CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER NO.67 JOB CHANGE QUEST (5)

Crunch!

One single punch caused the knight’s breastplate to crack and cave in; the lifeless monster slowly slid to the ground between my stretched black sheen-covered fist and the wall.

It didn’t move again as it lay sprawled on the ground.

Tti-ring.

[You defeated the knight.]

[Level up!]

Although it was quite unfortunate that my condition didn’t improve, my levels started to rise again steadily as I fought more and more battles.

It seems the lock was only until I took the ’Job Change Quest’. But the previously collected EXP is still locked until I complete the quest and get a Job.

I looked down at my slightly-skinned fist after Armament Core retreated and clicked my tongue.

Only a short break would’ve taken care of such a small wound by now.

However, these abominable monsters didn’t give me a moment to rest.

Still, I earned quite a lot in the meantime.

[Equipped items]

[Archmage’s Pendant (A)]

[Banished Knight’s Breastplate (B)]

[Intermediate Assassin’s Shoes (B)]

[Inferior Archer’s Gloves (C)]

[Intermediate Mage’s Ring (B)]

Other useful things I found along the way were now all safely tucked away in his Inventory.

Though some effects were useless to me, like Archmage’s Pendant’s +20% Mana Regeneration boost and Intermediate Mage’s Ring, which gave a passive boost to Spellcasting Speed—something I, someone with [MP: 0], couldn’t even use properly, but I’d be an idiot to throw away A and B-rank gear.

But they had a secondary effect too, which was actually usable by me—stat amplification.

As mages were high-intelligence beings, it offered +20% to Intelligence, which, in turn, indirectly sharpened my Observation Grid’s clarity. Even if I couldn’t use mana, my perception benefited. The logic of the Lucifer System was twisted but consistent — as long as the stat correlated with my will or focus, I could exploit it.

’What would this guy give me now?’

I reached out towards the fallen knight and the flickering light coming off from it.

Tti-ring!

[Item: Banished Knight’s Gauntlet]

Rarity: B

Type: Armour

Reduction in physical damage: +3%

Additional effects: Prevents injuries to the wearer’s hands.

(Your movement will slow down if your Strength is below 200.)

’Ohhh....’

With a bright smile, I quickly ’acquired’ the Superior Knight’s Gauntlet and equipped it immediately.

Just like with all the other items, these metallic gloves didn’t affect him in the slightest, and I could freely move his fingers.

’Nice.’

I moved my fingers around for a bit before raising my head to look at the far side of the passageway.

Finally.

The torchlight revealed the end of the road.

And that end was blocked off by a huge castle gate.

’It took me six hours to get here, too....’

My level was now 45, and I was kitted out in some good armour as well.

I was ready.

’Status Window.’

• Name: Dominic Nocturne von Morningstar

• Race: Demon (Incomplete Primordial Fragment) / ???

• Level: 40— 45

• Job: None

• Rank: H — G

• Title: [Dances With Wolves, The Forsaken Lucifer(Locked)], [He Who Shouldn’t Be Awake(Locked), [God-Eater],]

• HP: 1600/1990— 1650/2040

• MP: 0/1190— 0/1240

[Stats]

• Strength: 283— 288

• Agility: 229— 234

• Stamina: 199— 204

• Intelligence: 119— 124

• Sense: 189— 194

—Available Stats Points: 110)

So, I got 110 stats points to spend.

As for the ’Incomplete Primordial Fragment’ in the Race, it was the effect of not having my Demonic Hearts, which was a crucial part of unlocking the powers of a common demon, much less of a Primordial Demon like me. Without them, my Demonic Energy, the equivalent of Mana, my sin cores, and my latent destructive potential capped.

Anyway, ignoring the thing I could control for now. I focused back on the massive gate ahead of me.

[Tiredness: 43]

’I gotta win with this.’

Finishing up by confirming my condition for the last time, I reached out and grasped the handles of the doors.

Creak, creaaaakkk-!

The heavy-looking doors slid open rather smoothly, as if there was some sort of an unseen mechanism.

Rumble-! Boom!

The door to the boss room finally opened.

The interior was completely shrouded in darkness.

Even with my eyesight, greatly enhanced by his Perception Stat and Observation Grid, I found it hard to see one inch in front of me. All I could see clearly was the ground beneath my feet.

The floor was covered in stone tiles.

The ash-coloured tiles, laid with no visible gaps in between, gave off this feeling of heaviness and barren chill.

As soon as I set foot on this floor....

Whooosh!

Countless torches lining up the walls lit up all at once and illuminated the interior.

’The fuck is this setup... almost like...a stage.’

The sudden blaze of torches painted the chamber in gold and shadow, stretching endlessly until the far walls vanished into gloom. The air was thick—ancient, metallic, and humming with faint energy that scraped against my senses.

At the center of the hall stood a single throne, carved from black obsidian, twisted like it had been melted and reformed a hundred times.

With Morningstar crest inverted twisted, defiled. The seven-pointed crown was replaced by seven downward daggers. The wings of the original Lucifer emblem charred and melted into an ashen sprawl.

’It’s as if....’

This place reminded me of the Demon king’s audience chamber from a OG Dominic’s memories. Of course, the scale was noticeably larger, though.

A few steps later, the door issued a loud bang and closed shut behind me.

SLAM!!

I glanced back, but I didn’t panic. I already expected something like that to happen. I resumed my careful march forward.

