Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 142: Arrival of the Phantoms
As always, up to 18 chapters ahead at [email protected]/theogbasilisk
______________________________________________________________________
- Antares (Monarch of Destruction)
The both of them nodded. "Good, then whilst I continue my search for an adequate vessel, the two of you will begin to establish a base on Earth. Acquire information on the Ruler vessels, but do not provoke a fight."
Tarnak blinked in confusion. "The vessels? We already know about them from the previous loops. Thomas Andre, Liu Zhigang, Christopher Reed, Siddharth Bachchan, Go Gunhee, and Jonas."
Querehsha laughed. "We do not have as much information as we used to, Tarnak." She said mockingly. "We clearly cannot rely on the information from the other loops anymore."
He nodded. "Querehsha is correct."
In the previous timelines, the Rulers never established the Gates, but they still had vessels back then to act through, and those vessels would remain consistent. This wasn't due to the Rulers' idiocy, but just the fact that finding compatible vessels was that difficult.
Tarnak was by far the… least gifted in the intelligence department. He was extremely wasteful with his experiments, to the point that Antares believed him to be incompetent when it came to proper resource allocation, but he was still a Monarch and had his uses.
Tarnak grit his teeth at the insult, but nodded nonetheless.
"Hmm. For now then, the two of you should order your forces to prepare for the upcoming war. I will begin assisting the Priests in their search for successors, and will aid Sillad's granddaughter in her ascension."
The two of them nodded. As they were preparing to teleport out, the three of them froze.
"Is it another one?" Tarnak asked in shock.
They had all felt a breach into the Chaos World, similar to the one they felt when the individual Sillad, Yogumunt, and Rakan died to arrived, except this one felt less controlled. This time, the breach in Space-Time did not pass through the Chaos World, it connected to the Chaos World directly instead.
"The two of you will remain as back up." He ordered them. "I will go and locate the breach and investigate."
The two of them nodded.
Truly, it seems this iteration of the timeline was destined to be chaotic.
In the blink of an eye, he tore through the fabric of the Chaos World, following the pulse of distorted Space-Time that they had all felt.
It took him longer than he was proud of to narrow the exact coordinates down. Yogumunt was always the most proficient of them at those kinds of things.
He was able to immediately realize that, unlike the previous anomaly, this one was quite a bit different.
For one, the previous anomaly passed through the Chaos World rather than arriving straight at the Chaos World. If it were not for their connection to the world, none of them likely would have felt anything at all.
The first one had also been far more subtle, quiet even. It slipped past the cracks in their dimensional seams with uncanny precision. He was not sure what the effects of the method of travel the first anomaly used would have on this realm, but such vast dimensional travel tended to have consequences of some kind, even if minor.
This new anomaly was far more chaotic in its nature when compared to the first one.
If he were to compare them, the first anomaly passage was deliberate, whereas this one seemed to have connected to the Chaos World due to pure chance.
After a few more moments he arrived at the location. Interestingly enough, it was rather close to his own domain. He watched as Space-Time seemed to almost bend in place as the disturbance grew.
At this point, he could not do anything to stop it. He was not proficient enough at any Spatial or Temporal Manipulation to the point of being able to stop this. He did not truly wish to stop it either. He was rather curious about what was occurring, and he was confident enough in his own strength to be able to handle most beings without any problems at all.
If it was another anomaly coming through, then perhaps Antares could acquire a new ally, so long as their goals were aligned. He may not have shown it, but he was rather disgruntled about the rapid loss of a large portion of his fighting force.
He still had his armies, of course, and some of his subordinates' strength made them almost unmatched in this universe, but they were still not his main fighting force. No, that would be the Monarchs.
To be down to only three including himself was shameful.
The energy around the breach began to rip. It reminded him of the effects of the clashes between the Monarchs and Rulers in the older days, though to a lesser extent.
Still, that told him that something powerful was occurring.
After a few more moments, a small hole began to form in front of him. He could not see through the hole, but he could most definitely feel through it. He took a step back, then grit his teeth upon realizing what he had done.
