-----
Ding!
[Congratulations! You and your party have hunted the {Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera}!]
[Based on the amount of damage dealt against the Demon King, rewards will be distributed accordingly.]
[Calculating damage dealt…]
Oh, so this is a thing. I guess I do remember something similar in the novel, when my brother first defeated the Fourth Demon King, named the “Headless Crusader,” from another world. There was indeed a damage ranking.
It seems they’re seen as “world bosses” or whatever, and there’s a whole ranking of damage dealt against them. Those that deal the most damage receive greater rewards. It was already insane; we stopped him from fully maturing into a true Demon King.
If he had, this world might have truly ended. Demon kings are powerful forces of nature. They drain the world of all their life and energy and use it for their abilities. Therefore, they can sometimes be much stronger than the Avatars of the Apostles of Death, even if the latter are supposed to be stronger.
With such a big achievement, this world and I should be well rewarded. After all, few worlds are capable of slaying their own Demon Kings. And those that do are usually cataloged as “Apex Worlds,” standing above all others as powerful worlds filled to the brim with mighty mortals capable of completing most challenges.
[Calculations complete.]
[You’ve managed to deal damage equal to 38% of the demon king’s total health points.]
[Demon King’s Damage Rankings]:
[1st: Anna] [Total Damage: 38%]
[2nd: Jack] [Total Damage: 27%]
[3rd: Henrietta] [Total Damage: 17%]
[4th: Annabelle] [Total Damage: 11%]
[5th: Scarlet] [Total Damage: 7%]
[You’ve been ranked first in the Damage Rankings!]
Oh, I ranked first, huh? I guess most of that damage was done when I stopped him from becoming a full Demon King. It's weird how the system still counts him as one, even though he never fully developed his abilities.
[As you’ve been ranked first in the Damage Rankings, you will receive the full, clear rewards.]
[You received [Privilege Evolution Ticket (S Rank)] x1!]
[You received [Privilege Evolution Ticket (A Rank)] x2!]
[You received [Privilege Fusion Marble (S Rank)] x1!]
[You received [Privilege Fusion Marble (A Rank)] x2!]
[You received [Skill Evolution Stone (S Rank)] x1!]
[You received [Skill Evolution Stone (A Rank)] x2!]
[You received [Skill Fusion Ticket (S Rank)] x1!]
[You received [Skill Fusion Ticket (A Rank)] x2!]
[You received [Skill Specialization Grimoire (SS Rank)] x1!]
[You received [System Gachapon (A Rank)] x5!]
[You received [Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera’s Themed Treasure Chest (SS Rank)] x1!]
[You received [Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera’s True Demonic Heart (SS Rank)] x1!]
[You received [Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera’s Skill Scroll (SS Rank)] x1!]
[You received the [Demon King Slayer] Title!]
[All items have been delivered inside of your Inventory.]
[Thank you for participating!]
Suddenly, I saw my inventory getting filled with incredibly precious items you would usually get out of the Third Awakening’s Trial Completion Rewards. They were so insane, it made my entire body tremble.
Not only did I get the Skill Evolution Stones, which I’ve hesitated to use due to how precious they are, but I got items for Privilege Evolution and Privilege Fusion?! No way! And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the system Gachapon and the three themed items, which include the heart of the demon king and a skill scroll!
With that scroll, I can learn one random skill from the Demon King I defeated. This was one of the amazing abilities those who slew them acquired. The powerful fighters from other worlds that won against their Demon Kings all possessed one of these skills. It was what made them so overwhelmingly strong, too.
I wonder what I will get.
Screw it; let’s use that one right away! Anything would do. Even his second-phase transformation, or that giant bloody mother he could summon. Hell, even the gate to that hell would do some good! With that, I could command a legion of demons to defend Earth! It would instantly make us into the Apex World we need to be.
FLASH!
The scroll appeared in front of me, full to the brim with demonic, crimson pentagrams. I opened it and then gave a mental command. It activated instantly, overflowing with a crimson light that then flew into my heart.
“Come on, come on... Something good!”
My Luck doesn’t properly work with items in the randomized category that have fixed rates for each reward, so I can only hope for the best.
In the beginning, I was able to get some good items out of the privilege treasure boxes, but that was entirely different; those weren’t even items but privileges.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
So, I have to leave this to my outside of system luck, which is just chaotic randomness.
