"Hng…." Groaning softly, Madison sat up and was greeted by the dark skies of the demon realm.
Rubbing her eyes, she glanced around and saw that the beast had disappeared and sighed in relief.
"Don't get too happy yet, you ripped it in half but it wasn't killed. If you pa.s.sed out like that without me being around you would be nothing but a puddle of blood right now." Makron said as he was currently roasting some food for her.
"Ehh…. So I didn't kill it in the end. I thought I did." Madison pouted before realising something important.
Quickly looking down at her arm, she sighed in relief after seeing that it was still her normal shade of colour. It wasn't her preference to go around looking like a molten demon after all.
Checking her system interface, she read the description of her new pa.s.sive skill.
[Ancient Demon Physique]
Once you reach 10% health, you gain the following benefits.
+200% Damage resistance
Stats are tripled for 30 seconds
+200% Damage Adaptation
Stat Siphon +30%
+50% True Damage Nullification
Pausing at the skill's stats, she glanced towards her great great ancestor.
"So care to tell me what the Ancient Demon Physique is?" Madison asked as Makron glanced back.
"It's a physique that all powerful demons have. When you get stronger, it'll evolve into Primordial Demon Physique, then Primordial Demon Empress Physique and finally, Demon G.o.ddess Physique. But that's only if you reach the same stage as me." Makron chuckled.
"Does that mean you have the Demon G.o.d Physique?"
"Yes I do. Since you became the Demon Queen and I am your backer so to say, I received some extra benefits that allowed me to push back the other Demon G.o.ds." Makron replied as Madison nodded.
"Since you have it as well, can you explain what Stat Siphon is?"
"Well it's pretty self explanatory. You steal 30% of your enemy's stats. The stronger they are, the more powerful this becomes. Of course, if they're too strong, this might backfire and it'll flood your body with too much power." Makron shrugged as Madison felt the urge to smack the old man.
"Why is everything to do with Demons so dangerous?"
"When are things not dangerous? Now stop complaining and rest up. This is almost finished."
"Fine. Hm… it smells quite nice. When did you grow a heart old man? Didn't think you'd actually cook something that's good." Madison raised an eyebrow.
"This? You have weird preferences if poisonous fumes smell nice."
Hearing this, Madison froze up in shock as she could feel her body become paralysed.
"We'll be training your physique and force it to evolve to the next stage. Once these don't affect you anymore, we can proceed to the next stage." Makron grinned as he fed her some of the meat. Feeling pain in her mouth, Madison glared at Makron in anger as he only laughed before eating some meat as well.
"Once this doesn't affect you, it tastes quite nice actually. Think of it as spicy food." He grinned.
"Go f*ck yourself." Madison squeezed out between gritted teeth as she could feel the poison coursing through her body.
Closing her eyes, she thought about everyone else in the city.
She wanted to return to the city soon, greet everyone with a happy face and see s.h.i.+ro back on her feet, pus.h.i.+ng towards a better future for everyone.
She wanted everyone to be together again.
###
"Mn? Is there something wrong?" Asher asked as Lyrica had suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Not really. I just felt a surge of mana quite far away." Lyrica shook her head with a smile.
"Your senses are too crazy. Even I can't do that much." A young girl with crystalline silver hair and a pair of purple eyes sighed as she walked over with the head of a monster in her hands.
"Well Lyrica is abnormal. After all, her range of detection can extend past a country." Asher laughed as the young girl shrugged before packing the head of the monster into her bag.
"Hais, give it here. I'll store it away so that you can use it later. If you keep it in your bag it'll rot Nitha." Asher sighed as Nitha stuck out her tongue and handed him the head.
"I know that we are quite powerful for this place but please! Focus since we are still surrounded on all sides!" Cadmi shouted out as she struggled to push off a monster with her staff.
"Hehe, do you want help? Should I help?" Nitha grinned as she giggled at her dilemma.
"That would be great Nitha! I'll even cook that head later if you want!" Cadmi shouted back as Nitha pouted.
