Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 137: Finishing off Monarchs
Up to 18 chapters ahead at [email protected]/theogbasilisk
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- Felix -
I whistled lightly as I stepped over the fallen form of Yogumunt. As I stepped over him, he quickly reached a feeble hand out, a magic circle forming on the palm of his hand.
I didn't even bother acknowledging his attack, as the miniature black hole he attempted to shoot at me warped into him.
"Gah!" He cried out as his body was partially disintegrated by the black hole.
Of course he was still a Monarch, that wasn't enough to take him out, but it was enough to take him out of the fight when added with the wounds I had already dealt them. Even with this nerfed down vessel, in the end my sheer breadth of knowledge couldn't just be erased from my mind.
Something to consider if I wanted to try this again and be more successful.
After killing Sillad, the other two remaining Monarchs began to use every trick they had. Their vessels were on the verge of breaking down as they used all the power they could once they realized there was a serious chance I'd win against them, and that was with the powerful runes Yogumunt had enchanted onto their bodies to strengthen their vessels.
I didn't use any Skills against them, but my Fighting Spirit was still extremely powerful, and the Anti-Skill weapon was powerful as well.
At that point I had already gotten bored of them. I thought that by nerfing my EP I'd be able to test a few things out a bit easier and perhaps get some enjoyment out of the fights, but unfortunately that was wrong since my technique was just superior to the Monarchs.
I did get to try a few techniques I had in mind on them, but not all of them since some would probably just one shot them.
That only went to show me that I really shouldn't ever slack off and think that my raw power was enough to have no finesse with it. These guys were an example of what could happen if I got too comfortable.
Yogumunt was the only one with even some technique, and even his was mediocre for the most part. Mediocre for his age and experience at least, perhaps only a bit better than Gadra's, which was probably still among the best around, but when you are eons old, I feel like I could have more expectations of you.
I continued to slowly make my way to Rakan. His once white fur was dyed red in his own blood now. One of his eyes had a cut going through it, making him half-blind due to the Aura I injected preventing his healing.
"You really should thank me; you look way cooler with the scar across your eye." I said jokingly as I raised the Anti-Skill longsword I was using over my shoulder. I could see why Guts did that, it did feel badass.
Rakan snarled, baring his fangs as he staggered upright.
I don't think he liked my gift to him, though seeing as he wouldn't get to enjoy it for much longer, I suppose that's fair.
Despite the pain, despite the tremors wracking his massive frame, he rose again.
"You dare mock me… you insignificant insect!" He roared, blood sputtering from his mouth as his Aura flared one last time.
I tilted my head slightly, unimpressed. "Really, calling me an insect is the best you could do? Have you seen yourself? You're literally a dog." I said with a laugh.
I think Rakan was a bit upset at my cultivation-style palm strike that I used on him earlier. He did say the cliche "you dare" so I had to do the palm strike; it was basically a rule.
Rakan lunged forward, his muscles exploding with power that tore the ground beneath his feet. His hand was wrapped in enough Aura to flatten a city with ease.
I let him get close.
Once his claws were just in front of my face, so close that if I moved even slightly forward his claws would be at my face, I flicked a single finger forward.
The resulting shockwave cracked the air between us. Rakan faltered, but that weak flick wasn't going to send enough air pressure to send him flying.
His eyes, bloodshot and filled with fury locked with mine. "I am Rakan, Monarch of Fangs! I will not fall to you!"
"Yeah, yeah." I vanished with Instant Motion, appearing beside him with my arm wrapped around his shoulder as if we were old buddies, though with two fingers on his furry neck. Rakan froze stiff, knowing I could end his life at any moment now.
Instant Motion really was too overpowered. Who cared that going light speed was impossible due to the laws of physics when I could think faster than light speed, and with a thought teleport myself around.
I didn't let him say a thing, a needle-thin burst of Divinity pierced straight through the base of his skull.
The Divinity I injected into his body quickly began to rampage through it. He was far too worn out and weakened to even make the minimum effort to protect himself.
I stepped away as Rakan fell to his knees, his Aura blazing around him in some final attempt to survive.
