Clipped

"Let you in? Who even are you?"

Resi ran around the endless concrete buildings trying to get the mysterious voice to answer him. He was getting restless just standing there without doing anything. He ran around, hoping to see a prankster behind the buildings.

"I am your source of power, a power that will finally let you fight your wayyyy."

He stopped near a concrete building as the voice tempted him through power. He felt his own weakness from the previous incidents and saw how helpless the situation is without power. He had to bow down on the ground and take the insults directed at Gotang. His blood boiled as he remembered the words.

"I don't need you. I'll fight on my own."

Resi curled his fists into a ball as he tried to gather as much strength as he could as a show of power. He knew this measly strength was not enough but his pride did not allow him to give up.

"Come on, you know you need meeee"

Resi stayed silent. What the mysterious voice said was right. He did need power. He did not like staying on the sidelines and being protected. That was not in his nature as he wanted to use his fist to fight for himself. The feeling of being useless in a fight only served to make his hands itch in anticipation.

"How could you pet those guys tarnish his name like thattttt?"

Resi bent his head down as he thought to himself with mysterious intentions.

"He told you that Gotang was pathetic. His teachings were inadequate, to say the least. Do you really want to prove them right by not letting me innnnn?"

Resi's hands were trembling, his eyes were moist with anger.

"Come on, all you have to do is say yes. I'll take care of those guys for you and they wouldn't even be able to speak his nameeee."

".......yes."

—————————

Ligi was cornered into a wall. He could not retreat any further as doing so would result in the civilians getting caught in the crossfire. His body was bleeding as he tried his hardest to stand up straight and fight for the people at his back. He was panting as smoke came out from his breath due to the cold weather.

"You better surrender now and I'll kill you as fast I can."

Blair was as good as new. Her clothes were torn in some places revealing her silky white skin. Blood was tainted on her black uniform but the injury that caused it was nowhere to be found. She smiled as confidence filled her eyes.

Bodt was silent as he raised his gigantic flail in the air and started to swing it around him. His eyes were serious as he was planning to finish off Ligi without batting his eye.

The flail and the umbrella shot forward with such momentum that it started to whistle in the air. Their sharp spikes created a deadly threat for the defenseless Ligi. Without His trusty shield in hand, He could not rely on the reflective properties of his normal power.

The two deadly weapons flew through the air and towards Ligi only to stop a few centimeters from his face. The boundaries of the weapons had a weird solidified air around them that prevented them from advancing further.

Ligi felt a strong, sinister, yet familiar aura behind him. He had a premonition that something had happened that allowed him to be saved from the two pincer attacks. He slowly turned his head only to see a bluish-black monster in Resi's previous position.

———————

As soon as Resi agreed, black sludge came out of his chest and enveloped his whole body. The black sludge slowly turned into a bluish-black tint and crystallized into a demonic being with 2 arms and 2 legs.

Its face was almost like an upside-down pentagon made up of the bluish-black crystal that shined an opaque light in the dim weather. Its eyes glowed with a bright cerulean blue. Its mouth had jagged spikes that created sharp teeth like lips that could cut the tension in the battlefield.

Its nose and every part of its face were made up of the crystal, dehumanizing the demon in everyone's eyes. Its neck was wide, almost as wide as its face as bulky crystals filled what-would-be the trapezius muscle.

Its arms were like a tree trunk, cylindrical and thick except the bark had turned into sharp miniature crystals. The forearms were strangely thin and had a more perfect cylindrical shape without the crystal spikes.

The hands were made up of crystal thorns resembling human characteristics except for the protruding crystals on its knuckles.

Its legs were larger on the foot side rather than the waist side. Its feet were as large and wide as the base of a 100-year-old tree.

Everyone was silent as they watched the monstrosity in front of them turn into its final form. The atmosphere around them seemed to grow colder as even the oxygen seemed thin. They found it hard to move like the air was more viscous than its normal state.

"...."

Bodt looked at the demon with wary eyes. He could not explain the palpitating beat inside his heart. It was fear that was growing bit by bit and eating into his psyche. His hands gripped the flail tighter as he fought the urge to retreat. He did not expect this kind of strength from a nobody.

"Tsk...."

Blair had a frown on her face as she felt even more pressure from the new demon that formed within her sight. She knew that she had to finish off Ligi before any more unexpected things could happen but her luck did not show on her fate.

She did not fight the urge to run away as she started to back away from the demon step by step. She lifted her left foot and retreated it and did the same for her right foot. She tried to repeat that but her feet could not move any further. She looked down and saw the ground beneath her feet solidify into an enclosure made of soil.

She materialized her umbrella as she stabbed the enclosure to try and free herself. The spear on the top of the umbrella pierced onto the soil, leaving black dust into the soil itself. It worked as she freed herself from the restriction. The soil returned to its muddy state and flowed back on the ground.

Once her foot was free, she bolted towards her safety net. She looked towards Isiah and hoped for the best. She felt the weight in her heart lighten as she got near her leader.

Bodt reacted slower as the realization hit him. The strange demon in front of him was dangerous to fight alone. He retreated while keeping his eyes on the demonic crystal-like creature at all times.

Lobo looked at the creature in front of him. He knew that it was Resi but he still could not associate the naive kid with this monstrosity. He didn't believe it but he had to accept it as he saw first hand, Resi transforming into the demon.

This was not the first time they had seen a demon before. They saw how Ligi turned into a demon and ended up conquering it for himself. They did not know how he did it but they placed hopes that Resi would be able to overcome the demon.

+++++++++++++++

QUEST

-Main Quest

•Self defense

*Travel to the Dreaded Valley

•Fighter crew member

#Completed

-Side Quest

+++++++++++++++

'Congratulations! You have completed a quest. 100wp will be awarded.'

'Congratulations! You have recruited a crew member. 500wp will be awarded.'

'Congratulations! Resi has started his demonic vice. 500wp will be awarded.'

Bang received the notifications in his head. He felt elated that after all that hard work, he was finally able to finish a mission. Resi was now his crew member like Ligi.

+++++++++++++++

CREW

-Ligi

•Power: Shield of Self Preservation

•Stage of Advancement: Infancy

•Quality: Wood

•Skills :

*Vent - Power put into the shield will be reflected

*Expand - The shield can grow up to 1.5x the original size

•(locked)

#Demonic Vice (restrained)

•Power: Azrael's Personification

•Stage of Advancement: First Circle

•Skills:

*Ferali Effusio (Deathly Absorption) - Pulls enemies that Ligi sees towards him in a 5-meter cone radius

-Resi

•(locked)

•(locked)

•(locked)

•(locked)

•(locked)

#Demonic Vice

•Power: Raguel's Personification

•Stage of Advancement: First Circle

•Skills: (locked)

+++++++++++++++

Before Bang could absorb all the new information given to him by the system, he saw Resi's demon move.

The demon raised its oversized feet and walked to the front. The menacing stomping ground echoed throughout the valley and gave Blair anxiety. She was fine fighting with any other person or monster but she could not fight something unknown.

They waited with bated breaths as the demon walked forward but not towards the Blair and Bodt, but towards Ligi.

The demon raised its hand and touched Ligi's chest. The moment the crystal touched him, he lost consciousness as the black sludge took over his entire body.

"Hello, brother dearrrr"