Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer

"Well then...I\'m off."

"Right, be safe out there."

"I will, see you later." Ashton kissed Aria in the cheeks before exiting the library.

In the real world, within the underground tunnel network, the mobile safehouse appeared silently, it is cloaked so nothing sensed its appearance. Inside the safehouse, Ashton buffed himself with spells he needed to keep himself safe before exiting.

He had been stalled for two weeks now and clearly, that can\'t go on anymore. It\'s time for him to resume his journey down to the unknown depths of this place.

Being wiser now compared to before, Ashton made sure that every single thing that would give away his location is covered. He left no footsteps, sound, or even scent as he traveled. He made sure that he was moving like a ghost to keep himself safe and maintain the option of picking his fights.

If there\'s something that could get in his way currently, it would only be that one demon who he hasn\'t dealt with yet.

And speaking of the god damn demon...Ashton could already feel its presence closing in on him.

"Ugh, fine!" He muttered to himself, withdrawing his guns from the holster. "I\'m getting sick of this fucker anyways."

He stood on the spot for a minute or two, waiting for the demon to get real close before he took action.

Soon, he felt the ground shaking underneath. Something big was coming his way. He then heard a loud groan which could only belong to that monstrosity.

"Hu...HUMAAAAN!!!"

Peng! Crash!

With a smooth movement, he turned around and fired a shot at the charging monstrosity. The bullet traveled swiftly and stopped mere inches away from the demon before transforming into something else.

It turned into a cube that completely trapped the demon. It even crashed violently into the walls but not a scratch remained. The walls of the cube were solid and could withstand some serious beating. If anything, the demon injured itself by crashing onto it.

"Wha...what\'s this!?" The Nightmare Devourer asked. Ashton still felt rather unnerved by the fact that this demon was speaking his language.

"A little prison for ugly fucks like you." He replied, glaring at the trapped demon.

The demon didn\'t look convinced. It roared and attacked the cube with all manner of ways available to it yet none worked. It didn\'t even leave a scratch.

"You\'re just wasting your time. Unless I want you free, there\'s no way you\'re getting out of that little prison." Ashton stated, much to the dismay of the trapped demon.

"P-puny Human!! What...what did you do...?"

"Damn it, this is hopeless. This thing\'s stupid." Ashton cursed under his breath.

"Let...let me...eat youuuu..."

"Unreasonable too, great." Ashton rolled his eyes.

Then his eyes gleamed all of a sudden. An idea formed in his mind.

\'Maybe...I can use this to my advantage. I mean, I have nothing to lose if this didn\'t work anyways.\'

"Hey, ugly!" He called out.

"Y-yes?" The demon answered much to Ashton\'s surprise.

\'It\'s oddly polite. Maybe it\'s because it\'s stupid. Okay, let\'s try this.\'

"If you agree to answer some of my questions, then I might think about letting you eat me. How does that sound?"

The demon\'s body went rigid for a bit. It then released some disgusting gurgling sounds from whichever part of its body.

"I want...I want...eat! You, eat!! Y-yes!!"

Ashton winced and asked: "Do you agree?"

"Y-yes!?"

\'Why do you sound like you\'re asking me that?\' Ashton shrugged, \'Anyway, let\'s see how this plays out.\'

"Can you tell me where this place is?"

"...h-home?"

Ashton nearly slapped himself. Of course, it would answer this way. He\'s placing too much hope in this thing.

"It\'s...it\'s...home for me...but not for...everyone like me..." the Nightmare Devourer continued, "R-real home...we call it...C-Central...K-Kuay? K-kyul? Kuwaipoth? I...I don\'t know how...to say it..."

"Qlipoth."

"Mn! Mn! Mn! T-that\'s it! H-Human...smart!! Wanna....eat you!!"

Ashton was completely unable to feel flattered by the praise because he was too busy letting out strings of curses within his mind.

\'Qlipoth...fucking why not, right!? Of course world! How can it be so fucking simple when it comes to you? God damn it!\'

"Right. Whatever..." Ashton huffed, "Do you know the shortest path to take to get out of this place?"

"...N-Nurseries..." it replied, "M-mindless slugs...points their horns at the way outside...c-can\'t eat them...they are useful."

\'That\'s...helpful.\' Ashton raised a brow as he wasn\'t expecting that.

Of course, the demon could very well be lying to him as well. He wouldn\'t put it past them since it would be fitting for what they stand for. Then again, for a demon this strong there\'s no point in doing that.

Plus, it is clear that even though this thing possesses some level of intellect, it is not as smart as him. So the chances of it lying is very low.

"What do the Nurseries look like?"

"...a cave w-with...a lot of eggs?"

Again, that answer made Ashton want to smack himself in the face. Of course, it would! How could he have not thought about that?