Suddenly, the crimson energy gathered into my forehead, forming an eye-shaped, red-colored tattoo, which slowly disappeared.
I felt a surge of new power flowing into my Soul and Body.
“Oh, it’s done. What did I get?!”
The Scroll slowly turned into ashes as the system window notified me of what I had acquired. Literally, anything would be good!
Ding!
[You learned the {Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera} Unique Demon King Skill: [Unborn Demonic Cocoon (SS): Lv1]!]
What? Seriously?! What is this? This is not fair! Ugh, I fucking hate Gachas! This is unfair! I got possibly the worst-ever skill! What the hell will this even do? It might have been born because I attacked him and prevented his natural birth. So it’s a defective skill! Is this karma for trying to kill him when he was accomplishing his dreams or something? But why would I be punished by karma when he was a psychopath?
[“You seem quite upset."]
“Did you get a new skill? Why are you so angry?” Sepa wondered. “At least read it first before getting so angry. Sometimes the name doesn’t mean everything.”
“Huh… If you say so.” I sighed, looking at the skill description.
-----
[Unborn Demonic Cocoon (SS): Lv1]
[Skill EXP]: [0/100.000]
A Unique Skill belonging to the unborn {Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera}, who was stabbed and forced to step out of his cocoon before fully transforming into his true form.
This is a Skill that signifies you’re an incomplete being, unborn, and lacking. You’re much weaker than you should have been you were unable to accomplish your dreams, and you’re now left with only your miserable, half-dead body squirming in agony.
Your form is incomplete; therefore, your body will change its appearance depending on the damage you take. Transforming into the embodiment of your worst fears, sins, and emotions, alongside your Selfishness:
Below 80% Health, [Abyssal Hermit of Insecurity]: Increases Dexterity, Agility, and Wisdom by +200%. All your attacks have a fixed 50% chance of failing to hit a foe, but a 100% chance of a Critical Hit that multiplies damage by x3. Any successful hit has a 30% chance to inflict [Insecure Thoughts] on any foe. Duration: 15 Minutes.
Below 50% Health, [Aberrant Flesh Knight of Despair]: Increases Health, Strength, and Vitality by +300%, decreases Agility and Dexterity by -50%. All your Attacks deal no damage to your foe’s Health, but instead deal damage to their Mana or other energy sources with each hit. Any successful hit has a 30% chance to inflict [Endless Despair] on any foe. Duration: 10 Minutes.
Below 10% Health [False Demon King: The Selfish Manipulator]: Increases All Stats by +400%, but your MP and Ki are completely drained to zero. You cannot take damage from physical attacks. When you touch a foe, you drain 1% of their Mana and Ki per second. When you are hit with a physical attack, you can copy it and unleash it once against the foe with only 50% of its original power. You can manipulate those that submit to you through [Threads of Selfish Manipulation] to make them move as perfectly as you wish. Duration: 5 Minutes.
After transformation, you cannot regenerate Ki and Mana for 5 Hours.
Level Bonus (1): Increases All Transformations Stats by an additional +10%. Decreases Cooldown by -10 Minutes.
-----
“Huh? This is not that bad. But also weird. Are these transformations always happening? That’s going to be really inconvenient!” I showed Gram and Sepa the skill description.
“It has some potential, but maybe you should just delete the skill.” Sepa sighed. “It still feels fairly useless if there are going to be so many conditions.”
[“What? Don’t be foolish. Each transformation has incredibly unique abilities. You simply have to employ them correctly and smartly at the right time.”]
“Hmmm… Maybe we should try using it.” I wondered.
“Like… how?” Sepa asked, raising an eyebrow made of light.
“Easy, Gram. Can you stab me a few times?” I asked him.
[“W-Wha…?! Are you insane?! Why would you ask a divine sword to stab their own wielder?! That’s only something demonic swords would do!”]
“Then turn into a demonic sword!”
[“No! I don’t want to!”]
Gram started to complain as I heard someone coming and quickly opened the door to my room. It was my brother, who was shocked to see me all awake and as if nothing had ever happened to me.
“Anna?! You’re awake! H-Holy shit!”
“Brother!”
I received his hug happily as he started to tell me everything that had transpired while I was asleep. Apparently, in these last three days, there has been a whole celebration, and they were all gifted medals except me because I was asleep. My brother didn’t want to bring me to a hospital after what happened there back then; he didn’t want to leave me alone.
