[You have slain 6 demon generals]
[Your maximum energy has increased by 153 points]
[You have obtained: 2 epic equipment and 3 rare.]
[You have obtained Demon Claw Arts]
[Demon Claw Arts]
Rating: Epic (Quasi-Legendary)
Type: Knowledge book
Description: A book containing Gosar's semi-perfected technique before his untimely death.
Note: This technique is tailored for the physique of a demon. For all other body types, the techniques will experience a decrease in power, but it is still a powerful martial art.
The rewards varied in ratings due to the demon's power transfer. The two generals that Genji killed before the transfer rewarded him with epic equipment, while the three generals that fed Gosar their vitality dropped rares. However, this was more beneficial for Genji because a single quasi-legendary item was far more valuable than four epics.
Plus, it was a knowledge book containing the combat techniques of this formidable opponent. Genji had no plans of learning this since his dagger skills were far more exquisite. The only reason Gosar was so difficult was that his stats vastly outstripped Genji's after all the other demon's powers were concentrated on him.
Genji pulled out the dagger from the last demon and examined his injuries. They were deep but within expectations. Genji had calculated the exact amount of damage he could sustain before he would faint. And all of that was so he could lower his opponent's guard for a final surprise attack.
It was a dangerous gamble akin to dancing on the edge of a blade, but he had no choice. If he hadn't finished the fight like that, he would have been whittled down, even with both Legacy Liberations.
Gosar had achieved a full understanding of what his techniques were capable of and could easily adapt to anything, given enough time. And with his energy levels, Genji would be hard-pressed to defeat Gosar in a battle of endurance.
That was why he allowed himself to be so injured without healing up. If he had used his potions, then Gosar would have never gotten careless and exposed an opening. Genji knew because that was what he would do.
"Let's go. More demons are coming," Genji called out to Bruce, who had finished cleaning up the battlefield.
A grunt of dismay greeted him as Bruce gagged with each step. How did things end up like this? Bruce had only agreed to drink this foul blood because of the minuscule remaining time. But, who would have expected that the countdown was a lie? Everything felt like a scam to Bruce, and he wanted his taste buds back.
Despite this, Bruce knew this was not the time to dally. Genji had just finished a dangerous battle and needed time to recuperate. If they encountered their pursuers now, then Bruce wouldn't even get the chance to eat his delicious meat. If that happened, wouldn't he have killed his taste buds for nothing?
'Stupid demons. Just watch how I deal with you later. Hphm. I'll make you pay for your nasty blood. Just wait. Uncle Bruce isn't done with you.'
Minutes after Genji left the battlefield, another army of demons approached the area. A few captains dashed ahead and examined the battle traces before reporting back.
"Darn it. We just caught up and they got killed. Just who is this guy? How can he survive the assault of 6 generals at once?"
This was the general of the follow-up army. Due to the sheer size of the entire group, they split the shifts between multiple armies. That way, they had a decent force searching for Genji at all times while they maintained their fighting form.
They had gotten word of this encounter from the general who stayed behind-the general who had badly bruised his fist to clear the poison mist. It was only a few minutes of delay, but they had missed Genji. This greatly frustrated the generals since they had no way to track him anymore.
The detection orb has been lost, and their target was aware of their plans. It would take a miracle to find him again under these circumstances.
"Is there anything else we can do now?" Another asked, hoping that their collective brains could generate something.
"How should I know? This is Ezekiel's plan, not mine. Do you think I thought about it as much as he did?"
"Then are we just going to give up after getting so close?"
"But what choice do we have? That guy's never going to give us the chance to find him again."
A sour mood enveloped the generals, and they marched the army back. They had failed miserably and wanted to vent. And what better target than the mastermind behind these "plans"?
When the normal demons sensed this gloomy atmosphere, they steered clear of the generals. Who knew if they would suddenly snap and unleash their frustrations early? They still valued their lives, despite how miserable it was.
"Now what, Ezekiel?" Multiple generals stormed into the tent and forcibly pushed aside the apprentice shaman at the door. "Your plan failed, and we lost 6 entire generals. How are you going to compensate us now?"
