Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Just like that, his army continued its relentless slaughter. Lairs filled with growling magical beasts and human territories fell one after another, succumbing to their ferocious assault.

Most lords refused to abandon their lavish lifestyles and powers, only to die, burned by his demons' essence or cleaved in half by their blades. A few, however, surrendered after seeing the elusive second Earthling who survived as a demon.

Some had eyes that sparkled as if they had seen an idol, while others narrowed their eyes as they remembered his feats in the first event. The unpredictable defeat of the Lord of Heroes also compelled them to assess their limited options carefully instead of underestimating the small yet lethal demonic team.

Knowing resistance was futile, they turned their hopes to Sir Drufus.

With their confrontation looming, patience would solve all their problems. After all, Drufus couldn't lose with his broad alliance pumping tons of resources into his territory, not to mention Zeus' and Heracles' support. No. The best option was to wait, steal a lord badge, and convince their former citizens to flee with them the moment the war started.

A dreamy smile crept over their faces as they stepped through the portal, the outline of a plan forming in their minds. If they played their cards right, they could get enough resources to propel their new territory's development and surpass the one they lost today. After all, Adam's town was a big pie they were trolling to swallow.

A clever plan for a bunch of easy-to-read fools, in Adam's opinion. But since only three among the eight who surrendered seemed inclined to act, he ignored them for now. Yet, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, his lips curled into a disdainful grimace, and his fist tightened.

'Ha! Dream on, fools! Your citizens would never return under lazy schemers like you, not after tasting my territory's peace. But, please, try to act. I'll hunt you down like the puppies you are after beheading Drufus.'

After a last snort, he threw those rebellious lords to a dark corner of his mind and focused on the more immediate task.

He raised his face, gazing at the sun dipping to the horizon and his subjects erecting tents by the road to spend the night. It was time to refill the warehouse and allow Ozymandias to continue the walls and castle construction.

He turned to Merlin's open portal and stepped through it. Mana buzzed in his ears for a second before he emerged by his territory's walls and took the surroundings in.

Littering the ground was a sea of mauled or charred carcasses rising to form small dark and red mountains against the wall. The thick and disgusting scents of blood and charred flesh filled his nostrils as he stepped on the now scarlet slabs separating them.

However, his eyes drifted to the fifty sparkling chests lining them like a barricade of wealth. Just thinking about how many elemental gems their bellies contained made him grin in delight as he kicked the first's lid open.

Yet, he exhaled slowly, calming his raging heart. Time was short, and someone else could sort their contents as well as he would. Therefore, he gestured for Victoria to approach.

"Yes, big brother?"

Surprised yet smiling in delight, she rushed to him and raised her arm in a military salute.

He smiled at her and pointed at the chests.

"Take them to the warehouse." He raised his thumb and winked." You can become the treasury manager if you want, too."

He chuckled at her sparkling eyes and hastening breath.

"Really? Leave it to me!"

She clapped her hands and turned to her soldiers, her expression chilling.

"Little shits! Carry those chests to the warehouse. If I see any of you peek inside or even imagine their contents, you'll taste the wrath of a succubus!"

His eyes widened as he saw her narrowed eyes, extended finger, and threatening posture. Then, he almost choked on his saliva when her stony face melted to let her usual teenager smile shine.

"I'll follow these slackers. See you later, big brother." She moved to guide the soldiers but stopped midway and pouted cutely. "Please, let today's team return. It's not cool to let Zane have all the fun while we're protecting the territory."

"Hahaha!" He exploded into laughter and nodded. "I'll swap the rest of you tomorrow afternoon."

"Yay!"

She raised her fist and skipped over to her soldiers and the chests stacked in their arms.

He smiled at her departing back, his chest warming for a moment.

However, it faded as he turned and rolled his eyes at the thousand carcasses a second later.

'Now comes the boring work.'

Without wasting a second, he touched them one after another, causing them to explode into a sea of listening sparks as a pensive frown creased his brows.

He had to keep the town safe during the campaign. Therefore, they agreed to leave the teenagers and Ondine behind. But he couldn't deprive them of the experience points, not when they were one step away from evolving into incubus kings and succubus queens.

He sighed at the unpleasant solution he came up with: swap the teams after clearing half the path towards the elven forest.

On one hand, everyone would get half the experience, but on the other, they would all lose half.

'Well... Luna and I won't lose a single point, at least. But it's hard to balance everyone's gains.'

He shook his head, his hands blurring to touch more carcasses as notifications resounded in his ears and materials flooded his warehouse.

Still, with the event, the war against Oikos and the rising requirements for each level up, today's little difference wouldn't matter in the long run.

Convinced about his decision and bored by the process, he opened his interface and checked his most notable notification.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Congratulations, 17.666 human citizens have joined your territory.]

He grinned at the first one. After absorbing fifteen territories, his human population now surpassed his demonic one.

'Probably not for long, though. With the many beast cores I'll extract in the next two days, my army will probably surpass ten thousand.'

He tightened his fist, a satisfied chuckle escaping his lips as he focused on the experience.

However, too lazy to read each notification, he just slid his finger to his stat panel to deduce the number.

Name:

Adam

Race:

Draconic asura

Affinity:

chaotic, demonic energy

Talent:

c grade (Upgradable): I'm a gamer!

Job:

/

Class:

Chaos Druid

LVL:

52

Exp:

12.000/417.000

HP:

11.600/11.600

Vitality:

643->835 (+325)

Strength:

643->835 (+103)(+325)

Agility:

643->835 (+112)(+325)

Chaotic demonic essence:

1.572

Free attribute points:

578->0

He whistled as he felt the familiar surge of strength accompanying the stat distribution.

'1.594.550 in one day. Not bad, considering we didn't fight creatures above the third tier!'

However, a sudden frown creased his brows, and darkness engulfed his joy. His heart drummed madly in his chest, and icy sweat dripped down his temples as he scrutinised his level.

A question struck him with the strength of a collapsing mountain and brought him as much horror as the one he felt when the cursed fragment almost turned him into a lunatic.

"Where is my achievement prize?!"