Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The sands shifted beneath our feet while we treaded the long, forgotten paths that twisted through the desert. There was a strange hum in the air. From where it comes from, I do not know. Numia wore the mask she carried over her face with multiple pieces of damp cloth beneath it with her hood over her head and not a patch of skin exposed to the elements. The rains have long since stopped, but the ash that hung in the air and the dust carried by the winds would pose a danger for anything that breathed. Magic burned from each speck of dust. I could feel it clogging my nose repeatedly while the holes it tried to make within my lungs was quickly healed. A small sample of the material revealed to me that it had the ability to rewrite the mana lines of organisms who had prolonged exposure to the magical fallout. I scoffed as a trickle of liquid flowed out of my nose, carrying with it a large amount of dust that would've choked to death other creatures.

A heavy sigh left my mouth and a tentacle slithered out of my sleeve. With it, I looked back at Numia to see what she was doing. She had a look of utter disgust on her face and she slowed her pace and put a good distance between her and my tendril. Perhaps having multiple eyes and mouths on one tendril is unsightly for her. I felt flesh shift as I withdrew all but one eye from the tendril. Numia looked aghast and turned her head to the side. No matter. It squelched as I pulled it back into my body like slurping a large, slimy noodle. It was one of the things that I will miss in this new, harsh world. The noodle dishes of the eastern lands of the Orient Seas was one of the reasons why I conquered those vast lands. Just the thought made my mouth water and made my stomach growl loudly. Arshi Soup. If I have to conquer the world once more to taste that delightful pork broth soup once again, I will do so!

"Does this world still have pork?"

"What the fu– Of course this world still has pork!"

"Really? That's a relief! Spices? How about spices like Davurn seeds and Ayabasha spice?"

Perplexed, she scoffed at me and shook her head.

"Eastern spices? I don't think even the richest asses around here have any."

Something deflated within my chest as those words dashed my hopes of creating that delightfully heavy soup.

"Ahhhhhhh... That's a shame. Shame, shame... I was craving something heavy. Oh! Niverargd Stew? Does Niverargd still stand?"

She shook her head.

"Their breed of cattle died a few decades ago."

"Really?! No! Noooo... Damn Gods! Damn you all!"

I cursed and clutched my hands tightly and kicked up some of the dust and ash in front of me.

"Such dishes will only exist in my memory now. An empty conquest that is devoid of simple joys. This world is indeed–"

"Stop being dramatic. We still have jerky in this world."

"..."

"..."

"... I shall find little happiness in this damned, dead world."

I sighed in disappointment as we crested a mound of hardened ash.

The horizon stretched on and on, revealing the true extent of the desolation caused by that damned weapon. Empty would've been the better word for it, but even the wasteland was filled with sights and creatures that thrived off its sickly energy. Spires of petrified wood and hills turned to glass made sure that the desert wasn't just some flat, empty plane. I could see the tips of buried buildings poking out of the ash and dust. Great stones littered the expanse and the mangled remains of the once winding and thriving Forest Road could be made out even if it was buried beneath the rubble and ash. And there was a giant thing walking in the distance as well. I could see the things Numia calls "Demons" fighting for scraps in a place that will choke them to death in time and Angels in the distance floating aimlessly in search of something to kill.

It was filled with things, but it was empty for there is no soul in this place. The things that linger here and the silent stones did not hum with life, nor did they cry out the lament of death. There was just silence. An eerie silence befitting a place abandoned by Gods. Even I cannot help but shudder at the sight of it all. Numia stayed low, close to the ground with a hand on her dagger while I stretched out my arms and wings. The girl just stared at me as I adjusted my clothes. The leathery skin would not be enough. I groaned as the material changed and turned into overlapping scales of midnight black. I noticed the Angels in the distance look up and turn towards us as I finished adjusting my clothes.

"Numia, I think we are facing the wrong direction."

"What?! That can't be right! I'm– Oh. Nope, we're facing north. But we're not on the right fucking path."

She said flatly, trying her best yet failing to conceal the tinge of fear hidden within her words.

"Ah. I could take down the Angels easily, perhaps evade the Demons if need be. But that thing in the distance. That behemoth of absurd size, what is it?"

"We call those things "Flesh Titans" and why do you say it like that?"

"Say what?"

She stared at me with narrowed eyes and a raised brow.

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"Behemoth. It's "behe-moth" and not "be-he-muth". It sounds weird."

I said still and silent, staring intently at her while the gears in my mind tried to process the stupidity she just spouted from her damned, orifi—

"I'll keep that in mind."

I turned my head and stared at the Flesh Titan that slowly trudged in the horizon.

Though the magic in this world is different and far too dangerous to wield and control, that only applies to mortals and not a God. Still, I found it difficult to gather and prevent the magic around me from spilling and lashing back at me. I stretched my arm and close my eyes. In the distance, I see the hulking mass turn towards us while the Demons hide beneath the earth and Angels take flight. I took in a deep breath I move my arms and gather the magic before me in a graceful display. I slowly open my eyes as my fingers curl then stretch, then bend forwards and backward as they mold the energies that gather and coil around them. I smile, and the corners of my lips crack and stretch as I watch the Titan shift its path towards us while the Angels below dash towards us in a cloud of dust.

"In a world of magic that falls not under the laws of the Gods, I am free to wield it as how I see fit! So watch! Watch, you damned pests! Behold the power of the new God that will rule over this forsaken world!"

I laughed as released the Spell that I had created.

