Lord Of Doom!Reincarnated Into a Novel as the Strongest Side Character-Chapter 57: Shape-shifting Demon

Gojin sneered as the energy ball came hurtling towards him; it dispersed a few meters away, just as he expected. Suddenly, Gojin found himself behind the woman in mid-air. She instantly plummeted to the ground and stumbled backward.

Gojin grinned, raising both of his hands.

"So you’re a shape-shifting demon! I never knew your kind actually existed. This must be your special ability, right?"

The woman—or rather, the demon—was a shape-shifter capable of altering its appearance at will, but it uses up a immense amount of Ki to alter themselves. These demons are primarily classified as grade 1 radiant demons. However, none had been encountered in the modern era; they were merely remnants of history, long forgotten in this age.

Gojin felt an overwhelming excitement coursing through him. The prospect of bringing down two radiant-grade demons at once was exhilarating. But he had to act quickly as they might escape before he could strike.

Although the shape-shifting demon appeared slow in its retreat- likely due to its human form draining most of its ki, it was clear that it didn’t want to reveal its true nature. Instead, it maintained its disguise while exhausting its energy.

Gojin couldn’t help but smile at the sheer foolishness it displayed. Meanwhile, the other demon was beginning to recover, slowly regenerating its severed limbs.

"Tensu!"

A golden energy enveloped his hands, swirling like mist as his ki surged. He shaped it into an arrow, pulling forth additional energy with his idle finger, creating two more golden arrows in his grasp.

He muttered, "Just killing two little birdies with an arrow."

Once the energy had fully coalesced and pulsed with power, he released it, aiming directly at the two demons on the verge of escape. The impact was thunderous, echoing through the surroundings and shaking the ground. The capital market felt the tremor, but to them, it sounded like a distant drumbeat of children playing —nothing to be alarmed about. freewebnσvel.cøm

In an instant, the two demons exploded into ashes, leaving behind a large crater smoldering with flames and glowing coals. The crater was well deepened and wide, measuring about 4 feet across, its expansive mouth was about 38 inches in width. It plunged down to a depth of roughly 3 to 4 feet.

Gojin spluttered, "What a total waste of potential fun! I would have enjoyed that for much longer. This is not the outcome I expected!!!"

He placed both hands on his hair like a psychopath while pivoting to gaze at the clear blue sky. Suspended in mid-air, he wore an exhilarated expression. He removed his blindfold; with his runo still active, there was no threat of destruction. Gojin flew back to the ground, landing gracefully, his emerald eyes now fixed on the crater.

"That’s three off the count. Now, where is the supposed actual hostage?"

Gojin also pondered why two demons were working together. Was there some kind of plan they had devised? Everything seemed meticulously orchestrated, but the foolish ones were the ones executing it, leading to their failure. He dismissed the thought; he had too many mysteries to unravel, and this was just another addition to his list of investigations.

He needed to locate the actual hostage and determine whether she was alive, so he could decide on the fate of the oblivious pawn shop owner.

He walked into the barn and opened a door that creaked as it swung open. The door had clearly been neglected for years, as evidenced by the loud groan it emitted.

Gojin didn’t move beyond the threshold—he spotted a girl in a white garment lying on the ground, bloodied and unconscious.

He sighed and scanned the interior before approaching her. A trap could be lurking anywhere; while it would be ineffective against him, he took precautions for dramatic effect.

When he got to her, he bent down and lifted her from the ground in a "briefcase" style, just as he had with the fake hostage. He held his blindfold in his other hand. Carrying her, he exited the barn and shot into the sky at incredible speed. The gust of wind generated by his takeoff was powerful enough to knock a stable person to the ground.

As he soared close to the white clouds, Gojin vanished from sight and reappeared at the pawn shop, emerging from the back where he had positioned himself to face the shop’s large layer.

He extended a palm toward the wooden wall, and in an instant, it exploded outward. Splinters of wood shot in all directions, swirling around him like a storm of debris, while larger chunks flew off into the distance, leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

Gojin laughed as he flew in.

