Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 22 - King of Darkwalkers (Patreon)

Elania watched as the Mushroohum warriors came to a sudden halt in front of her. She fell into a squat, balancing on her feet as she licked the blood off the back of her hand. The salty taste that filled her mouth was of her own blood; she’d absorbed everything from the Darkwalkers she had hunted.

Her insides writhed and burned; she could feel the fire inside of her melting her organs while [Regeneration] constantly worked to repair them. Her [Power] was dropping rapidly, even as her maximum capacity worked its way up.

[Power: 340/196]

[You have achieved maximum Darkwalker Affinity. Would you like to attempt Darkwalker Transformation? Y/N]

She never hated the [System] more than now. Why didn’t it explain to her what [Darkwalker] Transformation would do to her? Was it permanent? Would she become a Darkwalker? Did it increase her skills?

How would it affect her mind?

She’d absorbed without hesitating and spent the power freely during the fight. Deep down she knew she had gotten carried away, but it felt so good to hunt that she’d not cared. She’d done new things that far outstripped what she thought she could do.

It almost didn’t feel real. Even the pain that filled her seemed slightly distant. Was S+ rank [Crisis Management] that good? Admittedly, her entire life since being summoned was a crisis. She wasn’t sure how well things were going with the management part.

The soldiers stood anxiously, spears and shields at the ready, all of them eyeing her with a respectful wariness. She stared back with nonchalance as she slowly stood up. Her focus was drawn to the red-cape in the center of the warrior’s formation.

She could smell it, feel it. He had her mana shard; she was sure. Her [Power] infused [Darkvision] spotted the faint telltale sign of light coming from inside the Mushroohum’s pouch. She examined him as the warriors worked to firm up their lines.

[Prince – Mushroohum – Level 22]

Elania held out her hand and opened her palm. She pulsed [Power] into her voice to make it louder. “Mine.”

Her eyes bore into the prince. The other Mushroohums shrank inwards, except for a large one standing at the prince’s side. Recognition sparked as she realized who it was—Skinner.

The remaining Darkwalkers fled to a safe distance, yowling and growling from afar in a loose semi-circle. The sounds seemed to put the warriors on edge.

But not as much as when she finally took a step toward them.

“Give me back what is mine,” Elania ordered. They shrank back from her, but they didn’t run. Instead, warriors from the rear and sides moved to the front, thickening their defense. That angered her.

Elania’s eyes flickered to a [Darkwalker] corpse between her and the Mushroohums. She walked to it and picked it up, denying the absorption request. Her gaze flickered to Skinner.

“Trade,” she shouted, then tossed the carcass at the warriors.

The formation braced for combat, but her aim was good. The corpse struck the ground with force, then rolled into their front line. Warriors in the front were shoved backwards, but support from the ones behind them kept them on their feet and the [Darkwalker] corpse came to a stop.

She pointed at the prince dramatically and shouted. “Give me back my mana shard!”

A series of “Glua-Glaa” spilled different scents in the air. Her senses were alight with the different smells. A small epiphany hit her. The reason her [Universal Speech] wasn’t working… was it because they weren’t using speech at all? Did they communicate by smell somehow? Suddenly a lot of things made a bit more sense if she was right.

Red-Cape did not receive her demand well. The Mushroohum raised his spear and pointed at her. All at once the formation raised their spears as if they were going to throw at her.

Her first instinct was to attack. The blood from the recent fighting was still fresh in her mouth and the energy coursing through her felt limitless. Her mind whirled as she thought how she could find some way to use [Power] to form a shield from their attack somehow. Maybe she could obliterate the objects in flight?

Or dodge. She could just dodge. She was faster than their thrown weapons in flight.

Then she could take the prince’s throat and her mana shard in one quick leap.

The Mushroohums continued to shout their incessant “Glua-Glaa!” while a series of pungent smells wafted around them.

Elania took a breath and suppressed the animalistic urge to pounce and rend. She decided to stand her ground and wait. That could prompt them to attack so they could get back to safety, but she wasn’t going to just leave.

There was an awkward lull while they brandished weapons at her. “You are all literally the stinkiest bad breath people ever,” she remarked.

