(Some minutes prior)
While Zaglur was fighting three Velaris who were Greater Demons, Simon was also facing his own share of problems.
However, unlike Zaglur who had the power to battle his problems, Simon did not.
So, Simon intended on increasing his chances of survival. Even if it was just by 1%.
When Simon first obtained Devour, he was bombarded with so much information about the power.
And funny enough, he still did not know much about Devour.
However, what he knew was enought o leave him stunned.
Because he did not absorb the blood essence of the Devourer but used his Seven Stars Blessing to obtain Devour, he was not able to get the full power of Devour, or to be more precise... The full power of a Devourer.
If he had absorbed the blood essence and survived, he would have become a Devourer.
But he was not.
A Devourer could devour the bloodlines of other demons and make it theirs, but Simon could not absorb another bloodline with Devour.
For him, Devour worked differently.
Whenever he used Devour, he could absorb the physical attributes of a demon or human, and even the skills of a demon or human.
For instance, he could absorb the strength, speed, dexterity, constitution, and several other physical attributes the demon or possessed.
It was like a human adding free stat points to their physical stats.
However, what he gained was dependent on his proficiency of Devour, the physical attributes the demon or human possessed, and how much Simon's body and mind could take.
Simon was using Devour on a Greater Demon, and the physical attributes he gained made him to be five times stronger in that moment.
This was a massive boost, and it made him to be as powerful as a Lesser Demon with a Common demonic bloodline.
And it also made him to be on par with Fiends who possessed a Lesser demonic bloodline.
Simon was even shocked by this improvement because he had still not awakened his Demonic Heart. He still did not possess a Flickering Heart, but he was already as powerful as a Fiend all because of a single skill.
Although there would still be differences between him and a Fiend or a Lesser Demon. Differences like the weapons the enemy had, the enemy's skills, and even the abilities of their bloodline.
But the core of the matter is that Simon was suddenly a lot more powerful than before.
'This is still not enough to defeat the Velari. I should have gotten a lot more from devouring a Greater Demon, but my physical body cannot handle so much... Especially my unawakened demon heart.'
'It's also a shame that I couldn't absorb a skill of his because of my unawakened demon heart.'
'Absorbing a skill places immense strain on my demonic heart, and the stronger my heart, the more skills I can devour.'
'Anyway, my chances of survival have increased. But I might still die. Hopefully, Zaglur wins his battle and saves me before I die.'
'If not. Then... Sigh'
Simon observed the Mercenary Captain's corpse which was now dessicated.
It looked like all the moisture in it had been absorbed by him, and this made Simon frown.
'I'll have to be careful whenever I use Devour. It's too obvious.'
Simon decided not to think too much about the obvious signs Devour left behind. His main concern was the Velari who was staring at the corpse with immense intensity.
Simon stood with the sword in his hand, then he looked at the Velari with a light smile.
"Sorry for making you wait."
He took a stance. "We can begin."
The Velari remained silent, and his gaze was entirely on the dessicated corpse of the Mercenary Captain.
A few moments later, the Velari looked at Simon.
Although Simon could not see his face, he knew that the Velari had a frown.
"What did you do? Why does he look like that?"
Simon shrugged. "Who knows?"
The Velari remained silent and looked at the dessicated corpse once again.
Simon shook his head disappointedly. "I thought we were going to fight?"
The Velari looked at Simon. "If you tell me what you did, I'll consider sparing your life."
Simon scoffed. "I'd rather fight."
The moment Simon said this, his pupils constricted when he saw the Velaris standing mere inches from his face.
'Fuck! So fast!'
"I'm giving you an opportunity to live, ant. Don't be foolish and take it." The Velari said coldly, and Simon's gaze also became cold.
"Now tell me, what did you do to that corpse?"
Simon's lips curled up slightly, and his grip on the sword tightened.
"You talk too much for an assassin."
Simon felt an extremely deadly killing intent slam into him, and a chill went through his spine.
"So be it."
Simon's instincts screamed at him, and his body moved before the Velari even finished speaking.
He took a step back.
His vertical pupils constricted as he saw a bandaged hand coming for his neck.
When he took a step back, he dodged the hand, but the Velari scoffed when he saw this.
"And you think I won't get used to your reflexes? Don't think you're my match just because I'm going easy on you."
The Velari's bandaged hand suddenly shot forward and its speed increased.
And Simon... no longer held back.
His gaze became cold and sharp, and he dodged the Velari's hand with his new speed and power.
"What?!"
The Velari was shocked to the core at Simon's new speed and power, but Simon did not give him the time to react.
As soon as he dodged, his sword moved in tandem with his years of experience killing demons.
He swung his sword at the stunned Velari's neck with an utterly cold gaze, and for a moment, the Velari was even more shaken by the killing intent Simon emitted.
This was a killing intent he had honed for decades as the greatest Demon Slayer on Earth. It was a killing intent an Archfiend could not even fathom.
And he stood there... stunned.
Simon's sword edge reached the neck of the Velari.
However...
CLANG!
"Oh, fuck me!" Simon cursed loudly.