Light City, ShadowSpire Base:
Seraphine and Lars were sitting in the office, Lars was playing around with the square token in his hand.
" How long do you think he will take to finish the mission? " Seraphine asked.
" At least four days " Lars answered with a mischievous smile. " Four days " Seraphine suddenly felt a headache seeing his playful smile.
" What did you do? I thought the mission was to kill a Low-tier Soldier-ranked Otherworld demon. "
" Oh...nothing, I just asked him to kill all the beasts in the forest, I know it is impossible right?, those Grolliths are good at hiding, he might leave thinking he has killed all of them after he kills about 13 of them or so "
" Sometimes I can't help but wonder what goes inside that brain of yours" Seraphine shook her head. Lars smiled, he did not bother to answer.
" Where was the mission supposed to be? "
" Vespera Forest "
" Hmm...the Grolliths there are showing an increase in activity...there could be a King Grollith there...I will send a Rank 2 slayer to deal with it and... " she suddenly paused.
" A king Grollith " they both shouted at the same time.
" He won't encounter it, right? " Lars asked his expression no longer playful.
" This is all your fault...what is the closest Teleportation Circle next to the Forest "
" There is no Teleportation circle " Lars replied, his lips twitching, he was in deep shit.
They looked at each other and nodded, turning into shadowy blurs as they appeared outside the building. Their Force energy poured out forming Force Wing on their backs, their figures soared into the sky..this was something only Rank 5 slayers could do.
" I hope he is not too deep in the forest "
Originally there was no way for Damien to meet the King Grollith, his mission was to kill a Soldier ranked at the lower tier. It could be found in the hills not too deep in the forest ...but now that his mission had been changed to kill all the monsters Damien was bound to meet the mid-tier Soldier beast.
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Vespera Forest
Damien's figure rushed out of a hill, this was the third Grollith cave he had been to, however after the first cave he had not seen another Soldier-level beast.
" With the number here...why did he ask me to kill all of them " Damien was surprised, he had thought there were only a small number of beasts in the Forest but he had killed more than sixty now, he could not help but feel that this mission was wrong.
However, he did not mind...he wanted to kill all of them anyway. After absorbing the blood essence of all those slave-level beasts, his strengths had improved quite quickly, now the blood essence of those Slave level beasts had no effect anymore.
After leaving behind a trail of mutilated Grollith corpses, Damien paused atop a massive branch, high above the forest floor. His crimson-tinged gaze flickered as he crouched, studying the land below. The air was heavy with the metallic tang of blood, and his sharp instincts whispered that the real threat was near.
The forest's silence was deceptive. The beasts weren't hiding because of fear—they were waiting. Coordinating. His time was running out, and Damien knew it.
He flexed his grip on the Jian in his hand, its blade now stained and glinting faintly in the dim light filtering through the canopy. " I need to find another Soldier-Level beast...I need more blood..."
"Focus," he muttered to himself, shaking off the intrusive thought.
He was now very deep in the forest, his surroundings had gotten quite eerie and silent. He was currently jumping from tree to tree.
Suddenly he came to a rocky clearing in the forest and then he saw it...it was a massive, eight-meter-tall behemoth resembling a monstrous gorilla, it was easily twice the size of the largest Grollith he had met. Its hulking, muscular frame was covered in jagged, bronze-black fur with a metallic sheen, while patches of rocky, scarred skin glowed faintly orange as it sat.
Its grotesque ape-like face featured sharp, dagger-like fangs and crimson eyes flecked with gold, exuding an unsettling intelligence.
Its massive hands and feet ended in obsidian claws that seemed capable of ripping through stone, while its powerful limbs enabled it to move with a mix of thunderous strides and explosive agility.
Damien had read about this Otherworld demon in the Library, it was a mid-tier Soldier beast, the King Titan Grollith.
Damien instantly knew that something had gone wrong with the test. At the same time, he noticed the resting Titan King, it also noticed him.
It let out an earth-shaking roar that caused the ground to tremble.
" Shit..." Damien thought jumping down from the tree.
