Mind Demon's Path of Domination

"Reol’ran, my dear, can you feel this?" Mark asked, feeling the malignant aura of the armor scratch at his skin.

The warrior in his mind replied with a shaken expression, "I have eyes, of course I can see!"

Mark felt even more trepidation in his heart. He had been in many dangers, had faced things a normal man would crumble in the face of. But in none of those moments did his Reol’ran ever become so shaken. So panicked.

Was this aura that disturbing? Even to her?

"Aren’t you the one supposed to be an icy cold and calm supporter, woman?" he said, half joking. "What am I to do if you start panicking?"

Reol’ran took a deep breath, some color returning to her face. "Mark, staying in this world any longer isn’t wise. Run. Run as far as you possibly can—run to the Demon World! Anywhere!"

"..." Mark grew dead serious.

"This aura is so malicious, I feel like just seeing it has made me lose all hope in life..." Reol’ran’s face paled even further, and she gasped for air. "You can’t feel its depth because you are just a Middle Demon, but this, this isn’t something of our level. Run, that’s the only way."

Without hesitation, Mark decided to move. At the same time, in the distance, his Puppet looked at Yuuna and with a sigh, stood up, pushing against his knees for support.

"Yanchan," he said. "For now, this is a goodbye between us. But do not forget, you owe me one for saving you. And if I were you, I would run away from this place—the armor is absorbing the Heart Blood of Gold Lords already and it is only a matter of time before it reaches you."

He closed his eyes, and inwardly, Yanchen grew silent.

====

[The Dream Gamble—Yanchan/Mark (Completed)]

[Yanchan’s Dream: Find and meet his sister Yuuna.]

[Conditions]

1. Successfully accomplish the Dream. (Succesful)

2. Do not let the Puppet die while the Dream Gamble is active. (Succesful)

[Success Reward: You can take any one thing from Yanchan as your own]

[Failure Price: Yanchan can take any one thing from you of his choice as his own.]

====

I wanted to wait a bit if it’s possible, see if there was a better way to get all his abilities, but now, I can only try the crudest method.

He could have any one thing, so Mark decided to ask for one thing indeed.

[Dream Gamble Completed!]

[Due to having met his sister, Yanchen’s long dream has been accomplished.]

[Winner of the Dream Gamble: Marcus Haeligarth!]

[You can choose any one thing from Yanchen and make it yours!]

The World Will of the Savage World. It was moving around Mark, he could feel it. The Dream Gamble had been over and the World Will would help him get whatever he wanted from Yanchen. Only one thing but that could be anything.

Mark flew amidst the clouds, the hamster clinging onto his hair for dear life while Yuri had already been thrown into his World Space.

Yanchen’s and his own Destiny, at this moment, were intrinsically linked. To the Will of the World, for the moment, he was the same as Yanchen—a native. Of course, that was only the case when the Gamble was being initiated or ended.

Mark knew what he wanted.

"I want all your supernatural powers!" Mark said.

Nothing happened.

"As I thought, Mark, you have to be incredibly specific about what you want. You can’t say what you want is food, you have to say what food you want."

Then, I can only get one thing from Yanchan.

Yanchan had two Savage Magic—Aura Teleportation and Glass Dome. Mark desired to have both of them. Then, Yanchen also had the Trait, Mask of the Savage that elevated all his abilities by a minor tier, and made him unkillable unless his mask was broken.

Aura Teleportation is good and it will add to my list of movement abilities. Glass Dome will remove one of my greatest weaknesses—a lack of a true activatable defensive ability.

He flew faster, away from the death place of the Savage Lord.

I can get both a defensive and movement ability on par with those from some other world. They don’t seem terribly special. And even if I do get it, it will not improve my current battle strength by much; it will only remove some of my weaknesses.

But that’s not the case for Mask of the Savage, it will elevate my battle strength as if I had a breakthrough to Tier 3—as if I am an Upper Demon!

What was one small weakness compared to a totally elevated battle strength?

After a minute of contemplation and some more failed attempts at gaining more than one thing with a single wish, Mark finally sighed, growing decisive.

