Chapter 331 318
This area of the Demon Dungeon has more than one Boss level Demon in it, and the six-armed Obsession Demon is less than impressed to see six copies of Carnage smashing their way through the village. Carnage, on the other hand, is delighted to see him and rushes over to give the Obsession Demon a big hug. To the face. With an ax.
The claws of the Obsession Demon meet with the Steel of the gigantic weapon, and the ground itself begins to shake. They weren't using that ability earlier, but now that they're found a worthy opponent, they're pulling out all the stops. Six on one can hardly be called a fair fight, though, even if the other demon does have one arm per ax that's coming at it.
Two get successfully dodged, but the other four dig deep into the demon, with a horrific shriek as the metal meets whatever passes for bones inside that creature. Smoke fills the air as flesh burns, then Carnage moves in for the kill, pulling the axes free and coming in for another hit.
The Obsession Demon is struck from six directions at once, chunks of flesh and dismembered limbs flying into the undergrowth of the forest while the Wrath Demons cheer and go looking for more enemies.
"That was crazier than I thought it was going to be. I've never seen anything like that in my life." Paige says, pointing at the dead Boss Demon.
"Legendary Demons are no joke, and these are upgraded to Ancient Quality."
They've almost cleared the village now, so Cain orders everyone to start moving North to look for the next Boss level Demon. They're perfect targets to experiment on while getting to get stronger. In the past, meeting new high level Demons has often triggered quests for him. The Quest system has yet to let him down; whatever God governs the random loot rolls is a good friend of his.
That reminds Cain; the Echoes mentioned giving everyone Carnage's Axe a while back. Cain activates the Flesh Crafter Class skill [Ancient Wisdom] and grants the ability that creates the weapon to the entire group. Again, this makes the Echoes laugh and cheer, and now Cain can see what they meant about making people fly.
The Scourge Casters are attacking the ground near their targets, causing an earthquake, which puts the enemy off balance, then the successive hits cause an effect like a double bounce on a trampoline, throwing them up into the air, where they're chopped to pieces.
It's honestly hilarious, but he's got the feeling that not everyone appreciates his sense of humor. Mary has gone very quiet. A glance shows she's not freaked out, though, she's got the skill active, and she's examining the ax in her hands.
"What sort of skill is this?"
"It's an Ancient Flesh Crafter Class skill. It grants one spell or skill from myself or my summons to the whole group. That's the ax that Carnage uses." Cain explains.
"Well, I don't know how to use it, but it looks like the Snapping Turtles do." Mary points at where the beastkin summons are fighting, using the ax one-handed while holding a shield.
The extra damage is pure overkill, and the summons are rushing around the jungle, hunting down demons to kill. The sight of forest dragons with gigantic axes in their front claws is fantastic. It almost feels like an exploit of reality, but really, it's no worse than if he had given everything dragon breath.
That's a good idea now that they're hunting in the jungle, so Cain switches the skills, and the ax disappears from Mary's hands.
"Change of skills, the summons are in the jungle now, and they need area attacks to be more efficient," he explains to the confused Puppet Master.
"You know, I'm used to being overpowered, but this is way better than doing things myself. Plus, with all these summoned helpers to increase the experience modifier, we're just racing through the levels."
She's not wrong; Cain has gotten almost five levels since they entered, and they haven't even been here an hour. Having two Summoners in one group is a great benefit to the experience adding skill, because the area effect skill compounds with the below dungeon level base experience bonus to become insanely efficient.
All the group does for the next hour is walk north along the road from the Pyramid temple until they reach the next Village. There were a lot of groups of demons in the jungle, but nothing compares to the direct benefits of an open area village clearing expedition.
This village is a bit hard to see, with the Dragon Breath coming from every direction, but it's still caused another level-up notice to appear, and that's what matters. Beyond this village is all open fields, and Cain can see the peaks of at least three more Pyramids in the distance. Being out of the jungle, he decides the Legendary Demons are no longer the best call for the situation, and changes from Demon Progenitor to Seraphim, replacing Carnage with Seraphim and the Smaller Demons with Acolytes, Crusaders, and Inquisitors, keeping up the damage and tanking specialties.
That's not enough to shock Paige or Mary, but seeing the Seraphim call forth the Heavenly Hosts certainly is. Thousands and thousands of white-robed summons fill the village and the fields, dragon breath flowing from human mouths even as they charge with their golden spears into the ranks of the assembled Demons.
"This is going to be long and messy; we should have lunch," Misha suggests, pulling out a picnic basket she made from the meals provided by the palace this morning.
"Picnic in a dungeon? I like the way you think." Cyrene agrees, wrapping around her and laying out a blanket.
The other three temples and the villages that likely exist at their base are well within the range of Cain's experience bonus, so there's not much need to go charging after the summons; sitting here will get the job done just fine.
Plus, the Seraphim are enjoying themselves here in a world full of insane demons for them to purge.