A dangerous chase was taking place amongst the dark trees and dense fog. Four Hellhounds raced after a black-haired girl but were unable to catch up with her. When they got close to her, she just veered to the side and abruptly changed her direction. The Hellhounds were going crazy as a result of this. They were so enraged that they didn't notice the change in their surroundings and kept running after the girl.
The girl came to a halt in a wide-open space. The hellhounds assumed she was exhausted and charged straight at her. When the girl was within striking distance, the one in the front extended his paws to hit her. Just as his paw reached the girl, the ground beneath his feet vanished, and he and his companions fell into a ditch. And when they tried to escape, a rain of bone spears descended on them.
The mana-encased spears pierced their thick skin and dug into their flesh. Only one of the five remained alive and in a condition to move. When the surviving Hellhound emerged from the ditch, he noticed the black-haired girl smiling back at him from the front. But that smile seemed like a grim reaper's scythe. Suddenly, the girl charged at him with a sharp glint in her eyes, and all he could do was stare back at her, fear covering his face.
His death was the cruelest of all his companions. While the other victims died instantly without realizing what was happening, the black-haired girl used him as a punching bag. It died of internal bleeding, with more than half of its bones broken. At that time another girl came out from behind a nearby tree. At that time, another girl came out from behind a nearby tree.
"Even if they are monsters," Eliza chastised Karen, "you shouldn't be so cruel to them."
"I was just trying to practice a few moves," Karen explained herself.
Eliza simply sighed in response to these words. She had gotten used to Karen's semi-violent tendencies, but she still wanted her to suppress them as much as possible.
Karen complimented Eliza while observing the corpses in the ditch, "Your mana control has greatly improved. The spears pierced their bodies quickly and without much resistance. At this rate, you can even hunt them alone."
Eliza's face flushed slightly when she heard Karen's opinion. Getting a compliment from the monstrous Karen was like being the genius of the century. "It's the result of my training," she declared confidently.
"The one where you sit down and turn into a monster beacon," Karen jokingly teased.
"I already told you about it. It's mana circulation,'' Eliza's face had turned bright red. " And it doesn't function as a summoning beacon; monsters simply follow the mana influx."
Karen changed the subject, looking at Eliza's bright red face, "So, how long until we reach level 5?"
"Perhaps another gang of Hellhounds," Eliza speculated, her voice solemn. "After that, leveling will come to a halt."
"It looks like we're going to have to get out of here soon," Karen said solemnly.
They had killed several dozens of hellhounds over the course of the past two days. They reached level 4 late on the first day, but after that, their leveling speed slowed to a crawl. If they wanted to keep up the leveling pace, they needed to get out of this forest.
"We'll stick to our original plan." I'll entice them, and you'll bombard them with spears. Let's get to level 5 as soon as possible and get out of here," Karen said.
"All right," Eliza agreed with a nod and went to retrieve the spears from the ditch.
In the next few hours, five more hellhounds were slaughtered with little to no resistance.
Level Up
"Yes! We can now obtain skills from the system." Eliza squealed with delight. Karen smiled as she watched Eliza, who looked like a small child who had just received a sweet treat. Her pleasant mood was interrupted when she received an unexpected message.
[You've reached a satisfactory level. Unlocking the Bloodline Abilities]
Bloodline Suppression: All other bloodlines in your vicinity are suppressed when you release your demonic aura as a Demon Royalty. The level of suppression will be determined by your own strength.
Karen quickly opened her status.
Karen
Species: Young Demon (Royalty)
Level: 1
Stats:
Available Points (10)
Vitality -8
Strength - 10
Endurance - 8
Agility - 10
Mana - 5
Intelligence -7
Skills:
Available Skill Points (8)
Identification - Level 3
Hereditary Skills:
Bloodline Suppression
(Hereditary skills will become available as your level increases)
Soul-Binding Skills:
Telepathy - Level 1
Soul Transfer - Level 1
Intermediate Regeneration – Level 3
(As your bond grows, new skills will become available.)
Penalty (Permanent) – As a result of the forbidden technique used by the hosts to save their lives, their level will increase 20 times slower than before.
Bloodline Suppression. It was an ability that Karen had possessed even before her revival. At the time, not even Archdemons dared to argue with her. On the other hand, its current strength will only be enough to make Lesser Demons a little wary of her. Then she heard something else.
[Achieved Level 5]
[Skill Acquisition Enabled]
[Skill points can now be used to acquire skills.]
"Did you also get the message, Karen?" Eliza inquired, her voice brimming with excitement.
"If it's about skill acquisition, then yes," Karen said with a smile.
"However, don't squander your skill points," Eliza's bright expression abruptly turned dull. "We currently only receive low-level and low-rank skills. Let your points accumulate, and then you can get a stronger skill later."
