XXX - Demon King Baran

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STATUS

Name: Kazuki Tanaka Level: 76

Job: The Monarch of Shadows Fatigue: 20

Title: Wolf Slayer Age: 17 HP: 23,005 MP: 10,225

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Strength: 342 Vitality: 220

Agility: 300 Intelligence: 249

Remaining Points: 10

"Good work everyone. But this is not over," Xenovia stated. "There are more Excalibures that have yet to be found. Although, I'm afraid I don't know who could be in possession of them.

"So you're saying that you have a feeling that there is someone that may have them?" Kazuki questioned. "That's exactly what we mean," Irina says. "Well, we better be on the lookout just in case they decide to attack," Rias added.

Kazuki went to meet up with Asia who was in the ORC building. When they got home, he told her about his plan to enter another dungeon. "I know it seems like I do this a lot, but in order for me to protect you and the others around me, I have to become stronger."

"You don't need to explain your reasoning, I know you're a good person. You've helped me a lot. If this is what you have to do, I'll just have to live with it," she says.

"Thank you for understanding." From his hands, he summoned the demon castle key. Kazuki says his goodbyes and enters the dungeon.

[You have entered the Demon Castle Dungeon.]

He found himself surrounded by a desert floor, and burning buildings.

[A new quest has arrived.]

[Normal quest: Collect demon's souls! (Part 2)]

[The Monarch of the Demons, 'Baran' , is residing on the highest floor of the demon castle.]

[Eliminate Baran and collect its soul.]

[Quest completion requirement: Defeat the demon king.]

[Reward(s):

1. Highest quality runestone

2. Shadow storage +100

3. Hidden reward]

"Oh, wow. The rewards are better than last time," Kazuki stated.

[Highest quality runestone: Shadow Exchange]

[A job specific skill that can be obtained by breaking the runestone.]

[Floors 1 to 76 have been unlocked.]

[Where would you like to go?]

With confidence Kazuki says, "76." Kazuki was transported to said floor. Immediately, he was met with demons. "Tusk, come out." Kazuki then gave the shadow Orb of Avarice. With the orb, Tusk uses the Hymn of the fire dragon with the orb making it more powerful.

[You defeated a highest grade demon.]

[You received 1,700 EXP.]

[You defeated an ancient demon.]

[You received 2,200 EXP.]

[You defeated a highest grade demon.]

[You received 1,700 EXP.]

[You defeated an ancient demon.]

[You received 2,200 EXP.]

"What an amazing power," Kazuki says. "Even though he's holding the Orb of Avarice, his abilities should have been nerfed after becoming a shadow...I should leave it to Tusk for the time being."

"Come forth," he commands. "Split up and eliminate any enemies that run into you," he says. Notify me once you have found the entry permit. Disperse."

The shadows all went in different directions. 'I'll have to give up on drops other than the entry permit. The current priority is to reach the top floor as soon as possible.'

[You have received 1,500 EXP.]

[You have received 1,500 EXP.]

[You have received 900 EXP.]

[You have received 1,100 EXP.]

[You have received 1,500 EXP.]

"It hasn't been all that long since I sent them out, and I'm already gaining experience. But the highest grade demons are appearing, the normal soldiers are going to have a tough time."

He chugs down mana potion to recover some mana.

A Few Days Later

'There are 20 floors left. It's already been two days since I reached floor 80...' Kazuki wonders if there were any other strong opponents.

[MP: 9,827/10,225.]

His mana dropped. "Somebody must be destroying my soldiers, it must be the weaker of the bunch. The rest are pretty powerful, stronger than me even." Kazuki figures out where the battle was coming from and heads there.

He sees his army of knights, they were being commanded by Igris. His eyes soon landed on the figures he assumed to be the cause of the sudden drop of mana. "A demon noble and three demon knights."

The noble was fighting against Igris, both were evenly tied. It was a different story with the shadow knights and demon knights. The demon knights were destroying the shadow knights with ease.

Kazuki decided to step in and help. Sending a kick to one of the demons knight's head, it was instantly killed.

[You have defeated a demon knight.]

[You received 3,000 EXP.]

