Brilliant tactics

Underneath the almost mud-like clouds of the Dark Lands, a man was currently taking a leisurely walk across the area, trying his best to remember the geography of the kingdom that wasn't really his.

With his chest exposed to the world, wearing nothing but the black pants that belonged to the uniform he had been forced to wear on Earth, the black and white wings on his back made it very clear that he wasn't human.

The part of the Dark Lands where he was currently was more or less a giant valley, where there were mostly open areas, one of which his tower stood, now complemented by a small goblin village just outside it.

There was the forest of dead trees, which the being had very unoriginally decided to name the Dead Forest because his imagination was so incredibly lacking. On the other side of the forest, there were the vast, open plains where he had made contact with the Gobba tribe, successfully fending them off with an act that the former demon kings would most definitively condemn him for.

Then, there was the huge lake, where different aquatic monsters resided as well as where, according to the white-haired demoness, a merman tribe had established their territory, one of many monster tribes that were living inside of the giant valley.

Why did he decide to view it as a valley? That was because of the fact that all around this area, a huge mountain range circulated it, more or less creating a wall that separated everything in it from the outside world.

"Pii?"

"Why I'm thinking in third person? No reason, really. Anyway, let's go, Pi."

"Pii!"

'[Flight]'

Transferring some of my demonic energy into my wings, I took to the sky, with Pi promptly following me with a huge smile on her face, happy that her master was bringing her with him for the field trip they were having.

Soaring high in the air, I could finally see just how vast the Dark Lands truly were, as even after the mountain range that surrounded us, the dried-up ground and the inky clouds continued far past it.

However, at some point, although it was quite hard to see from here, I did believe me to notice a vibrantly green forest in the distance, with the Dark Lands making a very noticeable border as the vegetation simply died.

'That's Luprad, right?'

The nation of the elves, a gigantic forest filled with multiple cities and villages, the vibrant green symbolizing just how full of life it was.

At some point, I would venture there, escaping this literally god-forsaken country, in an attempt to live a more normal life. But that day wasn't today.

For today, I would be busy once again.

Looking down at the ground, I found a pack of Dire Wolves, a group of six, that was more than suitable to be our first prey of the day, loitering outside of the Dead Forest in an attempt to find food.

Flying downwards, happy that my wings still felt like such an integral part of my body that I never had issues with using them, it didn't take long until me and Pi were above the unsuspecting fur-covered monsters.

Having already done this before, Pi also knew what to do, quickly starting to conglomerate the mana inside of her tiny body while I brought out my claws and started to fill them up with dark magic, coating them with a black layer of smoky energy.

"Pi!"

"[Claws of Darkness]!"

Both of us launched our attacks at the same time, with Pi sending out an arc of compressed wind, while I sent out the four lines of darkness that had spelled the end for Gobbu.

"Awo?!"

*Bam!*

Though Pi's attack wasn't strong enough to instantly claim the life of the wolf she was aiming at, she had successfully managed to gouge its belly to the point where blood and guts were now pouring out, making it impossible for it to run away.

My spell, however, had not only shredded the body of another wolf but also decapitated it, to which its body couldn't respond in any other way but to fall to the ground.

"Growl!*

Angry that their comrades had fallen, the four other wolves now turned their gazes to us, baring their teeth with a growl. Which was incredibly foolish, given that we were still floating in the air above them, safely out of their reach.

I wasn't sure if it was because of their animalistic figures, or if it had something to do with their levels, but during these few days that me and Pi had been out hunting I noticed that monsters were generally incredibly stupid. With the exception of more humanoid creatures like goblins or the kobolds that we had stumbled upon yesterday.

"[Claws of Darkness]"

"Pi!"

Two more quickly fell over as we once again launched our ranged attacks, leaving only two wolves, whose instincts finally began to take over, only it was already too late. Their four brethren and comrades had already fallen to my extremely brilliant tactics, and even when they decided to run away, they were still somewhat far from the forest where they could find shelter.

In other words, it was extremely easy for me and Pi to fly after them and lob a couple of spells their way, and although they agilely dodged some of them, we inevitably brought them down after a couple of tries.

It was another splendid success of using the tactic that I called, 'I don't want to die so I'll just launch spells at a distance.'

Getting down to the ground, getting to rest for a bit as both flying and using my skills spent quite a lot of my DE, I gently patted my partner's head.

"Good job, Pi."

"Pii!"

'Aaahh... How I wish Gob could go back to being as cute as this one...'

Due to the fact that Gob was currently acting as the leader for my goblin troops, he was immensely busy with making sure that the construction work, logistics as well as the process of managing resources went well, he had no choice but to stay in the village they were building.

That being said, it was still a lot more effective to bring with me Pi who could fly around with me, as it made finding monsters to hunt a lot simpler and faster. Also, I didn't have to endure the judgmental looks from the goblin that had already lost any respect he had for me.

*Splurt!*

Ending the lives of the wolves that were still somehow breathing after Pi's [Wind Cutter] with my claws, it was still a disgusting sensation to so acutely rob something of their life, but it was at least getting a bit easier for every day that passed.

'But man... we're killing so many monsters every day, and it still looks like this...'

===Status===

Name: Aldric the Demon King

Race: Fallen Cherubim

Level: 12

Strength: 12

Agility: 12

Stamina: 12

Intelligence: 32

Free stat points: 2

Demonic energy: 94/160

Traits: [Blood of the Patriarch]

Skills: [Demon Claws], [Flight], [Claws of Darkness], [Glow]

Talents: [Light magic - Beginner], [Dark magic - Beginner]

==========

Even after five days of constant hunting, spending more than half of that total time just hunting, I had only leveled up once.

It wasn't as if our hunting speed had been slow either. No, thanks to the fact that the intelligence stat not only increased the amount of demonic energy I could store in my but also increased the firepower of my magic, I had more or less obliterated any poor monster that came within our sights.

Now, some might say that I was becoming a glass cannon, and that was true. However, when thinking of the fact that the only way for me to increase the numbers of my army was to either...

1. Go to war and conquer

or

2. Summon them using demonic energy

… I was pretty sure that this was the way to go, even if it meant that my physical body was, quite frankly, incredibly weak and frail.

At some point, I would probably have to spend more of the free stats to increase my strength or stamina, but for now, this was no doubt the right option. Even more so when thinking about the fact that I could actually fight monsters without actually fighting.

For all intents and purposes, this was the most optimal way for me to progress right now. Probably. Maybe.

'Surely...'

What was a bit less optimal was the fact that even though I had used all the remaining times of the day experimenting with magic, I had so far only managed to create one skill, one measly spell of the light attribute.

[Glow], a light magic spell that allowed me to create a small orb of golden light that illuminated its surroundings.

And it did absolutely nothing for me, seeing as I could already see perfectly in the dark due to me being a demon.

The worst part was the fact that I had in reality tried to construct a beam of light that would disintegrate any enemy before me. So, when the product had been a small orb that I believed would do nothing except say 'Listen!', I truly wasn't too happy about it.