The Primal Hunter

Jake hadn’t met many demons throughout his time in the multiverse. Even if they were a widespread and diverse race, he just hadn’t really run into many of them outside of the occasional enemy here and there. Outside of dungeons, Irin was the only one he really knew, and she was practically an entirely different species to the Demon Prince of the Fourth Hell.

He had mostly ashen skin with what looked like blue crackled lines across it. As if he had more mana in his body than it could contain. On his forehead was what looked like an amethyst crystal merged with his flesh, veins spreading out from it. The elaborate blue robe he wore was clearly not of poor quality, and overall, he radiated the aura of a rich young master. However, he clearly also had the power to back up his demeanor. The ones with him were four other demons who Jake guessed were from his party, meaning they all made it into the top 250.

Stopping in front of Jake, the Demon Prince smiled and reached out a hand. ”A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Chosen of the Malefic One. Rather than waste your time, let me get straight to it: I have come with an inquiry that I hope you might entertain.”

Jake didn’t reach and grab the other man’s hand right away as he asked. ”What kind of inquiry?”

Pulling back his hand, seemingly not at all offended, the Demon Prince smiled even more than before. ”How you might benefit from assisting us in bringing upon the second coming of the Cerulean Devil.”

… yeah, Jake had no idea who the fuck that was.

This was far from the first time someone walked up to Jake and dropped some kind of grand revelation while looking at him as if he should totally know what the fuck the other party was talking about. How in the hell – pun intended – would he know about some devil that he guessed based on context clues was dead?

Alright, think fast, Jake. Devil is the name demons give to their gods, so likely some dead devil who really liked a slightly off-blue color. Got it… and I guess it’s pretty easy to figure out how he wants me to help.

Keeping his calm, with a great assist from the mask, Jake looked deep in thought for a second. ”I wonder what the Demon Prince might have in mind.”

The demon observed Jake’s reaction for a moment before speaking.

”I guess my name would make things a bit clearer. I am known as the Cerulian Demon or the Demon Prince of the Fourth Hell. I have inherited a fragment of the Crystalized Cerulean Devil’s Heart and the Legacy of the once great ruler of the Fourth Hell,” the Demon Prince answered as he motioned toward the crystal on his forehead. ”All of this is no secret… neither is it a secret that the remaining fragments are not as potent as those that once were.”

”Am I right to assume you are not asking the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, but what people call the Harbinger of Primeval Origins?” Jake asked clarifyingly, already certain about the answer.

”A bit of both, I believe, but that will depend on if you are willing to take up the task and how you would be able to accomplish it. In either case, we, no, I, require your unique talents to do something we believed impossible and that I have cause to believe you may be capable of.”

”Let me take another guess, you want me to use my abilities on one of these Devil Heart Fragments to make it more powerful?” Jake also assumed.

”No… no, not quite; we may have our own methods to do that, even if they are likely more flawed than what you can accomplish,” the Demon Prince shook his head. ”What I want to ask of you is not to empower a fragment of the Crystalized Cerulean Devil’s Heart… it’s to create an entirely new, fully formed Crystalized Ceulean Demon Lord’s Heart using the Records of a fragment… my fragment.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed a bit. ”You want to create a Demon Lord’s Heart with the Records of this Cerulean Devil using that crystal in your forehead? That… sounds risky, to say the least.”

”Of that, I am fully aware. Usually, I also wouldn’t attempt such a thing, but this iteration of Nevermore has offered me a golden opportunity. I am certain you are aware of what this is,” the Demon Prince said as he summoned a familiar-looking item that Jake quickly Identified nearly on instinct.

of a Demon Lord. The immense energy contained within the crystal can be absorbed by any demon, allowing them insight into the heritage of Demon Lords. Grants demonic powers to any item

of these, yes? Or at least

slowly.

look at his heart. It’s pure. Untouched. So brimming with power and Records pertaining to no particular Demon Lord. Now, imagine if all this energy was aligned to the Cerulean

idea. In fact, it sounded quite feasible the more the demon talked about it, even if it remained incredibly risky. Moreover, based on what Jake heard, he wouldn’t even need to use his Jake Juice. Arcane energy should

approached Jake in particular. It truly hadn’t just been due to his talents as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins – even if that certainly did play a part. It had as much to do with Jake being the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, the greatest alchemist in the multiverse in the eyes of many. Plus, as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins, he had

also had to remember that the Demon Prince likely needed a C-grade to do the ritual. It was similar to how a B-grade blacksmith couldn’t craft weapons for a C-grade, their Records simply not making it possible. So if the

rarity above even that was bound to reward a shitload of experience and Records. Plus, it would be a positive diplomatically. And, finally, he did, of course, expect some form of payment. All of this naturally assumed

say you?” the Demon Prince asked after a few seconds,

will need to think it over a bit,” Jake said. ”At least if you don’t want me to

once more on your achievement, and I will be staying here in Nevermore City for a while after this ceremony. If you do accept the task, do be aware it’s time-sensitive in nature and I would much prefer for it to happen before you depart from Nevermore City. I will make sure to have

this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences

whether I accept or not before I just leave

than I could ask for,” the Demon Prince said with a

was definitely an interesting proposition, even if Jake had a few doubts… many of which were dispelled by what his brother told him next. ”If you are doubting if you can trust that demon, you definitely can. The Cerulean Demon is part of an old Lineage of very proud demons, and they value verbal contracts nearly as much as written ones.

to know an awful lot about

can I say? They are the best clients and wonderful assassins. Great work ethic all around, and they are one of the few races where the majority love paperwork,” his little brother said

Irin did seem a bit too happy with doing administrative

already prepared for the next group of people to approach. The ice elemental, Wintermaul, who had seemingly been waiting for his chance, was just about to make his way over after the Demon Prince left when someone else jumped ahead… someone the C-grade ice elemental would

at Jake as he took a step forward, and Jake’s

act around other Chosen of high-level gods. Was he supposed to act like they were the gods they represented? Villy talked about that often being the case… but he was also a Chosen, so maybe he should just treat them equally to himself as he

the dragon named Silverstorm smiled brightly and reached

said in a jovial tone. ”I have been hoping to finally get a chance to thank you! Ah, and it sure was wonderful to see you take the top spot on the All-Time Leaderboards! I cannot hope to begin to express the debts of my gratitude, my fellow

idea what the hell the guy was talking about. ”…

not. He would have remembered if he had. He was good at forgetting stuff in his spatial storage, but he tended to remember auras pretty damn well, and this definitely wasn’t an aura he had

said, still looking extremely happy to see Jake, even if he calmed down a bit. ”You’re the reason why I’m the newly selected Chosen of the Wyrmgod, and this little gathering is more or

out when or how the hell he caused that to happen… but luckily, the dragon quickly saw through his

Chosen candidates, waiting for our Patron to choose one of us,” he began before Jake subtly felt space around them seal off, as it was clear the other Chosen only wanted Jake to hear the next part. ”The thing is… and this part naturally shouldn’t be shared, my Patron is not the best at picking his Chosen. That’s not to say that he is bad when it comes to who he picks,

I am the reason you got chosen to be the Chosen,”

are required, recruiting more members, handling politics… all of the things we should not bother the Primordial with. We do all this to assure our Patron can focus on the

was beginning to understand as he wasn’t sure what to