I had to admit, Silverfoot was indeed fast. If he didn't occasionally look back and give me a taunting smile, I would actually be impressed with his speed. After a while, I learned how to increase my own speed, using my mana to almost match his.
I could remember struggling to catch up with Deacon Briar, destroying my own legs with how fast I was going. If I wasn't in a fit of rage, I could have figured this out and actually caught him. I wasn't one to think about controlling my emotions, but maybe I should consider it if I didn't want to miss out on any other benefits.
I notice his surprise as I am no longer lagging behind, and he exerts himself more to regain his lost advantage. I let him, as I have a general idea as to his top speed, if he was trying. Due to our little speed showdown, I can only assume that we arrived at the next place ahead of time.
This was more of a city, with huge stone walls and even a castle in the center of it. While we had yet to emerge from the woods, we sat looking from a distance, as the sun was rising. Glancing at Silverfoot, I could see his whiskers moving, letting me know that he was probably using an ability.
To confirm, he turns to me, a mischievous smile on his face. "There's only two are even vaguely considered to be able to challenge us. One resides on the farmlands and the other in the castle. Which would you like to take?" He asks.
Obviously, if I knew anything, the stronger person would be in the castle, most likely the ruler or someone protecting them. The other in the farmland would no doubt be a random person who had the potential but doesn't know of it. I would choose the person in the castle, but I needed to know something first.
"You've been so kind to me, friend. For that, I suggest that we take on the strongest person together. I'll help in case they are too powerful, otherwise, the mana is yours." I tell him.
His smile grows bigger at my words. "In that case, we head to the castle. I can tell that they're a Tier C Rookie, so they shouldn't be too much of a problem."
Before he dashes into the city, I stop him, if he'll answer. "How can you tell how powerful someone is?"
His smile grows bigger as he's all too eager to brag to me now. "Ever since I was born, I was sensitive to mana. No other demon has this ability like mine."
I could see how useful that was. Shame if I ate him, that I wouldn't have it but for only a day. Wait. Unlike with humans, I didn't feel compelled to eat him. Could I even eat a demon?
While he creeps into the city, I think on this. His movements distract me as I see him duck behind carts and hide among the shadows. He motions for me to follow, which I do.
"Why aren't you hiding? Are you trying to get caught?" He asks me in a hushed tone.
I have no problem revealing this, as he was going to notice anyway. "They can't see me. What's your plan, by the way?"
He pauses. Looking at me in confusion. "Plan? Oh, right. The plan. We go in, deal with the strong person, then we get everyone else." He says, beaming with pride.
I roll my eyes at his stupidity. It's a shame I needed to know where his lair is at, or he'd be dead already. Sure, I could eat him and find out, but who's to say that the memory gain would work on a demon. I couldn't take that risk at the moment. Not with the extermination imminent. So, until then, I followed his plan.
Despite being an idiot, he appeared to be extremely lucky as well. With it still being early morning, there were hardly any people. He would often dart out from one hiding spot to the next, just as people would turn their head towards him, but they somehow didn't see him. Doing this, he actually made it into the castle.
I follow him through the castle until we pause at huge double doors, leading apparently to the throne room. Then, the idiot looks at me with a smile, winks, and rushes into the throne room. What was this guy thinking?
The obvious king who is sitting on his throne, his two knight guards and a woman holding a staff watch as a demon boldly walks to the center of the room.
"I am the mighty Silverfoot, and I have come to take the mana from you humans. Offer it without resistance, and your death will be painless." He announces.
For a moment, everyone is stunned at the events that just took place. Then they spring into action. The mage stands in front of the king, who looks in fear while the knights draw their swords, coming at Silverfoot. The staff on the mage begins to glow light blue as she begins chanting. He must have started to regret his decision as I see his face start to panic and he backs up.
The woman finishes her chant, and the knights pause as snow begins to form around her staff. The king takes off running into a room to the right. I shake my head in disappointment that he's going to let them get away and warn the city. He looks at me, a smile no longer on his face, as I realize that if I didn't intervene, nothing would get done. Sighing in frustration, I take off after the king, leaving Silverfoot to deal with the rest.
He runs down a corridor, or he would be if his expensive robes and jewelry didn't weigh him down. It was no problem for me to catch up to him and do what I do best. I barely noticed a change at all after consuming his soul, and he didn't even have a powerful spell in his arsenal. I knew I definitely needed to consume beings that at least knew about mana, as shown with the disciples.
Disappointed, I made my way back to the throne room to find Silverfoot struggling against his opponents. I found he was at least smart enough to use his superior speed to his advantage by dodging attacks. Nevertheless, he proved to be inexperienced in fighting as he would continuously hit the knights' armor, therefore, getting blocked.
Not only that, but the mage was using ice and snow, sending a trail of flurries towards his feet. If he either ignored or failed to dodge the mages attacks, his movements would slow, allowing the knights to capitalize on his stumbling.
Seeing me, relief filled his face, and I practically rolled my eyes at him. Of course, you needed saving for your own dumb mistake. Fortunately, he was punished of his mistake of averting his gaze during a fight as a sword came down on his shoulder. Screaming out in pain, his claw lashes out in retaliation, hitting the knight on his head, knocking him out.
Both opponents see that Silverfoot is injured and move to finish him off. Raising her staff, the mage begins to chant again while the knight moves in to stab down on Silverfoot.
Just as the finishing blow is delivered, I scream, charging at the mage. Hearing my scream, the mage stops chanting, looking in my direction, while the knight also stops. The mage doesn't see my approach, letting me easily slice her throat with a claw. Glancing over, I see Silverfoot moaning extremely loud on the ground, clutching his bleeding arm.
Without missing a beat, I grab the mages soul and consume it, and feel a slight boost. She was stronger than Reuben, but even then, it was just a bit above average. The knight looks in fear, as the strongest person he knew was just slaughtered by an unknown force and drops to his knees begging for his life. After consuming his soul as well, I finally address the baby.
His wound isn't that deep and would probably heal within a couple of weeks, not like he had that much time, but he just wasn't used to pain. Watching his suffering, I had to hide the little smile that would occasionally form.
"You ok there, bud?" I ask with fake concern.
He looks at me, vying for my pity but, I don't have any to give him. He was suffering the consequences of his reckless actions. Looking at it, I suddenly think of an idea.
"That looks bad, I think we should go back to your lair and let you heal." I suggest. I can see the many emotions go through his face. First, acceptance, then back to his mischief as he thinks of something else. Finally, his face settles on greed as I groan at the literal kid he is.
"Just think about the mana that we'll lose. No, we have to continue." At his words, I've never held myself from killing someone as much as I did there. So much so, that I feared that I almost whiffed myself out of existence. Managing to contain myself, I continue on with a bit of anger.
"Well, if any city encounter is going to end up like this, then you might as well let me have the mana now, while you take the time to heal. Then after we get the planet, we head to your lair for you to absorb that mana. How's that sound?" I offer through clenched teeth.
As he processes my offer, his face calms down. "Yeah. That sounds good."
Annoyed after dealing with him, I turn my attention to the city, taking my anger out on them. Easily cleansing it of any human life, I save the best for last by visiting the farms for the other strongest person he mentioned. As I figured, it was but a child, who, much to my surprise, provided me with a bigger boost than the mage did.
Satisfied with the city now devoid of any life, I head back to the castle to find Silverfoot sitting on the throne, holding his arm with a hurt smile on his face.
"Come on. We have work to do." I tell him.
He jumps off the throne and as we're leaving, he takes a last look at it before saying out loud where I'm just in range to hear. "One day."
Knowing that he's referring to being a king, I smile as I think,
'Not on my watch.'