The journey to the dragon's nest was not too long, but as Nouflex finally arrived with the rest of the A-rank adventurers and the lone S-rank, General Hadrian, the first prince of Daloria, stood at the center of the clearing.
His presence was quite commanding, and his appearance only added to his intimidation. The scar that ran from his eyebrow down to his lip told stories of countless battles, and his sharp eyes surveyed the arriving adventurers with a look of superiority.
He stood tall, with his elite guards flanking him, their armor gleaming in the dimming light.
When the prince approached, his arrogance was palpable. He looked down at the assembled A-ranks and S-ranks with the demeanor of someone who believed himself above them all. "Welcome," he addressed the adventurers, his sharp voice cutting through the battlefield noise.
"The dragon is asleep." He gestured toward a crude structure made from wood, stone, and mud at the far end of the clearing. "That thing must've been crafted by the goblins and orcs under its command, and we'd be fools to wake it before we're ready."
His eyes scanned the group, pausing briefly on Nouflex, though Nouflex remained impassive, uninterested in the prince's gaze. "Our goal is simple. We pick off the monsters around the nest. Draw their attention, but not enough to alert the dragon. We need to kill as many as possible before the military and the B-rank adventurers catch up."
He looked at each of the adventurers with a sharp, commanding stare. "Once they arrive, we'll have reinforcements to handle the bulk of the monsters, and only then will we focus on isolating the dragon. This is about precision, not brute force. We can't afford to fight the dragon and its army at the same time."
The other adventurers exchanged glances, some nodding in agreement while others prepared their weapons. The prince's plan was clear, though his tone remained condescending.
Nouflex's mind, however, was elsewhere. He understood the strategy but had his own objectives to accomplish. Taking down the dragon was part of the plan, but he had bigger moves to make. He had no intention of just following orders; he'd follow the mission but on his terms.
"Try not to slow me down, and maybe we'll get out of here alive."
The other adventurers stiffened at the disrespectful comment, but Nouflex paid no mind.
His blindfold obscured his eyes, but his expression remained calm, unbothered by the prince's attitude.
'He thinks he's in control of the situation,' Nouflex thought, but he didn't care. He had his plans to execute, and the prince's arrogance was a minor distraction.
Without a word, Nouflex simply nodded and turned away from Hadrian, focusing on the battlefield ahead. He was here for one purpose, and the prince's attitude didn't factor into that.
The battle began with a synchronized movement, the 42 adventurers and elite guards fanning out in a large circle around the dragon's nest. Nouflex wasted no time teleporting into the thick of the fray.
His goal was clear, to attract as many monsters as possible, then deal with them quickly. He appeared near a cluster of goblins first, their skin radiating with faint blue mana, indicating their affinity with water.
Their grotesque forms turned as one when he materialized among them.
The goblins attacked immediately, sharp claws extended and mana-infused water blasts shot towards him. With a smirk under his blindfold, Nouflex having his Haki activated 24/7 by now, sensed their every move before it happened.
He dodged with fluid grace, moving faster than their attacks could land, and instantly teleported to the next group of monsters, a horde of mana-infused wolves that were spewing fire from their mouths.
In seconds, he had gathered a pack of goblins and wolves, nearly eight in total.
Teleporting a few hundred meters away, Nouflex gave them a chance to follow, their combined roars and howls shaking the air as they charged at him.
The goblins cast spears of water while the wolves unleashed torrents of flame, the heat clashing against the cool streams of water, creating a chaotic blend of steam obscuring everyone's vision from the outside.
Nouflex could see thanks to his haki, the goblin could see in any environment, while wolves relied on instinct. The other adventurers saw the situation where Nouflex was, and all of them believed he was dead meat.
'He can blame his bad luck for attracting such a big horde all by himself.' This is what they were thinking, and none wanted to risk their lives and intervene in a situation where their vision was obstructed.
Back inside the steam cloud, In a blur of speed, Nouflex closed the distance, and with a vertical hand wave, he bisected the first wolf, its body collapsing into a pool of blood and internal organs.
The goblins sent more water attacks, trying to catch him in a trap, but Nouflex countered with his shadow control, manipulating their bodies and immobilizing them entirely.
He teleported behind the three goblins, and slowly but painfully snapped their necks, one by one. When the first died, the other one knew he was next, but he could do nothing but wait for his turn.
This leaves him facing one more mana-goblin and three mana-wolfs.
