Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Now faster than the hateful ant general, he ran vertically on the sturdy bones and landed on the creature's hideous head in the blink of an eye.

His hips rotated, and the wind whistled under his fist's pressure as he put all his strength into a crushing punch aimed at the monster's skull.

BAM

The white bones tremored and cracked under his feet, splinters flying before the evening wind blew them away.

The hard surface he stood on caved in next as the shock wave propagated to the creature's spinal cords. One after another, they snapped in disturbing noises, causing the colossus' towering frame to crumble in a sea of bone powders.

CRASH

The wind blew his hair in a mad dance as he leapt down and landed on the side, feeling the ground vibrate under the demonic beast's fall and the disgusting smell of decay intensify in the air.

Despite his scrunching nose, a broad grin stretched his lips in a demonic smile as he clenched and unclenched his fists, satisfied by his new strength.

However, Luna was anything but satisfied by the suffocating dust swirling and tainting her beauty.

"That's why you called me for? To watch you annihilate the waves and endure the stench?"

She snorted, her green eyes wafting flames and her hand fanning the wind frantically to clear the battle's aftermath.

With an apologetic scratch of his head and biting his lips, he realised he made her follow him for nothing.

'She won't have to fight before the last wave. She could have waited on the walls instead of suffering.'

He coughed in embarrassment, feeling bad for her.

Meanwhile, Luna rolled her eyes at his facial expression and turned on her heels.

"I'll come back for the last wave. Have fun and keep my share of the corpses aside."

"Sure! Sorry for the hassle."

He smiled at her departing figure, noticing her leather clothes wrapping her ripped peach tightly...

SLAP CLING

With a mighty slap that echoed through his helmet and cursing under his breath, he cleared his mind of any weird ideas.

'It's not my fault! It's her body that's criminal! Why didn't she put her armor on?'

After all, Luna was a succubus queen. Her species' beauty was the incarnation of perfection and sensuality. Even if he didn't want to look at her like that, and even if it wasn't in his character in the first place, his instincts, hormones, and mind were inexorably drawn to her...

'It feels like a mental attack at this point! I'll find a way to force her into wearing her armor or use out-of-price silk to make her clothes!'

His lips curling into a wry smile, he took a moment to focus on his other subjects' battles.

One by one, the colossus fell under their joint assaults in a cacophony of cracks and rising dust that painted his three-meter-tall wall a dull taint of gray.

Through their movements and eager smiles, he noted that after evolving, they weren't much weaker than him, transforming this desperate event into a joke in their eyes.

'Hehehe. I wonder what special building I'll get.'

With this thought in mind, he turned towards the second enemy emerging from the humming vortex and grinned evilly at it.

He shattered its bones without much effort like for the first and repeated the operation two more times before the vortices grew still.

"Tsk. Only sixteen? What kind of miser is that? Send me more experience points next time!"

He chuckled at the notifications as he absorbed one of the creature's demonic essence.

[You and your subjects have defeated 16 Lvl 20 tier two bosses: Bonecrusher Golems. You have gained 64000 experience points.]

LVL: 25

Exp: 30400/45000

HP: 1670/1670

Vitality: 109->115 (+52)

Strength: 109->115 (+23)(+33)

Agility: 109->115 (+32)(+40)

Chaotic demonic essence: 98->102

Free attribute points: 18->0

Note: Tier promotion quest received.

[Beat a boss of the third tier with your subjects.]

[Reward: Everyone who reached level twenty-five or higher will tier up.]

[Failure: You'll stay typical demons without a future.]

"Hahaha! Excellent! We'll prepare for a few days and set off to become greater demons!"

The noise of his hand slapping his chitinous greaves echoed as he laughed in joy for a moment.

Then, the familiar notifications echoed in his ears and appeared before his squinting eyes.

[Congratulations on beating the ninth wave! Lords remaining: Adam, Pharaoh,

Dread lord, Behemoth, Greatest imp, lord of the nine realms.]

[Standard special building awarded: Demeter's Harvest Hall.]

Introduction:

Blessed by Demeter, this building mirrors her grand expectations for the lords' agricultural development.

Abilities:

Harvest increased by +20%

Crops development speed +20%

Risks of crops dying -50%

Without wasting a second, he rushed atop the walls and cupped his hands over his eyes to observe its appearance.

And amidst rumbling ground and noises, he saw it! Stones shining a golden hue rising from the soil to form a broad building on the river's other side.

Two statues representing Demeter holding stacks of wheat and smiling warmly to anyone gazing at them stood at the entrance. The neatly organised interior resembled an antique indoor market, while vibrant grass surrounded the exterior.

Striking his gauntlets against each other, he roared in laughter, eager to use the building's properties.

"We'll soon eat fresh bread and vegetables instead of the same bland meat! We can also sell our excess harvest to surrounding kingdoms and earn this realm's currency!"

Despite his best efforts to hide it, the unhealthy quantity of meat he had been ingesting in the past eight days disgusted him.

'It's even worse. I'm having nausea just thinking about eating saltless meat again.'

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at the missing tastes that turned his meals into a forced activity instead of something pleasurable. But things will soon change!

With a grin, he refocused on the notifications and pressed yes to compete on the last wave.

Then, his joy melted and a deep furrow creased his brows as he read the lords' names.

'They all beat the ninth wave. I can understand the others succeeding, but how did this snake lord of the nine realms do it? It just makes no sense for him to defeat sixteen golems. Did he hide until the wave ended?'

He shook his head at the thought and narrowed his eyes.

'Even then, they would have turned his territory into rubble and shattered his lord's building. Something fishy is going on, and I don't like it.'