Six-Armed Serpent Demon

Page 51

The great demon roared in shock and rage, swinging his fiery whip and flinging the six-armed serpent demon far away.

The giant serpent's body tumbled and was flung into the air.

She saw an endless expanse of land, filled with demons committing suicide one another. Then she fell from the sky, crashing down among a group of demons locked in combat. With a deafening thud, she slammed a foul-smelling, humanoid toad demon heavily into the bone-splattered mud.

Wisps of black mist emanated from the demon corpse beneath her, gradually dissipating into the purplish-red air.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding demons stopped in unison and howled as they pounced on the six-armed serpent demon.

With a series of slashes from "Mand of the Slayer" and "Shadow Strike Sword," she killed all the demons in the blink of an eye.

The six-armed serpent demon then realized just how powerful the two swords were here.

The demons of the bottomless abyss, their skin and bodies filled with evil and chaotic energies, possess damage reduction abilities that can only be broken by using benevolent energy or cold iron weapons. This means that when they fight each other, most of the damage is negated by mutual reduction.

But now, the damage reduction abilities of other demons are no match for the two swords in her hands.

In particular, the holy and demon-slaying greatsword "Mand of the Slayer" is a veritable demon-slaying nemesis.

Wherever the silver-blue sword light touched, demons died instantly upon contact!

In an instant, piles of demon corpses surrounded her, and wisps of black mist emanating from the corpses gathered together to form a dense black fog.

That is the essence of demonic power, the core of the abyss that constitutes the demon, now slowly returning to the abyss.

The six-armed serpent demon had absorbed it once while disposing of the corpse of a demon-born drow, which greatly restored her demonic body, so she benefited immensely.

The speed at which the black mist dissipated was far slower than the speed at which she slaughtered demons.

The six-armed serpent demon simply swung his sword with all his might while chanting dark holy words.

She was extremely excited to feel the seemingly endless demonic power surging into her body, constantly strengthening and nourishing her demonic form.

—I am now the exact opposite of an ordinary demon.

Most demons living in the Abyss, once summoned to the material world, engage in rampant slaughter. This is because they know they cannot die; at most, they will be banished back to their own plane. However, if their true form is killed in the material world by the summoning magic, or if their true form is killed in the Abyss, then the demon truly dies and ceases to exist.

Her true form had long been taken to the material world by summoning magic; this place is merely a projection of her summoning.

So she doesn't need to worry about being killed here at all, at most—

With a deafening roar, a blinding flash of fire filled the entire field of vision.

Amidst the excruciating pain throughout his body, the six-armed serpent demon saw a bolt of purplish-red lightning swiftly slash across his neck.

The view then spun around and tumbled down to the ground.

She saw her headless, charred body struggling erratically before finally collapsing to the ground.

Her gaze glazed over for a moment, and the last thing she saw was the giant claws of the fire demon stomping down on her.

The field of vision returned to complete darkness.

The six-armed snake demon screamed, its eyes widening, and sat up while holding a large, furry bundle.

She trembled all over and gasped for breath before realizing that she was in Ivy Beatrice's bedroom, and that she herself had transformed back into Ivy Beatrice.

The fluffy bear in her arms was woken up by her noise. It protested with a sleepy "coo" and then turned over in her arms before falling asleep again.

She fell back onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

So was that scene just now a nightmare, or was it a real experience of being summoned by magic, projected into the bottomless abyss, participating in a demon brawl, and ultimately being killed?

She closed her eyes.

Re-examine the anomalies of the spiritual world.

This time, no matter how close she brought her mental energy to the circular darkness, there was no reaction. The countless voices that had filled her mind before had now fallen silent.

However, she suddenly discovered that the advanced teleportation spell she could cast each day had increased from once to three times.

The six-armed serpent demon opened its emerald green vertical pupils.

That's not a dream.

He was indeed summoned to fight a battle in the bottomless abyss by another six-armed serpent demon, but he was killed due to carelessness, which caused the summoning spell to end prematurely.

However, there is one regrettable thing: perhaps because it was a projection rather than the real body, although several demons were killed this time, the amount of demonic essence extracted was far less than that extracted from the brains of the demonic drow.

That's fine too.

She comforted herself.

—In a chaotic battle involving hundreds or thousands of demons, no matter how powerful you are, you can't see and hear everything in all directions; life and death depend entirely on luck. If you were truly involved, you would already be beheaded by now.

