'The devil king?' Ash had a drop of sweat at the side of his face as he chuckled slightly, 'So that wasn't me just mishearing it; i did make a contract with the devil king.'
Now, Ash sat down on the ground.
'Let's see here. normally, according to what i was told after being summoned here, the devil king lost a battle against the previous hero and went into hiding. no one heard or saw him, but his minions still roamed the earth, causing mayhem.
He continued,
'Everyone assumed the devil king was dead, which was why they were quick to label this ability its servant. Now that i contracted such a high-tier being, that means the devil king isn't dead.'
After thinking for a while, Ash decided to test his luck and summon the devil king like he does to any lesser spirit that he summons.
He stretched his hand forward—
"Come to me, Devil king!"
Ding!
[Notice: Due to insufficient power, the devil king is unable to respond to a summon.
Note: Please grow stronger to be able to summon your strongest slave.]
'Is that so? I guess i can really be surprised, seeing as i have never made a slave contract with a higher spirit stronger than a lesser spirit.'
Before he could think any further, he heard something rustling in the bushes.
[Warning: A threat approaches.]
Just as Ash wanted to act, a monster charged out of the bush.
From what he could see, it was a wild boar beast. It had red fur and two large tusks capable of impaling a human in seconds.
Unfortunately for Ash, he was nowhere near as fast as a boar, especially since he was caught unaware.
Not even a single second after Ash stood to his feet, the boar had already charged forward, sending its sharp tusk straight into Ash's guts.
Blurgh!
Blood spewed from Ash's mouth seconds before he was sent flying and tumbling to the ground.
As he stopped near a tree, he could hear the violent footsteps of the monster closing the distance to launch yet another attack.
Injured, Ash knew there was nothing he could do, especially with a mid-level monster like a wild boar.
However, his options grew as the system suddenly offered him a new opening.
[Would you like to extract a skill from your slave, The devil king?]
[Upon contracting a slave, you are offered the option to gain one of their many skills in their inventory when they evolve. That would be—]
'Yes! Give it to me!' Ash yelled, knowing he had limited time before the monster got close to him.
[Understood.]
[An ability has been extracted.]
[Demon Aura] Description: This ability gives you the power to directly use any and all powers attributed to the devil king.
Note: Excessive use of the aura may lead to your mind overclocking.
Wasting no time after the system announced his new skills, Ash felt the enormous pour of demonic aura leaking out of his body.
Not only did this give him a massive boost in physicality, but even though it was only for a bit, the massive injury in his gut didn't hurt.
A perfect opportunity for him to launch a counterattack.
As the wild beast pushed towards him, Ash quickly went to his knees, grabbed it by the tusks, and tried to shove it back.
Unfortunately, he was still weak from the injury, and this led to the wild beast shoving him back, his back slamming on the tree.
'Go to hell!'
Ash took a massive risk, releasing his hold on one of his tusks to clench his fist for a blow.
In just that split second, the beast used the sudden delay in pressure and ran its free tusk into Ash's exposed ribs. As expected, blood began rushing out, the injury so wide it felt as though his guts were going to pour out.
However, despite the pain, Ash still went on with his initial plan.
"Argh!"
He sent a blow, coated with the demonic aura, straight to the boar's face.
Shock was etched on his face when he found that his fist went into the boar's skull.
Seeing this, he realized he had a chance.
While his hand was still inside the beast's head, he firmly held his stance, and then—
Crack!
Using all of his might, he managed to twist the head of the monster, ripping it off the boar's body.
The sudden release in force brought Ash to the ground as he swung the head of the beast to the side.
Now lying not too far from him was a monster with no head, and blood was leaking profusely from its exposed neck.
'I…killed it?'
Ash could barely believe his eyes. Somehow, he had killed a monster, a feat he would have never been able to pull off before.
[Congratulations on your first kill.]
[You have gained 50 points.
Note: Points can be used to upgrade certain aspects of your slaves, or access the magic store.]
[The system detects a major injury.
Would you like to purchase a healing potion?]
Ash was a bit overwhelmed by the multiple system prompts, but he still managed to give a decent response.
'Yes.'
[2 points have been deducted.]
In Ash's hand appeared a high-grade healing potion. He was able to tell the quality since many of the potions back at the castle never emitted such a pure aura.
Without thinking twice, Ash opened the bottle and, with a single chug, drank the entire healing potion.
Not long after, Ash found that every single injury and mana loss he gained from his battle with the monster had been healed completely. Not even a sign was present.
Seeing this, Ash gave a small smile.
'I feel I should be more wary about this sudden power I have. Not that it matters, though, as long as I am strong enough to beat that jerk to a pulp, I don't mind where it came from.'
With that, Ash stood to his feet, his gaze focused right in front of him.
Looking ahead, he figured this path should lead back to the capital, that is to say, if he was still in the forest where he was killed.
Chances of someone moving his body were slim, so he had no choice but to go with the first idea.
But first, he needed to find a water source to wash his body and also a way to hide his face in order not to be spotted as quickly.
So, he began exploring the forest, and it took him next to no time to find a small river not too far from where he initially was.
The river wasn't that big but it was clean enough for him to bathe in.
"This will do."
Ash pulled off his clothes, dumped them next to a tree, and strode into the body of water.
Since the water wasn't cold, he had no issue soaking his entire body while resting his back on a rock next to where he was.
Suddenly, after a few minutes of having his body nestled in the water, a loud voice suddenly echoed from behind the trees.
"You bitch! How can you forget to pick the last magic crystal?!"