44-Deal
The core contained incredible heat, and I spent about a month absorbing it. By absorbing the core, I surpassed another limit, and my height increased by ten centimeters. When I took the form of a fire giant, my height was almost three meters. After stabilizing the power within me, I transformed my body into mist and swiftly flew towards the spaceship through the hole.
The spaceship was still invisibly suspended in the air. I opened its door and entered.
"Gather!" I commanded.
Seconds after my words, all the crows I had unleashed upon this world began rapidly approaching me. I could see a black cloud coming towards me.
"The numbers have greatly increased!" I exclaimed in astonishment.
When I first arrived on this world, there were about three hundred crows, but now I could see thousands of crows rapidly approaching me. I estimated there were around three thousand crows heading my way.
The crows quickly approached me and were absorbed by my body. After absorbing all the crows, a long black coat formed on my back.
"I can't wait to reach the next planet," Raum said with great greed.
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.
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(Nine months later)
So time swiftly passed. I cleansed many Kree planets, absorbing them and rapidly gaining strength. Eventually, the Kree tried various technologies to resist me and even attempted to hunt me down in space.
Defeating me individually was impossible for them, so they formed alliances with other empires to attack me, but I annihilated everyone who attacked me. Swiftly cleansing planets under the rule of the Kree Empire, I gained more power.
As I destroyed Kree planets and the empires attacking me, my fame rapidly spread. Other races began to fear me, calling me the "God of Carnage." This nickname suited me well, as I caused the death of hundreds of thousands on every planet I visited.
Alerted by alliances, I ignored their warnings. They were merely attempting to deceive me since they, too, desired the weakening, even the extinction, of the Kree Empire.
No life remained on any planet I visited. By absorbing each planet's core, I rendered them uninhabitable. My powers increased to the point where destroying small planets became remarkably easy.
During this process, my demonic energy surged, and I gained numerous experiences, but there was a downside. As Raum's powers grew, I saw more memories of the people I killed. Having taken millions of lives, these memories accumulated, leading to certain personality disorders. Sometimes, I'd get angry for no reason, and at times, I'd forget who I truly was. Thankfully, in such moments, Raum assists me by reminding me of my identity.
I was in my spaceship, and after a long time, I was finally returning to Earth. It was due to hitting a major limit – no matter how much planetary core I absorbed, how many souls I consumed, or how much I fought, my templates hit a barrier and never progressed. So, I decided to stop searching for other planets and return to Earth.
"I must thank the ancient one. It was quite a fruitful journey," I said with a smile.
~I am quite satisfied,~ Raum chuckled.
~Initially, I didn't think this universe would be as intriguing as my own, but it holds many secrets!~ Raum said, particularly emphasizing the end of the sentence with great greed.
"Don't you think it's time to tell me about the universe you came from? I'm quite curious," I said with a smile. Actually, I had no expectation that Raum would share anything about his old universe. I had asked him this question many times during the journey, and each time he ignored me.
~Well, I'll tell you,~ Raum said, surprising me.
~Even I, the chief demon among demons, don't know the vastness of the universe I came from. It's filled with secrets you can't even fathom, and I'm the only one who knows them. After all, I am Raum, the Demon of Secrets,~ Raum said.
"Chief demon? What are the levels of demons?" I asked with curiosity. After all, Raum was giving me great powers, and I was curious about his limits.
~HAHAHAHA! The powers of demons are limitless, Derek. In the universe I came from, emotions created and empowered demons. The strongest of demons, the first of the great ones, was the demon of fear. The demon of fear has been there since the beginning of the universe and has a wealth of knowledge. Despite all this, the flaw of the demon of fear is being like a wild animal, not thinking and acting on instincts,~ Raum said, waiting for me to digest the information.
"So, the demon of fear is not stronger than you?" I asked.
~This is where the system comes into play. In my previous universe, there was nothing I could do but wait to strengthen, but the system gave me an option. It offered me a way to develop much faster in another universe,~ Raum said.
"The template system!" I whispered in understanding.
~Yes! Thanks to this system, both you and I developed very quickly! With my current power, the demon of fear can't harm me,~ Raum said. His voice carried the usual amount of arrogance.
I had many questions in my mind. How did the system communicate with Raum? Did the system really have a soul? Who gave me this system? Despite having so many questions in my mind, I couldn't definitively answer any of them. In fact, I didn't care about these questions before because I was too weak to even contemplate them. But now I was among powerful beings in this universe, and these questions needed answers.
~I understand the questions in your mind, but you don't need to think about them right now. After all, no matter how much you think, you'll never find the answers,~ Raum said, chuckling.