She thought silently.

Based on initial experiences over this period, demonic essence and the soul of a living being have both similarities and differences.

Biological souls are arguably the most versatile form of energy. They can be used to repair damage to magic cores and to master profession inheritance, making them a universal experience value.

Even when necessary, demons can consume the souls they acquire to cast their own class-specific magic, using it as mana.

Demon essence can also be used to repair damage to the demon core, and it is even more efficient than the soul of a living being in this regard. Absorbing demon essence may also allow one to acquire spell-like abilities from other types of demons.

However, the essence of evil cannot be used to master class traditions, nor can it be consumed for spellcasting.

In other words, once the damage to one's demon core is fully restored, the Demon Essence becomes largely useless. However, it's still quite useful for now; it's just unknown when one can be summoned to the Abyss again.

The six-armed serpent demon picked up the thick volume of "Advanced Meditation" from the bedside table, somewhat annoyed. While stroking the bear cub in her arms, she flipped to the section she had finished reading last time and continued studying.

The demon could see in the dark; she didn't need to light an oil lamp or candle to see what was written on the scroll. The turning of the pages woke Xiong Gu again. The fluffy little thing purred sadly in her arms, burying its head in her cleavage and turning around, but finally settled down, watching curiously as she rustled the pages in the dark.

Reading a volume of "Advanced Meditation" would take a full 10 hours and six days in total. But this is only by human standards.

Demons are extraordinary and immortal beings. Their way of thinking and brain abilities are far superior to those of ordinary creatures, and their reading speed is incomparable to that of ordinary creatures.

The six-armed serpent demon was confident that he could finish reading the book within three days and make the intelligence-enhancing magic within it work.

—We must seize every minute to make ourselves stronger.

She told herself this, but her mind kept wandering:

Since I can be summoned to the Abyss, can I also be summoned to other places? Perhaps other worlds like Toril, or maybe I can cross the crystal walls and arrive at other dimensions, such as…

She shivered slightly.

The words of Enser, the thug, echoed in his ears again:

"...My father and I weren't originally here...we came into this world with the land beneath our feet—"

"...The Great God-King will come to liberate us, the Enser people, just as he defeated the evil Witch-King Imaska ​​before."

"What is the name of your God-King?"

"Gilkin. The eternal God-King and Savior of Enser, his name is Gilkin."

The emerald green vertical pupils shone brightly in the pitch-black bedroom, like two eerie green flames.

—Gilkin.

—The incarnation of Gilgamesh, the "Hero King" from Sumerian mythology on Earth in his previous life, who has traveled to this world.

Upon hearing this familiar name, she had already looked up relevant information.

Long ago, before the Enser people's kingdom was torn apart and transported to the world of Abel, it was land that originally belonged to the world of Toril. A wizarding kingdom called "Imaska" used teleportation magic that could penetrate crystal walls to bring a large number of Enser people and another race from an unknown otherworld to be enslaved.

However, the Enser people came into this world along with their faith. The Enser people prayed tirelessly to their gods, and eventually many Enser gods descended to earth in human form, leading the Enser people to overthrow the rule of the Imaska ​​people and establish their own country.

Later, due to immense war, many living gods perished. Furthermore, the native gods of Toril prevented the gods of Enser from radiating their divine power from beyond the distant crystal wall to descend upon Toril, and the Enser gods gradually disappeared. "God-King" Gilejin was the last living god among them. When "God-King" Gilejin was betrayed by the Enser and killed by "Queen of the Five Colors," Tiamat, the Enser people also declined along with their gods.

However, as the lands of the Enthers were transported from Toril to the world of Abel, their unwavering faith once again came into play.

There is no obstruction from the supreme god of Toril here. Legend has it that Gilejin, the "God King" of Enser, has successfully descended upon the world of Abel as the second living incarnation of a god.

He vowed to unite all the Enthers in Abel and return to the world of Toril to avenge himself against Tiamat, the "Five-Colored Dragon Queen" who had killed him, and to end the "New Imasca Empire" rebuilt by Queen Vulsusi of Imasca in her old homeland.

Since being reborn into this other world, the reborn person has had a dream that they have been hoping to realize at all times.

Her once warm home, her aging parents... those were things she could never let go of.

If only I could see it one more time…

But she knew that her power was too insignificant and she could only put it aside for the time being.