I watched as he attempted to move his mouth, to speak. I could tell he was driven by pride rather than anything else. He wasn't going to beg for his life.
But I didn't care for his futile effort. With a single slice, I cut his claws and fangs off and sucked them into my Infinity Space for future use. He grunted in pain but didn't let any more sounds out.
"Honestly." I sighed. "I should've brought a leash." I said frantically, mostly just to tick Rakan off for shits and giggles.
The guy really didn't like how casually I was taking him and my insults.
With that, I pointed my index and middle fingers like a gun and fired a final, focused beam of Divinity straight into his soul.
The light pierced through his chest, the resulting explosion of his essence unraveling would have been cataclysmic if I didn't suck all of his energy and existence up with Beelzebuth.
I didn't want to use any Skills in combat due to that making it too easy, but this was fair game.
I felt my soul nourish itself on his lingering essence, it wasn't much but it was something.
I turned around and made my way to Yogumunt, the final remaining Monarch. He was leaning against one of the frozen walls, with part of his torso destroyed by his own attack earlier.
He had tried to use a Gate to teleport away while I was with Rakan, but I stopped that. Now he seemed to have just given up.
"And so one remains." I said dramatically.
"You've been incredibly dramatic today, Master." Othinus said with some amusement.
'But of course! I need to put on a show for the people!'
Some would call it chunni, but they just couldn't pull it off like I could!
By the end of the day, I would have more depraved fangirls than Satoru did. Though obviously that wasn't something I cared much about; merely a side effect.
Yogumunt nodded. "And so one remains." Seemingly at peace with the outcome. He was definitely the one that was the hardest to read among the three.
I tilted my head. "Do the other Monarchs not feel when one of you dies?"
I could tell that he was willing to answer my question as he had questions of his own. I wondered if they felt Sillad and Rakan's deaths and just didn't care, or if they couldn't feel the death of another Monarch.
I was originally expecting to get jumped after originally killing Sillad, and was somewhat prepared for it, but nothing of the sort happened.
Yogumunt shook his head. "No, they would only realize if they visited the World Tree."
That made sense, the closest comparison I had to the Monarchs were the Primordial Daemons, and they didn't feel when another died either. In fact, they would probably make fun of each other. Though the only Primordials who had actually died before were Rain and Misery. Diablo too technically, but he just instantly respawned anyway.
His fighting style practically took advantage of his ability to die and instantly respawn.
"Hn, that's good to know then. Now since you answered my question I'll answer yours before sending you off. Go ahead and ask me." I could tell he had something he wanted to know.
Yogumunt slowly raised his head to look me in the eyes. "Are you… from the Cardinal World?"
I raised a brow. "Hoh? I'm surprised you know about that place."
Yogumunt closed his eyes. "I understand now why you were capable of what you did then. I am at peace, do what you wish."
- Yogumunt -
As he felt his upcoming demise he felt nothing; no sense of anger nor peace. He had just accepted it. Even the pain that racked his form was distant now. He would have laughed if what happened to him happened to someone else.
Getting his own spell inverted onto him? Truly an amateur move.
He knew about the Cardinal World thanks to an old journal of the Absolute Being's. He'd spent ages attempting to decrypt the journal that had fallen into his lap, and he still hadn't understood everything completely, even now.
That world was a monstrous one, with beings that could rival and far surpass the Absolute Being in power. It was no wonder they lost to the Demon that originated from there. He was likely a significant figure of some sort.
Seeing as the Demon was from outside their universe, and monstrously powerful, the Cardinal World was the only place he could think of that could be the birthplace of this Demon.
Perhaps there were other similar worlds out there as well, but he would not be getting to explore them. He could only hope his successor could accomplish that wish for him, if he ever got a successor.
Now he looked into the shining blue eyes of the Demon that would end him. He knew the inevitable was coming, he had lost and so he was at the whims of the winner, that was always how it worked. It was just that this time he was on the other end of the situation.
- Felix -
I thought about asking him a bit more, but I would learn everything I wanted to from the Rulers anyway. I just did them a huge favor after all, killing three Monarchs is bound to help them quite a bit. It's only right to expect payment, right?
