Beelzebub's Fire Breath (2)

Chapter 4: Beelzebub's Fire Breath (2)

David didn't have time to think about his terrifying thoughts.

Other monsters of the forest had been notified by his flames and were ready to protect their home. And while many were horrified by Beelzebub's flames and breath, which was like a roar, a few monsters had left their dwellings to find the cause of their forest's conflagration.

Beelzebub didn't want to deal with all of them at once.

His breath had an unlimited amount of mana to flaunt its presence, but David had other weaknesses he had to cover before being able to freely spit at his opponents. The most troublesome thing was his lack of other skills that would enable him to play around with the monsters.

He had no skill to cover his back or any escape route prepared.

Thus, David was on the run… exposing another weakness: low stamina. "Curses! This brings too many memories!"

Running forward without any care for the world, David shed off all his vigilance, surrendering himself to fate. It was on his side as his weary eyes noticed a light of hope spreading on the horizon. It was an exit to this dark forest, his only hope to find a path to humans!

Beelzebub gritted his teeth while reciting many curses in his mind, drawing out every drop of strength in his slender and weak body.

Just a few meters away from the finish line, another monster appeared from the shadows. This time, it was a spider of towering form, at least half of David's size. And since Beelzebub was quite a tall demon, the monster was well-grown existence whose jaws fed upon countless weaker monsters.

"Have a taste of my breath!" David drew a lot of air into his cheeks while his heart and lungs burned with fire mana, only to blow out a carpet of greenish flames.

The spider's eyes blinked as though he had expected a human to spit flames. Without any answer to this skill, the monster stood frozen before the flames embraced him wholly, rendering his existence to ashes.

As the demon paid no more attention to the dead, the last of the spider were tramped by David as he scaled up the forest to leave it entirely.

He had leveled up, but his goddamn stamina and stats haven't been replenished, so he was sweating and breathing worse with every passing second.

At last, Beelzebub went through the final line!

"Huh…"

…and he found himself in front of a precipice.

-

Thud!

Beelzebub dropped onto his ass, gawking at the expanse of darkness stretching far to the north. It was nothing like the darkness of the forest in which he could still see monsters, bushes, roots, and more… this was a real darkness that no human should ever step inside.

Perhaps, that was a wrong thought. A human with proper equipment and skills would be able to go down the vertical wall to explore the cliff's content. Alas, that was not what David wanted.

He wanted a civilization and information to confirm his worst thoughts.

Surely, a city or village should be behind on the other side of the darkness… "I am not a dragon… even though I can breathe like one now…."

David couldn't lift himself up through that breath… well, he hasn't checked whether it's possible. However, he couldn't imagine himself flying over that shadow without any guarantee — it was too dangerous!

"What now? Some monsters might find me soon." David squeezed his eyes and racked his brain for some ideas.

Worst case, he will fight monsters until the very end, then try his odd idea of flying above the darkness with nothing but green flames leaving his mouth…

It sounded too stupid, so David kept that to himself.

A few seconds ticked in which David did nothing but regenerate. Then, the urgency of the situation prompted him to check everything, so he scrambled closer to the edge of the precipice and looked down, his eyes widening at a small source of light.

Upon closer inspection, it was a lantern hanging on a human's waist!

"I am saved…." David breathed in a huge relief as an image of human climbing across the vertical and steep coalesced before his eyes.

It was a young man around eighteen whose hands were like claws, easily digging into the wall's cracks. Thick leather fur clothes protected him from cold and possibly monsters looming in the shadows. He surely had years of experience cresting up those walls as he made his way across the wall proficiently.

David would soon lose him if he did nothing.

"Won't I scare him if I shout?" He questioned aloud, then found a small pebble.

He threw it near the young man.

As the falling pebble whistled in his ear, the man stopped his work and warily looked up, only to find a man older than him by a few years smiling at him.

That man would have looked much better had he gone a little brown… could humans be so pale?

The young climber shouted at Beelzebub. "Are you okay?"

David nearly choked on his saliva. "Am I okay?! Look at where you are! One wrong move, and you're dead!"

"What do you mean? …I am not sweating like a pig! And I see the sun regularly! Unlike you! I see you have left your house for the first time!" The man sent a few punches David's way, making him tremble. "Wait for me up here! I'll lead you back home. Oh, right, congrats! The world is too big for us to be confined to four walls. You also ought to help your parents!"

"Alright, man, hold your tongue with those speeches." David went back to his sitting position, ignoring the young man's words.

Mentioning parents and helping them, even reconciling, always made David's blood boil. It was the worst when someone told him crap such as 'you only have one parent' to make him make up with his mother. That woman was the first one to call him after seeing him on television and social media, surely fueled by greed and fame.

David wouldn't have been surprised if her new husband had told her to call him.

Of course, he used this as a chance to see her face fuming in anger.

There was nothing better than making those who hurt you seethe.

And while David was unforgiving to those who hurt him and treated the rest with a business smile, those loyal to him had seen glimpses of his true self a lot of time, which was caring and kind.

All cruel experiences made David teeter between the good and evil side: the perilous world brought out more of the cynical and evil side of David, forcing him to think of the fantasy world as a business.

But for those he met for the first time… "Here…." Beelzebub would extend a helping hand in hopes of forming a good relationship oriented around gains.

"Thanks!" The young man caught David's hand, crested atop the cliff, and sat beside him. "I have never seen you before. I am Bruno Of Williard Village."

"David."

"Oh, so you aren't from the same village."

"…Yes."