Before he could get up. The demon slashed out again, and this time its attack connected. Its claws dug deep into Asher's leg, tearing away a chunk of flesh from Asher's thigh.
Asher's body trembled in pain as he raised his uninjured leg and kicked the demon in the chest to create some space between the two of them
The demon was sent stunningly back, but it didn't care and just stuffed the bloody chunk of flesh on its claws in its mouth, licking it off gleefully and grinning with its new set of bloodied teeth.
As Asher rose to his feet, he saw this strange, cruel sight and felt his back grow cold
'No, this can't continue!' He thought, now starting to panic
Asher had managed to keep his calm so far, but he knew he was going to die if he didn't get his act together now!
One of his legs was injured, so the option of running had been fully cut off. He had to kill this demon and kill it now!
But determination and drive were one thing; he needed actual strategies!
The demon supposed him in both physical stats and combat instinct.
On the verge of death, Asher's slow mind finally kicked into gear.
'Tail! Damn it, it's my tail!'
His tail, which had been the answer all along!
Just a simple glance at his status panel would tell him that his greatest strength was his newly gained skill and tail, and yet somehow, he wasn't even using them at all.
In truth, Asher couldn't be fully blamed for this blunder. In the military, they had been taught a few lessons on close combat, so Asher was just trying to follow the lessons and instructions drilled into him. He wasn't used to having this new appendage, and before he could properly adjust, he was jumped by the Blood Claw Demon. Naturally, he reverted to what he was used to fighting with his hands and feet—but that was only to his own detriment.
He was a demon now, and a demon should act like one! He should use everything at his disposal, no matter how crazy or strange it looked! Fighting past the pain, he forced his free arm to the ground and dropped to all fours, finally focused, his tail now writhing wildly behind him.
Facing Asher's strange new posture, the Blood Claw Demon leaned in, tilting its head curiously and assessing him again. The demon wanted to take some time to study this odd sight, but this time Asher didn't wait, he made his move first!
"Snap!"
[Spiked-Tail Whip (E)]
Asher's tail lurched forward like a whip, the sharpened spike tearing through the air with precision, aiming to impale the demon from below.
"Grr!"
The Blood Claw Demon easily saw through Asher's attack and backed off, but then, out of seemingly nowhere, Asher's tail suddenly spun back like a coiling serpent.
"Ptfff!"
This time, the Blood Claw Demon was unable to dodge, as a bloody gash now ran across its chest.
The Blood Claw Demon screamed, but now that Asher had actually managed to injure it, the demon's once-grating screech was just music to his ears.
Asher saw the demon glare at him with a familiar set of hate-filled eyes and wasn't intimidated. He smirked and taunted in return.
"There's more where that came from, fucker! So come get some!"
Although the demon couldn't understand Asher's words, it could perfectly feel the taunting nature of his tone and rushed forward in a rage.
Asher laughed and took the chance to narrow the distance between them, waving his tail once again.
"Bang!"
Claw met tail spike in a vicious clash, and what followed could only be described as a series of lightning-fast strikes. Claws and tail-spike clashed so violently that any observer could have sworn they saw sparks.
Eventually, Asher managed to hit back, causing the demon to stagger. It raised its claw, but it didn't matter. While it braced for impact, no collision came. Confused, the Blood Claw Demon looked around, only to feel a sudden sharp pain in its lower body.
Slowly, the confused demon looked down to see a gaping hole magically appear in its lower abdomen. Now realising what had happened, it looked up at Asher, eyes wide with primal hatred.
Asher met the hate-filled gaze and laughed.
"How is it? Do you like my little gift?"
The demon obviously wasn't feeling Asher's festive spirit and glared murderously at its new wound. It quickly reached out with its glowing red claws, trying to grab and tear apart Asher's tail. But Asher didn't give it a chance and pulled away.
"Pfsss."
The removal of Asher's tail only caused the injury to worsen, as blood poured from the gaping wound like a burst fountain.
And Asher wasn't done yet.
He circled the demon again and again. Now that the demon was on edge and moving recklessly, Asher didn't try for any deep wounds. He simply weaved in and out of its range, slashing and creating more wounds with each blow. The deep bleeding left from Asher's tail strike, combined with the constant fresh wounds, caused it to slow down.
The demon wouldn't just accept death and tried to rush back to fight Asher, but now that Asher was in control of the fight, he calmly stepped aside and remained untouched.
Attacks that once felt like near-death experiences now seemed pathetically floundering. The blood loss made the demon more frantic and ferocious, but also all the more pathetic and confused. There was no pity in Asher's eyes as he continued to toy with it until, finally, the demon's body couldn't take it anymore and collapsed.
The constant harassment and accumulated wounds left the Blood Claw Demon powerless. On the ground, it could only twitch helplessly, its claws scraping against the ground in unreconciled anger. Its eyes, once filled with feral rage, now showed only weakness and despair.
But Asher didn't care about the demon's anger. He drove his tail spike into the foul creature's forehead before it could utter another cry.
Ding!
[ You have slain a lvl 3 Blood-Claw Demon. ]
[ You have gained 90 Experience Points. ]
[ Your Talent [Evolve Through Plunder(SSS)] has been activated... ]
The moment life left the Blood Claw Demon's body, Asher felt something stir inside him. From the blood-slicked end of his tail, black mist burst forth, flickering like fire and twisting in restless spirals. It swept around the demon's corpse, coiling tighter, the dark flames writhing as if feeding on the remains. In a blink, the mist collapsed and streamed back into Asher's tail, leaving only silence and still air behind.
[ Congratulations! You have successfully plundered the skill - Rending Claws(E) ]
[ Loading Skill onto your body… ]
Asher exhaled, steadying himself, but the change had already begun.
Suddenly, a sharp and pulsing heat surged through his chest and forearms as if the blood in his upper body was boiling. As this was happening his claws tingled and then began to shift.
They painfully extended, almost doubling in size. The once-blunt ends now tapered to razor points, and faint crimson glyphs flickered across their surface for a heartbeat before fading. Each claw shimmered with a sharp, crimson glow, like burning metal freshly pulled from the heart of a forge.
Asher didn't say anything and flexed his hands, feeling the magic buzzing inside his claws, designed to tear through flesh and leave enemies bleeding helplessly.
—-
[Rending Claws (E)]- Your claws evolve serrated, mystical edges that enhance tearing damage. Attacks have an increased chance to inflict Bleed. Channelling energy empowers your strikes, amplifying Bleed effects and overall melee lethality.
Stat Gains: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution
—-
Before Asher could catch his breath, another demon broke from the edge of the fray, a smaller, wiry creature, skittering low across the ground.
Its limbs ended in curved, bone-white scythes, and twitchy red eyes darted from side to side, searching for an escape route even as it attacked.
[Sickle Arm Imp]
[Race: Abyssal Monster]
[Rank: Common ★]
[Level: 2]
[Skills: Sickle Arms (F), Adrenaline Surge (E)]