CH8: Battling An Elite

Moka stared down at the human fighting an elite on the edge of the railing. Her feet tapped the ground as she gave her best buff. With a bunny tail pointed straight and ebony-furred legs standing on end, she waited for it.

Pressure like that of demon lords gathered around Zack, a mere human. The hair on her long ears stood on end as she pushed her hearing for the sign. She wanted to catch the moment the final round started.

Werzelith, the lilac succubus with big boobs, watched on with a lollipop hanging from her lips. Flies could fly in, and the bitch wouldn’t notice. Neither of them wanted to miss an Elite fight. The fact Cloud of all Elites was brought to transform was blackmail worth keeping.

Her system camera was uploading the fight live. Demon lords were tossing HIL in the pot, and she snatched a percentage. Even if elites were weaker than lords, humans in the early part of the show shouldn’t be able to match them.

Zack had the weakest contract power she had ever seen. Then, there was his soul focus. From her studies, that was the name for that rare art fit only for demon lords and beyond.

The odds were freaking her out because they kept changing. And the comments freaked her out.

It's impressive who backs him.

Soul Focus in a human, absurd.

50,000HIL on the boy.

Zack 3/1

She expected 20/1

Zack’s body bulged with power it could barely contain.

“He will win. He has to win,” Werzelith said.

Moka couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Demons, especially succubi, don’t care about humans.

She felt a change in the air.

Cloud moved, and his third eye blazed with light. It was already over, and she would be freed of her contract, 20 levels stronger.

…

Zack blocked a beam attack with his pistol. The heat burned his hand as he closed the distance.

His knee lashed up and impacted the Elite’s. His soul weapon neutralized the sword. Crackling power pushed against each other.

Then he felt it was the right moment. Zack gave ground, stepped to the side, and aimed his gun at the demon’s side.

Heart raging in his chest, Zack pulled the trigger. A hand was there lined with cracks where the bullet struck. The demon hissed in pain as silver burned demonic flesh.

The demon swung his blade horizontally while his third eye glowed. A red light flashed, and pain lit across his chest as Zack blocked the swing and punched.

Cloud’s face rippled as Zack’s fist knocked the Elite’s eye laser off target. Sections of conveyor belts sliced apart before bursting into flames.

The demon gave ground and brought his sword up for a stab. Cloud’s aggression freed Zack to fire.

Chest armor cracked but held as Zack shifted his weight as the stab pierced the side of his abdomen. A second shot cracked more of the armor as blood flowed from Zack’s side. A punch crashed into Zack’s face, forcing him to give ground or destroy his face.

His pistol changed into a rifle, and he threw the butt of the weapon into the demon’s chest. Something snapped, and pieces of the demon’s armor fell from its body.

Cloud shot forward, both hands on his blade, and pointed forward for maximum reach. Zack parried with the stock of his rifle as it changed to a shotgun. The demon’s eyes bulged as the barrel faced its chest.

Zack squeezed the trigger point blank.

He threw himself back to avoid a stab in reprisal. The blade passed where his neck had been moments ago.

The dreamer held a hand on his side as the wound bled profusely.

Like a mirror, the demon held a hand over his wound, and purple blood squeezed between them. The demon’s eye glowed red, and Zack raised his gun to block, and the demon lunged. Zack fired again, and no barrier appeared even as a laser tore through his shot.

A single silver speck appeared in the Elite’s eye. The Elite shrieked as silver veins spread through Cloud’s third eye.

Red and silver light battled within the organ, but the demon appeared to have lost its weapon.

“You’ve pushed me harder than any demon before, so I will give you a taste of my true power. We Elite aren’t like other demons; we can manipulate the very concepts of existence, calling upon them to fight for us.”

Black flames formed around the Cloud’s black sword, and they screamed like damned souls.

Zack smiled.

His muscles rippled, and he stood tall. No power was coming, and his body was running on fumes. It wasn’t the power that was lacking; Zack’s very human body wasn’t used to handling his own pressure.

Even running on fumes, he could push. With his muscles screaming, they could still move. With a body moments from falling apart, he pushed it a little further, shortening that time to seconds.

“Your power is worthless; no one uses concepts in the late game,” Zack said and moved.

The sword swung, and silver met black. His hands burned as he blocked and let the demon press on and turned. Zack delivered a kick using the momentum from the demon’s mighty swing. It turned its blade for a horizontal slash.

Zack’s kick shattered the remaining armor covering the demon’s torso. He felt his foot dig into Cloud’s body until his ribs broke. The flaming blade sunk through flesh and bit into Zack’s ribs. It turned to find entry. Heat burned Zack’s insides, pressing against the very pressure keeping Zack moving and killing him.

