Rowena and Ceti had left while the servants also cleaned up the room along with the assassin's corpse.
But Igrid furrowed his brows as he noticed that Asher was still sweating and his body temperature wasn't going down even though all his physical injuries were healed.
Asher could see that Igrid was feeling suspicious about his condition and quickly asked to distract him, "I have one question. Why did you sigh when Rowena ordered his death?"
Igrid raised his brows, not expecting the Royal Consort to be so observant. His expression was filled with hesitation as Asher added, "You can be free with me. I have nobody to talk to anyway."
Igrid took a deep breath as he said, "It's just that…I realized Her Majesty had become very indifferent after the death of her father. When the late Demon King was alive…she was…I could say she was in a better state. I am sorry. I think I might have spoken too much."
"No. It's fine. You can go," Asher said as he felt that Rowena must have been close to her father. He wondered how she would react if she knew he was the one who killed her father.
But he wasn't really worried since there was no way she would ever learn the truth, just like how nobody could guess that he was a Hunter in his past life.
Igrid nodded, but he was still worried seeing his pale face and asked, "Your Highness, are you feeling alright? I think maybe I left out something when inspecting your—"
Asher gave a casual smile as he said, "Of course, I feel alright. Don't worry. I just feel mentally drained and exhausted after almost getting killed. It will all go away with a good night's sleep. Why don't you go on your way so that I can rest?"
Igrid felt hesitant since he could clearly see that something was wrong with the Royal Consort. But since the Royal Consort was insisting so much, he could only bow and leave.
After Igrid left, Asher let out a loud sigh in relief and quickly rushed to the door. He peeked out to see that the number of guards had increased and cursed the assassin for this. This only made it harder for him to sneak out.
But the pain from the ring made him lock the door as he decided to find out more about this strange ring that first helped him but was now making him feel like cutting off his finger. Maybe if he figured out what kind of ring it was, he could pull it off. If it was any ordinary person who was feeling this pain, they would be crying and rolling on the ground in pain. Fortunately for him, Asher had gone through various difficult trials as a Hunter that strengthened his willpower, and had learned how to deal with pain to become the strongest Hunter.
However, when he inspected the ring, he was disappointed to see that there was not much information displayed,
[ Item Name : Ring of Damnation ]
[ Grade : ??? ]
[ Status : Linked]
'Linked? So it is a Soul Artifact?' Asher remembered how he got a notification that the ring chose him as its user. And only those artifacts that can link with the soul of a living being could be called a Soul Artifact.
He was actually surprised that this body possessed such a precious artifact since Soul Artifacts were rare and powerful enough for people to go mad over it. He even remembered how humans in his past life had schemed against others to steal such artifacts while some Hunters had taken up suicide-level missions in the hopes of earning rewards involving a Soul Artifact. The only way to steal a Soul Artifact was by killing its master since these artifacts are said to be bound to the soul.
But of course, even among Soul Artifacts, there were always the useless ones and more useful ones. Asher had already witnessed how helpful this stone ring was since it saved his life and knew that it could also be used as a weapon.
He just had to figure out how to activate its weapon form again. At least this way, he would be able to get it off his hand and also would have some chance of defending himself in case someone tries to kill him again.
Still, he couldn't figure out its grade and thought that maybe an expert blacksmith might be able to tell. But he didn't have much hope since equipping this ring gave him no status benefits. There were even cheap accessories that gave the wielder at least some increase in their HP or MP.
But this was just a letdown. The only relief he had was that this ring would at least transform into a sharp weapon.
"Shit…why did it get worse…" Asher couldn't even focus on his thoughts as the pain suddenly spiked up.
And to his horror, he saw dark green cracks spreading from his hand and towards his arm without showing any signs of slowing down.
"No…no…no…Ughhhh…" Asher felt like his entire arm was being set aflame as the cracks spread deeper. But unlike before, this time, he could see it happening for real! He could see his flesh, his nerves, and everything till his bones slowly crumbled into ashes, making him feel hellish pain he had never felt before.
