Demon Sealing

The person who had been guarding him earlier instinctively sprang into action the moment he heard the arrows.

The pair of thin swords in his hands danced into a blur of steel, and the incoming arrows were sliced into several pieces in an instant.

On the other side, a black shadow had already charged out.

Before the caravan members surrounding them could react, they had already been torn into chunks.

Those chunks then flew like stones toward Aro.

Downs, drenched in blood and looking like a Demon, joined the battle.

Aro's attack was interrupted by the sudden barrage of corpses, giving the Village Guardian a chance to catch his breath.

Despite taking several heavy blows to the crotch in quick succession, he did not collapse as the Halfling had expected.

Instead, after steadying himself, he stopped rushing. Gathering all his strength, he avoided any large kicking motions, lowered his body, and slammed into a tree nearby.

The Halfling clinging to him climbed up along his leg and immediately shifted positions, scrambling onto the Village Guardian's back.

But the Village Guardian ignored him completely. He rammed the tree down, then charged straight toward its fallen crown.

As the Village Guardian crashed through them, branches and leaves turned into whips—or perhaps combs.

The dense lashes interfered with the Halfling's movements, forcing him to clutch tightly onto the Village Guardian's clothes.

The change here distracted Aro slightly. He could not help looking to the other side, confirming that Otto had not run into trouble because of Downs's attack.

Then he charged toward the Village Guardian once more.

No matter what, he had to take down the Village Guardian first. That was the order Otto had given him.

Meanwhile, Downs, who had rushed into the fight, was immediately targeted by arrows. Numerous shafts struck his body.

But they were useless.

"You two seem to be having a great time shooting me, huh?" After taking several arrows in a row, Downs had already closed in on Otto's other two combat-capable subordinates.

"Now let me have some fun too!" Downs licked the blood from his face with a flick of his tongue.

Ever since a Demon had been sealed within his body, and Naimus had taught him Breath of Holy Law and Dual Law Coordination, he would occasionally enter Dual Law Coordination with Kurog.

Under that coordination, some of Kurog's habits had rubbed off on him.

He was no longer so terrified of killing or bloodshed.

On the contrary, his own desires had been stirred awake. He had fallen in love with the feeling of holding another person's life in his hands.

Once nothing more than a lowly shepherd, he now enjoyed the fearful looks of those who had once scorned him. The feeling intoxicated him.

And all of this had come from Lord Naimus's Bestowal!

So in the next instant, Downs shot forward, one hand reaching for one man's throat.

Sharp, stabbing force surged from his palm, causing the man, who had intended to dodge, to feel pain coursing through his body.

Precept—Demon Sealing: Seal the Demon within the body. Do not speak of the Demon. In doing so, the Demon's power can be transformed into the power of the Breathing Technique, allowing one to dance with the Demon.

This was the result of Downs cultivating Breath of Holy Law.

As for the other supposed effects of Breath of Holy Law—sensing heaven and earth, placing oneself within the laws of heaven and earth, foreseeing the future, and receiving all sorts of Revelations—Downs had gained none of them.

He had only gained the foundational power of Breath of Holy Law: according to his physical condition and external guidance, he had obtained his innate Precept.

As for the stabbing sensation released from his palm, that belonged to Kurog's power.

As a sealed being, Kurog could only exist within him and use Breath of Holy Law through Dual Law Coordination.

In that state, He could not obtain an innate Precept, but He could, to a certain extent, place Himself within the "laws of heaven and earth."

His heaven and earth now was Downs, the one who had sealed Him.

Kurog's power became Downs's power, and through it, He could also perceive part of Downs's "laws"—Downs's sense of pain.

Kurog could then follow Downs's movements and project those sensations outward.

In exchange for Kurog's promise to help him in battle, Downs promised that he would do his best to let Kurog experience the sensations he enjoyed afterward.

Those stabbing sensations were the feelings caused by the arrows they had fired into Downs earlier.

Grabbing the man by the throat and lifting him up, Downs was in no hurry to kill him.

This man, too, was a desperado.

He had been a murderer in his hometown, wanted for breaking the law. He had only come to Azure Sky during the last Sky Whale mating season.

With no family, no future, and no dreams, he was the most typical kind of desperado.

He did work that could cost him his head at any time, earned enough profit, then indulged desperately, intending to spend the pleasures of the rest of his life within these few years.

That was how he thought. When faced with mortal danger, he was afraid too, but there was also a savage viciousness within him.

Rather than trying to pry Downs's hand from his throat, he drew the dagger on his body and thrust it straight at Downs's eye.

But to his surprise, Downs neither dodged nor defended, allowing the stab to land.

The sharp dagger seemed to have struck stone, unable to pierce through.

Although Lesser Demons were nominally Black Stone Breeds, that was merely a matter of stats. Their Immortality was simply not something ordinary Black Stone Breeds could handle.

That was also why, even in villages with few inhabitants, where building a church was enormously expensive, there would still be at least one priest and one Paladin stationed there.

Without a Paladin and a priest, even a Lesser Demon could slaughter an entire village and rapidly grow into a disaster.

Though he had not been injured, the sensation of a foreign object interfering with his eye was still extremely clear.

"That hurts!" Downs complained, then swiftly crushed the man's neck.

They were only two archers with six stats. They would not be able to put up much resistance against him...

But in the next moment, Downs stopped moving. He turned to look at the "corpse" whose throat had been broken and which should have been dead.

Something was rapidly wriggling inside its body. Then Downs saw black hairs stabbing out from its throat.

The hairs grew rapidly, clearing away the shattered windpipe in his throat and restoring the blocked airway.

The man rose to his feet. His entire throat had turned black, while dense black lines covered the skin beneath his body.

"It's actually this itchy." The man's hateful gaze fell on Downs.

Nest Beasts were dangerous parasitic creatures. During parasitism, they would modify their hosts to a certain extent.

Otto's Nest Beasts were controllable to a degree, so he had given his subordinates an insurance policy.

He had deliberately bred some hair embryos from Nest Beasts and kept them dormant before they could truly activate.

These things remained inactive under normal circumstances. Since they had only just been bred, they did not require expensive medicine like Otto's did to keep them docile.

Only when the host encountered a life-threatening crisis and the Nest Beast embryos sensed danger would they activate, entering a symbiotic state to save the host.

Coo coo coo, thank you for your support.