Mind Demon's Path of Domination

A group of savages on horseback entered a walled city. The place was a city indeed, a majestic place with a lot of mud-thatched mansions. Mark, now a parasite over Junga, the Healer in their party looked around with interest.

The place was... industrious. Not to mention, the moment he passed the wall made up of thick trees and entered the city, he was right in the middle of a market.

"Fresh fish! Fresh fish!"

"Today, we will sell chickens for only ten shells!"

"Glittering paint to use on your savage masks!"

Nobody blocked their group’s path and they headed further into the city, near the mud-thatched mansions. The swordsman in their team moved his horse faster. "I will go tell the news to the Golden Savages, these kids would die if they were left like this. Bring them towards the higher housing area and I’ll bring the Golds there."

The other four—including Mark, who was acting like the Healer—nodded.

Mark’s eyes shined; it was lucky that a savage was expressionless by default. He turned and looked at the kids in the cart, all barely alive.

"I really thought that boy would die at least," one savage said. "Seems like he is lucky."

Mark moved his horse near the cart as they moved and looked into the surviving boy’s eyes. He stared back at Mark, remaining alive with all his willpower.

"Why are you so unwilling to die?" he asked.

The boy gasped. "Water."

"You eating might just make your issues worse. Surviving a landslide is no easy task, you see. Only by turning you into a savage can you truly survive."

"Tell it to him, Junga!" The Defender laughed.

Mark asked again, "Before you become a savage, tell me why you want to be alive so badly."

"My sister, I want to see her once..." The boy said weakly. "Just once. Then, I can die."

Mark felt even more delighted in his heart. Such an easy dream to fulfill. As long as he learned how the boy’s sister looked, he could transform someone else’s appearance to resemble her and he could complete the mission.

If possible, he could just find the sister.

"Where is your sister?" he asked.

"She is in this city... savages took her, three years ago. She is called Yuuna and has beautiful red eyes and hair. She is my elder sister."

The Defender slowed his horse down. "Don’t talk too much kid, you are dying. Your stamina is a mystery but don’t kill yourself due to overconfidence, stay silent and try to bear through for a while longer."

Mark nodded at the words.

"How much time would it take for the Golds to transform him into a savage?"

"Eh?" The Defender frowned. "What kind of question is that? I don’t know. It just takes some breaths, who counts all that?"

"Do you know this Yuuna?"

"Yeah, I know her and I also understand who he is talking about. The Yuuna who went on the expedition into the ocean—must be fighting demons somewhere."

Mark smiled, the boy hadn’t heard it—he had nearly fallen unconscious, and was not in the mindset to listen anything.

His death was so close, he was too malnourished and Mark had just given him a little amount of Black Water—too little.

The group of four traveled through the savage city and reached a very quiet part of it. It was in an alleyway in between two mud-thatched mansions that Mark acted. Here, nobody could see him for quite a long distance and there was no one strong enough to sense even his soul sense nearby.

Now that he had confirmed both the kid’s dream and the fact that the kid was going to be turned into a savage today, there was no longer a need to wait. He could begin his Dream Gamble with the boy.

Yes, he planned to use Dream Gamble on the boy so that he could get the powers of the savages once he wins the Gamble.

He looked at the boy intently and smiled.

"I shall help you find your sister." But before that, he had to make sure that the boy’s dream truly was to find his sister.

Heart Input!

"I want to find my sister!"

Heart Input! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"I want to find my sister!"

Heart Input!

"I want to find my sister!"

He did that for some more time before he suddenly stopped his horse with a slight tug. The silver savages turned and looked at him curiously, and Mark looked up with his masked face.

Three savages.

Ultimate Demonic Art—Parasitic Dream Shock.

The first to be hit by the dream was the Defender, and then, Mark used the same Trick twice more.

Parasitic Dream Shock!

Parasitic Dream Shock!

Then, Mark used the same art on all four horses. The children in the cart saw a weird sight of three horses and three men staring blankly.

No other Middle Demon could have used their Ultimate Demonic Arts so wastefully.

Mark looked at the thirty or so children and used a different demonic trick this time.