In fact, I was ninety-nine percent sure that Raum knew the answers. Raum seemed to know everything as if he had all the knowledge. As Raum spent time in this universe, his knowledge increased incredibly. When I saw this, I was quite surprised and wondered what caused it.
~I am the Demon of Secrets, Derek! No one can hide secrets from me, not even the system!~ Raum said, reading my thoughts.
"Why don't you tell me then?" I asked with great expectation.
~ Just because he can't keep secrets from me doesn't mean he can't kill me. Frankly, I love my life very much.~ Raum said, mocking.
I was greatly disappointed when I heard Raum's words, and my curiosity inside me grew even more.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
~In the universe I came from, there are beings just as powerful as here. In fact, the universe I came from is not much different from this one,~ Raum said.
When I heard Raum's words, I nodded and fell silent. I was almost reaching Earth, and thinking about things I might never learn was distracting me. I shook off these thoughts and opened my system window to look at the details.
——————-——————-———————-
——————-[System Window]—————
Name:Derek Stacy
Template:
➺[Kratos%49]
➽[Surtr%49]
➣[Jericho Swain%49]
Template Powers:
➺[Infinite Durability]
➺[Infinite Strength(Sealed)]
➺[Infinite Speed(Sealed)]
➺[Infinite Fury]
➽[Pyrokinesis]
➽[Magmakinesis]
➽[Smoke Mimicry]
➽[Power Absorption]
➽[Telekinesis]
➽[Fire Giant Transformation]
➣[Ravenous Flock]
➣[Death’s Hand]
➣[Vısıon Of Empıre]
➣[Demonıc Ascensıon]
Gold: 27545816
İtems:
➺[Blades Of Chaos]
➺[Sword Of Surtr]
Arrival Points:
➺Marvel
➺The Boys(end)
Mission:None
——————-——————-————————
——————-——————-————————
All my templates had reached a deadlock, and no matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't progress. While examining the system window, time passed swiftly, and Raum's voice snapped me out of my reverie.
~We've arrived on Earth,~ said Raum.
Upon hearing Raum's words, I opened my eyes and looked at the vast planet in front of me. It had been a long time since I came to this planet, and I had missed it a lot. Without wasting any time, I activated the spaceship's invisibility mode and approached Earth. Just ten minutes later, I entered Earth's atmosphere and swiftly flew towards Brooklyn.
Upon reaching Brooklyn, I descended into an old warehouse and left the spaceship there. The spaceship's discovery or theft was not important. The first reason was that I had become much stronger, and I could fly to other planets whenever I wanted. The second reason was that it was impossible for the spaceship to be stolen or found. This was because I had placed ten crows next to the spaceship. With these crows, I would know if anyone approached the warehouse.
"Investigate Brooklyn and find Gwen," I told Raum.
~What will you do?~ Raum asked.
"I'm going to visit my father!" I said, looking at the potion bottle in my hand.
~Alright, I'm taking a hundred crows,~ said Raum and flew away from my shoulder. As Raum soared into the sky, a hundred crows emerged from my coat, following Raum. Raum could control my crows as long as I consented.
Once Raum was gone, I placed the potion bottle in the system's storage and turned my body into ashes, quickly flying towards the hospital where my father was. In just seconds, I arrived at the hospital and, in ash form, entered and found the room where my father was held. What surprised me was that two men in black suits were guarding the door of the room where my father was.
*Who are these guys?*
At first, I thought these men might be members of my gang, but they didn't have any tattoos on their throats. Moreover, only the regional leaders in the gang knew my identity, and I had explicitly told them not to interfere with my family under any circumstances. I didn't expect them to defy my words. Even though I hadn't been in this world for two years, I had told them what would happen if they went against my words.
Deciding to think about it later, I passed by the guards and entered the room. Inside the room, I saw my father lying on a bed in the corner. The only indication that my father was alive was the rise and fall of his chest. He had weakened considerably, and his wrists had become thin. Seeing my father in this state squeezed my heart, and I felt a profound sense of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I hope I can make up for this mistake," I said in a hushed voice, exposing my body to the camera with my back turned. Without wasting any time, I took the potion from the system's storage and carefully poured it into my father's mouth.
The potion would take an hour to take effect, and Raum must have already found Gwen. Just as I was about to turn my body into mist and leave the hospital, I saw my world shatter like glass.
"You came back earlier than I expected"
I heard a woman's voice behind me. When I turned around, I saw a bald woman in yellow clothes.
"Ancient One," I said in a serious tone.
The Ancient One first looked at me and then at my father lying in the bed behind me. Her eyes lingered on my father for a while.
"I've been living for a very long time, and you're the most hypocritical man I've ever seen," said the Ancient One. No emotion was discernible from her face or voice.
