Demonspawns were the greatest threat to mortal life in Evernia.
They were the minions of the Demon Lord, invaders from Akuma Island sent to sow chaos and weaken the realm's defenses.
Unlike the Gate World beasts, Demonspawns possessed a higher resistance to physical attacks.
A standard steel blade, swung by a standard Warrior, would pass through their smoky, fel-green flesh like a spoon through water, dealing negligible damage.
To kill a Demonspawn, mana was overwhelmingly necessary. Since they were soul-formed creatures, only mana-fueled attacks could cause them tangible harm.
This made killing them a grueling task, but the slayer was rewarded with far more EXP than a standard beast of the same level.
If there was this many of them here, this village was certainly not going to survive
Percival cursed, hurrying to Elise and scooping her up from the ground. "Come with me."
She let out a painful cry as he lifted her and carried her down the stairs. The odds of him being here were almost woven by the gods themselves.
One Demonspawn was a breach. Two was a raid. Five was an outbreak.
But the screams outside suggested at least a dozen. That was a Migration.
A Demon Migration was the strategic movement of a horde of Demonspawns from Akuma Island, crossing the Sea of Late, into a selected area in the continent.
The goal was to wipe out the netizens in the chosen area and turn the land into a citadel for the Demon Lord—a conquered piece of land in the mortal world.
"Elise! Elise!!"
Percival reached the ground floor where the innkeeper cowered behind the bar, clutching a heavy iron ladle as if it would help and peering out in terror.
When he saw the Awakener carrying his bloodied daughter, he dropped the ladle and reached out with trembling hands.
"Elise!"
"She'll live," Percival said, handing the girl over to her father. "Clean the wound. Use bittervine to stop the poisoning."
The innkeeper looked up, his eyes wide and wet, reflecting the green fire that was blazing outside the windows.
"Awakener... You are the only one here that can do anything," the man stammered, gripping Percival's arm. "Please. Help us. Save our village. I beg you to try. Be our hero."
Percival looked down at the hand on his arm. The word 'Hero' tasted like ash in his mouth, but he pushed the bitterness down and rose to his feet.
"Go," he said sternly. "Hide in the cellar."
BOOM.
The inn's front wall exploded inward, sending splinters of wood and stone into the room.
The innkeeper covered his face while Percival stood, unbothered, gazing into the dust-filled smoke.
ROAR!
A monstrous, hulking shape stepped through the dust. It was around seven feet tall, crowned with bull horns and a body of knotted muscles and green tissue.
Like other Demonspawns, it was wreathed in emerald flame, billowing green smoke and leaking green slime at the same time.
⸢Threat: Death Bull Demonspawn⸥
⸢Level: 30⸥
"By the gods!" The innkeeper shrieked. "Oh, Azrael, lend us your helping Hands."
"Take your daughter and go," Percival commanded. "Now!"
The innkeeper struggled to his feet, carrying his bleeding daughter with both hands as they fled toward the cellar.
Elise was fading, but through her hazy vision, she saw the Awakener's stance. He was not scared or intimidated at all by this terrifying monster. He almost seemed unimpressed.
Percival spun his greatsword into a reverse grip.
Elise's eyes widened as burning skeletons materialized beside him. She tried to speak, but finally faded away.
Percival's Skeletons assessed the new threat. They had never engaged a Demonspawn before, and they sensed it would be a stronger target to take down.
But they didn't know fear. They only knew their master's command.
"Spread out in teams of two," Percival directed. "Help as many people as you can and kill the Demonspawns that you can. I'll use Summon Swap to pull you out if you hit critical health."
"Go."
The Skeletons retreated into flames of blue, dispersing into the burning village.
The Demonspawn, having watched the display with crude curiosity, roared and charged, swinging a massive claw.
Percival leaped forward. The claw missed him, swiping below his feet and pulverizing a table into sawdust.
He engaged ⸢Flash Strike⸥ in mid-air, closing the distance in a blur and catching the beast by surprise.
The strike sheared through its chest, the magic empowering the blade to tear through skin. The beast stumbled backwards and Percival vaulted off its chest, landing lightly.
He lifted his gaze and lunged his sword forward, activating ⸢Gale Thrust⸥.
⸢Gale Thrust: A compressed, spiraling wind lance released by a sword thrust, designed to pierce rather than cut⸥.
