Hell Gao couldn't even scream. The remnant black flames around him turned jade before finally extinguishing.
"How's that for a puny human?" Alan smiled, looking down at the dying Hell Gao.
"I admit… you are like the human who destroyed my body and sealed my soul," Hell Gao said, his gaze locking on Alan.
"I've lost. For now, I will put off my purpose of ingesting human souls to increase my strength."
The demonkin's body crumbled into fog and vanished.
[ You have defeated Hell Gao, Master of Hellfire, who seizes human souls. ]
[ Hellfire Staff has been acquired. ]
[ Memphis' Egg has been acquired. ]
[ 118,411,132 experience has been acquired. ]
[ Your level has risen. ]
[ Your level has risen. ]
[ Your level has risen. ]
[ Your level has risen. ]
[ Your level has risen. ]
[ Your level has… ]
Alan gained 19 levels at once, reaching level 228.
"Finally… I did it," Alan said with a faint smile as he collapsed onto the ground. He checked the time—it had taken him 1 hour and 23 minutes to defeat Hell Gao.
"He was the strongest opponent I've ever faced," he muttered, then turned his attention to the loot.
First, he examined the Hellfire Staff.
[ Hellfire Staff ]
Rating: Legendary
Durability: 703/703
Magic Attack Power: 1,640~1,989
Physical Attack Power: 940~1,540
Intelligence will increase by 20%.
Magic casting speed will increase by 30%.
You can cast three types of magic simultaneously; proficiency is required.
When fire magic and dark magic are cast together, both spells' power is increased by 150%.
Each time a spell is cast, a shield absorbing 5,000 damage is automatically generated.
Magic critical chance increases by 10%.
Magic critical damage increases by 100%.
Passive skill 'Hellfire' is generated.
It's an sturdy staff that can also be used as Bo Staff.
A staff used by the 9th Great Demon, Hell Gao. It is an imitation of his original staff.
Containing the power of Hellfire, it is difficult for humans to wield.
Conditions of Use: First-ranked Black Magician or a Great Magician.
Weight: 530 ]
"Damn… this is powerful," Alan muttered.
Peak Sword arrived moments later and glanced around the cave.
"Hm? Did something good drop?" he asked casually.
Alan shot him a sharp look.
"Don't covet it. It's mine."
Peak Sword immediately raised his hands. "I didn't mean it like that. I was just curious about the possible drops from Hell Gao," he said, noticing Alan's guarded expression.
"Still," Peak Sword continued thoughtfully, "you gave me a clear idea of how to handle Hell Gao next time. First, I need to bring it down—but I doubt I can do it at the same level you did."
He paused, recalling the fight. It was the most beautiful battle he had ever seen.
"By the way," Peak Sword added, "I recorded the entire fight. If you want, I can give you the footage. If you upload it, you'd gain a massive following instantly."
Alan shook his head. "Regrettably, I didn't have any masks on."
He sighed lightly.
"That's not a problem," Peak Sword said quickly. "You can contact an editor. They can cover your face for you."
Alan glanced at him skeptically.
"And how could I be sure that editor won't leak my identity?"
Peak Sword scratched his cheek, his expression turning awkward.
"That… I can't say it's impossible," he admitted. "Honestly, I never thought about that."
The cave fell quiet again, broken only by the fading embers of Hell Gao's remains.
"The drops were a staff… and this," Alan said, taking out the Memphis Egg.
It was only about the size of a quail's egg—nothing overly impressive at first glance.
"A staff and… this bean?" Peak Sword asked skeptically. "What is it? Some kind of stat-increasing essence?"
Alan shook his head. "No. It's an egg, apparently."
He opened the item window.
[Memphis's Egg]
Memphis' egg.
Weight: 1
Peak Sword frowned.
"Hah… it's really an egg? Then is this a pet egg?"
Hell Gao—the Master of Hellfire—had been a terrifying opponent. There was no way an item dropped by such a monster would be ordinary. Peak Sword didn't doubt that something named Memphis would eventually hatch.
"I doubt it's a pet egg," Alan said. "There isn't even a hatching condition listed."
Still, he remained calm.
From what he remembered in his previous life—from the book he had read—Memphis would hatch on its own.
Satisfy's pets gave their owners various effects. In rare cases, there were pets that increased the amount of experience or drop rate of items, so the users' interest in pets was very high. So, there are lot of guides on all kinds of pets and current favorite are Wyvern as they gave a lot of useful buff from increase in attack power to increase in speed, defense, and even elemental attacks depending on the Element of the Wyvern.
"I don't think I have ever read about the Memphis pet but Hell Gao even though sealed ranked 9 among all the 33 Great Demons so, I doubt he will drop something worthless." Peak Sword said.
Alan nodded and when just he was about to put the egg in the inventory..
-Hungry.
"...?"
-I want to eat.
"..."
It was the voice of a young boy—or perhaps a girl.
It wasn't a hallucination.
The voice was filled with an overwhelming greed that sent a chill down Alan's spine.
Wait… don't tell me—it's hatching?!
A notification window flashed in front of Alan.
[Memphis, the First Demonic Beast of Hell, has hatched due to its greed for human souls.]
[You are the first user in Satisfy to become the master of a demonic beast from hell!]
[Title acquired: 'Man Who Has Touched Hell'.]
[Health has increased by 3,000.]
[New stat unlocked: Demonic Power.]
"What…?" Alan muttered.
"Huh?!" Peak Sword shouted in confusion.
Suddenly, a spectral shadow mouth erupted from the small egg—
—and swallowed Peak Sword whole.
[You have lost a portion of your soul to Memphis.]
[You are more susceptible to status conditions.]
[All main stats decreased by 50% for 3 seconds.]
The spectral mouth vanished.