EP Growth

*****

In another part of the city, a black-haired young man lay in a luxurious bed, waiting to go to sleep; however, his mind kept thinking about a single person whom he hated.

'Levi, even after your death, you never cease to give me misfortune! If you weren't so weak to die in that dungeon before handing over the A-ranked demon crystals, I might've had a friendly relationship with the leader of the Durham Gang and have gotten everything I desire, but your death put us on unfriendly terms.'

Throughout the night, Damon vented every single misfortune that flashed into his mind on Levi—he blamed it all on him, as his hatred for him led him to do so.

By the time he finished venting his anger out on Levi and fell asleep from exhaustion, the sun had already risen above the horizon, and it was already three in the morning.

~~~

Seven hours later~

Damon had woken up an hour earlier and now stood on his balcony, staring begrudgingly at the blue sky.

'Will this day be any better? Will I achieve what I've wanted all along? Is today the end of Levi's continual bestowal of misfortune on me?'

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his room's door. Letting out a long sigh of relief, Damon, who felt irritated at being disturbed, hastily walked to the door and opened it. "Yeah? What is it?"

His eyes landed on a middle-aged man donning a light-gray tuxedo and a black tie—the man appeared to be his personal butler.

"Young master, I've just received some bad news." The butler exclaimed. "Last night the Durham gang was attacked-"

"Get to the point!"

"Y-yes, master!" He stuttered. "The leader's son and several of the gang's lower executives were all killed-"

"Just that? Doesn't it just mean they were too weak? Is there even a reason for you to come here and disturb my peace?" Damon asked—he felt that his butler was only here to irritate him more by telling him useless information.

"Ahem, I apologize, sir, but The Durham Gang believes you were the one who killed his son and the lower executives after your failure in delivering the A-Rank demon crystals!"

"Huh?"

Finally, Damon grew surprised. The leader's son and the lower executive member's deaths were not worth mentioning in his eyes; however, the leader of the gang believed he attacked and killed not only lowly executive members but also his son. It wasn't a difficult task to achieve, but it inevitably led one to suffer the unquenchable wrath of Durham's leader.

It was a well-known fact that Durham's leader was overprotective over his son and wouldn't bat an eye before waging war on whomever laid their hands on him, but... that was only if they laid their hands on him; killing him would bring an entire different storm towards the one who dared.

Even so, Damon, knowing that a large storm was brewing, kept his calm, as if he didn't fear the wrath of Durham's leader. However, that was a facade hiding his genuine feelings.

He was angry! Angry at Levi's incompetence for dying in the dungeon without handing over the A-rank demon crystals, he was angry at Durham's leader for inexplicably accusing him of killing his son and the lower executives and for the wrath which he'd have to suffer for it... It appeared that ever since his escape from the A-ranked dungeon, he had suffered misfortune after misfortune, never ceasing.

'Kesean… you should've never crossed the line by waging war on me! You leave me no choice but to take action!' He grinned. "Gael, arrange a meeting with Durham's leader."

"Yes, master! I'll do it right away!" Gael bowed and left the hall—he left to follow his master's orders. After he left, Damon returned to the balcony, staring into the city below.

'Levi… you've might have given me this misfortune, but I'll destroy that misfortune before it can grow. I'll force my way through to achieve what I truly desire…'

*****

After a long, peaceful sleep, Lilith finally looked as if she was coming out of her deep sleep, having slept twelve hours. Outside, the sun shed its light through the window, giving her a warm feeling unlike the day before, when the darkness of the rain-filled clouds shed its coldness and sadness.

Slowly, Lilith opened her eyes, feeling the cozy warmth of the sun touch her face. She sat up and quickly left her room and walked to her kitchen, where she quickly sliced up the human arm belonging to Alonso.

After sliding it onto a plate, she carried it to the table. and dug in, almost immediately.

"Mm?" She took her first bite, realizing that the human flesh didn't only look good but tasted delicious, more so than the flesh she'd eaten before.

Unlike Alonso's flesh, the ones she ate before weren't fresh—they were nearly dry of blood and were beginning to rot. Eaten fresh or rotten, it wouldn't affect her as it still held the nutrients she needed; however, the taste was drastically affected by the state of it—fresh meat tasted better.

Moreover, a screen appeared before her eyes, advising her that fresh human meat was more beneficial...

[Satiate Hunger: Daily Quest Completed]

[15 exp have been earned]

[820/1000 exp]

Smiling, she quickly finished her meal, savoring its taste. Lilith placed her dishes in the sink and returned to her room, where she changed into a plain black T-shirt and sweat pants before taking a seat on her bed.

She looked into her inventory, finding a large pile of accumulated demon crystals. There were supposed to be around six hundred demon crystals, which was equivalent to a considerable amount of wealth that would give one the status of a millionaire.

Inside this pile were the C-ranked demon crystals and the E-ranked demon crystals. A desire inside her rose—this desire wanted her to pull out the C-rank crystals, wanting to see the eldritch energy she'd earn from absorbing their energy; however, Ayin chimed in and gave her advice.

[You have two choices: you can absorb the C-ranked demon crystals and gain a large load of Eldritch Energy, favoring both quantity and quality. In doing so, this would inevitably put your body in danger, with it being unable to endure such high quality and quantity of energy. And in addition, this will attract the attention of many powerhouses as they'll likely sense the sudden change in Eldritch Energy, or you can play it safe and absorb the E-rank demon crystals while saving the C-rank demon crystals for when you reach C-rank.]

Lilith hesitated. She desired to grow in strength as swiftly as possible so she could complete her revenge; however, she knew one couldn't grow into a powerhouse over a single night, nor could she go the short path—the short path might've brought her strength up at incredible speeds, but the disadvantages that came with it made it, in the eyes of Lilith, more disadvantageous than the long, narrow path.

In the end, Lilith pulled out two of the E-ranked demon crystals and crushed them in her fists.

Shatter~

The crystal's dark, eldritch energy exploded out and slowly shrouded her body. Lilith closed her eyes and started absorbing the eldritch energy shrouding her, as she was taught by Ayin.

Surprisingly, absorbing it was even easier than she had assumed. It was no different from just letting the energy freely flow inside her body. There was no obstruction.

Within thirty minutes, she'd absorbed the two demon crystals.

She slowly opened her eyes. "I assumed it'd take hours, possibly even a day, to absorb, not half an hour."

It was hard for her to believe that she absorbed the demon crystals in thirty minutes while other hunters, who absorbed the purified form of the demon crystals, divine crystals, took hours or possibly an entire day. Then again, she also knew that it was easier for her because she was not only contracted with a pre-existential goddess but also shared a body with her.

Additionally, she could feel the small changes to her body as soon as she absorbed the demon crystals. Her vision grew a little clearer, and she appeared to be a little stronger.

Without stopping or delaying any further, she pulled out two more E-ranked demon crystals. She started absorbing the demon crystals one after another. The fifty or so E-ranked demon crystals quickly began to diminish as time flew by...