"Go forth, Flame of the Devourer! Ahahahahahaha!"

Flames shot out from my hands in the shape of a great maw.

In an instant, it tore through the earth and the face of the cliff below us. It met the Angels in a violent clash, bouncing from one then to another, leaving only the blackened remains of the foul constructs as it burned it in a second. With a flick of my hand, the Spell jumped from the last Angel then up to the air. I lifted my arm and quickly brought it down, the Spell mirroring it as it soared through the sky like a dazzling comet straight towards the Flesh Titan. The two of us watched as the behemoth of flesh looked up and was instantly blasted by the powerful Spell. Numia cheered as flames engulfed the bloated head of the thing while I smugly nodded at my work. The creature did not roar nor make any other sound aside from the thunderous impact of its massive, trunk-like feet as it took a few steps forward. It slowly reached for its face as the fire spread and ate away at everything quickly like a ravenous wolf.

"Behold, Numia! The power of the one that brought the world to its knees!"

Numia was speechless, as she should be. I nodded to myself a few times while I took in Numia's astounded silence.

"Speechless? That is alright. Even my first servants were like that when I first ascended to the title of–"

She tapped me on the shoulder and I lifted an eyelid to look at her.

"What? What are you pointing at? Are you impressed with the speed that fire could eat at the... Titan's... body."

As I said those words, I turn towards the smoldering shape that lumbered towards us.

The flames have died out, yet not a single patch of burnt flesh could be seen on the Flesh Titan. It was closer now, and I could now see why they call it the "Flesh Titan". Its body was made from large, clumps of misshapen and large clumps of flesh held together by stretch tendons and veins and writhing masses that looked like elongated arms with no skin. It had no face. Only indents were eyes, nostrils, and a mouth should've been. I watched as large chunks of its body fell off from it as the mass trudged towards us. Its arm rippled as it stretched it towards us with its fingers the size of a full-grown man. Numia emptied the contents of her stomach on me, and I gazed at the things that made up the thing's body. Demons, people, animals, and even monsters had become assimilated with the creature, and I heard the anguished cries of some who still had their consciousness intact. What loomed before I was an abomination. Something that even the greatest Necromancers in my army would never dare unleash even upon our enemies.

"Numia, stand behind me."

A shadow fell around us as the Titan began to slowly close its hand around us. Arms, unnatural and misshapen ones, reached out towards us and tried to grab at us while the net began to close around us.

"Close your eyes."

"S-Sure."

"... And I'm sorry if this will get messy."

I smiled as I wrapped my arm around her head and covered her ears.

"Rooahrghan, vie kutrrn va'aargh gamul."

My face cracked and my chest was torn apart from the inside as I held Numia tightly.

Something grabbed at me. It tastes rancid, like meat left for far too long under the heat of the desert sun. Still, I began to eat. I could feel the contents of my head slipping out, my insides turning into outsides, and my eyes and mouths open eagerly to feast. The Titan's hand that had formed into a tight fist around us was quickly eviscerated and its flesh was quickly devoured. I licked my gaping mouth with one of my tongues as all of my eyes turned towards the unfeeling mountain of meat in front of me. I felt my body change once more as I let out more and more of myself. Something sprouted from the Titan's chest and shot towards me. My body split open down the middle and across the chest, exposing only the endless rows of teeth and the eternal darkness within. I bit down on the pillar of hardened muscle and nails and hair and quickly devoured it. I could taste the myriad of souls that formed this amalgamation of pain and bodies.

A bloated hand crashed onto my side, only to be wrapped and entangled by my many arms. In an instant, the arm disappeared as the mouths on my tendrils bit down and ate the Titan's arm from the shoulder down. My body continued to change, and I crashed my face onto the Titan's head. My jaws locked down onto its head while it too tried to pull me into it. The wolf-like teeth cut and sank deep into the Titan's flesh, and I tasted the foulness of poison. I pressed more of my jaws into the thing. From circular mouths to massive fangs like that of a spider, I did everything I could to finish my meal. My mandibles crushed bits and pieces of bone while more of my tentacles wrapped and crushed the Titan until I was able to suck up an entire leg. Despite the rotten taste of the Titan's body, the trapped souls, like the delectable marrow found within broken bones, I thoroughly enjoyed and lapped up greedily as they flowed out of their bloated prison. Within a few minutes, I have devoured most of the Titan save for a large chunk of its stomach. From my chest, barbed arms tipped with sharpened claws shot out and impaled the slab of meat and dragged it into my body. As I licked up the last of the fetid poison around us, I released Numia from my hold.

"W-What the fuuu– aaaaAAAAAAGHHHH?!"

"Do not fear, Numia."

She crawled away as I slowly pulled myself together.

"W-What the fuck do you mean?! Y-You look messed– Is that an eye in your mouth?! W-Why do you have a mouth in your chest?!"

I looked down at myself and saw a fraction of my true form. I chuckled and shook my head.

"For what it's worth, you are one of the first that did not clutch their head and bash it when in their madness after seeing even a part of myself."

I said just as the final pieces of myself snapped and melded together. I looked down and saw that I had a vaguely human arm once more.

"We could take days walking, maybe even a week. Or, we could travel for a few hours and we would reach that town of yours by dawn. And lucky for us, I just cleared us a path!"

She raised a brow at me as I pointed with both hands and all of my tentacles at the clear patch of land before us.

"D-Do I even have a choice?"

A smile crept up on my face at her question.

"Good question. Err... No. It'll be fun! Here, I'll carry you!"

"... What?"