Strongest Demigod System

Azrael raised his head and took a survey of the land to see any major landmarks, and he noticed a large dune that was marked on the map sitting to his east. That meant he needed to go west of where he was to reach the final destination.

Azrael closed the map and took out the shirt in the bag to tie it around his head so the sun wouldn't hit him directly.

He then put on the bag and began to trek.

The others were definitely going to be moving toward the final destination as well - at least, they would if they had any sense - so Azrael was certain that they would run into each other when they got there.

…

The current test was created by the school to mimic what the experience in the Alpha Zone of the Veil would be like.

When a demigod is thrust through the Veil, they appear at a random part of that world without any indication of where they are or where they need to go. Only the maps crafted by other demigods who have been in the Alpha Zone before can help them find where to go.

But there is a saying amongst the demigods who have been in the Null Zone before:

'In that world, it is easier to go back than it is to go forward.'

As a demigod moves through the Null Zone, the monsters and gods in their path become more powerful, making it hard for them to move forward.

When this is paired with the quests you have to complete in order to gain more power, the mortality rate of demigods in the Null Zone becomes too high for anyone to attempt going in for the sake of creating a complete map.

Azrael climbed up to the top of a large dune and overlooked the vast desert.

There was still nothing as far as the eye could see, and he frowned while putting his hand on his sword. The sun was starting to reach its apex, and soon it would be too hot to be moving around.

In a situation like this, Azrael knew it was better to rest when it was hot and travel at night when it was cooler.

But not knowing where he was and no idea how long it would take for night to come made it difficult to gauge his travel time properly.

In the distance, there was a large rocky mountain with many pointy tips around it, making it look like a castle. Azrael decided that he would go there to rest for the day and continue moving when it was cooler.

Azrael never bothered to think about how difficult traveling at night would be with the darkness because his eyesight was already far above average as a demigod.

The walk towards the rocky mountain was long and tiring. There was no water to be found in the arid desert, and his empty bottle mocked him every step of the way.

Azrael hadn't eaten breakfast with how quickly he rushed out of the dorm, and the food in his bag began to look more appetizing the longer he trekked, but Azrael held on because he knew it wouldn't be enough to last him for two days.

He had to manage it.

Thirty minutes passed, then an hour, which bled into three hours, and Azrael swallowed dryly as the air in front of him began to sway and shift in waves from the heat.

Azrael's body was still in good health, but the glare from the sun and the sand was making it hard to move properly.

Azrael looked up while holding the shirt on his head so it wouldn't be blown away by the wind and he saw the rocky mountain just a few kilometers away from him. At his pace, he should be there in thirty minutes or less.

Something moved.

Azrael felt his eyes narrow dangerously as something shifted from his side.

It was five hundred meters away from him, so he couldn't tell what it was due to the sun's glare, but its dark skin and long limbs stood out against the brown sand of the desert in stark contrast.

Azrael gently grabbed his sword while crouching into a ready stance.

In the distance, a Lesser Daemon pulled itself out from under the desert sand, turned towards Azrael, and shrieked angrily!

SHRIEK!!

…

Azrael was quickly getting used to being in a constant state of battle.

That was the one thing that he could say he was proudest of. Even in the midst of insurmountable odds, Azrael was happy that he had the tenacity to keep moving forward toward the danger.

Not everyone had the willpower to willingly throw themselves into danger knowing that they could lose their life.

And even now, as Azrael watched the Lesser Daemon charging toward him at full sprint, Azrael felt his heart rate spike in preparation for the coming battle.

Once upon a time, this beast would have looked like an impossible wall to Azrael.

It would have been similar to making a man fight against a lion.

But that was a long time ago.

Now, Azrael had fought beings that were far stronger and faster than this Lesser Daemon. Beings of pure myth that would destroy the Lesser Daemons in a second if they wanted to.

And Azrael was still standing while those beings had lost.

There was nothing a Lesser Daemon could do that would surprise Azrael.

Because Azrael didn't see an opponent to be defeated.

He saw prey.

From an observation room where Scar was keeping an eye on the students, he felt his eyes move towards the screen showing Azrael's battle against the Lesser Daemon, and he frowned as Azrael prepared his sword without moving.

Most of the first years were already fighting against their first Lesser Daemon, and even though very few of them were easily defeating the Lesser Daemons, Scar knew that the same shouldn't be the case for Azrael.

After all, Azrael had no backing and he had never faced a real daemon before. Scar expected him to at least show some hesitation in front of the beast.

But Azrael's movement was precise. He dodged once, twice, and then his sword blurred into action, tearing apart the daemon's neck at the exact angle to ensure the head came off.

The head dropped to the ground, and Scar felt his eyes widen slightly.

This was the first time he would see a child of darkness who was this capable, and he wondered who helped Azrael become this strong.

'I'll have to keep a closer eye on him from now on.'

This thought crossed Scar's mind at that moment as memories of the previous year returned to him along with the event that led to the expulsion of a child of darkness from the school.

If Azrael was getting help from the outside, then things might end up that way again, and Scar would rather kill Azrael than allow him to go down that path.

…

[You have killed [1] Lesser Daemon]

+30 DE

+1 Strength

[The system suggests you defeat stronger enemies in order to increase your rewards.]

[You have surpassed the maximum DE unit capacity for your core, and the system advises the user to begin the Second Step in the Lithany of Ascension as soon as possible in order to avoid Divine Essence Overload.]

...

Azrael cleaned the blood on his sword against the tough skin of the dead Lesser Daemon while looking around the desert for any more enemies. The Lesser Daemon hadn't even provided enough of a workout to make it seem like a fight, and Azrael was still more than prepared to take on any enemy.

The messages from the system were easily ignored since Azrael was already preparing to do all that. The Divine Essence in his core was nearly a hundred points higher than what he was supposed to have before beginning the second stage of the Lithany, and Azrael could already feel his core cracking at the edges.

At this rate, he would suffer from a DE overload if he continued killing enemies.

The second stage of the Lithany was a prayer to the Ever-Present Legion of Souls.

It was a prayer targeted at the people surrounding the demigod, rather than his own self.

In the previous prayer, where the demigod prays to the Divine Immortal Soul, they see themselves as both the god and the worshiper.

But now, they would be seeing the people around them as gods and they would become the worshipers.

This was meant to give the demigod a proper understanding of the hearts of man and the actions they take, so they would be capable of moving forward even in the midst of the most unexpected situations caused by others.

Azrael would have really liked it if he had a Hymn to one of the major gods already so that he would be able to pass the Lithany in a day or two, but since he didn't have that, he was just going to have to keep using the Lithany from the Divine Enforcers Website.

It would take almost a week, but Azrael didn't have any other choice.