The sharp wind magic struck the Demonspawn, tearing through its flesh and shredding its core. With its HP reduced to a single digit, he summoned ⸢Soulfire⸥ and blazed the spawn to death.
Ding!
⸢You have killed a Demonspawn⸥
⸢Type: Death Bull Demonspawn (Lvl 30)⸥
⸢+150 EXP⸥
Percival read the notification for only a second. A standard Level 30 dungeon beast would have yielded a third of that.
It was for this reason he ensured that he dealt the killing blow with a Necromancer Skill, so that the Experience would be rewarded the Class, funneling the growth exactly where he needed it.
Whittle with the sword. Reap with death.
Another scream from outside snapped his gaze up. Percival stepped through the hole made by the Death Bull and walked into burning Cuttleham.
Fire was everywhere—emerald and destructive—licking at the roofs of houses and decimating other structures.
He saw the woman from earlier sprinting as fast as she could down the mud road, clutching a baby and screaming at the top of her voice.
Pursuing her was a winged Demonspawn.
Percival narrowed his eyes. As the neared his standing point, he raised his sword and activated ⸢Blade Projection⸥.
The spectral blade form exploded from his steel and struck the Demonspawn at the flank. It crashed into the mud, shrieking.
The woman stumbled to the floor, bawling her eyes out as she turned around. She saw Percival approach the Devil Bird, wreath his sword in ⸢Soulfire⸥ and drive it through the creature's heart.
It let out a final shriek of pain before dying, dissolving into smoke and emerald goo.
⸢You have killed a Demonspawn⸥
⸢Type: Devil Bird Demonspawn (Lvl 25)⸥
⸢+100 EXP⸥
Percival turned to leave but paused when he caught her stare.
There was a look in her eyes that he recognized.
That look of pure emotion; the shift from the primal terror of death to the overwhelming, tear-stained gratitude for a savior.
"Thank you," she muttered, pressing her baby's head to her chest. "Thank you so much."
Percival continued to stare. The flames, the smoke, the mayhem had all disappeared behind his thoughts.
He remembered this high. This feeling of being a light, a savior, the recognition of the dependency of the weak on the strong like him.
The feeling of being a hero.
"Find somewhere to hide," he told her flatly.
She nodded excessively, picked herself up and continued down the path with frantic feet.
Percival watched her retreating figure for a moment before turning back to face the burning village.
He didn't need to run into every building to find the Demonspawns. His Skeletons, scoured all over the village, were already doing that.
A blazing blue map appeared in front of him, showing the locations of his Skeletons divided in groups of two. Percival could already feel their HP depleting, but one group was flashing critical.
He quickly activated ⸢Summon Swap⸥, switching places with one of the Skeletons in the group.
The remaining Skeleton, turning its head, looked relieved to see its master.
"Take them to safety," Percival ordered it, regarding the family that was crouched behind an overturned table.
The Skeleton obeyed while Percival walked up to the giant, toad-like Demonspawn letting out croaks that made the wooden windows and walls quiver.
It lashed out its tongue at him, a slimy whip, but Percival shifted his shoulder and the tongue snapped against a chair, sending it crashing halfway down the room.
He activated ⸢Bladewave⸥. The arc of mana struck the beast's gut, but only carved a shallow furrow.
Percival noticed the poor output with a squeeze of his brows.
Swordsman Skills were extremely reliant on the quality of the sword executing them.
If he held the Kingdom Sword, these Demonspawns would have been felled with a single attack each.
The Crownless Greatsword, however, despite being a functional weapon, was nothing comparable to the output Percival was used to.
The toad-demon leaped into the air, aiming to flatten Percival.
He rolled over, slicing at its back. When it spun around to strike him with its clawed hand, he raised his blade, activating ⸢Blessed Edge⸥.
⸢Blessed Edge: Channels mana into the edges of a sword, amplifying damage on contact for a short duration⸥
The Demonspawn's hand was severed cleanly, falling and rolling on the floor, spraying black blood all over.
It croaked in agony, and before it could recover, Percival drove his sword right through its large head.
⸢Severance: A highly concentrated attack that targets defense structures, tears through them to damage foes, regardless of defense quality⸥
The beast fell backward with a thud.