Dream Shock.

All of them who had been looking into his eyes suddenly fell into blankness themselves. Mark jumped out of his still horse and moved near the boy he had saved, then silently absorbed the boy into his World Space.

They should start becoming conscious in some seconds more.

Mark appeared inside his still World Space. The boy was also there, staring at Mark’s soul that had just appeared with wide eyes.

"As you are now, you can’t find your sister. In fact, you probably cannot last until someone saves you. You will die now, and your sister will only be a distant dream."

"You are a demon!" The boy said, voice raspy.

"Indeed. You seem like a smart boy, so tell me, do you want me to save you and bring you to your sister?"

The boy stared. "As long as I can meet her, I am ready to die."

Mark smiled and briefly left the World Space, using the same tricks to stun everyone one more time. They were waking up and he couldn’t allow that. Returning, he looked at the boy with a smile.

Only if the opponent allowed can he use Dream Gambler’s Mortal Puppet demonic Trick on them. And according to his last experience, there would be a huge disturbance when using this power.

Mark wanted to use the demonic trick while inside his World Space, but that was useless. This trick only worked because it used the World Wills as an intermediary, and for that, he would have to be in the real world.

Now that he had convinced the boy, though, he could go back outside.

Mark appeared back in the alleyway between two mud-thatched mansions and the sun harshly hit his face. He stunned all the people around once more and moved.

Dream Wings!

Wings appeared behind him and he flew into one of the Mud-thatched mansions, there was a savage inside but Mark stunned him before he had a chance, too. When he was in an enclosed area, he brought out the boy and dropped him on the floor.

Dream Gambler’s Mortal Puppet!

Golden light lit up the entire room as Mark felt a ’gaze’ descend onto them. He looked up with a sweaty face, but immediately after, noticed something else.

A contract appeared between them in the form of a fiery paper.

* As long as the Demon can fulfill Yanchan’s dream, he can ask for one thing from Yanchan and take it for himself. (Anything other than the Human’s life or his feelings). If the Demon fails to achieve the said dreams, the Human can take any one thing from him in return.

The contract was simple, but looking at it alone made Mark feel his spine tingle with emotions. Now, he had a stronger Soul Sense. He could sense the Will of the Savage World incredibly clearly. It was looking at both him and Yanchan—the boy—with an indifferent ’gaze.’

Usually, he would have died the moment the World Will found him, but now, because of Dream Gambler’s Mortal Puppet Demonic Trick, his and Yanchan’s—a native’s—destiny was connected. Thus, he wasn’t going to be harmed.

In the first place, due to using Parasite, he was also inside a Native’s body, so for now, he already didn’t have to worry about it. The sheer sensation of utter power of the World Will still made Mark feel his heart tremble.

"Do you accept the Gamble?" Mark asked with a grin.

"I do..." The boy mumbled.

Golden light leaked through the walls and Mark felt his own perception, a part of it, enter the boy’s mind and turn him into a Puppet. After a while, the boy opened his eyes, no sight of the prior weakness.

Mark blitzed through the air and once again reached back into the alleyway, he dropped his new Puppet back into the cart, too. In only five or so seconds, the people around came back to their senses and they didn’t even seem to have noticed.

As if they had just blinked.

Of course, they had dreamed dreams they liked and had some small suspicions, but these people weren’t too perceptive. They didn’t care. Meanwhile, Mark covertly gave Yanchan—his Puppet—some more drops of Black Water.

By the time he saw some people in the distance, he was already well prepared.

I have to check up on this Gamble’s entire contract when I am fully free.

The Swordsman of their gang waved at them from the distance, trodding on his horse.

"A Gold Lord is here!" he shouted.

The Defender laughed. "Seems like you can survive this one, boy."

Mark and his parasite exchanged a glance, but the boy still seemed near death. Now, two Mark’s were inside the savage city.

The silver savages all bowed and Mark did the gesture, too. Will this Gold Lord turn Yanchan into a savage, too?

From the distance, a young man appeared riding on a horse.

A Golden Savage!

Mark stared at the young man in surprise.