Chapter 362 83.5 - Damsel?
?Rakshasa Form.
Rakshasa itself is a type of demon, and those who borrowed the power from demons could use it to some extent.
And now, standing before me, Danielle had utilized this, turning herself into a half-demon. It seemed she belonged to a branch of demons who had yet to establish a strong influence in the human domain.
"Grrr…."
She growled, looking at me. Her face now transformed, with her nails getting slightly wider and stronger.
'Inferior bitch. You, who can't achieve anything, can only borrow from low-life demons.'
My hatred ran deep. At that moment, I was hardly able to contain myself.
"Where are you?"
Yet, there was one thing that no one knew about me. The power that I had gotten from the very primordial of the race that she had relied on. It was ironic that this power was the very thing that had assisted me so far when it came to erasing its whole race.
Thanks to it, in the darkness, I reigned supreme. When there was no light, when it was night, I could reveal my true strength.
With my presence concealed thanks to [Shadowborne], I watched the inferior demon-contractor looking around, her teeth growling.
Now that she had activated her state, it must be getting hard for her to control herself. This state was only temporary, after all.
But, well, dealing with low lives is nothing hard for me, but at the same time, it is the only time that I can find solace in these feelings drowning me.
With a silent leap, I emerged from the shadows, my daggers poised for a deadly strike. The darkness cloaked my movements, concealing my presence until the very last moment.
SLASH!
My blades sliced through the air with lethal precision, aiming directly for Danielle's chest. The sudden attack caught her off guard, her growl turning into a gasp of pain as the daggers pierced through her flesh.
"Urgh!" Danielle's voice wavered with agony as blood spurted from the wound, staining her demonic form.
Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief, realization dawning upon her that she had underestimated me.
This was why I was waiting all the time.
To see this expression on her face.
To see surprise.
The demon contractors had one thing in common. They lacked strength and the necessary talent. They compensated for this by making a deal with demons, but at the end of the day, their inferiority remained the same.
This ate them inside, knowing that they would never be enough.
This woman was no different.
Since she was a demon contractor, since she made a deal with a demon, she was naturally bound to become inferior.
"It is interesting, isn't it?"
I mumbled.
"Come here!"
SWOOSH!
A slash of claws came from my side. Its speed was fast, probably faster than the current Ethan.
Shadow Leap.
But, I had once again blended into the shadows, erasing my presence.
SWOOSH!
Seeing her attack missing, the girl, who now became a lesser being, couldn't help but shout in frustration.
"Show yourself!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
She continuously attacked the empty air around her with her claws, and blades of aura flew all across the space.
Yet, the only thing I needed to do was to read the trajectory of the attacks and then evade them. It wasn't even hard for me with my [Perceptive Insight].
As her rampage attack ended, I readied myself.
SWOOSH!
I once again leaped out of the shadows with my daggers ready.
STAB!
The first stab was aimed right at her chest.
"Kurghk-!"
I intentionally revealed myself right before her face so that I could see the expression on her face.
TWIST!
As I twisted the dagger I stabbed, more and more blood poured from her mouth.
"How is it?" The question left my mouth. It was natural, as I was relishing this feeling. "Do I look stupid now?"
At first, I found it hard to understand. Why did people like these demon contractors always have this misconception that what is being revealed always needed to be true? Why did they put this importance on rankings?
Why couldn't they be careful about the fact that there could be someone who hid their strength? Was it that hard to understand?
But then, after observing people more, I came to the realization of why they thought so. People worked for recognition. They wanted the world to know that they were better. They deserved what they had; they deserved to be looked upon.
People wanted to feel like they were above others. Ironically, to achieve that feeling, they were dependent on the same people they wanted to feel like they were better than them.
Therefore, they thought everybody was like them. Everybody sought recognition like them. Thus, the idea of someone refusing that recognition despite having the capability couldn't cross their head.
This is what differentiates me from them and others. I don't live to see the recognition from people.
What I live for is something simple. It is for my revenge.
I live for my vengeance.
That vengeance is what drives me forward, what fuels me. Even if it also kills me inside, it also keeps me alive.
I love to see the despair on the face of my enemies. I want them to experience the same thing she felt. I want them to understand how it feels to be done the same thing.
I want their world to crumble right before their eyes as well.
"Urghk-!"
Danielle continued to cough blood with my dagger twisted.
THUD! But of course, being the cockroach inferior dogs they are, she couldn't help but grab me from my hand. The desire to live was evident in her eyes, but slowly but surely, something that hadn't been there before was making its appearance.
With a surge of demonic strength from her Rakshasa form, she managed to wrench the dagger out of her chest, the bloodied blade gleaming in the dim light.
I watched with a cold gaze as she lunged towards me, her claws extended and infused with dark energy. Threads of darkness snaked around her, manipulated by her demonic power, aiming to ensnare me in their grasp.
Yet, I easily detected her movements with my [Perceptive Insight], evading each attack with calculated precision. Her frustration grew evident as her strikes missed their mark, the threads of darkness dissipating into the air.
