The Real Monster

Chapter 42

CHAPTER 2 – PART EIGHT

At the Demon Emperor"s Imperial Palace four creatures stood facing each other on a small table while another one sat at a seat higher positioned that theirs. The room was dimly lit and the ambiance felt gloomy. Suddenly, the gloom was pushed back by a vigorous voice.

{Agamemkeru why the h.e.l.l did you summon all of us here now?} Agamemvolf the Son of Vulg spoke with spit coming out of his mouth pointing his finger at Agamemkeru.

{We have an emergency situation. I have even traveled here as fast as I could and it still took me a week or so just to arrive, believe me, I wouldn"t want to tire myself out needlessly if I wanted to cause trouble. I have something to report that is of utmost importance for our survival.} He paused there and caught his breath and looked at the reaction of his colleagues.

{I was actually just in a fight with a human, no, human would be too insulting to his power, but I have no doubt he was human. You hear me, I fought a human. And do you know what I did to immediately kill off the b.a.s.t.a.r.d? I shot out to an extent that I could not have controlled what happened after because of my anger in that human killing my pets.

{What do you think happened?} Agamemkeru kept them in suspense.

{Judging from your excited look, does that mean that the human survived your breath and now you want him to be taken into custody? If that human has enough power to withstand your breath which is as ridiculous as it is to admit the best out of all of us here, then surely he must have been the "Hero" of humanity isn"t he?} Agamamtasha the Blood Witch a.n.a.lyzed Agamemkeru"s state and surmised what happened from that. Truly a brilliant mind she has.

{Furthermore, to have you running here as fast as you can, I hate to mention it but it seems that perhaps you lost to this human? Although I find it impossible, could my guess be right, Agamemkeru?} Agamamken of the Demon Sword asked in query.

{Yes, shamefully I lost to a human,} Agamemkeru started and then, {however that human was on a scale that just can"t be measured by us. He"s even stronger than us I"m sure of it. Let me tell you, I"m sure you imagine him alive but gravely injured when he received my breath but unfortunately for you, your guess is wrong. When my breath attack fired off, it only took a second before it dissipated the moment it collided with that human.

{I know you understand the intricacies that lie therein. That meant that my breath only lasted a second before it could not push anymore. Any trace of destruction that should have been ma.s.sive was contained to a very small area instead and the result of the collision only stripped the clothes of that human. If that is not proof that he is stronger than all of us then I don"t know what is!} Agamemkeru was growing more and more agitated the more he recalled the fight he had with Clay.


{That human, I know he"s the "Hero" of humanity, their trump card, but to think that his growth was so monstrous that he has already surpa.s.sed our power levels, just what kind of monster did the G.o.ds throw at us this time?} Agamemkeru stressed after the fact.

{Agamemkeru, you have been one of my Generals, one of the Demon Lords of the Demon realm and I have never seen you so fl.u.s.tered. Of course we believe you, however, surely you must be exaggerating when saying that he has surpa.s.sed all of us. If all of us fought together against him I"m sure we can still vanquish him, isn"t that right?} The Demon Emperor spoke and the rest of the Lords agreed without doubt in their minds.

{Of course that must be so. You must still be distressed about your loss Agamemkeru, retreat is always considered as courage here in the demon realm. Those who do not know how to retreat are instead fools that are not neeed.} Agamemtasha comforted Agamemkeru.

Agamemkeru stayed silent and slowly stared at each of his collegues.

Agamemkeru looked at Agamemtasha. She was a one of a kind busty beauty. She had red hair and red as rose lips. Her face was without blemish and was pale enough to have her face shine when getting hit by the sun"s rays. Her body was shapely and shapely might even still be an underestimation. She was also very intelligent and rational when it comes to matters, which gave her, her serious nature. Like some typical witch archetype, she wore a robe, although the robe seemed to be unable to hide her figure and a pointy witch hat. All of which accentuated her beauty. However, don"t let her beauty fool you, her viciousness cannot be put into words.