Confusion filled the ranks of the soldiers. Distant [Darkwalker] roars added a tinge of urgency to the situation. The prince became irate and jumped up and down, even going so far to grab a spear and threaten to throw at her. She tensed and prepared to pounce.

Skinner snatched the spear away. She wondered how denying royal prerogative worked in the Mushroohum kingdom. Maybe she could save him and take him with her along with the mana shard? She was pretty sure he knew a lot of handy hunting skills. Maybe she’d convince him to make her a backpack?

Her guess was wrong when the warriors seemed to defer to the Mushroohum. The prince looked chastised. The warriors followed Skinner’s lead and lowered their weapons. When he came to the front and left the formation to meet her alone, she was left a bit at a loss at how to communicate.

“Glua-Glaa.” The less pungent scent met her. Elania’s eye twitched. The olfactory experience of the Mushroohums was not pleasant, and how the hell was she supposed to decipher words from smell? She got that the stink was probably fear, and this was probably… a question?

She remembered the sweet smell of victory from when they had defeated the [Darkwalker].

That the metaphor had been turned literal made her want to laugh.

Pointing at the prince, she tried again. “I want my mana shard back.”

“Glaa-Glaa.” A new smell, with no meaning other than it smelled like a bad fart.

An idea struck her. Despite Skinner chastising the prince, it was clear the warriors were protective of him and she was pointing at him each time she made her demand. Maybe they thought they wanted him? She just wanted her mana shard.

Elania knelt down and picked up a small, round rock. Fusing [Power] into the stone, just enough to make it glow but not explode. She tossed it on the ground and pointed at it.

“Mana shard,” she stated. Then she pointed at the prince. “Mana shard. Give.”

She held out her hand like she had when they had traded in the far away cavern.

There was confusion, but after a minute of standing around looking stupid, the prince finally reached into his pouch and held it up.

[Mana Shard (Condensed)]

“Yes!” Elania said.

Just when things were about to work out, a roar filled the cavern. A heavy guttural roar that was distant yet strong enough to make her feel the vibration in her chest. She looked for the source; it was near the entrance to the chamber she’d used.

A massive form of a [Darkwalker] but much too big, and it was growing in size right before her eyes. It rushed forward into a sprint, then leapt into the air. It landed near one of the farm buildings. Feline shoulders reached up to the top of the building’s first floor. If it wanted, it could have swallowed someone whole.

Elania’s eye twitched. Had they changed genre to Kaiju or something?

[Great Beast – Lesser Demon – Level 87]

[You have gained a Rank in Identify!]

She tried the skill again. No change.

[Identify] was truly doing its best to be useless. Why didn’t it add Giant-Freaking-Darkwalker to the description?

Elania cursed under her breath. “Fuck.”

“Glaa,” Skinner replied.

For once, they were in verbal agreement.

A sharp prickle of electricity filled her senses, sending a bolt of pain down her spine. It felt like something was squeezing her. It actually was. The other demon’s aura was attempting to wrap around her own and crush her.

Dumping more [Power] into the [Demonic Aura] skill was a more complicated affair she hadn’t appreciated would require practice. Dumping a surge, sure, that was easy. But adjusting the power into a constant, steady effort?

That was hard, and apparently needed, because when she tried her pulse, it pushed the attack back, but only for a few seconds. The surge was less [Power] efficient by far, too.

The Mushroohum warriors moved to flee toward the walls, taking a circular path around her. She let them go, and Skinner rejoined the group. The demon’s attention was riveted solely on her, and that demanded her full attention.

“Shove off!” Elania shouted. The prickles increased ever so slightly in response.

Elania picked up one of the discarded javelins that had been left on the battlefield. Before she could consider her next move, the Darkwalker Demon leapt forward again, rushing toward her and the village. Its long bounds allowed it to cover the distance rapidly. She braced herself for a point-blank throw when it darted to the side and around her.

She realized it wasn’t trying to flank her; it was going for the Mushroohums!

Hundreds of javelins flew from the palisade walls near the gate and the Mushroohum’s giant ballista let loose a well-aimed projectile.

The javelins that hit bounced off the Darkwalker Demon’s fur. For a second, she thought the bolt would skewer it, but it spun in the air and caught the projectile in its paws. The force sent both into a spin before it released the bolt.