Ezekiel looked up at the fuming generals and let out a sigh. What a bunch of brutes. This was why he wanted to isolate himself from them so many years ago. Just staying in their vicinity made him feel dumb. And they proved that they hadn't changed since then.
"First of all, that wasn't my plan. You people were the ones who ran out of ideas and came to me for help. I did what I should, but when things go wrong, it's my fault? Just how dumb are you? Also, who said my plan failed?"
The generals were taken aback by his response and realized Ezekiel was correct. They were the ones who asked for help, so they had no right to complain when their execution failed. But what was the last part about?
"Wait, you had another plan?"
Ezekiel flashed a sly grin and raised his bone staff, tapping it a few times on the ground. "What do you think? I'm not like you all who put all your eggs in one basket."
Then it hit them. Yes, this was Ezekiel they were talking about. How could he make the same mistake they did? But what was this plan, and how did they not notice it? And how would it help them find their target?
"Well? What is it? Don't keep us in suspense anymore."
"Are you really that stupid? I laid everything out in front of you, and you still can't figure it out? Just how dumb did you all get?"
"Stop talking in riddles and spill it already." A general rudely retorted, becoming impatient from the insults.
"What's the rush? It's not like he can escape after being marked by me."
Mark? How did he do that? The generals were certain that Ezekiel had never left this tent since they met. How could he have gotten close enough to brand the target? And when? Then another realization hit them. That's right! Ezekiel might not have left the tent, but someone else did—the shaman helper!
"You did something to that shaman?"
"You finally figured it out. Took you long enough."
"You didn't like that guy, did you? That's why you sent him to his death." The generals pieced everything together and came to a shocking conclusion. There was no other explanation.
If Ezekiel had been certain of the plan's success, he wouldn't have done something behind the helper's back. Instead, he would have dispatched a competent shaman to maximize their chances.
"Ho ho, what could you possibly mean by that? I'm a loving ancestor who cherishes the lives of his subordinates. How can you imply such a sinister move? Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?" Ezekiel responded with a sarcastic tone, but the generals continued their deduction.
"So if you were expecting us to fail, then your marking must have triggered around then. If I have to guess, it's when that shaman got killed. I don't know how you did it, but I'm sure you found a way after so many years of research."
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The generals' eyes were confident like a detective who had discovered the truth, a certain truth.
*Clap, clap, clap* "Not bad. You actually saw the crux of everything. Maybe you aren't as dumb as the others."
Ezekiel's words were jarring to the ears, but the generals didn't care. They were too busy celebrating the revival of this opportunity to be bogged down by their eccentric acquaintance.
But what Ezekiel didn't mention was that everything had been much simpler than they thought. Instead of relying on some convoluted plan that required the shaman to be killed by Genji specifically, he used a basic magnet.
When he was modifying the orb, Ezekiel injected a special metal into its composition that greatly interfered with sensory effects. That was how he weakened the orb's effects to usable levels. But the key property that Ezekiel was relying on was its weird attraction to another metal in his possession.
Ezekiel had chanced upon this discovery a few years back and made a compass to find track more of it. Now, the orb was in Genji's possession and acted as the perfect anchor for tracking. Of course, this wasn't the actual backup plan since it was unrealistic to rely on the enemy keeping the orb with them. No, it was a nice bonus to his real backup plan.
The truth was, the generals were quite close to the truth. But instead of casting the spell on the shaman, Ezekiel had used it on the orb. It was a simple change, but it made the plan that much more dependable.
The demons had no reason to destroy it since it was, to their knowledge, their last hope. Rather, they would protect it with all their might, removing the chances of accidental shattering. This meant that if the orb was destroyed, it could only be done by the human. But even if the orb wasn't destroyed, he certainly wouldn't leave it behind. After all, he was being hunted down by it.
'Still, to think you could kill 6 generals at once. We underestimated you. This time, it'll be different because I'll be joining the hunt. And I'm not like the others.'
----------------------------------------
Another few days passed before Genji discovered traces of demons again. This time, it was a group that stretched further than the eye could see. Genji was surprised by their numbers, but he had no plans to engage. They hadn't discovered him yet, and he could easily slip away. That was until he realized that the entire area was sealed under the same connected army.