Then Agamemkeru looked towards Agamemken, known as the Demon Sword by the whole Demon realm. He looked to be someone that has been through a lot of battles through the years as scars were all over is body and even his face. He had an old man"s look with grey hair and wrinkly skin. He wasn"t muscular and also not tall. He wore a sword on his belt at all times. The sword had no sheath and its blade was exposed for eyes to feast on. The sword short like that of a gladius and well balanced but had nicks here and there to show that it really was old and often used. However, the truth to this person was that the sword on his waist was actually his main body. The Demon Sword was actually a sword itself which caught opponents unawares. And no one other than the five of them knew this truth as those who have discovered this little secret could not live to tell the tale.

Agamemvolf was the Son Vulg. Vulg was a legendary existence in the demon realm as he was the strongest Werewolf that ruled the place from a long time ago, only to be killed by those who thought of his rule to be utterly tyrannical, and those people included his own son, Volf. He colluded with the current Demon Emperor to usurp the throne and bring the Demon realm into a prosperous age that has already lasted quiet a number of centuries already. Volf was a werewolf that did not have a human form and instead had the alternate form of becoming fully a Wolf that was as big as a mountain when transformed into. He was a bit of a muscle head but he has a certain degree of intelligence to realize that his father"s rule was not ideal, so he can"t be underestimated.

Agamemkeru could not dare to look at the Demon Emperor on her throne. However, Agamemkeru then looked at himself. He was currently in his lesser-demon form. He had a frog head and limbs that were longer than his body but he wore a robe to hide his body. He was always offended by people calling him a frog because the truth really hurts. He was always taking in the form of greater demon to maintain his reputation.

After looking at each one of them he realized, he really wasn"t wrong in saying that they could not beat Clay even with all of them so he said, {No, my Lord. That man named Clay he"s not someone we can hope to stand up against. We may struggle but I think his might just can"t be taken lightly. I think only the demon hero can take him on in a fight.} With a grave look in his eyes, he said to them.

There was utter silence in the room. If even the four of us can"t hope to stand against this human, then what hope was there in surviving the wars that the G.o.d have planned with us as the pieces?

This was what they all had in mind at the moment; however, Agamemkeru gave them a ray of hope.

{However, my Lord, that man Clay proposed to me, no, demanded of me to report to you and tell you that he has a territory that shares borders with the human realm and our realm, that very mountain range to the south that the humans called Moribor Mountain. He said he had set up a city there and that if we were to go and wage war with the humans, to make sure not to include them so that he isn"t troubled. I also heard reports from the city closest to the border called Atbangkeru that the human Clay has eradicated a syndicate there and have made an example of a thug to deter others from doing any crime. He also took with him two demon women to his territory.

{{{{!!!}}}}

{What I can guess from this is that he"s slowly introducing our demon race to the humans of his territory and allowing them to accept them as one of them to someday open his gates towards us as well. He also told me that he was planning on uniting the human realm under his banner, what means he would employ to do that I am not sure, but he was certain of it.

{So what my report actually is about is that man Clay and his demand. To not-} Up to here, Agamemkeru continued on without stopping but looking up from him looking at the ground while he spoke, he saw the faces of surprise and dread plastered all over the faces of his colleagues. It gave him a very unpleasant feeling. A foreboding feeling which he dreaded thinking off as well.

{WWhat seems to be the problem? Please don"t tell me I"m only worrying needlessly, please?!} Agamemkeru was close to tears when he pleaded to tell him it was all a lie. He knew, something that cannot be taken back has already happened.

{We could not stop him, Agamemkeru. As you said, he is far stronger than us as well. He is our trump card but right now, he might just be our doom.} The Demon Emperor had a gloomy tone and must be thinking of ways to cushion this big wave that would come knocking at their door. If Azael-on fails to kill Clay, then they would be on the receiving end of something they cannot hope to recover from.

{Where did he go?!} Agamemkeru did not give up and stood up abruptly, he was determined to catch up to the hero and dissuade him from attacking Moribor. However, he was already too late. Even as this meeting was taking place, Clay"s territory was already under siege by the creatures that Azael-on have summoned and the perpetrator himself was nowhere to be found.