The first wolf, lunged at him, flames licking its maw. Nouflex anticipated its attack, ducking under its fiery jaws, and countered with a swift strike using his reinforced mana-infused fists. His blow was aimed right at the beast's throat.
With a sickening crunch, the creature fell back, gasping for air, but Nouflex wasn't finished yet. He opened its mouth forcefully and pulled its tongue out severing from its mouth, leaving it bleed to death.
The two wolves and one goblin left started to panic and recognized the human in front of them as a threat.
"If you are not going to attack, then I will.' Nouflex had a wide smile as he appeared in front of the goblin.
He proceeded to front kick its knee, breaking the bone into a weird angle and severing its ACL making the monster fall to the ground, Nouflex squatted next to the goblin and pulled its eyes out letting it scream in pain.
The two other wolves turned around and started fleeing for their lives, but for obvious reasons, Nouflex would never allow them to. He teleported, appearing above their heads in mid-air, his foot crashing down on one of the wolves with a devastating step.
He had a mission from the system so he needed to kill as many as possible.
The ground cracked slightly as the beast's skull shattered beneath the force. The second wolf barely had time to react before he was upon it, his hand glowing with raw mana, killing the beast with a single dismantle to the head.
People did not care enough to look at what happened to Nouflex, but if they did and looked at him, they would be surprised to see him not only alive, but he killed the group of B and A-rank monsters all by himself.
Nouflex stood amidst the carnage, breathing deeply as the battlefield quieted for a moment. He glanced at the corpses of the monsters he just defeated, and something caught his eye.
He squinted as faint, ghostly wisps began to rise from the corpses. He recognized them as the souls of the fallen monsters.
Nouflex felt a slight chill run down his spine, his eyes widening in surprise. He had never noticed this before.
'Wait… demons do consume souls.' He remembered, recalling something he had watched about the Seven Deadly Sins demons. A wicked grin spread across his face.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he reached out with his hand, pulling the souls toward him. The translucent figures floated helplessly in the air, swirling as they resisted trying to flee, but Nouflex caught all of them.
Then, without hesitation, he ate them all, dissolving into pure energy that flowed into his body.
A shiver ran through him. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but he felt it, a tiny increase in strength.
'Huh... so it does work.' He thought, feeling intrigued by the potential. He grinned, realizing what this could mean.
If he could consume more, thousands no... millions of souls, perhaps the changes would become more pronounced. He thought about the possibility of eating a strong monster's or even a powerful human's soul.
That would surely grant him greater power. 'Anyways I don't have time to think about that now, let's gather more...' Nouflex thoughts were suddenly stopped when his haki sensed a 1-meter tall rock flying towards him.
Nouflex barely managed to dodge it by doing a backflip, but the big rock did not stop, It continued its way to the only S-rank adventurer they got.
Nouflex did not bother himself to warn him, as the rock was shattered on his head knocking him unconscious immediately. The three monsters he was fighting seeing their foe down, did some celebration cries and rushed to the adventurer as they proceeded to tear his stomach open and began eating him alive... knocked out.
"Hehehe~" Nouflex let out a chuckle at the scene that unfolded before him then looked behind to see who threw the rock.
He stared at the towering figure 30 meters before him. It was an orc was massive, standing nearly at 5 meters in height, its skin a sickly green with purple veins pulsing beneath its surface, radiating a dark mana.
He was used to dealing with orcs, but this one was different. Its presence alone made the air heavier, and as it snarled, showing jagged teeth, Nouflex knew instantly this was no ordinary orc. The mana it leaked was definitely one of an S-rank mana beast.
"I was going to thank you for dealing with that trash, but god damn you are ugly." Nouflex placed his left hand in his pocket.
"Me. Kill. Human." The orc stuttered.
"Quite the intelligent one you are huh? Well then, let's see how good S-ranks are." Without hesitation, Nouflex raised his right hand and unleashed a powerful dismantle technique, his fingers slicing through the air as the force rushed toward the orc.
The slash struck with precision, aimed directly at its chest but the result was underwhelming.
The energy merely left a faint cut on the orc's skin, barely a scratch on its thick hide. The orc glanced down, unaffected, then looked back up at Nouflex with a grin that sent a shiver down his spine.
'That should've done more damage,' Nouflex thought, eyes narrowing as the orc began moving toward him. He could feel the ground shaking beneath each heavy step.
