The next morning was as always in the continent of Erevos, the sky veiled by a thin layer of miasma.
The water, poisoned. But still the men drank it like it left a better after taste than a cold drink on a hot day.
The day was hot, but not from the sun that barely peeks from behind the ever cloudy and dark atmosphere of Erevos, but from the continuous barrage of artillery from the Thalorian advance force.
Elijah stayed up all night, mentally going through his plans of manipulation and domination of the Umbral kin military, but yet one obstacle always seemed to interfere with his plans, that was the fact that he was growing too slowly.
"Demon Lord Revival System, Show me my present stats?".
...
[NOTICE: PRESENT STATS]
Name: Elijah
Age: 17
Race: Demon
Innate Skill - Equip
Titles: ???
Strength: 2.58%
Vitality: 1.98%
Weapon Mastery: 3.02%
Agility: 1.95%
Perception: 0.67%
Fortitude: 0.52%
True Name: He Who Has Been Forsaken
[MISSION]
Primary Mission Objective:
Trust is built from kindness, maintained by loyalty, and broken by selfishness…
Fight till the end or die a thousand times to complete the mission objective.
Secondary Mission Objective:
There is a game called life, even if you win, you will still die…
Protect Sarah Elfin till the enemy commander is vanquished.
Complete both mission objectives to avoid triggering the penalty.
...
Elijah's bright green eyes scanned the missions and then the penalty below.
"Why do I feel like I'm not understanding this missions fully. As for the penalty, all the system said was my revive point will be reevaluated or something like that... It will help out alot If my Demon Lord Revival System had some kind of manual that comes with".
The issue with the missions were concerning, but Elijah was more preoccupied with his present physcal stats.
"If I keep growing at this rate, I will never be strong enough to face off against the truly powerful Umbral kins".
The daunting strength displayed by First Lieutenant Verayth when she almost killed him replayed in his mind, and no matter how he tried to out maneuver her in combat, it always ended up with him dead.
Thankfully he followed his instincts and didn't try to fight back, but instead appealed to her emotions, she seemed to have an awful lot of those.
Elijah's eyes narrowed as he made up his mind.
"I have to find a way to complete one of the mission's today, fighting till the end wouldn't work seeing as trench warfare tends to last for months, as for dying a thousand times, well I wouldn't want to die even once if I had much of a choice, the pain is too unbearable...
Elijah clicked his tongue in frustration.
... Now what's left is eliminating the enemy commander. The only problem is, the enemy should have two of them, one to ensure the advance force achieves the desired objective, and then the main commander that assist the Major at the site they're building their base... So which is it exactly".
Elijah was starting to feel like the Demon Lord Revival System was trying to torture him rather than assist him in becoming a Demon Lord.
But then, Elijah remembered that the system never really mentioned making him a Demon Lord.
"What the hell is even the use of this system". Elijah said helplessly.
...
Elijah jumped off his bed, he heard the sound of foot steps, and seeing as there weren't many men in the base aside from the grievously injured.
The person must definitely be coming to his humble tent, when the person arrived they stopped by the door and didn't enter brazenly.
That was how Elijah knew it wasn't Taelia, but someone else.
"Elijah, are you wake... I need to speak with you".
Elijah smiled wearily, it was First Lieutenant Verayth, the previous night, she did mention wanting to speak with him, but for some reason she postponed it till morning.
And now, here she is, as early as an early bird could be.
Elijah opened the piece of cloth separating them and walked out of his tent, First Lieutenant Verayth was ever so beautiful, her presence radiated with a confident aura that made people feel safe around her.
Unlike Elijah's shifty vibe that always tries to adapt to the present circumstance.
"Good morning Lieutenant".
...
First Lieutenant Verayth smiled lightly and respond.
"Good morning Elijah... here, a letter came for you".
Elijah was immediately taken aback, why would a letter come for someone that just came to a new world a couple days back, even in his past life, the only letter he ever received was from the university after he got an admission.
"Okay".
Elijah took the letter with a skeptical nod, he opened it right then and there, it was a promotion letter.
Elijah read the officially written letter even though he couldn't recognise the characters it was written in.
"This must be one of the perks of having the Demon Lord Revival System".
Elijah did hope that he would be promoted, but he didn't think they would do it before his plans even worked.
"I guess this is one of the advantages of having the Lieutenant as my backing".
Elijah's brows raised as he kept on reading the letter.
"Private first class? Damn, this guys are stingy... well I guess that will do, seeing as I'm not exactly a man with a known background...
But what is this stuff about an elite squad".
Elijah raised his head and met First Lieutenant Verayth's beaming smile.
"You'll be joining us on the new specialized unit created by Major Drayce, It still needs to be approved by the generals, but till then, I will act as the leader of the suicide squad even though my rank is well above second Lieutenant... Isn't that exciting?".
There was nothing but the sound of bird tweets and the rustle of fallen leaves from the sickly trees.
Elijah's face froze in the most compelling expression, a mix of bewilderment and fascination. Even First Lieutenant Verayth was surprised by how impactful this new human expression was.
"Isn't that exciting?". She asked again, but this time with a little less excitement in her voice.