Upon hearing these words, a broad smile formed on my face, and just two seconds later, this smile turned into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA, don't make me laugh. I know you draw power from the dark dimension to live this long. Now tell me, which one of us is two-faced?" I asked. The smile on my face turned serious towards the end of my statement.
When the Ancient One heard my words, the emotionless expression on her face faltered for a second, then quickly recovered.
"Just a year after we sent you into exile, I heard various rumors circulating in the universe. These rumors spoke of someone roaming and destroying planets. People gave him many names: the god of war, the god of carnage, the one-eyed crow, the end of worlds. Initially, I thought this person was just a newly emerged psychopath, but as time passed, the rumors became more detailed. They said this person had not only one eye and one arm, but also snow-white hair," said the Ancient One, looking at my severed left arm and the eye band on my left eye.
"In fact, I knew these rumors were about you, and I realize now that I made a big mistake by sending you into exile," said the Ancient One.
"So, what, am I the villain now? Actually, instead of people being afraid of me, they should be thanking me. I nearly wiped out the Kree Empire, which had killed many innocent people in this universe... If you ask me, what I did was quite good," I said with a serious expression.
Hearing her words, the Ancient One looked into my eyes. After approximately ten seconds of eye contact, she said, "Who are you fooling? All you wanted was to kill others to become more powerful."
"While you were destroying planets, I took measures to stop you," the Ancient One added.
Upon hearing her words, I had to restrain myself from bursting into laughter. I looked at the Ancient One with a wide smile, but when I saw her serious expression, I understood that she wasn't joking.
"What have you done?" I asked seriously.
The Ancient One smiled at me when she saw the disappearance of the smile on my face.
"There are two people in this world whom you wouldn't harm, Derek. One is your father, and the other is your sister, Gwen. While you were annihilating worlds, we secretly observed you. You were so focused on your massacres that you didn't notice us. Gwen initially argued that there must be a reason for what you were doing, but as you continued to destroy planets, she realized how absurd that thought was," the Ancient One said, pausing for a moment before continuing.
"As time went on, Gwen grew angry with you. The reason wasn't your destruction of worlds; it was the lies you told her all this time. Gwen wanted to learn magic from me, and I taught her magic along with my other student. I must admit both my students were very talented. I trained them solely to prevent you from harming this world, and they proved to be very capable and creative, although not as powerful as you," the Ancient One said.
Upon hearing the Ancient One's words, all I could do was remain silent. It felt as if I had lost the game I had played until the last part. The personality I had hidden from Gwen since I came to this world had been exposed, and it was tearing me apart inside. In my past life, I had lost my family, and in this life, I would never allow them to die, but my beloved sister, whom I valued more than my own life, was now angry with me, even furious.
While these thoughts were crossing my mind, I remained silent for two minutes. Then, a great anger grew within me; this anger was directed towards the Ancient One. My hand swiftly moved, and I grabbed the Ancient One by the throat.
"You bastard!" I said, squeezing his throat until I ripped him apart. As his body fell to the ground, a voice came from behind me.
"Let's make a deal, Derek," said the voice behind me.
When I turned around, I saw a healthy Ancient One looking at me. I wasn't surprised to see him, as it was impossible for such a powerful sorcerer to die so easily. I forcibly restrained the anger within me and asked, "What deal?"
"The deal is quite simple. You won't slaughter innocent people in this universe in exchange for Gwen giving you another chance, and I'll tell her that you've changed. I must make it clear that Gwen sees me as a mentor, and there should be no doubt that she will listen to my words," said the Ancient One.
In reality, the deal was easier than I thought. Even if I refrained from committing atrocities in this universe, I could travel to new universes over time and do as I pleased there. To fulfill this deal, I just needed to restrain myself a bit while in this universe.
"When will you tell Gwen?" I asked.
"As you know, I will die soon, Derek. If you fulfill your part of the deal, the day I die, I'll tell Gwen to give you another chance," said the Ancient One, extending his right hand to me.
I fell silent, looking at the hand the Ancient One offered. As I thought, the deal was straightforward, and I only needed to hold back a bit while in this universe to complete it.
"We have a deal," I said, shaking his hand.
As I shook the Ancient One's hand, flames formed in my hand and quickly leaped onto the Ancient One, turning him to ashes in just seconds.
"Are you serious?" said the Ancient One behind me.
"No harm in trying," I said.
As I said this, about fifty crows emerged from my coat and started circling around me. In a second, I was on the rooftop of a building, and Raum was standing on a wall next to me.
~What happened?~ Raum asked.
"Don't ask things you already know," I said, looking down at the party happening below us.
—
Meanwhile, the Ancient One was looking at the spot where Derek disappeared.
"He's getting stronger quite quickly; I hope Gwen can rein him in," said the Ancient One, opening a portal and leaving.