. His skin had mainly taken on a red tone, while his hair had not changed shape, except for the horns that had straightened and lifted upwards.

Mode: Diable. "FIRE ART."

The aura completely merged with the Demon King and as soon as he reopened his eyes, Artoris felt a total transformation compared to his previous form. When he raised his gaze, he noticed that his abs were sculpted under the tunic, and his arms had noticeably bulged. His hands now possessed sharp claws, spurting energy from the protruding tip of the nails.

He also felt a tail dangling behind him, feeling full control over it. He extended it until it rested on his shoulder and admired it.

Purply was left open-mouthed as Kira gazed at the new appearance of the king. "He's transformed!" Kira exclaimed, surprised. Purply nodded and replied, "Demons, as they develop their power, can access new forms, rising in rank. As we expected, Master Artoris has managed to overcome these phases and has risen to the next rank."

Kira saw that flames scales surrounded Artoris' body.

Daltonious burst out laughing, raising an eyebrow as he picked up the axe, freeing it from the cobwebs. "Pff... Ha ha! Do you think you can scare me with that useless transformation?" he said, spinning the axe and resting it at his side. "Enough, I'll concentrate on a single blow to eliminate you, you've tired me."

Artoris was playing distractedly with his tail, not paying much attention. Daltonious, feeling neglected, loosened the axe and unleashed a heavily charged blow. "Air Splitter!" he shouted, launching the blow with force. But when Artoris noticed the attack, he seemed to appear behind him at supersonic speed. Daltonious turned around, astonished. "Huh? When?"

The Clouk system resonated in Artoris' mind. "Activation: Devil's Speed." The interface appeared and Artoris' eyes gleamed; there were new abilities he had never tried before. Daltonious was shaken, his impassive face contorted slightly, with a lowered eyebrow and trembling eyelid, unable to keep the situation under control.

A Diable rank demon, with access to the fire element demon types, noticed from afar that Kira had bitten her lip, showing obvious frustration. She ardently desired to be a fire element demon.

Artoris was dazzled by the vastness of the new abilities etched into the interface, so much so that he decided to try one. He stretched out his palm and cast a spell at Daltonious.

"Dark Curse!"

Power surged through Daltonious' body as if a wave of dark energy had covered him from head to toe in an instant. Daltonious felt nothing, he hadn't even felt a tickle. "Don't dare mock the great Daltonious, bug!" Daltonious shouted before picking up his axe again. But as he spoke, he began to sweat profusely. He brought his arm to his face to wipe his forehead, panting more and more. Suddenly, he burst into a scream of pain as he felt the heat envelop him completely. He fell to his knees and rolled over.

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURNS!" he screamed, as the pain consumed him. Daltonious crawled along the ground until he reached Artoris' feet, looking up and spitting at him.

"B...bastard!"

But the feet disappeared. "HUH?" "Activation, Illusion ability." Artoris reappeared behind Daltonious, taking on the same appearance as his opponent. Daltonious was terrified to see his own body making childish and ridiculous gestures: blowing his nose and jumping around spinning.

"Stop! I don't do these things!" Daltonious shouted desperately. Artoris, still in Daltonious' form, began to make faces, pressing on his cheek and making strange gestures.

"BLEBLE BLE!" he exclaimed, performing useless tricks with his tongue.

Even the soldiers couldn't help but laugh, including the squad leader. Daltonious continued to suffer because of the curse, while his HP decreased dramatically. Artoris had victory within his grasp.

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By now Daltonious was no longer resisting, with his gaze fixed on the blue sky. Artoris this time did not lower his guard, but rather strengthened the spell, trying to increase the pain. It seemed that a dense fog was slowly creeping into Daltonious' body.

He advanced at a steady pace and sat down next to the dying beast-man. "Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Artoris asked.

"I'd rather die. At least then the world will be able to say that it was the demon king who inflicted defeat on me," Daltonious replied.

"Bah, and what does it change?" Artoris retorted. "It sure does. Ha ha! As a death, it's not bad!" Daltonious smiled, showing all his teeth. He had never shown this side of himself, he had buried his joy, contemplating the sky as long as he could see it.

With tears in his eyes, Daltonious stretched out his hand to the sky. "You know, I'm tired of the darkness," he said, stretching out his trembling hands towards the sky. "I'll miss being bathed in this soft light!"

"You'll be able to see it again if you join me," Artoris offered. "It doesn't matter. I've had enough." His HP reached 0. Daltonious' body began to disappear, turning into an accumulation of experience points that completely enveloped Artoris.

"Rest in peace, beast-man," said Artoris. "Maybe you too will live a new life, where you will no longer know pain." Artoris, of DIABLE rank, had risen to level 12.