It seems that perhaps he needed more training as well, for beyond the hole he could sense a level of energy he had never sensed before. It felt more… pure than the mana he was used to dealing with. But not only that, it was also far more potent.
That only confused him since the Chaos World and the Rulers' dimension were the most potent places he had been, and yet it seems there was another dimension he had no knowledge about that exceeded what he was used to.
Yogumunt had said that he believed the first anomaly to have come from beyond the universe that the Absolute Being created. Could this portal connect to one such realm?
Antares almost wished to jump through to see what it was like, but despite his battle hungry nature, there were too many unknowns still. He did not know how his power would react, if he could even survive the trip, if he would need a vessel to exist properly, or anything else for that matter. For all he knew, he would be walking straight to his death.
His senses were heavily diluted through the portal, so that was all he could sense as well as the presence of a few individuals; all weaker than him.
As he was observing, someone else arrived, though he had sensed him long before arriving.
"My Lord!" One of his subordinates yelled.
He was a rather powerful Dragon-kin under him, one of his Lieutenants who was only slightly weaker than Kamish, as the Humans had dubbed the Lieutenant he sent to intimidate the Humans a bit.
He was surprised that Kamish was actually defeated. He may not have been as strong as a Monarch, but he was still one of his strongest subordinates, and yet the Humans managed to defeat him, which was impressive.
It was the Rulers' vessels that seemed to have carried the majority of the weight in that fight, but it was still something that made the Humans a more interesting race in his view.
"What are you doing here, Scorpius?"
"I sensed you nearby on my patrol, and thought I should see if you had any additional orders for me." Scorpius said seriously.
"Very well, remain here. You may be of some use yet."
He could use Scorpius to test the level of power of whoever comes through.
After a few more moments, a hand seemed to almost claw through the portal, forcefully spreading the hole wider, and wider.
Eventually, the hole was as large as one of those Gates the Rulers had littered throughout Earth.
Antares watched with interest as a being stepped through the portal. The moment he could, he immediately attempted to sense every single detail of the being.
It was a being that held no true physical form, similar to him. That also likely meant it would need a vessel to incarnate in the other worlds that the Absolute Being created.
Though, despite not having a concrete physical form, there were some details that Antares could make out, such as the pair of angelic wings behind the being.
His lips twisted into a frown. Those wings reminded him of the Rulers, though this being was of course different. For one, it did not seem holy at all.
Antares observed curiously at how the being quickly acclimated to the Chaos World.
"Do you speak?" He asked curiously. Despite his words, the being did not react to them at all. It merely turned towards the portal and began attempting to feed it energy.
"Did you not hear Lord Antares, worm?" Scorpius growled as he took a step forwards, the Aura around him becoming more heavy in the process.
Antares decided not to stop him, he would just observe for now.
The sudden hostility from Scorpius seemed to get the beings attention as he snapped towards Scorpius.
"That's bett–" Scorpius did not get to finish his words as the being almost turned into an energy-like form as he quickly entered Scorpius's body.
He could have stopped it from happening, but by now he already had a more clear picture of this being's strength. He was far from strong enough to challenge him, so he would rather observe some of the unique characteristics of this new being.
Antares raised a brow as Scorpius let out a screech of pain. It would be a loss if he were to die here, but due to his methods, he was not lacking in beings of Scorpius's strength.
The Dragons were an ever growing race and he would not tolerate any growing lax. That was how his species was the strongest in the Chaos World.
He focused his senses on Scorpius to observe what was happening in detail. "Oh, it seems you are being possessed, Scorpius." He commented absently.
"M-My Lord!" Scorpius yelled.
After a few moments, the screaming died and Scoprius turned to look at him with a different look in his eyes. Instead of the unshaking loyalty he once used to see, now all he saw was amusement in his eyes.
"You are not Scorpius."
"Indeed, I thank you for waiting, Antares." The not-Scorpius said with a bow. "If you did not stand by, I imagine it would be far more difficult to gain control of this body."
"Oh? You know my name? So you have Scorpius's memories as well then."
Scorpius had grown in strength quite a bit. He was still not at the Monarch level, but he was stronger than any Antares had ever met before that weren't Monarchs. Even Kandiaru was weaker than this.
