Chapter 83: Chapter 83 - Encounter(Part 2)

Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

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"Initiate Skill: Intangibility," I chanted quietly, before taking aim and chanting again, "Elemental Lightning: Double Lightning Blast!"

I fired out two powerful bursts of lightning, one aimed at each of the two Knights, zipping towards them and closing in rapidly.

"Manifest Soul Weapon: Double Edged Sword!" One of them swiftly chanted, two blades connected by a handle in the middle forming in his right hand, before he quickly spun it in front of himself to block my lightning.

But the other Knight, the one holding the rope of their captive, was slower to react, my attack striking his armor and electrocuting him with a vicious spark and crackle, eliciting a sharp, stuttering cry of pain from him, before bringing him down to his knees with a strained wheeze, smoke billowing out of his armor.

I then leapt out from behind my hiding spot and shot towards the Knight who’d blocked my attack, leaping straight towards him as I closed in on him.

"How dare you-...!? You’re dead, Commoner scum!" He snapped, as he slashed at my head with his weapon.

But it just harmlessly phased right through me, before I swiftly reached out towards his neck, my hand passing through his skin before I turned my hand tangible again and grabbed hold of his throat from inside his neck.

"No, you’re the one who’s dead, Nobility trash!" I snapped, a strangled gasp escaping his lips as I viciously crushed his windpipe and pulled my hand back out as I turned it intangible again.

I back away as he collapsed onto the ground, writhing in agony while clutching at his throat, blood gushing out of his mouth as he let out choked wheezes of pain. As he went limp, I shot towards the other Knight, who was struggling to get back on his feet, severe burns all over his skin.

"M-Manifest Soul We-...," He began with a weak gasp.

"Too slow!" I cut him off, as I reached into his chest and grabbed his heart from the inside, crushing it.

Blood burst out of his mouth as his eyes rolled back in his head, his body collapsing forward and his forehead hitting the ground, blood pouring out of his mouth and pooling around his head.

As I turned my hand intangible to get rid of the blood coating it, I felt my body trembling, a rising sense of giddiness welling up inside me, before I found myself letting out a slight laugh.

Th-that felt...that felt so unbelievably good! I’ve never felt this way before...I’m literally trembling with pleasure, I’m starting to sweat as I felt a pleasant heat emanating from inside my chest.

All the rage and hatred towards the Knights and Nobility that’s been continuously building up inside me, finally, those emotions have finally had a taste of being sated!

It’s just a fraction, these two Knights might not have even been involved in the attack on my village, but it doesn’t matter...by killing these two, I’ve made the world a slightly better place, and it feels damn fucking good!

I then glanced to my left as a clang echoed out, near the figure that the Knights had been dragging with them. I remember them saying ’she’, so it must be a girl...there was what looked like some sort of collar by her feet, it must have fallen off her neck.

The Knights mentioned something about an Enslavement Collar when they came out of the Labyrinth entrance, it’s probably exactly what it sounds like. What an awful Magic Item, truly disgusting...

"Hey, are you okay? Did those bastards hurt you at all? Here, I’ve got a healing Magic Item you can use if you need to-...," I began as I approached her.

"How strange...a human, coming to my rescue. This is quite bizarre," She interrupted me...before grabbing the collar of the cloak and yanking it off of her, tossing it away with a huff.

My eyes widened in bewilderment as I got a look at her, blinking a couple of times in disbelief...

"H-huh? What...what are you?" I inquired in bemusement.

"Ah, yes, I suppose you wouldn’t know what I am. I’m the last free Demon, at least as far as I know...well, Half-Demon, anyway. The other half is Dragon, in case you were wondering," She replied, dusting herself off with a frown.

What? Demon? Dragon? Huh?

Demons are supposed to be extinct, they were overwhelmed by the humans of the time who banded together, joining forces to kill the Demons and other powerful, intelligent Monster races.

Once those types of Monsters had almost all been wiped off the face of the world, the humans targeted other races, the Demi-Humans. Most of those races were hunted into extinction, and the few races that remain only have a few members left, hiding throughout the world.

Of course, after that, the humans fought amongst themselves, which resulted in the current state of the world, with severe discrimination based on Attribute and the world split between the Dark Continent and Light Continent.

Back to the matter at hand, taking everything I just said into consideration, this shouldn’t be possible...

"Why-...no, how...?" I trailed off, unable to find the words to say.

