"Status..."
Although the dragon didn't fully understand what those words meant, they sounded strangely familiar. But that wasn't what mattered. What did matter was his strength.
He had overwhelmed a dragon like it was nothing. He was suppressing his magical energy with ease. And he spoke Dragonic... flawlessly.
The dragon couldn't find an answer no matter how much she thought about it.
But there was one thing she couldn't ignore...
"Are you... really a human?"
***
That question caught me off guard.
My disguise was perfect. Even I would've believed I was a regular human—well, maybe not counting my absurd height.
Was she sensing something? No... There's no way, right?
"Why are you even asking such a dumb question?" I scoffed. "Do I look like something other than human?"
It was a probe. I needed to know what she was picking up on.
"N-No... But..."
"Then let's leave it at that and focus on the more pressing issue."
I looked up. The sky was caught between day and twilight, bathed in a faint orange hue.
"I-Issue...?"
"Yes. Finding the nearest town."
The dragon's face hardened. I couldn't tell if she was relieved or offended. Nonetheless she answered halfheartedly.
"If you're looking for a town, go north through the forest," she replied, followed by an exaggerated sigh. "I can't believe you'd call being lost an issue... Humans really are
strange." she mumbled.
'North, huh...' I thought.
"So, which way's north?"
With that question, the dragon decided to guide me.
Keyword: decided.
The problem? Not only did we not find a town, we somehow walked in the opposite direction—and ended up in a decaying, sand-covered village.
Honestly, that was on me. She spoke so confidently, like she knew where we were going. I trusted her. Yeah, big mistake.
We were now standing at the edge of what could only be described as an abandoned town. Wooden frames of broken houses jutted out like skeletal remains, the ground completely buried in sand.
It looked more like a desert than a village.
"So... is this the town you talked about?"
As soon as I asked, a house collapsed into the sand.
"O-Obviously! What else could you have meant…?" she replied nervously, avoiding eye contact.
"Stop lying. You know what I meant."
I sighed. "Let's just walk in a straight line. We're bound to find something eventually."
I turned toward the town. She followed behind.
"Great idea, human. I thought you were dumb, but you're surprisingly smart."
"Why are you still following me?" I asked without looking back.
She hesitated, then finally answered.
"I... have nowhere to go. And since we're both lost, I thought I'd just follow you."
"Can't you just fly?"
No answer.
Strange. She didn't even try to leave. Just quietly trailed behind me. She had also made her body smaller. Somehow...
But then, [Soulstess] picked something up.
Five energy signatures... smaller than mine or the dragon's. They were coming from beneath the ground.
These weren't animals or bugs.
"Human? What's wrong...?" she asked.
I turned my gaze to a collapsed house on the left. "Do you sense anything strange?"
She sniffed the air and looked around.
"Yes... Something smells. A faint aura."
That same aura. I'd been sensing it ever since we entered the village. It was like a soft electrical current humming through my body.
And those five spheres? They weren't just there. They were clustered. The two were definitely connected.
I walked toward the half-destroyed house.
"Human, where are we going—?"
The moment I stepped inside, her voice cut off.
A massive wave of magical energy slammed into us.
It felt like I was carrying a boulder on my back—heavy, suffocating. The dragon fared worse. The only way to stop it was to counter it with a similar force.
So I responded. I released all my magical energy at once, clashing against the invisible force pressing down on us.
The two forces collided—and canceled each other out.
Which meant... They were equal.
The dragon gasped. "Demon... That magical energy—it belonged to a demon."
"Demons? You mean the ones that feed on human emotions?"
She nodded.
Well, demons weren't new. Earth's literature was full of stories about them. But real ones? That was another matter entirely.
Still, that wasn't what concerned me. The energy hadn't come from those five spheres.
No...
It came from something else.
"Guess there's only one way to find out."
I walked deeper into the ruins. The building had no roof, the walls were full of holes, and stairs made of stone led downward.
"Human! Are you crazy?!"
"Shhh. Be quiet." I whispered.
"Why are we going towards the magical energy?!" she hissed back, barely a whisper.
I stopped in front of the staircase. "Because Lady Luck told me to trust my gut."
Yeah. Something down there was calling me. I didn't know why, but I couldn't ignore it. Lady Luck has never disappointed me.
***
—Meanwhile...
Beneath them, a hidden chamber. Smooth stone walls glowed faintly. In the center, five red-robed men knelt around a magic circle, hands clenched in silent prayer.
But it wasn't them that caught the eye.
No...
It was the thing that stood in the middle.
Eyes like blood. Armor darker than night.
A black and red aura surged around its body like a living storm.
A demon.
The five men weren't praying. They were begging. One mistake or discourtesy could cost them their lives.
"You foolish mortals... You dare summon me without a proper sacrifice?" the demon growled, its voice like thunder.
"N-N-No, please forgiv—"
The man never finished. His eyes turned gold and he plunged a bloody dagger into his own throat.
Blood gushed.
The others trembled.
They didn't move.
Didn't run...
Couldn't run.
They could only wait for death.
The demon narrowed its eyes. He was not the one who killed the summoner.
Did he really kill himself out of fear...?
"Mortals, what is the meaning of this—"
More blood. The rest slit their own throats, one by one.
The demon froze. What was going on?
But then...
Clack
Clack
Clack
Footsteps echoed. As if the whole world revolved around it.
A figure cloaked in black wearing a mask descended the stairs, a small creature perched on his shoulder. Their voices breaking through the silence.
"So? That's the demon we sensed?"
"Y-Yes," the creature whispered. "Those red eyes are their mark."
"Well, it does look different—"
Before he could finish, the demon hurled a black flame—white fire at its core—[Ghost Flare] at the cloaked figure.
It was instinct. His body just moved on its own, the being before him was dangerous. He could even rival one of the three demon generals.
Thus he didn't hesitate to attack first.
But then—
"Do you know what happens when something attacks me?" a voice spoke from the flames unbothered by it.
The demon's eyes widened.
'He survived?! How?—'
In an instant a knife plunged into the demons heart.
The cloaked figure now stood directly in front of him, holding onto the knife in his chest as he said:
"They die."
The demon coughed blood. He lashed out, but the figure vanished—only to reappear in the distance.
The demon looked down at his wound. "How...?"
He had no idea how that person could vanish and appear before him in mere seconds.
The demon raised its hand ready to launch another [Ghost Flare] but...
"[Fire Companion]" The cloaked figure said.
"What—"
...his own fire turned against him. He screamed as it devoured his flesh in a black and white inferno.
And in his final moment... a memory of his father, who viewed him as utter trash flashed through his mind...
'Father... forgive me...'
That day a [Demon Lord Candidate] died and another was born in its place.
***
Golden letters appeared before my eyes:
[Skill: [Ghost Flare] acquired]
[Skill: [Demonic Aura] acquired]
[Trait: [Demon Lord Candidate] acquired]
[First Condition for Evolution: [Demon Lord Candidate] fulfilled]
The first trait I absorbed. And I even completed an evolution condition.
Everything was going smoothly.
Until—
"Human! Look beneath you!" the dragon screamed.
The magic circle below me lit up.
'Damnit! What's happening?!'
I was being to careless. I did sense magical energy coming from the circle, but chose to ignore it.
My last attempt to escape the light of the circle was to teleport... but I was too late.
The world twisted.
And just like that—
We vanished, leaving behind only blood and corpses.