The Primal Hunter

“Now.”

Instantly, their entire party shifted their movements. The Sword Saint retreated back as Sylphie summoned a tornado that completely sealed the movements of the sword. At the same time, roots appeared from below and slithered up the legs of the boss as the Fallen King threw out two chains, catching both arms of the Demon Lord. In an instant, the boss had its movement entirely sealed. They all knew he could break out within a second… but they wouldn’t give him a second.

Jake dismissed his bow as he used One Step and appeared right in front of the boss, both katars already out. Eternal Hunger stabbed forward against the otherwise impenetrable armor, but the expected did not happen. He felt the surprise of the Demon Lord as the katar managed to penetrate the armor by several centimeters. It was only now that the boss noticed what Jake had been doing. The spot he had used Touch of the Malefic Viper on during their one-versus-one had turned into an even darker shade than anywhere else, and his repeated poisoned arrow had only made it worse. Jake had used a type of poison he hadn’t really ever used before:

Corrosive poison.

Ever-so-slowly, Jake had made that spot of the armor brittle and weak. Weak enough for his weapons to penetrate through. For a brief moment, Jake made eye contact with the Demon Lord as he flashed a smile and punched with the other hand with the Blackpoint Blade, pouring in all of his Hunting Momentum. The katar shot forward with his full power as a huge section of armor shattered, the blade penetrating all the way to the handle.

Not done yet.

The enchantment of the Blackpoint Blade activated as an explosion resounded within the armor, sending blood and metal flying, Jake having just opened a bucket-sized hole in the Demon Lord’s chest and sending cracks forming all across the armor. What’s more… Jake was just the armor-breaker.

Pulling his katar out of the demon’s body, Jake ducked as an old man materialized right behind him, a hand on the handle of his sword, ready to draw. His entire aura began to change as a pressure descended upon the half-ruined throne room, one that even gave Jake pause and reminded him of the duel he had with the Sword Saint way back in the Treasure Hunt.

And like back then, the old man also began to change. His features softened, his hair grew, and his muscles got toned as his entire body was revitalized. In an instant, the Sword Saint had gone from an old man to someone in his prime, and in that same instant, he drew his blade.

“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

Jake felt the flash pass over him as the entire world seemed to freeze for a moment. There was no big explosion but simply a slash that left wayward raindrops in its wake. The second the swing was over, the Sword Saint rapidly aged, returning to normal.

In the distance, a loud crack was heard. Two of the massive pillars in front of them began to fall apart once more as a fine line had been cut straight through them, and just as Jake heard the crack, he was hit by a shower of blood from the Demon Lord.

Then, he saw the top part of the torso begin to slowly slide to one side. With the armor of the Demon Lord broken and his movements still sealed, the boss had been utterly incapable of defending himself, resulting in him being bisected right above his stomach. Even the arms had a deep cut into the armor, though even the Transcendent skill had failed to fully cut through, truly showing how utterly ridiculous the armor was.

However, even as the fight seemed over, Jake did not let his guard down. None of them did. Because they still hadn’t gotten any notification.

The shining red flames in the Demon Lord’s eyes had been extinguished, but Jake still felt power radiate from his body.

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched, using the golden mark as Jake’s eyes opened wide. Luckily for them, they had all spent enough time with her to know what her warning meant as they, in concert, retreated from the” corpse” of the Demon Lord.

From afar, the sword of the Demon Lord pierced through one of the pillars as it shot straight for the boss. It slammed down onto the corpse, releasing a massive explosion. Fire bathed the entire room as Dina put up a defensive barrier, with Jake staring through the flames to see what was happening.

He saw the sword stab straight into the armor as it began melting and getting absorbed by the sword. The metal crown also began to shine brightly as it floated up and merged with the handle. Within less than a second, the entire armor was reduced to nothing, and the only thing left was the Demon Lord’s body which swiftly turned to an odd red energy that was promptly dragged into the handle, where a red gem appeared, looking eerily like an eye. Coupled with the already absorbed energy from the broken Heart of the Demon Lord, every single artifact had now combined.

More than that, the merged sword now gave off the aura of the Demon Lord. However, it was far weaker, and Jake instantly knew what was about to happen as arcane mana began to gather in his hands.

“I lost… but I shall return! Reborn stronger than ever!” the voice of the Demon Lord echoed from the sword as a magic circle appeared around it.

“Not gonna happen,” Jake yelled, his voice infused with the Willpower and Pride of the Malefic Viper as he unleashed the arcane mana to disrupt the teleportation.

He was not the only one, either.