"Nnnghhh!" He bit onto the mattress to suppress his howls so that the others wouldn't rush inside. Even in this situation, he didn't want to trust his life in the hands of anyone else. He had to deal with whatever was going on by himself.
His horror only increased when he saw the dark green cracks spreading rapidly over his entire body.
"Rnnnggghhhh!!!"
Now he felt his entire body being melted by this scorching heat as dark green flames began to flare from his body.
He couldn't even howl anymore as his vocal cords were burned into nothingness.
He clutched his face and stumbled across the room as the dark green cracks had spread to his face, his skin disintegrating into ashes. The dark green flames even crept into his eyes and robbed him of his vision as well, making everything pitch black.
This was just too terrifying for Asher, who had never experienced something as hellish as this. Was this some kind of divine punishment for being in the body of a demon? Asher wouldn't have even thought of such wild thoughts if only he was sane enough to formulate thoughts in this situation.
He wasn't even sane enough to check his stats and figure out what was happening to his body.
All he felt was his flesh burning off his body, and finally, after what seemed like an eternity in darkness, he felt the pain stop.
But before he could think anything, he suddenly felt the floor beneath him disappear and felt his body falling through empty space until he finally crashed on some glass-like surface.
And as if to prevent him from going into shock, he was relieved to see his vision slowly returning to him. But what he saw stupefied him.
What is going on? :#
Please support the novel by voting if you guys are enjoying the story :D
Join my discord channel -https://discord.gg/HjWkd4nB3z
Asher did get his vision back, but he was seeing everything in shades of green, dark to light, or in between.
But what shocked him more was the place he was standing in. He was no longer standing in his room or even the castle but in a strange hellish, deserted, rocky place that was hot enough to melt iron instantly.
However, Asher was not at all bothered by the heat and instead looked around with a stupified face. There were no skies above but only an endless mirror that reflected the hellish land below, which was littered with raging volcanoes that spewed green lava, black trees with no leaves but only green flames on their branches, and lakes of green lava over this endless land.
Asher couldn't figure out where he was, let alone make out how large this place was.
But what caught his attention was when he saw his own reflection up in the sky. His clothes were the same as before but what shook him to the core was the appearance of his own body.
He didn't look like a night elf or any demon at all. All he could see was his own skeleton, top to bottom, which was continuously blazing with eerie dark green flames. His eyes were dark and hollow, just like that of a skull. He had no nose, ears, lips or skin, or anything that resembled his true appearance.
It was as if his flesh had entirely burned off, leaving behind only his skeleton, which was lit on fire, yet he didn't even realize it. Even the color of his skeleton didn't seem normal and was pitch black, as if it got charred by the flames. He was feeling beyond horrified by what he was seeing.
"No…what kind of sick joke is this…" He mumbled in a deep, husky voice that had low tones that scraped like knives on metal as he clutched his face, only to feel his solid, bony face.
This was enough to make him realize that this was not only real but a nightmare as well.
[ You have successfully activated the Hellbringer form -> +150% INT ]
[ You are now in the Dimension of the Damned ]
[ You have gained two Passive Ability ]
Passive Ability : [ Forged in Hell - Your bones were forged from cursed flames and cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. Even if dismembered, you won't lose any HP and can reattach dismembered bones at will] / [ Dimension of the Damned - You can enter this dimension at will to punish your foes and scorch their souls for eternity. In this dimension, you are invincible. ]
[ You have gained two Talents ]
Talents : [ Vengeful Lifestealer - When your HP falls below 30%, any successful attack from you will leave a cursed burning effect on your enemy, dealing 1% of your HP as damage and letting you steal the HP they lost (0/8)] / [Hell Master - You can enter the Dimension of the Damned once in a day (0/10) ]
[ You have gained a Skill ]
Skill : [ Resentful Slash - The cursed blade will try and cleave your foes on its own with a burst of flames. Upon successful attack, they will suffer bleeding effect of 2% of your HP for 6 seconds (0/6) (Cost: 50 MP) ]
"No shit…This can't be…" Asher was at a loss for words as he saw all these notifications pop up one after the other in his mind. If he had his eyes, he would literally be blinking non-stop.