"No. I want Asher to cook."
"FINE! Just help me!"
"Stop playing around Nitha, let's go help her out then take care of the boss." Asher sighed and tapped her on the head.
Shrugging her shoulders, Nitha jumped up into the air and narrowed her eyes at the monsters surrounding them.
Mana flared from her body as illusionary tentacles and scythes appeared behind her.
Twisting her body, a cyclone of blades shot out, shredding the monsters to pieces. Retracting the tentacles back into her body, Nitha landed with a proud smile.
"You could have helped out earlier but thank you." Cadmi sighed in relief.
Reaching into her inventory, she threw a roasted monster leg towards Nitha who jumped up and s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of the air.
"Payment has been received, thank you for your patronage." Nitha grinned as she chewed on the food.
Chuckling softly, Lyrica patted her head.
"You remind me quite a bit of Yin. Both of you are food lovers." Lyrica smiled as Nitha nodded.
"Well Yin gave me some human food back in that city along with some tips on transforming. She's my senior so I should use her as an example." Nitha said as Lyrica's smile faltered.
"Please don't. I think s.h.i.+ro has enough trouble with one Yin. If you become a second Yin and go back to the city, s.h.i.+ro might die of stress."
"Speaking of stress, let's finish clearing this place and go back. I'm pretty exhausted after everything we've gone through." Gordon said as flicked the blood off of his sword.
Hearing this, Lyrica nodded as she walked towards where the biggest source of mana was.
Flexing her finger, an array of blades appeared around her as each sword felt like it could cleave the world in half.
However, she still wasn't satisfied. This amount of power wasn't enough to avenge her parents.
'I need more strength.' She thought to herself as her gaze was cold.
###
While she was resting, s.h.i.+ro felt a cl.u.s.ter of mana signatures appear near the outskirts of Vrish' Lir before disappearing.
In that brief moment, she was able to tell that three of the signatures within the cl.u.s.ter were close to her level which was not a good sign.
Waving her hand, she brought up a screen and scanned the area where she had sensed the mana.
Thanks to Argus' Blessing, it was now easier for her to find the things that she wants. With a simple scan of the satellites, she was able to see the multi headed leviathan travelling with a small group of monsters.
Right after they appeared, they camouflaged with their surroundings and disappeared.
Noticing that they're approaching one of her zones, s.h.i.+ro narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"Nan Tian, we're leaving to greet some guests." s.h.i.+ro said as Nan Tian paused in surprise.
"I suppose a ma.s.sacre is in order then."
"Indeed. Though I will give them a chance to join me. There are a few with auras similar to mine so if I can get them to my side, it'll be a great help. But if they refuse, then let's just say Yin's got some premium ingredients coming her way." s.h.i.+ro smirked as Nan Tian nodded her head.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go give them the welcome they deserve. Though you might want to do it a little further away from the zone. You might damage it with the fight after all."
"True."
Standing up from her chair, s.h.i.+ro thought about it for a moment and decided to go with a big entrance. They want them to know that they're no easy prey after all.
Waving her hand, a portal formed as she stepped through with black armour materialising around her dress.
###
*BOOM!!!!
Hearing the sound of lightning, Revel glanced up and saw a portal break open with flickers of electricity striking the ground and leaving deep craters.
Feeling the mana and killing intent in the air, he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
'To think a Quee- No, Empress would make me feel like this… it is certainly a surprise.' He thought to himself as two figures appeared from the portal.
"What guts you have to attack a place protected by my crest." A loud voice rang out as tier 6 magic circles appeared around them. Before they could react, ice chains latched against their bodies, leaving only Revel to stand there on his own without any restraints.
Understanding that his opponent already knew his secret, Revel narrowed his eyes as he watched a white haired woman appear in front of him.
Despite being smaller than his stature, her aura dominated him.
That arrogance, that pride and that confidence. It was as though she could kill him with a single flip of the finger. A dangerous woman.