"Human. Weak. Rock. Dodge. Luck. Hahaha." It said while sprinting in Nouflex's direction.
He had to act fast. Darting forward, Nouflex closed the distance, pushing his body to the limit as he weaved through the battlefield. Each step was calculated, in this situation, he had to take risks. The closer he got, the stronger his dismantle affected his opponent.
He appeared right in front of the orc, releasing another dismantle strike, this time targeting the creature's neck.
The orc did not even make the effort to dodge, and the attack landed, but again, the damage was minimal. The orc let out a low chuckle, its massive hand swinging toward Nouflex with surprising speed.
If it was not for his Haki, the blow would've landed. 'Fuck I almost was a goner there. Maybe I can see three or four seconds in the future, but my body is not fast enough to dodge its attacks.'
He barely managed to teleport away, reappearing several meters back, sweat trickling down his temple. The swing of the orc's fist was so powerful it created a shockwave, sending dust and debris flying into the air.
'But if I don't get close I won't be able to harm it...' Nouflex analyzed his enemy, his mind racing. 'Wait where is the cut I just did? Does it have some kind of regenerative powers?'
He continued testing the waters, sending multiple dismantle strikes aimed at different parts of the orc's body, its arms, legs, and even its face.
Each attack landed, but the result was the same, shallow cuts that healed almost instantly, confirming Nouflex's doubt.
The orc roared in amusement, enjoying the challenge, it considered Nouflex as its toy now, so it had fun playing with him.
Suddenly its muscles bulged as it slammed its fists into the ground tearing a huge chunk of earth, roots, and most importantly rocks out of the battlefield.
The ground trembled as it lifted the boulder, easily twice its size above its head. Without waiting any longer, the orc hurled the massive rock at Nouflex with surprising speed.
Nouflex's eyes widened. 'Fuck!' He instantly teleported, narrowly dodging the massive projectile, which crashed into the ground behind him with an earth-shaking impact and it kept going crashing multiple trees, it even killed an adventurer.
Dust and debris flew everywhere.
But something was wrong. He felt it.
Looking down, Nouflex saw blood splattering the ground beneath him. He glanced at his left side, and his breath caught in his throat.
His left arm was missing.
The boulder had torn it clean off at the shoulder.
For a moment, there was silence in his mind. He stared at the stump, blood pouring freely from the wound, staining his clothes. The pain finally hit, sharp and excruciating.
And as Nouflex was about to clench his shoulder in pain the orc charged forward. Its massive fists connected and were lifted to the sky, and this time, Nouflex couldn't fully dodge.
The fists slammed down on Nouflex like a huge hammer.
Boom!
The impact was devastating.
Nouflex's body was driven into the ground, the earth-shattering beneath him as dust and debris flew up. The sheer force made him bounce off the ground, his limp body momentarily suspended in the air from the brutal blow.
The orc, sensing the advantage, wasted no time. It swung its massive fist with his side, sending him flying through the air. Pain exploded in his ribs as he crashed into multiple trees before being stopped by one, shattering it into pieces.
Gasping for breath, he fought to stay conscious while clutching his side, feeling the warmth of blood seeping through almost every part of his body wettening his clothes.
'Fuck me this hurts a lot. Cough Cough* He spat blood.
The orc lumbered toward him, confident in its superiority. Nouflex, still on the ground, analyzed the situation. He couldn't keep this up. The orc's regenerative abilities were too strong, and his dismantle technique wasn't enough.
Also, he is on the verge of death, although he can't die, he still feels the pain.
As the orc drew closer, towering over him, Nouflex knew what he had to do. His eyes narrowed with determination.
He had to take a risk.
Summoning his remaining strength, Nouflex stood up, his body aching. He clenched his fists, letting out a slow exhale.
His eyes then suddenly shifted, turning darker, his smirk grew more sinister, and most importantly, a black marking similar to a tattoo appeared on his forehead, above his left eyebrow.
The air around Nouflex grew heavy with demonic energy as he let go, transforming into his demon form.
In an instant, his injuries healed, his bones mending, and his energy surged to new heights. His once-controlled demeanor gave way to something far more savage. A wicked grin spread across his face as he felt the power coursing through him.
'Let's see how you handle this,' Nouflex thought, the thrill of battle flooding his senses.
The orc although feeling the change in the atmosphere around it was not intelligent enough to realize the threat, and even its ego and feeling of superiority against humans clouded its primal instincts.