He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, only to realize he couldn't even breathe or didn't need to.
"I should check my stats," Asher thought with suppressed exhilaration to confirm things,
Level : 1
Rating : 15
Life Crystals : 4
HP : 95 / 95
MP : 246 / 250
STR : 19
DEF : 38
INT :50
DEX : 20
"It is fucking real! I can feel my mana…" Asher roared in elation since not only he no longer had to feel despair about being manaless because not only was he able to use mana again, but his mana stats got a significant boost of 150%.
He looked at the stone ring glowing with dark green light and pressed it against his bony teeth as if trying to kiss it. He knew there was no point in wondering why or who gave him this ring. All that mattered was this beautiful ring paved a path for him forward.
This ring also gave him amazing abilities, talents, and skill. He never thought he would get this lucky.
He realized this hellish place he was standing in was the Dimension of the Damned. He found it quite surreal that he had personal access to such a unique and dangerous dimension where he was the Master. But he inwardly smiled, thinking about how such a place would suit him. He could make his enemies literally rot in hell before snuffing away their lives.
For all these advantages, he no longer felt bothered about his harrowing appearance. As long as he got what he wanted, he was willing to let this be permanent.
He flexed his ring finger as the ring transformed into its dark green ring blade form, and he took a look at its stats,
[ Weapon Name : Blade of Damnation || Enhanceable]
[ Grade : ??? ]
[ Status : Linked || STR +0% || DEX +0%]
[ "Forged from a soul filled with resentment and hatred, it shall feed on any dark emotions of the bearer's enemies to condemn their souls to eternal damnation and bestow strength on the one who deserved to wear this cursed ring" ]
"Huh…I really got a cursed artifact?" Asher didn't know if he should feel lucky or not, but in the end, he felt that it was better to have a cursed item as long as it gave him more benefits than losses.
He knew the description of the ring he had just read about was actually left by the one who forged it. Still, he didn't really understand the true abilities of this ring or how it would bestow him strength since he considered himself deserving after the ring chose him.
And as if to tease him, it was showing 0% stat bonuses, yet at the same time, Asher felt there had to be some reason behind it.
But he felt this ring blade was perfect for him, especially considering how much resentment he was carrying within him. And since it was 'Enhanceable', it only meant he could further upgrade this weapon to keep up with him, though he was not sure about its limit.
He decided to take a look at its other stats,
[ Level 1 ]
[ Damage : 50 ]
[ Range : 5 meters ]
[ Durability : 230 / 250 || Blood Sacrifice Required ]
Asher's brows raised as he finally understood why this ring was cursed. He would have to sacrifice his own HP to make sure this weapon won't become useless, which was unlike any other weapon he had used in his past life. So if the durability came down to 0, he would have to sacrifice 250 to get it back to its top shape.
But the problem was he had only 95 HP in total. To satisfy this bloodthirsty ring, he would have to sacrifice almost his entire life at least twice over.
[ Durability : 230 / 250 ]
Asher also observed something strange. The durability of this soul artifact and his MP had the same value, and it seemed to be decreasing by 1 every three seconds! Was it because he was in his Hellbringer form?
Doesn't that mean he would run out of MP within 12 minutes or so? What would really happen once he runs out of mana?
The only good thing he could see was this weapon would never need a replacement nor a blacksmith to fix it. It was basically indestructible as long as he kept feeding it his blood.
But he was pulled away from his thoughts when he suddenly received a quest!
[ Quest Available ]
What do you guys think of his demonic power?
Please support the novel by voting if you guys are enjoying the story :D
Join my discord channel -https://discord.gg/HjWkd4nB3z