Reborn to Devour: A Demonic LitRPG

I should have appreciated the Corpse-Watcher more. I wish that I had known better what a special beast it was; I would have savored the feeling of facing death in the eye and committed every action to memory. Clever, vicious, and awe-inspiring; it took everything that we had and most of our deaths to force it to submit.

Notice

Titanic Ant Queen Defeated

You have gained 7500 XP.

Congratulations! You have cleared the Titanic Ant Colony in the current fastest time (20 minutes 47 seconds.) You will receive a small stat boost as a reward.

Contributions are done calculating. Rewards will be distributed based on overall contribution.

This beast was none of those things.

We had barreled through an oversized anthill like molten aluminum; obliterating everything in our path. The sharp-armored beasts offered some bite-back, but their moves were slow and clunky, resorting to swarming that was easily cleared with tar and lightning.

The boss was predictable for a plump queen: behind a mass of its subjects ordered to die on her behalf. Their angry bites were largely inoffensive to my armor and my heated claws tore through brittle chitin like tin cans. One clean bolt of lightning through a rapidly thinning horde was all it took to pop the queen’s bulbous abdomen and spray sizzling goo. The rest of the ants were left confused and helpless; not that they were worth much.

Skills.

Reinforced Carapace - Passive

For something so small to be able to survive in such a big world, it must be tough. A small one like yourself must be tough as well.

+20 Natural Armor when above 50% HP (does not stack with equipped armor).

+20 Body

1% of damage received is reflected onto the attacker.

“It’s not bad,” I muttered to myself as I dismissed the newest messages. Only the bonus from our quick completion made it feel worthwhile. “Did you get the right ability?”

“I did,” Yoshitsune beamed. She tapped her horns before wincing in surprise at their new sensitivity. “These new pheromones are already helping out my senses. Everything feels much clearer now.”

“Then it was worth the trip. Let’s get out of here.”

We moved to the exit when I was stopped by a pulling sensation on my stomach. Squealer’s bloody corpse, tethered to my waist by a chain, snagged on the sharp rocks of the cave floor. His limp arm had perfectly wedged itself in a small gap between the rocks and did not free itself after gentler tugs.

“You have to be a nuisance even when you’re dead?” I scolded and yanked on the chain to create a sickening crunching sound and a great deal of blood.

We stepped through the exit and were deposited on the surface a bit away from the entrance. As I looked for the Portal that would get us out of here, I noticed that there was a small crowd of demons standing around the entrance. They weren’t there when we entered and there was nothing stopping them from following us now that we left.

“What are they doing?” Squealer asked, quickly rising to his feet. “Doesn’t the Titanic Ant Colony not have a cooldown between runs?”

“Who cares?” I dismissed the question as I finally spotted the Portal location. “We’re short on time.”

This was the fourth Dungeon that we had cleared in the short time that the preparations before the battle offered it. The available rewards were incomparable with the likes of some of the other Dungeons that I had faced before, but maybe I had grown spoiled.

“Doesn’t your emperor have any Portals close to some of these more difficult Dungeons on this map?” I complained, not that those Dungeons offered abilities I found worth the extended journey for.

“He sends weak slaves to collect rewards and resources,” Squealer explained like an underpaid tour guide at a shitty Midwestern roadside attraction. “Why would he have Portals at Dungeons whose minions are too strong for us? We don’t really even survive these Dungeons. Do you know how expensive it is to maintain one of these, let alone ten?”

“Alright, alright, you don’t have to dick ride your master so hard out here,” I spat.

The Portal turned the rocky hills around the Dungeon back into the drab plains that Yóulóng strangely seemed to prefer. Stranger still, there was now a crowd of shackled demons waiting at the exit of the Portal. I thought that they might have been waiting to use the Portal so I took a step out of the way, but they were just looking at us with looks of admiration.

“You got a fan club or something, Squealer?” I asked snidely at the rodent. “Do they miss your punishments so much that they’ve come to beg for me to give you back?”

“What’s this all about?” Squealer asked the assembled slaves. “You all have work to get to.”

“Have you not seen?” One of the demons asked in surprise. “We’ve been getting notifications that you’ve been clearing the Dungeons in record time.”

“You get told about that?” I asked suspiciously, never seeing that notification before.

“Only for the ones that we’ve cleared ourselves…which is all the ones that you’ve gone to,” another demon explained. “We go to the Titanic Any Colony all the time and I didn’t think an hour was even possible, but you did it in twenty minutes.”

“At this rate, there won’t be any Dungeons in the Desolate Plains that will be able to give a fastest clear bonus if you make the times so insurmountable,” a different demon chimed in.

