Lucky Prodigy

24: A New Era

Hallox didn't respond, instead looking for me, and relaxing when he saw me watching with a small grin on my face.

"Now, questions: do you prefer to be a Divine Being or Demonic Being in your next life?" Mars asked casually, and Hallox turned his attention back to him instantly.

"I... neither?!? I'm too young to join my ancestors!" Hallox protested, gripping his sword tightly.

Mars hummed, and shook his head. "You've just gained enough XP to evolve about 4 million people into proper Higher Beings; you have to use it somehow, and the easiest way is to turn yourself and your followers into True Demons or True Demigods."

Hallox grinned slowly. "That's the easiest way, you say... are there other ways to use XP?"

"... if you're determined not to become a Demigod just yet, then yes. You could usually use it to raise the power of the people in your village, but a good half of it has already been used for that, so you're out of luck there; I can't let you turn even the children of your village into Level 500 monsters. And with the amount of XP you just gained, it's toeing the line..." he sighed.

"Spread that half of it out thinner, then, to all the monsters we've released from slavery, and then raise the average power of the Demons under my command, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, kid, listen; I'm not some Servant, you know? I'm here to give you my Blessing and recruit you into the ranks of my War-Born, not help you sort out your Rewards; that's Thoth's gig, not mine." He held up his hands to halt Hallox's flow.

"Right... sorry, I guess. But if I use it all, can I send all my followers into the Planes they'd usually go to, making me no longer a King of Demons?" He asked, surprising me.

Mars blinked slowly, and scratched his short beard in thought. "Yeah... True, you could do that, and you'd lose the Demon King Class, you get that? That'd mean you'd have to rebuild your strength from almost nothing, and we'd meet again when you climbed back up that mountain... are you sure about that?" He asked carefully.

Hallox grinned. "If that's an option? Yes."

Mars chuckled softly. "Alright... I respect your determination, kid. I'll see you in a few thousand-... nah, probably another five suns or so and you'll climb back up, won't you? I look forward to it." He snapped his fingers, and I watched Hallox fall to his knees, groaning in pain as the wings on his back shriveled and fell off, turning to dust, then the tusks around his neck reappeared on his face, still bronze in color.

<Update!
Hallox Mars' Level Decreased!!!
Hallox Mars Evolves into: Fallen War-Born, (Legendary), right now!!!>
<Update!!!
Demon King Calais and his Clan under the Banner of Red (Slaughter) have been Exterminated by Hallox Mars, War-Born Shaman of Mars, God of War!!!>

Mars nodded, looking at me and grinning before vanishing. 'I imagine this will be interesting. I'll just watch.'

I frowned, and then turned to look at a presence behind me. A woman stood there, one familiar to me. Very, very familiar. I paused, staring at her, and took a step forward slowly, before stopping. "I-... I shouldn't be surprised, I think. All the clues were there, weren't they?" I chuckled softly.