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Path to Prosperity - B3 Chapter 15
🕑 Added 2024-11-01 11:00:11 +0000 UTCMelissa charged into the masses of enemies on Duke, the heirloom beast of the Reeze house. The Monster Card could only exhibit the power of an Evolved Monster, but it could become an Overlord. However, Melissa had the means to adjust Duke’s power level according to the needs and strain she was willing to endure.
She saw the Glacier Lizard as it released a frostbeam, which killed two Minos on the spot. The Lesser Demons tried charging ahead, but the frostbeam froze them instantly, shattering their bodies into countless fragments as they crashed. Duke followed suit, but it froze the surroundings instead of releasing a simple frostbeam. The ground around its feet froze at once, and it spread in all directions, freezing the ground and causing all living beings to come in contact with it.
“The [Domain of Eternal Ice]...Is that the Behemoth of…” One of the stronger nobles riding on a summoned Monster Mount gasped in shock and increased the distance to Melisa. He didn’t dare to get too close, fearing he and his mount would be frozen to death by accident. Melissa snickered but remained silent as the Demons didn’t seem to understand the human tongue or the threat of the [Domain of Eternal Ice] Augmentation.
Melissa never used that Augmentation as it was too much for her to handle at her current Tier. Instead, she retrieved her Wand Artifact and applied her Ego through mana onto it. A dozen icicles manifested before her instantly, and she hurled them at the closest enemies. A Pleacis cut through two icicles as they came flying, but it missed the massive pointed ice block coming its way. Duke conjured the ice block when her master attacked, aiding Melissa in battle.
The Pleacis tried evading the ice block, but it impaled the demonic creature before it could escape. Melissa was satisfied, however, there was no time to celebrate. The battle was not yet over. It had just begun. She charged forward, conjuring batches of dozens of icicles which were hurled at Lesser Demons, piercing their hearts and skulls with ease or to distract Elite Demons, allowing Duke and others to deal the finishing blow.
Melissa could have attacked her enemies head-on with a sword, but Percy convinced her to focus on her Ego and Monster Cards to support everyone with long-range attacks.
The Imperials, also riding on summoned Monster Mounts, charged ahead with lances. They impaled several Lesser Demons with the initial charge before changing their targets to the Elite Demons. One of the Imperials appeared before a Curias. Curias weren’t powerful Elite Demons on their own. Their bodies weren’t more advanced than the average Minos – they looked similar if not for their pitch-black eyes and larger size – but there was one particular issue about them. Curias were Demons afflicted with Curses. They could utilize the Curses to spread them like a plaque with every injury they’ve inflicted. One cut, no matter how shallow, was all they needed to inflict one Curse. If you were unlucky, the Curias would be efficient at spreading its curse, capable of inflicting multiple layers of the same Curse upon you with a simple scratch.
The Curses were why most people were afraid of them, however, the Imperial facing one of the Curias was confident. His body was shrouded in the Holy Triceratops’ Circle of Protection, but that was not all.
He raised his lance, which was further enhanced by the runic enchantments [Thrust] and [Drill], and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Purge!!”
A pristine light engulfed the Imperial suddenly, taking the surrounding Demons and a handful of noble heirs by surprise. The Demons screamed at the top of their lungs at the sight of the vibrant light emitting from the Imperial and backed off. Even the Curias tried to retreat even though this type of Demon was known to be notorious and highly aggressive. It retreated, only for the tip of the runic lance to penetrate its chest and heart in a swift motion.
The Curias released an ear-deafening screech and scratched the Imperial, who was only smiling. The Curias’ claws didn’t penetrate the Circle of Protection, but it wouldn’t have mattered even if the Curias had scratched him. The Imperial’s Ego was not powerful, or highly useful in a fight against ordinary creatures or other humans, but it was one of the best weapons against demonic powers, curses, and witchcraft. That was what [Purge] was best at. Overpowering demonic powers and inflicting fear into creatures that were known for their fearlessness.
The Imperial killed the Curias and moved onward with his mount. His colleagues did the same, even though they made sure to avoid the Curias, leaving the Demonic, curse-inflicting Minotaur to their holy friend to deal with. They charged at the Lifefeeder, which was also an annoying enemy, capable of draining his victim’s lifeforce once they were both bleeding and in the creature’s range.
The Imperials weren’t injured and had agile monster mounts capable of evading injuries like the pest. They pursued the Lifefeeder while the other nobles focused on the remaining Pleacis. There weren’t many Pleacis, to begin with, but the blade-armed Elite Demons were known for their great power, combat experience, and battle instincts.
However, everything changed once they saw Percy’s Gnoll Warrior, wielding a simple Sword Artifact, killing one of the Pleacis with a sequence of seven moves.
The Gnoll Warrior was as strong as the average Evolved Monster thanks to the [Basic Strength Boost]. Still, it was only powerful enough to deal with a Pleacis after unleashing [Blade Mastery]’s power with the Silvron Sword Artifact. Fighting more than one Pleacis simultaneously would have been too much to handle as even one of the Pleacis was already strong enough to inflict several injuries, but it could move on and keep fighting when Fiona’s Ego, Healing Star, mended its wounds.
It would be fine as long as the Gnoll Warrior didn’t have to fight multiple Pleacis or other Elite Demons. Just like the others.
All while the Gnoll Warrior wreaked havoc with the noble heirs and Imperials, the Blueflame Hawk helped Melissa and her summoned Monsters.
It maintained [Silent Reaper], [Frostbite], and [Hawk Eyes] at all times to cross the battlefield silently and rapidly—owed to the [Basic Agility Boost] Augmentation—and killed more than a dozen Lesser Demons with icicles to their necks. Some [Frostbite] icicles shattered their skulls, but the way they died didn’t matter to the Blueflame Hawk. It was only important that these creatures died. The faster, the better.
The Demon horde would have been difficult to fight for most ordinary forces but not for several Imperials and noble heirs who’d been nourished from a young age. They trained for more than a decade and were equipped with powerful Egos, Artifacts, and Monster Cards. There was no way to compare noble heirs with the average Gold Rank Adventurer, who was already strong enough to fight a dozen Lesser DEmons before retirement.
The Lesser Demons were quickly taken care of, and it wouldn’t take long to defeat the Elite Demons either, but the Greater Demons were the biggest issues. The nobles and Imperials glanced over to Percy countless times to ensure their crown prince was still alive. They occasionally checked on the Thousand-eyed Hellhounds, hoping there were still three Greater Demons and that their crown prince didn’t let them pass to bulldoze the town.
Percy was doing a great job. His initial attacks took the Greater Demons by surprise. They sensed his strength but didn’t expect the outburst of power to elevate his prowess to such a high level. On top of that, the black blade cut through their hide as if it were made of paper. There was no resistance when the Syreablade cut them, forcing the Greater Demons to fight Percy more vigilantly.
They were more agile and flexible, but it was almost like Percy could predict their next moves. His eyes shot left and right, devouring all information his eyes could take in to digest them instantly and devise suitable movement sequences to stop the Greater Demons while simultaneously avoiding severe injuries.
But that was easier said than done at times. The Hellhounds weren’t easy enemies.
One tried to bypass him, forcing Percy to release a wall of ice, draining his mana considerably. However, mana potions and mana replenishment potions, replenishing his mana slowly over time, solved the issue of mana shortage. For now, at least. But if he consumed too many potions in a short period, Percy would suffer tremendously.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what was about to happen. That was okay, though. So be it if it was necessary to suffer to best the Greater Demons.
