Reject Human. Become Demon. [Curse Mage Berserker]

—Kalden The Human Tanner PoV—

“Right there, please,” I yawned as I pointed to a wealthy-looking street to the centaur driver.

“Ah. So you live near the Pandemonium manor, then?” she chuckled, then grimaced a little. “I’ve thought about getting one of those places for myself. The homes are so cheap for how good and spacious they are! But I don’t think it’s for me… You must have a very strong heart, sir.”

I shook my head and smiled. “No. I’m just poor. I’m happy to have a roof over my head.”

The constant ambience of curse rapidly grew worse as we got closer to my home. It covered this whole city to some extent or another, really, but opportunities abound. Cheaper accommodations. The headquarters of the angelslayer company. The world was changing, my city got conquered thrice, and I was right to finally hedge my bets on Arisen after going through that sort of nightmare thrice. Now I was beholden to neither New Grandera nor Edengar any longer. Only a… strange demon, who was at least largely apathetic to whatever we got up to. A protector that could shield her one city from all wars, for she was a being that could topple even angels!

That was all I wanted.

The centaur dropped me off right in front of my luxury apartment right next to the wide armored fence that led to the Demon Queen’s cursed manor. As if anyone would ever want to go in there. They even put up signs that said “DANGER” and “NO TRESSPASSING,” when even the mice and roaches hesitated to draw near.

It wasn’t my business, so I put it out of my mind and made my way up to my flat. I got changed, discarded the shoes I got from my workplace, and shrugged on some of the clothes provided for free by the company. This one had a cute drawing of the Demon Queen Haell Zharignan, which was always funny because of how terrifying she actually was in real life. I wondered how she felt to be drawn in this ‘chibi’ style, when she’d killed more people than I’d ever personally known.

I had a little chuckle.

I grabbed the latest book I borrowed from the library, and ate the sandwiches I bought on the way home, as I stared out of the window towards the ever-peaceful streets of Arisen City.

That’s when I heard a sudden crash.

I snapped out of my chair and frantically glanced around. The explosions repeated, like the roar of wall-breaking magic, or the thrashing of a great beast. I finally saw where it was coming from, and relaxed.

They were doing something crazy over on Pandemonium again. It wasn’t my problem. The rulers of this place frequently made noise. Something about moving so fast ever the very air broke, let alone the ground underneath their hooves. I didn’t how air could even break… but good for them.

I returned to my coffee and began reading where I left off.

Wanderella was about to add Princeps to her polycule! But he had a deep dark secret…

The noise continued to get worse. The ground shook, and my windows vibrated like they might break. I grew worried again, but I put it out of my mind like before as Wanderella left a trail of broken glass slippers in her wake. This was the worst commotion I’d ever seen from Pandemonium, but I’d heard about things like this happening in the past from my neighbours. It would be fine.

Sure enough, the noise eventually died down, and everything stilled. Just as I thought it would. I was never worried at all.

No, Wanderella! She’s going to betray you!

The shaking of the floor under my feet made me feel like I was right there, about to ride off into battle with her.

“PEOPLE.”

What? I heard the powerful shout just as Friencess finally revealed her true colors!

“I am the Demon Queen Haell Zharignan.”

I recognized the voice, and certainly the name. With some reluctance, I finally put down my book to see what this commotion was all about.

Where… I scanned the road, and saw a sizable crowd looking at the sky.

“It’s a bird!” someone suggested.

“No it’s a poop!”

“A harpy?”

“DRAGON!?”

I finally took a look myself and blinked, mouth agape. “It’s Haell! Carrying an angel!?”

“A dead angel!”

“No way…”

“Really!?”

“Fuck yeah!”

“Did she kill one?”

“Look at those axe-hands. That’s Adamo.”

“Why is he here…?”

The people all had their own reactions. Some began cheering. Others turned away. And many yet stood mouth agape in sheer utter surprise.

We did not need to speculate for long.

“Today, I have slain the angel ADAMO!!!”

