Demon King
chapter-74

The War Between Human and Elves – (2)

“I found him!”

“Catch him!”

Screams of pain and confusion filled the corridors of the first floor, intermingling with the yelling of orders as the officers of the guilds attempted to restore some sense of order. There were no monsters here to be found. The only inhabitants of this floor being myself and my prey.

“Bind!”

“Damn it, he’s too fast!”

Magic wasn’t an easy thing to avoid. Most spells immediately activate upon the target as soon as they are cast. But if you could detect the magic beforehand and specify where the location it would hit was, it wasn’t so difficult to avoid, especially if the caster was someone of a much lower level than you.

“Is it the elves?!”

“I haven’t seen any yet… get out there!”

[You gained 329,183 experience.]

[You received 192 gold and 83 silver.]

[You have acquired the items in the opponent’s inventory, which include…]

“There’s more than one of them! They can appear anywhere, stay alert!”

“They’re a high-level class!”

Even when overwhelmed by a much stronger force, humans still had the capacity to band together and fight back. With enough planning and preparation, nothing was impossible.

[You have gained 484,029 experience]

[You have received 1,742 gold…]

However, in the midst of this chaos where their lives were in imminent danger, it was nearly impossible for the guilds to maintain order. The humans here were panicking, beginning to split up in an attempt to protect their own lives.

“I don’t want to die like this.”

“We just have to hold on until the rest come in!”

“We won’t be able to!”

[You have gained…]

As the groups slowly began to dissolve into individuals, the confusion continued to rise. The ugly side of the humans was about to surface, their will to survive at any cost arising.

“Bind…!”

“There he is!”

“It’s an elf!”

“A real elf!”

I appeared before them, my illusionary item making me appear as an elf with pure white skin and a different face.

“Kill it now!” Countless attacks flew toward me, both magic and weapons heading right toward me. An explosion flooded the corridor, catching several of the humans in the blast. The others didn’t care, though. It’s not like they knew all their guild members. And as long as the attack took out the enemy… What were a few casualties? In fact, whoever caused the explosion would probably receive a promotion for finishing off the enemy.

“Is it dead?”

“Experience! Whoever just received experience and gold, tell me!” The reality was that I was never caught in the explosion, only my alter ego after I had jumped using Ubiquitous. My alter ego, combined with my top-notch Confusion skill, was enough to deceive them. As the smoke cleared, all that was there were the bodies of their fallen comrades.

“Who killed it?”

“There isn’t a body!”

“It’s not over yet. Everyone, ready yourselves!” I shifted my form to match my surroundings, readying the shining blade of my greatsword as I approached. The sword I held shone with an ugly light, filled with my mana. The light faded as the mana in the sword expended itself, taking out my enemies before they could register what was happening.

Again, I jumped away with Ubiquitous. A group of them had escaped to the entrance of a narrow passage where guild officers were attempting to maintain order. I was right under their noses now, but they had no clue. ‘It is almost too easy to deceive their senses.’ Their failure to cultivate their own strength would only result in death. A death that was heading for them sooner than they might like.

I inhaled as I bent to the floor, rocketing forward like a sprinter without a moment’s hesitation. I combined Power Attack, Speed Attack, and several of my other high-end skills to activate my Devil’s Fang.

“Oh…!” The human leading the others noticed the abnormal flow of mana too late. His body was cut in half at the waist by my greatsword before he could even let out a warning.

[You have gained…]

“Ahhhh!” That was only the start as I cut through the rest of the group with reckless abandon. The walls of the passageway, metal armor, human flesh, and bone… none of them posed any resistance to my blade as I rushed forward.

“They’re to the west!”

“Stop them!”

The bodies of the humans lying in the passage began to rise into the air, carried by my black smoke that was hungrily devouring them. Some of those toward the end of the passage had seen the attack and were attempting to flee, but I only had to look at them to trigger a trap to prevent their movement. Lunatic Trickster’s activation speed, now that it had reached an advanced level, was functionally zero so long as I provided materials for it.

“Aghhh!”

“This monster…!” I put power into my legs, closing the distance between us in seconds. By the time I reached the end of the passage, the dozens of humans who filled the passage were already gone without a trace.