It charged at him again, but this time Nouflex met it head-on. He weaved through the orc's strikes with better agility, not fast enough to dodge them all, but the damage was less significant than before.
"It's not fair if you are the only one to heal..." Nouflex lifted both his arms, displaying his naked upper body full of new injuries get healed instantly. "Now we can both have fun right?" The smile on Nouflex's face was a very disturbing one, no sane person in such a life-threatening situation would smile like that
Getting closer than he had before. This time, when he delivered his dismantle attacks, they did more damage, deep gashes appeared on the orc's arms and chest, forcing it to stagger back.
But even as the damage started to accumulate, the orc's regeneration kicked in, the wounds knitting themselves back together faster than Nouflex could inflict them.
'You can even keep up with that? Remarkable, but now it is time to put an end to your struggle, you're not really entertaining.' Nouflex was disappointed the orc did not show any desperate expressions, it actually was fighting like a true warrior, ready to die here. If that was the case then there is no point in dragging this any longer.
The orc raised its arms to defend its head, its regeneration taking too long to heal the accumulating wounds from Nouflex's barrage of dismantles. This was his chance.
Nouflex teleported, appearing right at the orc's blind spot, directly next to its exposed belly. His hand reached out, touching the orc's thick skin.
The orc, feeling the physical contact immediately realizing the danger, let out a deafening roar, swinging its arm in a panic to knock Nouflex away.
But it was too late.
With a dark, malevolent grin, Nouflex unleashed Hell's Blaze for the first time.
Purple flames erupted from his hand, engulfing the orc entirely. The creature's roar turned into a scream of agony as the demonic fire consumed it. The flames were chaotic, wild, and completely beyond Nouflex's control. But they did their job.
If Nouflex was in his normal state, he probably would not have used it before he completely mastered it, but now he is in his demon state, he abandons his feelings and neglects the consequences of his action, all for one purpose.
Victory.
The orc's regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage, and the flames burned through the creature's very essence, turning its flesh and bones to ash.
In moments, the orc was nothing but a small, blackened stack of ash, blown away by the wind.
Nouflex stood there, returning immediately to his normal state, breathing heavily, feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins. "Eww, The feeling of losing emotions is really weird."
He hadn't fully mastered Hell's Blaze, and using it was a gamble. But the risk had paid off.
He smirked, glancing at the spot where the orc once stood.
'Too bad,' he thought with satisfaction. 'I should've kept it as my personal pet/slave.'
.
.
.
Another 10 minutes passed, making it a total of 25 minutes from the start of the attack on the nest monsters, Nouflex repeated this strategy, teleporting to different parts of the battlefield, drawing groups of seven or eight monsters each time and killing them not forgetting to consume their souls (including the S rank Orc).
The monsters were no easy prey. They were mana beasts, each capable of wielding various elements, fire, water, earth, and even lightning.
The battlefield was littered with corpses of monsters, but also those of adventurers too, 29 A rank and one S rank adventurer had fallen, their corpses scattered among the debris, alongside one elite guard leaving us at the number of merely 11 people alive.
Most of the A rank still alive started to lose hope, if many people died only facing the monsters, there is no telling what would happen when the dragon wakes up. Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the battlefield, shaking the ground beneath them.
The monsters' cries seemed to respond in kind, their movements becoming more frantic. Nouflex paused, hair and body dripping with the blood of all those monsters he butchered, and turned his head toward the source of the noise.
Behind him, war cries and the clashing of weapons rang out. The B-rank adventurers and the military had caught up, their sheer numbers overwhelming the remaining monsters. Soldiers in silver and red armor stormed the field, their swords cutting down any remaining enemies.
A loud cheer erupted as the military's arrival shifted the battle's momentum.
The A-rank adventurers, bruised and exhausted, glanced at each other in surprise. They hadn't expected the B-ranks and military to catch up so quickly. They had estimated at least another 30 minutes. Relief washed over their faces as they realized they now had the support they desperately needed.
Nouflex, however, remained unfazed. He wiped the blood from his cheek and grinned beneath his blindfold. 'Ayanokoji and Fubuki.' He thought.
He knew his two trusted summons had a hand in this swift arrival. Their hard work was paying off, as was his own.
But this was far from over. The dragon still waited, sleeping soundly in its makeshift nest, and they had only just begun to clear the field.
TO BE CONTINUED --->