"Persistent bastards."
Genji started to doubt the demons' motives. Why were they chasing after him with such fervor? To his knowledge, he hadn't started any conflicts with them. What did they have to gain from all these battles?
"Here we go again," he muttered and looked for the weakest link in the encirclement.
The demons slowly marched forward, cutting off the available space for him. Genji couldn't even begin to imagine how long it must have taken to set this up, but he wasn't going to dally. The more his enemies tried, the more he needed to break out.
Berserk, Dance of Death, Like A Feather, Untraceable Movement, Wolf Step, Flashstep, Dominance Aura, Quantum Shield, and Dagger Arts: Threading the Needle
Genji used everything he had and slaughtered through their ranks like an unstoppable bullet. By the time the demons noticed his presence, he was already halfway across their army. Blood splattered around him as he fiercely carved a path out of this densely packed crowd.
Roars of pain and surprise rang out around him, drawing the attention of the nearby generals. Then the demons underwent a huge increase in strength, burning their life force under the generals' influence.
The resistance increased and forced Genji to swing harder than before. His daggers twirled around him like deadly snakes, killing anyone who dared to approach. However, this display fell on blind eyes as the demons lost their rationality. The only thought left was to trudge forward and kill this enemy.
"He's as powerful as I expected," Ezekiel said, observing from a distance. "But what if I get involved?"
Ezekiel waved his bone staff, and a wave of weakness overcame Genji. This was a system of debuff that he wasn't familiar with. Unlike the curses that plagued him with external hindrances, this one felt internal. It felt like he had suddenly become decades older, and his body started failing him.
It was a strange weakness that [Curse Bearer] couldn't mitigate and greatly troubled him. Now he needed to exert twice the strength to achieve the same result, a demanding requirement that rapidly sapped his stamina.
The feeling got stronger, and his movements got slower. Strength left his body, and injuries formed on him. It was difficult to dodge so many attacks when his body felt so diminished, and the demons burned all their vitality for a single strike. Due to this, every attack he parried felt like a sledgehammer that rivaled a mini-boss's.
If possible, he wanted to kill the source of this debuff, but the demon responsible was on the other side of the battlefield. If he wanted to attack him, he would need to turn back, a feat tantamount to suicide.
"I can't continue like this," Genji thought and pulled out a mutation gel bomb. After a quick splash, some of his lost strength returned to him. His muscles twitched slightly, and his wounds slowly closed. However, the effect was much weaker than normal.
The energy that was supposed to be healing him was being consumed by something else at a frightening pace. Sensing this change, Genji understood the cause of this debuff. Something was sapping his vitality and draining his strength.
The reason why he felt older was because he was getting older. As his vitality left him, his lifespan decreased correspondingly, simulating the effect of aging.
"Go figure. What else could be the reason when I'm facing demons capable of manipulating life force?"
Understanding this, he pulled out multiple bottles of adapting healing potions and chugged them. Then he splashed himself with three more mutation gel bombs to give him a sudden surge of life force. The potions would cover the loss of life while the mutations would keep him in peak condition.
Shadow flames coated his daggers, and he did everything he could to accelerate. His energy pool decreased rapidly with each cut, but he persisted. He was approaching the perimeter and about to break free.
Suddenly, all the demons around him flared with mighty auras, pushing their vitality to its peak before separating from their bodies. Three large impacts shattered the ground, revealing the figures of demon generals. Then the strands of vitality gathered around them, boosting their powers to new heights.
By rough comparison, they possessed half the energy levels of Gosar, a level high enough to stop Genji in his tracks.
"Just how much did they sacrifice to achieve this power?" Genji wondered as all the demons collapsed in a 300-meter radius, forming an open battlefield.
"You shall not pass!" One demon roared, stomping the ground and forming a hand scalpel with the excess vitality. Following that, the other two got into position and augmented their bodies.
"Seems like I don't have a choice. Terrify them, Shroud of Terror."
At his command, his cloak emitted deep darkness and hovered above his body, defying gravity. A huge boost of power coursed through his shadow core, amplifying its abilities manyfold.
