CH741

All at once, the world changed. The demon was flooded with power, more than it had ever felt before and the world around it slowed down. Seconds turned into minutes for it as it felt the thrill of success screaming out to it. It had done it, it had pushed beyond its limits, reaching greater heights just like its god had hoped and it could feel the power it now held acting as the reward.

Not just in the strength it had gained though but the skill as well. The voice in its head that sang of its newfound strength told it as much and it could feel the change itself as the link it had up with all of its limbs strengthened significantly.

More than that though, it could feel the limits of its magic practically disappear. Until then, it would only see five minutes down any path but now? Now it felt like there was no limit, at least for the time. It was sure it would find one after it tested its new power for a bit but that was going to need to wait. In the moment it had only one goal, dominating the creature that had caused it so much trouble.

A part of it wanted to kill it then and there but the demon held itself back. No matter what rage filled it, the fact the creature had been able to push it so far was a testament to how useful it would be and now feeling victory on its fingertips it stretched out with its magic, looking for the future where it won.

And it found nothing. It was so much more powerful than it had been only moments before and could create more paths for itself to walk down with all of that strength too but it couldn’t see a single one where it came out on top, forcing a scream from its throat at the unjustness of it all. It had pushed so far past its limits, why could it still not win?

It was a question it wasn’t going to get an answer to; its time limit was up. Feeling something creeping into its head no matter how it tried to fight it off, eventually the world went black around it, spelling out its defeat.

<DEEP CONNECTION LEVEL INCREASED>

<UNNATURAL INSPIRATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<UNNATURAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<ESOTERIC ACTUALIZATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<HIVE MIND LEVEL INCREASED>

<ILL INTENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<ALL AFFINITY RESISTANCE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

As Ben slumped down to the ground in exhaustion, every other person and demon around him did the same.

“Alright, that was a little too freaking close for comfort.”

When he’d first connected with the demon he’d thought he was going to have a heart attack when he saw it was a contender for two skills and then had nearly been sick when he heard it awaken them. He’d known it had to have had an unreasonably high level in its skills but he hadn’t been remotely prepared for what he’d found and all he could do was thank his lucky stars his mind was still more powerful in the end. The demon had lost the second he’d gotten within its range but it had insisted on making it feel close the entire time.

<Uh, Ben?> Myriad asked, breaking him from his thoughts. <Is what just happened what I think?>

“Did the demon reach the third tier you mean? Yeah, that happened and I have bad news on top of it.”

<I don’t want to hear it, I’m going to be up here panicking for a bit.>

“Well, sorry but you’ve gotta, but just for emphasis I want to say this is only kind of my fault.”

<…I don’t like where this is going.>

“I’m reading this thing’s memories as we speak. Because of how definitively the first wave ended it looks like Oaun sent down a few of his more promising prospects. It can’t be a ton but I’m pretty sure there’s other contenders that made it to this world.”

<…Okay, I’ll tell the others.> His god said in defeat, trusting the news no matter how bad it was. On the one hand, that was going to be their first recorded time having the demons well and truly break whatever self-imposed rules they had for themselves but on the other, if it was a reaction to what happened after the first wave then it made sense. No matter how it happened or what was done to cause it, their victory on that front had been decisive enough to demand a change from their enemies. <I suppose that could explain some of what we’ve found since the wave ended.>

“Like what?”

<Villages emptied before reports of demons in the area could even be found, if it’s only been one or two powerful ones making their way through instead of groups of them then that would make sense and it ties in with the lack of ghosts we’ve been finding in the world until now. When hell opened up the planet should have been flooded but now we’re barely getting any sightings, it speaks of a potential demon or group of demons with an unfortunate level of control over the dead.>

Ben pinched his brow when he heard that. “We literally passed a group of ghosts heading somewhere earlier. They weren’t going in our direction so Thera dealt with them but I could feel them being led. Fucking hell, I guess someone needs to spread the word that if anyone finds any ghosts in the future then they need to be followed.”

<I’ll call for an emergency meeting up here. For now though, what do you intend to do about that?>

Ben didn’t need to ask what Myriad was talking about, it was obvious nobody wanted the birth of a demon god on the world, the planet just so happened to be lucky enough that it happened around the person most equipped to prevent it.

“I’ll deal with it in a minute. For now, there’s something I need to do first.”

He’d taken over the demon completely but had gained an unexpected side benefit in the mix as not only had he dominated that one but every other creature under it too. He already had the more distant demons moving and with a small bit of will, he had the rest kill each other as quickly as he could.

Each bite of tooth and claw felt like they were tearing into his own flesh but he was able to get past it as all of the demons in the area slowly died until there was only a single one left.

With the rest gone, that left only the ringleader before him and he felt himself begin to salivate with what that meant as he pulled out one of his knives and altered the shape and enchantments on it before enchanting on a rainbow mana crystal to place within.

He had to trap the soul to ensure it never rose to godhood, that would be a nightmare for both gods and mortals alike, but that wasn’t where his thoughts lied in the moment. That thing was going to become a god, in some senses it already was, and he let himself hope that it would be enough for the notification he so desperately wanted to finally ring out as he slid his blade into the creature’s heart.

<EVIL AFFINITY LEVEL INCREASED>

<DESTRUCTION AFFINITY LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE WORLD KILLER JOB ACHIEVED>

…Good enough I guess.