Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Novel

'What is he doing?'

This is the question that Alice, Mary, and Blake have the moment they saw Ashton playing the 'good-guy' card and being friendly with these...creatures.

They don't understand what he's trying to do by acting this way but as they are now in the form of a golden statue and couldn't even move a muscle, much less talk, they could only watch and witness as the events unfold.

"Well, aren't you a brave little one, human? Are you sure that you want to interfere with our operations?"

Someone from the Revenants, as Ashton kindly revealed just now, said.

"Gee, thanks for the compliment I guess. But calling this...act of yours an 'operation' is a bit misleading, no? A 'hunt' is more like it, and you all are like some starving hyena's out in the wild. Wait, do you guys even know what a hyena is?"

"Fucking let go of me!!"

The demon in Ashton's grip ran out of patience. It cocked back its fist and punched him.

But before the blow even landed, its fist stopped on its track, as if there was a mysterious force that was holding it in place.

The Revenants looked surprised as they do not feel anything at all. Logically, they should feel something since they're not the 'run of the mill' angels or demons out on the field.

They're the Revenants, a group of select individuals from both races that are powerful enough to have a say within their respective councils, they're not necessarily the strongest out there but given time, they'd grow into one.

The demon Ashton had in his grip is a genuine Demon King, not a Prince, a King! The fact that he could trap it with barely an effort on his side while hiding the method he used to do so, is something that truly caught the Revenants on guard.

"Hey now. I thought we were having a moment here. I do not appreciate you punching me all of a sudden. That's rude you know." Ashton playfully chided the Demon King despite his obvious dislike of it.

"I'm afraid that we're going on a tangent here." Ashton shook his head, "Now, care to answer my question? Can someone tell me who leaked our schedule? I promise a hefty reward for the one who can tell me."

"You're not in any position to demand anything out of us, Human. Now, be a good boy and release our brother."

The six-eyed demon took an aggressive stance, glaring at Ashton.

"Oh come on, please? Just tell me who leaked our schedule. Let's not get violent here 'cause I guarantee that it will not be pretty."

Ashton met the threat with a smile on his face and a threat of his own.

"Release him!!" The six-eyed demon demanded once more.

This time, Ashton sighed. He looked at the Demon King in his grip, feigning a sad expression, and he said:

"Your siblings are just as stupid as you are. How sad. Well, I tried to do this the humane way since you know...I'm a human and all, haha get it?"

The demon king looked unimpressed.

"Man, you're no fun." Ashton clicked his tongue, "Well, I don't have a choice now, do I? You forced my hand after all."

Ashton beckoned with his other hand and the Demon King's bulky figure was bent down by a mysterious force, bringing its head low enough for him to reach.

Placing a hand on the demon's head, Ashton whispered:

"Bad things happen when you lot don't listen to me. And if you're going to blame anyone, blame your siblings. They made me do it."

"AAARRRRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

A painful and agonized roar was ripped out of the Demon King's throat as Ashton forced his will into his mind. The Demon King writhed and clawed but the invisible force kept him relatively still.

If one was to describe the pain the Demon King was feeling right now, it would be akin to several needles sinking into its brain and injecting it with some kind of acid that's causing it to melt. The worst part is that instead of feeling numb, the pain was even more excruciating.

The Revenants were clearly distressed by this scene, and believe it or not, they tried to do something to stop Ashton but they found out they couldn't move.

It's as if they were trapped in a quagmire, they don't feel restricted when they don't resist but if they do, then it becomes even more apparent.

"Stop!!" The six-eyed demon struggled fiercely but felt so restricted. It became even angrier when Ashton was clearly ignoring its demands.

As such, the Revenants were forced to watch as one from their group was tortured to death. To make matters worse, the demon's death wasn't pretty at all. They watched as their sibling bled through all of the holes in their body before turning into a black goo.

It was gruesome and chilling. And as the cherry on top, Ashton completely negated all chances of this demon king ever reviving but casting a Lv.100 Purify on it. Turning it into ashes which he scattered in the wind as the Revenants watched in abject horror and anger.

"Man, that's one really stupid. Its brain didn't have the thing I want." Ashton commented with a regretful tone. He then looked at the rest of the Revenants and asked: "Alright! Do we have any other volunteers?"

"Human!!! How dare you! I will kill you!!!"

"...alright, I'm guessing that's a no." Ashton sounded disappointed. "Well, at least I've got me another Noble Demon Crown so it wasn't a total loss."

The trio watched in amazement. One could only wonder what kind of expressions they'd be making had they not been in stasis.

They're not dumb. They know that the current them are completely outclassed if they were to fight against the Revenants. Even if they were at their peak state, there's no way they'd win against them. Which is why they initially felt miserable and hopeless when they suddenly showed up.

The hope in Blake's heart that was just ignited felt severely threatened when he recognized them. A few minutes ago, he was prepared to die again just to save Alice but he didn't expect Ashton to interfere all of a sudden.

Well, this goes beyond interfering at this point, to be honest. He legitimately humiliated them and even killed one so easily like they weren't a big deal, to begin with.

Blake felt really shocked since his memories had been plagued by fear of the Revenants and their ruthlessness. So, seeing one die just like that felt almost surreal to him.

Were these really the group that terrorized and suppressed Humanity for so long? Why does it seem like they were nothing short of a joke now?

Alice on the other hand felt better. The verbal harassment she felt earlier was now rewritten by Ashton turning them into a joke. The way he acts says it all. He's not treating any of them seriously. If it's out of arrogance or just an elaborate act, either way, it's fine.

Mary could sigh in relief now. She thought that now Ashton's on the move, everything will be fine. She doesn't really know where this confidence came from but it's comforting nonetheless.

"You know...in all seriousness, I thought your Revenants were better than this." Ashton's tone changed into a flat one this time around. "I thought that I'd least expected you guys to be more difficult to handle than this. But...huh, I guess you weren't all that."

"It makes me wonder how the hell did you do all the things I've heard about when you all are just pushovers in reality."

Ashton inspected the Noble Demon Crown he got from the Demon King he just killed before putting it in his pouch. He then gave them an unimpressed stare meeting their 'looks that could kill'.

"You nearly had me there actually, I'll give you that." He looked at the white-eyed woman and continued: "When you flew down like some sort of a fucking goddess, using that false dignified tone, I nearly believed you all were some sort of Divine Beings."

"But then, you just had to drool." Ashton snorted. "Of all the things that could keep under control, drooling apparently isn't included in that. Damn!"

"And here you were, treating us like lesser creatures that you all are, yet it is you lot that couldn't even keep your drool from escaping your mouths whenever you saw a delectable prey. Honestly, what makes you different from animals? At least we humans have some decency even if we were starving. You all, apparently don't have that. So who's the lesser creature now?"

The Revenants gnashed their teeth and openly snarled at him.

"See, that! That's not helping your case at all. Seriously, what's the use of having intelligence when you'd all revert to your predatory side anyways?"

He stared at them and sighed...

"Oh well, I digress. I'm bored so let's have some fun shall we?"

Ashton pulled his hood on and his heterochromatic eyes shone with giddiness.

"Within the next minute, I will get rid of your suppression. When I do that, you can all come at me. I'm sure you all want to rip me into shreds, well I'm bored so I'll give you that chance because that's entertaining."

"If you can kill me, then you can take her. If you couldn't however...I'll leave your outcomes to your own imaginations."

"Are you all ready?"