I scratched my chin and smiled. My haste was just due to how little time I had to bulk up further. But now something more interesting propped up. I had the potential to fuck over any future rivals by placing all of these too far out of reach. A bitter taste crossed my tongue at the realization I could have gone just a little faster.

“Well, pay attention,” I advised. “We have at least one more to do.”

The demons parted as I led us to the final Portal. This time, we did not leave the wide open plains. However, there was a cropping of rock pillars and small boulders that formed a ring around the Dungeon’s entrance. A mist around the entrance signified that the Dungeon was currently occupied by a group.

This Dungeon appeared to be more popular than most as a group of ten or so demons waited around the entrance; likely to protect the run of their comrades. Wary eyes turned towards our presence like rival lion prides at a watering hole.

I walked directly towards the entrance like they didn’t exist. We didn’t have the time for all this hand-holding working together bullshit. Instantly, the ten demons closed in on the three of us. Aggressive expressions crossed their faces as they made a blockade between us and the entrance.

“You can’t enter until we are done using it,” the lead demon ordered me. “We are almost done clearing it.”

I sized up the other waiting demons and was surprised by what gave them the idea that we were of comparable strength. I leaned in close to the demon, the smell of old flesh coating my breath made them flinch.

“I’m better than you.”

“Then your corpse will be worth a lot,” the lead demon signaled for their comrades to get into position.

My claws finished them in one strike. Blood steamed from their wounds sizzled like a diner stovetop. What misplaced confidence. Did they really think that, just by showing up in numbers, they had the strength to challenge someone near the pinnacle of the region? I was more than willing to give them this valuable lesson in exchange for their stats and XP. Maybe next time, they will keep their heads down.

With that little warm-up out of the way, we waltzed into the Dungeon without anyone saying a word of complaint.

Entering Dungeon: Animated Mines

We found ourselves in a large, dark chamber. I used one of my newer abilities, [Torchlight], to illuminate the chamber. Many piles of rocks scattered on the ground next to small puddles of blood. Ahead was a tunnel that connected to the next chamber. With the group ahead of us doing the hard work, we were able to travel through even quicker. It started to give me ideas of how to clear Dungeons even impossibly faster.

“Squealer, I never bothered asking, but what happened to you after you ran away from me?” I asked with a smug tone.

“It’s not a very interesting story,” Squealer answered warily, waiting for the hit that never came. “The place that I spawned into was crawling with demons looking to capture anyone that had just left the Bowels. I was caught before my eyes had even adjusted to the new world and I was made to work immediately.”

“You seem to have gotten a promotion quite quickly, whose ass did you kiss to make that happen?”

“My supervisor,” Squealer answered without a bit of shame. “When you are whipping your fellow slaves on behalf of the supervisor, they tend to leave you alone to enjoy their new free time. I made myself as loud and as visible as possible that I was on the short list the next time they needed supervisors for new captives. I may not be fully free, but it’s far better than being at the bottom.”

“How great for you,” I replied with a smile. “So long.”

“Wait!”

I spun the chain in front of me and slammed Squealer’s body into the ground in front of me. I took to the air and came down like a scaly wrecking ball. My feet broke through quills and bone to make a series of groans and cracks. His innards slipped to the outside and painted the ground a brilliant shade of red.

Party Member Squealer has died.

“I had to kill him again. He doesn’t deserve any contribution,” I preemptively defended myself to Yoshitsune.

“It looks to me that you just ran out of ideas to kill him,” Yoshitsune teased. “You used him to disarm a trap, turned him into a torch, fed him to the yokai to distract him, and as a sled to get down the mountain faster.”

“I can’t argue with you there,” I conceded with a shrug. “But this one felt nostalgic.”

With Squealer’s body waving behind me like a flag, we increased our blistering pace down the halls and quickly heard the sounds of organized combat just ahead of us.

Five demons were facing off against a pair of golems. They were taking things methodically; their bulkier members were taking the focus of the golems while their other members delivered damage into the monster’s flanks.

I could tell by the looks in their eyes that they had been too focused to hear us coming. Only the notification of their comrade’s death dragged their attention in my direction. By then, Yoshitsune had already swept through their necks with a sparking sword. In only a few seconds, the party was eliminated with nothing to show for it.

They had only made it this far after all that blustering of almost being done? As the previous team of challengers were torn apart, I turned their rocky opponents into slag with my superheated claws.

