43-Demon

It's been a month since my struggle with Carol. During this time, I've only traveled, and finally reached my first destination. The planet I targeted was governed by the Kree Empire, but unlike previous planets, it wasn't just a military base.

This planet was larger than the others, hosting a civilian population. Though the civilian population was scarce, mostly due to Kree individuals following the path of a warrior upon reaching adulthood. The majority of the Kree were warriors, with the minority involved in trade, although they didn't seem to contribute much. Ultimately, the Kree Empire didn't engage in trade with other empires. When they needed resources, all they did was search for new conquerable planets.

So, how did I learn all this? While traveling with Carol, I asked her to provide information about the Kree, and she shared these details with me.

I've been traveling alone for a month, and I must admit, it got a bit dull without Carol around after our adventures.

~I'm here with you!~ Raum said.

"That's true, but I must say, chatting with you is not pleasant," I replied.

~Why?~ Raum asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"All you talk about is sucking the souls of others. You don't even tell me about the universe you came from," I said. I had asked Raum several times during our journey to tell me about the universe he came from, but he always refused.

~I am a demon; what do you expect me to talk about? Besides, I will tell you about the universe I came from; I just need some time,~ Raum said.

I nodded at Raum's words and closed the topic. We had more important matters at hand, such as exterminating all life on this massive planet and consuming its core.

Controlling the spaceship, I entered the planet's atmosphere. As I descended, I was shocked by what I saw. Unlike the atmospheres of the previous Kree planets I visited, this one was clean, and there was no oppressive feeling in the air.

The view was vastly different from what I had seen before. Below me was a vast city with towering skyscrapers, civilians walking the streets, and flying cars in the air.

Upon hearing his words, I couldn't help but chuckle involuntarily. Carol wasn't with me, so there was no reason for me to restrain myself.

I made the spaceship hover invisibly in the air and opened its door, looking down at the city below. The city resembled large cities on Earth, with the only difference being its much more advanced technology.

"Disperse and hunt!"

As I said this, hundreds of crows flew out of the coat on my back and spread in all directions. With each crow leaving, my coat shrank until it disappeared completely.

I didn't attack directly; instead, I observed the massacre my crows would unleash from above. After smoothly passing through the city's barrier, the crows attacked the Kree on the streets.

Surprisingly, the crows were quite powerful. While a single crow couldn't match a Kree, their sheer number was overwhelming, and they annihilated everything in their path. With each kill, I could feel the surge of demonic energy within me.

~It's been a long time since I tasted this,~ Raum said. I couldn't see his face, but I was sure he was licking his lips.

As the demonic energy within me grew, information on how to better harness it flowed into my mind. My wisdom and power were rapidly increasing.

What surprised me the most was that when one of my crows killed someone, foreign memories flowed into my mind. I could see the memories of each person killed by my crows. Although the memories were not detailed, they proved to be quite useful.

~As you grow stronger, you can see more memories. And when you're powerful enough, you can even experience the experiences of others,~ Raum said, a hint of self-satisfaction in his voice.

Upon hearing Raum's words, a wide grin appeared on my face. I didn't need to work like others! When I became powerful enough, I could live through all their experiences.

This power was incredibly potent. When I acquired the experiences of everyone I killed, I would become immensely powerful. Even now, having killed thousands, the grin on my face became so monstrous when I thought about absorbing their experiences.

"I should focus on my work!" I said to myself and shook off these thoughts. Looking down at the city, I saw all the civilians lying on the streets as if their life force had been drained.

"So, this is what happens when someone's soul is consumed," I remarked.

As I said this, numerous fighter jets entered the city and began to kill the crows flying in the air. I could plainly state that it was impossible for them to kill all the crows. The crows numbered in the hundreds even before I arrived on this planet, and now they had become thousands. It would take years to kill such a massive flock of crows.

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~How much longer will you watch? I'm getting excited,~ Raum said, flying down towards the city from my shoulder. Hearing Raum's words, I smiled and began forming my demonic arm. Just three seconds later, my demonic arm emerged. Compared to the last time, the demonic energy was more intense and redder.

I aimed my left arm at the city below and began casting one of Raum's spells. A circle with a radius of a hundred meters formed where I pointed, and the inside of the circle slowly filled with red demonic energy. When the circle was completely filled with demonic energy, it began to spin and gradually accelerated. In just thirty seconds, the circle was spinning so fast that it resembled a black hole, pulling everything towards it. Despite the gravitational force of the black hole, my crows were unaffected and continued to hunt effortlessly. The destruction caused by the black hole was tremendous. After devouring a significant portion of the city and most of the flying fighter jets, it rapidly shrank and vanished.

As I marveled at the havoc I had created, my foresight rune warned me. Just as my foresight rune alerted me, I heard a massive explosion, and when I looked in the direction, I saw an enormous laser heading towards me.

"If I dodge this laser, my spaceship will be annihilated!"

Actually, even if I didn't have a spaceship, I could have found a new one, but I highly doubt the one I'd find would be as advanced as mine. After all, this spaceship belonged to Carol and was highly technological.

I raised my left hand and directed it towards the incoming laser. When I did this, a barrier consisting of twenty layers appeared in front of me. This barrier was the best defense spell I could perform, and I hoped it would block the laser.

As the laser collided with the first barrier, it struggled a bit before breaking it and then collided with the next barrier behind it. Under my concerned gaze, the laser shattered each barrier it encountered, but it was evident that it was slowing down and weakening.

After breaking nineteen layers, the laser hit the final layer, shattering it but disappearing itself. The laser was quite powerful, and I didn't think I could withstand it without my fiery demon form.

"That was close!" I exclaimed, exhaling in relief. With seriousness in my eyes, I looked at the large spaceship slowly approaching.