As she researched information about Enser, that dream rekindled in her heart, and now, having experienced this summoning to another world, she became certain:

One day, when she becomes powerful enough, her dream of transcending time and space will surely come true.

Just like a line from a shonen manga I read in a past life: "A person's dream will never end."

Chapter 61 Salt Marsh Files

Ivy Beatrice moved gracefully through the bustling crowds at the dock. She tied her full head of red hair back into a long ponytail with a headband to prevent the hair from flying wildly in the strong sea breeze.

The bear followed her around happily, never leaving her side.

Under the glaring sunlight, the dock was bustling with noise.

This is the busiest time at the port. Fishing boats and cargo ships leave and depart, followed by a variety of catches and goods being unloaded and loaded.

Even busier than the workers were the dock patrol team.

She walked along the old stone-paved road beside the port and saw in the distance the port master, Burktura, leading a number of familiar faces from the picket line as they patrolled the various docks, maintaining order, registering ships, and collecting fees.

This also includes Berlik's bronze dragon-like head.

This dragon-blooded paladin volunteered to join the patrol during his rest time. The six-armed serpent demon suspected that he was actually using every minute to sneak out of his office to the docks to gather information.

But all she could see was the "White Claw".

The two missing demons arrived at Fire Harbor on this ship and have been anchored there for several days.

Following the memories of that night when he was transformed into Gideon, he successfully found the dock where the White Claw was moored.

She slowed her pace, seemingly aimlessly, and walked along the dock to the White Claw, glancing at it quickly out of the corner of her eye.

Just like what I saw that night, it was an old, large fishing boat with nothing particularly special about its exterior.

The ship was enormous, and it had a sinister atmosphere.

The six-armed serpent demon's heart stirred.

Perhaps she had already seen the most special thing about it.

The ship had just arrived in port a week ago, according to the port register, with an estimated departure time listed as "within ten days, anytime." But whether it was the night Gidelorine caused a scene by jumping overboard or now, there hasn't been a single person on board—where have the sailors gone on such a large ship?

She didn't stop, but continued walking briskly forward, passing the White Claw, until she reached the end of the dock before turning back.

At the same time, my mind raced, recalling the scene of me researching information about the White Claw in the office…

That was during the morning commute.

The dock office created files for all the ships, which were stored in the archives room next to the office.

The keys to the archives were originally held by the port master, Burktura, and the accountant, Tvordo. Anyone wishing to access the records had to report to these two. Since Tvordo's disappearance, his key to the archives had come into the possession of the dragon-blooded paladin, Berlik.

This was no big deal to the six-armed serpent demon who had mastered advanced teleportation techniques.

After a short while, seeing that only she and the Dragon Saint remained in the office, the Six-Armed Serpent Demon claimed that he suddenly remembered that he had something to take care of at home and had to go back urgently.

After taking leave and leaving the office, she quickly turned a corner and arrived at a secluded corner outside the dock office prefab building. With a high-level teleportation spell, she appeared in the archives room.

The archives were pitch black and silent.

She listened intently and overheard Berlik in the next office saying things like "coo coo coo," "Hey little silly, look over here," and "Hahaha, so cute" to attract Xiong Gu.

It's hard to believe that this dragon-headed, dragon-brained fellow is a holy warrior.

When she was in the office, Berlik solemnly told her that she shouldn't keep fierce animals like owl bears as pets, and even more so, she shouldn't bring pets to the office, blah blah blah.

As soon as I left, leaving him alone, he immediately changed his attitude.

She glanced at Berlik with disdain through the wall before turning to search for information on the White Claw.

I just didn't expect that the information would be so hard to find.

The files containing port and fishing vessel registration information were piled haphazardly on the partitioned shelves, without any sorting or categorization.

Logically speaking, the government office of Yantu City should have very strict management of fishing boats.

As ordered by the government, only six fishing companies in Huoshaogang were issued fishing licenses. Since the vast majority of fishing boats in Huoshaogang are privately owned, these boat owners register under the names of fishing companies to obtain the necessary permits to go to sea.

Each time a boat returns from a voyage, the owner pays taxes to the port based on the catch, and also pays a qualification fee to the fishing company.

The city's administrative department uses this method to collect information on fishing vessels and strengthen management and control.

However, as time went on, loopholes appeared in the government's policies, and the fishing companies in Huoshaogang gradually came under the control of the dock gangs.