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.

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 it is fused with. Can be

of these, yes? Or at least someone in your party does,” the demon

nodded slowly. ”I have

using a Demon Lord, which inadvertently leads to some of the Records of this particular Demon Lord to enter the crystalized heart. However, 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 Devil. No, not just the energy of this heart… the energy of several hearts, fused together with my fragment into

the 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 be more than good enough as long as he kept

Demon Prince had 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

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 Demon Prince wanted to craft this heart to be useable by a C-grade,

rarity above even that was bound to reward a shitload of experience and Records. Plus, it would be a positive

you?” the Demon Prince asked after

tentatively interested, but I will need to think it over a bit,” Jake said. ”At least if you don’t want me to just try and wing whatever ritual you are planning, more likely than not

to ask, and I will not take up any more of your time. Congratulations once more on your achievement, and I will be staying here in Nevermore City for a while after this

tale belongs on Royal

response whether I accept or not before I just

ask for,” the Demon Prince said with a small

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

know an awful lot about demons,” Jake

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 with a

Irin did seem a bit too

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

he moved through it effortlessly. He looked at Jake as he took a step forward, and Jake’s mind worked at high speeds as

him on how he should 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 wanted to? But then there was the issue of the grade disparity, so… yeah, fuck

Silverstorm smiled brightly and reached out to grab Jake’s hand

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

guy was talking about. ”… why would you want

remembered if he had. He was good at forgetting stuff in his spatial storage, but he

happy to see Jake, even if he calmed down a bit. ”You’re the reason why I’m the

had to search his memory to try and figure out when or how the hell he

for a long time and was one of a dozen or so 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

I’m still waiting for why I am the

and fulfilling our duties, such as handling the mortal affairs of Nevermore, gathering certain items that are required, recruiting more members, handling politics… all of the things we should not bother the

to understand as he