Haell made the official announcement, and the cheers finally drowned everything else out.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

“ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

“Yay,” I mumbled absent-mindedly. I thought about what this meant for me, and then just shrugged. I was just glad the destruction never reached my apartment.

“HE TRIED TO INVADE PANDEMONIUM. HE TRIED TO INVADE THIS CITY, REALLY. SO I GAVE HIM OUR WARMEST WELCOME!!!

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

“FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

“DIE MOTHERFUCKER!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

I stayed to watch the event unfold a little longer, and then left at the same time that Haell flew back to Pandemonium, her angelic prize in tow.

Good for her.

Now what will Wanderella do…

~~~

—Back to Haell PoV—

“Haell!”

“Are you okay!?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?!”

My mom and dad immediately rushed over to me the moment I landed back in Pandemonium and fed Adamo down to the bowels of my manor.

“Nope!” I claimed. I always hurt. I’d healed from my injuries already, which was good enough.

“Oh, good…” Mom sighed in relief.

“Why didn’t you let us help you!?” Dad scolded.

“Because…” I thought about my next words. “I had a handle on it. I was fine. I won, didn’t I?”

“You did… and that’s great.” Dad paused for a long moment. “It’s because we’re too weak, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t say that…”

“But it’s true,” Mom remorsed. “It’s because we’ve done nothing but slack…”

“No,” I said softly, then more forcefully. “No.” I placed a firm hand on both their shoulders. “You’ve done enough. You’ve fought enough. You’ve gone above and beyond for me, and I cannot express how thankful I am for that. So please, just enjoy yourselves. Do what you want. Splurge! Have fun! It’s what I want for you too.”

“Oh…”

“Thank you, Haell.” They hugged me and sniffed.

“But can we really… retire, when you’re still out here fighting?”

“Of course. Otherwise you’ll never get to rest, for I intend to fight until the stars dim and die.”

~~~

“A whole angel attacked while we were gone,” Arx said guiltily once he and Elfrafim returned from Jilders. I didn’t need to come get them this time, they traveled boldly and proudly and very quickly along the road. Arx himself had brought a ton of art which he intended to decorate his new massive room that Pandemonium had prepared for him with.

“Oh come on. Not you too…” I sighed. “It’s fine. I’m okay. I handled it. Stop feeling bad!”

“Ah…” he fumbled awkwardly for a moment. “Fine. Then, I’ll say that it’s not fair! I wanna kill another angel too!”

I laughed, and then smirked. “That’s better. You’ll have to take that up with Adamo. He chose to come while you weren’t around. So inconsiderate.”

“He ruined the garden,” Elfrafim complained. “Berry worked hard on those!”

It wasn’t all that rare an occurrence for the courtyard to suffer damage, but I did at least try to stay away from the trees. The grass could be cultivated much easier. The black fields had already sprouted back to a healthy height and shape!

“Yeah… It was an intense and serious fight. Pandemonium helped to its fullest… which means that the very ground everything stood on got folded in on itself many times over.”

“Ooooh! You gotta tell me all about it!”

My smile broadened. “Damn right I will.”

Pandemonium and I did a small reenactment.

Mom and Dad listened to it again, so they could be the first to present this story to the public.

