"They are curious humans. Why don't they run away?" the stranger asked us.
"Humans? What are you?"
"I am Baal. The Commander of the Sixth Demon Legion, The King of Storms."
"A demon. Vaelor, run!"
When I heard he was a demon, I froze, as I never thought I would see one.
Mireth had only briefly told me that demons existed, but I thought it would be like in my previous world where they said they lived in hell, and it would be the same here.
"I told you to run!"
I tried to run away, but a lightning bolt struck in front of me.
"Why do you think I'm going to let you leave here?"
I looked at him, and he was just standing there, staring at us. I remembered that strange look I had felt when they said the merchant had arrived.
'It was him. It wasn't the Dire Wolves.'
I knew well I couldn't defeat him, as I felt the same sensation when I saw that mass of snakes that nearly killed me. Even now, I wouldn't know if I could beat them, and defeating the demon in front of me would be impossible.
Alonso lunged at the demon and tried to cut him, but the demon stopped him with just one finger.
"You don't have much strength. Is it because you're missing an arm?"
I saw the demon's body start to electrify. I had to do something, or he would attack Alonso in the same way the previous hunter had died.
"Move!"
Someone fell with a large axe, striking the demon with it, causing Alonso to back away from the damage.
"Another human. I don't understand you. The normal thing is for you to run away," the demon said.
"That's what you think!"
The axe was covered in flames.
"Fireball!"
An explosion occurred at the spot, sending me flying a little distance away. I got up and saw both of them preparing to fight.
"Alonso, are you okay?" the man asked.
"Yeah, I'm relatively fine. Do you think it worked?"
"I don't think so. My hands are electrified."
From the dust cloud, Baal appeared completely unharmed.
"A mage using an axe. You're interesting."
I lost sight of him for a moment and saw him grab the axe man, electrocuting him, causing him to fall to the ground defeated.
"Dammit!"
Alonso began using every skill he had, unable to hurt him.
"Out."
A gigantic lightning bolt was aimed directly at him, destroying several trees.
I tried to look for Alonso, but I couldn't find him. I felt a pressure in my chest that made it hard to breathe. I could hear my heart pumping more blood than usual, an immense heat began to fill me, and my hands were trembling.
I heard footsteps coming towards me, and I looked to see Baal approaching my position.
'What do I do? What can I do? I'm going to die.'
I tried to step back, but my legs were shaking.
Then I remembered the promise with Selene and Caelum.
'No. I won't die. I have to survive. I REFUSE TO DIE.'
Still trembling, I grabbed the sword, stood up, and raised it against Baal.
"Why? Why do you get up?"
"I don't plan on dying here. Not only for me, there are villagers behind me that I have to protect."
"How curious..."
I felt Baal's gaze on me.
"Let's do this. Try to make me bleed. It doesn't matter the size. If you manage to hurt me, I will let you live. You can be sure I won't retaliate."
'Huh? He'll let me live if I hurt him? But how can I do that when even Alonso and the new Hunter Leader couldn't?'
I tried to think about how I could hurt him, so I checked my condition and realized I only had one Class Skill that I didn't even master much.
"What are you waiting for? Or do you not accept?"
I swallowed, and it felt like swallowing a rock. I gripped the sword tightly and just thought about attacking with everything I had.
'You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.'
I raised the sword into the air, and with all my strength, I brought it down quickly.
"Quick Slash!"
____________________
You are in a life-or-death situation.
You are being forced to acquire a new skill.
Creating a Legendary Level System Skill.
System Skill: Boost
Forcing your body to use it.
"This is all I can help you with."
____________________
I felt a warmth travel from my heart through my veins, felt my muscles grow, my mana increase considerably, and my senses heighten to the point where it felt like the rest of the world was moving slower.
The cut I made was much more powerful than any I had made before. Then I felt as if my arms were breaking due to the force.
The impact against Baal was so powerful that it propelled me backward, but thanks to that strength I felt, I managed to stay on my feet.
"Did... did I make it?"
"Interesting."
I saw Baal, still standing, staring at his hand.
