Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Yuri looked at a pile of clothes cluttering the roots of an ancient tree and looked at Mark, who was beside her, holding her hand. She had just learned what these clothes were, and quite the piece of information that was.

She shook her hands, bringing the distracted Mark’s attention to herself.

"Hm, what?"

"So, these are Golden Savages that you transformed into clothes with Alchemic Shapeshifting?" she asked, again.

"Yeah, they are," he said with a grin. "Quite clever, right? I couldn’t kill them entirely with their mask hidden, and if I just beheaded them, a healer could come around and heal them all. Of course, that would be troublesome."

Wickedly clever, indeed, she thought, and then, focused on the corpses littering the ground. Golden savage corpses—Mark had long collected their Heart Blood, but he hadn’t bothered with the remains. She could use them for her research, but their research value was minimal without major equipment upgrades, so she didn’t feel too excited.

"What are your thoughts?" he asked.

"Hm, I am only interested in that Heart Blood of theirs, that’s what makes them unique. I want to understand how it would affect a Hunter if they ingested the said blood, also, I’d like to know what happens to a demon if they did the same—we have enough blood to try, now we just need people to try it on."

"So yeah, that’s what it boils down to, Heart Blood." Mark mused, his handsome and demonic face contorting into a cute frown.

She touched his nose and shook her head. "There are many unanswered questions. What are savages? Why are the silver savages forced under a mask, while Golds could have faces? What is the source of savage magic?

"A lot of unanswered questions. But now, my main interest is in fact, Heart Blood—because that is the most beneficial one for me. Even I don’t want to be left behind by Dona, you know?"

"Hm, truly, a scientist has a different way of seeing things."

Mark touched his chin, wondering about it for a second before he was reminded of something else. With a blink, he turned on the violet screen, and his status screen was pulled up.

====

[Marcus Haeligarth Armanteuil Véxillarius Nócturnâ Aërglothur]

[Tier 2—Middle Demon]

[Physique: 1000 (Pinnacle)]

[Mind: 1000 (Pinnacle)]

[Soul Spheres: 10000/10000.]

====

Indeed, after the mega hunt against the savages, his Soul Spheres had reached the limit of accumulation. Now, once he breaks through to become an Upper Demon, he could use the accumulated spheres to improve his strength all at once. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

One thousand points are already so strong, he mused. I can already destroy small buildings with my physical prowess alone. Ten thousand points, that’s ten times as strong as my current self.

If he battled in New York City as he was in his current form, at least some of the buildings would be in ruins or dysfunctional when he leaves. So, wouldn’t a battle between the Upper Demons completely destroy the city?

Fuck, the current him was as fast as sound. What kind of concept was that?

I could circle the entire planet Earth in a mere 32 hours, I am that fast. And that’s just my basic physical and mental powers, not counting any of my demonic tricks or arts.

Mark clenched his hand, excitement thrumming through his veins.

He was strong, but that was only if he was compared with earthly human standards. The Demon World was a vast, vast place. He probably couldn’t even cover 1% of that world in 32 hours, and his speed and strength were nothing compared to the giants there.

Upper demons should be even faster than me. Uff... I am getting greedy and blind. I am not yet there. Patience, patience, patience.

He looked at his abilities next, just noting them down in his heart.

====

[Demonic Tricks]

> Soul Devourer> Clown’s Circus (4 Hours Remaining Till Reactivation)> Dungeon Heart Seed (5/101)> Dream Gambler’s Mortal Puppet (Available)> Alchemic Shapeshifting> Dream Wings (Pinnacle) (Tier 2)> Heart Input (Pinnacle) (Tier 2)> Dream Shock (Pinnacle) (Tier 2)> Parasite (Pinnacle) (Tier 2)

[Ultimate Demonic Arts]

> Parasitic Dream Shock> Heart Parasite> Parasite of Heart and Dreams

====

"What a greedy expression," Yuri said, touching his face again. "Relax, babe."

"Uh, you could see that?"

Yuri blinked. "You were making this really big bad wolf expression."

Mark coughed, embarrassed, and then chuckled. Then, he sighed and looked at Yuri’s face with a serious expression. She blinked.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"No, no. I am just looking so that I can have more motivation to do everything. I am not much of a man who needs motivation to function, but nothing wrong with more of it."

