The Primal Hunter

Needless to say, Jake’s question made the entire situation quite tense as he looked at the Second Mistress. She was taken aback and stared at Jake for several seconds, clearly not having expected him to find out.

The moment he had entered the residence of the Second Mistress, he had felt the familiar mana signature of the container with the Secret Scroll inside. Considering the Fallen King had made it clear the Guard Captain still had one, it wasn’t hard to figure out this was the “missing” scroll.

It took her a moment, but the Second Mistress collected herself and sighed. “Why hide it? Why would I not? Would you have helped bring the Prime Consort to me and assist in slaying the Demon Lord if I didn’t have anything to offer?”

“Probably,” Jake shrugged.

She seemed taken aback by his answer. “Why?”

“Why not?” Jake asked. Doing that was bound to give a better achievement, so helping her out only made sense in his head. Of course, she didn’t know about achievements, so maybe it made sense in her mind to keep it a secret for now.

“Why would the Prime Consort give it to you?” the Sword Saint asked. “From my understanding, you were not allies.”

“We are most certainly not. No, she gave it to me because I am not allied with the First Mistress. Or, well, I wasn’t allied with her. The Prime Consort said that she hoped it would foster trust… in reality, I believe she knew I had a distaste for the Demon Lord, and she knew I would never hand a scroll that would empower him to anyone.”

“I see,” the old man nodded, looking to be deep in thought.

The Second Mistress clenched her fists and looked at the Prime Consort. “If you let me kill her… you can have the scroll, and I will even show you how to unlock the containers for when you get the last one from the Guard Captain.”

“Now, wait a second here,” Jake said as he wanted to understand what was going on with all the Mistresses. He looked at all of them for a second as he questioned them. “Nobody gonna protest someone wanting to kill the Prime Consort?”

“Why would we?” a woman smiled. Jake Identified her and saw it was the First Mistress.

[First Mistress – lvl 264]

“She used to be your leader?” Jake questioned.

“That lunatic has needed to go for a long time,” the First Mistress said with disdain, the other Mistresses all nodding. “Also, if it helps hubby, why would we not want that?”

Jake didn’t need to question who “hubby” was as he threw the Sword Saint a glance.

The old man looked at the Prime Consort as he questioned the Second Mistress. “Will killing her like this be wise? Are you certain we do not need her for the Secret Scrolls in any way or see if she knows any other big secrets? Such as what the Secret Scrolls are used for? Jake told us that she said they were created to weaken the Demon Lord in case the Prime Consort lost control of him like you told us before.”

Jake was about to protest that she had also said they could be used to empower him, but he quickly realized what the Sword Saint was doing. He wanted to see if she knew and, if she did know, would share the full truth with them.

“That is one of their uses, yes,” the Second Mistress said. “The other is to empower the Demon Lord’s artifacts. I don’t know why they hold both functions, but the weakening aspect was added later.”

“I see,” the Sword Saint nodded.

Alright, so she does tell some truths, Jake quickly noted.

“Ugh,” he heard a sound from in front of him as the Prime Consort groaned. Jake quickly knelt down and used Touch to give her another rush of alcohol, buying them some time.

“So?” the Second Mistress asked. “Only the Prime Consort, I, and the Guard Captain know how to open the containers with the Secret Scrolls, and as I said, I will teach you how if you give her to me.”

“Well, you three and me,” Jake shrugged, getting looks. “What? She taught me. Not voluntarily, but she opened it right in front of me.”

“Just because you saw her open it once doesn’t mean you can replicate the process,” the Second Mistress protested.

“Pretty sure I can,” Jake said with a high level of confidence.

“So, what are the thoughts of everyone on this?” the Sword Saint asked. “I believe handing the Prime Consort to the Second Mistress will be fine. We don’t need the Prime Consort, and having found the final scroll, we don’t really need to stay here much longer. Fallen King, I would say it was about time you got everything handled on your end and brought back the scroll from the Guard Captain.”

“Sure he will be enough on his own?” Jake questioned. The Guard Captain was supposed to be pretty strong and finding somewhere to kill him…

“Do you question my abilities?” the Fallen King said, offended. “I am ready at any point. Besides getting rid of the Guard Captain, we only have one more loose end… who was the demon we met when we first entered this floor? The one who knew about the Secret Scrolls and offered to translate them?”

“I… had completely forgotten about that guy,” Jake admitted. The full-on NPC energy that the old demon had displayed made him utterly forgettable, but on second thought, he was set up to matter on this floor…

“That is a good question. I did ask the Mistresses, and no one knew about him,” the Sword Saint shared.

“The Second Mistress didn’t either… and I think she was telling the truth then,” Dina chimed in.

“Ree,” Sylphie added. The wind didn’t know either.

“Alright, we can go check out that old house while the King handles his business with the Guard Captain then. Are we all happy moving on quickly and just getting this place done with?”