I had no real need for Yogumunt then. I could probably recruit him if I wanted to, but he wouldn't be of much use to me. His magic skills were good, incredibly good, but I had others that were better.
He could learn of course, but I saw no reason to give him that opportunity.
I stepped forward, my expression unreadable as I looked down at the weakened Monarch.
In an instant a thin strand of my Divinity was spinning in my fingers.
Yogumunt didn't flinch, he didn't beg, as the thread pierced between his brows and into his core.
Then, with a flick of my fingers, I absorbed the residual essence into Beelzebuth. His power wouldn't refine me much, but it was something.
At this point I had pretty much reached my upper limits when it came to strength; not technique, or Skills, but just raw power. Each individual had their set upper limits, which could be further increased by evolving, Awakening, Harvest Festivals, and other similar things.
I had gone through all of those, and then on top of that, my potential was expanded by the three Dragon Factors I incorporated, but that didn't mean I had no limits. Though my upper limits were always very slightly growing as well due to the shenanigans Othinus was conducting with my soul through Brahma, Lord of Creation.
With every little bit my soul grew stronger, so would my potential.
"That was great Milord!" I heard Megumin chime in through our soul connection. "Those guys were pretty strong. I wasn't expecting that from some other random world."
'They had the potential to be strong, but they wasted most of their potential.'
Megumin had less EP than them and she'd blow them out of the water in a fight. Though maybe that wasn't a fair comparison since she had an Ultimate Skill, but even as a Daemon Duke she'd be able to take on 1-2 of them in a fight, simply due to her fighting style.
Though I couldn't be too hard on the Monarchs. I knew many who were the same. Veldora wasted his potential for a long time, as did Arcueid, Megumin, and Lalatina. Those three were caught up in their game and stopped seeking greater power for a long time, and only resumed their search for more power once they were incarnated.
Sukuna was silent but he seemed to be in awe. He may have been different from the original King of Curses, but he was still the King of Curses; the ambition to become the strongest was still within him.
"Mmm~, that is the outcome they deserve for how they acted towards you, Master!" Lalatina chimed in. "Will there be more fun people like that to fight?"
'There will be.'
I planned to let Lalatina and Megumin have some fun with the Monarchs of their choice, though I planned to suggest Lalatina to take on the Monarch of Plagues seeing as they both made use of poison; it was only right.
Though that was assuming the Monarch of Plagues even existed. But seeing as Sillad, Rakan, and Yogumunt seemed fine, then I was leaning towards believing the other Monarchs were also the same.
I wasn't sure who to have Sukuna fight, but I'm sure he could hurt one of the Monarchs with a lot of effort. They were far above him, even if the other Monarchs similarly lacked in technique, the raw power difference was so great that it wouldn't matter, but maybe Sukuna could manage to take an arm or two.
With the fight over with, it was only now that I noticed just how much the four of us had brutalized the island.
"Sorry about the island." I said to the camera that had streamed the entire fight to the world. I'm sure plenty of people are having metaphorical seizures due to all the revelations and whatnot. "I'll fix it up for you."
With that I shot up into the sky. Looking down, the island really did look like it had been through an apocalypse compared to how the island looked before our fight at least.
Entire sections of the coast had sunk into the sea with the entire island frosted over making it impossible for even S Rank Hunters to walk through the island, as Sillad's lingering Aura would freeze them all in an instant, down to the soul.
The mana concentration here was also extremely high. While the Humans of this world seemed to have adapted to mana to a certain extent, they would likely still suffer some sort of mana corruption if they stayed here for too long.
I took a deep breath as I let my senses encompass the entire island. Every fault line, every frozen plant and insect, every leyline; I felt them all.
I used Brahma, Lord of Creation to quickly reconstruct the island.
A burst of light shot off of me to encompass the island. Once the light faded the island was good as new. In fact, it was probably better than it was when I got here since the Ants weren't particularly careful with the island.
Now it was theoretically possible for people to begin living here again. Repairing something like this wouldn't have been anywhere as easy in the Cardinal World due to the drastically different strength of the material and the surface's connection to the planet, but thankfully I didn't have to worry about that here.