“Fuck, he’s stronger than the dead!”

“There’s a magic trap here!”

Humanity. That was the group I had once belonged to. There were those who would always try to stand out but would be buried by the group. There were also those who would do anything, even the cruelest of acts if it meant protecting humanity. As I contemplated this, I stepped forward using half of my mana to burn through the hallways with my flame magic. A wizard was attempting to stop my flames but couldn’t prevent me from grabbing his neck and breaking it. Nor could his allies stop me from cleaving through them with my sword.

“We’ve lost contact with the people in the other passageway.”

“Go check it out.” I laughed as I appeared in front of a guild officer, brandishing my sword that emitted an odd light once more.

“There are too many of us for you to handle.” My sword cleaved through, the head of the officer sailing through the air. His face was stuck in an expression of terror, very fitting as the black smoke consumed it whole. One hundred and twenty left.

“As expected, it really is an elf.”

“Don’t call me an elf, we’re Rookies!” I leaped again, letting out a battle cry for all those near to hear. I was too fast for them to catch up and too strong for them to resist.

“Agh!”

“I thought elves weren’t hostile?!” It was so funny to me that I couldn’t help but laugh. One after another, the heads of these humans were flying through the air. I had let go of my tactic of surprise and confusion, striding through the humans with confidence.

“Well, that’s just a little misunderstanding, and I have to admit my curiosity about the items I can acquire by killing all of you.”

“…!” My Demon’s Claws protruded from my shoulders, tendrils stretching out in all directions. It didn’t matter what sort of armor they encountered; the tendrils bit through them with ease to reach the weak souls hidden within. They only continued to grow as they devoured.

“If you wanted to stop us, why would you put up such a weak guard at the entrance?”

“Get him!”

These humans didn’t know of the existence of the Rookie’s Battlefield, which was a secret well-kept by the elves. They believed that there were more elves further in the dungeon, and if they killed me, I wouldn’t alert the others. ‘What foolishness.’ Had I been a real elf, I would’ve just returned to the Rookie’s Battlefield after I fought with the guilds here.

“He’s too strong!”

“It can’t be… is he over level 200?”

“Even if all elves are, we can beat them!”

Humans relied on reason and logic, but at moments like these, they became impulsive and cruel. Countless humans had already lost their lives here today, throwing the remaining ones into despair. There was only one human here who I would allow to survive, the one who had concealed himself the best among all those here. I had gone by him several times but decided to leave him be. They were running away now, believing that their skill had been enough to save them. I needed him to run outside and alert those waiting out there that I was here.

I decided to stop playing with my food, jumping forward with Ubiquitous and slashed through the necks of those in front of me. My mana exploded out, the humans around me, falling with ease. ‘Weak, too weak!’ A warrior holding an axe jumped at me as soon as I appeared with Ubiquitous, having been waiting for me to appear to kill me. His attack was fueled with mana, the axe blade glowing blue.

“Die!”

It looked like there were those in this group who would endanger their own lives for others. I considered this as I jumped away from the warrior with Ubiquitous. ‘Well, not that it matters.’ Black lightning erupted from my sword, exploding through all the nearby warriors. I stepped forward and reprieved them of their heads as they lay collapsed on the floor. Now, only three remained.

“Please…spare me…” A young woman threw her sword on the ground and knelt, begging for her life. The other two with her quickly joined in pleading. I could tell that more enemies had just entered the first floor.

Only

“How many are there?”

“Se-seventy-four! We thought you would be further in the dungeon!”

“Seventy-four people…”

“Please spare me!” I fired off a black rose, piercing through the woman’s neck and killing her instantly. The others tried to stand up and flee but only made one step before meeting the same fate. I could hear the sound of footsteps growing louder, troops in battle formation marching through the dungeon.

“The traces of battle remain, but there are no bodies. Any survivors?”

“We need to hurry.”

“Don’t be too hasty. We were expecting the enemy to be strong. Today will be the day that humans will surpass the elves.” I could hear a powerful voice, dripping with confidence. The sound of a person in charge. ‘The most delicious prey here has arrived.’

I hit the floor running, readying more traps, and pulling out my sword once more.