Akira’s body transformed as if melting into black.
Tooru, with the spear still in his throat, also melted, and seemed to be dragged towards Akira.
Souji and Eimi could do nothing but watch this repulsive sight.
“Stand back you two. It seems this is not your normal demonification.”
Said Kuroitsu, as he watched the Niijima brothers being stained black.
Up until this point, they were turning into demons, shadows of what they once were, but now their bodies were combining into something different.
He could interfere, but curiosity won out, so he left them be.
“Guaaaaaahhhhh.”
A groan that did not sound human echoed and shook the air.
It looked human, but its upper body alone was close to two meters in height. It looked slender, and on its head were two eyes, two ears, two noses, and two mouths. And its lower body appeared to be buried in the ground.
To be more precise, the lower body was buried inside a shadow of darkness magic, and Kuroitsu assumed it used said magic to move.
Its black body eventually changed into their original color, with black cloth wrapped around its body.
“Don’t clad yourself in black, you’re going to match me.”
Kuroitsu said with a casual tone, as he observed the new demon formed by the Niijima brothers.
It really was different from the demons he fought before. The eyes of the Niijima brothers darted around, showing no sign of intelligence behind them, and their mouths made groaning noises and drooled.
There was the feeling of pressure typical of demons, but decisively not enough.
It was basically something that failed to become a demon.
“…So this is a demon uh?”
Souji forgot the character he liked to play, and sounded surprised.
This whisper reached Kuroitsu, who responded.
“Yes, but we have a somewhat special specimen this time. I have never seen two become one either.”
“…I took a peek inside this demon’s consciousness, and there are two consciousnesses clashing, unable to secure a sense of self.”
“Meaning it will regain a sense of self eventually?”
“Hum…Yes. I don’t know if one will win, or if a strong external shock will bring it back. If you destroy it in one blow, I believe that won’t be a concern.”
Said Eimi, and Souji nodded.
“Do you want to give it a shot, Souji?”
She asked.
“Eeh!? But what about information about the church… Whoa! What do we do?”
“That isn’t attainable anymore. Whatever we may be able to hear won’t stand as evidence. It might as well serve as experience for you, Souji.”
Kuroitsu’s objective failed the moment the Niijima brothers demonified, so they might as well put them to use. Them being demons meant they should be treated the same as monsters, which could be defeated by normal seekers.
“All right, I’ll give it a shot.”
With a resolute expression on his face, Souji reached out and opened his hand.
He received the Telekinesis skill for beating the boss of the tenth floor, giving him the ability to move things with his mind.
This skill took not only magic energy, but stamina as well. And its ability was low compared to its cost.
At first, his limit was an eraser, but with training, by the time he challenged the twentieth floor, he could use this power to disturb the movement of monsters.
It was an iffy skill, but that changed when he received Stamina Boost after beating the twentieth floor’s boss, and Magic Energy Boost after getting through an irregular encounter on the twenty-sixth floor.
The two additional skills greatly increased the power of Telekinesis.
He could use it to crush, fling, compress monsters. Of course, he could only use it so many times, but by using it only when needed, he made it into a special move that could be used without preparation.
And as Souji gained more experience, he could wield this power to its fullest.
He held his hand towards the Niijima brothers, and clenched his fist.
The Niijima brothers were compressed from all directions, spraying something black, and disappeared into the shadow.
“…It’s over.”
He whispered as he opened his hand. He was sure they could not have survived.
“Hum, it seems they decided to share a consciousness.”
“Eh?”
But Eimi’s additional information told him what he felt was not right.
The supposedly crushed Niijima brothers peeked out from the shadow, and returned to their former shape, sucking in the black something that was sprayed.
“Hou, now it’s like a demon.”
The pressure exuded from the revived Niijima brothers was now on par with other demons Kuroitsu faced before, to the point where Souji and Eimi gulped.
Kuroitsu stepped in front of them, and faced the Niijima brothers.
The Niijima brothers attacked with many tentacles, but Kuroitsu walked normally among them, deflecting them with his palm, flinging them, and severing them with chops.
There was no panic or surprise in his face.
The tentacle attack seemed to be a stronger version of Tooru’s magic, but it was all neutralized.
They decided instead to face him with a spear, but it was blocked with gauntlets such as when Tanaka was defeated.
Kuroitsu walked calmly.
Considering he had to hold back then, dealing with Tanaka was more troublesome.
Many needles rained on him, but the Shukuchi skill took him right next to the Niijima brothers.
“It seems you are still being formed, and getting used to it.”
He said calmly while hitting it from the side.
“Gyah!!”
It screamed and slid to the side, black shadow and all.
There was a hole in the Niijima brother’s torso, which would normally be enough to end it, but it was quickly healed through Akira’s self-repair skill.
“Gi, gi, gaga, a, ga, aa, a… H-hnu. Ahh. You’re right. We’re not used to this body yet, so how about you help us warm up!?”
The Niijima brothers adjusted their voice, and sank into the shadow while speaking to Kuroitsu. The next moment, they were next to him, thrusting a spear at him.
Kuroitsu noticed it but did not move. Instead, he spoke.
“Don’t move.”
A curse.
It was his first skill, and the one that decided his path.
Using it on people came at the price of a reduced life span, but there was no need for such concerns against a monster.
“Gugigigya!”
The curse stopped the Niijima brothers, who desperately tried to move. If they could not move their body, then magic would have to do, they thought as they tried to control magic energy, but their poor moves made it so magic did not materialize.
They then swapped consciousness. They shared a body and abilities, but had separate consciousnesses.
The one being bound by a curse retreated, and another one emerged.
“Hou.”
Kuroitsu noticed the change, and deflected the incoming spear with his gauntlet. But the next moment, a strong sweep flung him back.
“Kuroitsu!”
“I’m all right. It was nothing.”
Despite being flung back, Kuroitsu turned to kill the momentum, and took no damage.
The Niijima brothers understood this, and sunk into the shadow again to appear in front of him.
“Riyah!!”
A series of thrusts fell on Kuroitsu, each sharper than the last.
This seemed to prove the Niijima brothers were getting used to their new body, thought Kuroitsu as he he felt the impact on his arms through the gauntlets.
“Is teleportation a kind of darkness magic? Your handling of the spear is quite good, but nothing more. Nothing to see here.”
“Shut up! Berserk!!”
The Niijima brothers were incensed by the calm expression on Kuroitsu’s face as he dodged the furious storm of thrusts, and used Berserk.
Tanaka attacked during the transformation, but the demonification meant they could transform instantly.
Berserk made the slender body swollen, and a lower body appeared from the shadow.
Its legs were not those of a human, they seemed like those of a giant monkey.
“Hahahahahahaha!!”
The attacks after Berserk were fierce.
It was not a simple boost in physical strength or spear attacks, they also used darkness magic.
Thrust, sweep, black tentacle attacks.
Blades attacked from the shadow, and needles flew from blind spots.
If they were fighting a seeker of the same class, the battle would end in seconds, but Kuroitsu was far above.
He blocked and dodged attacks, and retorted with blows that opened holes in their whole body.
What was this monster? They thought as they were reminded that this was something to be afraid of.
They killed seekers, attained power, and became a demon, but the difference in power was still desperate.
Eventually, their attacks stopped, and they were hit hard by Kuroitsu.
“Ah.”
They were blown back to where Tanaka laid unconscious, the one who beat them when they were humans.
Kuroitsu let out a sound upon realizing this, but it was too late.
Their spear pierced Tanaka’s heart, dealing fatal damage.
“Ahh.”
They let out a big sigh, and big smiles appeared on their face as they thought about the power flowing.
And then, the sound of something shattering echoed.
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