I then noticed that, since she’d taken off that cloak, she was completely naked. And her appearance is humanoid, so for the most part, she doesn’t look to dissimilar to humans.

Her skin was red, and looked kinda leathery and scaly, with a slight dark hue to it. Her left eye was dark blue, and her right eye was like a dark void, it had a black, bone-like layer around it over her skin, and a faint, glowing dark pink mist emanating out of it.

That black layer over the skin around her left eye kinda looked like an eyepatch, but looking more closely, it’s definitely merged to her skin, kinda like how fingernails are.

She had snow white hair that framed the front of her face and flowed down past her waist from behind, the ends a slight grayish black. She had leathery bat-like wings on her back that were folded in, and a long flowing tail. She had rows of sharp fang-like teeth, and short, spiky black horns.

Her entire right arm from just below the shoulder was covered in a black pattern, as was her right leg from her foot and halfway up her calf. But what I was mainly noticing right now, was how naked she was...

"U-uh, maybe you should put that cloak back on, I can kinda see everything...," I trailed off awkwardly, as I kept averting my gaze but couldn’t help glancing back at her. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Hm? And why would I drape myself in such a filthy, smelly rag?" She frowned in response, before approaching me with a look of curiosity on her face, narrowing her eyes as she closed in on me and leaned forward to meet my gaze, "How unusual, you’re quite a strange human..."

"Huh? What makes you say that?" I responded uncertainly, struggling not to stare as her chest jiggled slightly.

"Fear. I don’t sense any from you towards me. Those humans who restrained me, even though they’d taken measures to prevent me from resisting them, I could still sense their fear towards me, even though I was helpless to fight back. But you’re different, you’re not afraid of me," She remarked in fascination.

"Oh, uh...well, you did say you’re half and half Demon and Dragon, but you still look like a young girl to me, and you’ve shown no signs of aggression towards me, so...," I trailed off with a shrug.

"Interesting. I was under the impression that all humans are either fearful or condescending towards other beings, so this is quite unexpected. Are you considered unusual by other humans?" She inquired curiously.

This is a seriously bizarre interaction I’m having here...

"No, I’m-...huh, actually, I guess so. At least, I would be if I spoke my mind and openly disagreed with general ideals that I don’t share with the majority of other people. If you don’t mind me asking...how exactly did those Knights manage to capture you?" I asked her in response.

"Tch...I’ve been hiding in this Labyrinth for several decades, towards the lower floors. But I got bored, so about three decades ago, I decided to hibernate. And I was rudely awakened yesterday, and found that collar around my neck. It prevented me from defying those humans," She grumbled irritably, kicking at the ground in frustration...and sending out a small shockwave upon impact, chunks of earth and grass flying out as she tore the ground apart.

Woah, holy shit. She’s strong.

"Oh, I see. That sounds pretty unfortunate, sorry to hear that. What do you plan on doing now?" I inquired, doing my best to avoid staring at her body too much.

"I don’t have an objective, if that’s what you mean," She shrugged indifferently.

"Well, in that case...you could tag along with me for a bit, until you find something you want to do, at least?" I suggested impulsively, before I could think it through.

"Huh? Are you requesting a Contract? Well, I refuse, I have no interest in living inside of a human and being their source of pow-...," She began apprehensively.

"No, that’s not what I meant. I just meant, like, travel with me. You said you were bored, so a change of pace might be just what you need...and, you know, maybe you could help me out when I’m in a tough fight or something. You’re not opposed to killing unintelligent Monsters and the occasional humans, are you?" I inquired in response.

"I won’t attack any being unprovoked, but if I am attacked, I’ll respond in kind," She replied, before mulling over the suggestion, "Hm, I don’t sense any deceit in your words...okay, then, why not? I can’t deny that I’m not intrigued, and I could certainly use a change in pace, like you said."

"Well, then, I guess it’s settled. Oh, my name’s Argent Stryker, by the way, you can call me Argent. Nice to meet you. What do you go by?" I introduced myself, as I held out my hand towards her.

"I was given the name Izzozon by my parents, the Demon Lord Satan and Plasma Dragon King Frielektra," She responded, as she stretched her arms up.

It’s really hard not to stare at her chest right now, she either doesn’t notice or just doesn’t care.

"Izzozon, huh...that’s a bit hard to say. Mind if I just call you Izz or Izzy when I address you instead?" I suggested wryly.

"Very well, I don’t mind that."

"O-on another note, uh...we should really get you some clothes, you can’t walk around like that."

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