He defeats the other two with the same amount of ease. Igris stepped back and watched as Kazuki blitzed for the demon noble. The demon noble was visibly shaking. "A monster feeling fear. How amusing."

The noble attempts to stab Kazuki but to no avail. He grabs its neck and lifts it up into the air. About to stab it with his dagger, it suddenly spoke. "I give up!" They said.

Kazuki was caught off guard, "Didn't expect you to speak, and I definitely did not expect you to sound so..."

The noble takes off their mask, revealing...

"I-I'm sorry. We were in the wrong. Please spare my life!" She says. "You attacked my soldiers and now you're asking for forgiveness?"

"I committed a grave sin! But in our clan's defense, we have to protect this area, we can't sit around and let some bastar... I mean person run wild and kill other demons like ants. Please forgive me!"

"Is it okay for you to beg for your life to the person who just killed your men?" Kazuki inquired. "A knight's duty is to protect their master. I'm sure knights will be happy if I'm safe," she says.

Kazuki let his guard down. He turns his back away and before he could say anything more the girl attempted to quite literally stab him in the back.

[Tusk has used skill: 'Hymn of Protection'.]

Kazuki slowly turns around to face the girl. Fearfully, she went on her knees and said: "IF YOU SPARE MY LIFE, I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT!!"

"The entry pass, can you get it?"

[Tusk has used skill: 'Gravitation magic'.]

"The entry pass is being protected by our clan. If you can bring me back home unharmed, I can give you the entry."

"I was wondering why it wasn't showing up, but I didn't expect it to be kept somewhere else for protection."

"I even know here the entry passes for the higher floors are kept. I can guide you to them if you can guarantee the safety of my life and my clan," she says.

"How temping..observe."

"Huh? Observe?" She looks around and sees nothing out of the ordinary. Kazuki looked her intensely in the eyes. "Esil, Can I...trust you?"

[Skill: 'Bloodlust' Activated.]

"I...I'm telling you the truth..." She shakily stated. "Okay, if you can give me the entry pass, I'll leave this place quietly. But I have a question."

"What's the question?" She asked. "What were you doing in the demon world?" He asked. When he asked this question something strange happened. Esils eyes began to take on a glitched effect.

"War.. we were preparing for war," she says.

"War? War against what?" Kazuki questioned.

"Yes. It was a war against an enemy so powerful that all the demons were required to gather together..."

The next words that came out of her mouth did not sound natural. It was as if the system wasn't allowing any more information to be shared. "You have surpassed the allowed amount of information. The conversation will be interrupted."

"Who is the powerful enemy that you mentioned?" Kazuki asked. "That's..." Esil then collapsed, and Kazuki was quick enough to catch her. He then decided to call back his shadows, to keep his promise to the girl.

At the demon castle

'A demon castle inside a demon castle, how fun.'

"Where's my father?" Esil questioned a guard. "He's in the throne room. Lady Esil, who's that man behind you?"

"He's an important guest so show some courtesy." The two of them walked into the throne room. "Father, I have brought a guest."

"Esil...who in the world did you bring here?!"

"Father, this man is a guest so..."

"Just what kind of guest would come to someone's home with an army? Esil can't you see it? There are soldiers hidden inside that man's shadow!!"

The guards now had their swords drawn. "I promised Esil. I will leave this place quietly if you hand over the entry pass to me." Kazuki states.

"The entry pass...is that all you want?" Esil's father asked. "Oh, and one more thing." He grabs Esil's shoulder. "I want to borrow her for a bit."

—

While walking to their next destination, Esil offered Kazuki some alcohol. "No thanks, I don't drink," he says. "No, this is the alcohol that the head of the Garshi clan loves.My father prepared items that each of the clan heads will appreciate," Esil explains.

"Why would we need that?" Kazuki asked. "If we bring these with us, negotiations will go smoothly."

"Negotiations? Are you guys friendly with the clan?" Kazuki asked. "Ah, no. Since the clans have always disputed over ranking back in the demon world. But they're not someone we're hostile with."

"Then it's fine," Kazuki assured. "Just wait here, it won't take long.

.

.

.

[You have defeated a demon knight.]

[You have received 3,000 EXP.]

[You have defeated a demon knight.]

[You have received 3,000 EXP.]