How interesting.
"Indeed I do. This world seems rather wondrous. I am sure Lord Cornu will be happy with it."
"Cornu?"
Scorpius faced him with a smile. "Indeed, Lord Cornu's divine visage cannot grace you at the moment due to the Gate being too weak."
"Hmm, I see. You are from another universe then?"
Scorpius raised a brow. "Oho? I'm surprised you know about that."
"We've had another visitor from outside come recently." Antares explained. He didn't mind indulging the being who had possessed Scorpius. Since he was being cordial, Antares saw no reason to not be cordial back.
Sure, he lost Scorpius, but that was fine so long as he got to learn more about the universes outside his own. He would need something to occupy his time after the Rulers were finally dealt with after all.
"Now, why are you here?" Antares asked simply.
"Ah, I was waiting for you to ask that. I do believe that we can cooperate with one another." Scorpius said.
"Cooperate?"
"Indeed, our goals align. You wish to be rid of the Rulers, and we wish to acquire resources and grow stronger in battle." Scorpius explained.
"There are more of you then?"
"Of course. Our numbers are in the millions. Us Phantoms have dominated the Otherworld for eons, and we are amongst the most mighty of races." Scorpius shared.
Phantom; he would have to remember that.
"You said something about cooperation. Explain."
Scorpius put on a pleasant smile. "Of course."
He could tell that the being possessing Scorpius was merely acting at the moment, but he did not mind so long as the being's intentions were clear.
The being went on to explain a bit about its own situation. How the Phantoms were a race in another universe. They ventured to other worlds in order to acquire resources and grow stronger, as the Phantom King wished for them all to grow strong.
The majority of them had next to no ego and could only obey the orders of their superiors. The Phantom he was dealing with was ordered to first and foremost acquire a vessel, but when this happened, the Phantom inherited Scorpius's own ego which merged with the Phantom's own nascent ego to create an entirely new being, one that was still loyal to the Phantom named Cornu.
He explained how the portals to other worlds were formed through sheer coincidence alone, but Antares had a hard time believing that, as for it to happen on two separate occasions without much time in between was suspicious.
Scorpius explained that he was dispatched to strengthen the gate that led to his home universe to allow more of his kin to come through. Strengthening the gate was mostly done by sacrificing other beings to it, as the gate absorbed their energies. ,
It just so happened that he had recently acquired an excessive amount of troops, so strengthening the gate would be no problem. Even if he were to not use any of the troops he acquired, the denizens of the Chaos World were many.
Scorpius explained the goals of his race in detail as well, though Antares considered whatever Scorpius said with heavy suspicion.
He said that his people went to other universes in search of resources and to grow their combat power, but Scorpius was rather vague when it came to what was left of the universe when they were done.
But he could deal with that in the future. In the present, he felt that their cooperation could come in handy.
He had just recently lost many Monarchs who were a large portion of his fighting force. If he could get an ally in the Phantoms who could assist him with eliminating the Rulers, then he would not reject, even if their betrayal was likely inevitable.
He was confident enough in his own strength to be able to deal with whomever came his way, so he was not too worried about the betrayal he would likely face from the Phantoms.
The Phantoms were dangerous, yes, but they were useful. He was the Monarch of Destruction; he would never shy away from danger if it meant furthering his own ends.
He would continue to train either way, and if he was wrong and the Phantoms were the cause of his doom, then so be it. He was weaker, and so he deserved his fate, that was the way the world worked.
"Very well then." Antares said at last. "We shall cooperate."
Scorpius smiled. "Excellent. I knew you were a wise man, Antares. I look forward to working together. You said there were some beings that you would allow me to sacrifice to the gate?"
Antares nodded. "I will have someone lead you to them, but it will be up to you to force them into the gate."
"Hehehe, you do not need to worry about that. I can be quite… persuasive."
- Scorpius -
Scorpius allowed a pleasant smile to grace his face as he followed one of Antares' draconic men.
He hadn't told Antares the whole truth, but he expected that Antares thought the same. Thanks to his memories of the Monarch of Destruction, he already knew quite a bit about Antares.