{He was headed south, I"m pretty sure that the place he first stumbles into would be attacked and the closest village from the border if we take out Moribor would be Hanerton, but if he stumbles upon Moribor then that would spell doom for us.} Agamemtasha confirmed. They knew the lay of their land as well as the human realm which is closest to them.

Suddenly, footsteps rang from outside the room and stopped at the door. Then *BANG* the door opened with force and a handsome golden-sparkling man appeared before them. It was actually the man they were so worried about. In surprise, the Demon Emperor asked in stutter,

{W-W-What are you doing here, weren"t you going to test out your power on some humans? Did you not go afterall?} The Demon Emperor was hopeful, hopeful that this hero of theirs has not committed something that could cost them their lives.

{Who do you take me as? With my power, traveling to such a short distance won"t even take a blink of your eye. I have already carried out a slaughter in some human city at a Mountain just at the border that you told me about. I did not feel anyone with a strong fluctuation of power there so I left and just let my minions do the slaughtering. When we visit there later, I"m sure it will be a master piece of human trash strewn about in that little city, being eaten by scavengers. Kekekekekeke}

Everyone paled in fright. They knew it was a mistake on this guy"s part to not have checked thoroughly if there were strong people there. What if Clay had already arrived then, what would we do to explain the situation? Agamemkeru was deep in thought as his green face turned a shade lighter.

{What have you done!!!} Agamemkeru could not take it anymore and pounced towards Azael-on as he was standing there looking at his nails very leisurely. Immediately all four of the other people stopped him and held him down in place. That was a close call. Although they understand what Agamemkeru was feeling, they themselves did not experience Clay"s might so they can only sympathize and not understand how grave the situation was, after all.

They pinned him down and saw to it that he could not move. Then the Demon Emperor returned to the throne and sat there looking tired and exhausted by all these developments.

*WUROONG* *CRACKCLE* *CRUMBLE*

Suddenly, a huge amount of pressure stifled their breathing; something they have not felt since Azael-on gave them a demonstration of his strength. No, this amount of pressure was stronger than Azael-on"s for sure. Then,

"{Azael-on!!! COME THE f.u.c.k OUT!}" An angry bellow resounded all over the whole Demon realm. Clay was exerting pressure and Overpower towards the palace that he felt had the mana wavelength signature he felt from Azael-on. He arrived here almost immediately as if teleporting. In fact he really did. He used to open up a portal towards Agamemkeru"s Nest and then used his full powered flight to break down s.p.a.ce as he went towards the direction where he felt Azael-on"s mana signature was.

When He finally arrived, he used his xray vision and saw Azael-on in one of the rooms in the huge Palace-like structure and called out to him. He also felt Agamemkeru"s mana signature which was very familiar to him by now. He saw him being pinned down and struggling to oppose Azael-on.

Clay knew then that Agamemkeru has only arrived here to report. He did not know if this guy was being lazy or whatever in reporting as he was already more than half a month past their last encounter. He actually did not care right now. What was on Clay"s mind was getting answers feom Azael-on to quell his anger. He was frustrated to be pinned on the same spot for a week and angry that someone so brazenly attacked them without any reason but just for the sake of making a statement. It was ridiculous.

Right now, Clay was exerting pressure that totally made use of his Overpower"s pa.s.sive effect to the fullest and injected mana into it as well as his killing intent. His eyes were blazing as if he"d shoot laser beams out of his eyes the moment Azael-on showed up. Anger was seeping out of his pores.

{Well. Well. Someone seeks my presence yet I do not know hi-} Azael-on was speaking nonchalantly when suddenly the face of Clay appeared in his mind like a flashback and remembered him from the peak of the mountain. He then understood who it was that he was facing.

{… I see, you are the sovereign og that place I initiated a slaughter aren"t you? How does the city fare? I"m sure you abandoned them after you found that it was impossible to actually defend the city from the flood of monsters I summoned right? Dark Magic works like that you know. It enables me to use it to summon creatures that would do my bidding and creatures that would just come out regardless of orders from me. It"s a convenient ability to have when you want to initiate a ma.s.sacre.} Azael-on kept on talking and explaining himself as if he was facing someone below himself. He was after all very powerful, a powerful demon once a member of G.o.d"s army, now he was reduced to this state given a body by some random trash G.o.d who did not even know the difference between divinity and stupidity. They were only playing G.o.d, mortals who were playing G.o.d. That was how Azael-on saw those G.o.ds he met before being summoned here.

