"You Demon!"

Ignoring the Priest's exclamation of rage, I stare at the boy, who has his head pierced by my earth spike, strangely. His body is still twitching, so I am sure he is is still alive, albeit barely.

My heart beats faster due to the adrenaline—I guess—but I don't know whether it beats that way due to excitement or shock. I can't help myself from grinning however, so I can safely conclude that I am excited.

'What makes me feel excited though?'

This feeling overwhelming my body—every unconscious move that each muscle in my body is making has nothing to do with my state of mind. My mind is pretty clear—in fact, it is so clear, I can even ponder what I have just done.

I don't feel any remorse or guilt for what I have done, but it still can't stop me from thinking why I have to kill the kid. I wonder what is the exact urgency that forces me to kill the kid—a pathetic creature that couldn't even hurt me.

'Is it because if I let him go, he would be able to call another bunch of Priests and make the same thing happen again?'

While that is something to be concerned about, I know that is not the reason why I have killed the kid. I keep looking for the reason why, and the answer is fairly simple the moment I realize it.

'The kid is a human ... Yeah, that's it.'

Just like how humans treat us, Cursed Creations, we treat humans, the most loved creations the same. They deem us having no worth to live, and so do we—it is that simple.

For me to even think about such a simple matter—it's ridiculous. I can't help it though; I was, after all a human before, so sometimes I forgot I have become a Demon.

Besides, I have just killed a child—an innocent child, who knew nothing about the world's matters. It has triggered something in me—killing such a weak creature—so it is unavoidable.

CLANK!

As the Priest arrives in front of me, I unconsciously put Rexorem in front of me and block his punch with the Barrier Rexorem has generated. I am slightly surprised by my reflex, but I quickly ignore it the moment I look at the Priest's face.

"You look angry."

"It will be a sin for me to not end your wicked life here!"

Eyes bloodshot—the Priest pressurized me with his heavy killing intent. His benevolent look is nowhere to be found—you might wonder if he is the same person as before.

I have now possessed three tenth of his power—it doesn't mean that he has lost three tenth of his power though—and because of that, I can hold him back quite well.

Still, that doesn't mean I can keep holding him back like that. I still need to push him back or distract him to make a distance since he has started pushing me back.

Channeling my Mana into the Magic Stone on Rexorem, I retract the Magic Barrier protecting me into the Magic Stone, then immediately discharge the Mana stored in it.

Boom!

The Mana explosion is enough to push the Priest back this time, and I use this chance to distance myself away from him. Dashing to my right while keeping my eyes on the Priest, I immediately stop the moment the Priest chases me.

Channeling my Mana into Rexorem's Magic Stone, I wave Rexorem strongly, sending a Mana Blade that I am sure is stronger than my previous Mana Blades at the Priest.

Driven by rage—I guess—the Priest swats the Mana Blade, and he is met with surprise. The Mana Blade, after all, is still under the influence of [Ignia Ferrum], so the moment the Priest hits it, it engulfs him in fire.

He is able to extinguish all the fire in seconds, but those seconds are all I need to reach his side. The moment the fire is extinguished, Rexorem is ready to kiss him a goodbye.

"Surprise, mother—"

"Down!"

Sadly, my line is interrupted by the Priest's Lasso of Judgement. The rope has wrapped around my neck by the time I realize it, and it allows the Priest to pull me down to the ground.

Bam!

I almost fall face first. Thanks to my acrobat skills though, I managed to protect my mask covered face with my arms.

I roll beautifully while still holding Rexorem on the ground afterwards, but the bastard of a Priest doesn't have any intention to let me go.

Yanking his Lasso of Judgement, which Luxia somehow hasn't managed to take care of, I am pulled to his side in the middle of my roll. The gesture has almost broken my neck, and it is enough to irk me.

"He was just a child—where is your heart?!"

"I have two—which one are you referring to?"

"Arrrghh!"

The Priest thrusts his Holy Power covered hand at my head in frustration. Luckily, even though I am lying on the ground, I can still move my head to dodge his attack.

Stab!

His hand hits the ground, and as I see it embedded in the ground, all I think is how useful his hand as a scope. I am not fascinated enough to want to keep looking at it though, so I try looking for ways to get out of the situation.

Stab! Stab!

I, unfortunately, can't find the way to, so I have to keep dodging the enraged Priest's hand for the next moment. Cursing lightly under my breath, I telepathically urge Luxia to do her job better.

[Why are you asking me? Do it yourself—you are more than capable to!]

Given such a response however, I really want to stomp on the little the little spirit. Here I am risking my head getting pierced, and that's how she treats her benefactor—I am extremely enraged.

... At least, until I realize Luxia has just said something right.historical

"Ah, you have made me forget what I am capable of, old man."

I stop moving my head, and catch the Priest's hand with my left hand, surprising him in the process. Storing Rexorem in my Spatial Storage afterwards, I pull on the Priest's Lasso of Judgement wrapping around my neck.

Rip!

"You know, I can actually grow stronger each time I exchange blows with my opponent," I say as I slowly stand up, bewildering the Priest. "You have allowed me to grow as strong as you, so... Thank you, I guess?"

As I stand on the ground uprightly, I look down at the Priest, who is a couple of inches shorter than me. The Priest stares at me with disbelief, and I don't blame him, for I would do the same if I were him.

My Origin: Pride is more broken than I have initially thought. I have thought I wouldn't get any power up for dodging the Priest's thrusts earlier, so I am a little bit surprised when I did.

The Priest has, after all, attacked me half-heartedly earlier, so I thought him attacking me wouldn't trigger Pride, because he didn't use his real power in those thrusts.

Just like how little power I have gained from blocking Ilschevar's attack the moment I Awakened my Origin, I thought the same thing would happen.

It turns out, however, as long as said opponent is not sealing his power, my Origin still takes effect. Meaning, I can gain a tenth of my stronger opponent's power each time I survive one of his attacks.

That's what has happened with the Priest, and that's the reason why I still can grow stronger. I have gained a hundred percent of the Priest's power, which means, added to my original power, I am now stronger than him.

"Do you have any last word?"

"I know you are still a human inside ... Repent, and you shall be forgiven. God loves those who repent, and you should—"

"I don't like begging for mercy—if that's what you mean."

Shrugging nonchalantly as soon as I notice the Priest is channeling his Mana into the pendant around his neck, I thrust my right hand into the Priest's chest after coating it with my Mana.

My hand passes through the chest easily, and I even get to grab the Priest's still beating heart in the process. Pulling my hand out of his chest while still holding his heart afterwards, I shove it into his mouth.

The Priest tries to say something—I bet he is still telling me to repent—but his heart that is in his mouth prevents him from doing so.

I look at the comically gruesome scene with a faint chuckle, before looking away the moment I notice how silent the place has become.

Looking around, I find the battle already concluded—of course, with victory on our side. I smirk at the expected result, but instantly frown the moment I notice every one of my troop mate is looking at me.

There is nothing wrong with their gaze, but being the center of attention makes me think that there is something wrong with me.

"Well... We got another violent Warrior, didn't we? Hahaha!"

As I turn to face the one laughing, I find Velucan looking at me in glee. I quirk my eyebrow in slight confusion, but it doesn't take me long to figure what he means.

I am completely soaked in blood—human blood.