A green wind also swept through the circle from Sylphie, a crescent wave of water was sent out by the Sword Saint, and an odd golden beam was released by the Fallen King, that one aimed at the sword itself. Dina had been the one who was most prepared as she pointed her staff, and a large green magical circle seemed to superimpose itself upon the Demon Lord’s.

“NO!” the boss screamed as the teleportation circle was utterly broken apart. The sword was also slightly destabilized, but it seemed that even if teleportation was not an option, the Demon Lord refused to surrender. Shooting upwards, the sword tried to escape, but this was when Dina’s move to not allow the castle to collapse came in handy.

While the sword could get through the ceiling at some point, it couldn’t just strike through. Dina also made it even harder as she sent forth an army of vines trying to snatch up the merged artifact, with Sylphie easily catching up with her high speed.

With her there, the wind became the enemy of the Demon Lord. A tornado was summoned that began to drag the blade downwards, and when the Fallen King also joined, he summoned more large chains of golden force. As the sword struggled, the Fallen King restricted it with chains using one hand and created a barrier all around it with the other. The Demon Lord within the sword seemed to realize escape was not possible right away, but they all knew the demon was looking for a chance to escape, likely even gathering energy within the blade for an attempt.

Floating down to the ground with the sealed-in sword, the Demon Lord could still speak.

“You may be able to keep me trapped for now… but so what? I will return once more. With my soul sealed within the sword, the moment my body has regenerated through my innate power as a Demon Lord, your lives shall be mine and the final resistance to my rule slaughtered. And there is nothing you can do,” the boss said.

“Are you so sure about that?” Jake asked while walking forward with Eternal Hunger in his hand.

As he walked, he began to slowly change the shape of the weapon. Changing the shape of the mythical weapon wasn’t practical mid-combat due to how long it took and how the weapon required a period to stabilize, but with the sealed Demon Lord, that wasn't an issue. He allowed it to turn all smudgy, looking almost like a black ferrofluid that stuck to his arm.

“I do not fear your pathetic threats. Release me, and I shall swear that our next encounter will truly be our last,” the Demon Lord semi-threatened, semi-promised.

“No… no, I don’t think we will,” Jake smiled as he looked at the Fallen King. The Unique Lifeform nodded with recognition.

While the Demon Lord transforming into a sword was not part of the plan, they did make a strategy for what would happen when the Demon Lord” died.” They knew some energy would remain, and they had even expected the demon would try and resurrect again in some way by safekeeping parts of its soul somehow.

Too bad for the Demon Lord; it faced two monsters. One wielding a weapon capable of absorbing all kinds of energies. Eternal Hunger would consume any energy it could, the curse never able to be truly sated. Considering it also consumed the souls of those killed, it was the perfect weapon to truly kill a Demon Lord.

When a Demon Lord died, its Truesoul would disperse, leaving behind just energy and a shattered soul embedded within that energy. Based on what Dina said, The unique Demon Lord energy was something no one truly knew how to control or manipulate. All they knew was that given enough time, a new Demon Lord would spawn somewhere in the relative vicinity of where one died. Sometimes it was as far away as on the other side of a planet, and other times it would be right where the original died. With this knowledge, it was only natural Demon Lords such as the boss had found some ways to influence their resurrection, and the Demon Lord entering the sword right before he truly died was clearly one such method.

Jake theorized Gubrothas would flee somewhere else before using some special method unique to him to reforge his body. A good plan that had only failed to take into account that the party he faced had a Unique Lifeform specialized in soul magic and Jake wielding his mythical weapon that loved eating souls and energy.

The Fallen King laid his claw on the blade on the sword as Dina assisted with keeping it sealed in his stead. Golden light erupted as a shockwave of soul magic went through the sword as the voice of the Demon Lord echoed.

“You… you dare try to extinguish my soul!? You will fail, and as your power wanes, I shall escape.”

He was probably right on that one. The Demon Lord was quite hard to fully get rid of. Breaking the sword wasn’t an option either, as with the demon inside, it was still a bound weapon and a powerful artifact, making Jake’s Alchemical Flame useless as that only worked on passive objects. The Fallen King truly would lose the battle of attrition as the Demon Lord could consume energy to fight off the Unique Lifeform till the King had to stop due to overusing his boosting skill.

That is where Jake came in. Kneeling down, Jake placed his hand on the gem of the sword as Eternal Hunger slowly took shape, almost using the Demon Lord’s sword as a mold. Dark energy began to emanate from the mythical weapon as the metal formed a hand, grasping around the Demon Lord gem.