Now before I left, I wanted to mess with the corpse of Beru I got for a few moments. I was going to give the body to Jin-Woo; it would be tragic if Beru wasn't born due to my interference. He was such a fun character.
He wouldn't be a fictional character anymore of course, but my preconceived notions about him still gave me a positive impression of him, and I was curious about what would happen if I messed with his lingering Astral Body a bit.
He already had a pretty powerful ability that let him gain the abilities and memories of what he ate. It was different from Rimuru's Gluttony, though. The closest I could compare it to would actually be Vega's Unique Skill: Scavenger.
- Sung Jin-Woo -
The entire room was silent as they watched Felix repair the entire island with ease.
"He has to be a god…" Lim Tae-Gyu said with awe, and he would have had a hard time refuting him after everything that they saw through the broadcast.
They had watched the entire fight. At the beginning, the fight looked extremely dangerous, but not insurmountable other than the sheer power gap between them. But as the fight went on, Jin-Woo realized just how wrong that notion was.
Once both sides had gotten serious, he was barely able to track any of the movements occurring. In fact, he mostly just had to rely on watching the blurs and sparks of energy that would appear here and there, and he was an agility build; his speed and perception was likely among the best in the world, or at least that's what he used to believe.
He was at level 100, a milestone he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to reach, and yet at the speeds those beings were moving at, he probably couldn't even react before he died if any of them wished harm upon him.
He clenched his fists. He hated being so weak. He never thought that was something he would think as an S-Rank, someone who was supposedly at the peak of the world, and yet here he was.
Those Monarchs and Felix were casually throwing out attacks and dealing with attacks he couldn't even imagine handling. That ice meteor alone would devastate the entire country, and yet it was handled as if nothing.
"Hrm, this is rather concerning." An ethereal voice echoed out.
He turned to look at Go Gunhee, or at least the being wearing Go Gunhee's face. When the Ruler had gotten here, he had easily explained himself and how he was not hostile to them.
He knew a bit about the Rulers thanks to the broadcasts, but seeing one in person was still something different. Unlike the Monarchs, the Rulers seemed to be more cooperative with their hosts, generally only taking over with permission, which Go Gunhee gave.
They had requested to speak to the Chairman of course to confirm this. Perhaps it was stupid to ask such a thing of a being vastly stronger than him, but he spoke before he could think things through. The Chairman had done a lot for him, he didn't want to see him harmed.
The energy the Ruler in front of them radiated was far more relieving as well, whereas the moment those Monarch's appeared, all he could feel was a cold dread.
The Rulers had been made aware of what was occurring soon after the fight seemingly began. One of their other vessels had found out and informed them, and they could feel the clash on Earth as well, so one of them opted to visit Earth through one of their vessels to get a better understanding.
From what he understood, the Rulers were mostly hands off until now, opting to allow their hosts to live their lives with minimal interference, though apparently there was one exception.
Most of the time they wouldn't even be looking through their vessel's eyes. They resided in a separate dimension as well.
He thought back to when the Ruler had first arrived. The Ruler had called him "Shadow Monarch" which had caused a chill to run through his spine. Thankfully the Ruler soon explained itself, saying it was nothing he needed to worry about at that point, but what the Ruler said stuck with him.
The Ruler had called him a Monarch, or at least that's what Jin-Woo was assuming. He was called by the same title as one of the people trying to destroy Earth, and he didn't know how to feel about that.
Clearly the Ruler knew something about his power that he didn't, but when asked, the Ruler refused to answer, instead just cryptically saying he'd understand when the time was right.
He refused to believe he was one of those monsters who had taken countless lives, but something about the name Shadow Monarch just felt right to him.
"What do you mean, Chair– I mean sir?" Min Byung-Gyu quickly corrected himself.
"It is nothing for you to worry about child, I merely hope that this Demon is here with good intentions. You said he wished to vacation here, as the Humans call it?"
Min Byung-Gyu nodded.