LEVEL 12

The beastman who had tasked the king with defeating the demon king had been defeated. The village had been razed to the ground, nothing remained but a trail of corpses and collapsed houses. The remaining soldiers and the squad leader did not even dare to glance at the demon king.

If before they were terrified by his cloak and horns, now that he had taken on the appearance of an even more frightening monster, they instantly retreated. He had brought even Daltonious, considered the most fearsome among the man-beasts, to his knees. In the end, Artoris had succeeded.

When Artoris approached those who had witnessed the clash, the soldiers, suddenly, let him pass, while the squad leader maintained an unchanging expression. Purply and Kira observed his movements carefully as he walked with an upright and relaxed posture. Suddenly, without hesitation, he jumped from one cliff to another, plunging into the abyss.

"What is he doing?!" someone exclaimed. Artoris came back up, carrying Amelia on his shoulders.

"What?!" A trail of surprise crossed the faces of all those present.

Artoris believed that an ally must be supported and saved. He spread his arms and turned to look at all those who were in front of him. "Listen, now the man-beasts will work for the demons. I will support you and you will be part of my army. The important thing is that you obey King Artoris."

The squad leader, on the verge of tears, bowed and agreed with a raise of his arm. "Praise the new king!" The soldiers also began to repeat those words. "Praise the new king! Praise the new king!"

They had understood that in order to survive, they had to rely on the figure of a leader, a being that, regardless of his race, dominated their lands, being more powerful.

From the rubble, a figure emerged that remained standing with a stick. The dust dissolved from him, highlighting the whole figure: it was the village chief. He showed a certain skepticism about the situation. "I refuse! I will never join the forces of evil! Our king has always supported us."

"How dare you refuse!" Artoris replied, emanating a sinister aura. The turtle with the wrinkled face and long eyebrows that curved. "YOU! You are a tyrant! And we will never stand by a tyrant!"

The soldiers began to look at each other, driven by terror. However, the fact of having to face a single enemy did not automatically mean being part of the demon king. Daltonious represented a threat to everyone: he had killed many man-beast comrades and was not considered a trusted companion. Despite this, the king had been forced to release him, thinking that if a monster of his caliber had managed to bring down Artoris, the man-beasts could have found peace.

The squad leader regained his reason and, although trembling, approached the demon king. "I'm sorry, if the village chief does not consent, I wouldn't consent either, and certainly, neither would the king."

"And who ever said I wouldn't have consented?" Suddenly, a pompous and familiar voice called attention. "Eh?" the squad leader turned suddenly. "Julius, don't speak without knowing," someone intervened.

It was him, transported on a cart, with two lizard-shaped beasts that were pulling him. "King!" everyone exclaimed, bowing before the king of the man-beasts, who had come down from the kingdom to reach one of the villages.

The king emanated an authoritative and penetrating gaze. "Comrades, I am grateful to you for welcoming me here today. As you know, our kingdom has been hard hit in recent times. We have become vulnerable, too old to defend ourselves on our own and our enemies have multiplied. We can no longer count on a strong army, despite the demons having attacked our lands. It is with deep regret that I must admit that we can no longer sustain our independence."

"B-but King!" exclaimed squad leader Julius with shocked eyes.

"Listen, I know this news is hard to accept, but the only way to ensure our survival is to accept the new conditions. We must cede our kingdom to the demon king. I know this decision may seem painful, but it is the only way to ensure a future for us and our families. I urge you to consider this proposal seriously and to consider the greater good of our people."

The soldiers were regaining their clarity, muttering and whispering now that the king himself had revealed the truth. They knew what to do. "And above all!" continued the king, drawing everyone's attention as he raised a thumb and bared his teeth. "Artoris is a badass!"

Kira looked bewildered, realizing that Artoris had created a believable image of the king. It was unnecessary to say that only idiots would have believed such nonsense, but the beastman seemed to believe the words of the false king.

Purply was so stupid that, in addition to believing the false words spoken by the false king of the man-beasts, he immediately thought of eating him.

Thus, the soldiers, including Amelia, bowed deeply to the king and welcomed Artoris as their new sovereign. The news naturally spread and Artoris began preparations for the reconstruction of the village. Now that the situation had improved, they could resume their journey towards the valley of the dwarves. Artoris had begun to expand his domain: the man-beasts were a territory that belonged to the demons, but how much more would he extend his power? No one could stop him; he wanted to conquer the world for himself, and the only brake would be the hero of the army of Heden, the only formidable enemy.

The destination was now very close; they would have easily reached it by flying. Thus, they would have been able to export the weapons of the dwarves also towards the demons. However, there was still an inexplicable reason: why had the man-beasts no longer received the exports of weapons from the dwarves? Perhaps there had been a misunderstanding or a quarrel? In any case, even by force, Artoris would have subdued them and forced them to give up their weapons.