Yuri blushed, butterflies fluttering inside her stomach.

***

Mark’s Puppet cracked his knuckles and squatted down, then, he breathed out the heavy mist. Surrounded by the Glass Dome, the powers that crashed towards him didn’t hurt him at all.

"So, I have to save the ten Silvers around me and drop them outside the mists, while fighting against the Pinnacle Demons."

Fine, I’ll do it. It’s also a good test run for the power I will have.

Yuuna, who looked startled, looked at Yanchan with wide eyes.

"Demon... my..."

"Just stay silent and watch."

Mark took a small rock from the ground and looked around, then waited for an apt moment when all attacks would stop. He hadn’t used Aura Teleportation or Glass Dome savage magic as much as he had used his demonic tricks, so of course, he wasn’t as good with them as he was with his own.

First of all...

The Glass Dome vanished and right after, Mark threw the rock in his hand to the sky. The rock pierced through the mists and vanished, smirking, Mark touched Yuuna next, and suddenly, he and she vanished in a puff of nothingness.

Attacks crashed into the empty air but both Mark and Yuuna were already in the sky, even beyond the mists. Mark smirked.

This was a trick he had learned from the Teleporting Archer who had attacked him some time ago, the ability to fly with Aura Teleportation. Throw a rock filled with his aura, teleport, catch it, throw it again, and then teleport. Repeat.

"Hey, wait!" Yuuna shouted against the falling air. "My comrades are still inside!"

Mark snorted and caught her by her legs, then, he rotated in the air and threw Yuuna away with immense force. She opened her mouth in retort but before she could speak, her voice turned into a shriek as she flew through the sky.

The kid was obsessed with meeting you, and you are obsessed with your comrades? Mark clicked his tongue as he descended back into the mists, body falling through the air. From inside Mark’s third eye, Yanchan’s soul shouted in anger and frustration.

Shut up brat, she wouldn’t die, she is a Silver Savage, and her body could take that much of a fall if she used her abilities well.

Savage Magic—Glass Dome.

Suddenly, in mid-air, Mark stopped in place. He had used Glass Dome in mid-air, and it had a weird nature that it wouldn’t move from the place it was activated. It was a very unique way to stand on thin air.

He looked down at the Middle Demons on the floor, all of them Pinnacles. Some of their Ultimate Demonic Arts could even put his main body at risk of death when he was going full-power life or death, and Mark was no fool to underestimate them.

His third eye shimmered a yellow hue and a mask of bony allure appeared over his face.

Mask of the Savage!

There was a unique part to the Mask of the Savage that Golden Savages used, it wasn’t always active. But when they activated it, their physique itself would grow in strength. It would grow a minor tier better.

Yanchan’s body was Tier 2 Pinnacle as a Golden Savage, and now that the mask was on...

Mark felt the bursting power of a Tier 3 Low-level physique.

The Dome vanished and he fell again, straight towards a Middle Demon with a cheetah-like body and face. It looked up, filled with wariness as it readied multiple wind slashes in the air around it.

Luckily for Yanchan, Middle Demons never use their Ultimate Demonic Arts unless absolutely necessary.

Many of the Silvers were already headless, but none of their masks were broken. As long as they could be taken out of here, they could be healed, saved. If he could use Glass Dome while attacking, he could have been invincible here, but when making a move, the defensive Magic just didn’t work well.

It was a turtle shell.

Tier 2 Pinnacle Demonic Trick—Wind Claws!

Mark suddenly vanished, appearing near the ’corpse’ of a Silver. Then, he threw up a rock faster than the cheetah could react, vanishing in quick teleportation along with the Silver ’corpse’.

In the air, Mark looked past the misty lands towards where he had thrown Yanchen’s sister and then threw the new body in her direction with immense strength. She would catch it, he was sure of it.

If not...

Her fault.

Mark fell from the sky again and repeated the same thing, saving the others using the same trick, and within just a few minutes, all but three Silver Savages were out of danger. Already safe. Three more saved and his mission here would be over.

He wondered what the secret Yanchen’s sister promised to tell him when he saved them all was.