"Perhaps he will be amenable to a deal then." The Ruler said. "He had revived you as well which shows good character."
It was odd hearing how reviving the dead was nothing but a footnote to these people.
He was surprised the Ruler didn't immediately try to initiate conflict with Felix, if only due to his race. From what Esil told him, the majority of Demons were horrible and just how they were described in myth, so he would have thought a higher being like the Rulers would have acted differently.
The image that he got of the Rulers from the broadcast was that of the "holier than thou" types who would justify anything, but this one didn't seem too bad. Though the Monarchs were the ones describing the Rulers, so of course they would have a biased point of view.
He was still angry of course; his father indirectly died due to them, but he could see the practicality of what they had done. If they hadn't created the Gates then Earth would be in an even more dire situation. It wasn't like they were purposefully targeting his father.
His father went out and chose to be a hero, to save lives.
He still needed to process it a bit more later.
"A deal?" Baek Yoonho asked. He was still rather out of it; everything they had learned today had altered their perception of reality.
The Ruler nodded. "A deal, yes. The others are amenable to an agreement with the Demon so long as he does not sow unneeded chaos. He has already taken out three of our ancient foes, and for that he will have our eternal gratitude, if he is amenable to assisting us, then perhaps we may win this time around." The Ruler explained.
He wasn't quite sure why the Ruler was being so accommodating, explaining everything to all of them and being rather respectful. Perhaps it was the Chairman's influence bleeding through?
"This time around? Ah you guys must have had battles before." Lim Tae-Gyu said with a nod.
The Ruler expressed no emotion, merely nodding.
The Ruler had been rather accommodating to them so far, so Jin-Woo was hesitantly hopeful about them, but he couldn't lie and say he wasn't still worried about them. It was hard not to be when beings that could completely overwrite how society worked on a whim existed. He trusted the Chairman's judgment, but it was just in his nature to be cautious.
That was why he wanted to get stronger, so he could be prepared for the worst case scenario. His quest popped into his mind, he felt like he had to go if he wanted any chance of being strong enough to help turn the tides of the seemingly inevitable war that would take place on Earth.
He knew the quest would be dangerous. It was clearly initiated by whoever was truly behind his System, and he could make some guesses with the context clues that the Ruler gave off.
He could only hope that he was making the right decision.
His mother and Jinha were safe. He had his Shadows take them to Yoo Jinho's home when the Ruler initially showed up.
"Uhm, sir, will the Chairman be alright?" Min Byung-Gyu asked, which was a valid question. On the broadcast they watched the Monarchs' bodies fall apart as time went on.
The Ruler nodded. "Go Gunhee will be fine. So long as I do not exert too much power in this form, his body will be able to handle my presence."
All of them nodded. That was one of his worries as well. The Chairman had been good to him, he didn't want to see the man suffer after all that he had been through.
- Ashborn (Shadow Monarch) -
That damn Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light, once he sensed one of his old… friends arrival, he had quickly worked to hide Kandiaru's perception of the world through the System, which was rather easy as the man was quite willing to let him handle things.
Kandiaru didn't want to mess with a Ruler, which aligned well with Ashborn's own goals as he didn't want Kandiaru finding out too much by mistake.
Kandiaru may have created the System, but Ashborn had a higher authority over it than Kandiaru as that was a condition of their agreement. He wouldn't give such power to a sleazy individual like Kandiaru no matter what.
The moment he met the eyes of the Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light through Jin-Woo, he had an instantaneous conversation with him. He unfortunately had to in order to make sure his successor was kept protected.
The Rulers seemed to feel guilty about his situation in the past, and were hesitant to harm him, but he couldn't rely on that solely to keep his successor safe from them. Jin-Woo was still far too weak to even dream about touching a Ruler, let alone fighting one, even when they were barely incarnated.
He couldn't just immediately vanish as he did with the Monarchs. They hadn't been paying attention to him, but even then, he was sure they were able to learn about his return. His Shadow Exchange was a rather clear giveaway.
Unfortunately for them, they had all died before they could inform the others, which worked out rather well for him. And that wasn't something he thought he'd say for a long time.
