The Slayer Ascension: Cursed and Blessed.-Chapter 34: I’m not easy to kill.... Maybe

Chapter 34

"I did it. I killed my second demon."

The thought made him smile.

The smile almost killed him.

Agony tore through his chest, sharp and unforgiving, as blood flooded his mouth. He coughed violently, crimson splattering the soaked ground. His body convulsed, every breath shallow and wrong.

I might actually die.

This was only his second demon hunt, and it had nearly ended his life.

The first hunt had been dangerous. Brutal. But this one was different. This demon was on another level. Its brutality was refined, deliberate, nothing like the feral monster from before. Gazel had come prepared. Extremely prepared.

And it still almost killed him.

He lay motionless for a long time, rain-soaked and broken, staring at nothing. Eventually, strength returned. Barely. Weak, thin, but enough.

He began to crawl.

Each movement sent pain screaming through his body, but he kept going, dragging himself inch by inch until he reached the demon’s corpse. He raised his knife with shaking hands and plunged it into the demon’s upper chest. He cut deeper, ripped flesh apart, then shoved his hand inside.

The heat. The stench. The resistance.

He fumbled blindly inside the corpse, teeth clenched, breath ragged.

Then his fingers closed around something solid.

He pulled his hand out.

A dark crystal rested in his palm, pulsing with malice.

Disgust churned in his gut.

He knew what came next.

If he wanted to keep hunting demons, if he wanted to live through the wounds tearing his body apart, then he had no choice.

"Devour," Gazel whispered.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then black, vein-like tendrils burst from his skin and wrapped around the crystal. The dark crystal cracked, dissolved, and sank into him. Corrupted energy surged through his body like a flood, violent and burning. His own crystal throbbed with power.

His wounds began to close.

Flesh knitted together at an insane speed. Blood dried. Pain dulled.

Soon, there were only scars.

Gazel stood slowly, staring at himself, realizing just how close he had come to dying.

Later, he would learn about demon rankings. About mid-ranked monsters. About how close he had been to stepping into something far beyond him.

He had sworn then not to fight them again. Not until he was stronger.

Back to the present.

Gazel let out a complicated sigh.

He had promised himself.

And here he was.

He glanced at the battered young woman on the ground, eyes narrowing slightly.

Why would you pick a fight with a higher-ranked demon?

He did not have time to dwell on it.

The demon was already moving.

With a violent leap, it launched itself forward, claws ripping through the air. Its speed was staggering, far beyond anything a human should possess. In less than three seconds, it was on him.

The claws went for his throat.

Gazel ducked.

He followed immediately with an upward slash.

The blade cut through black scales, drawing crimson liquid that sprayed into the air. It was nowhere near enough.

Gazel was already rolling. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The demon’s counterstrike obliterated the space where he had been. Stone shattered. Debris flew.

He threw the knife.

It screamed through the air straight for the demon’s eye.

Too fast.

Too precise.

The blade buried itself deep.

The demon screeched in pain.

It swung wildly, but Gazel was already moving. He had fought mid-ranked monsters before. Not many, but enough. Every time, it had nearly cost him his life.

Every time, he survived.

He kicked hard into the demon’s leg, shattering its balance. As it buckled, he jumped and slammed another kick into the hilt of the embedded dagger.

The blade punched through.

The demon howled in deep pain.

Gazel did not pause.

The more damage he stacked, the better his chances.

He raised his hand. The obsidian ring on his finger glowed faintly. The knife tore free and flew back into his grip.

He lunged, slashing for the demon’s neck, aiming to carve agony deep into it.

The demon reacted.

A massive hand shot up and closed around Gazel’s wrist mid-swing.

The grip was crushing.

Gazel froze.

Power surged through the demon’s arm, overwhelming and merciless, squeezing tighter and tighter as its burning eyes locked onto him.

Gazel rose, pain screaming through his arm as the demon’s overwhelming force crushed down on him.

The demon’s other eye, the one still intact, snapped open. Pure hatred burned inside it.

Crap.

The grip tightened, and Gazel was yanked clean off his feet. The next instant, he was hurled through the air like a broken doll. He twisted mid-flight and hit the ground hard, barely managing to roll and bleed off the impact.

His arm throbbed violently.

Where the demon had grabbed him felt wrong. Deep damage. Bone, muscle, something had been crushed. If he had not pulled free when he did, his arm would have been gone.

In his human form, he had almost no demonic power.

Healing this would be close to impossible.

Still...

I can do this.

Just one eye. If I exploit that weakness, I can still win.

Gazel tightened his grip on the dagger and charged back in.

Seconds later, a body was launched through the air and slammed into the ground beside the battered young woman.

Gazel groaned, clutching his side.

Damn it.

This monster was not just stronger or faster. Its defense was insane. Tougher than any demon he had faced before. Saying he had fought over a thousand demons was not an exaggeration.

And this one was worse.

The young woman looked at him, guilt written all over her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked, trying to help him up.

Gazel ignored her. He pushed himself to his feet, dagger still in hand.

She opened her mouth again, but he shook his head.

"Don’t bother. I’m fine," he said. "I’m not that easy to kill. You know."

The demon loomed ahead.

Its wounded eye was already healed.

Gazel inhaled slowly, steadying himself. His voice dropped, calm and low.

"It doesn’t matter if your eye healed or not. Today, one of us is falling."

His gaze hardened.

"And I know for sure it won’t be me."

The ground trembled.

At first, neither of them moved.

Then Gazel felt it.

Another presence.

Heavy. Fast. Closing in.

The footsteps were thick, deep, wrong.

A chill crawled up his spine.

The young woman spoke in a hushed, trembling voice.

Her voice laced with deep guilt.

"That’s what I was trying to tell you. There are two of them. And the second one... it’s already here."

Gazel froze.

Two.

His heart skipped violently. He looked at the demon in front of him, ready to attack again, then at the shaking ground behind him. Each tremor felt closer than the last.

He swallowed.

Suddenly, his words about not being easy to kill felt dangerous.

And stupid

Because honestly, he was not sure he would live past today.

What the hell.

Two of them.

Facing one had already pushed him to his limit. Now there were two mid-ranked monsters.

Just how badly did the world want him dead.

A nearby building exploded, stone and debris raining down. Thick dust swallowed everything. When it finally settled, the sight waiting for them was anything but comforting.

Standing beside the first demon was another.

It looked nearly identical, just larger. Broader. More menacing.

Gazel forced a smile.

In a low voice, he muttered, "It’s not too late to bail out of this fight, right?"

He glanced between the two monsters.

Sweat dripping from his neck.

"Because I just remembered I have an errand to run."

To be continued.