I liked dogs. Yes, in the past tense. Before, in my perception, they were cute balls of fur possessing an undaunted type of loyalty toward their owners.

It granted them a certain nobility in my opinion. Well, the thing in front of me wasn't a being I would associate with the adjective noble. I had never seen a creature such as the one who stood in front of me before.

Putting it simply, it was hair raising. Vampires or werewolves didn't have such an effect on me. Neither had the fae. The beast before me was simply too otherwordly.

It looked like a canine but had three heads and was the size of a school bus. Each of the three heads possessed the same hideous features, crooked yellow teeth, curved horns, and eyes having a vomit green color.

The presence of hell had disappeared at the same time as the crack when the demon fully stepped inside this plane. As such, I had finally managed to stand up.

*What kind of place is hell? To be able to make me powerless through a mere omen of its existence.

*I never want to go there.

An alien voice suddenly boomed in the silent room. Somehow, I thought that the first thing a monster of this form would do after stepping out from the crack would be to let out a roar of aggression and madness. I certainly didn't expect advanced sentience.

Though, among the unexpected things, its appearance was first. I always imagined demons as humanoids with goat horns, bat wings, and a tail. As such, I was understandably taken aback.

"Hmm, The scents of the mortal plane and that of delicious souls ripe for the picking." The voice was gravelly but wasn't originated from physical vocal cords.

It was sheer power control. It was using its power to cause vibrations in the air, allowing it to speak like a being with vocal cords.

It seemed to be sensing the air. I noticed that the glyphs on the walls were flickering as if the simple presence of this demon was a burden on them. Then, its gaze fell upon me. I guessed that compared to its stature, I looked insignificant which would explain why he was only taking stock of me now.

"A human?" It sniffed loudly. The action formed an air current in the vast room.

"I-" The rude thing didn't let me continue.

"Not quite, different, superior, evolved." It nodded to itself. "Let's dub it Elevated because it originated from a human breaking past the evolutionary limit of the race." It decided.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"No soul? puzzling?" It continued its monologue like I wasn't present. It felt like how adults sometimes talked about a kid like he wasn't there.

"Impossible all humans have souls. Even evolved one...Theoretically." Its eerie green eyes shone like 6 suns before dimming. "I see, The soul and the body are completely the same in this particular specimen case." It resumed.

"Analysis complete. the specimen seems eatable." After completing this sentence, the roar I expected at the beginning, exploded from 3 throats. It crouched seemingly ready to pounce on me.

*So, let me get this straight. This thing comes through the portal(?), ignores me, breaks into a monologue about my nature, decides that I am eatable before now proceeding to attack. It's the first time I meet a monster with a scientific approach.

I didn't know how to feel about this.

*Still, I don't have time to ponder about this. On the supernatural totem pole, Gods are first, demigods second, then angels and demons. The rest of the supernatural community only comes after these races in terms of base power.

*Now, I am facing a demon. I need to bring out my A-game.

When it moved, I lost it. I meant that neither my senses nor my inhumane perception were able to register its movement. I had learned to accept that real-world physics and the supernatural were incompatible but the speed of this huge beast was hammering this fact home.

Instantly, I understood that physically I was incomparable to it.

*My only chance lay in my particular power.

While I was prepared to defend myself, I was still swatted flying by a paw that appeared from thin air. I had condensed the air around me to form a shield but it was pointless. It broke through the barrier so easily it may as well not have been there.

While hurtling toward the opposing wall, I could feel every single broken bone and organ.

*Bad Doggy.

I thought resentfully.

Judging by the momentum and the current state of my body, I would certainly be reduced to a bloodstain on the wall. I sighed in vexation.

Unexpectedly, the demon didn't let that happen. It appeared on my path like magic and ripped into my flesh with all its teeth.

In summary: I was devoured. This was a first. I had been the victim of many horrible deaths but this was my first time being devoured.

If I had the blessing of unconsciousness, I wouldn't have felt much alas I couldn't have that.

If I fell unconscious, it would have taken longer for me to resurrect. So, I had to painfully sense each minute of being carefully chewed by a demon. The pain was indescribable. The demon saliva was like lava melting my flesh, organs, and bones. I was reduced to a gooey thing before being swallowed.

The experience was very unpleasant, to say the least. I would not recommend it.

*Did Chloe and the others meet a big obstacle themselves?

I wondered idly while waiting for my return to life.

After a few moments, my body quickly recovered from the void, naked. I had resurrected in a cramped place. A place that was unbelievably acidic and was hot like a furnace or a volcano. I was in some sort of bubbling liquid. The smell of sulfur and other fumes made me want to puke.

I resented my enhanced sense of smell in this particular instance.

*Dammit, I am in the gut of the beast. I need to get out before I am reduced to goo once more.

*Rip

As my will affected the demon's flesh, a hole was ripped open through it. Flesh, bones, and skin exploded outward and I bounded outside its stomach. The momentum carried me a good distance from the damnable monstrosity.

*That should have hurt, badly.

I looked expectantly at it. The hole I had made in my exit was already closed. Of course, the regeneration speed of the beast would be monstrous. As I was baffled by that, the demon had all of its heads tilted. A puzzling expression was now present on the canine mien.

For the first time since it appeared, it spoke to me.

"How?"

"How, what?" I answered annoyed that my attack was only as effective as the soft breeze to this demonic entity.

"No matter what eldritch ability to recover you have, I consumed you and refined you into another source of power. So, how is it that you are still resurrected!!!? The newly refined power source didn't vanish. You didn't somehow escape my consuming so how!!!? This is completely unscientific."

Ripples of terrifying power spread from its massive form, the entire room was shaking. No, the entire underground structure was shaking.

"I don't know doggy. I am a universal mistake. Get used to it." I shrugged. The conversation was surreal, A dog with scientific reasoning about energy conservation.

*Now, I can say that I've heard everything.

Visibly unsatisfied by my answer, it opened its three maws and spat a colossal purple fire orb at me.

The heat melted the glyph reinforced floor on its path. I tried to extinguish the miniature sun hurtling toward me but the exhaustion of my willpower indicated the impossibility of the task. Still, the orb dimmed briefly before swelling, even more, fuelled by the ungodly power of my foe.

BOOM

The impact reduced me to ashes and destroyed half of the area.