The Demon was stronger than he initially believed. Being able to take on three Monarchs at once was no easy feat. He was perhaps on his own level, and he was blessed with extra power from the Absolute Being which allowed him to rise above the rest of his kin.
The Absolute Being planted a seed of his own power in him that bloomed when the Rulers all teamed up against him and killed him so that they could get to the Absolute Being. That process is what turned him into the Shadow Monarch, the King of the Dead.
He was not sure how to feel about another player entering their game, one clearly from a foreign dimension if Yogumunt's words were to be believed, which they were. The man was the foremost expert in sorcery and specialized in Spatial Magic. He wouldn't mistake such a thing.
It was the only logical explanation that made sense. If Felix was created by the Absolute Being, which he would have to have been to have that much power, then they would have all likely known about him.
The Absolute Being would want Felix to take part in his game, after all.
Perhaps this timeline would be different from the rest. He felt his successor was enough to turn the tides. He fought in a different way than he did and would make use of his power differently, which would be a boon.
In all the previous timelines, the Rulers always lost. It wasn't only because they lacked raw power, but it was because they allowed certain things to hold them back. They would sacrifice themselves to protect the Humans, they would not fully incarnate themselves unless they were forced to as that would kill their host's egos, etc.
Now there was the Demon. If the Rulers managed to get him to side with them, then he believed they would win in the end.
Antares was the biggest threat to the Rulers. In the past, he was the only one who could deal with Antares. In the other timelines he never participated, leaving Antares to run free. But with Jin-Woo, Antares could be felled, but that might not even be needed now.
The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light seemed understanding of his desire to finally pass on, and approved of his choice for who his successor would be. It seems the Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light's host body had some rather fond memories of his successor which The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light drew upon to form an opinion.
He could tell the old friendship he held with the Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light had long since changed on both of their ends. The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light felt guilt for what had happened, and he couldn't bring himself to look at them the same anymore.
Despite knowing what the Absolute Being was, and what he was doing, he loved his creator, and he could never consider the ones that killed his creator as friends. That was the kind of warped individual Ashborn was, happy to be a toy to a greater being.
They had spared him in the past when he met all the Rulers, battered and broken, asking for death. Thanks to that, he at least got to find a worthy successor, but he would not thank them for that.
Now with the Absolute Being dead, and no purpose, he only wanted the conflict to end. To allow the universe the Absolute Being created to finally thrive on its own, without the threat of constant destruction from the Monarchs looming over it.
- Felix -
I smiled in satisfaction as I sucked Beru's body back into Infinity Space. I'd give him to Jin-Woo to Arise later. I could do so myself since I had the data on the ability, but I really had no need for Beru.
Plus shadows weren't really my thing.
The way that Arise worked was by manipulating the Spiritual Body and Astral Body of those that were to be resurrected.
Using the power over death the Shadow Monarch had, Jin-Woo would basically separate the Spiritual Body and everything it contained from the material body, making all of his shadows, by technicality, Spiritual Lifeforms as they were made of pure energy at that point.
This ability also passively rewrote the resurrected Shadow to be loyal to the Shadow Monarch who revived them. It did this through a minor level of Information Particle manipulation. It would rewrite the Infons in the soul to make the Shadow more loyal.
From what I understood, Ashborn didn't even know how it was being done. All he likely knew was that the soul of his Shadows had been rewritten, but not the exact mechanics behind it.
My guess is that the Absolute Being gave him this Authority with the Information Particle aspect already inherent to the ability. That also meant the Absolute Being was likely rather proficient in manipulating Information Particles, but that was to be expected if he really did create this universe.
The 'Arise' needed the body as a medium, however, as the 'Arise' ability worked by basically reaching into the realm of the dead of this universe and pulling their Spiritual Bodies to the living plane.
Not to mention it used the body as an imprint of sorts so the Shadows knew who and what they were supposed to be.
What I did with Beru was manipulate his Infons. I changed his body's physiology a bit, making it more durable, giving it inbuilt magic resistance, and some other stuff.
