Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Grunts and huffs reverberated through the once-frozen room. Splashing and whistling accompanied them, sending water droplets drizzling and iron flashing.

Opposite the charging draugrs, Adam's neck tensed to let a deep exhale escape his lips. With it, his half-closed eyelids narrowed in focus as a memory danced in his mind.

Fingers drumming on a mechanical keyboard, a hand gripping a mouse tight, and the vivid lights flashing from a screen.

In it, a dazzlingly equipped character responded to his inputs. Hair swirling and frame dancing through a whistling barrage of spells and arrows, the mass of pixels charged towards a castle's gates and its defenders.

Just like now, he was alone, outnumbered forty to one. Yet, an eager smirk tugged at his lips as his eyes narrowed and his focus peaked to its limits. In this state, the slightest ruffle, the subtlest movement, didn't escape his eyes.

That's how he single-handedly conquered that castle. That's how his name appeared for the first time. And that's how he'll survive despite the thick scent of blood drifting from the scarlet pool under his feet and the splitting headache consuming his thoughts. But did he need them?

He cracked his head aside as the first draugr's axe cleaved down.

Hair strands swirled down as he dodged. With the vivacity of a biting snake, his arm moved, and his blade hummed in an upward arc.

What would thoughts do here? No. He needed reflexes as fast as lighting and precision deadly enough to kill in one strike. Like Achilles, but there was something more...

He could sense its ethereal presence now that no distraction disturbed him.

Simultaneously, the feeling of cutting through an icy mountain of muscles pressed on his hand as his blade sliced through the draugr's iron-like abs. In a flawless movement, it drew a crevice up before emerging from his right shoulder.

Viscous blood, dark and rotten, sprayed from the wound as the warrior's eyes trembled, and a satisfied smile crept over his face.

"The Valkyrie. I hear her horn."

With a last whisper, he collapsed on his back as the twenty-nine others shuddered, their raw war cries piercing the room.

"We're finally entering Valhalla, brothers! Let our last battle be epic before we meet Odin and Thor, along with the legendary warriors from legends!"

More roars echoed, invoking the names of Sigurd, Ragnar Lodbrok, Cu Chulainn or Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.

But Adam didn't hear them at all. Instead, his focus narrowed on the feeling, almost grazing it as more weapons whistled in his ears.

'Chaos.'

It had always been there, deeply rooted in him. Even before Tiamat adjusted his body. No, it had silently accompanied him since his birth on Earth, like any other human. After all, didn't chaos fuel their genetic evolution? Didn't its primal and unpredictable origins go against the structured thinking they developed after securing safe lives?

His eyes closed and his right shoulder leaned half a centimeter back, just enough to let an axe scrap his leather pauldron.

Fueled by the sensation, his arm moved next.

Without looking or thinking, he knew the draugr's position, how he bent forward, his breathing, and how to deal maximum damage. More than a conscious calculation, it came from something suppressed by layers of distractions and the comfort of a safe life—instinct.

That's what he grazed, the primal instinct slumbering in every human and awakening through his chaos-druid class.

With it came a blur of dark steel, the draugrs' gasps, and a head drawing a bloody arc through the air.

The beheaded draugr's eyes trembled in disbelief. Even as the victim, he had seen nothing. One moment, his axe cleaved down and the other, the world spun in his eyes. How?

The question haunted him as a horn echoed in his ears, and darkness claimed him.

Meanwhile, the others' eyes gleamed as they thundered.

"He's similar to the legendary berserker tribe's warriors! But we won't die without wounding him."

"Surround and launch simultaneous strikes, brothers. We'll gift a cup of his blood to Odin!"

With eager nods, their hulking bodies drew a lethal circle around Adam's calm figure.

Their arms rose, their muscles bulged, and the air cracked as they launched a devastating strike.

Twenty-eight weapons, as many whistles, but only one unmoving and closed-eyed target.

However, the instant the metal shone five centimeters from Adam, his figure blurred into action.

WHOOSH

The wind whipped against his clothes as he lunged down. His nose grazed the ground as the blows passed over him. But evading was only the start. Find adventures at empire

Before his momentum waned, his blade shot forward, reaping a dozen legs like wheat.

He rolled through the dropping bodies, blood marring his armor dark, and shot to his feet in the blink of an eye.

Then, he turned, faced the remaining eighteen threats, and charged at them.

Free from their encirclement and their formation in disarray, he struck the first with a merciless blow that cleaved his skull in halves.

The one by him reacted, but before the movement started, he felt the draugr's bulky leg would pierce through the air and crash on his stomach. And with the knowledge came the reaction.

A split second later, he spun gracefully, the leg colliding with empty air. Boosted by the centrifugal force, his blade roared and sliced through the wind, then its target's neck.

Each movement blended with another, melding evasions with attacks to create an unstoppable dance that left the draugrs slack-jawed as they fell one after another.

Soon, only one stood a step before him—the one who awakened first.

Pupils constricted, he exhaled before his voice thundered.

"I was once called Hogni. What's your name, noble demon?" He shook his head. Species didn't matter anymore. "What's your name, glorious warrior? I'll engrave it in my heart and recount your skills in Odin's hall."

Adam exhaled, his lips parting and eyes opening for the first time in this battle. His wounded throat filled his mouth with the metallic tang of blood as a single word echoed.

"Adam."

With his answer came a vicious strike.

Before Hogni could react, his blade dug into his chest and then his heart.

Yet, the draugr smiled, his eyes sparkling with recognition and... gratitude?

"Good luck, Adam. I'll watch your saga from above and wait for you to join us in Valhalla."

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