The Primal Hunter

“Now.”

Instantly, their entire party shifted their movements. The Sword Saint retreated back as Sylphie summoned a tornado that completely sealed the movements of the sword. At the same time, roots appeared from below and slithered up the legs of the boss as the Fallen King threw out two chains, catching both arms of the Demon Lord. In an instant, the boss had its movement entirely sealed. They all knew he could break out within a second… but they wouldn’t give him a second.

Jake dismissed his bow as he used One Step and appeared right in front of the boss, both katars already out. Eternal Hunger stabbed forward against the otherwise impenetrable armor, but the expected did not happen. He felt the surprise of the Demon Lord as the katar managed to penetrate the armor by several centimeters. It was only now that the boss noticed what Jake had been doing. The spot he had used Touch of the Malefic Viper on during their one-versus-one had turned into an even darker shade than anywhere else, and his repeated poisoned arrow had only made it worse. Jake had used a type of poison he hadn’t really ever used before:

Corrosive poison.

Ever-so-slowly, Jake had made that spot of the armor brittle and weak. Weak enough for his weapons to penetrate through. For a brief moment, Jake made eye contact with the Demon Lord as he flashed a smile and punched with the other hand with the Blackpoint Blade, pouring in all of his Hunting Momentum. The katar shot forward with his full power as a huge section of armor shattered, the blade penetrating all the way to the handle.

Not done yet.

The enchantment of the Blackpoint Blade activated as an explosion resounded within the armor, sending blood and metal flying, Jake having just opened a bucket-sized hole in the Demon Lord’s chest and sending cracks forming all across the armor. What’s more… Jake was just the armor-breaker.

Pulling his katar out of the demon’s body, Jake ducked as an old man materialized right behind him, a hand on the handle of his sword, ready to draw. His entire aura began to change as a pressure descended upon the half-ruined throne room, one that even gave Jake pause and reminded him of the duel he had with the Sword Saint way back in the Treasure Hunt.

And like back then, the old man also began to change. His features softened, his hair grew, and his muscles got toned as his entire body was revitalized. In an instant, the Sword Saint had gone from an old man to someone in his prime, and in that same instant, he drew his blade.

“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

Jake felt the flash pass over him as the entire world seemed to freeze for a moment. There was no big explosion but simply a slash that left wayward raindrops in its wake. The second the swing was over, the Sword Saint rapidly aged, returning to normal.

In the distance, a loud crack was heard. Two of the massive pillars in front of them began to fall apart once more as a fine line had been cut straight through them, and just as Jake heard the crack, he was hit by a shower of blood from the Demon Lord.

Then, he saw the top part of the torso begin to slowly slide to one side. With the armor of the Demon Lord broken and his movements still sealed, the boss had been utterly incapable of defending himself, resulting in him being bisected right above his stomach. Even the arms had a deep cut into the armor, though even the Transcendent skill had failed to fully cut through, truly showing how utterly ridiculous the armor was.

However, even as the fight seemed over, Jake did not let his guard down. None of them did. Because they still hadn’t gotten any notification.

The shining red flames in the Demon Lord’s eyes had been extinguished, but Jake still felt power radiate from his body.

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched, using the golden mark as Jake’s eyes opened wide. Luckily for them, they had all spent enough time with her to know what her warning meant as they, in concert, retreated from the” corpse” of the Demon Lord.

From afar, the sword of the Demon Lord pierced through one of the pillars as it shot straight for the boss. It slammed down onto the corpse, releasing a massive explosion. Fire bathed the entire room as Dina put up a defensive barrier, with Jake staring through the flames to see what was happening.

He saw the sword stab straight into the armor as it began melting and getting absorbed by the sword. The metal crown also began to shine brightly as it floated up and merged with the handle. Within less than a second, the entire armor was reduced to nothing, and the only thing left was the Demon Lord’s body which swiftly turned to an odd red energy that was promptly dragged into the handle, where a red gem appeared, looking eerily like an eye. Coupled with the already absorbed energy from the broken Heart of the Demon Lord, every single artifact had now combined.

More than that, the merged sword now gave off the aura of the Demon Lord. However, it was far weaker, and Jake instantly knew what was about to happen as arcane mana began to gather in his hands.

stronger than ever!” the voice of the Demon Lord echoed from the sword as a magic

his voice infused with the Willpower and Pride of the Malefic Viper

was not the

the Fallen King, that one aimed at the sword

boss screamed as the teleportation circle was utterly broken apart. The sword was also slightly destabilized, but it seemed that even if teleportation was not an option, the Demon Lord refused to surrender. Shooting upwards, the sword tried to escape, but this was when Dina’s move to not allow the castle

through. Dina also made it even harder as she sent forth an army of vines trying to snatch up the merged artifact, with Sylphie easily catching up

chains using one hand and created a barrier all around it with the other. The Demon Lord within the sword seemed to realize escape was not possible

down to the ground with the sealed-in sword, the Demon Lord could still

body has regenerated through my innate power as a Demon Lord, your lives shall

Jake asked while walking forward with Eternal Hunger in

mid-combat due to how long it took and how the weapon required a period to stabilize, but with the sealed Demon Lord, that wasn't an issue. He allowed it to turn all smudgy, looking almost

that our next encounter will truly be our last,” the Demon Lord semi-threatened,

we will,” Jake smiled as he looked at the Fallen

make a strategy for what would happen when the Demon Lord” died.” They knew some energy would remain,

any energy it could, the curse never able to be truly sated. Considering it also consumed the souls of those killed, it was the perfect weapon to truly

was something no one truly knew how to control or manipulate. All they knew was that given enough time, a new Demon Lord would spawn somewhere in the relative vicinity of where one died. Sometimes it was as far away as on the other side of a planet, and other times it would be right where the original died. With this knowledge, it was only natural

somewhere else before using some special method unique to him to reforge his body. A good plan that had only failed to take into account that the party he faced had a Unique Lifeform specialized in soul magic and Jake wielding his

with keeping it sealed in his stead. Golden light erupted as a

extinguish my soul!? You will

a powerful artifact, making Jake’s Alchemical Flame useless as that only worked on passive objects. The Fallen King truly would lose the battle of attrition as the Demon Lord could consume energy to fight off the Unique Lifeform

using the Demon Lord’s sword as a mold. Dark energy began to emanate from the mythical

he knew he could do it. He did not even hear when the Demon Lord taunted him as he truly connected himself to Eternal Hunger.

At first, it was an undefined mass of pure curse energy, but it soon gathered and took shape as his Eternal Shadow manifested. In the real world, his entire body momentarily gave off curse energy as his figure was superimposed with the Eternal

shifted before it turned into black energy that drilled into the blade through Eternal

told you, tha- WHAT

and began to emanate dark smoke as the red light in the gem faded. Cracks formed all over the merged artifact, and all Jake heard was the echoing screams of the Demon Lord within his mind as the entire sword shattered, broken pieces of metal devoid of energy falling to the

270] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy

[Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level

reached level 218

[Human (C)] has reached level

Jake stood

need my

the mythical

disaster waiting to happen. I felt the pure gluttony emanating from it.

asked, getting a nod from Jake. ”My grandfather spoke of them. They are rare and powerful but often avoided due to their tendency to negatively influence the wielder. But… I have never heard of one taking on a human shape like that. Another trait they tend