Mixed Blessing System

Hours after facing the metal dummies, Lothur and the demon finally reached the last being on their way to finishing the fifth level of the labyrinth.

After their entire journey through this level of the labyrinth, they had fought three times, of which, only once, had Lothur obtained a prize, something of a Silver-grade classification.

Fewer individuals from the lake above this area had had the chance to reach this point of the labyrinth. But precisely because this was the correct path to the next corridor, there were fewer challenges, and the few that existed mainly had been taken by beasts.

So by taking the 'hint' left by the previous beasts that followed different paths, Lothur had made his path easier but also given up more resource opportunities from this place.

As for the demon, Lothur was slowly rethinking about letting this creature follow at his side, as this demon's opponents were getting too strong for him to help it!

Lothur's opponents had yet to reach a level similar to the Transcendent beasts he had fought earlier. But the demon's opponents had already reached that level and would probably get stronger as he continued to advance.

So as he saw this new threat ahead of him and the demon, Lothur watched this blue creature cautiously, wondering what he could do.

'It is still improving, but its enemies are getting stronger and stronger... At a speed that I can't keep up with.' Lothur considered this before the opponent in their path began to move.

'If I leave it behind at the level it is at, this creature will be able to escape... So I can't do that.'

'On the other hand, if I absorb its powers once more, it will probably become too weak and continue here.' He considered that alternative as the right one. 'With that, either I'll be able to get it back when I finish this labyrinth, or some beast will take possession of it.'

'That will work too. That creature belongs to the giant toad. That way, no other beast will covet it.'

The demon noticed Lothur's fixed gaze on it and became concerned. 'What does this human want? Why is he looking at me like that?'

But then, the only opponent in front of them this time, a colorful one made of a combination of elemental variations, made the first move forward.

With this move, the demon took its eyes off Lothur, sensing that this human was up to something but that it should not be something for it to worry about right away.

It then looked in the direction of the being with a wooden trunk, legs of ice, a head on fire, arms of the earth, and small poisonous blades on its fingers. But, on the other hand, this creature's feet had a dark mist on them, as if they were a strange kind of shoe.

This creature was starting to run towards these invaders, moving faster and faster, demonstrating feats closer and closer to those of 3rd stage beings.

Lothur looked at this being and felt that all this difficulty was only in his way because of the demon and quickly made up his mind about what he had to do.

If the demon was getting in his way, it was time for him to get rid of this creature!

So, as he saw his opponent approaching them, Lothur used one of his hands to grab the demon's neck, holding this creature with its back to him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The blue being questioned Lothur as it felt that, and a shiver ran down its spine.

Lothur then said in a chilling tone. "Demon, time for you to hand over these powers you have accumulated to me!"

"What? How do you know?" The creature turned its face to look at Lothur as it tried to liberate itself from the right hand of this silver-haired young man.

Unfortunately for it, its strength was no match for Lothur's!

[Unknown Monarch Demon]

[Cultivation: level 11]

[STR: 74] [CON: 90.1] [DEX: 76.6] [AGI: 81.3] [SOU: ???]

...

[Name: Lothur Ritter]

[Physique: what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger]

[Bloodline: Life Devourer]

[Cultivation: level 13]

[STR: 93] [CON: 310.5] [DEX: 90.1] [AGI: 98.5]

[INT: 102.7] [PER: 162] [WIL: 104.5]

[EVF: 0]

"How? Why can't I get loose?" It cried out in despair as it realized that its strength, even after it improved significantly since entering the Immortals Well, was not enough for it to do anything against Lothur.

But to its utmost despair, the irises of Lothur's eyes suddenly turned red. At the same time, tattoos of the same color appeared around his eyes, following all the way to his forehead.

The demon trembled with fear when it saw the red pentagram forming in the middle of Lothur's forehead, feeling that it would lose everything it had conquered.

'Damn it!'

'No way!' It complained in its mind but could not scream since Lothur was practically crushing its neck.

Meanwhile, the creature in that area kept moving against them, and Lothur looked at this other opponent with doubts as to whether or not it would be able to affect it.

Even with doubts, he went ahead with his plans and finally made red mist begin to leave his hands.

The moment this happened, the demon convulsed while being held by Lothur's right hand, as the creature about to attack him suddenly freaked out and tried to retreat.

However, as it tried to get out of Lothur's reach, that creature felt intense oppression coming from this human's body and could not dodge his attack in time.

When it least expected it, it was surrounded by red mist. That held it tighter and tighter and made it feel its foundations being eroded at a frightening speed.

Amid the already traditional movement of Lothur, something unlike anything that had ever happened before occurred at that moment!

As he held the demon with one of his hands and watched this creature lose its vitality and become more dehydrated and skeletal, a system warning came up.

[Special form of dark energy detected...]

[Secondary ability went into sync with the host's bloodline...]

Mortal Aura!

Suddenly, this ability activated without any command to do so by Lothur, causing minor dark marks to appear amidst his bloodline ability.

When this happened, Lothur's already powerful bloodline seemed to temporarily become much stronger. But then, the demon's weakened eyes suddenly fluttered in much greater fear than before.

Before, it was 'just' afraid of losing its powers and becoming weakened. But as it felt that terrible sensation, it felt itself in mortal danger!

'No!'

'This can't be happening!' It despaired, but there was nothing it could do.

When it realized the gravity of the situation it was in, the demon felt the negative Natural Laws of its body being quickly absorbed by Lothur!

Unfortunately for it, once it realized this, Lothur's eyes glazed over, and he began to push to increase the intensity of what was happening.

'That...'

'I can kill it?' A big smile appeared on Lothur's face, and he squeezed his opponent's scrawny neck tighter.

At the same time, a black vortex appeared on his body, along with the red mist escaping from his hands.

"Time to die and hand over your Soul Bone to me, demon!"

...