"I want the Mask of the Savage from you, Yanchan!" he shouted at the heavens, flying faster through the clouds. But then, he suddenly felt a repulsive sensation rush through his veins, making him fall as his wings stopped flapping.

The hamster struggled to hold onto him as he fell towards the ground, descending like a small comet. Just in time, Mark summoned Dona beside him, who held onto him, becoming his dungeon instead of the hamster.

The hamster was too fragile, so he absorbed it back into his World Space.

Dona clung to him tightly, looking around and sensing the oppressiveness in the air. She felt an instinctive dread, a fear locked in on her genetics. The aura of the armor was too heinous—malicious.

My physique is changing from the inside out, the repulsive feeling is a part of that...

His body was gaining a new set of veins, a new set of pathways, and he could feel all sorts of pores opening up.

"Arghh!" he growled.

Their bodies slammed into a soft ground and the earth exploded around them.

Mark snapped, his consciousness growing blurry. Then, he immediately began to move away from Dona, moving out of his Dungeon. But before he could, Dona clenched his hand and stopped him in his place, her gaze trembling.

"Let go of me!" he shouted, her hair getting blasted by the airwaves of his sound.

She stood there adamantly, not speaking a word as she stared at him dead in the eyes. He growled at her and his legs curled in the air, heading for a kick. She held his calf and expertly made his irrational self fall headfirst onto the ground.

Twisting his hands, she locked it behind his back and growled at him.

Mark opened his mouth and bit a whole chunk of mud into his mouth, then spat it on her face. Dona kept her eyes closed until he stopped spitting. Then, she opened it, clenched her fist, and punched his face, slamming it into the earth.

For a while, Mark stood still and she stared worriedly.

Mark was physically stronger than her, and if he moved too much, she’d be in trouble. He was too irrational and childlike now, but even that was enough for him to distance himself from her.

But she knew—more instinctively than anything—that if he moved some distance away from her, she would lose her precious Mark.

Suddenly, Mark raised his head from the mud and she tensed, then he turned and looked at her with a face she had never seen. It was a skull-like face that seemed to have replaced his normal handsome features, and this skull-like thing extended even to his horns.

No, it is a mask. Like those... savages, Dona tightened her hold over him.

The bony structure ran over Mark’s face like a vine, went over his horns, and even covered some of his neck. Dona had felt this feeling before, so she knew it right away—Mark had grown stronger and had once again left her far behind him.

If he isn’t under control, he might just throw me away and it’ll be... over. NO! Yuri, come help. Where is she when you need her?

Mark blinked, golden light blinking beneath his mask’s eyehole. She blinked back and suddenly, found two hands twisting her cheeks playfully. She snorted and looked away, but he made her face him.

"Good job!"

She looked at his mask, somewhat worried, but suddenly, the mask vanished and a slit appeared in the middle of his forehead instead. A very thin, red line. Curious, she wanted to touch it but Mark stood up without caring for her weight on his back.

Dona was lifted up, her hand clinging around his neck and legs moving to surround his waist. Then suddenly, she found herself in his front, carried like a princess, and he jumped, wings flapping and taking flight.

"Do you feel it Dona?" he asked.

She wondered. "This oppressive feeling?"

"Yes, what do you think?"

She took a deep breath, now that she could sense it vividly, she was filled with fear.

"This reminds me of one of the giants from the Demon World, but stronger. I don’t want to see where it comes from—let’s run."

Mark looked back from his flight. Running now was such a giant waste, how could he do that without feeling as if he had worked for nothing?

====

[Mission 1: Kill 100 Silver Savages.]

[Killed: 139/100]

[Rewards:

Entry back into the Demon World. (Claim)]

[Mission 2: Kill 10 Golden Savages.]

[Killed: 93/10]

[Rewards:

Portal Key. (Claim)]

[Mission 3: Kill 100 Golden Savages.]

[Killed: 93/100]

[Rewards:

Seal of Destiny.]

====

I just need seven more Gold Lords to get that Seal of Destiny, and going back without that is just too much. Where are Gold Lords? Just seven more!

Mark spread out his Soul Sense with abandon.