For his soul, I imprinted the Infons for a few Skills, mostly out of curiosity to see if Jin-Woo's Arise would allow Beru to retain those abilities. I was mostly testing for the 'Arise' I planned to give Arcueid since I thought the ability suited her.
I wanted hers to retain as much power as possible from the Shadows she revives, and I wanted to see if modifying the soul before being Arise'd would cause any changes to the Shadow later on.
The biggest gift I gave to Beru was encoding the Infons for Vega's Unique Skill: Scavenger in him, though to a lesser degree. This should buff his ability to gain the properties of the things he eats dramatically.
In return for being my test subject, Jin-Woo would be getting a new and improved Beru.
Now with that all done with, I looked to the camera. "I'll be visiting you soon, Jin-Woo." I said, giving him a heads up before I destroyed the camera with a press of gravity.
I wanted to give him Beru, after all. After that, I wasn't going to bother with him much anymore unless circumstances aligned that way.
I already analyzed his System, and had the data for pretty much all the Shadow Monarch's abilities. Everything of interest he had I already had data on, so he was of little interest to me now.
I already had the coordinates for the location that Jin-Woo teleported himself and everyone else to, though he probably wasn't there anymore if he was smart.
The oceans around Jeju Island were already clear thanks to my efforts before making my entrance. I didn't want to accidentally sink a few ships on accident, so I took control over the surrounding ocean and forcibly guided them away.
Then I took care of the fleeing Chimera Ants around the area since I remembered in the manhwa they would flee to the actual main land of Korea and had to be taken care of by Beru.
I wasn't sure if circumstances would go the same, with the Ants and with Beru, so I just opted to play it safe and take most of the Ants out myself. It was only a minor inconvenience, after all, and I probably saved quite a few lives so I wasn't bothered.
Now I wanted to go meet a Ruler and demand my payment for doing their job for them! I didn't know what I wanted, but I'm sure they had some goodies, they had that cup that pretty much reset the timeline after all, something that I wanted so I can get more data on that particular phenomena. My paranoid mind was still worried about something like that happening in the Cardinal World and me being helpless against it.
Chloe's Skill gave me plenty of data, but nothing concrete to truly come up with a way to resist it.
The only Ruler I knew the location of for certain was the Chairman of Korea's Hunter Association, so that aligned with my goals.
I took a step forward in the air, Space warping around me. I looked around. I was in a secluded alley of sorts so that was convenient, but what really stuck out to me was the massive Aura I could sense right away.
It wasn't as big as any of the Monarch's, but it was up there. It was also incredibly Holy, which led me to believe that it was a Ruler who had incarnated in their vessel; the Chairman, most likely.
The Rulers likely figured out what was going on, so they descended to get a better understanding of the situation. Now it seemed like he was signaling me to meet him, otherwise there was no reason for him to flare his Aura like he was.
- Liu Zhigang -
He sighed as he stared off into the sunset. He thought he'd finally get to let loose a bit with the raid on Jeju Island. He doubted the Korean and Japanese Hunters would be able to contain all the Chimera Ants.
They had satellites on the island, and there were a lot of Chimera Ants. Seeing as China was the closest mainland continent, he expected some of the Ants to come this way.
It had been so long since he'd actually been able to fight anything. Even the Gates that appeared in China were completed by others, as if he kept one shotting everything in his path, the other Hunters wouldn't have a chance to gain experience. Weakening his motherland wasn't something he would tolerate, even for his own enjoyment.
So of course he was excited to finally have a chance to fight something, even if he was expecting himself to one shot everything in his path.
Unfortunately that guy, Felix was apparently his name, ruined all his plans for fun.
Felix was an odd name, but he had dealt with people from all around the world, each with their own quirks. If he could handle Thomas Andre's personality, he was sure he could handle this Felix's.
Through satellites they were able to see that the moment Felix showed up, he appeared above Jeju Island leaving a sonic shockwave behind him that shook the island and generated massive waves that had to be blocked by Hunters on the surrounding ships.
The satellites weren't able to track where exactly he came from as he was moving far too fast, but people were working on backtracking the location Felix came from, something he was sure many other countries were also doing.