"T-the...nearest one is...below this...tunnel? I-it\'s...big...you won\'t miss it..."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Y-you\'re...welcome?" The demon squirmed.

\'Damn it\'s polite...what the hell?\' Ashton groaned inwardly.

"Okay, are there any other demons out here that could speak my language just like you do?"

"U-uh...no?" The Nightmare Demon replied, "I-I could...speak human tongue b-because I have...eaten one...before...other didn\'t."

"And these \'others\' you speak about...are they as old as you?" Ashton inquired.

"Y-yes!!" The demon replied enthusiastically, which bothered Ashton. "B-bigger and s-stronger than me...f-faster too! I want to...I want to be like...them...when I grow up!"

"Can you describe what they look like to me?"

"Y-yes." The demon complied, "T-there\'s Big Brother Mantis! H-he is fast...very fast...h-he can fuse...with the darkness and then stab...stab you!"

"T-there\'s also Big Sister Viper! S-she\'s older than...me and Big Bro Mantis! S-she...likes biting...things and...and spitting venoms."

"I-I hate Big Brother Snail...he...he blocks the tunnels...sometimes...not letting us...move to where...we want. He...doesn\'t care how long it takes...his shell is...hard and he\'s...very heavy and yucky."

\'That\'s rich coming from you.\' Ashton rolled his eyes.

"A-and then...there\'s Big Brother Dragon."

Ashton\'s breath hitched upon hearing that, thankfully the demon didn\'t notice it.

"B-big Brother Dragon is...is the strongest! He\'s...he\'s awesome! He...he said that he\'s an...undead dragon! A...a rare breed! He\'s really big...and smelly!"

"He hates it when...we disturb his sleep or...if we dirty his...treasure hoard..."

"D-don\'t touch his...treasures! H-he will kill you! I-if you died...I won\'t be able to eat you anymore!! D-don\'t go to his...cave!!"

Ashton practically ignored the demon\'s warning cause; \'Holy mother of god there\'s a Dragon here!?\'

He surely wasn\'t expecting this...

Ashton initially thought that he\'d be dealing with critters and bugs, not a whole-ass dragon!

That being said...he doesn\'t have to confront that thing, right? If it\'s not on his way out of here...he doesn\'t have to fight it...right?

So long as he\'s being careful here, he wouldn\'t have to fight because seriously, what\'s the point? He just wants to go home. Maybe he can avoid fighting altogether, who knows?

Ashton scratched his head and sighed. This is getting troublesome.

"Okay, last question," Ashton said to the Nightmare Demon. "Why does your race want to eradicate us?"

"E-eradicate? Humans?" The demon asked in wonder.

"Yes." Ashton nodded, "Why do your race and Angels hate us so much?"

The demon laughed...it laughed.

"Hate you? W-we don\'t...hate you...silly. H-humans are...food. Y-you can\'t hate...food! Demons don\'t...hate food...t-the hateful Angels don\'t...hate food either!"

"H-humans are...tasty...t-that\'s why...we eat you. W-we don\'t...hate you...in fact...we love you...w-what we hate are angels!! T-they\'re the enemy! Not humans!"

"Angels are our...enemies...that\'s why we...fight them...here."

Ashton chilled. His whole body felt like it was struck by lightning.

"I...see." He muttered, "So...that\'s how it is. I get it now."

The demon\'s right. He\'s really silly. Asking stupid questions and all that. The answer was plain and simple as it turns out. How can he be so stupid to not know all of this beforehand?

Oh, he\'s really silly.

"Thank you, for answering my silly questions." Ashton smiled at the demon. Yet his eyes...they\'re cold and distant. He raised his gun and aimed it at the demon.

"Here, eat this."

[Archangel\'s Breath] + [Divine Fortress] = \'Heavenly Cremation Shot\'.

Ashton closed his ears and his heart from the agonized roars of the burning demon. He watched as the demon tried its best to survive his attack only to fail miserably.

He felt no pity nor anger as he killed this intelligent demon. Why would he? Isn\'t this natural?

It wouldn\'t be wrong to say that what he killed isn\'t a demon; it\'s EXP and Loot. Nothing more. Why should he feel pity for it? He wants to be stronger after all so it\'s natural that he will kill it. Plain and simple.

It\'s not that complicated. There\'s no absurd revenge plot or righteous indignation here. Only the law of the jungle.

If he was weak, he\'ll be eaten. If he\'s strong, then he won\'t. In the grand scheme of things, it\'s just that. Plain and simple.

To Demons and Angels, Humans are just delicacies who happened to be present on their battlefield.

And as much as he hates the sound of that, he\'s not the one making the rules.

Well, at least not yet.

"Since you all see us as food, then it wouldn\'t be unfair if we all see you as EXP and Loot right?"

[Notice! Quest Updated!]