Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc 15] Ch.9 Demon dealing

[Alpha]

After I separated from my origin point, I slipped under the door behind him while windshifting so no one would notice.

Once in the next room I noticed the window was open and dove through it. I landed in the backyard and took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was reinvigorating even through the mask. I stretched my body from my shoulders to my tails. There were still plenty of monsters in the festering dungeon to keep them busy for a while, especially since they were respawning at an incredible rate.

The unique nature of festering dungeons in general was that they weren't fundamentally limited to the power a dungeon core could generate.

I wasn't going to be able to go halfsies on this. I pulled out my crystal wand. It was the shrunken down battle staff. Somehow before the rest of the party was overwhelmed, I was going to have to find the source of the dungeon and deal with it... it wasn't exactly something that could be left alone at this point.

Since nobody is around, I activated my demon eye and try to digest as much information as possible.

.

.

.

I see. So it is a demon Specter. His wrath is chilling. He's going to be an enemy to everyone. He'll reach out and consume the land around and go out of his way to attack the humans. Once he claimed enough land he may even grow to Pseudo "Demon lord" status and try to destroy the world. Of course, the templar would never let that happened. But if I don't nip this in the bud it is possible if may grow to a level where the Templar wouldn't even be able to destroy it.

Isn't this too much!

A higher ranked difficulty than what we signed up for.

So... why am I smiling?

Probably because it has been a while since I've been able to find something so new and dangerous.

I casually walked to the house. The door that closed off our escape was closed.

Ha.

With a flick of my wrist, I use magic to wretch the heavy back door from its frame.

Oops. That wasn't stealthy at all, someone will probably show up to stop me.

Good.

The building creaked with the battle upstairs and there was definitely some space magic in play since it was much larger inside than it was when we originally walked in.

From all sides I was besieged by undead. But with my uber wand they were as good as papier-mache. Simple wind magic blew away skeletons, ice magic froze the fleshy zombies, and magic spells glued the armor of the Dullahan together.

I made my way to the basement completely unobstructed.

I found the door to the basement and windshifted through the keyhole.

*

"Finally, I have the power. I will avenge the Demons massacred by those vermin humans. I will rip them from their pedestal and tear apart piece by piece." a ghastly specter of blazing red with black tattoos. His body was glowing and semi-transparent. His horns had grown larger with the power of the festering dungeon and his resentment empowering him. He had even grown to a towering nine feet tall.

HIs chest was bare to show off his muscles and his pants were a simple black design. He was barefoot as traditional Demons were to draw more power from the earth.

"Next I shall-" that was where his monologue ended.

I grabbed his horn as I flew past him and threw him into the ground creating a creator with his face.

I squatted down and peeled him out of the fitted cobblestone foundation. I pulled the mask off my face showing my Chelsey grin and smiled as wide as Chess with my fangs and nearly all my teeth on full display.

"'Ello poppet." I hissed, unable to hide a sadistic gleam in my eye.

"How can you-"

"-Hurt a ghost?" I threw him into a dungeon door, it was heavy wood with a small window that was sealed with steel bars. "Like this."

This basement was no better than a dungeon. It sported a long hallway made longer with magic and lined with heavy doors. It was dark with only the odd torch lighting the dark every so often. The floor sloped downward as if down into hell itself.

"So... what is the game here, Jack? What is it that you desire?" I kicked him in the solar plexus and just managed to break the door and embedded him in the wall on the opposite side of the small room.

"I will have my vengeance!" he shouted as he pulled himself out of the wall.

"Against who?" My wand glowed. "Who do you hate?"

"Everyone!" He lashed out clawing for me as he flew from the room. I caught it and flipped him behind me and with the power of the wand I blasted him threw the heavy prison door and wall on the other side of the dungeon hallway.

"That doesn't help me much, who bears the full weight of your hatred, who do you hate more than everybody else. Who would you sacrifice your immortal soul to strike down? Give me a name, a god, a country!" I kicked a piece of rubble out of the way. "Strike a deal with me, and maybe I can help you. You are angry with the humans of the My'killia Theocrasy, right?"

"All humans are my enemy!" He threw a punch from the door. I stopped it with my wand as if it were nothing but a leaf in the wind I happened to catch.

I pulled off my hood. "Do I look human?" I flicked his fist away and used the wand to point to my scared face. "Do you think I did this to myself?"

... okay I did, but it's magical cosmetics.

"If you were my ally, why would you stop me?" The demon spirit breathed fire and it engulfed the whole hallway.

When he was done, I stood there unharmed. Mastering foxfire to the degree I had gave me near immunity to all but the hottest of fires. "I'm not trying to stop you. I just want to point you in the right direction. Besides, you wouldn't strike a deal with someone obviously weaker than you. Would you?" I hovered the wand above my hand and made it spin.

"The human who owned this residence has already been punished, but we both know he was greedy scum." I spun the wand on my hand. "And the people that live nearest here, well... they are merchants. Are they worth fixating on when your enemies are across the sea living peacefully?"

The demon roared in frustration. It shook the ground underneath me and probably for a mile in every direction.

"Fine... you have my attention, Fox." the demon spat. "I want vengeance against the My'killia Humans, especially the armored monsters they created from dwarf sweat. They must be destroyed. They will pay for destroying my home."

"Good, I already have a price in mind." I smiled.

*