The troll’s body suddenly convulsed.
His muscles bulged violently as if sothing inside him was tearing through his flesh.
"GRAAAAH!"
The creature roared in agony.
The goblin leader wasn’t much better. His body trembled as black veins spread across his skin like crawling insects.
The surrounding goblins panicked.
"Chief!"
But the troll’s roar grew louder.
Bones cracked.
His already massive fra expanded further, his spine arching as demonic energy erupted from his body.
Then—
A chi echoed.
[Follower has awakened secondary skill: Regeneration Burst]
The troll slamd both fists into the ground.
The earth shattered beneath him.
His wounds instantly closed.
anwhile the goblin leader gasped.
His eyes flashed with a strange golden light.
Another notification appeared.
[Follower has awakened secondary skill: Instinct of the Pack]
Damon slowly lowered his hand.
The troll stood there breathing heavily.
The goblin leader bowed deeply.
Both of them looked at Damon as if staring at a god.
Damon’s expression slowly turned into a smile.
"Interesting."
Then the next notification appeared.
And it shook Damon to his core.
[Trolls have begun evolution → War Trolls]
Demonic energy detected. Evolution progressing → Demon War Trolls.]
Damon felt sothing tear away from him.
A stream of power flowed from his body and poured into the trolls.
But the trolls were not the only ones changing.
Another notification appeared.
[Redcap Goblins have begun evolution → Redcap Hobgoblins]
Demonic energy detected. Evolution progressing → Demon Redcap Goblins.]
Damon stared in horror.
Every goblin and every troll around them began to change.
Even the ones he had not touched.
Their bodies swelled and twisted. Muscles thickened, bones cracked and reford, their fras growing larger and far more monstrous.
A sharp headache stabbed through Damon’s skull.
His demonic energy was spreading through them all.
Their forms continued to shift before slowly stabilizing.
When they finally stopped moving, their eyes opened again.
Clearer.
Sharper.
Carrying a darker and more sinister intelligence.
Lana stumbled backward.
Her hands trembled as she collapsed onto the ground.
"What... what is this..."
Her voice shook.
"They’ve beco demons."
Yes.
That was exactly what had happened.
They had beco sothing closer to demons.
Damon could feel it.
If he used Demon Dominate on them now, it would work perfectly.
"Wait..." Damon muttered slowly.
"Does this an I can turn non-demon races into demons?"
His gaze slowly shifted toward Lana.
She was staring at the creatures in pure shock and fear.
Only now did Damon fully understand the nature of Bestowal.
He had underestimated it.
Now he saw the truth.
It truly was a twisted boon.
Power would be bestowed as a blessing.
But the price...
The price was a corrupted nature.
Was that not exactly how the Unknown God operated?
No power ca without a cost.
Damon himself was living proof of that.
He had gained his power only after paying a terrible price.
He had cannibalized others.
His spirit had been crushed.
His soul stained.
Even now he carried that sha deep within his heart.
And the worst part?
If he returned to those desperate days again...
He knew he would still make the sa choice.
Slowly Damon turned toward Lana.
She was the only person present who did not fully know his secret.
Matia was his shadow.
She would die for him without hesitation.
Renata was demonkin. She would never expose him.
Wendy had once been a monster herself. Human morality ant little to her.
But Lana...
Lana was different.
She had followed him out of loyalty.
A pure and devoted knight.
Perhaps she never should have co here.
Blood slowly dripped from Damon’s nose.
Using Bestowal had strained him. His Heart of Shadows had beco unstable from the surge of demonic energy and the stress on his soul.
Lana had co because she wanted to protect him.
He understood that.
Which made it all the more unfortunate.
He might have to kill her.
Damon slowly walked toward her.
Behind Lana, Matia silently ford a sword of ice.
If Damon truly intended to kill his knight, Matia would not hesitate.
She would swing the blade herself.
But Damon lightly shook his head.
Not yet.
He stepped closer and gently lifted Lana’s chin with his hand.
Then, with a soft and dangerously smooth voice, he asked,
"Lana sh..."
"Who do you serve?"
How Lana answered that question would decide whether she lived or died.
Damon did not want to kill her.
But he would.
He could not risk his secrets being exposed. Not now. Not ever. Especially after Sylvia’s prophecy about the day his lies would finally be revealed.
I will kill whoever I must to protect the life I have now.
Lana looked up at him.
Damon’s face was calm. Gentle, even.
He did not look like soone who ant her harm.
And she suddenly realized sothing.
This was still the grandson of the Grand Duke.
And she was his knight.
Lana straightened and gave a formal salute.
"I am your knight, my lord."
Damon smiled faintly.
Then he slowly raised his hand. His expression turned cold.
"Then accept my Bestowal."
Power poured from his palm.
Lana gasped as sothing entered her body.
Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.
She could feel it spreading through her very being.
Her soul.
Her nature.
Her mana surged violently, growing stronger and denser. Her strength increased as if invisible chains were breaking one after another.
It felt incredible.
Beautiful.
But then sothing else followed.
Sothing dark.
A thin wisp of sothing sinister crept into her soul and settled there like a seed.
The first visible change appeared in her eyes.
Her amber irises darkened slightly.
Her skin beca paler.
Her hair lengthened as if touched by a silent wind.
Damon watched carefully.
Bestowal only worked on those who truly considered themselves his subordinates. By acknowledging that she served him, Lana had unknowingly opened herself to this transformation.
Lana slowly raised her trembling hands.
Power filled them.
She stared at them in disbelief.
Damon frowned slightly.
The change was... minimal.
Only her eyes and hair had altered slightly.
No horns.
No wings.
She had not beco demonkin like he expected.
Strange.
He had been certain she would transform into one.
A thought crossed his mind.
Damon had always wondered how demonkin originally ca to exist.
Perhaps it was because—
Lana slowly stood.
She looked directly into his eyes.
At that mont the system chid again.
[Individual: Lana sh has evolved → Demonic Human.]
Damon raised an eyebrow.
That was a first.
He had never heard of such a race before.
Still, he slowly lifted his hand and whispered,
"Demon Dominate."
An invisible pressure spread outward.
Everyone froze.
The goblins.
The trolls.
Even the newly transford ones.
All of them fell under the overwhelming authority of Demon Dominate.
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