Rey sneaked out of the town while keeping his head low and avoiding large crowds, which wasn't too much of a problem, given that this place's population was smaller than most villages back in the homeland. The only problem was that he had been working in a hot forge all night or all day long, and his sugary man-sweat was basically working overtime to entice demons of the sniffing kind. He needed to mask it and fast.

  The best way was to kill some demons and dirty himself with their blood.

  So, he went to the best place he knew there would be some blood—Caeran's corpse. Sniffers had an excellent nose. They were basically bloodhounds who sniffed out humans or anything else with a soul and hunted them down with extreme prejudice.

  Rey also hated them with extreme prejudice. Even after turning into a demon, he made it a point to kill any he came across. By the time he became an Archfiend or A-Tier demon, he was known throughout all the kingdoms of Hell as a Sniffer hunter. So, the hunters had become the hunted.

  In the words of the great Michael Scott. Well, well, well, how the turntables.

  He saw no reason to break the tradition now.

  He made a turn, and just as he had expected. There they were, crowding around Caeran's corpse, sniffing about like a trio of bitches. They all wore some nasty-looking swords with jagged edges that would love to tear out the insides of anyone they pierced.

  Rey had no intention of being pierced by those three fuckers, just like he made a point of not being pierced by any fucker. He made a point of being the one doing the piercing.

  He quickly used Identify on them, and he was pleasantly surprised.

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+6]

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  Okay, if I don't rank up now, then there is something seriously wrong with the whole ranking-up structure.

  There was something definitely wrong with the ranking-up structure, as one could only rank up by killing someone with a higher rank than them, unless they went the profession route, like becoming a healer or, like his new grumpy master, a blacksmith. Their fighting prowess was shit, but they would definitely rank up. And he did not want to rank up that way, at all.

  If he really wanted to, he could've taken all three of them on, but that would be a tough fight. It would be like he was fighting Unokir again. Of course, Gravity's Domain had bolstered his confidence a lot, but then his last fight had brought it down a notch. Besides, he didn't know what sort of skills these Sniffers had.

  Then the rank 6 stood, sniffing the air. He had an elongated snout and a face like a crocodile's, with sharp fangs sticking out of the sides of his mouth.

  "He's close," he said to his fellows.

  The one to his right wore a leather coat made of patches of skin in many shades—some pinkish white and others a dark brown, and all the range in between. Rey didn't need to ask him to know where the skin patches came from.

  "Yes, I can smell him too."

  The last one might as well have been a werewolf, with the head of a wolf, a dark, coarse fur on his upper body, and clawed hands. His yellow eyes glinted in the dark of day or night.

  "Time to go on the hunt, boys."

  Rey didn't have much time; the moment they came within ten meters of the town, they would know where he was. Their dog-like noses were that sharp. So, he had to come up with a plan and fast. He also knew that he couldn't take them on. There was no way, he was going to try to take them all on. They probably had a skill set that thrived together.

  I've got to split them up like a toddler with Play-Doh. Zero finesse, and maximum chaos.

  He stepped out into view of the Sniffers and waved at them.

  "The human went this way." Rey pointed down the lane he had come from. "He's super strong and handsome. Oh no, I think he was going for the succubus. No, not my Dogmom. Unhand her, you sexy fiend."

  That did the trick. The three of them looked at each other and ran for him, unsheathing their weapons. For demons, they had kept their blades in good shape. Grixi wasn't lying after all. They did have good-looking blades.

  "Oh, I can't watch this." Rey took off in the opposite direction.

  He used Attraction when he was out of view to pull himself into the next intersection. He quickly ducked behind the houses to see what was going on. They turned in the direction Rey had pointed, took a few steps, and paused when they saw the street was empty.

  They sniffed around some, but they must've smelled him everywhere and didn't know which direction to go in.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Rey caught the faint whisps of their conversation.

  “…no one…”

  “I smell…this way…” The crocodile pointed in the direction of where Rey was hiding.

  Just the one that he wanted. He wanted to clean him out first, as he had the strongest sense of smell out of them all. So, the faster he clogged up those holes, the better it would be for everyone. Well, mostly Rey, and whatever's good for Rey is good for everyone.

  The one with the coat motioned to the crocodile to head in Rey's direction, making Rey giddy all over.

  Crocodile ran in his direction. The others ran off in the direction that Rey had pointed in, probably looking for a succubus with a ridiculous name. But if there were an actual succubus named Dogmom, then he truly would've seen everything.

  The crocodile was within ten meters; he stopped and sniffed about, confirming his belief. Rey was wrong. His scent had come into play nicely.

  The demon's eyes met Rey's, and he knew that he had his target. Rey's eyes widened, and he pretended to play the scaredy cat as he quickly ducked back into the alley.

  He waited, and a few seconds later, the crocodile appeared. There was an audible intake of air as his eyes widened, not expecting to find Rey waiting for him.

  [+1 Perception]

  Without another word, he lunged for Rey, trying to bite his head off.

  Rey immediately activated Repulsion and shot him into the other wall, where he stayed put as Rey used Attraction to keep him glued to the wall.