His goal was indeed to create a gate that would allow for more of his kind to come through. The quantity and quality of Phantoms that could come through depending on the strength of the gate, and this gate was at one of the weaker levels, only allowing himself alone to come through.
He was among the weaker Phantoms, however his ego was seemingly unnaturally strong. Once he possessed this much stronger body, both of his aspects were able to compliment each other.
Now, he was trusted by Lord Cornu to accomplish his mission on the otherside, and so he would.
Once through, his kind would ravage the universe to take all the resources they could whilst fighting to their hearts content. Most universes were left in ruins after this.
While Antares power was rather impressive, it was far below the likes of Lord Cornu, so he was not worried about dealing with him. Antares would be around the level of a Staff Officer, which was incredible, but Lord Cornu was an Admiral. He would not lose to anyone.
He was still feeling with the conflicting emotions he had regarding Antares, but his loyalty to Lord Cornu and Lord Feldway was engrained into his being. He had been taught for ages what to do when first possessing a body to suppress the memories and emotions that came with it.
The Phantom King was indeed wise to establish such a training.
After assimilating himself into Scorpius, he had absorbed Scorpius's essence, using it to refine his own essence which strengthened his ego, making him almost complete.
He had even inherited Scorpius's name, which was a truly divine feeling. It wasn't as concrete as what he had learned about namings done in the Cardinal World, but it did still help him maintain a sense of identity.
Antares said if he wished to act on the other dimension within this universe, he would need a Material Body to incarnate in, but that was nothing new to him.
Finding a compatible body should not be hard for him.
He also knew about Antares goals as well and what Antares expected from the Phantoms. It seems just like them, there was also another invader from an outside universe.
Antares would attempt to bring them to his side, but if that failed, then Antares himself would deal with him. What Antares needed them for was to substitute the Monarchs he had recently lost to this being from another universe.
The former Scorpius could not even dream of a Monarch dying, but while strong, he knew that there were stronger.
He wouldn't deny it. He was worried about the outsider from another universe as well, but so long as Lord Cornu arrived, he knew that all would work out perfectly.
It should not take an incredibly long period of time to stabilize the gate to the point of summoning a legion of Phantoms, and perhaps even allowing Lord Cornu himself to send a Split Body.
It would be weaker, but Lord Cornu was Lord Cornu. He would still be unstoppable, and so he would dedicate himself to his mission.
He eyed the legion of Demonic Specters ahead of them. It seemed that as the strongest among them, Antares had inherited the other Monarchs' troops, and some were rather… unhappy with that.
So he was sent to take them as sacrifices to the gate to strengthen it. Perhaps this alone would be enough to allow more Phantoms through, but it was hard to tell.
He allowed a bloodthirsty smile to grace his face as his Aura bubbled out from within him. He had been wanting to test out his new power for quite some time.
The Demonic Specters immediately turned towards him as he made his presence known.
"I can take them all?" He asked to confirm.
The humanoid Dragon that Antares sent with him merely nodded.
"Excellent." Was the only response he gave as he blurred into action.
This would only be the first step of initiating the Phantom invasion. It would take time, but soon legions of his king would overrun this world.
- Felix -
As Jinchul led us through the Hunter's Association Headquarters I took a good look around.
Jinchul had shown us around Seoul a bit. It was a rather pretty city with sights to see. He took us to a famous Michelin Star restaurant. The food was rather good for being restricted to the ingredients from earth, even if some of the ingredients did have some mutations in them due to the world being flooded with mana. I did put us under an illusion so that we wouldn't be bothered by other people.
It was rather interesting to observe normal Humans going about their days mostly fine despite the current state of the world.
If nothing, Humans were an adaptable race. Since they thought everything was handled, they were mostly at peace.
Now Jinchul was taking us to the headquarters as part of the tour. I was somewhat interested in it, mostly because Jinchul said some S Rankers were using the training room right now.
Apparently, due to getting completely destroyed by Beru on Jeju Island, all of the S Rankers who took part in the raid began training with far more intensity.
Nothing like a life or death battle to make one lock in.
I ignored the looks of awe we got from the workers as we continued. Jinchul had requested that I remove the illusion I had placed over us as we entered the headquarters.
