"Where am I?"
Damian mumbled as he found himself floating at the center of a dark world. Above him, a storm of black clouds spiraled into a furious whirlpool, thunderbolts flashing endlessly from every direction, striking at random as if the sky itself had gone mad.
Below him was a familiar sight he had encountered once before. A single massive crimson eyeball stared up at him. It was so vast that it stretched to the edges of this strange realm, its red surface endless, its gaze inescapable.
"Abyss..." Damian gasped in realization.
The last thing he rembered was unleashing the power of the abyss. And now he was here.
How?
"You have called upon ... What do you desire from ?"
The world quaked beneath the deafening voice. The storm above churned violently, and goosebumps spread across Damian’s body. Against demons, he felt rage instead of fear. But in the presence of this entity, which did not even seem capable of negative intent toward him, he was terrified beyond reason.
Sothing deep within him warned that this encounter would not end well.
"I don’t want anything," Damian replied quickly.
Nothing in this world was free, especially not on the dark side of the universe. If he asked for sothing, he would have to surrender sothing in return. He was certain of it.
The eye seed to dilate at his answer. Its pupil narrowed into a threatening slit while the crimson surface glowed brighter.
"For every ti I am called upon, I will carry out one task alone. In exchange, a part of you will be replaced with a part of . The trade will continue until you beco a part of and I beco you."
The voice grew heavier, more oppressive, yet it took its ti explaining the terms before returning calmly to its original question.
"You have called upon ... What do you desire from ?"
Buzz!
Damian shuddered, his heart pounding frantically as the sa question echoed once more. He glanced down at himself and froze. He was naked, and his body had been divided into twenty five pieces, like a puzzle forced together. The implication struck him instantly.
’What should I do?’
’What happens if I refuse?’
He did not want to find out. He feared the lesson would be permanent, and the price far greater than what was already being demanded.
"K... Kill that... kill that demon!" Damian forced the words out, his voice trembling as he stuttered through them.
The threatening glow in the abyss’s eye dimd. Its pupil expanded once more, returning to its original form.
"Very well..." it thundered.
anwhile...
"Impossible... That power... It can’t be."
Bathin muttered. His body was covered in goosebumps, and sweat soaked through him as though he had been caught in a sudden downpour.
The presence radiating from the human before him was no longer that of Lin Qui. It was the presence of the Demon Lord himself. Only the wielder of the abyss inheritance could exude such authority.
How could one human possess both the power of lust and the abyss within a single body?
Bathin pulled his horse in the opposite direction, contemplating escape as he stared at the dark knight who stood motionless and imposing. Just like before, he feared the power, not the human wielding it.
Retreating and reporting to the Lord of Greed was the most reasonable course of action. Yet where there was grave danger, there was also opportunity.
If he could kill Damian and seize both the inheritance of lust and the abyss, would he still need to bow to a re Prince of Greed?
"With that combined power, not only will those bitches beco my whores, I will have the strength to defeat the other princes and beco the fifth Demon Lord of the underworld..."
It was a life changing opportunity.
But could he defeat the dark knight?
If the inheritance of lust was already this terrifying in the hands of an inexperienced human, how much more terrifying would the inheritance of the Demon Lord be?
Yet just as before, Damian’s power was imnse but raw. He lacked experience.
"If I could beat him then, I can beat him now. I just need to be more careful," Bathin decided, tightening his grip on the broom.
The body he inhabited was nearing its limit. He needed to finish this quickly and claim his prize before the disturbance attracted unwanted attention.
Swish!
In an instant, Bathin and his horse appeared directly before Damian. His demonic lance surged with a violent maelstrom of dark energy while his scorpion tail lashed forward in a simultaneous strike.
He intended to end it in a single, decisive blow.
However...
Buzz!
A pair of fiery crimson lights ignited within the helt.
Ti seed to slow almost to a complete standstill. Bathin and his attacks continued moving, but at a sluggish, unnatural pace. Despite this distortion, his mind remained sharp, fully aware of the sudden shift.
"Not all things are born equal. An ant cannot reach for the heavens. Likewise, you, Bathin, must forgo the dream of ever sitting upon that throne."
The voice was cold, cruel, and sinister. Then it overlapped with countless identical voices, as though a thousand beings spoke in perfect unison.
It was a voice he knew.
He had heard it countless tis.
It was the voice of the Demon Lord.
Bathin stared deeply at Damian, his eyes widening as he glimpsed the faint image of a single massive crimson eyeball looming behind the dark knight like a silent guardian.
’He made a deal with the abyss!’
The realization struck him with overwhelming terror. Of course. There was no way a mortal could wield such power freely. The abyss would demand a bargain in exchange for its might.
His greed had blinded him to a crucial truth that should have stayed his hand. How could he hope to defeat the very power the Demon Lord relied upon to stand against the supre deity?
The death knight casually extended his hand. Dark flas erupted from his palm, condensing into a massive two handed longsword, rusted and ancient, yet burning with pitch black fire. Bathin was still trapped in the slowed flow of ti, powerless to alter his fate.
"No, forgoing your dreams will not suffice. You must forgo your life for even harboring such a ridiculous dream!"
The abyss was rciless.
With a single swing, the sword released an arc of searing black flas that devoured everything in its path, including Bathin and his pale horse.
The attack stretched for miles, leaving behind a charred, withered scar across the land, several kiloters wide and extending far beyond the horizon. When the flas finally faded, nothing remained of Bathin or his mount.
It was total annihilation.
And it had been accomplished with a single strike.
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