{Don"t worry you will follow in their footsteps in just a moment after I explain my powers to you. You know, I"m a very powerful being. I"m a real demon, unlike these guys here. They"re just another race of cretures born of chaos that the Creator did not create personally, only figments born from the mana that the Creator himself leaks without stop.

All the while, Clay just listened at this babbling narcissist, his anger bubbling and threatening to burst. Right now, he was holding himself back, he knew that Agamemkeru tried really hard and it was really lucky for them that he arrived at the moment when he tried to pounce Azael-on. That became their saving grace.

{So it was actually very rude of you to call out my name with your measly power. I can probably kill you with just a snap of my finger. If my commander was here he would have told me to already finish you since he doesn"t want to hear anyone else talk about themselves other than him.

{I"m tired of listening to his babble in h.e.l.l you know. So being s.n.a.t.c.hed by some power to become a p.a.w.n in a world they have no control over, I accepted it without hesitation. Although I might get hunted down by General Lu, I just have to grow even more powerful than him you know.

With my current strength I could probably rule this world without problem given a bit of time, right? I can kill all the hateful humans, the very reason why we were thrown into h.e.l.l in the first place. Tch. Just thinking about your species makes me want to snap that little head of yours. Humph!}

Azael-on just kept on babbling on and on and then finally, Clay reached his limit and as no one else was there to take all his frustrations out on, he moved towards Azael-on with break neck speed.

Azael-on seemed to have not noticed Clay"s movement and still wanted to talk but suddenly he felt goose b.u.mps all over his neck. That was a sensation he has not felt from anyone other than his Commander, this General Lu he was bad mouthing just now.

*BAM*

A clenched fist appeared directly in front of his nose, unable to move further as his left hand held the attacker"s arm in place. Oddly, he was using most of his strength just to stop this fist from going any further. However, who is Clay? He had basic Pugilism skills and so his unarmed fighting is based on that. He abruptly relaxed his clenched fist and made a knife with his hands to flick Azael-on"s nose.

*SPLASH*

"{Did I perhaps speak in such a manner that you could not understand and thus you"re having a nosebleed?}" Clay without a shred of emotion in his voice spoke towards Azael-on. He was holding his face with utter disbelief in his mind as blood was flowing from his now non-existent beautiful nose.

{WHAT HAPPENED?!}

In his mind he was pondering what happened. He was sure he blocked the man"s attack and was in a position to return the punch as well, but then suddenly out of the blue he felt pain and warmth on his face. That warmth was actually his blood.

Demons bled as well, no, this was the body of a demon of this world. He may have a soul of a real demon and his power is great, but his body is bound to this world and became mortal. He was bound to a body and if he tried to forcefully take his soul out, he"d disintegrate in a matter of seconds. This was how he was controlled by the Demon G.o.d.

{f.u.c.k! What did you do you hateful human!? You"ll pay for shedding my blood. This most precious blood from I, Azael-on!} Shouting like a mad-man, Azael-on finally found the motivation to fight. While he charged towards Clay, Clay himself entered super slow motion and took a look at the surroundings until he found a place devoid of any significant life. He could not explain why in this state of anger that he was in, his mind was so clear and his senses were fully expanding beyond what normally should be possible.

Even while in slow motion, Azael-on was moving fast enough that he arrived near Clay fast. To outsiders, it may have looked as if it was a teleportation, but it was simply just Azael-on entering the same realm of speed as Clay was in, although it was a tad bit slower than his, that bit was enough to overwhelm Azael-on already.

With Azael-on right in his face, and a place in his mind to target, he gathered strength on his fists and sent one out towards Azael-on"s face while the other was making a sneaky trajectory towards Azael-on"s abdomen. Azael-on as expected blocked the punch coming for his face; however he did not notice the other punch that went straight for his body. As he was pinned by blocking the other punch, he was squarely hit in the stomach and as if a lie, Azael-on disappeared from sight like he teleported as well, only to hear the late report of him arriving at the targeted desolation where Clay planned to have this fight. In his mind, as long as this guy is away from civilization, I can go nuts against him without a problem.

