The problem with having such a large horde charging straight at him was that it discouraged him from even bothering to analyze them. It didn't really matter either way because whether he decided to analyze them or not, he was surely going to fight the incoming wave of demons. From the get-go, he could identify one variety from the demons arrayed before him—there were Imps in the lineup.
Master Imps.
Nathan chided himself for the little omission, rolling his shoulders as he tried to shake off any knots or muscles that hadn't been put to use with his earlier sword practice. The demon with the mace seemed to be the leader of the horde, and the big bad demon had decided to halt its charge, which caused Nathan's grin to drop. Now he'd have to stomp through a group of demons that probably weren't worth his time.
He highly doubted that any Master Imp would be worth his time at the moment, but he was willing to give the incoming horde of demons the benefit of the doubt. He wished they'd be worth the effort though—his exchange with the miners had left him feeling like a bully.
"Psst, I see dead demons," Nathan grinned bloodthirstily as he charged.
Yep.
He'd been right about the demons not being worth his time, but he shook the thought away. He couldn't become complacent and slip up; he needed to thoroughly crush these demons until the point that the big one joined the fray. He briefly wondered if there was a Decapitator-related Imprint and why the system hadn't given him it if there was one, as the head of the first demon his sword kissed fell to the floor.
He dismissed the thought as pinpricks of pain exploded at his side. The creature that had done that jumped into the air, a couple more like it joining it, bat-like wings furiously flapping as they hovered above. Ten of them corralled Nathan even as the ground demons did the same on land. He was surrounded, and looking at the cold, calculating eyes of the huge demon that had opted to stay out of the fray, he could tell it was thinking about the same exact thing. But he was surrounded by appetizers, and he'd clear them so that he could get to it.
[Harpy
Level 27]
[Harpy Level
28]
[Harpy
Level 27]
[Harpy
Level 26]
[Harpy
Level 24]
[Harpy
Level 27]
[Harpy
Level 24]
[Harpy
Level 27]
[Harpy
Level 27]
[Harpy
Level 28]
Well, that explains a lot.
Their ability to nick him was annoying to say the least. It had been long since he'd been vulnerable; the claws of the harpies were black with pointy tips, certainly sharp enough to rip out guts, but his constitution was way too high for them to handle, so they could only get skin.
Aerials were always one of the worst things to deal with, and he had ten of them hovering over him while still being surrounded by other demons on the ground. It sure wasn't looking good right about now. The thought caused Nathan to smile—finally, he'd get a proper warmup. It had been a while since there was something at stake in a solo fight. While he certainly doubted they'd be able to kill him combined as they were, he did know that they could cause significant damage, something the demon watching the fray was definitely going to capitalize on. The decision now made him wonder if he should go for the ground demons or the aerial ones first.
Mehh, I'll wing it.
Faster than their little demonic brains could process, Nathan moved. His sword streaked through the air, silver catching the crimson glow of the sky even as blood covered it—new, fresh blood belonging to an unfortunate Master as his sword cut through it like butter. His strike was fatal; the Master Imp was dead before it even knew what had hit it. He mowed down about twenty more, waves of euphoria going through him as Life-steal triggered, but he dismissed those. He also weathered the aerial assault by the harpies dismissively until an attack hit a little bit too close to home.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Shit!
Nathan gritted his teeth as fresh pinpricks of pain exploded around his neck. Two of the hovering harpies had sought to take advantage of his distraction and maybe cripple him by damaging his spine. Fortunately for Nathan, his constitution made his skin tough enough to resist any meaningful attack. All the harpies had done was score a few flesh wounds and make Nathan realize that it was on him to protect his eyes. It would be ironic that he'd risen so fast because he always went for the eyes of monsters above him in level, and he'd lose his life to the same thing—
Thwuck!
Thwuck!
Thwuck!
One harpy took an arrow to the chest and was still struggling to keep hovering. Two other harpies dropped like flies to the ground; they both had an eye missing, and in its place was an arrow. The moment he'd seen that, he'd instantly known that the follow-up squad had gotten to the settlement. The follow-up squad consisted of Diane, Tasha, Yola, Daniel, and the bunny which was with Yola—the weakest members of the group that had the lowest chance of survival if things went south. The plan was that they'd follow behind Nathan, who was supposed to clear out the majority of the force in that part of the settlement before they arrived.
Well shit!
He hadn't expected there to be demons present, and these guys would be able to smell the weakness of the squad members behind him. The only question was if they'd trade taking a shot at him in exchange for going for easy prey. He didn't have to wait too long to find out—a fraction of the demons that had surrounded him split to handle his incoming reinforcements. It was all he could do not to run back and protect the squad from the demons heading over to kill them, but he held himself back. This was their chance to deal with trouble alone, and he wouldn't take it from them.