The rocky horrors were too slow to cause much problems. Sure, they had an annoying amount of health that would have been a nightmare for a much earlier version of myself. But they were just walking safes ready to be popped open and looted of all their goodies. They were especially weak to Yoshitsune’s magic. Where my claws found some resistance, her lightning-coated blade rocketed through the rocks like they were cake.

So, even when we reached the final chamber, it was still disappointing. A golem the size of a small apartment building rose to its feet and made a deafening scraping sound. But, despite its immensity, it was even slower than the minions. I don’t think it could even see Yoshitsune as it never bothered to attack her. I just had to run circles around it while taking chunks out of it until it quickly succumbed to the damage.

Notice

Golem defeated.

You have gained 8000XP.

Congratulations! You have cleared the Animated Mines in the current fastest time (16 minutes 58 seconds). You will receive a small stat boost as a reward.

Contributions are done calculating. Rewards will be distributed based on overall contribution.

Skills

Iron Fist - Active (Rank E)

An unfeeling, unrelenting creation, the golem does not know fear and it delivers punches without regard for its own survival.

Punches delivered while using this ability will stun the opponent. Current duration: 1 seconds.

+20 Strength

“If only I could still punch effectively,” I lamented to myself as I failed to ball my hand into a decent fist. At least I got an upgrade to my strength.

More importantly, I had the experience required to reach Level 20. It was not the most efficient way to go about it; I wasn’t able to max out my bonus stats each time. But, I had to cut corners because I wanted to unlock my next transformation before the upcoming battle and I was certain as to what I wanted to choose this time. It was a choice that had been put off in favor of more crucial options.

Level Up.

Notice

Congratulations! You are now Level 20.

You have received a stat and ability bonus for reaching max level. Find a Portal and advance.

You have unlocked Level 6 Transformation. Please choose one of the following:

Wings, Thick Scales, Draconic Breath

“I’m going to transform, dump a potion on me if I look too fucked up,” I said to Yoshitsune.

“Alright, as long as you watch over me next,” Yoshitsune answered, summoning a potion in advance.

You have selected Wings. Beginning Transformation.

I had it too good for too long with my other transformations. A sharp pain in my back brought me to my knees. My teeth were clenched shut and my eyes were wide open. Bones popped and twisted and split to form new ones. My scales ripped open, as the new bone structure emerged from the gaping wounds. I felt the trickle of a recovery potion splash against my spine, but it was no pain killer.

New nerve connections sent stomach churning messages to my brain like a papercut on your nail bed. I felt the sinews sew themselves to the bony trees jutting from my back. A material that felt like leather filled in the gaps.

Transformation: Reptilian (Stage 6) Completed

I flapped my new appendages once, blood pouring off of the surface and creating a puddle beneath me. My new muscles sent me a few feet in the air before I landed roughly back down on the ground.

I jumped up again. This time, I managed to flap several times in the air before holding my wings out like a parachute to slightly slow my fall. Even though it was a new appendage, it felt more familiar than when I got my tail. It felt like using a rowing machine to manipulate my back muscles, a much easier concept than using my lower back.

Yoshitsune, anticipating to feel pain, laid down on the ground. I stopped my experimentation and sat down alongside her. I propped her head atop my leg so she wouldn’t have to get it dirty. I dribbled the potion into her mouth while she groaned and screamed from the pain. While I waited for it to complete, I opened my character sheet.

Yoshitsune’s breathing grew calmer and she got to her feet. I closed my windows and got up with her. Though she didn’t look much different, something had changed.

“Did you get taller?”

Yoshitsune was now near my eye level. Though her armor seemed to have magically grown with her, her arms filled out her sleeves far more than before. A short pair of tusks poked out from her bottom teeth and pressed against her lips. Streams of blood dribbled down to her chin, but I did not dare point that out. Instead, I just wiped them away with my thumb.

“I chose a body modification, yes,” she replied and took a step away from me, her eyes moving to my own change. “My strikes should have a lot more power behind them now. How do you think it feels to fly?”

“We have a little bit of time before we need to get back. Why don’t I take you flying while I practice?”

“Am I to use my abilities to keep us from crashing down to earth?”

“Only if I’m a slow learner,” I said with a laugh.

I wrapped my arms around Yoshitsune and used my tail to secure her legs. I could feel how much more powerful her body had become as I flapped my wings a few times to get used to the added weight.

“What about me?”

He revived just in time to perfectly ruin the move. I released Yoshitsune and walked over to Squealer. I wrapped the chain around his neck before pulling tight. His eyes bulged as he feverishly scratched at my hands and the chain. It was only when he gave up that I let go, letting him drop to his knees at suck in air.

“What about you?”