Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 19 – Darkwalker Battle (Patreon)

Elania was woken up by a massive, wet tongue on her face.

One of the smaller Ralfots had found its way up to her, and was standing overtop of her. Small was a misnomer, because even being one of the younglings, the animal was still massive.

And apparently curious, and not holding a grudge for the earlier hunting. It licked her again, eliciting a giggle. She gently pushed away its snout. “Stop that.”

It came closer and nuzzled her. There was a questioning “Moobaa” from below, and she felt a bit of panic. The adults were not likely to take kindly to her hanging out with one of their calves.

A frenzy of “Moobaa” erupted, filling her with panic. She’d been caught! It wasn’t even her fault!

The calf ran back down the outcrop and left her alone. By the time she gathered up her shield and javelins, she realized her mistake.

An angry roar filled the cavern. She immediately spotted the source: a [Darkwalker] pouncing on one of the young Ralfots that had taken flight. A savage twist and the calf’s throat was torn out.

The large [Ralfot] Bull charged the attacking [Darkwalker] but then a second [Darkwalker] appeared from behind a boulder, pouncing on the bull’s back. Claws raked down its side, and the first [Darkwalker] turned and changed targets, snapping at the Bull’s throat.

The massive animal was not willing to surrender, however. It lowered its head in time and slammed its massive, curled horns into the Darkwalker’s face. It went flying, but that gave time for the other one to dart in and rake the bull’s side.

The two jumped back, avoiding the Bull’s blows while taking opportunistic opportunities to attack. The rest of the herd fled quickly. When they were all gone, the Bull tried to escape, but it quickly became clear that it was wounded heavily from the raking and was losing steam. One of the Darkwalkers was also wounded, favoring one leg slightly.

Elaina ran the calculations in her head. The larger Bull probably gave more [Power] and the Darkwalkers would give her more stealth, probably. Maybe all three would give her a level?

She strapped her shield onto her forearm with its cloth wrap, then slid three javelins into their holsters and then readied three more into her left hand. The battle continued to rage below, and she carefully walked down the ramp and then towards it.

None of the combatants noticed her. They were all so focused on their own fight. When the unharmed [Darkwalker] presented its side to her, she made a [Power] infused throw from almost point blank.

Maybe it was because she’d raised her [Power] level, but the projectile streaked forward like a rocket, slammed into the Darkwalker’s side and buried itself deeply, the tip poking out the other side of its ribcage.

[You have gained a rank in Throwing!]

It swiveled to her and let out an aborted wet roar before a spew of blood escaped its throat. She’d probably hit both of its lungs…assuming they had two lungs.

The Bull charged the wounded [Darkwalker] but the attack was anemic. Elania didn’t waste any time, not wanting the two to resolve their battle. She threw again, with a bit less [Power] and struck the Darkwalker. A third throw struck the Bull, causing it to avert its attack on the [Darkwalker] and charge at her.

She’d been ready for that.

Turning around, she pushed [Power] into her legs and then jumped, easily clearing the stone outcropping enough to land on her feet. The Bull turned away from slamming into the stone wall at the last second, but she tossed two more javelins in quick succession from her elevated position. Both slammed into his back.

[You have gained a rank in Throwing!]

The bull wasn’t finished though and continued to flee, but it was slowed. It was clear his injuries were fatal, but he just didn’t want to go down yet. It ignored the [Darkwalker] as it headed in the direction the herd had fled.

Elania jumped down and headed straight for the dead [Darkwalker]. She’d absorb the corpse for more [Power] then go finish the wounded one off. Much to her surprise, the wounded one rushed to the corpse first and block her path.

Leveling her javelin at the thing and holding it in a two-handed grip, she continued her approach. The [Darkwalker] let out a multitude of warning grows and hisses. It tried to scare her away from the corpse.

Elania frowned. Were they a mated pair or something? She felt bad, but she was sure that they’d eaten plenty of other creatures during their lives, too.

“Sorry, you’re my dinner,” Elania said.

That seemed to be the signal to pounce. The [Darkwalker] launched itself forward, but she’d been expecting that, too. Lining up her spear was easy, and her forceful shove forward into the pounce just added more power to the blow. The spear bent dangerously, but the fungal wood was incredibly flexible.

It bent nearly in half as Elania turned the leap into a vault, the spear tip embedded half a foot in the cat’s torso, then slammed it into the ground behind her. It wasn’t dead, but it fell as it tried to get up. She slipped the spear out and then stabbed it again in the throat. Multiple times. Blood covered everything, a situation that she’d become intimately familiar with.

She realized she was absolutely filthy; her robe was no longer black at all. Ralfot, Darkwalker, and even her own blood co-mingled on the fabric to coat it into a crusty red mess.

When had she stopped caring about her appearance? How was she not dying from being so filthy?

The sudden introspection was long enough for the light in the Darkwalker’s eyes to fade. She stepped forward and touched the corpse and absorbed it.

Before the absorption was finished, she went and touched the other one as well, then turned to hunt down the [Ralfot] Bull.

[You have absorbed 38 Power!]

[You have gained a level in Stealth!]

[You have reached the maximum available rank in Stealth!]

[Consider developing a more advanced skill!]

[You have gained darkwalker Affinity!]

[Consume more darkwalker Essence to enable darkwalker Transformation!]

She scrolled through the messages as she went. It was a nice amount of power, but maxing her [Stealth] skill left her conflicted. What did it mean to develop [Stealth] into a more advanced skill? What was more advanced than [Stealth]? Maybe… Super-Duper Stealth?

It turned out it hadn’t made it far, collapsing just outside the cavern from the blood loss of two dozen wounds. One of her javelins had snapped when it had fallen, but she recovered one that was still serviceable before touching the corpse.

[You have absorbed 32 Power!]

[You have gained a rank in Crisis Management!]

[You have gained Ralfot Affinity!]

[Consume more Ralfot Essence to enable Ralfot Transformation!]

She checked her power; she’d used ten killing them. Gaining sixty power for the engagement was nice, but she felt worried. She was changing in ways that she didn’t fully understand, and she felt certain it had to do with her devouring the animal’s essence.

A mewl snapped her out of her thoughts and she swiveled around. A young kitten [Darkwalker] sat beside the dead [Ralfot] calf that she had completely forgotten about. Elania bit her lip, feeling extremely conflicted.

The two Darkwalkers, in her mind, had certainly been a mated pair, and probably hunting to feed their cub? It let out a second cry as she approached. Outside of reach, she knelt down and looked at it in the eyes. “I’m sorry. They’re gone.”

It cried back at her, whining. She didn’t know what it was saying. She started to reach out toward it, but it let out an angry hiss.

“Yeah. I’d be mad at me, too.” Elania mumbled.

She touched the dead [Ralfot] calf and the absorption message appeared. But her eyes tracked back to the cub. He probably would need the meal more than her. She wasn’t even sure he’d survive the caverns without his parents to hunt and protect him.

But she felt like she needed to give him a chance. She denied the absorption request and instead pulled out her knife and used it to cut a chunk of meat off the carcass. She tossed it to him. Almost immediately, the cub began to lick and then chomp down on the meat.

“Sorry, but I’m not ready to adopt, so this is the most I can do for you.” Elania said.

It looked at her, but then went back to eating. She cut a second chunk from a leg muscle, then headed back to where she’d made camp. The stream there was deep enough… for her to consider a bath.

Plus, she could cook another meal.

The only issue was that she felt the desire to just bite into the raw meat immediately, without cooking it.