That was nice. I couldn’t be happier to have them be the ones to spread my legend.

~~~

_________________

Name: Adamo

Species: Angel

—Mutations—

Angel Body: Level 95

Angel Halo: Level 92

Angel Wings: Level 93

Angel Brain: Level 93

Holy Faith Accumulator: Level 95

Holy Repository: Level 95

Angel Bloodsap: Level 95

Angelic Axe Limbs: Level 95

Angelic Striking Arms: Level 95

Angelic Spring-Twist Legs: Level 94

_________________

[Angel Body: The body of an Angel is specially mutable.]

[Angel Halo: The halo of an Angel can control holy mana.]

…

[Angelic Axe Limbs: Limbs that function similarly to powerful axe weapons.]

[Angelic Striking Arms: Arms that are very good at making heavy strikes.]

[Angelic Spring-Twist Legs: Legs that are good at twisting maneuvers, and singular instantaneous movements.]

“The theory is proven. They definitely have different Mutations.” Moonwash said, sweat running down her brow. She had just Identified the remains of Adamo, and it proved to be just as easy and complete as the last. “They’re the same species, yet are different down to their Status. I wonder what an archangel is like.”

I snorted and ruffled her hair. “Patience, my love. That prey is still too big. But we’ll get to them yet.”

“How come they're able to heal endlessly anyway?” I then asked. “I know I crushed this guy's spine, but look at them now, almost whole! What happened to suffering permanent damage?”

“Well, you can do it," Arx pointed out my own ability to heal from anything. He knew the least about my Mutations among us four. Elfrafim was around when I was still more willing to share some details. She'd even helped me pick some of them out!

“Yeah. But I'm awesome. The angels are not.”

"True," Arx barked a laugh, and kicked lightly at Adamo's corpse.

"In all seriousness though," I said, "How are they healing without limit like that? There's nothing in their Mutations that should allow them to do it.”

“I believe it's a mixture of two things,” Moonwash rejoined the conversation. “Their flesh inherently doesn't suffer as much permanent damage. It might be related to their Angel Body being 'mutable'. Additionally, I believe that their Holy Magic can patch up any remaining gaps and perform biomancy. The working theory is that Holy Magic can accomplish anything, for a prohibitive cost. But they can actually shoulder that cost and do some quick biomancy with the faith of a whole planet behind them.”

“Don't you mean galaxy?”

“In part. But their Holy Magic Resonator does have some range limitations. It should go well past our planet, so it'd usually be a moot point, but not for the angels. Of course, they'll still be able to collect some 'faith' from their greater galactic empire, but the distance traveled will wear the faith thin somehow.”

“So they enslave us to have a more convenient local source, but it would also strengthen the angels in the other worlds?” Arx growled.

“Yes,” Moonwash only confirmed.

“What exactly is this ‘faith’ thing you mentioned?” Elfrafin asked.

“From my examination of the two angels," With my help! “We've been able to tell that this ‘faith’ is some form of unusable mana. But it’s much harder to detect than normal. The working theory is that it’s just a natural byproduct of living thinking beings, that typically only blends into the ambient magic. But these Holy Faith Accumulators are able to concentrate and convert that into something actually usable.”

“So… do they like share in this same pool of faith?” I asked. “

“That, I don’t know for sure. Help me find out.”

“Okayyy,” I agreed happily. I had the best sense for ambient and unusable magics out of all of us. “I have my own theory, and it’s to do with their doctrine. Ever notice how the angels are worshipped to different extents…”

If they didn’t before, then they pondered the question now. We hung out in our secret underground laboratory until the next morning came. Again.

Life was good.

~~~

—Eden PoV—

This is a problem.

Things are spiralling out of control.

That little demon I allowed to live…!

“That damn demon!” someone echoed my own thoughts.

“How dare they!?”

“Adamo’s dead…”

“We have no angels here anymore…”

“Do they not understand what the angels are…?”

“We must leave at once before the rebels and the cursetaceans reach here.”

I’ll remember you.

“Are you daft!? We must rally our forces and strike back!”

“Kill Haell!”

“Kill the heretic!”

I finally glanced up from my throne and looked at my court with contempt. My nobles, so easily swayed by their emotions, and that of the other shepherds. It’s like they were the masses we ruled over, disorderly, and incapable. They could not wield the greatest weapon we’d been given.

“Silence,” I intoned, and the whole of the throne room ceased to breathe for one long moment as they felt the same foreboding stillness that I wanted them to feel. “Minister Anim. You may continue.”

“Thank you, my queen.” The human man and my concubine regathered his thoughts, before finally continuing his report. He spoke of the deteriorating situation on the frontlines. Our borders that continuously shrunk. Our armies’ inability to defend even that smaller territory. I looked through all the papers as he spoke. My throbbing headache only got worse, but I could not call over a healer to gain relief from my overuse of my magic. I could not show any weakness. Not in front of these opportunistic fools. I knew just how many of them wanted to just leave this continent and foist all the responsibility for this failure on me. I’d been able to identify more of the traitors, for they were getting sloppier with their emotional control.

