Asher raised a brow when he felt the earth under his feet shake subtly out of nowhere. But what surprised him was when he saw his HP drop and a message popping up in his vision. He grimaced in excruciating pain as he almost fell to his knees. It was too sudden and painful, and he didn't see it coming. But the pain went away after a couple of moments as he straightened his back with a confused look.
[ Blood sacrifice accepted ]
[ HP : 144 -> 72 / 144 ]
"What is this??" Asher was startled and couldn't understand what was going on. Who wouldn't feel tensed when their HP suddenly halves for no reason? His mana wasn't even fully depleted, and there was no reason for the ring to even forcibly take some of his life force.
But the next second, he was distracted by what was going on in front of him.
He saw some of the magma floating upwards and transforming into a quadruped shape. And within the next few moments, it formed into a demon resembling a ferocious wolf, its size slightly bigger than an ordinary wolf.
But what made it seem terrifying was how its entire head was only a charred black skull with no flesh and dark green light glowing within its hollow eye sockets. The rest of its body seemed to be covered with the rocky surface of magma with a rough and spiky texture. A dark green light was glowing from within its abdomen, and dark green lava was oozing out from its paw and mouth.
It looked no less than a nightmarish creature, and any ordinary person would have died from fright upon seeing such a hellish beast.
Its eyes were menacingly staring at Asher while letting out subtle growls.
However, Asher didn't feel nervous at all. Instead, he felt fascinated at looking at this creature that this dimension produced, and even more so when he saw a popup in his vision,
[ Upon your wish, a damned creature has been spawned who considers you as its Master and will obey as you wish ]
Name: Ragroth, the Hell Fiend
Level: 2
HP : 225 / 225
MP : 360 / 360
STR : 29
DEF : 45
INT : 72
DEX : 21
Passive Ability :
[ Cursed by the Damned - HP won't diminish under normal circumstances. But will perish when the Hell Master leaves this dimension or when losing connection to its Master ]
[ Smell of Malice - Can sense any being reeking of fear or hatred ]
Talents :
[ Empowered by the Hell Master - When near the Hell Master, all stats increase by 5% ]
Skills :
[ Vengeful Bite - With teeth forged from cursed flames, it will deal critical damage upon biting an enemy, and they won't be able to heal for 1 minute ]
…
Asher was astonished by what he was looking at. He only wished for someone to duel with, and as if this dimension heard his wish, it spawned a demonic creature that was not weak in any way.
Status: Upon your wish, it is targeting its aggression towards you. It will not rest till it kills you.
'No wonder…' Asher now realized why this beast was looking at him as if he was its prey.
Since he wanted to fight against someone, this dimension released a creature from this hell to satisfy his wish. He could see that this beast was like a servant that would do anything he ordered it to.
This was truly interesting, and he couldn't wait to explore what other surprises this dimension had in store for him.
But before he could think of anything else, Ragroth, the Hell Fiend, lunged toward him with a bloodthirsty growl.
Asher raised his brows as he quickly jumped back and used his ring blade to slash at its neck.
*Clkkrk!*
He felt like he was cutting something rocky and bony at the same time. However, he didn't hold back his strength and let his blade cut into its neck till it completely severed its head off its body.
Asher was expecting the Hell Fiend to at least collapse on the ground since its head was severed. But he had his brows raised when this thing seemed unfazed even after losing its head and tried to maul him again.
He knew the Hell Fiend couldn't be destroyed by ordinary means like him. Still, he thought it would need at least a few seconds to attach its head back and fight. However, this only made him feel glad since this could mean he could fight without a head, too, though having no idea how that worked.
He also preferred to have such an undying servant to spar with since this could mean he could afford to not hold back all of his attacks and test their limits. Once he was done, all he had to do was command it to stop.
He still kept an eye on one of the mirrors in the skies, which showed him what was going on outside which was his room, the place he teleported from. This was another convenient ability of this dimension he discovered, which could let him know if he should get back in case of any emergency.
However, right now, he first had to see if he could truly incapacitate this undying hellish beast.
This time instead of using the blade in his hand, he raised his right arm wide backward, and then with full force, he threw it towards the Hell Fiend, aiming for the limbs on its right side.
The ring blade shot through the air, and like a knife cutting through butter, it cut through the limbs of the beast on the right, making it collapse on the ground finally. But it didn't even groan in pain and was still exhibiting the same ferocity and killing intent it did before.
But the best part was how the ring blade curved through the air and shot back at him before he caught it by its handle.
It wouldn't even be wrong to say that this was a dangerous frisbee which would also become stronger along with him.
[ Level 2 ]
[ Damage : 75 ]
[ Range : 8 meters ]
He could also summon this weapon towards him as long as it was within 8 meters. But that didn't mean that he couldn't send it flying for over 100 meters and let it come back to him. He had already learned how to throw it in a way that would send this blade flying back to him.
With this ability, he could practically fight multiple opponents at the same time and even keep them away at a distance. Even if somebody manages to get close, he could still use this ring blade to cut their throats and limbs.
It was easy to down this Hell Fiend since it was at the same level as him. He sighed inwardly, thinking that even killing level 3 Hunters would be a piece of cake. He could even toy with them till they die from frustration and anger, mainly thanks to his experience as the strongest Hunter in his past life.
As for this Hell Fiend, he saw its severed bones floating back to its body and making it whole again, letting it get up.
"That's enough. Stand down," Asher said, making the Hell Fiend's aggression drastically tone down till it let out a small whimper and kneeled before him as if in reverence.
Asher was already bored since even if the Hell Fiend was not weak for its level, it was still nowhere close to giving him any pressure at all.
He could test his attacks without holding back, but he wanted to feel pressure.
He thirsted for the feeling of death getting too close to him…It was something he experienced many times in his past life…something which helped him become stronger in every way.
However, he wondered if he could bring this Hell Fiend with him back to his world. If that was possible, then it would surely let him gain a considerable advantage.
"Come with me," Asher said as he teleported back to the demon realm.
He arrived in his room, but his expression fell when a message popped up in his vision,
[ Your servant has perished ]
"..."
Asher sighed, thinking that maybe what he wanted was too good to be true. Still, he wasn't disappointed, considering the advantages the Damned Dimension already offered him. He was also satisfied that he got a good grasp of how to use his new weapon.
"Master, may I come in?" Merina's voice suddenly echoed in his mind, and he told her to come in.
Merina carefully opened the door and peeped inside to make sure he wasn't busy and entered with a nervous look.
"What is it?" Asher knew she wouldn't come unless it was something important.
"I...I heard this from my daughter, so I don't know the complete details, but…it seems the queen is planning to send you to the tower," Merina said with her hands nervously grasping each other.
Asher furrowed his brows as he asked, "Tower? What tower?" He was surprised that Rowena was planning to send him to some tower that was outside this castle. Wasn't she adamant about him not leaving?