The moment he appeared above Jeju Island, all the nearby ships were redirected elsewhere, not through any mechanical means, but by the ocean itself.
The current suddenly gained incredible ferocity, forcefully moving the massive tankers away from the radius of Jeju Island. The amount of force needed would be rather extraordinary, and yet it happened anyway somehow. That was ignoring the massive waves that were generated from the sonic explosions Felix left behind.
This likely caused quite a lot of panic at first, but now he was sure the people on board were thanking whatever did that.
They were also able to see Felix easily wipe out most of the Chimera Ants that were surrounding the island with an attack similar to his own energy slashes, though it seemed invisible which was a rather fearsome ability.
One would need to rely on instincts alone to avoid that kind of attack.
"Sir! The President is requesting your presence!" A man ran up to him and said nervously.
He turned around to face the man, his ponytail waving dramatically in the wind as he did so.
"Hn, tell him I will be there soon."
He could afford to brush the President off, but there was a real crisis on their hands now. If the broadcast was to be believed, and Liu Zhigang believed that it was, then the world was in grave danger.
The level of power those beings were throwing around was worrisome. He couldn't get a good reading on it from the broadcast, but it was likely at least on his own level, maybe higher, and he was among the strongest, a bonafide National Hunter.
He let a small, excited smile grow on his face. He was sure he'd be getting a good fight soon enough, at least.
The President was likely seeking some sort of reassurance with the troubled state of the world.
He wouldn't bother thinking about those three so-called Monarchs that Felix slew, but from Felix's own abilities that he showcased, Felix was a threat. Or at least if he proved to be hostile, that is. If he was as friendly to Humans as he seemed to be in the broadcast, then perhaps Liu Zhigang had found a new sparring partner.
Felix's swordsmanship was incredible from what he had managed to glimpse. Felix wielded a massive greatsword that would ordinarily be rather difficult to swing around as Felix did unless one was a strength-build as well. He personally preferred his dual blades as it allowed him to make rapid swings.
He was also assuming that the sudden redirection of all the surrounding ships was also Felix, or perhaps a companion that they had yet to see. There was no other explanation how that could happen, which meant he or someone around him also had some sort of control over the seas.
Then there's his weapon. It had cut through quite a few attacks that he himself would have to avoid, and that was without any visible Aura surrounding the weapon, which made him think the weapon had potential anti-magic properties. That made it an extremely valuable piece of equipment.
Then there was his speed. Even as a National Rank Hunter, he had trouble following Felix's pace of movement.
Felix, at the very least, was above any National Rank Hunter-level individuals he knew of, that was for certain. Even if he used some method to temporarily gain that strength, until they knew more information, the safest assumption would be to overestimate rather than underestimate.
He wondered what Thomas was doing now. Knowing that man, he was also probably excited. Thomas also enjoyed a good fight, though not as much as Zhigang did.
They had kept in contact over the years, even meeting in person at events here and there. Both of their lives had changed due to the Kamish raid. They were all practically kings on earth as National Hunters, and they had all enjoyed the privileges that came with that.
But it was for that very reason that they all owed it to the world to help fight off these foreign invaders.
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Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. In this chapter Felix finished off the remaining Monarchs who tried to jump him, successfully accomplishing the 'reverse jumping'.
I pretty much skipped over how Yogumunt knew about the Cardinal World and Felix questioning him since Felix really isn't going to care, he was already going to ask the Rulers later and he had no breath to spare for Yogumunt, and I wasn't going to add an unneeded conversation just to increase word count.
Jin-Woo and the others learn about the things going on in the background sooner than they did in canon.
Liu Zhigang got left hanging, so sucks for him I guess. I'd also like to remind you guys to take his thoughts with a grain of salt, he guessed Felix and the Monarchs were only as strong as a National Hunter since he wasn't there in person, he could only go off the feats they showed. If they wanted to, anyone that was on Jeju Island at that point could have easily created a continent buster attack, it would just be a waste since the power wouldn't be as focused.
I wanted to give some more perspective to some of the side characters, especially since this is the start of a new world, need to understand motives and whatnot.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Last bit of editing -Omnax
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