Thud!
The body of the third harpy that had been hit dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, no longer able to keep itself hovering. The demon was ugly beyond belief, but Nathan didn't discriminate between demons—he simply swung his sword, dividing it into halves before going for his next victims: more harpies. Considering the attack he'd received to the back of his neck, he believed that harpies were most definitely the biggest threats he was currently facing, second only to the demonic specimen which had just been observing them, mace in tow.
[Life-steal Triggered]
Nathan dismissed the message as he shook off the harpy that had been unfortunate enough to have been run through by his sword. He'd thrust at it while it was still in the air, his sword catching it even as he pulled it down and killed it on the spot. That was the clearest memory Nathan had before everything became a blur to him. Black blood rained on him as he indiscriminately killed and maimed demons in his path.
Every swing of his blade brought with it the promise of death. The Berserker had fully gone berserk, slaying demons without a care in the world, and to be honest, Nathan didn't have a care in the world. He simply hacked and slashed and kicked, his sword bypassing the weak constitution of the demons like they didn't even possess the stat. Eventually though, he came to a halt, not because he was tired—no, it was because the big bad demon who'd hung back the entire fight had decided to join in, the insanely tall and huge demon letting out an infuriated roar.
"Kill the others, this one is mine," the Demon said.
[Demon Lord Level ?]
Bollocks.
Nathan quickly dismissed the notification. He'd analyzed the Demon on a whim, and he was right—it wasn't just the regular kind of demon. It was way above the others in the pecking order; it was a demon lord. The only question was if it was that demon lord.
Status
[Name: Nathan Orion
Moniker: N/A
Level: 39
Archetype: Blood Berserker
Class: Blood Pawn
Imprints: Balls of Steel, Demon Slayer, Skull Crusher, Bronze Dungeoneer, Wrong Underdog
Strength: 33
Dexterity: 15
Vitality: 18
Constitution: 22
Perception: 13
Dao: N/A
Ra'hal Coins: 58,650
Free Points: 11]
Screw this, I'm going all in:
Five points to constitution
Five to strength
One to Dexterity
[Strength: 38
Constitution: 27
Dexterity: 16
##
Free points: 0]
Nathan dismissed the screen with a thought. Already the smaller demons who'd previously surrounded him were heading for the others, leaving him alone with what was definitely a humanoid bull on steroids with a demonic visage—a demon lord.
"You destroyed my outpost on this forsaken world, you slayed my minions... twice, and you still openly defy me," the Demon growled. "For that, I, demon Taloth, will crush you, and I promise you that the others behind you will suffer a worse fate when you fall."
Yep, it's definitely the same Demon.
Nathan didn't know if he preferred the demons that actually couldn't talk, considering how this one was blabbering on about—Nathan's relaxed expression suddenly turned serious as he clocked the last words the demon had uttered. It had just teased a fate worse than death to those behind him, and he couldn't have that.
"Over MY DEAD BODY!" Nathan yelled as he charged at the demon.
His sword arched upwards as he aimed for an overhead strike. The tip of his blade would only be able to reach the jaws of the demon, but he didn't mind—as long as the demon fell to his blade, he didn't care about anything else.
Clang!
The sound of sword hitting mace rang out in the forest. The demon had moved so fast with the weapon as though the mace, which Nathan knew had to weigh a ton, weighed nothing. The demon doubled down on the block, causing Nathan to use both hands to grip the sword to avoid dying by his own blade.
The movement by the demon had been nothing more than a setup. With its free clawed hand, it swiped at Nathan's exposed side, its claws going deep enough to scrape the meat of his ribs. Pain exploded in Nathan's side, causing the Berserker to wince.
[Warning: 72% health remaining]
"You will die by my hands, and I'll enjoy torturing those who foolishly followed you," the Demon Lord growled.
It pulled back its claws only to deliver another swipe to his belly. Nathan resisted the urge to scream as the skin on his belly was flayed, blood leaking from the open wound.
[Warning: 44% health remaining]
"Pathetic," Taloth growled. "I might even take my time after all."
[Demon Lord Taloth has failed to cast Malevolent Gaze (IV) on you, requirements to cast skill were not met]
Nathan wasn't sure what the requirements were, but he sure was glad that he'd escaped the skill. Still gritting his teeth, he took the opening that the skill gave him. He did the thing that would give him a chance to strike back—he pulled back his sword and let the mace hit him. The blunt weapon hit his left shoulder like a battering ram.
Thud!
[Critical Warning: 28% health remaining]
[Blood Rebellion Triggered]