"I will personally destroy you!" I declared, leaping down from the spaceship. As I descended rapidly, I could feel the wind hitting my face. Right before hitting the ground, two large wounds appeared on my back, and from them emerged wings darker than the night.

"AAAAGGHH! You didn't mention this would hurt!" I groaned as my transformation wasn't complete yet.

My canine teeth elongated, resembling those of a vampire. Later, two horns grew on my head, rapidly extending to forty centimeters. The horns on my head inclined upwards and were as pitch-black as my wings.

My wings looked terrifying, and their span easily reached four meters when fully extended. When my wings were fully open and merged with my horns, I looked quite fearsome and majestic.

As I fully extended my wings, the descent stopped, and I sent a shockwave to the ground, causing the earth to crack. Flapping my wings, I took off with a powerful blast. It was my first time using the wings, but it felt like I had been using them for years.

My speed easily broke the sound barrier and continued to increase. Flying low to prevent the large spaceship from firing at me, I left destruction in my wake. As I sped along, everything crumbled due to my velocity. Despite my wings being quite large, they effortlessly sliced through many obstacles.

I could hear the wind tearing apart, and it brought a big smile to my face. When I got close to the mothership, I raised both my arms, pointing my hands like Superman and making fists. Flames gathered around my right hand, while demonic energy surrounded my left hand.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Screaming, I shattered the mothership's barrier, passing through it and exiting from the back. After I exited from the back of the mothership, it began to explode and burn. Although the mothership suffered damage, it wouldn't be enough to completely destroy it.

I pointed my left hand at the mothership, and crimson chains emerged from the ground, piercing and wrapping around the mothership. The crimson chains were larger than before and had sharp metal at their heads. The metal chains traversed every corridor of the mothership, spreading across most of its areas. When I saw this, I clenched my left hand into a fist and brought it down.

The chains within the mothership tightened, forcing it to descend. Initially, the mothership resisted, but eventually, it couldn't withstand the chains. The mothership crashed to the Earth, causing the ground to shake. Seeing this, I smiled and rapidly flew towards the mothership.

When I got close enough to the mothership, I started spinning, gathering demonic energy and flames around me. The energies around me were rotating harmoniously, creating an impressive visual. I didn't slow down and, while spinning, dived into the mothership. The walls of the mothership couldn't withstand the energy around me and melted, allowing me to pass through. When I reached the center of the mothership, I stopped spinning and suddenly spread my wings.

The immense amount of energy gathered around me was released, rapidly spreading and causing a massive explosion. The explosion engulfed the mothership and almost annihilated it. The explosion lasted about ten seconds, and when it finally stopped, I emerged from the inside of the mothership, advancing towards the city. I attacked everything I saw and absorbed the souls of everyone. I hadn't felt this empowering sensation for a long time, and I had missed it.

~This is how it's done, Derek!~ Raum shouted, and from his voice, I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

The crows attacked every living being they saw, and I destroyed everything in my path. Shortly after, new fighter jets arrived, but I easily obliterated them. This planet was quite vast, and annihilating it would take a long time.

.

.

So, I roamed the planet, killing every Kree that crossed my path and wrecking everything. It took me a week to completely cleanse this world. During this week, I relentlessly traveled the world, killing anyone I encountered.

Now, I stood in a vast clearing. I had already closed my demon form a few weeks ago, so I didn't have horns or wings. Despite being powerful, the demon form heavily burdened my body. If I didn't have the template of a war god, I wouldn't have been able to endure this power.

"It's time for the main course," I said with a smile.

Flames appeared on my body and burned my skin. Flames were everywhere, but I didn't scream or feel pain. My body changed, and when the flames finally extinguished, I was in my fire giant form.

After becoming a fire giant, the first thing I looked at was my left arm. My previously severed left arm had regrown, but there were significant differences. Compared to the previous one, my left arm was more fragile and pitch-black, like coal. I could clearly feel that the power in my left arm had decreased.

"Even regrowing is good," I said, examining my left arm. Although I was consoling myself, my words were justified. I preferred having a weak arm to having no arm at all.

I brought my left arm to my chest and drew my sword. When I drew my sword, I could feel the energy of the power stone flowing from my left arm throughout my body. The energy flowing in me was like an infinite river. The power stone's energy concentrated in my left arm, and cracks of purple appeared on my black arm. It was evident that my left arm was barely enduring the energy of the power stone.

"I should stop thinking about this."

I moved my sword slowly, thrusting it into the ground and infusing it with flames. As I did, symbols appeared around, colored purple this time.

*Must be due to the effect of the power stone,* I thought.

Five minutes later, the symbols finally completed, and a one-hundred-meter-long sword made of purple flames formed in the air. The sword was under my control and rapidly descended into the Earth. When the sword hit the Earth, the ground shook, and a wave of purple energy caused me to take two steps back. The resulting energy wave easily blew away rocks and trees in the vicinity.

The large sword, fully embedded in the ground, dispersed and disappeared. It left behind a hole eighty meters deep. I approached the hole and, without hesitation, jumped inside.

After falling for about five seconds, I landed forcefully on the ground. The impact didn't harm me at all. I raised my head and looked at the door in front of me. Unlike previous ones, this door was made of a gold to the others and was quite large.

"I guess it's time for the main event," I said, smiling.

I didn't bother examining the symbols on the door and began melting it by placing my hands on it. Surprisingly, melting the door took quite a while, as if some energy prevented the door from being damaged.

It took me an hour to melt the door, and finally, when I entered, just like before, an infinite darkness greeted me. In the middle of the darkness was a core much larger than the ones I encountered before.

"Very nice," I said, looking at the core. My mouth watered, and my eyes sparkled. Without wasting any time, I approached the core, placing my hands on it. This core contained a considerable amount of energy, and fully absorbing it would take a very long time.