"Run!" Chris screamed in the back of his mind.
"It's a Level 25 monster! We are barely at Level 1! Move your legs in the opposite direction!"
"Run?" The Demon Prince scoffed, standing his ground as the bushes ahead parted.
"I do not run from a mere prey."
"It's not prey! It's a beast with sharp teeth!"
The warning came too late.
From the shadows, a massive shape ran forward with the speed of a runaway car.
It didn't give out a roar; it simply charged with the silent, deadly intent of an apex predator.
The Demon raised his arms in a cross block, his stance firm, expecting to stop the creature as he had stopped his enemies in his past life.
But he forgot one crucial detail.
He wasn't in his past life.
He was in someone else's body.
CRACK.
The impact was brutal.
He was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards like a practice dummy.
His back slammed into the thick trunk of an oak tree, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"Gah!"
Pain exploded in his arms, making it impossible to move.
He looked down at the ground.
Deep gashes ran from his elbows to his wrists, the skin torn open by something sharp. Blood began to well up, soaking the tattered sleeves of his shirt.
"How fucking dare..." The Demon wheezed, sliding down the tree trunk until his shoes hit the dirt.
He looked up to see what had hit him.
It wasn't a wolf or a deer.
What stood in front was a deer.
But it was different from the species of nature.
It stood six feet tall at the shoulder, its muscles twitching under patchy, orange fur.
The neck had two heads, fused at the base, fighting for dominance to see who tasted the meat first.
Four antlers towered above, sharpened like spears, extending from its skull.
Its eyes were entirely white—no pupils, just milky orbs of blindness.
[SYSTEM: BLIND BEAST (MUTATED)]
[HP: 2500/2500]
[Agility: 40]
"It's a Twin-Headed Deer," Chris whispered, his panic rising.
"They guard the inner circle of the forest. If one is here, we are deep in the danger zone. Let's move quickly."
The Demon stared at the creature.
Then, a low, guttural sound started in his throat.
He was laughing.
"Two heads," the Demon grinned, wiping the blood from his arm and licking it off his thumb.
"That means two trophies."
"Are you even listening to me? You just got tossed like a doll!"
The beast pawed the ground, its white eyes twitching as it locked onto the scent of the Demon's open wounds.
With a shriek that sounded like tearing paper, it charged at them again.
This time, the Demon moved too.
He pushed mana into his legs, forcing the muscles to contract beyond their natural body limit.
Swoosh.
He jumped.
It was an unnatural movement.
He escaped the charging beast, flipping over its antlers with inches to spare.
Landing behind it with a thud, his expression turned creepy.
"Slow as fuck," the Demon taunted.
The beast skidded to a halt, tearing up the earth, and spun around with frightening agility for its size.
It lunged again.
The Demon dodged left.
It snapped its jaws to bite his arm.
The Demon moved right.
"Is this the best this world has to offer?" The Demon laughed, ducking under a sweeping antler strike.
"I can see every move before you make it!"
"You're dodging, but you're not attacking!" Chris pointed out. "Look at your stamina!"
The Demon ignored him, preparing for a counterattack.
He pulled his fist back, aiming for the beast's ribcage, and threw a strong punch.
But halfway through the motion, his arm seized.
A cramp, sharp and debilitating, shot through his shoulder.
The punch landed with the impact of a sponge.
The beast didn't even flinch.
It swung its heavy head, the antlers catching the Demon on the side.
Thud.
He rolled across the ground, coughing up dust and blood.
"What... is... this?" The Demon gasped, trying to stand up, but his legs felt like lead.
"My mind commands it... But the flesh refuses."
"It's called reflexes, you moron!" Chris shouted.
"This body has zero training! You can't fight like a superhero with the body of an extra! We are worn out!"
The beast sensed the weakness and moved for a final charge.
It knew the prey was tired.
The Demon looked at his trembling hands.
He looked at the blood dripping from his forearms onto the dead leaves.
His grin vanished.
Replaced by a cold, simmering rage.
"Weakness," he whispered. "I fucking despise it."
He looked at the puddle of blood on the ground, the leftovers from the cultist he had killed earlier.
Then he looked at his own wounds.
"If the muscles fail," the Demon muttered, his eyes glowing with a dark, red intensity, "then the blood will serve."
"Wait," Chris said, recognising the flow of energy.
"Don't tell me you're using that. You don't have the mana for a Blood Skill!"
"Shut the fuck up."
The Demon extended his hand.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: BLOOD MANIPULATION (LVL 1)]
[WARNING: MANA CRITICAL]
[TIME LIMIT: 60 SECONDS]
The air in the clearing grew heavy.
The blood on the ground began to tremble.
Droplets started floating upward, defying gravity and science, spiralling toward the Demon's hand.
The blood from his own wounds shot out, joining the stream he was controlling.
The liquid hardened, turning into something.
A sword.
Made entirely of deep red blood.
It radiated danger with a menacing energy.
The Demon stood up. Its fatigue seemed to vanish, replaced by the adrenaline of the spell.
"Sixty seconds," the Demon said, his voice devoid of humour.
"More than enough."
The beast let out a roar and charged.
This time, the Demon didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
He gripped the blood sword with both hands, his stance shifting from a brawler to a master swordsman.
The beast was five feet away.
Two feet.
One foot.
"Die."
Slash.
It was a single, clean motion.
The Demon stepped past the beast, the blood sword trailing a red arc in the air.
For a moment, nothing happened.
The beast continued its momentum, taking two more steps.
Then, a thin red line appeared on both of its necks.
Squelch.
Both heads slid off the shoulders simultaneously, hitting the dirt with a wet thud.
The massive body collapsed a second later, twitching in death throes.
The silence returned to the forest.
"Hmph," the Demon scoffed.
Shatter.
The blood sword crumbled into dust, evaporating into red mist.
The Demon immediately fell to one knee, panting heavily.
[EXP GAINED: 500]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[CURRENT STATUS: EXHAUSTED]