"Fool! He just had to make a dramatic entrance. Copycat!" Kurozai mused, comfortably adjusting himself on his ’throne.’

The man gasped at the large hole now inflicted in his wall and quickly climbed down from the ladder, despite having ascended so high. He made it back down in mere seconds, nearly tripping in the process.

Kenji and Sakura sighed—Gojin was back, allowing them to return to their reading comfortably.

"Wait, is that a girl in your hands!? She’s severely injured!" Kenji shouted, rushing toward Gojin, who tossed the injured girl toward him. As Kenji caught her, the weight caused him to fall to the ground, but he managed to shield her from further injury.

The pawn shop owner witnessed this and decided to make a run for it. He dashed toward the exit while Gojin hovered in the air with a grin.

Sakura quickly appeared in front of him, her expression bitter. She formed a shadow blade and aimed it at the man’s neck, forcing him to the ground, trembling with tears streaming down his face.

"Did you do this? If you’re innocent, then why did you run the moment you saw that?"

She bent down to the man with a ruthless frown, looking as if she was about to slice his throat or even behead him.

The man babbled in fear, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry... I just wanted a good life for my family, so I made a contract with a demon. It required me to deliver five humans a day. Please, forgive me! Don’t kill me!"

Gojin scowled with fury as the man begged.

"It’s always infuriating when humans plead after hurting someone, but when it’s time for judgment, they beg not to be hurt. So irritating!"

Kenji lifted himself and the girl from the ground, carefully placing her on the large reading table before moving to join Sakura, who looked extremely furious.

Gojin walked through the air as if it were a staircase, ascending step by step until his feet finally touched the ground.

"It would be quite satisfying if you were beheaded right here. But, sadly, you haven’t purchased my item. If you do so at the previously mentioned price, I’ll hand you over to the authorities and then break you out of jail three days later," Gojin proposed with a mischievous tone.

Sakura and Kenji turned to him in shock, their expressions wide with disbelief.

"What!?"

He ignored them and continued toward the man.

"So, are you ready to make a purchase?"

The man stared into Gojin’s emerald eyes, shivering at their intensity; he had never seen eyes like that before. He quickly jumped to a conclusion.

"Are you guys exorcists?"

Gojin and Kenji frowned in frustration.

They blurted out together, pointing at the man,

"Sakura, behead this bastard! Off with his head!"

The man raised his hands in fear, crying harder as Sakura’s shadow blade edged closer to his neck.

"No! I meant I will purchase the item for the price mentioned and even more! Please, don’t let me die. I have a family!"

Gojin chuckled, calming down as he stared at the man for a moment before answering, "Sure."

The man lifted his hakama and pulled out a large coin pouch, handing it over to Sakura. Gojin grinned and collected it from her hands.

He opened the pouch and gasped at the sight—7,000 coins and nine silver coins.

"That’s all the money I’ve saved up! It could surely buy a noble’s majestic mansion," he faltered.

Gojin nodded and tossed the pouch to Kenji with a smile.

"Now, here’s the item."

He placed his blindfold over his shoulder and raised his hakama to reveal a stone. He threw it onto the floor and walked out, planning to alert the bureau about the man’s crimes before attending to his other plans in the city.

Two hours later...

Gojin met with the bureau department, kneeling with feigned sorrow as he reported the man, embellishing the truth to ensure a harsher punishment.

"He killed 100 innocent people," he claimed.

"Buried fifteen children in his backyard to feed to demons."

"He ruined three noble businesses to grow his own."

The man gasped, his eyes widening in horror; some of the accusations were close to the truth, while others were entirely fabricated.

...

"That was ruthless! You really have a knack for telling lies. Perfect!"

Kenji and Sakura gave him thumbs up as they walked through the quiet part of the capital city, Sakura placing the newly earned money into her vault.

"Now, let’s earn more. It’s time for business and hunting!" he shouted at the top of his voice, his tone brimming with wild enthusiasm. His blindfold was now back on.