Looking towards that direction, he saw Azael-on clearly in disbelief as he was dazed. That gave Clay the time to speak to the demons below.

"{I guess you"re the guys who are in charge of this realm. Let"s have a talk later. And Agamemkeru, man, why are you so slow?}" He criticized Agamemkeru for being so late in informing his colleagues and then immediately disappeared towards where Azael-on was finally dusting his clothes.

That punch totally did not do much damage to the guy. He stood up as if he"s already fine after dusting.

Clay arrived and looked at Azael-on from above. He already noticed this guy"s strength the moment he used xray vision earlier and so via he knew that Azael-on had different stats for each. His STR was Pseudo-Angelic; his INT was Pseudo-Angelic; MGC at Angelic; and then his DEX being on the Pseudo-Angelic as well.

It gave Clay a jolt that a demon was able to regain power same as that when he was still an angel. His mind then found an explanation for it. It was actually that body that made it possible for a spirit like an Angel to grow. At their inception, Angels already had fixed potentials and powers, and so when some of them became demons, their powers plummeted without hope to ever grow again. However, giving this demon a body made possible to grow. After all, a mortal"s growth potential is limitless, so they say..

"I see. This guy"s probably the only one who can b.u.t.t heads with me without imploding from the impact at the moment. I"d hate for him to die, but I also can"t let him live. Dilemma, dilemma, Oh well, I"ll just see what happens later."

An inner monologue happened inside Clay"s mind as always. He was pondering what to do with this sparring partner he found.

Amidst his pondering, Azael-on suddenly glowed brightly and his humanoid form disappeared from sight and his energy fluctuation grew even stronger. His other stats remained the same except for the STR stat which made it to Angelic in an instant after he transformed.

"Maybe it"s one of those things, you know, like Saiyans and whatnot." He was carefree sounding yet his face never changed in look. He was still expressionless and his emotion was still in turmoil with anger.

{Human trash, you have successfully angered me with your tricks! If this were real then surely you would have already die by my hands from the moment the fight started, heck, it wouldn"t even be a fight!} Azael-on was furious and his denial was getting stronger and turning into delusion already

"{It"s true if this were Earth, you"d have killed me without me making any resistance, but where is this? Who are you? You are in my world now demon. And you stepped into a tail that you shouldn"t have stepped on.}" Even before the sound of his voice arrived to Azael-on"s ears Clay had already arrived in front of him poised to yet again punch his stomach. This time, Azael-on predicted it and immediately blocked in front of his stomach. When he noticed that Clay was already gone from his sight, he already made a block as if on instinct. Sadly, his instinct was not enough to get away from Clay"s attack.

*BAM* A hit to the temple by Clay"s left hook made Azael-on fly like an arrow towards earth formations that were desolate and orange as if the Grand Canyon. The place was devoid of any other life except those that mattered, like Cacti and some small herbs here and there. The whole place was orange and valleys and rifts were all over the place.

Clay felt a p.r.i.c.k in his fist"s skin after the punch landed and looked at it. There appeared a vein-like discoloration on his skin but it immediately dissipated as Clay circulated his mana around his body once. He was looking at his status at that moment and it was true that he was poisoned, although it has already disappeared and what replaced his status was [Furious] «Optimal» Seeing that, *chuckle* he chuckled and started to sense around for Azael-on. He might be hiding in the dust-cloud he created by destroying the scenery.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

A hysterical laughter resounded and gusts of wind appeared in the environment turning into tornadoes.

{You have probably been poisoned by now! Not even a Leviathan can withstand that poison, but a human? Che! You"ll die soon enough and I will gain this victory. I will yet again grow stronger and closer to my goal of avenging my brothers that died and are still in h.e.l.l because of you humans!} Azael-on started babbling again and even though the poison was already gone from his body, Clay stayed put and let the little b.u.g.g.e.r talk his heart out. Clay remained motionless as if an alligator waiting for prey to come to him. He didn"t need anything else, time was on his side.