Jake took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was not something he had tried before… but he knew he could do it. He did not even hear when the Demon Lord taunted him as he truly connected himself to Eternal Hunger. Resonated himself with it.

In his mind’s eye, the curse manifested. At first, it was an undefined mass of pure curse energy, but it soon gathered and took shape as his Eternal Shadow manifested. In the real world, his entire body momentarily gave off curse energy as his figure was superimposed with the Eternal Shadow.

“Go,” he spoke to himself. His other self. The Eternal Shadow slightly shifted before it turned into black energy that drilled into the blade through Eternal Hunger.

“I told you, tha- WHAT IS-”

In an instant, the entire sword turned black and began to emanate dark smoke as the red light in the gem faded. Cracks formed all over the merged artifact, and all Jake heard was the echoing screams of the Demon Lord within his mind as the entire sword shattered, broken pieces of metal devoid of energy falling to the ground.

Kill message: *You have slain [Demon Lord – lvl 270] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

*’ DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 217 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*

*’ DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 218 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*

*’ DING!’ Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 214 - Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points*

With a slight nudge, Eternal Hunger began to once more warp into a katar as Jake stood up. Everyone looked at him, especially the Fallen King giving off an incredulous vibe.

“You did not need my assistance,” the Unique Lifeform spoke.

“Thought I would,” Jake smirked, looking at the mythical weapon slowly warping and reforming in his hand.

“That weapon of yours is a disaster waiting to happen. I felt the pure gluttony emanating from it. An unstoppable desire that can never be satisfied,” the Fallen King said.

“It’s a Sin weapon, isn’t it?” Dina asked, getting a nod from Jake. ”My grandfather spoke of them. They are rare and powerful but often avoided due to their tendency to negatively influence the wielder. But… I have never heard of one taking on a human shape like that. Another trait they tend to have is also how uncontrollable they are, so how did you manage to direct it into the Demon Lord’s sword, much less have it take that shape?”

Jake didn’t feel like sharing his entire story about his other self – sim-Jake – who had become one with the weapon, so he just smiled. ”Its instinct is to hunt, and I offered a feast.”

Dina frowned. ”That does not explain the shape…”

”Let’s just say we have a close connection.”

”It was also too efficient… almost like it had a mind of its own. No, not quite a mind… but close?” Dina muttered.

”Let’s leave it at that,” the Sword Saint said as he smiled. He looked at the broken pieces of metal on the ground and padded Jake on the shoulder. ”Good job.”

Jake smiled. ”You too.”

He had to admit, things had gone far more smoothly than he could have ever predicted. The original plan had been for the Fallen King and Dina to gather all the energy of the Demon Lord right after he died before it had time to spread. The King would shatter the Demon Lord’s soul, with Jake potentially helping with Gaze. Using Eternal Hunger, Jake would then slowly absorb all the energy, along with the soul fragments.

What had instead happened was Jake connecting Eternal Hunger with the sword the Demon Lord had sealed himself within. He had pushed in the curse energy through the mythical weapon, which had manifested as his Eternal Shadow. The Eternal Shadow had then effectively entered the “space” the Demon Lord resided in within the sword, slain him, and devoured every single speck of energy in the merged artifact.

All within a second.

Jake knew what set his Sin curse apart from any others. Usually, a Sin curse was just one singular desire. All Eternal Hunger had been about was eating. But Jake’s curse had warped. Sim-Jake had introduced another element:

Instinct.

Proper instinct. Jake’s own instinct. It was merged with him, after all. This meant that contrary to what the textbooks said about Sin curses, Jake’s version would follow his own will.

In some ways, sealing himself within an item had been the worst thing the Demon Lord could do against Eternal Hunger. It allowed the curse to face him directly – a curse holding energy far above what a C-grade could possibly face.

”Ree?” Sylphie asked as she had also flown down and landed on top of Jake’s head.

”Yeah, I think that is a good idea,” Jake smiled.

Looking at their party, they all looked worse for wear. Jake also knew that the instant they released all their boosting skills, they would all be tired as fuck. Also, they had something important to do:

Celebrate.

And Jake knew just the place as he released a Pulse of Perception and saw a formerly hidden gateway had been revealed.

”Drinks are on me when we get to the lounge,” Jake smiled.

”I thought they were provided freely?” the Sword Saint asked, looking genuinely confused.

”Exactly,” Jake grinned.

Soon after, they all made their way to the gateway that led to the in-between room. It was time to see their rewards for this floor and relax before heading onto Minaga’s city floor.