It flew up back the way it had come in a spectacular fashion that was worthy of an epic fantasy movie. Stone, dust, and rubble exploded from the cavern wall as the ruins exploded outward from the blow. A shaky looking tower collapsed completely, sending a cascade of brick pummeling everything below.

The Darkwalker Demon landed on its paws, then leaped forward again like nothing had happened.

Elania realized what the other demon’s focus was. She raised her javelin and took careful aim. When it took its next pounce toward the prince and her mana shard, she dumped a huge chunk of [Power] into the throw and her projectile.

The air around her cracked as it broke the sound barrier, leaving her ears ringing. White lightning sparkled around the solid yellow glowing spear; she wasn’t even sure there was any of the original material remaining. It was a bolt of almost pure [Power].

The Darkwalker Demon noticed. It yanked itself mid-air to avoid being hit.

That made her mad. She’d put a lot of power into the attack. It should hit. She reached out instinctively with her hand and closed it into a fist. “It will hit,” she proclaimed. She willed it to be so.

The bolt’s trajectory curved slightly, then struck the Darkwalker Demon in the side. The force of the blow snatched it out of the air, slamming it into the ground and sending the Demon tumbling. A spike of power flared off of it, and her projectile dissipated. Blood flowed from the wound and the demon let out a massive guttural roar.

It charged for her this time, completely forgetting the nearby prince.

She’d burnt off a third of her power in the throw, pushing her below maximum. There were a few nearby [Darkwalker] corpses. She rushed them and gathered the [Power] up for herself.

[You have absorbed 15 Power!]

[You have absorbed 21 Power!]

It chased her, but she wasn’t slow.

[You have absorbed 16 Power!]

Rock exploded into the air as the demon landed with each bound as it matched her zig-zagging course.

It caught her.

Twisting mid-air, she avoided a slash before stabbing at its nose with a snatched Mushroohum spear. Its other claws sliced the weapon into pieces before its jaws reached her. Elania realized her mistake too late.

It clamped down on her arm and shoulder. Almost immediately, it began to shake her back and forth in its grip as razor-sharp teeth dug into her bone and flesh.

The instinctive reaction to flex as much [Power] into her arm as possible was the only thing that stopped the bite from ripping her shoulder off. The explosion in the Darkwalker Demon’s mouth was enough to send them flying apart temporarily.

[Your physical status is degrading.]

Blood poured from dozens of penetrations up and down her back and chest. Her arm was a mangled. [Regeneration] went to work but was hampered by the sheer volume of damage.

Her arm popped as it shoved itself back into place from being dislocated and the seeping wounds sealed themselves shut. A frown creased her face; when she flexed her fingers into a fist, her grip felt weak.

The Darkwalker Demon lost no time, leaping back at her. She jumped over a heavy claw slash and drew her Mushroohum knife and slashed the back of its leg. It spun at her and raked her side, but she slammed the blade tip home into the beast’s side. Both of them let out their own screams of rage. A heavy blow hit her and sent her flying away in a tumble.

[Power: 180/201]

That was dropping way too fast, [Regeneration] was demanding almost as much power as she had put into her attacks. A single tendril of fear pierced through her. Could she win?

Elania recovered from the tumble as she hit the ground, rolling onto her feet and reaching down to grab the ground. Dust and stone flew up behind her as she skidded to a stop.

The Darkwalker Demon faced her and let out a roar.

Looking at her weapon, she realized it was ruined. It had bent when she’d shoved it into the beast’s ribs. This time, they collided and she was unarmed. A massive clawed paw flashed at her and she kicked it away. A bite nearly got her foot, but she spun away from the attack. Claws dug into her arm, but she rolled away.

The deep gouge healed itself, but she was wheezing. Her [Power] had dropped another thirty points.

Blood oozed from dozens of injuries she’d inflicted on him, but he stood resolute. Elania realized that the other demon didn’t heal like she did. It didn’t have [Regeneration]. It was a question of whether she’d run out of power to heal before she had inflicted enough wounds to bring him down.

Without a weapon of her own, that wasn’t going to happen.

If only she had claws of her own.

The thought gave birth to a new system message that stared at her in stark contrast to the glittering cavern.

[You have achieved maximum Darkwalker Affinity and met the requirements for full Transformation. Do you wish to activate Darkwalker Transformation? Y/N]