Chapter 176: Demon King Damage Rankings Rewards

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Ding!

[Congratulations! You and your party have hunted the {Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera}!]

[Based on the amount of damage dealt against the Demon King, rewards will be distributed accordingly.]

[Calculating damage dealt...]

Oh, so this is a thing. I guess I do remember something similar in the novel, when my brother first defeated the Fourth Demon King, named the “Headless Crusader,” from another world. There was indeed a damage ranking.

It seems they’re seen as “world bosses” or whatever, and there’s a whole ranking of damage dealt against them. Those that deal the most damage receive greater rewards. It was already insane; we stopped him from fully maturing into a true Demon King.

If he had, this world might have truly ended. Demon kings are powerful forces of nature. They drain the world of all their life and energy and use it for their abilities. Therefore, they can sometimes be much stronger than the Avatars of the Apostles of Death, even if the latter are supposed to be stronger.

With such a big achievement, this world and I should be well rewarded. After all, few worlds are capable of slaying their own Demon Kings. And those that do are usually cataloged as “Apex Worlds,” standing above all others as powerful worlds filled to the brim with mighty mortals capable of completing most challenges.

[Calculations complete.]

[You’ve managed to deal damage equal to 38% of the demon king’s total health points.]

[Demon King’s Damage Rankings]:

[1st: Anna] [Total Damage: 38%]

[2nd: Jack] [Total Damage: 27%]

[3rd: Henrietta] [Total Damage: 17%]

[4th: Annabelle] [Total Damage: 11%]

[5th: Scarlet] [Total Damage: 7%]

[You’ve been ranked first in the Damage Rankings!]

Oh, I ranked first, huh? I guess most of that damage was done when I stopped him from becoming a full Demon King. It's weird how the system still counts him as one, even though he never fully developed his abilities.

[As you’ve been ranked first in the Damage Rankings, you will receive the full, clear rewards.]

[You received [Privilege Evolution Ticket (S Rank)] x1!]

[You received [Privilege Evolution Ticket (A Rank)] x2!]

[You received [Privilege Fusion Marble (S Rank)] x1!]

[You received [Privilege Fusion Marble (A Rank)] x2!]

[You received [Skill Evolution Stone (S Rank)] x1!]

[You received [Skill Evolution Stone (A Rank)] x2!]

[You received [Skill Fusion Ticket (S Rank)] x1!]

[You received [Skill Fusion Ticket (A Rank)] x2!]

[You received [Skill Specialization Grimoire (SS Rank)] x1!]

[You received [System Gachapon (A Rank)] x5!]

[You received [Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera’s Themed Treasure Chest (SS Rank)] x1!]

[You received [Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera’s True Demonic Heart (SS Rank)] x1!]

[You received [Sixth Demon King: The Selfish Chimera’s Skill Scroll (SS Rank)] x1!]

[You received the [Demon King Slayer] Title!]

[All items have been delivered inside of your Inventory.]Rêạd new chapters at novelhall.com

[Thank you for participating!]

“Like... how?” Sepa asked, raising an eyebrow made of light.

“Easy, Gram. Can you stab me a few times?” I asked him.

[“W-Wha...?! Are you insane?! Why would you ask a divine sword to stab their own wielder?! That’s only something demonic swords would do!”]

“Then turn into a demonic sword!”

[“No! I don’t want to!”]

Gram started to complain as I heard someone coming and quickly opened the door to my room. It was my brother, who was shocked to see me all awake and as if nothing had ever happened to me.

“Anna?! You’re awake! H-Holy shit!”

“Brother!”

I received his hug happily as he started to tell me everything that had transpired while I was asleep. Apparently, in these last three days, there has been a whole celebration, and they were all gifted medals except me because I was asleep. My brother didn’t want to bring me to a hospital after what happened there back then; he didn’t want to leave me alone.

So he brought me back home, fed me some powerful potions with lots of nutrients, and then let me sleep for three days while watching over me the entire time. He’s so dedicated to me. I feel a bit embarrassed; he was pretty much treating me like a baby, though.