I knew it would be seen as a political statement, but I didn't really care. Though it was nice that Jinchul went out of his way to explain the connotations of me being seen willingly entering the Hunter's Association Headquarters.
Gunhee was really doing his best to butter me up.
Jinchul showed us around the headquarters, but it wasn't all that interesting, it was mostly an office in the end after all.
Lalatina wasn't very interested either, but she just seemed to be happy to be in my company which was a bit heart warming.
Megumin was a bit interested in watching the S Rankers train. She knew they were weak, but she hadn't gotten a chance to see for herself. She also seemed to have taken a bit of a shine to training people up to become the best versions of themselves.
That was something that she said herself, so maybe she'd see some potential in some of them.
I told Jinchul about her as well, and he seemed rather eager for her to take a shine to at least one Korean S Rank Hunter.
Sukuna didn't have an opinion on what we were doing. It was still pretty funny to walk past people talking about him. There were even some crazy people that were going on about how Monsters in the Gates were misunderstood.
"I apologize that the Chairman himself cannot come to see you immediately. A diplomat from the American Hunters Association is keeping him busy." Jinchul apologized.
I waved him off. "It's fine."
I raised a brow as I sensed a familiar Aura wash over us. I turned directly towards the Aura.
None of the other Humans managed to sense anything, but they weren't very strong so that wasn't a surprise. Even Jinchul seemed clueless as to why I was looking in the direction I was.
"Is something the matter?" Woo Jinchul asked.
I shook my head. "No, I was just a bit surprised. I wasn't expecting him to be here."
Going by the level of power he was releasing, he wasn't the Shadow Monarch yet, but his power did seem to have improved slightly.
"That's that Jin-Woo guy right, Milord?" Megumin asked with some excitement. "You think I can fight him!"
I shrugged. "Ask him yourself."
I did forget to give him Beru's body. It would be a shame if it just went unused after I modified it.
Jinchul seemed to realize what we were talking about. "Hunter Sung arrived some time ago to speak with the Chairman."
I nodded. Go Gunhee did tell him to meet him before we left Jin-Woo's home. I'm guessing they spoke about the inheritance since Gunhee seemed to know a lot more now thanks to his Ruler.
As we stepped into the observation hallway overlooking the training room, the hum of mana and the clashing Auras seeped through the reinforced glass.
Below us were three S Rankers fighting, though all the ones from the raid on Jeju Island were present minus Cha Hae-In. She was probably still recovering.
Jin-Woo was currently facing off against Baek Yoonho and Choi Jong-In, with no Shadows on Jin-Woo's side.
Yoonho was in his transformed state as he clashed with Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo had a lithe frame but he was strong enough to hold Yoonho back with raw strength alone.
Jong-In was standing at a distance, launching precise weaves of his Fire Magic to help support Yoonho.
Megumin looked unimpressed. "Meh, Greater Daemons could do better."
We watched as he parried Yoonho's swipes with minimal motion, barely shifting his stance. When Choi's flames curled toward him, he just stepped aside, letting the fire lick the air where he'd been standing.
"At least he's decent." Megumin commented.
Jinchul's lips twitched at Megumin's commentary.
I looked to the side. Sukuna seemed to be content to just follow me and observe the spar going on below for now, while Lalatina was just looking at me with doe eyes. I smiled slightly at her before looking back at the fight.
It wasn't much longer until Jin-Woo actually began trying. He blitzed Baek Yoonho and elbowed him, sending him crashing into the wall. Choi already realized things were getting bad as a searing hot fire storm formed around him, but Jin-Woo ignored the heat entirely as he sent Choi flying with a punch.
"I think that's enough!" Min Byung-Gyu called out from the side of the training room as he rushed to heal the two S Rankers.
I looked at Megumin. "So, anyone you want to fight?" I asked curiously.
Everyone in the training room was hilariously beneath her in power, they wouldn't make for a fun fight at all. Even Jin-Woo as the future Shadow Monarch could be toyed with by her as he wasn't the Shadow Monarch yet, and so he remained at the Demon Lord Seed level. A strong one for sure, but he could not fight an Awakened being by the standards of the Cardinal World.