"Is that all you've got?" I taunted, my voice laced with disdain. "Pathetic."
Danielle's eyes burned with a mix of pain and fury as she realized her attacks were futile. With a primal snarl, she launched herself at me once again, desperation driving her movements.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't overcome the gap in strength between us.
I danced around her attacks effortlessly, my movements fluid and graceful, like a predator toying with its prey.
"Maybe I expected much from you. I even gave you the time to prepare yourself to get stronger, but you somehow even messed this up?"
I couldn't help but look at her with pity. If she hadn't targeted Irina, I was going to let her gain more influence in the demon-
contractor community so that I could get more information from her, but being inferior, being they are, she couldn't even do one thing properly.
Danielle's frustration reached its boiling point as she continued to face my relentless attacks. With each futile strike, her desperation grew, and the realization that nothing she did was working began to dawn on her. Bloodied and battered, she could feel the weight of impending death looming over her.
This is how the world worked. In the face of death, people who had things they needed to prove became weak.
It was the biggest fear of the living.
The death.
We all know we can't escape from it, we all know that at the end of the day, it will find us, yet we all live to prolong it as much as we can.
And once people like them face death, the fear in them will grow. They will look at you with fear, with despair.
Their eyes will show everything.
Same for Danielle.
"No!"
SLASH!
It attempted to attack me with a berserk strike, yet the only thing I needed to do was to hide in the shadows.
"Show yourself! Show yourself to me!"
It screamed, looking around with fear.
SLASH! It tried to find me, using everything she had. However, at the end of the day, just like every living being, when witnessing that everything was lost, it also fell into despair.
It fell onto her knees, its Rakshasa form disappearing.
Now, only her real body returned.
"Why? Why won't anything work?" she screamed, her voice filled with a mix of anguish and rage. "Why does it have to be me?"
I paused for a moment, my cold gaze meeting her desperate eyes. Despite the pain and fear evident in her expression, there was something else there—something deeper, something vulnerable.
"Why you?" I echoed, my voice dripping with contempt. "Because you're weak. Because you're inferior."
"Because you made a deal with 'demons.'"
Danielle's hands shook as she struggled to maintain her composure. The facade of confidence she had worn as a demon contractor was crumbling, revealing the terrified girl beneath.
"But... but I had a deal," she stammered, her voice trembling. "I had power."
"Heh…"
I chuckled darkly, the sound echoing in the dimly lit space. "Power? Do you call that power? Borrowing strength from demons, clinging to their scraps like a desperate animal. That's not power, Danielle. That's weakness."
Her eyes widened in disbelief, tears welling up as the harsh truth sank in. "No... no, it can't be. I... I'm not weak."
"No, you are. Both you and me. We are not that different."
I took a step closer, my daggers gleaming in the dim light.
"Do you know what is the real strength? The real strength is being able to fight even though the defeat is prominent so that the people you hold dear can live their lives. The real strength is such that you can sacrifice yourself so that the people you hold dear can see the next sunlight. The real strength is being able to smile even in the face of death, even if you fear, just so that the one you want to protect wouldn't feel burdened."
"This is the real strength."
"And beings like you are the ones who took such a strong person from me."
As Danielle's desperation reached its peak, she frantically scanned her surroundings, searching for anything that could save her from the inevitable.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she grasped at straws, her mind racing with fear and desperation.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something—
the unconscious body of a girl with red hair lying on the ground.
Recognition flashed in Danielle's eyes as she pieced together the puzzle.
I had come here to save that girl, to protect her from whatever danger she was in. In her eyes, that was the case.
With a desperate glimmer of hope, Danielle latched onto the only lifeline she could see. She stumbled towards the girl's body, her hands trembling as she reached out to grasp her, intending to use her as a hostage, as leverage to save herself from certain death.
"You lot are such pitiful creatures, after all."
But before she could even lay a hand on the unconscious girl, I had already seen through her desperate ploy. With swift and decisive action, I closed the distance between us in an instant, my hand piercing through Danielle's chest with deadly precision.
"Urghk-!"
Her eyes widened in shock and agony as she felt the searing pain of my hand tearing through her flesh, reaching for the core of her being.
"NOOOO!"
With a guttural scream of anguish, she realized the futility of her actions, the hopelessness of her situation.
"It is such a pity….But don't worry, you will make a fine meal for dogs."
I stared into her eyes with cold detachment, my grip tightening around her core as I crushed it mercilessly.
"AAAAAAARGHK!"
Her screams echoed through the darkness, a symphony of pain and despair as her life force ebbed away.
And then, in an instant, it was over. Danielle's lifeless body slumped to the ground, her eyes vacant and empty, her screams silenced forever.
As I stood over, I couldn't help but feel the emotions inside me calming down. Even though the aftertaste was empty, I now extinguished this fire for a while.
"Hmm...Astron?"
Yet, seemingly enough, a voice made me return to reality.
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