"You managed to break a nail. You're fascinating."
Then I felt my whole body start to hurt, and I collapsed to the ground.
"Apparently, you can't control that power. If I let you go, you could be very dangerous..."
His hand started to gather massive electricity, pointing directly at me.
"...But a promise is a promise." The electricity disappeared. "I'll let you live. But be sure that if I find you again, you will die."
My mind felt very strange, and I couldn't concentrate too much. The rush of that skill faded, and I felt my mind fading too.
"Grandma..."
--
--
{Pov Omniscient}
The battle between Mireth and Asmodeo continued with various magics clashing against each other.
Asmodeo started attacking her with multiple fireballs, so Mireth began to dodge them, as well as the explosions caused by them.
From the explosions, multiple projectiles came out, so Mireth used barriers to block them and return the attacks with ice fragments falling like rain on Asmodeo.
Asmodeo dived at Mireth, covered in flames, which melted the ice fragments. Mireth created a mana circle with her right hand while with her left, she created a crystalline ice shield that deflected the charge.
"Damn old woman!"
Mireth, with the mana circle created, shot a powerful stream of water directly at Asmodeo, extinguishing the flames and sending him plummeting.
As he fell, multiple mana circles formed around him, and then a massive blizzard struck him, preventing him from moving. Mireth raised her hand, forming massive storm clouds from which multiple lightning bolts rained down on Asmodeo.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mireth gathered a large amount of mana in her hands to create a giant copy of these in the air to crush Asmodeo. When she crushed him, a fire burst consumed all of Mireth's magic.
Asmodeo had freed himself from the magic, visibly injured. He was about to attack Mireth again, but she, anticipating him, created wind chains that restricted him and, using telekinesis, trapped him even more.
"You're very distracted, Asmodeo," Mireth said.
"This won't stop me!"
He let out a roar filled with fury, causing multiple incandescent meteors to descend from the sky. Mireth had to dodge or block them.
Mireth was about to attack, but then she realized he was smiling, and realizing this, she looked toward the forest where the meteors were heading. She quickly had to create a wall of water to block them and prevent them from attacking the villagers.
"I've got you!"
While she was focused on protecting the villagers, she didn't notice that Asmodeo had approached her. Joining his hands in front of Mireth, he conjured a powerful infernal fire blast that completely engulfed her.
Mireth emerged from the fire, her body covered in flames, and tried to freeze them, but she couldn't do it, as the flames consumed her completely. So, using a wind cut, she severed her arm.
"You've become stronger," Mireth said, covering her wound with ice.
"HAHAHAHA... OF COURSE! I'M A DEMONIC COMMANDER. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO DEFEAT ME NOW."
Mireth, with her only hand, took a potion, breaking it, causing her body to be covered in a glowing blue aura. She closed her hand, and Asmodeo felt as if something were trying to crush him.
"I've been researching alchemy for 40 years! Do you think a demon can defeat me!?!"
Four massive magical circles surrounded Asmodeo.
The first circle that activated was the one on the ground, from which a tornado emerged, slicing him multiple times.
The second magical circle that activated was the one in the sky, summoning a massive lightning bolt that paralyzed him in place.
The third and fourth magical circles activated simultaneously, unleashing an extremely frozen blizzard.
The three elements combined, creating a gigantic tornado that kept Asmodeo in the center, receiving all the attacks without being able to defend.
Mireth gathered the mana she had into an extremely bright white sphere.
"You shouldn't have come alone, Demon Legion Commander."
She was going to shoot the white sphere, but was interrupted when the lightning from his magic and many others shot directly at her. That attack caused the white sphere to explode, creating a white explosion that engulfed Mireth.
Mireth's magic was deactivated, freeing Asmodeo and Mireth fell from the white sphere, extremely wounded, crashing to the ground. Mireth looked up at the sky where she saw Baal, who had Asmodeo at his side.
"So two Commanders came. They really want to kill me."
She tried to get up when she saw how they were preparing to attack her again.
"Don't think I'm going to allow it."
She got up as best she could to try to stop them both.