The Primal Hunter

Jake was blasted backward as he blocked with a barrier of stable arcane mana. A torrent of flames bellowed out from the Demon Lord, obscuring its form even as it walked forward. As the one closest to the gate, Jake had taken the brunt of it, but he had reacted quickly due to his danger sense, not truly taking any damage.

A wall of roots shot up from the ground just after Jake got shot back, but a blast of deep red flames removed it instantly. Everyone retreated back to Jake as the Demon Lord walked through the burning wall of vines, properly revealing its form for the first time.

As Jake had initially seen, it was about five meters tall and had rock-like outgrowths on its skin; all of them were cracked with red energy pulsing beneath. It carried a large sword that looked like it was made of stone with red glowing veins of lava running through it and otherwise didn’t have any equipment, its bottom side covered with a loin cloth of sorts. The demon’s entire body released a constant stream of heat energy, and its form burned perpetually. If its skin was red due to the fire or it was just its usual skin tone, Jake didn’t know. Its head looked vaguely humanoid with two large curled horns like that of a goat, and it had two burning red eyes that stared down the party in front of it.

There was no doubt about it… this was the strongest foe they had faced in Nevermore so far. That entire difficulty-setting thing allowed them to encounter opponents worth fighting far sooner than expected; this Demon Lord was proof of that.

Jake grinned as the Demon Lord also assessed the five of them. The Demon Lord sneered as it spoke in a deep voice, its words infused with Willpower.

“Kneel.”

That command became the starting shot as their entire party moved in unison. The Demon Lord legitimately seemed taken by surprise at their immediate response, but it still managed to react. A blast of force blasted it in the side, making the demon stumble slightly as it blocked a blow from the Sword Saint, roaring at the water mixed into his attacks.

Jake shot an arrow toward the demon’s ankle to try and limit its movements, but it managed to shift its stance and do an upward slash, sending out a massive wave of fire that sent the Sword Saint retreating. Just as it was about to do a follow-up, a green hawk barreled into it from behind, Sylphie having turned herself into wind earlier to get around the demon.

Sylphie managed to punch a hole in the demon’s backside from the impact but still found herself on the defensive as the wound released a blast of fire, and the blood that dripped down the demon’s body burned like lava.

Dina also finally released a proper attack as a massive spear of wood shot towards the Demon Lord, forcing it to block with the flat side of its large blade. The impact still sent it skirting backward and gave Jake and the King an opportunity to each land a ranged blow in the form of a golden blast of force and an arrow. As the demon stumbled, the Sword Saint got close and cut its leg, aiming to sever the tendons on its ankles. Assuming it had any.

The Demon Lord roared and slammed its sword into the ground with both hands. A massive blast of fire exploded out from its body, forcing them all to disengage. When the Demon Lord’s form was revealed again, it looked calmer. It also seemed to have truly realized it was surrounded by powerful people. It regarded them for a moment before grunting.

“Very well.”

It squeezed the handle of its sword, and the stone-like sword cracked. Stone slowly fell away, revealing a pulsing orange blade of metal that released heat powerful enough to make Jake activate Scales of the Malefic Viper just to be on the safe side. Dina also responded quickly and sent out green waves of energy toward each of them, resulting in a faint glowing green barrier covering their bodies. Jake instantly felt the temperature lower and gave Dina a nod as they prepared to reengage the demon.

The demon swung its empowered blade toward the people in front of it and sent out a crescent wave of flames. A golden magic barrier met the flames, and Jake jumped back as he began charging his Arcane Powershot. The Sword Saint stormed forward after the King dispelled the barrier, and together with Sylphie, the two of them engaged their opponent in a melee. The Fallen King also began charging some magic of his own as Dina retreated back and stood beside Jake as she also began preparing a spell of her own.

Aware of what they were doing, the Demon Lord wanted to stop them, but the Sword Saint wouldn’t allow it. He activated his boosting skill properly for the first time since entering Nevermore, and Sylphie soon followed suit as the Demon Lord got more and more aggressive. They both needed to avoid the sword at all costs, and Jake saw that Dina’s protection spell wouldn’t last much longer against the intense fire energy.

Luckily it didn’t have to.

Fallen King. The Unique Lifeform reacted instantly as two massive golden chains erupted from his hands and flew straight toward the Demon Lord. The demon tried to

a devastating trail of destruction. The Demon Lord roared as it blocked with one of its arms, not able to raise its

a huge chunk of flesh blown off, revealing the obsidian-like bone beneath, but the Demon Lord also borrowed the momentum from the impact to retreat. The Sword Saint still managed to give chase, and using his Rainblade, he did an upwards cut aimed straight at where Jake had also just hit. Once more, the Demon Lord was ready to respond, but the Fallen King yanked the golden chains, making the demon fail to dodge and allowing the Sword Saint to land a solid cut. Even then, the arm was not fully severed; the

through the hallway. The arm was hit straight on, and in an explosion of fire, blood, and bone, the lower arm of the Demon Lord was severed just below the

feathers burned despite her ethereal form when attacking the demon. Jake had already pulled out another arrow and was prepared to continue his attack when the Demon Lord once more erupted in crimson flames. The golden chains of the Fallen King rapidly melted away, and the demon

bones so durable

the case when the King was slammed in the chest, the barrier breaking, and the Fallen King being sent flying several kilometers down the hallway. The Sword Saint also failed to respond in time at one time when the large Demon Lord

It fought valiantly, but it was slower than any one of them besides Dina and the Fallen King, so it failed to do a lot of damage that Dina couldn’t quickly handle. The Sword Saint also managed to nullify many of the major fire attacks, though it did look like his own blows utilizing the concept of rain failed to do much. Nevertheless, the wounds accumulated on

thought it was. Sure, they had considered the Demon Lord

others momentarily retreat like always. Usually, when this happened, it just gave Jake time to charge up an attack, but this

it straightened its back

this body,” the Demon Lord said as it frowned deeply before turning to the five of them. “You are worthy

its one remaining hand, the Demon Lord stuck the sword into the ground, and a pentagram-shaped magic circle appeared beneath its feet. Jake reacted quickly and fired an arrow, but a red barrier covered the

the fuck? Jake cursed internally at the fucking thing just running away. He was about to yell at their host when a system message popped

earned: Defeat the Demon Lord during your

so at least they got a bunch of points for it.

we have gone all-out using boosting skills and everything?” he

work. That was a Demon Lord, after all,” Dina said,

Dina, with even Sylphie, who had landed on Jake’s shoulder, tilting her

she explained. “That is a Demon Lord, a very particular subspecies of the demon race. Demon Lords are notoriously difficult to kill, and they are even able to resurrect if slain. These are not true resurrections but more like their remnant energy regathers, and an entirely new creature with a new Truesoul is born in

similar to some of the fiction he used to read

may mean it has gained those levels itself. Demon

Its comment about its body being pathetic was likely genuine.

even if we killed this Demon Lord, it would only be temporary? That we would face

take at least a decade or so to resurrect, so probably not?” Dina said,

Lord is spawned, there will always be one more

is that you can’t really know how many

said, getting a nod from the Sword Saint and a screech of

quite a bit more permanent than usual,” the King shared. “As long as you shatter the soul enough, the regathering of energy should at least be slowed down enough for it to

let’s check what