Damien's jaw tightened. The beast's presence alone was enough to tell him he was outmatched. A Rank 2 Slayer would struggle against such a foe, and here he was—a Rank 1, standing alone in enemy territory.
"So, this is the power of a Mid-tier beast," Damien thought, his grip tightening on his blade.
The King Grollith roared, the force of its voice sending shockwaves through the forest. Trees shuddered, and the ground cracked under the beast's weight as it charged forward with terrifying speed.
Damien barely had time to react. He sidestepped the initial lunge, the massive claws of the beast missing him by mere inches. But even as he dodged, the sheer force of its attack sent him skidding backward, his boots digging into the ground to regain balance.
"Its speed is insane for its size," Damien realized, his heart pounding. His battle instincts flared, analyzing every movement of the beast as it pivoted and launched another attack.
The King Grollith swiped its claws in a wide arc, forcing Damien to leap backward. He landed on a boulder, only for the beast to smash it apart with a powerful punch. Debris flew everywhere, and Damien rolled to avoid a chunk of stone aimed at his head.
"I can't fight it head-on—not like this," he thought, his mind racing. His enhanced battle instincts calculated the beast's movements, noting the subtle tells in its posture and the rhythm of its attacks.
The King Grollith was relentless, each strike a calculated attempt to corner Damien. But what truly made the battle terrifying was its ability.
All soldier-ranked beast had their own abilities like the soldier-ranked Grollith from earlier...it was able to use a mist to blind their enemies.
With every roar, a faint shimmer filled the air, and suddenly the rocks and earth around Damien became as heavy as lead. Gravity itself seemed to twist under the beast's influence, pinning Damien in place for precious seconds.
" This is like twice the normal gravity," he thought
The first time it happened, Damien barely avoided being crushed by a claw swipe, the enhanced gravity forcing him to his knees. Pain shot through his ribs as a delayed attack caught him, sending him sprawling across the clearing. Blood trickled down his lip as he staggered to his feet, his vision blurring for a moment.
"A gravity field," Damien muttered, his breathing labored. "That's... annoying."
King Grollith didn't let up, charging again with a roar that shook the ground. Every step it took seemed to intensify the gravity in its vicinity, the sheer pressure threatening to break Damien's bones.
"Damn it," Damien cursed under his breath. He activated Blood Surge.
A sudden rush of power coursed through his veins, the crimson glow in his eyes intensifying. His muscles burned with renewed strength, and the aching fatigue vanished as his body adapted to the surge.
The King Grollith hesitated for a fraction of a second, sensing the shift in Damien's aura.
"Hmm....It's still not enough"
The beast lunged again, but this time Damien met its charge head-on. He sidestepped at the last second, his blade flashing upward in a precise arc. The Jian cut through the beast's shoulder, drawing a spray of dark blood.
The King Grollith howled in pain, its amber eyes blazing with fury. But Damien didn't give it a chance to recover. He moved with lightning speed, his strikes targeting the beast's joints and weak points. Each slash was deliberate, calculated, and relentless.
But the battle was far from over. The King Grollith unleashed another gravity field, the sudden increase in pressure forcing Damien to his knees. He growled, forcing his body to move despite the crushing weight.
It could be said that he had only managed to move because of sheer willpower, his muscles and flesh could not stand the gravity and his flesh began to rupture.
His entire body became soaked in blood.
He could feel his lungs burning and his breathing becoming shallow and strained.
All in all, this was one annoying ability, thankfully it did not seem to last that long
He closed his eyes and used the healing light spell, at the same time, he cast an Angelic Veil as the huge claw swept towards him.
" Boom "
The wall of light and the claw met, Damien was sent flying as the Veil could not stop the beast.
He crashed into a couple of trees, breaking them down.
" Shit, that hurts," he thought coughing blood as he got up, however, he now had a plan.
" Get over here you stupid beast " he shouted a taunt at the Titan Grollith King, however he did not need a taunt as the Grollith burst into motion.
Damien smirked and then turned and then...
Broke into a run...with the Grollith king hot in pursuit