42-Debt Paid

Carol, upon hearing my words, seemed to relax a bit, but I could sense unease in her expression.

Despite Carol being friendly, she was wary of non-human races. Initially, she believed I was human, but today's events had cast doubt on that.

"Firstly, let me reassure you that I used to be human, so there's no need to worry about that," I began speaking.

As Carol heard the beginning of my words, a furrow appeared on her face, silently questioning, "What do you mean, used to be human?"

Anticipating her question, I continued before she could speak.

"Some things happened; I gained power and transformed into what humans call a god."

Carol looked at me with obvious astonishment. As I mentioned before, she didn't trust races other than humans.

"I quickly became powerful, drawing the attention of the Earth's guardian. They deemed me a threat to the world and sent me into the depths of space," I concluded my sentence.

Carol took a moment of silence to digest what she had learned. Then, a thoughtful expression appeared on her face, as if considering the truth of my words.

"I didn't rescue you from the Kree, did I?" Carol asked, and before I could answer, she continued, "I saved you from exile!" Her face carried an angry expression.

As Carol heard more, her anger escalated, and colorful energies around her began to gather. Seeing this, I realized I needed to calm her down.

"I haven't done anything wrong; I was exiled simply because I was considered dangerous," I calmly stated, without any expression on my face.

Initially, I thought Carol would calm down after hearing my words, but to the contrary, she became even angrier, and the intensity of the energy around her increased.

"You're still lying, Derek. Your real name might not even be that," Carol said.

"I know the supreme sorcerer on Earth, and I'm sure he won't harm you unless you deserve it," Carol added.

Raum chuckled, "This is getting interesting."

Upon hearing Carol's words, I remained silent and didn't attempt to make excuses. As much as I liked Carol, it wasn't worth the effort.

"I'll just ask one thing," Carol said in a commanding tone.

I didn't make any move and waited for Carol to speak. Despite my calm demeanor, my patience was wearing thin.

"Were the things you told about Nick Fury and your team all lies?" Carol asked.

Upon hearing her question, I couldn't help but laugh. Even in this situation, she was curious about Nick Fury; I could say their friendship ran deep.

"Yes, it was all a lie," I replied with no expression on my face.

Carol, hearing my words, grew even angrier. The energy around her had increased so much that she was shining like a small sun. She stared at me fiercely, clenching her fists; apparently, she was undecided about whether to attack me or not.

"Are you going to attack me, Carol? Can you defeat me? I won't rely solely on physical strength like last time," I said with a smile on my face.

These words were the last straw. Carol, with an angry expression, swiftly flew towards me, grabbing me by the chest and slamming me to the ground.

The ground cracked, creating a large crater around me. The surroundings were already in ruins from the previous battle, so there were no civilians nearby.

"You've made your choice, Carol. I hope you won't regret it," I said.

Hearing my words, Carol said, "You talk too much!" and flew towards me again. As Carol approached, I turned my body into mist, rapidly moving away from there and reaching the top of a nearby collapsed building.

Seeing that I had distanced myself, Carol looked at me with anger and said, "Are you going to run, Derek? You were so confident in your words."

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When I heard her words, I felt no anger. I looked at Carol and smiled. Seeing that I didn't respond, Carol pointed her right hand towards me, sending a beam of energy.

"Use your powers!" Raum exclaimed. I could feel the excitement in his words.

Even if Raum hadn't said anything, I would have used his powers. I brought my hand to my blindfold and opened it. When I opened my left eye, I could see everything around me through the flying crows in the air.

A red energy gathered on my left shoulder. This energy looked quite intimidating and exerted great pressure on the surroundings. When enough energy had gathered on my left shoulder, a red left arm formed under Carol's astonished gaze.

The newly formed left arm was larger than the previous one and entirely made of demon energy. It had red feathers resembling those of crows. My fingers were quite long with black nails at the ends. This arm emitted such a negative energy that Carol's expression had changed significantly.

When my left arm was fully formed, I felt incredible energy. Just as Carol's energy beam was about to hit me, a red barrier formed in front of me and effortlessly blocked the energy beam.

Carol, in amazement, looked at my newly formed left arm. The angry expression on her face rapidly disappeared, replaced by seriousness. Seeing this, I smiled and pointed my left hand at her. Chains of red emerged from the ground and quickly approached Carol.

Seeing the chains, Carol tried to fly away into the air, but one chain caught her by the foot, pulling her down.

The chain pulled Carol so forcefully that, without understanding what had happened, she hit the ground with great violence. While Carol was on the ground, red chains surrounded her, preventing her from moving.

Carol struggled to free herself from the chains. In the meantime, I approached her and asked, "Do you want to continue, Carol?" with a smile on my face.

Carol shouted, "Shut up!" and gathered all the energy around her, releasing it suddenly. There was a massive energy explosion that destroyed the red chains.