"Okay, I'll just go through them and see what's there," Karen said cautiously.
"All right, then. Go ahead," Eliza said, rushing to retrieve the spears while Karen skimmed through the skill list.
Fire Ball (E)
Frozen Icicles (E)
Fear Resistance (E)
Poison Resistance (F)
Slash (F)
Thrust (E)
All of the skills listed here were nonsense that she would never even consider in her entire life. Were these the only skills available? She was confident that in a month, her fighting ability would outperform the skills listed.
While Karen was thinking this a skill suddenly caught her eye.
World's Eyes (F)
You will be able to see through the eyes of the world.
The skill description seemed simple and enigmatic, but the skill itself didn't appear to be particularly unique. However, Karen felt a mysterious force tugging at her heart. She wasn't sure why, but she felt compelled to acquire the skill right away, but she decided to check with Eliza first, who was taking longer than usual to gather the spears.
Karen eventually succumbed to her temptation and acquired the skill. All of the skills had a cost, and the cost of the World's Eyes was exactly 8 points. She received several messages after purchasing the skill.
[Confirming Compatibility]
[Compatibility] [100%]
[Beginning Merging]
Karen became aware that her eyes were becoming a little warm. By this time, Eliza had also arrived. Karen informed her of the new skill she had acquired.
"So you're saying you got a special feeling from that skill and you just bought it?" Eliza questioned suspiciously.
"Exactly. Karen tried to prove her innocence by saying. "It felt familiar, and I had this feeling that I should have it no matter what."
"Karen. It does happen. It happened to me once as well. We must learn from our mistakes," Eliza said, her voice laced with pity.
Karen was about to respond when she received a new message.
[The World's Eyes have been integrated] [100%]
Karen was about to call out to Eliza when she felt her head nearly split in half from excruciating pain, which was getting worse by the second. Furthermore, she had no idea what was causing her pain. She screamed as she clutched her head in her hands.
"It hurts like hell! Goddammit, it hurts!"
"Are you okay, Karen? What happened?" Eliza was terrified by Karen's plight.
"It hurts! It's excruciatingly painful!" Karen's yelling continued. Even the near-death experience she had, paled in comparison to this agony. She gradually began to lose consciousness.
"Karen, Hey, Karen. Please bear with me. Come on. Don't shut your eyes!" Eliza was also becoming overwhelmed as a result of her anxiety.
The last thing Karen saw as she closed her eyes was a crying Eliza. Then she was surrounded by nothing but complete darkness.
This sensation was similar to when she was on the verge of death the last time, but it was clearly distinguishable. This time, she wasn't dead. And she was able to sense and comprehend what was going on around her.
'I noticed myself gradually opening my eyes. The scene in front of me looked like it was straight out of Armageddon.
It was evident that I was in the midst of a battlefield. Dead bodies had begun to pile up on mountains as far as the eye could see. The ground was covered in blood, and smoke billowed from various locations. I was certain that I was in the human world, but the sky was colored red and black, indicating the magnitude of the war that had occurred here.
As if someone had taken possession of my body, I began to move my legs and walk in a specific direction. On this hellish battlefield, even that proved to be very difficult. The entire time I was walking, all my attention was focused on a single location. It was the only place on this battlefield that felt like a safe refuge.
It was like a small meadow that had sprouted up amid all the killing. Large vines grew all around it, encircling it. As I approached it, I felt a fatigue recovery spell cast within it. Except for one, there was not a single body in these few yards of the meadow. A broken body lay in the heart of this haven. The bones had been completely crushed, making it impossible to determine who or what had died.
I couldn't stand watching this scene. Despite my desire to flee, my body entered the meadow and approached the corpse. There was a gleaming golden ring on the corpse's right hand, proving the deceased's identity. My throat suddenly felt as if it were on fire.
I gradually knelt on my knees. I'm not sure where it came from, but I felt an extreme surge of emotions, and all the sorrow I'd accumulated burst out like a dam. I sat beside the corpse, sobbing uncontrollably.
The sight in front of me made me feel helpless and powerless.
After a few moments, I heard a few footsteps approaching me from behind. They were oddly familiar. My body quickly wiped away the tears and stood up as if not wanting to be seen by the approaching people in this state. However, just as I was about to turn around and look at them, my mind went blank.'
Karen found herself in the same dark place, enveloped by darkness.
She could feel and hear everything, but there was nothing in her immediate vicinity. She had to wait for a while before anything happened.
"You must grow stronger," a voice in her head said. She had a feeling she'd heard this strange voice before, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Karen exclaimed angrily. However, there was no response.
After a brief moment of silence, she began to feel utterly exhausted and started to lose consciousness.
'I'm starting to hate it now!' she shouted in her mind.