The eighteenth floor of Oran City’s Trial Tower is the ’Hellish Trial’.
Those who clear it perfectly and choose not to proceed further can select a lavish reward: the Four-Star hidden class, ’Demon Warlock’.
The strangest thing about this class is that it doesn’t care about a Spellcaster’s past Rune Construction.
It even gives a Trialist the chance to re-spec, allowing you to switch from other classes to the Four-Star Demon Warlock and refunding all previously invested ’professional skill points’.
It sounds wonderful.
But this class requires you to make a deal with a Demon in the truest sense.
It always brings to mind a ruthless capitalist.
Just the First Authority, ’Advance’, involves borrowing Power from a Great Demon. The collateral and interest aren’t fixed; they depend entirely on the other party’s mood and what you yourself cherish most.
The Second Authority, ’Vicarious Sacrifice’, offers a bit of a sweetener. By signing a contract, you can transfer a portion of the price you bear to others, even using them as sacrificial offerings for your advance.
In addition, the four class traits are all very impressive.
’Demon Transformation’: The transformation has a long permanent duration, solving the Spellcaster’s frail body problem once and for all.
’Bat Incarnation’: Besides being used for travel, it’s even better for evading and negating incoming damage.
’Contract Echo’: Every time a Demon Contract is successfully signed, a residual echo is left behind. Accumulating enough of these can make the demonic form even stronger.
’Risk Premium’: Doubles the interest to be repaid, thereby making the contractual Power obtained even stronger.
Not long ago, the swarm of Vampire Bats that was Sawyer’s Bat Incarnation had already devoured one of his close friends and subordinates. The skin of the face left on the ground seemed to be frozen in an expression of disbelief.
There was no helping it. On the Demon’s list, a mere acquaintance was ultimately worth less than a close friend of 20 years.
However...
This would cost extra.
After a round of haggling with the Demon, Sawyer finally secured the contractual Power to enhance his demonic form.
PTHOO!
He spat out a piece of finger bone that had been stuck in his throat.
Of course, the price wasn’t low. Besides using two of his subordinates for the vicarious sacrifice, Sawyer, a notorious lecher, also lost his sex drive, along with his sense of taste.
He patted his neck and stretched his limbs.
The sensation of new Power in his demonic form swelled under every inch of his skin. Black scales spread from his spine, horns burst from his forehead, and a vile, cursed aura, thick as pitch, slowly coiled around him, seemingly causing the very air to decay.
"So that’s how it is."
Having just risen in power, Sawyer was also starting to understand some things—where all the vanished homeless people had gone, and why the various gangs were so heavily involved in human trafficking.
And why the major corporations needed people like them to do their dirty work.
’The whole of Oran City is devouring people.’
SWISH!
Just then, an Echo Arrow pierced the smoke. As the arrowhead hit the ground, the burgeoning ripples of psychic energy had already swept past his figure.
Knowing he had been exposed, Sawyer gave a savage grin, black blood dripping from his fangs. Bits of flesh and gore were still visible between his teeth.
The demonic Power within him was still surging. Dark golden patterns appeared on his two pitch-black demonic wings, and every single scale on his body seemed to erupt with a vile aura.
With each breath, his height grew to over three meters, his claws lengthened into deathly sickles, and his horns twisted like the gnarled roots of an ancient tree.
For a moment, the smoke filling the valley was pushed back by the vile aura emanating from him.
TAP!
The sound of a footstep came from nearby, and a figure slowly emerged from the depths of the thick fog.
Su Chen stared at him with a cold gaze. He had already switched weapons; the shotgun from his backpack was now in his hands.
"I am digesting the demonic Power."
Sawyer taunted with a cold laugh, "What are you waiting for?"
Su Chen was somewhat confused—not because he couldn’t understand English, but because his opponent seemed to be ignoring the shotgun in his hands.
The distance between them had closed to under 30 meters. It could be said that a single explosive dash from his opponent would bring him face-to-face in an instant.
By the same token, the astonishing firing speed of the gun would just as easily deliver a bullet to his opponent’s face.
This was an extremely dangerous distance.
CLICK.
With a push of his thumb, a Single-Headed Bullet with a four-fold Element Enchantment slid into the chamber.
"You don’t actually think you’re faster than a bullet, do you?"
Su Chen’s voice was as indifferent as ever.
"You..."
At that moment, Sawyer realized something was wrong. The fluctuations swirling around that bullet felt incredibly dangerous.
He hesitated no longer. Before his demonic Power could even reach its peak, he beat his wings violently, creating a sonic BOOM. His body became a black-and-red blur, shooting straight toward Su Chen.
But it was too late.
Su Chen’s index finger gently squeezed the trigger.
BANG!
Inside the chamber, the Acceleration Rune Array activated at full power. The air before him seemed to be violently gouged open as the bullet instantly tore through his opponent’s torso.
Even the small doll tied to the metal-studded belt on his back was blasted to smithereens.
Sawyer’s forward momentum came to a sudden halt. He looked down at the charred, empty hole in his midsection, the savage light in his eyes fading into blank confusion.
He hadn’t grasped the lesson that the gun was faster.
He only resented the fact that his demonic body’s strength couldn’t withstand a single hit.
"I can’t accept this..."
A sense of indignant frustration filled Sawyer’s chest.
To obtain this Power, he had paid a precious price to the Demon; being a dog for the corporations was just a trivial part of it.
Yet this drastically enhanced demonic body still couldn’t block a single bullet.
’What happened to the promised permanent two-fold increase in flesh and blood durability?’

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