Chapter 480: Chapter 479: Transformation
Nuk grinned as he walked closer to the Malard.
Standing so close to the demon made the Malard uncomfortable as he struggled to breathe normally.
"Now that we have an agreement, what should I call you?" Nuk asked.
"Mikel," the Malard replied as Nuk nodded.
"Well then, let me grant you power beyond anything you have ever known," Nuk said as he clenched his fist tightly, his sharp claws piercing into his palm as blood slowly dripped out.
"Swallow it," Nuk commanded.
Mikel froze.
He was supposed to swallow this unknown and dangerous blood?
At first, Mikel wanted to refuse, but after taking a deep breath, he slowly stepped closer.
The thick crimson blood dripped from Nuk’s palm as Mikel opened his mouth beneath it.
The instant the blood touched his tongue, his entire body trembled violently as a loud scream echoed across the forest.
Mikel fell to the ground as his bones cracked loudly. His skin began peeling apart while his flesh looked as though it had been burned alive.
The temperature of the blood was far hotter than he had imagined as he felt his tongue being scorched to a crisp.
His voice grew dry as unbearable pain spread throughout his body.
At the side, Nuk observed calmly as he watched the changes happen one after another.
With each passing moment, Mikel underwent excruciating pain as his body was cleansed and transformed down to the cellular level.
His skin turned pale while his limbs elongated rapidly as huge muscles formed beneath his flesh.
He grew from less than two meters tall to over three meters in height.
His spine protruded slightly from his back while traces of purple spread across his pale skin.
Large jagged teeth capable of tearing flesh apart formed within his mouth.
A few minutes later...
A completely new creature had been born.
"This..." Mikel opened his giant mouth in shock.
At this point, he was slightly taller than Nuk himself as he stared at his palms and the long sharp claws extending from his fingers.
Underneath those claws...
Within his arms...
Within his entire body...
He could sense a terrifying amount of energy swirling violently inside him.
This power felt like enlightenment.
Was this what powerful Martial Warriors felt like?
No...
He was far stronger than ordinary Martial Warriors.
He could feel explosive energy surging through every part of him.
Mikel turned and walked toward a nearby tree.
Its trunk was as wide as two grown men while its roots stretched deep into the earth.
Without hesitation, he clenched his fist and punched forward.
Doom!
The tree collapsed instantly as the ground trembled slightly beneath the impact.
Mikel’s now-purple eyes widened in disbelief.
How was this possible?
He slowly looked back at Nuk, who merely smiled and nodded.
This had been the goal all along.
And it had succeeded.
Demon blood could be used to transform other beings.
Because Nuk was still weak, the process had succeeded relatively safely.
But the stronger the demon, the more toxic their blood became to weaker creatures.
For example, if the blood of a Rank 1 demon had not been diluted and Mikel consumed it directly, his chances of survival would have been less than five percent.
But if he somehow survived...
The amount of power he would gain would be terrifying.
Suddenly, Nuk felt a sharp pang in his head as new information flooded his mind.
Most of it concerned the various sub-races beneath the demon race.
As for Mikel...
He had transformed into a variant of a Ghoul.
The more flesh he consumed, the stronger he would become.
Meaning he now needed to kill and devour humans and other creatures in order to evolve further.
"Perfect..." Nuk muttered as he looked at the stunned yet excited Mikel.
"Alright, you should be able to revert back into your human form. Do so, and let’s head back," Nuk spoke, snapping Mikel out of his temporary happiness.
"Yes... wait, back?"
"We are going back?" Mikel asked in shock as Nuk chuckled.
"Yes. We still have more cities to conquer."
"In the meantime, I can show you a world you never knew existed," Nuk said with a grin.
Mikel pondered briefly before replying.
"Okay," he answered.
Following Nuk’s instructions, the transformation process felt almost like removing one set of clothes and putting on another.
At first, he was only able to transform certain body parts back into human form.
But after several attempts and repeated failures, he finally succeeded in completely returning to normal.
Except...
He was naked.
"Excuse me!" Mikel shouted hurriedly as he rushed toward his bags and grabbed his clothes.
He quickly ran into the forest as Nuk heard rustling sounds before Mikel finally emerged fully dressed.
This earned a chuckle from Nuk.
With that, the two began their journey back.
