Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Eager to fight yet keeping the future challenges in mind, he leapt down, his smooth, chitinous armor clinking as he met the soft soil.

With a swipe of his hand, he pulled his helmet's mask down, assuming a blood-curdling demonic appearance as his fingers tightened around his short sword and observed the charging enemies.

Dust rose behind the boars as his heart pounded in his ears.

'Only five rushing my way? Well, I won't refuse five units of demonic essence!'

A chuckle escaped his lips as he crouched low.

Like a predator, his boots dug into the ground, and his tight muscles tensed.

WHOOSH

A whistling dark blur pierced the tranquil forest, and a silver light cleaved the wind the next second as he swung his arm at the first beast.

SPURT

Before the boar could understand what had transpired, its body separated into two perfect halves. A warm stream of thick demonic blood splattered, painting the ground scarlet as he already moved to the next target before the two cleaved halves collapsed to the ground.

In the same manner, he disposed of the other boars in the blink of an eye.

Then, he gathered the carcasses, leapt back, dropped them on the walls and sat at its edges. His eyes darted to his relaxed subjects and the forty-five other corpses as a pensive frown creased his brows.

'I want everyone to progress at the same time. But will they accept sharing... I guess I won't know before asking.'

He grinned and turned towards them, yelling his command.

"Take three carcasses each and absorb their essence! We progress as one!"

He clenched his teeth, noticing his subjects' lips twitch and brows knit.

Was he asking for too much after a short week? Were they still not ready to prioritise team play over personal gain?

He sighed, shaking his head and opening his mouth to change the distribution method.

However, hearty laughter reverberated before he could.

"Other lords would have absorbed ninety percent themselves and left us with scraps! Of course, we agree!"

Garduck raised his fist and roared, snuffing any discontent thoughts in the newly arrived asura's mind.

A warm smile curled onto his lips as the older subjects divided the carcasses with the others, prompting them to follow the example.

In this bizarre atmosphere unfitting for demons, they absorbed the demonic energy, netting them three additional demonic essence points before another notification resounded in his ears.

DING

[Congratulations on beating the first wave! Lords remaining: 390.523.223]

[The second wave will appear in one minute. Be ready!]

His eyes enlarged at the number of lords who had died at the hands of fifty weak demonic boars.

'How is it even possible?! Is Mimi ok? She should be with the goblin's rough wall I gave her and all the powerful amazon warriors she summoned.'

Worried for the kid after realising that fifty million lords perished, he opened his friend list and asked her.

[Mimi: Thank you for asking, big brother! I have almost three hundred big sisters protecting the walls, so don't worry about me!]

He sighed, his worries vanishing as he sent her a word of encouragement before focusing on the new creature walking out of the vortices.

A wave of disgust crashed over him at the sight of their muscular, bull-like bodies. But the unsettling detail was their long neck ending in an enormous skeletal head crowned with four long, curved horns.

Purple gas wafted with each breath they took, adding to their threatening appearance and lethality.

The noise of their hooves upturning the earth echoed the next second as they charged to the walls with ferocious shrieks.

'Shit! Catoblepas from African mythology!'

He recognised the danger they posed in a heartbeat and roared.

"Get down the walls and eviscerate these bastards before they contaminate our soils!"

Gritting his teeth, he blurred into action.

Much broader than the boars and trickier to fight because of their poisonous breath, he thought of a strategy to kill them in a single blow.

A steely glint flashing in his eyes, he threw himself to the ground.

Carried by his momentum, he slid under the charging demonic beasts, feeling their feet whoosh a few centimeters by his body and smelling the fresh scent of the earth as it flew to his helmet.

Without hesitation, he tensed his arms and held his sword upright, cleaving the stomach of each creature above him in a straight line.

SHRIEK

Agonising shrieks reverberated behind him as the sound of heavy bodies colliding with the ground engulfed the area. The smell of burning flesh followed as flames danced on a few's wounds after his weapon's enchantment activated.

But he had no time to waste on those details.

The wind battered his armor as he leapt on a catoblepas' back. His blade sparkled under the sun as the tip plunged mercilessly into its neck, ending another beast's life.

Before it could collapse, his tight muscles tensed, and he leapt to his next target.

Just like that, he killed ten alone before dragging their carcasses to the wall.

Then, he confirmed his subjects were unwounded and eager to continue before checking his notification to get the total.

[You and your subjects have defeated 50 Lvl2 boars. You have gained 100 experience points.]

[You and your subjects have defeated 80 Lvl6 catoblepas. You have gained 480 experience points.]

'The experience point isn't much, but that'll be five essence points per person.'

He grinned at the unexpected rewards, starting to enjoy the event and its fair design.

'The third wave's level won't be much higher, and we'll probably end the fifth with level 10 creatures or most lords will perish. Things will become harder for the extra ones, though.'

He crossed his arms over his chest, pondering what might come next.

'Will they pit us against tier two creatures on the tenth wave? Is that why they called it impossible?'

His heart drummed in his chest at the idea.

Yet, where everyone should have been worried, he felt eagerness for the free experience points and rewards. Still, a shadow of doubt darkened his bright mood.

'I hope they won't abuse and make them all bosses, or even worse... tier three creatures.'