Beneath the silent moonlight, a grotesque monster watched its prey with predatory intent.
Yet the young man standing opposite it seemed frozen in place, as though lost in thought.
Human corpses lay scattered around him.
The smell of blood was overwhelming, enough to make an ordinary person nauseous.
Naturally, he wasn’t frightened into stupidity.
A Stray Devil of the Low-Class variety, lacking intelligence, was actually weaker than most opponents he had faced.
After so many consecutive battles, Shinki had already gained a clear understanding of his limits.
This creature was nowhere near strong enough to threaten him.
What held his attention wasn’t the Stray Devil that had suddenly appeared, but rather the mission and reward displayed by the system.
This was the first time he had seen a task other than a Main Mission presented in written form.
One hundred Low-Class Devils or monsters of equivalent strength.
In other words, the targets weren’t limited to devils, but they did have to be monsters.
The Himejima family’s pursuers obviously didn’t qualify.
A hundred wasn’t an impossible number, but even if the Underworld’s management was chaotic, there was no way that many monsters would conveniently appear all at once for him to kill.
And what exactly did “First Encounter Trial” mean?
Was he still considered a beginner?
After sixteen years of peaceful living, Shinki couldn’t help wondering if the cold, emotionless system was deliberately tailoring trials to match his current level of strength.
The reward was even more interesting.
An Elite-Grade Weapon Draw.
What exactly did “Elite” mean?
Was it like the equipment rankings in online games, with Normal below it and Epic or Legendary above it?
More importantly, he had only just been thinking about obtaining a suitable weapon.
And now the reward appeared?
It felt almost unbelievable.
Still, Shinki didn’t dwell on it.
He simply attributed everything to the miraculous nature of his cheat ability.
Looking ahead, the devil whose body had mutated into a monstrous form stared back at him with crimson eyes after devouring a human head.
Its enormous maw opened like a machine, revealing rows of teeth that made one’s skin crawl.
The shape was oddly reminiscent of a flower in bloom.
Letting out a bizarre screech, it charged forward on its hardened limbs.
The distance of over ten meters vanished in the blink of an eye.
Compared to the rotten scent of corpses, it preferred the taste of living humans.
The screams of the weak as they died were one of the greatest delights for Stray Devils.
“…” Watching the charging devil, Shinki frowned.
This really was the world of High School DxD.
A golden flame flickered from his fingertip.
Then he casually flicked it forward.
The seemingly insignificant spark collided with the approaching devil.
Driven purely by instinct, the Stray Devil still attempted to defend itself using its sharp appendages.
It was useless.
Like a gasoline-soaked object touched by a lighter’s flame, the fire instantly adhered to its body.
The creature felt excruciating pain, yet no matter what it did, it couldn’t shake the flames off.
The fire clung to it like a parasite.
Within moments, the upper half of the Stray Devil’s body was engulfed.
Its agonized screams gradually weakened.
Then vanished altogether.
The corpse collapsed to the ground and remained motionless.
Current Kill Count: 1 Shinki glanced at the system and saw the number update accordingly.
“So I can use this function to determine whether an enemy is actually dead?” The system wouldn’t lie.
Enemies, however, certainly could.
In the future, monsters hoping to fake their deaths and escape him would probably be extremely rare.
“Shinki-kun!
Are you alright?” The death of the Stray Devil had occurred in an instant.
After hearing the creature’s howl, the unfortunate mother and daughter had actually been watching from behind for a while.
Shinki turned around and smiled at them.
“Do I look like I’m hurt?” A low-level devil wasn’t much of a threat to him.
As long as a hundred of them didn’t rush him at once and exhaust his stamina, they posed little danger.
As for killing people and killing monsters— In his eyes, there wasn’t much difference.
Shinki wasn’t a mindless murderer.
If a person or monster harbored hostility toward him, he would act.
He simply wasn’t completely accustomed to it yet.
“That’s good.
This place isn’t safe.
We need to leave immediately.” Ever since childhood, Shuri had been exceptionally sensitive to spirits and spiritual power.
Although she hadn’t been considered a genius in her youth, she had still been among the best of her generation.
The moment the Stray Devil appeared, she had intended to warn everyone and hurried outside with her daughter.
Only to discover that the devil was already dead.
The young man had grown far too quickly.
When she first heard his name, he had been a withdrawn and ignorant little boy.
Now he had become someone capable of standing on his own.
At that moment— The shadows swayed with the wind.
The night deepened.
No city lights illuminated the darkness.
Thin clouds gradually covered the bright moon, casting a dull gray glow across the land.
More enemies were approaching.
Information on Stray Devils living in groups was rare.
Rare, however, did not mean nonexistent.
And tonight, Shinki had been fortunate enough to encounter such a group.
There were roughly four of them.
As for their appearances, there was little need to describe them in detail.
It was enough to know that they resembled flies, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and similar creatures.
Primitive.
Malevolent.
Shinki motioned for the mother and daughter to retreat.
Then he picked up a katana from the ground.
With light footsteps, he walked forward.
His expression remained calm.