  "You hu—"

  That was all the words Rey allowed him before stabbing him in the gut with his scythe. He didn't push it deep enough that it would kill him, but enough that it would hurt. Gut wounds always did.

  Rey patted his arm. "Just breathe. It'll be okay once your friends get here."

  The crocodile huffed and glared at Rey as if he wanted to end him right here. Too bad, his whole body was stuck to the wall.

  "O-Once they get here, you're gone, human."

  "Then why don't you call them, demon?" Rey smiled. "Here, I'll help you." He stuck his head out of the side of the road and shouted. "Oh no, the human got one of the Sniffers!" He turned to the crocodile. "Now, you try."

  There was nothing. Aside from glaring at Rey, the crocodile did nothing.

  Rey sighed. "I have to do everything myself."

  He gripped his scythe's shaft and began pulling it along the demon's belly…slowly. He tried to keep his mouth shut. At first, it quivered, and then the pain was too much for the demon. He gave the exact reaction that Rey had wanted. He screamed. Such beautiful, blood-curdling screams that Rey was sure they could be heard all across town.

  Rey stopped cutting open his belly for one moment to check, and just as expected, his friends were hurrying back.

  "Time for us to say goodbye," Rey said. "I will not remember you."

  The crocodile opened its snout to speak or perhaps to launch an attack; Rey wasn't sure. He was not interested in either, for he hardly had time for chit-chat.

  With a quick jerk, Rey sliced open his belly and disemboweled the demon. The lower half of his body slid to the ground, along with the demon's digestive system. It was a very lovely and gory sight.

  [+1 Magic Power]

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+6]

  Then at the last second, Rey used Attraction on the roof of the opposite hut and slithered on top, just as his friends rounded the corner. They immediately came to a halt when they saw their friend.

  "That bastard," snapped the one with the coat.

  "He's close," the Werewolf said, sniffing about, not caring one lick about his dead comrade. That man or wolf was a demon through and through.

  Rey had picked his next target. He just hoped that he wasn't a lycanthrope, then Rey might be in real trouble. One love bite from that demon, and he would get his curse as well. Apparently, lycanthropy was just a curse, not an actual demon type, which was why it could be passed to anyone, whether demon or human. In other words, it was a butt fucking that didn't discriminate based on gender, sex, or race. In one way, it was the thing with the most modern-day values, while on the other, it left you a permanent half-mutated mutt.

  The screams didn't just bring the Sniffers out. It also drew the locals, who were curious enough to see what the commotion was about and whether there was something they could gain from it. They were right. Crocodile was carrying a lot of good things—chief among them was a satchel, that leather coat retrieved at once, along with his dearly departed friend's sword.

  Aw, you're making it so easy. Saves me the trouble of returning for a loot-retrieval murder spree.

  Thankfully, Rey had rubbed his scent everywhere around here, so nice Mr. Werewolf was having a hard time figuring out where he was.

  "Everyone back to your homes," Leather coat snapped. "There is a dangerous human about."

  That had the opposite effect of what he had intended. Everyone got even more excited at the prospect of finding a human and eating his soul. The chatter among them grew excitedly.

  "You fucking idiot," barked the Werewolf.

  Leather coat flinched and said nothing.

  Werewolf turned to the crowd. "If you're thinking about going on the hunt yourself, then think otherwise." He pointed to the dead crocodile-faced demon. "Argraz was a Sniffer that had been hunting humans and others with souls for over a decade, and this human killed him in the span of a minute."

  That hushed the crowd.

  Yes, sell my legend. Make me the big bad wolf, Mr. Big Bad Wolf.

  "If you go on the hunt, you will only be serving yourself up as fodder for this human. I suggest you go home and let the professionals handle this."

  Heads nodded at that. Then one by one, the demons left the way they had come. The street emptied, leaving only the two Sniffers out on the street.

  While the crowd was leaving, the Werewolf had stayed still, with his back to the hut where Rey was hiding. He found this odd, but he figured since he wasn't looking in his direction, it would probably be fine. Besides, it was time for him to leave and set up his next trap.

  "So, you figured out where he is?" Leather Coat asked.

  He gave a brief nod before turning towards the hut where Rey was hiding. He looked straight up. Rey quickly ducked back.

  "I know, you're there, human," Werewolf barked. "There's no point in hiding."

  "I'm not a human," Rey replied in a squeaky voice. "I'm just a nice little succubus who is scared to come in front of you, strong, manly Sniffers. I don't want you sniffing my muff—"

  The next moment, he knew two strong figures were towering over him.

  Rey slowly turned over with his hands raised. He chuckled nervously. "You got me."

  Leather Coat looked at Werewolf. "You found him, Radoch. You can have the first bite."

  Radoch snorted or huffed or maybe just grunted, as it was hard to tell. It sounded all the same.

  Rey made two finger guns and pointed them at the two demons. "Before you do anything, just know that these babies are loaded, and I'm not afraid to use them."

  They looked at each other and then down at Rey, as if he were mad.

  Rey shrugged. "Have a nice flight."

  He shot them both into the air with Repulsion.

  As they flew, Rey picked up his scythe and ran.

  Time to run like a tax evader on audit day.