So he brought me back home, fed me some powerful potions with lots of nutrients, and then let me sleep for three days while watching over me the entire time. He’s so dedicated to me. I feel a bit embarrassed; he was pretty much treating me like a baby, though.
“Are you really fine?! Should I give you more of the special nutrient-rich potion I made?” He offered me a huge bottle with a pacifier at the top. He was really feeding me like a baby!
“N-No! No more of that!” I stopped him. “But... thanks for taking care of me. Are you alright, though?”
“Ah, me?” He asked. “Well, it has been a relaxed three days. Nothing big has happened. There are no monsters outside the city walls, either. So it’s all good, mostly.”
“No, I mean you, not what has happened here,” I said, crossing my arms. “Are you feeling okay? I know you did something weird with Fenrir to gain power before.
“Oh… No, yeah, I mean, I’m fine.” He smiled.
Although he pretended to be fine, I could tell there was a certain sorrow in his eyes. Every time my brother and Fenrir "evolve,” he has to sacrifice his own memories, losing a part of such experiences and emotions and slowly making him colder.
Right now, he’s still the same, all thanks to everyone around him. But if he keeps sacrificing his own memories to grow stronger, he’ll eventually forget his sense of self and become someone completely different.
I can’t let that happen. There has to be another way for them to evolve and grow stronger than that! And I’m going to find it.
“For now, don’t evolve again until we can find an alternative,” I said.
“What…? Anna, you know that.” He was surprised.
“I do know! I know that you lose your memories when you evolve.” I sighed. “I learned thanks to a little constellation that told me.” I obviously lied.
“T-That’s… Dammit! Why do they have to pry on me so much?! Bastards…” My brother gritted his teeth. “Well, I… I was doing it for you, Anna. For everyone too, I guess. I needed the strength. It was just a few boring memories from a few days that I had already almost forgotten anyway. Don’t worry. We have so many memories that it's easy to discard the ones that don’t matter."
“Every single memory matters.” I stopped him from speaking any longer. “Brother… If you keep going down this path, you will lose everything that makes you who you are. And I will lose my brother forever.”
“A-Anna…” He muttered, suddenly falling into silence. “Look, I’m fine, okay? And you shouldn’t be worrying about me. I am strong, and I can do almost anything. You’re the one who should be worried about yourself. I’ve been living in this world all alone for years. I’ve grown used to it, but you... you’re different, even now."
“Enough with it!” I said angrily. “I am not a kid, Jack. I might be younger than you, but I am already 17! Soon to be 18. Stop treating me like a child! I am worried about you because... Because I love you! You’re my family, you know? I don’t want you to keep losing those precious memories. Promise me, promise me that you won’t do it until we find a solution together.” I didn’t realize that tears were streaming from my eyes already.
“…” Jack felt taken aback by my words, stepping a few steps back and then walking forward, hugging me. “…Okay. I get it. Sorry, Anna. I’m sorry… I won’t do it.”
“You have to treasure those memories. You can’t just discard the memories of mom and dad.” I continued crying. “You can’t forget about them.”
“You’re right… I don’t know why—I guess I was truly desperate back then.” He confessed. “But Fenrir was… Well, he told me not to do it, but I did it anyway. I might have a problem deep down. Maybe… I’m not really mentally well.”
“W-We can get through it. Let’s just talk more about these things. You know I’m here for you.” I said. “A-And also, Henrietta, she loves you so much too. You should trust her more as well.”
“I guess…” Jack nodded. “Sorry… I’ll try to get through it, but... It’s hard in this world.”
“Hmmm…” Suddenly, Fenrir’s head appeared out of my brother’s shadows. “I’ve heard it all. And yes, there might be a way to evolve differently. But for that, we’ll need to find several artifacts. I’ve been actually thinking about this myself.”
“Fenrir?!” Jack gasped. “Hey, can’t you just let us have a personal moment at least, you damn creep of a mutt?”
“Oi! I’m just trying to help, dumbass!” Fenrir groaned.
“Hahaha, okay, don’t fight.” I laughed. “So, Fenrir. Do you have an idea?”
“To begin with... The reason why Jack needs to sacrifice emotions to evolve with me... I’ll tell you about that first.” Fenrir’s eyes seemed full of guilt as he explained.
-----