“It can’t be…” someone whispered before the report even finished.

“You’re lying!” My concubine was accused.

“Are you even doing your job properly?”

“Where did you get all this?”

I took a deep frustrated breath, and gave my decision. “Redirect troops to the frontlines. Take the standing guards, issue a mandatory quest for the adventurers. Defend the borders, and try to delay them as much as you can while simultaneously preparing the fallback fortresses. Bleed them and retreat. Bleed them again, then retreat to the next set of fortresses. Even their troops are not endless.” Well, the cursetaceans might well be, but I knew that the rebels at least were limited. They were overextending, trying to take over too many of our territories at once. That was infuriating, those were my lands, but they shall learn how hard it was to swallow the people I had cultivated.

The cursetaceans would still be a problem, but we’d just have to hold and pray for reinforcements. If nothing else, I would not let those damned rebels take everything. I would not go back in disgrace to Arrival(continent) and be scapegoated for this whole mess. I would not be a shepherd without even the lowliest title of knight!

“But your majesty…!”

“What of our other towns and cities?”

“There are still the regular monsters. We’ll be destroyed from within if we pull away all troops from our inner territories.”

“And there are also the rebel spies! They’ve already caused trouble. They won’t let go of this chance!”

“Do you take me for a fool who has not considered any of this!?” I glowered at each of them, and they finally shut up. Good. “Our other territories will be overrun by the ravening hordes of cursetaceans and rebels if we do not stop them at the border. We need to delay them and do as much damage as we can. This will eventually force their organization to falter and stall, especially with the lesser leaders they put in charge. That’s when we’ll group and ready our counter-offensive. We’ll purge all of them from this land. This rebellion has proven itself to be completely iredeemable. We always knew that, but I don’t just mean those who directly fight us. Everyone that supports them is beyond saving. Their people killed an angel! Anyone who isn’t actively fighting to overthrow whatever passes for a government there is just as guilty. So bide your time, my people, for we will eventually avenge the Angels Evel and Adamo!”

“Yeah…”

“Yes!”

“That is most profound, your grace.”

“Thank you!”

“I shall do my utmost.”

“I’ll protect my lands as much as I can.”

“Not all adventurers will be taken, right?”

“We’ll have to send all the strongest ones…”

“It’s fine. That’s enough. Tell the Lords and Ladies to rely on their walls to hold the monsters back.”

“Oh! Raise a militia from those who are left. They won’t be much use in actual war, but they should be enough for rural defense, right?”

“We need to start drafting people! This is an emergency. They must answer our call.”

“How many fountans do we still have? We need earth ones, but even nature ones can create some barriers. We can use this time to bolster the defenses of our more vulnerable cities.”

“Your grace, may I request for more mana?”

“You grace, would you happen to have any idle earth mages?”

“Your grace–

I heaved a silent sigh as my people finally calmed down and began to make actual plans. Most of it only echoed my own, and they still begged for my help in the end, but at least it would get done.

This was truly a difficult situation I’d been put in. I knew just how powerful our Angels were. How did a bunch of thoughtless fools manage to defeat them? Even Haell shouldn’t have been nearly powerful enough. And that inhex scum that surfaced and killed another angel… Our inhex auxiliaries took to his example like the sheep that they were, and were now even more unreliable than before! They might betray at any time, no matter what we threaten!

I took another silent breath, and made sure that my anger remained under control. I contemplated using my amulet that would constrain the effects of my Sympathy Heart, but no. I would be accused of the worst things for using this tool, and truthfully, I didn’t disagree. These amulets were made to shackle us shepherds. Those damned rebels refused to believe in our divine right to rule so much, that they came up with these unnatural things!

Theirs was truly a den of sin that needed eradication. And I would finish the job… somehow.