500th Time Reborn, A World Only Known By Women: The Karma System

I raised my hand and paralyzed Vaalbara and then Mephistia, pulling my spikes out of the second as I caught her in my other arm, flicking for a portal to open. On the other side, there was Cleena, Cynthia, and Matilda staring back at me.

"Are you here to take us away?" Cleena asked hopefully, but I shook my head as I tossed the two demonesses in.

"Not yet, but I will. For now, don't eat them. They are demons that I need to question more, so I expect them to still be alive when I get back," I instructed, making Cynthia and Matilda shake their heads.

"We will get them ready to spill whatever they know for you!" Matilda said with an evil smile as she rubbed her hands together.

"Yes, when you come back, Master, they will be ready to tell you everything that they know!" Cynthia exclaimed as she walked over to the two demons that had frozen faces, but I could see the panic in them. I briefly considered if this was a good idea, but the girls would most likely listen to me, and these demons were not saints.

"Just make sure that they are alive and able to answer my questions when I get back. After, I have a surprise for you girls since I can't send you back home, so be good girls for me, okay?" I asked, and the Cursed Enchantress and JorÅ’gumo nodded excitedly, but the Banshee Queen gave me an uneasy look.

"Are you sure you want to leave them with us?" Cleena asked as she looked back at the other two, they really did look too excited about this, but I didn't really have time.

"Watch over them, and make sure that they don't go too far, and I promise to give you some alone time when I am free!" I called and closed the portal before anyone could say anything else. I had my own problems to deal with.

To say I was surrounded was a bit laughable.

There were over fifty yellow signatures all around me, but I also counted five more humans farther back. Each of them was spread out in a perfect five-pointed circle. If you connected each of them with lines, I would be in the center of a massive star, or pentagram, depending on how you looked at it.

A couple of hours ago, I might have groaned and cursed myself for falling into what was clearly a trap, but this was good. Now I had five more cult members in one spot, but my biggest worry was them turning their attention from me and moving on to the two. Since they were surrounding me like this in a particular pattern, I had to hope that they were stuck on me.

My Mana Runes eyes glowed brightly as I looked at each of the monsters that they had with them. There were werewolves, which were expected, but there was also a particular type of wolf-like creature that I had never seen before. They almost looked like those Boar-wolves from before, but they didn't have the head of a boar. Instead, they had the head of what appeared to be an amalgamation of different animals all squished together into one form so that it almost looked like a monster from a child's nightmare.

The body was similar to the other wolves in that it was large and muscular with fur that was black as night except for some white patches here and there, but it was hard to see in this darkness mixed with moonlight. The only other light came from me and my Mana Runes eyes, as well as the red eyes belonging to these "hellhounds," glaring at me hungrily from their spot just outside the circle surrounding me.

"Alright, no need to line up! You all came to me for some fun! So let's get it on!" I growled with a big smile, and chaos descended on me.

The moment that I informed them that we were going to have some fun, all of the hellhounds and werewolves leaped at me with teeth bared and claws extended. I was expecting this, though, so as soon as they got close enough, I leaped into the air, flipping backward while bringing my legs up in a crescent kick that took out two of them before I landed in a crouch.

They tried to swarm me from all sides, but my Mana Runes kept track of their every move, so even when they would suddenly disappear, only to reappear behind me or next to me. It didn't matter because my large black Panther form was more than a match for these small-minded creatures.

I lashed out with powerful kicks and punches enhanced by dark Mana that sent them flying back into their own ranks, as well as biting and clawing at any exposed flesh that I could find. My tail also had barbs on it called Siphon Spikes which drained blood from whatever it pierced, making me even more potent the more blood I took in. They tasted disgusting, but the power boost was worth it.

At first, they thought that they could take me down with numbers alone by just throwing themselves at me like moths to a flame, but they soon wised up. They were also adding more for the ones I killed and drained, but the new creatures were different. They were the weird amalgamation of different animals that almost looked like the stuff of nightmares.

They were just as large, if not larger than the hellhounds, but they were more heavily muscled and had sharp claws on both hands and feet as well as long teeth that they tried to sink into me every chance they got. They were also swift and agile, which made them hard to hit but not impossible.

They would suddenly appear next to me or behind me, only to disappear just as quickly, but I was always able to keep up because of my Mana Runes. I would hit them, but the creatures were adept at contorting their bodies to reduce the impact considerably.

I was constantly forced to dodge their attacks while trying to hit back at them when I could, but I wasn't trying very hard. I knew that was going on here, and the point of these creatures was to buy the cultists more time. They were trying to summon something more significant, but that required a more giant hole to the Underworld and more time for them.

The reason why I didn't kill the cultists all first was that they were controlling the monsters and keeping them on me, but there was something much more important that would be helpful going forward. The Underworld didn't have unlimited monsters to summon from, and you could only summon from the demon's reserves that you were following. This meant I could drain their reserves here and now and force them to pull back even farther.

That would mean that they would be forced to return to stealing women, but I was going to start making that harder with checkpoints and barricades surrounding each town. They knew I was here now, so it was time to kick things into overdrive.