He had no Skills either, at least not in the same way we did. It seems Skills were a luxury present in only the Cardinal World, which made sense or else I would have encountered them in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. There were still abilities similar to Skills that I could sense in them, but nothing quite as concrete.
In the end, one could not be awarded Skills no matter the efforts taken if you were not in the Cardinal World.
Megumin looked thoughtful for a moment before pointing at Jin-Woo. "He's the only decent one here. Well that, and that Chairman guy who I can sense."
I nodded as I looked at Jinchul. "That's fine right." I asked mostly for formalities sake. I already knew they wouldn't deny much to me.
He nodded. "It is. That is the purpose of this gathering, for them to train and grow stronger. If Lady Megumin is willing, then I am certain there is much the rest can learn." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I am not certain if this training room can withstand the spar, however."
"Don't worry about that; I can take care of it."
Jinchul bowed. "Then I would appreciate it."
I phased through the glass and hopped down to the training ground.
"Lord Felix!" I heard Byung-Gyu call out. I gave him a wink before I turned to look at Jin-Woo who was staring at me with caution.
I rolled my eyes. It was one of his character traits to be overly cautious about anything he didn't understand; a character trait that I also shared with him. It was a bit amusing to be on the other side of the situation, though.
I ignored the looks of the other S Rankers as I approached him. "Did you require something, Lord Felix?"
I waved him off. "No need for the Lord prefix; you clearly don't care for it."
Jin-Woo nodded. "Very well. Did you need something, Felix?"
"That's better, and I do need something from you."
He looked at me with interest. "What could you require from me?"
I gestured up to the spectators' area. You couldn't see into it from the training area, but you could sense the Auras there.
"One of my people wants to spar against you. Nothing serious, but she's been rather cooped up for a little bit."
He blinked in confusion. "A spar? Against me?" He asked, gesturing to himself.
I could see where his misunderstanding was coming from. "She's not as strong as me, but she's still going to wipe the floor with you." I said as if it were a matter of fact, and it was. Before Jin-Woo could speak up I continued. "But it seems like she's been enjoying building up people with potential and making them stronger, so she wanted to fight you."
Jin-Woo looked thoughtful for a moment. The other S Rankers present all heard our conversation but none spoke up, they just all moved to the side of the room to spectate.
I already knew he was going to agree; he wasn't the type to let go of this kind of chance. From what I knew of him, he was always wanting to grow stronger to protect those close to him.
Fighting against Megumin was an opportunity to get a better understanding of how strong the people around me were, and would allow him to push himself. A double win for him.
I'm sure Megumin would hold herself back as well, giving him an opportunity to grow as well.
He had skills that augmented his dagger abilities, so I was also a bit curious to see how that translated into direct combat since I hadn't seen him fight with them yet. Though from what I recall, Ashborn never used daggers. Jin-Woo's use of daggers was born from his own desperation from when he was the weakest Hunter.
More often than not, daggers were among the cheaper weapons, so that's all he could afford. He had to get good with them, or die.
After a moment, Jin-Woo nodded. "I agree."
"Excellent. Take this as a thank you from me." I said as I summoned Beru's body onto the ground in front of us.
"That's!?" I heard Baek Yoonho yell.
Jin-Woo also looked surprised. "The Ant… you want me to turn him into a Shadow?" He said with realization.
"Precisely."
He paused for a moment before dipping his head slightly. "Thank you then."
He then looked down at Beru's body. "Arise." A pulse of energy surged through the area as Jin-Woo extended his hand over Beru's body.
Dark tendrils of mana weaved out from his arm, surrounding the corpse. As the mana entered the corpse I could feel just what it was doing. It was calling back the Astral Body of Beru from the underworld of this world.
It was a rather interesting process to observe. I can see why it is easier to turn recently deceased people into Shadows since their Astral Bodies would still be present in the world.
The intensity of his mana dimmed down as he failed to call back the Astral Body.
Jin-Woo didn't look bothered though. "Arise."
The same process began with his mana beginning to enter Beru's corpse. This time his Astral Body was successfully summoned.