The force of the explosion pushed me back two steps. When the explosion finally ended, I saw Carol. She was standing in the center of a large crater, surrounded by dense energy that was so intense it made me squint due to its brightness.

Carol wasted no time and quickly charged at me. When I saw Carol flying towards me, I raised my left hand and pointed my index finger at her. A demon energy rapidly accumulated in front of my black nail, reaching the size of a soccer ball.

When I unleashed the accumulated demon energy, a red energy beam swiftly advanced towards Carol. The energy beam was so powerful that it annihilated everything in its path.

The red energy beam collided with Carol, slowing her down. Despite the strength of the demonic energy, Carol didn't give up and continued advancing towards me.

"AAAAAGGHHHHHHH!!"

Carol screamed in anger and swiftly approached me, delivering a punch. The punch was surrounded by colorful energy, and I could tell it was highly dangerous.

Just as the punch was about to hit me, a barrier made of demon energy formed around my body.

When the punch collided with the barrier, the barrier cracked and burst into a massive explosion. The force of the punch was so intense that I was thrown into the wreckage a hundred meters behind me without understanding what had happened.

---

Carol watched as Derek, after receiving her powerful punch, soared into the wreckage a hundred meters away. The impact was formidable, and Carol had put everything into that strike, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to kill Derek.

"I must defeat him before he recovers from the shock of the blow!"

Carol declared this and rapidly moved towards the wreckage where Derek was. However, before she could get closer, a chained blade shot out from the wreckage, hitting Carol's chest.

Although the energy around Carol gathered at her chest, minimizing the damage caused by the blade, the force of the impact still numbed Carol's chest.

"It's time to get serious!!"

As this voice was heard, a massive explosion occurred in the wreckage where Derek was, allowing Derek to easily emerge from the debris.

Carol looked at Derek emerging from the wreckage with great seriousness. As she anticipated, Derek was unharmed, and even his clothes remained intact.

Chains adorned Derek's arms, attached to large blades he held in his hands. The chained blades swung as Derek confidently approached Carol. The blade in his right hand flickered with orange flames, while the one in his left hand emitted red flames.

Derek's demonic arm and the blade in his left hand resonated, emanating a substantial amount of demonic energy around them. Derek swung the chaotic blades, advancing slowly but assuredly toward Carol.

Having never seen Derek use these blades before, Carol was cautious. She refrained from making the first move, waiting for Derek's attack.

Seeing this, Derek smiled and unleashed the chaotic blades. The chains extended, rapidly reaching Carol and striking her from the right before she could react.

The energy around Carol concentrated in the area of impact, diminishing the force of the blow, but before Carol could recover, the chaotic blades were coming at her again.

"These blades are incredibly vexing!"

Unable to grasp the trajectory of the blades, Carol had no choice but to evade them swiftly. She narrowly avoided the blades and charged towards Derek.

In Derek's eyes, Carol had just dodged his blade attacks, and now she was vulnerable.

"Let's see what you'll do now!" Carol said as she lunged at Derek.

Observing Carol's move, Derek smiled and transformed the chaotic blades into mallets. Carol was surprised by this, but she was already close to Derek, and there was no turning back. With all her strength, she swung her fist, surrounded by intense energy.

Upon seeing this, Derek didn't stand still. He threw a punch with his left hand, around which demonic energy had accumulated.

When the two fists collided in the air, the ground shook, and nearby people mistook it for an earthquake. The earth cracked, and a massive explosion occurred at the epicenter of Derek and Carol, rapidly spreading.

The explosion was like a visual spectacle, with one side displaying colorful energy and the other side ominous red energy. The resulting explosion was so vast that it almost ignited the atmosphere of the planet.

When the explosion finally ceased its expansion, Carol swiftly flew and collided with a small mountain nearby. The clothes on her arm, where she threw the punch, were burnt, and her skin was visibly peeled.

As the smoke from the explosion dissipated, Derek appeared. In contrast to Carol, he had no visible wounds. Derek wore a serious expression on his face. When he raised his demonic arm, red chains emerged from the ground and pulled the unconscious Carol towards him.

~Let me devour her soul.~ Raum suggested, amused.

Derek ignored him and stared expressionlessly at Carol, who was now unconscious. Despite the recent fight, Derek considered Carol a friend, or at least an old acquaintance. Besides, he had a debt to Carol.

"We'll find other souls for you to consume," Derek said.

~Do you really care about her?~ Raum asked playfully.

Derek responded without hesitation upon hearing this question.

"I owe her. By not killing her, I'll repay that debt," Derek added.

As Derek spoke, numerous crows emerged from his coat and circled around him. Just a second later, Derek was in front of the spaceship. As a precaution, he had left a crow next to the spaceship.

Derek removed his eye band and placed it on his left eye, then opened the spaceship and entered.

~What do we do now?~ Raum asked excitedly. It was evident from his voice that recent events had thrilled him.

"We'll search for planets we can obliterate," Derek said.