Affirmatives all around.

“Great. Let’s go then.”

“Very well, we agree. Bring us the Secret Scroll,” the Sword Saint said to the Second Mistress.

She hesitated only for a moment before she nodded and went inside her house. Dina had walked over to Jake during this and asked to see Secret Scroll he had gotten from the Prime Consort. The druid read it and nodded.

“Yeah, this is pretty simple. We wouldn’t ever need a translator for this,” she said.

Which again just made it weird the demon offered to translate.

Soon after, the Second Mistress brought them their Secret Scroll. Jake was allowed to get a shot at opening it but was warned that the scroll inside would be destroyed if he failed three times.

He only needed one attempt.

With two scrolls in the bag, they only needed the Fallen King to get the final one, and then it was on to finally face the Demon Lord. In the meanwhile, they allowed the Second Mistress to drag the still unconscious Prime Consort away, quite a few of the other Mistresses also going along. Probably because the Sword Saint followed.

Jake would go check in on this old demon who originally wanted the Secret Scrolls to see what was up with that, just to wrap up all loose ends. On his way there, he got a notification.

Achievement earned: Allow the Second Mistress to get her revenge on the Prime Consort, fully earning her support. 300 Nevermore Points earned.

Nodding, Jake didn’t really feel anything. She had tried to do some fucked up ritual on him, and she had only gotten her just desserts. Now all they needed was for the Fallen King to get done enjoying his time with the Guard Captain.

“You are certain that the reports came from here, vice-captain?” the large demon wearing his full plate armor asked.

“The reports were quite clear,” the Fallen King insisted. “The rebels have all met here and prepared to launch an attack on the Third Mistress when she returns. This is a prime opportunity to strike at them while they least expect it.”

Floating forward, the Fallen King identified the man he was following.

[Guard Captain – lvl 265]

“Good thinking, keep up the good work,” the Guard Captain said as they entered the gate leading into the Third Residence. Walking through the fog, the gate closed behind them as they properly entered the room.

“They are well hidden,” the Guard Captain said with suspicion. “And where are all the usual guards and Courtesans?”

The Fallen King did not answer. Instead, his claw began glowing golden as he lunged forward. The Guard Captain was taken by surprise and failed to respond as his back was ripped up, and the demon was launched across the entire empty room, smashing into a wall.

An explosion erupted soon after as the demon tore himself off the wall.

“How dare you,” he yelled from across the room, his voice infused with Willpower. “To betray the great Demon Lord…”

The Fallen King saw no more need for words. Instead, he condensed a wave of force and sent it toward the Guard Captain. He responded by taking out a shield and blocking the blow but still found himself blasted back.

One challenge the Fallen King had when fighting with a party was his control. He had never needed to care particularly much about collateral damage, but when fighting with others, things were not as simple. A large-scale blast would hit indiscriminately, so he had to communicate and try and limit the scope of his blows. Having spent so many years not caring, it took time to adapt… and he certainly didn’t complain when he got a chance to go all out.

Golden lines appeared all across his body as the Fallen King activated his boosting skill. Power erupted from his body as the Guard Captain seemed taken back.

“You-“

The King took advantage of his surprise as a blast of force hit the man’s shield, sending him back into the wall for a third time. Grasping, he pulled on the wall itself as it began to collapse down on the demon, but the armored Guard Captain managed to quickly get free.

Only to be hit once more by a telekinetic blast.

These rooms had a perfect size for the Fallen King. Not too large or too small, meaning he could keep his opponent constantly within his effective range while still not allowing the melee-specialized Guard Captain to get close.

“For your betrayal…” the demon yelled as he landed. “I sentence you to death.”

The Guard Captain also went all-out as his body bulked up. He stepped down as he practically teleported across the entire room, appearing nearly right in front of the Fallen King, his sword already mid-swing.

It hit nothing.

He had been just a single meter short and looked confused as a golden claw hit him in the face, sending blood spraying.

I expected more damage, the Fallen King said, assessing that the Guard Captain had barely been damaged despite the direct hit. His body was tough. Tougher than the Demon Lord that they had fought in the hallway. Luckily, his soul was… pathetic. So easily confused and muddled with.

Learning of control from the Nevermore party was not just about controlling his magic. It was also about how much others relied on it. The Fallen King never needed to care much about being overly accurate, and most of the melee attacks he used had at least an optional long-range aspect. These warriors, like the Guard Captain, needed to be far more accurate with everything they did.

A single meter seemed like a lot, but when they all moved at speeds able to cross hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, it suddenly became a distance that could make a significant difference. Distorting the reality others perceived through soul magic was difficult, but the Fallen King could slightly nudge it with these low-Perception creatures. To make a single meter look like two was difficult, especially if he didn’t want the other person to instantly notice. But to make a kilometer look like nine-hundred and ninety-nine meters? That was doable.