The increase brought by this was more than multiplication; it was qualitative, like ascending to a higher plane of existence. His energy had never felt so powerful and pervasive. It felt euphoric like nothing could stop him. And in a way, this feeling was correct, if he forgot about the short duration.
But Genji was aware of this limitation and wasted no time. A large sweep of shadow flames covered the area before him, hiding his figure within the darkness.
The generals struck out with the utmost force, punching two cylindrical holes through the sides and a sharp bisection down the middle. The flames flickered under these strikes and rushed to fill the gaps and devour the attackers. The generals launched another strike, more forceful and mighty, to pummel the flames back.
However, this attack consumed more energy than expected, giving Genji an opening to exploit. Shooting out from the fading inferno, Genji spun along a diagonal and bounced off using one leg. The next moment, he darted to the side, launching an attack on the least-prepared demon on the right.
Genji's flames condensed around his daggers, forming a pitch-black layer of still energy. The demon crossed his arms before him and channeled as much life force as possible. However, this was futile as Genji's dagger cut through without resistance. His shoulders slid off his torso, and his eyes widened in astonishment. Then Genji brandished his weapons once again, dicing the head into quarters.
"!!!"
"!!!"
Alarm filled the heads of the two generals when they witnessed the quick work Genji made of their partner. They were roughly equivalent in strength, so they knew they wouldn't fare any better if they were in the general's place. It was a frightening realization, but it only steeled their resolve.
The two generals exchanged a brief look before launching their attacks in synchronization. Vitality weaved through the air and whipped up enormous winds before solidifying in their hands. On the left, a gauntlet with spiked knuckles shot at Genji's face. On the right, an arm fully covered in a cleaver form chopped down on his shoulder.
Both were mighty attacks that focused everything on one strike. Both were earth-shattering and sky-rending, capable of mass destruction in a single blow. Both were intimidating attacks that surpassed the limits of their physical bodies, reaching levels beyond the world's limit.
However, Genji was unfazed by this, a disposition formed by his trust in his instincts. Since his intuition said he stood a chance, he would fight!
His arms crossed over his chest, and his muscles tightened, winding up to unleash his all. Then with a sharp exhale, he let loose and stuck out with the strongest shadow flames he had ever condensed.
Dagger Arts: SCAR!
All his energy drained from his body and fueled this dreadful X that sliced forward for seemingly eternity. Time ground to a halt, leaving only the fluttering of flames to etch its mark. It was a beautiful flicker of tips, waving back and forth in this occupied space and traveling forward without obstruction.
Then time resumed its normal flow, and the two generals exploded with blood. Deep wounds opened across their bodies, their ultimates destroyed in the face of this blow.
Their life force scattered into motes of light, replacing the lost liveliness of their eyes as the center of attention. Then this vibrancy faded and with it, their existence.
Genji looked at this scene with surprised eyes, astonished by his own display of power. It was unbelievable to think that he had unleashed such mighty abilities that transcended his stats. It was beyond his wildest expectations, but that was what embodied a Legacy Liberation.
Genji snapped out of his admiration and broke down some crystallized energy to replenish his depleted pool. Then he transformed into a streak of darkness, shooting into the distance by making full use of his boosted flashstep.
[You have slain: 3 Demon Generals]
[Your max energy has increased by 56 points.]
[You have obtained: 16 Demon Fists, Concentrated Burst Punch, and Hardening of Arms]
[16 Demon Fists]
Rating: Epic
Type: Knowledge Book
Effect: Upon use, gain knowledge of the Demon Fist martial art
Description: A decent option if you have a body big enough to make full use of it.
[Concentrated Burst Punch]
Rating: Epic
Type: Skill(Active)
Effect: Consume 50% of your health to punch with 500% damage in a concentrated area.
Description: A costly skill with massive destructive capabilities.
[Hardening of Arms]
Rating: Epic
Type: Skill(Passive)
Effect: Upon use, your arms become harder than steel
Description: A powerful support if you practice arm-related martial arts. Otherwise, you can chop melons as a party trick.