[You have defeated a demon noble.]

[You have received 4,500 EXP.]

[Level: 83]

"They seem to have a lot of experience since their levels are high..and..."

[Igris Lv. Max]

Rank: Knight

[Freed Lv. Max]

Rank: Knight

[Viser Lv. Max]

Rank: Elite

[Knight 'Igirs' has requested permission for a promotion.]

[Knight 'Freed' has requested permission for a promotion.]

[Elite 'Viser' has requested permission for a promotion.]

[Do you accept their requests?]

"I accept."

[Knight 'Igris' has been promoted from 'Rank: Knight' to 'Rank: Elite Knight'.]

[Knight 'Freed' has been promoted from 'Rank: Knight' to 'Rank: Elite Knight'.]

[Elite 'Viser' has been promoted from 'Rank: Elite' to 'Rank: Knight'.]

"Um, how many clans have you destroyed so far?" Esil questioned. "Since this is the 89th floor...excluding your clan, it would be nine."

"Starting from the 90th floor, each one will be supervised by clans of highly ranked nobles. They're at a completely different level. If you can persuade them, they might just hand over the entry pass to you just like my clan."

Now on the 97th floor, Kazuki was flying through the monsters. "Sucks that I can't increase my stats in the dungeons, but..."

[Leveled: 85]

"I'm doing pretty well." He turns to Esil. "Go back to your floor now, I got it from here."

"Huh? Am I no longer useful to you?" She questioned. "You've done well, so thank you," he says. "No, I want to come with you. I want to see the outcome of your fight," she stated.

[Moving to the 98th floor.]

Kazuki found taking care of the monsters in this dungeon wasn't all that challenging.

[Level: 88]

They had now found themselves on the 100th floor of the dungeon. It was there when they were finally face to face with the dungeons boss. It even had a wyvern with it.

Demon King Baran and the Wyvern Kaisellin.

[Demon King Baran is using skill: 'Hell's Army'.]

[Demon soldiers have been summoned.]

[Demon generals have been summoned.]

"From a glance I can tell there are at least one thousand of them."

The demons all charged at the two. "Kazuki, what are you waiting for?!" Esil yelled. "Not yet," he says. "What do you mean? You have to do something!"

[Skill: 'Domain of the Monarch' Activated.]

"Come out!"

Immediately, the shadows went to work, destroying the demons once they were summoned.

[Tusk is using skill: 'Hymn of Combustion'.]

All at once, the ground around the demons collapsed onto itself.

Kazuki, Igris, Beru, Cerberus, Titan, Colossus, Viser, Freed, and Balak stood in a line, facing the demon king Baran. The demon king stood tall, his eyes glowing red, and his body emanating a dark energy.

Without warning, Baran charged towards the group, his sword raised high. Igris stepped forward to meet him, their swords clashing. Igris swung his sword with precision, each blow hitting its target, but Baran seemed unfazed, his strength and durability greater than any opponent Igris had ever faced.

Kazuki stepped forward and summoned his Soultaker axe, his eyes glowing with a fierce determination. He charged towards Baran, his axe raised high, and swung it with all his might. The axe hit Baran's arm, causing him to stagger back in pain.

Beru and Cerberus launched a joint attack, with Beru throwing a series of quick punches, and Cerberus blasting fire-based attacks. The demon king roared in anger, his dark aura growing stronger with each passing moment.

Titan and Colossus stepped forward, their massive size and strength making them formidable opponents. They charged towards Baran, their fists hitting him with tremendous force. Baran tried to retaliate, but the two giants proved too much for him to handle.

Viser swung his mace, hitting Baran with a powerful blow, sending him crashing to the ground. Balak rushed forward, his swords raised high, and joined in the attack. The demon king tried to fight back, but the group's combined strength was too much for him to handle.

With a final roar of defiance, Baran collapsed to the ground, defeated. The group looked at each other, panting heavily, but relieved that they had emerged victorious.

Kazuki stepped forward. "We did it, we defeated the demon king." Kazuki turns to see that the wyvern was also defeated.

[You have defeated Demon King Baran.]

[Obtained Baran's soul.]

[Normal quest: Collect demon's souls (Part 2) has been completed.]

[Level: 90]