Point-of-View: Acedia

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Hm, all that said, the only reason I was able to kill the first one so easily was because he was caught off-guard, and I dealt the fatal blow before he could regain his bearings and composure.

But this one is looking a lot more cautious and wary, he seems to be searching for an opening to flee.

I cannot allow that to happen.

My Lord will not be pleased if I allow an enemy to escape...and killing two Archdemons is sure to please him, so I shall ensure that this Archdemon dies as well.

"[D-Demonic Art-...]...what the...?!" He blurted out as I shot towards him, a look of panic in his eyes before he quickly flew away, firing out pressurized bursts of Negative Energy from his feet to propel himself through the air with more speed.

Hm, he is faster than I am. As I thought, besides being unable to use Demonic Arts, he is otherwise rather minimally hindered by the effect of Shuffle.

Still, while he is faster, he is completely focused on fleeing, simply trying to get away as quickly as possible. He is steadily expanding the gap between us...but he is not paying any attention to me.

I took aim as I concentrated lightning into my hands, before firing it out in a pair of rapid lightning bolts, a startled yell of pain ringing out as my lightning burst through the middle of his wings.

He nearly plummeted before swaying through the air unstably, starting to regain his balance as his wings regenerated, before stiffening and spinning around in alarm as I closed in on him from behind.

He formed a blade of Negative Energy and whipped it across at my head, before letting out a sharp gasp as I coated my left hand in lightning and swung it across, canceling out the Negative Energy blade before searing his hand as the back of my knuckles collided against it.

He began to fly back as Negative Energy swirled around him, before tensing as I grabbed his leg with my tail and pulled him back towards me, clasping my hand around his throat, a stuttering yell ringing out as I channeled lightning through my hand, my claws digging into the sides of his neck as I tightened my grip, the Negative Energy around him dissipating.

"<And now, while you are unable to move...>," I uttered, before driving my other hand towards the middle of his torso, my claws piercing through his skin and tearing into his flesh.

I grasped his Core as my hand reached it, before he seized up sharply as I crushed it inside his body and killed him.

I pulled my hand back out as he went limp, letting him plummet down. I let out a slow exhale as he hit the ground with a loud thud, puffs of dust rising up around his corpse.

There, two Archdemons dead. My Lord should be quite pleased by this, perhaps I could request a bit of extra time to rest.

These two Archdemons were not particularly noteworthy, but given time, they could have become genuine threats.

I should also consider the fact that neither of them were able to use their Demonic Arts after I swapped their bodies...perhaps they possessed Demonic Arts powerful enough to make them more a threat, had they been able to use them.

Now, then, I ought to head back and let my Lord know about this. And then, I can rest...

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Point-of-View: Ira

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It seems like there aren't any high-ranked members of the Demon Lord's forces here, what a shame. I had been hoping I would run into at least one of them.

Well, no matter, I am bound to get an opportunity soon. For right now, I shall focus on wrapping this up...

I hopped back as a petrifying beam came shooting towards me, weaving back through the area as the beam chased after me, staying out of its reach.

I was facing a Basilisk, the last remaining Monster in the area I had been assigned to target, a massive snake Monster with gleaming black scales, deadly venom dripping off its fangs, and possessed the ability to unleash petrifying beams from its eyes.

I had been sent to a swamp that had been full of Hypnoserpents and a few Basilisks, it was quite a numerous infestation.

But most of the Basilisks were juveniles, so I was able to dispatch them with relative ease. The fact that they were juveniles means that they were born as Basilisks, instead of evolving from Hypnoserpents.

For some reason, when the higher-evolved species in an evolutionary cycle reproduce, their offspring are not as powerful.

For example, in this case, Basilisks conceived by Basilisk parents are weaker than Basilisks that evolved from Hypnoserpents.

If I remember correctly, I believe the Chief said that, in his world, Hypnoserpents are categorized as Mid Level Monsters, while Basilisks are Critical Level Monsters.

The other categorizations are Low Level, High Level and Calamity Level, I believe he said. If evolved Basilisks are Critical Level, then conceived Basilisks are likely somewhere between High and Critical Level, either at the upper end of High Level or barely at the threshold of Critical Level.

This applies to almost all Monsters, with a few exceptions like the Ants and Taratects, which have Queens whose sole purpose for existing is reproduction.

Excluding those exceptions, with other types of Monsters, the higher evolved forms have much lower reproductive rates than their lower evolved counterparts.

For instance, Lesser Demons reproduce quite frequently, while Demons reproduce at a slower rate, Greater Demons even slower, and Archdemons rarely ever reproduce.

Archdemons and Dragons in particular, due to their high intelligence, hardly ever even bother attempting copulation for reproductive purposes, since not only are the chances of success in conception extremely low, but their offspring would be much weaker than Archdemons that evolved from Lesser Demons.

Hm, I suppose I am getting quite off-topic...to get back to the point, the young Basilisks I killed earlier were relatively weak since they were conceived instead of evolved, but this last one seems to indeed be an evolved variety.

Still, it is no real threat to me, especially with my new body. I suppose I should stop wasting time toying with it, and end this...

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