“Are you really fine?! Should I give you more of the special nutrient-rich potion I made?” He offered me a huge bottle with a pacifier at the top. He was really feeding me like a baby!

“N-No! No more of that!” I stopped him. “But... thanks for taking care of me. Are you alright, though?”

“Ah, me?” He asked. “Well, it has been a relaxed three days. Nothing big has happened. There are no monsters outside the city walls, either. So it’s all good, mostly.”

“No, I mean you, not what has happened here,” I said, crossing my arms. “Are you feeling okay? I know you did something weird with Fenrir to gain power before.

“Oh... No, yeah, I mean, I’m fine.” He smiled.

Although he pretended to be fine, I could tell there was a certain sorrow in his eyes. Every time my brother and Fenrir "evolve,” he has to sacrifice his own memories, losing a part of such experiences and emotions and slowly making him colder.

Right now, he’s still the same, all thanks to everyone around him. But if he keeps sacrificing his own memories to grow stronger, he’ll eventually forget his sense of self and become someone completely different.

I can’t let that happen. There has to be another way for them to evolve and grow stronger than that! And I’m going to find it.

“For now, don’t evolve again until we can find an alternative,” I said.

“What...? Anna, you know that.” He was surprised.

“I do know! I know that you lose your memories when you evolve.” I sighed. “I learned thanks to a little constellation that told me.” I obviously lied.

“T-That’s... Dammit! Why do they have to pry on me so much?! Bastards...” My brother gritted his teeth. “Well, I... I was doing it for you, Anna. For everyone too, I guess. I needed the strength. It was just a few boring memories from a few days that I had already almost forgotten anyway. Don’t worry. We have so many memories that it's easy to discard the ones that don’t matter."

“Every single memory matters.” I stopped him from speaking any longer. “Brother... If you keep going down this path, you will lose everything that makes you who you are. And I will lose my brother forever.”

“A-Anna...” He muttered, suddenly falling into silence. “Look, I’m fine, okay? And you shouldn’t be worrying about me. I am strong, and I can do almost anything. You’re the one who should be worried about yourself. I’ve been living in this world all alone for years. I’ve grown used to it, but you... you’re different, even now."

“Enough with it!” I said angrily. “I am not a kid, Jack. I might be younger than you, but I am already 17! Soon to be 18. Stop treating me like a child! I am worried about you because... Because I love you! You’re my family, you know? I don’t want you to keep losing those precious memories. Promise me, promise me that you won’t do it until we find a solution together.” I didn’t realize that tears were streaming from my eyes already.

“...” Jack felt taken aback by my words, stepping a few steps back and then walking forward, hugging me. “...Okay. I get it. Sorry, Anna. I’m sorry... I won’t do it.”

“You have to treasure those memories. You can’t just discard the memories of mom and dad.” I continued crying. “You can’t forget about them.”

“You’re right... I don’t know why—I guess I was truly desperate back then.” He confessed. “But Fenrir was... Well, he told me not to do it, but I did it anyway. I might have a problem deep down. Maybe... I’m not really mentally well.”

“W-We can get through it. Let’s just talk more about these things. You know I’m here for you.” I said. “A-And also, Henrietta, she loves you so much too. You should trust her more as well.”

“I guess...” Jack nodded. “Sorry... I’ll try to get through it, but... It’s hard in this world.”

“Hmmm...” Suddenly, Fenrir’s head appeared out of my brother’s shadows. “I’ve heard it all. And yes, there might be a way to evolve differently. But for that, we’ll need to find several artifacts. I’ve been actually thinking about this myself.”

“Fenrir?!” Jack gasped. “Hey, can’t you just let us have a personal moment at least, you damn creep of a mutt?”

“Oi! I’m just trying to help, dumbass!” Fenrir groaned.

“Hahaha, okay, don’t fight.” I laughed. “So, Fenrir. Do you have an idea?”

“To begin with... The reason why Jack needs to sacrifice emotions to evolve with me... I’ll tell you about that first.” Fenrir’s eyes seemed full of guilt as he explained.

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