Demonic Devourer's Development

"Aegis!" the woman exclaimed, and waved her sleeve. A gleaming green sphere surrounded her that instant, and my wind blades shattered on its transparent surface.

The woman met my eyes and smiled with cold arrogance. "Celestial Might," she said, this time slowly and deliberately. The next moment, I was thrown back into the barrier that surrounded this place by a blast of force that came from her.

Her appearance changed in an instant. Her entire figure was radiating green light, so bright that it made me squint. That light was blazing-bright in her eyes, completely hiding her iris and pupils, leaving only the green. The tight updo she wore broke and her hair floated in the air on the waves of that power. Behind her back, the green light became a solid thing, forming three pairs of feathered wings that lifted her a meter off the ground.

After the initial blast, the pressure that came from the woman diminished enough that I could stand back on my feet, but it was still strong enough for me to feel it on my skin, like a gravity pushing me away from her.

While I stood up, the woman studied me with contempt on her face.

"They say that the Twelve had to unite their forces to take you down when you were at the top of your power, but now you are just a shadow of your former self, Devourer. Even some middle-rank Heaven official like me can deflect that attack with ease. I'm curious to find out, though, what exactly was it. It seems to be an upgraded version of magic attacks innate to male Frost Griffins."

Instead of confirming or refuting this notion, I snarled. The world around me cleared and slowed as my 'Steel Soul' skill kicked in. I was going to fight to the limits of my body and soul, and defeat that woman at any cost. Even the strongest opponents—and she was certainly one of them—had their weaknesses.

First, I needed to find them. 'Pest, did she just used a spell or something?'

'Looks like it. That 'Celestial Might' thing is probably a buff. But what does it matter? She will kick your ass anyway, and I'm doomed to die here, too!' Pest wailed.

'Don't whine if you have nothing useful to say,' I barked at him and glared at the celestial.

If her power came from magic—probably gifted by the Twelve Bastards the same way they gifted power to adventurers—then I had best chances of victory if I went to fight her in close quarters. There, my orichalcum armour will at least weaken her spells. It will also give me a better chance of interrupting them. But even getting closer to her would be a problem.

I had another advantage on my side, though. This woman appeared to not see me as much of a danger. Either she was too arrogant, or very assured of her might. I was ready to bet on some combination of the two. It was definitely true that she wasn't weak.

Even now, she didn't hurry to attack, instead just watching me from above, as if waiting for me to make a move. Well, I could fly too.

My wings unfurled from my back, and I flapped them with all the speed I could, creating the loud buzzing that was my plague before I learnt how to flap them slower and still fly with the same speed. Right now, though, it was a gesture of anger and intimidation.

I flew straight at the celestial, giving her no reason to think that I had more brains in me than any other brute. My four sets of wind claws were ready to rip and tear, as were my teeth. Spells were one thing I couldn't eat, but their solid embodiments, like that shield of hers, were within the reach of my ability.

She responded to it by raising a hand. Her mouth opened, but I didn't wait for her to finish saying whatever she wanted to say and jerked to the side. The woman shifted her aim, but I could zigzag fast, and there was only so much distance between her and me.

I reached the golden shield and hit it with all my claws at once, feeling great satisfaction in the way it wobbled. I opened my mouth for a good bite, too, but before I could do that, the celestial dropped her hand.

"Thunder Call!"

The end of the phrase drowned in an ear-splitting rumble of thunder. The wave of sound was a physical thing—it hit me like a truck, throwing me into the dust and making my entire body quiver like a piece of jello.

"You are like an annoying fly. Were my specimens delicious? What about my laboratory? My notes?" The woman tsked and pointed a finger at me. "Entangling Vines!"

I forced myself to ignore the small quivers that were still running from me—they weren't dangerous, just unpleasant—and jumped away from a dozen of vines that grew out of the rocky barren ground to latch at me.

One caught at my leg and I cut it off with a wind blade, but it gave another time to curl around my arm. I had three other arms to free that one, but at that time, two more vines coiled around my ankles. This was a futile strategy.

So I let my body turn into a gooey puddle and simply crawled away from the vines while they fruitlessly tried to entangle me in their coils. Fierce joy spread in my chest. I won that round, though the enemy was still far from dead…

"A spontaneous transformation! How interesting. Oh, now I just can't pass on a chance to study you. Of course, after I catch you. Hm… how about…"

At a safe distance from the vines, I morphed back into something with limbs, but was too late to stop the woman from what she said next, and too late to avoid her aim.

"Hold."