The Guard Captain was the test subject, and the King was pleased as he continued his assault. Golden claws, constructs, and blasts sent him repeatedly flying like a ragdoll as he never quite managed to land a hit. His durability was high, but his attacks were limited, and what hits the Guard Captain did manage to hit were expected blows the barrier perfectly blocked.

Ultimately, it was a slaughter. The mighty Guard Captain, an individual that was by many hailed as the most powerful fighter on the floor, was killed without barely being able to fight back in a long and drawn-out beatdown.

Nearly half an hour later, the Fallen King found himself standing within a large ruin. All the houses were utterly destroyed, and the walls were filled with holes. On the ground before him was the Guard Captain, his armor distorted and broken, his body in even greater ruin.

“The Demon Lord… will avenge me,” he muttered.

“Let us hope he will try,”the Fallen King said before a golden blast removed the demon’s head.

With his death, the Fallen King got a seal to unlock the Guard Captain’s Vault. Making his way back to the main office of the guards, the King greeted the guards like usual and went straight for the Guard Captain’s office, where he opened the vault, which only had the scroll container in it.

“I am done with my part, making my way to you now,” the Fallen King sent toward the rest of the party. While the Guard Captain had been a good test dummy, the King was far from satisfied. Nevermore had been too easy so far, and he hoped the Demon Lord could finally offer a proper challenge.

The old demon was gone when Jake got to the residence they had first entered the floor on. In his stead was a letter informing Jake that he had found a secret entrance into the Demon Lord’s castle and would be waiting just inside. In other words, he was a reused character that they would meet again on the next floor.

As for what his deal was… well, Jake would guess he was there for one of two reasons. One was to have a person that could help them if they got “stuck” with anything, such as opening the scroll containers or just reading the scrolls, but the other purpose was quite a bit more interesting:

He was sent there by the Demon Lord to get the scrolls to help empower the artifacts.

That kind of made sense to Jake. If the Demon Lord knew the Prime Consort was not really loyal, Jake could see him send someone, and it also explained how the old demon suddenly found a “secret entrance.” Because that was complete bullshit.

After having confirmed the demon was gone, Jake made his way back to the residence of the Second Mistress and regrouped with everyone. Shortly after, the Fallen King also returned with the final Secret Scroll in hand. Well, it was still in its container, but Jake got that opened in a jiffy. Once he took out the final scroll, they all got a notification.

Bonus Objective Completed: All Secret Scrolls found. 250 Nevermore Points earned.

“Not exactly a lot of points for all three scrolls,” Jake commented. “Especially not considering all the trouble we went through to get them.”

“It is as expected. Their true value lies on the next floor, not on this,” the Sword Saint said.

“True,” Jake nodded. “But still… a lot of trouble.”

On a side note, none of the Mistresses seemed to even notice what they were talking about. It was as if the mention of “points” and “floors” wasn’t even being said. It appeared that no matter how human, they still fell before the mighty NPC concept.

“With all the scrolls gathered… it is time to take down the Demon Lord,” the Second Mistress said. All nine Mistresses were now gathered, and they all seemed in agreement as they stood around the Sword Saint.

“Please allow us to assist you in this final-“

“No,” Jake shut her down right away. “The Demon Lord is ours and ours alone.”

“Please, even with the artifacts sabotaged, it will not be an easy fight. Gubrothas will have grown stronger since you last fought him. You may not win a second time,” the Second Mistress pleaded.

“Still no,” Jake shook his head.

“Are you certain?” the First Mistress asked. Not Jake, mind you. She looked at the Sword Saint. “While I do have confidence you will win, I do not wish to see you hurt.”

“There are some things a man must do, and this is one of them,” the Sword Saint said as he smiled at her. “Do not worry about me.”

Her face turned red as she nodded. “I shall believe in you then.”

“We all will,” the Third Mistress said with a radiant smile as all the Mistresses joined in on encouraging him.

Jake didn’t want to say how the “things a man must do” didn’t make sense with Sylphie and Dina on the team, mainly because he didn’t want to waste any time getting to what mattered.

“Give me the seal to unlock the Demon Lord’s castle,” Jake told the Second Mistress.

She seemed reluctant but still nodded. “I will entrust it all to you, then. Should you fail… we are all doomed.”

The Second Mistress handed Jake the seal the Prime Consort had been carrying that allowed opening the door forward. The second Jake had it in hand, he spoke to the group.

“Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched as she flew over and landed on Jake’s shoulder. She waved goodbye to all the Mistresses with her wing as Jake began heading out. The Sword Saint said goodbye to all his Mistresses and followed after, with Dina and the Fallen quietly following.

Jake wouldn’t lie… he was glad the floor was over, and his relief when they made it to the giant red gate leading to the Demon Lord’s castle was palpable as they were finally done and could move on to something far more fun.

Fighting a – hopefully – proper boss.