Chereads / Hollow in a Magic World / Chapter 49 - Never Felt Better

Chapter 49 - Never Felt Better

Nidhogg POV:

I've never felt better than what I currently did. There was no doubt about it, I had evolved again. I began to flex my different limbs, admiring the power I knew I could never achieve if I was still a human. The amount of mana that tingled just flicking my fingers. Of course, the only problem I faced was this ever-persistent hunger that plagued me. It was as if I hadn't just consumed thousands of Archdemons. 

However, just like before, with a new form came new abilities that I already knew what I could do. My Kumon had evolved into a skill named Garganta, which was a refined version of Kumon. While it was worth mentioning that my Cero had gotten deadlier as well, the real attention grabber was my newest skill.

Looking at the Demon Lord before me, I recognized him as he one who had kidnapped me. Smiling, I decide it's a little time to thank him for allowing me this opportunity to evolve. Seeing me look at him, he flinches, standing in a pose ready to fight. From the various memories of those trapped within what remains of Warden, I knew this to be the one they called Nightcarver. He was capable of cutting whatever he could see. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't going to like my new ability. 

Before he can take any action, I raise my hand, and thousands of little black insects begin to fly out from me. His hand moves horizontally in the air, as some insects fall to the ground before dematerializing. With enough spawned in, they begin to encircle me, covering his view of me as they slowly begin to spread out. 

"Beelzebub." I say, and all hell breaks loose. 

General POV:

Nightcarver can only watch as the weird insects suddenly fan out in all directions, but he could only worry about the ones coming towards him. With little choice, he repeatedly slashes at the bugs coming at him, but he quickly realized the uselessness of his efforts as more bugs simply replaced those that he cut. 

Seeing even a Demon Lord struggle, the demons hiding behind Nightcarver take off running. He attempts to flee as well, but it is far too late. The bugs land on him and begin eating his very flesh. In pain, he swats any that he can as he falls to the ground, thrashing in an effort to crush them. As the pain continues to grow on his body, his vision fades to the sea of black from the bugs.

With Nightcarver gone, the bugs continue on their path, chasing after the demons who took off. They quickly catch up to the slower one, drowning his body in waves of bugs as the rest chase after the other two. The second demon trips and begins backing up in a panic as he struggles to retreat. Just as the bugs near him, they pause, as if hitting a wall, before turning around, targeting whatever else is nearby. 

The demons who survive can only watch as they see warms of bugs demolish their makeshift buildings within seconds. Soon, only one figure remains standing at the very center of this destruction. 

Nidhogg stood as we watched demons fight and get consumed by his new ability. Beelzebub. In his world, this was the name given to the demon who carried the title of Glutton. But he was also called by another nickname, The Lord of Flies. 

His new ability was to release bug-like creatures that had three purposes. First, was to consume all around him that contained mana, whether it be in the air itself, or an organic being that contained mana. If it didn't have mana, it was to destroy it if he willed them to do so. Second, they were to protect him. Finally, they were to return with the consumed mana, that would heal him if necessary or alleviated his hunger. 

He immediately saw both the pros and cons of this ability. For example, in his base form, he was still capable of having ability of deadly poisons on his claws. He had also gained a new ability of absorbing lower ranking mana-based attacks and resisting physical ones. Activating Beelzebub lowered that threshold, allowing him to get hurt by someone even in the Rookie rankings. 

So, why would he activate it in the first place? Upon evolving, he's felt nothing but one feeling that has overtaken all the others. Hunger. It felt to him, as he was when he went berserk that one time not too long ago. However, once he evolved, he was no longer capable of going berserk over the feeling of hunger. In fact, he felt empowered by it. It drove him to being able to absorb mana from his surroundings in an effort to satisfy his hunger. 

Just as the first of the bugs returned to him and fed him the mana they collected; it confirmed what he already knew. Whatever mana the bugs brought back to him, was magnified tenfold. Prior to activating his ability, he was barely getting any mana, and he was in the demon realm, never mind being in the human world. 

Getting rejuvenated by the mana from the many demons that couldn't escape the range from his ability, he stops his ability. Despite the gains of mana, his hunger was ever present. Knowing that reinforcements were inevitable, Nidhogg turned to leave. An explosion next to him made him pause, as he suddenly feels a high source of mana. Looking, he finds a green humanoid blob rise from the crater it created. With a goofy voice the demon tells him,

"Hi, I'm Droopy. And you're fucked."