"DIE!"
Adelio shouted and thrust his spear at the demoness' heart.
Spurt-
"Khuk!"
He spat a mouthful of blood and lost control of his spear.
Adelio's spear was inside the demoness' chest and just an inch away from her core but something made him stop.
Looking down he saw a red-colored hand and claws sprouted from his solar plexus. He tried to move his body and used mana to circulate blood and heal the hole between his chest and belly button but to no avail.
"Thanks for the hard work."
Adelio's eyes widened as he heard a voice and turned to look at its source.
…
"Thanks for the hard work."
I appreciated him for doing all the work for me.
I was well aware of the mana healing, regenerating, and tempering because of which I chose his solar plexus before anything. As the source of the mana was cut off, his body stopped healing and moving altogether.
Unlike the third-rate villains, I was impatient, so instead of any explanation I simply extended my claws and-
Slash-
Thud-
I beheaded Adelio.
"L-Logan!? H-how!?"
I heard a sweet, silky, and seductive voice questioning my sudden appearance.
Appraising her beauty for a second I looked at her condition. A spear was pierced through her chest and some particles of an unknown yet fearful substance were crawling over her thick, rhino-like skin. Her regeneration was slowly increasing as the holy magic of the spear kept dying.
Her eyes were filled with hope as she looked at me.
This woman hated me to the core and was the one to exile me. But now she looked at me like her savior. She was a part of previous Logan's memories, which I skipped altogether.
"Save me, Logan! Bastard! What are you waiting for?!"
'Heh.'
The woman was ordering help. How cute.
"Sure."
I replied with a smile on my face.
I was in my demon form so I was sure that smile will be a nightmare but that was the last thing she could see after all.
I pushed the spear slightly and made some space in the hole, enough to shove my claws.
"AGHHHH!"
"Thanks for the levels."
The demoness' eyes widened in surprise at my actions.
"What-…"
Before she could say anything I took her core out of her chest and appraised the black ball for a second.
In the demon world, consuming another demon's core was taboo, but who was I? A demon of course. We do not abide by rules.
Keeping the woman for Evil Points grinding was good, but I required her core to break through the circles faster.
'Let's get started.'
…
Quake! Quake!
"What the fuck!?"
A few students who arrived at the stronghold shouted as they felt a heavy mana fluctuation across the field.
"Hey! That's Jin and Thomas, aren't they?!"
Students noticed the sweat-drenched figures of Thomas and Jin. Their faces were pale and their expressions were dark.
To further increase the tension there were two unknown powers, the first was a golden light that was slowly fading away and the second was the heavy fluctuation coming from the dungeon.
"Huff… huff… t-that d-demon…"
Thomas tried to speak but his body ran out of energy.
After Logan kicked him in the chest, he lost a few vitals and his head felt dizzy. The sudden mana fluctuation also affected his mental health.
Anna was the most observant of all, and her absence made them take irrational decisions.
They ran out of potions and fought with a huge number of low-level demons.
Albeit low-level, they outnumbered the group.
Clinging to the hope of getting Lisa's whereabouts they continued to fight and to their help, a few groups of students arrived at the stronghold.
But the reality was terrible and it hit them hard.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~"
None of them dared to go inside the dungeon as they heard a burst of sinister laughter.
"R-reinforcements?!"
One of the students exclaimed as if he understood their situation while completely misunderstanding it.
"HUH?!"
Thomas, Jin, and the two girls frowned while lying on the ground to catch their breath.
"W-what should we do?!"
Another student asked.
They just wanted to catch a baron, take its core and submit to the academy, you know?
Why was everything getting worse and worse?
The girls wanted to cry but held back their tears because of Thomas and Jin's presence.
Currently, there were twenty students in the stronghold.
Twelve girls and eight boys.
"Run!"
Some students said and started running.
Lisa's life was important but if they were to fight more army again, they were dead for sure.
But before they could do anything further a figure emerged from the dungeon's entrance.
The surroundings became chaotic as the being took the first step out.
A black miasma started polluting the surroundings.
'This pressure!'
Everyone looked at the source of the sudden pressure, all students fell to the ground the moment they were exposed to the pressure.
Some held back and released their aura to tackle the pressure but they were too weak in front of it.
'A Viscount!'
Thomas, who was knowledgeable about the demon hierarchy knew that only Viscount and above demons could release such pressure.
His legs started shaking and a yellow liquid streamed down. But no one laughed at this scene, because all of them were suffering from the same if not similar.
"Welcome to my humble adobe."
A voice echoed through the area and everyone who heard it started trembling in fear.
…
[Far away from Logan's stronghold.]
"Justice Beam!"
Kevin exclaimed while pointing his scepter at one of the barons and a golden beam shot from the scepter completely disintegrating the baron's body.
In just a single week, Kevin destroyed two demon strongholds and killed three baron demons.
If his achievements were to be told to the world, he would've gained the title of a god.
People would've puked blood if they knew that he broke two circles in just two years.
He was a monster.
Those who looked at how easily Kevin took on a demon baron were left awestruck.
Although many amateurs greatly underestimated demons, those who were adventurers knew what Kevin did was impossible for anyone to pull off.
[Michael Descends remaining time: 13 sec]
'Shit'
Kevin took a lot of time to torment the first baron that he ignored the timer.
[Michael! Do something!]
He became impatient as he saw the timer and asked Michael's help.
"Of course I am, Just do it!"
Kevin shouted out loudly without minding the clash back and once again the golden light around him shone brightly.
The second baron was a cautious one, and after looking at how brutally his peer died he fought Kevin seriously.
Out of impatience, Kevin took out his strongest attack.
"JUSTICE DESCENDS!"
He swung the sword in his hand and made a beautiful golden arc that traversed while cutting air toward the demon.
But the baron was prepared for it and without wasting time he dogged the arc of light as if it was nothing.
Kevin's eyes widened in surprise as the demon was still alive.
Although the demon looked unscathed he was damaged internally and stopped his regeneration.
[Michael Descends remaining time: 0 sec]
"Khuek! Ugh!"
Kevin fell to his knees and puked blood.
The holy energy inside his body was severely damaging his internal organs.
"Now it's my turn."
A sadist smile appeared on the baron's face.
The demon wanted to make the Matriarch and the other two barons his slave and enjoy his time like a king.
But Kevin destroyed everything and he was pissed about this.
With their army, two barons, and two strongholds now gone, the losses were immeasurable.
"Let's begin, shall we?"
The demon took his right hand and a black miasma started oozing out and dancing around his palm.
But before he could do anything further,
"Teleport!"
Kevin said and a golden light surrounded him.
Whoosh-
Kevin disappeared in the thin air, leaving many students behind.
The peanut gallery realized that 'They. Were. Fucked.'
"Shit!"
Someone exclaimed and chaos spread across the area.
The demon laughed sadistically as he enjoyed the scene unfolding before his eyes.
***
[A/N: Just to clarify a few things, the two timelines of Kevin and Logan are happening simultaneously, Logan is at the dungeon near Selva Village while Kevin is far away but still reachable.
The demon barons got the news about Kevin's stronghold destruction and one of them went to smash the bug, however, got killed by Kevin, so in this third stronghold expedition of Kevin the remaining two barons, with the Matriarch, decided to take on Kevin.
While Logan was playing with Jin and Thomas, Kevin was fighting two barons and all of the greater demons.
Although I am pretty sure that this is not complex, many might get confused, so explained it here. Hope you are clear now.]
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