I watched as the corpse sort of imprinted onto the Astral Body that belonged to Beru by turning into energy and being absorbed by the Astral Body. Then in front of us the form of Beru began to materialize in front of us.
I noticed Jin-Woo's pupils move to the side, as if he was reading something. It seems he got another system prompt.
Beru was kneeling before us as he leaked his mana in waves.
"That's absurd!" I heard one of the S Rankers yell out.
Jin-Woo was just staring at Beru with some interest.
I quickly ran an analysis on Beru, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the changes I made to his physical body through Information Manipulation did carry over. That means that Arise acted on the Infon level, which was pretty good. That was how the loyalty function of the Shadows worked as well, the loyalty was inscribed onto the Astral Body's via minor Infon Manipulation.
Quite the powerful authority that Ashborn had.
Beru's current form looked differently from what he looked like in the manwha as well, excluding the fact that he was a real being now and not an image. His form was a bit more robust, and his exoskeleton was thicker.
The magic resistance and durability I gave his corpse transferred over, and more importantly, it seems the Skills I granted him were also imprinted over into his Shadow self.
Most of the Skills I gave him were minor ones like Gravity Manipulation, which was powerful, but would need to be trained to the extreme to do crazy stuff like make black holes and whatnot. I gave him Mana Jamming and Magic Aura as well which complimented Beru's skillset.
The biggest one was Scavenger. This one buffed Beru's ability to eat things and take on their properties. I did nerf the Scavenger I gave him a bit, but it was still a rather good ability I gave him.
I patted Jin-Woo on the back. "I'll give you a second to deal with your new Shadow. After that, I'll send Megumin down." With that, I took a step forward and appeared back in the spectators area.
Jinchul was giving me a look of shock. "I had not realized that you preserved the body of that Ant." He said, though he made sure to not sound demanding, just curious.
"Meh, it was an interesting creature and reminded me of someone."
The Beru Jin-Woo now had had a lot in common with Zegion and the Insectars, though he was still different. Maybe if he got to go to the Cardinal World, he'd have the potential to evolve into something similar.
Though I didn't care about that anymore. My experiment was a success, so I wouldn't bother with Beru anymore.
"Still, I thank you." He said with a bow, which didn't surprise me. I did help an S Rank Hunter the Hunters' Association was close to get stronger, which indirectly made them and their country stronger.
I just nodded at him then looked at Megumin, who was wearing a wild grin. "Hopefully he shows me something interesting!"
Lalatina herself was sitting to the side a bit as she drank a glass of wine that I'm guessing Jinchul served. "Try to make it entertaining, Megumin!" Lalatina said with a grin. Megumin just flipped her off, making me smile.
The relationship the two shared was amusing, though I was also happy that Lalatina had other friends. She was definitely the most mentally unsound among the group.
"The Chairman has been informed and will also be spectating along with the diplomat from the American Hunters' Association." Jinchul shared.
I rolled my eyes. Maybe I was overthinking things, but to me it looked like the Chairman wanted to flex a bit to this diplomat. Not that I minded; he was using every resource available to him to make sure his country came out on top. So long as he didn't do anything that actually annoyed me, I'd let him continue, and he understood that so he wouldn't go too far.
As Megumin and Lalatina were arguing, I gestured towards her, creating a pistol and a katana for her to use in the fight. Using her God Grade weaponry against the current Jin-Woo would be overkill.
"Thanks!" She said with a happy go-lucky grin. "No problem, now go enjoy yourself."
"I will!"
___________________________________________________________________
I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.
I have a discord server, come hang out if you want! https://discord.gg/VxR5Gn72Fp I also have a channel in Shiro's Gaming Omniverse.
Links: patreon.com/theogbasilisk
Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. This chapter was mostly focused on the elements that are meant to make this world different from the canon one other than Felix's own interference.
The Phantoms may not seem like it but they are a threat, though they haven't been up against someone like Felix in their invasions before.
Next chapter we get to see the fight between Megumin and Jin-Woo.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Last bit of editing -Omnax
Support me if you want to read ahead on pat reon *.com* / theogbasilisk