The demon shot off his feet, raised his wings, and flapped once, arresting his momentum. Zack raised his rifle and fired.

A round blasted through the demon’s chest and painted the wall behind it with its blood. Zack continued firing until his gun clicked, filling Cloud’s chest with holes. Silver veins spread across the demon’s body, and pieces of him turned into silver dust. Blood gushed out in purple rivers.

Zack opened his mouth and puked burned blood on the floor of the factory. He collapsed to a knee and puked until tears welled up in his eyes. Blood gushed from his barely contained wounds, and he laughed.

“Why are you laughing? We’re both going to die.” Cloud said.

He opened his mouth to respond, and blood erupted from his esophagus. Still, a smile spread across his bloody face. He slowly croaked out his words as he skillfully used pressure to seal up the veins discharging the most blood.

“I’ve saved over a hundred people this time. This was the best run I’ve ever had. I even killed an Elite. Who would have thought a fuck up like me, who works at a deli, would go so far. I’m not even a good fighter; I dream big.”

Cloud returned to his human form, complete with a suit covering his body. The silver veins crawling up his face were unmistakable.

The Elite’s frown twitched before a ghost of a smile appeared. “You aren’t dying. I won’t be fooled by you anymore, human.”

Zack held up his burnt hand; bones showed through the charcoal skin. “If this doesn’t kill me, the infection will.”

“Go to the hospital. Some human doctors are left alive, and demons congregate there, gifted in the healing arts. A few demons with powerful regeneration also roam the new house of healing being established there. I should warn you: the Elites there are more powerful than myself. Take the HIL from my office, and you might be able to purchase healing from one of the demons if they don’t contract with you.” The Elite said.

He couldn’t offer a contract because it would ruin the Elite’s pride. They could only serve someone immensely more powerful than themselves. The demon’s face cracked, and he fell apart until all that was left was silver sand.

He crawled to the sand as Werzelith and Moka entered the arena.

Zack sent a message to Ziri through their contract and picked up Cloud’s sword. The black blade was a soul weapon like his own Artemis.

The nameless weapon buzzed in anticipation. “I will name you Hades,” Zack said.

Elites were notoriously hard to kill and always had the best gear. It was usually locked to a bloodline and couldn’t be claimed. Zack’s Artemis and Hades were exceptions when the rule was no drops at all. Two soul weapons when most people had none was an incredible feeling. He was at once highly wealthy and a target.

He placed his pistol in its holster and slowly stood. The sword made a good walking stick.

Zack tried to do some damage control. Pressure enhancement was a late-game power for a reason. All the stars needed to align to use it properly, and Zack was nowhere near ready. His body suffered the consequences of his action. He required magic healing to get back to fighting prepared. There were also two entire density levels to claim with compression, but he didn’t dare use them with his body’s current state.

The very pressure holding his body together was killing him. He could feel his heart slowing down with every beat, and his blood was filling with toxins, overburdening his kidneys and liver. Zack put a hand to his side and knew the very sword had nicked his liver in his hand.

“Hold up, my cum has healing properties,” Werzelith said.

Zack stared at her, and Moka did too. The lilac succubus blushed a deeper shade of purple. “You’re right. We would need all my sisters, some cousins, and my mother and aunts to heal you. Do you have any idea where we can go to help you?” Werzelith asked.

“The hospital,” Zack said.

“Did Cloud suggest it?” Zack nodded. “Then you can’t trust anything he said. Postmortem revenge is a thing.” Moka said.

“If there is a chance it can help, we should take it.” War snorted. “Yeah, we should find a demon with natural regeneration like a vampire,” Werzelith said.

“Is there a first aid kit anywhere,” Zack asked.

“I’ll grab it,” Moka said and ran off, cotton tail bobbing as she ran.

“That bitch is hot, but she wants to cut and run with all the goodies she managed to nab with the contract,” Werzelith said.

Zack leaned back, and War let him rest against her side. “That was a fun fight,” Zack said.

“You look like a cum drunk succubus about to go to the 5th club of the night. As a responsible contracted demon, let me tell you to take a break. You’ve had enough for tonight.” Werzelith said.

Zack laid against War and felt that if he lost concentration, he would fall asleep and die when his pressure control failed. He would bleed out in minutes, and it already felt like a nasty infection had set in.

“What are our chances of running into a vampire?” Zack asked.

“It would be better if we were either further east, south, or far to the north. We’re not where they like to be; the city is too small or not small enough. Besides, what you need to keep going is a minotaur blackguard, centaur lancer, or lamia priestess,” Werzelith said.

Demons with classes were mid-game or a decade in. They weren’t even a week in. How was Zack going to find one of them?