Only this time...
Mikel was no longer returning as the Malard of a city.
He was returning as a member of the demon army.
************
The battlefield had completely transformed.
The once-open plains were now filled with shattered shields, broken weapons, corpses, and rivers of blood.
The smell of death spread everywhere, yet the battle still continued.
"Hold the line!"
A loud roar echoed as thousands of soldiers slammed their shields together once more.
Bang!
The impact shook violently as a demon smashed into the wall of shields like a cannonball.
Several soldiers at the front vomited blood instantly as their arms broke from the impact, but the shield wall somehow held.
"Spears!"
Swish!
Hundreds of spears shot forward from the gaps between the shields.
The demon roared as multiple spears pierced into its body, but instead of falling, it grabbed two soldiers directly and tore them apart with brute force.
Blood exploded outward.
"Rotate!"
Immediately, exhausted soldiers at the front were dragged backward while another line replaced them instantly.
The battlefield had already become complete chaos.At first, the humans had thought numbers alone would crush the demons.
But reality was cruel.
The moment the demons charged into the army earlier, thousands had died within minutes.
Bodies had exploded, armor had shattered as entire groups had been ripped apart.
Even cavalry units were useless as the horses had refused to approach the demons.
Now the humans had no choice but to adapt.
And adapt they did.
"Left flank collapsing!"
"Send the reserve squads!"
"Martial Warriors forward!"
Boom!
Several figures suddenly rushed out from the human side.
Unlike ordinary soldiers, their speed was far faster.
One of them slammed his fist directly into a demon’s jaw while another cut toward its neck with a massive blade.
Clang!
Sparks exploded.
The demon staggered backward slightly making the humans’ eyes lit up instantly.
It worked.
"Attack together!"
More than fifty soldiers rushed forward simultaneously.
Chains wrapped around the demon’s legs while spears pierced toward its eyes.
The demon roared violently and killed over twenty men almost instantly, but its movements slowed slightly.
Then...
Boom!
A Martial Warrior leapt high into the air before bringing down a massive axe onto the demon’s neck.
Crack!
The axe embedded halfway into its flesh, black blood exploded outward as a blood curling demon scream was heard.
Before it could retaliate, hundreds of arrows suddenly descended from the sky.
Its eyes were pierced.
Its legs restrained.
And finally...
BOOM!
Another Martial Warrior stabbed directly through its skull making the battlefield paused briefly.
A demon...had died,but before the humans could celebrate....
The demon army became enraged.
Growls echoed everywhere.The ground trembling beneath their feet as they charged again.
This time even more violently.
"Aaaahhh!"
Screams filled the battlefield as humans were ripped apart continuously.
One demon smashed through three layers of shields before grabbing soldiers and using their bodies as weapons.
Another bit directly into a man’s torso before tearing him in half.
The humans fought desperately.
Every single demon required enormous sacrifice just to stop.
Traps,shield walls, Chains and explosives rang across the battlefield with martial Warriors leading the attack.
Everything was used together,yet even then...
For every demon killed, mountains of corpses appeared.
Ten demons eventually fell , but at the cost of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.
The battlefield itself had become dyed in red , the humans no longer fought to win.
They fought merely to stop the demons from advancing.
"Do not let them pass!"
"Push forward!"
"Close the gap!"
Thousands of exhausted soldiers slammed their shields together again as a reverbating sound of metal colliding rang across the battlefield. Their bodies trembled with many not being able to stand.Their arms were numb, armor broken as some had lost comrades, others had lost limbs yet none retreated.
Because behind them...
Was the city.
The demons growled angrily.
Even the low and middle-level demons had begun showing signs of exhaustion.
Their scales were covered in blood with several carried injuries,broken claws, pierced shoulders and deep wounds from the Martial Warriors.
More than exhaustion, however...
They felt frustration.These weak humans kept blocking them,no matter how many died more will bravely step forward.
The battlefield slowly became silent and for the first time since the battle began, both sides paused.
Humans breathed heavily behind broken shield walls.
Demons stood amidst mountains of corpses while growling lowly.
Neither side moved immediately.The wind blew quietly across the battlefield carrying the smell of blood and death with it.
One thousand demons.
Hundreds of thousands of humans.
And after all this slaughter...
The battle was still not over.