’....I can sense a powerful presence.’

I kind of got this really strong gut feeling that, in order to conclude my Job quest, I had to arrive before that throne.

Just as important, my gut feelings on matters such as this one were on the money, most of the time.

It was then.

From the gap between stone pillars, which couldn’t have been more than ten steps, a ’figure’ walked out from its hiding spot and stood before me, blocking my path forward.

The ’thing’ stopped its walk and turned around to face me.

Gulp~

I swallowed my dry saliva.

I only had to take one look at the creature’s red name floating just above its head to know that the boss had finally made its entrance.

[Lucifer’s Most Obedient, King of Hell— Paimon the Banished]

It was a hulking figure wearing a suit of midnight-black armour.

The way it was kitted out from head to toe in metal armour was similar to other knights he fought so far, but quite unlike those that looked dull and slow, this thing moved with an almost liquid grace. Every joint, every seam of its armour glimmered faintly with crimson veins of corrupted energy, pulsing as if it were alive. Its helmet was adorned with a jagged crown, horns curving upward like obsidian spears. Even in complete stillness, it radiated the kind of presence that could crush minds.

What caught his eyes next was its helm.

The red-coloured mane extending rearwards from the top of the helm reminded him of a stallion’s tail and it left a rather deep impression.

While I studied its helm, I discovered one more difference between it and the other knights.

’This guy.... has eyes?’

But, were they eyes, or irises?

Whatever the case may be, the pair of silvery lights oozed out from where one’s eyes should be. They felt so cold and uncaring, utterly mechanical and lifeless.

Those cold eyes were now fixed on me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

’So, the aura of the really powerful enemy was coming from this guy, huh.....’

The goal of the class quest could be to defeat this knight, for all I knew. If that was the case, I needed to be doubly cautious.

I observed the movements of this Igrit while slowly raising his clenched fists.

’My blade won’t work on it anyway.’

What was needed in defeating a knight was blunt force. I needed Strength to overwhelm him.

’...’

Paimon quietly observed me for a while, before it abruptly took off its cape.

Plop!

The cape fell to the floor.

’What’s it doing?’

The b*stard’s strange actions didn’t end there.

It proceeded to take off the longsword on its hips, and the two daggers hidden behind its back, and dropped them all to the ground.

Not only that, it showed them to me, before dropping them one at a time.

Clang, clang...

The interior of the boss room had been quiet until then; the loud clangs of the metal hitting the stone tiles reverberated noisily throughout this vast chamber.

Paimon finished discarding all of its weapons, and as if to imitate me, clenched its fists and got into a fighting stance.

My eyes grew wider.

’Could this b*stard be thinking of....?’

Was this thing going to fight me bare-handed because I was also bare-handed?

I bit my lower lip.

’....It’s looking down on me.’

The monsters’ provocation that really wasn’t one only served to rapidly cool my head. The hotter my emotions boiled, the colder my head got.

On the contrary to my heart beating faster and faster, my eyes became sharper and calculating.

’Come.’

Perhaps reading my mind, Paimon made a beeline towards me.

Tap, tap, tap, tap!

The speed it produced was so fast that he found it hard to believe it was wearing a suit of armour.

Paimon closed the distance in the blink of an eye, and leapt up into the air. Once flying, the thing stuck its knee out and aimed at my face.

’It’s fast!!’

However, I had been ready as well, my own movement speed pushed to the extreme. I bent my back almost 90 degrees and let Paimon attack, brushing past me.

I then rapidly stood back up.

Quite unlike other knights that needed some distance to stop after their tackle had failed, Paimon simply landed on the ground without much fanfare.

Kung!!

There was no time to admire that perfect landing, though.

I rushed in and before Paimon could turn around all the way, I diagonally kicked its head.

Shockingly enough, the thing still could move its arm accurately even when its posture was unstable.

Slam!

My right leg was easily blocked by Paimon’s left hand.

’How can this be?!’

My eyes opened wider.

While one of my legs was blocked, Paimon’s other fist flew in at my face.

Swish!

I raised both of my arms instinctively to guard myself, but the impact force still got transmitted to the rest of my body.

Boom!!

My guard broke and my entire body became airborne.

"What?!"

A shocked gasp escaped from my mouth.

But soon, it turned into a groan.

".....?!"

Because, Paimon had already appeared right in front of my eyes.

Even before I had the chance to do something about it, Paimon’s left fist powerfully slammed into my left cheek.

Slam!!

I was slammed into the floor and bounced up from the impact, before continuing to roll away. I only managed to force myself back up after a while.

BUZZ!!

The inside of my ears rang noisily.

I shook my head around a couple of times. Only then did the loud ringing die down somewhat.

However, the much bigger problem than that was coming closer to me. My blurry sight captured paimon as it walked towards me.

Step, step....

I opened my eyes wider and got ready.

Eventually, Paimon arrived right before my nose.

And so, a bloody dogfight erupted between us two.

Paimon didn’t even try to dodge my punches. No, it simply took on the hits and counter-attacked right away.

Pow!

Paimon’s head was forced slightly to the side.

But, even before I could correct my posture, a sharp and accurate counterpunch flew at me.

POW!

I tottered about like a drunken man.

Pow!

This time, Paimon took a step back.

POW!

After my stomach was kicked in, my body bent forward 90 degrees.

"Keok!"

Blood welled up in my mouth.

’What is this nonsensical bullsh*t....?!’

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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