Mind Demon's Path of Domination

P'oof took out his mask.

Mask of the Savage!

Mark frowned.

Bringing that mask out should have made P'oof vulnerable. Now, Mark knew what to break to make sure he killed P'oof. After all, a savage can only die if their mask is broken. Yet, why would the man take his mask out regardless?

Does that mask have some secrets I don't know about? Does it make him stronger?

"What, are you not coming, demon?" P'oof taunted.

Mark hesitated, legs planted firmly against the cliff. He could only attack P'oof when the opponent wasn't defending—only then would the Glass Dome vanish. And the enemy wasn't defending only when he was attacking.

If he went closer to the man, P'oof would certainly attack, if he could dodge that attack, he should be able to take that chance when Glass Dome was inactive to touch P'oof's body. If he could touch, he could win. Alchemic Shapeshifting would kick in.

But what is this ominous feeling?

He felt as if his death was certain if he closed in. Should I stop playing and bring out the Boss to help me? No, even the Boss would be in danger of death against P'oof.

P'oof's Sword was a Tier 3 attack and the Boss' ability to turn into a phantom wouldn't help against its slashes. The boss was a rather easy target compared to Mark, too.

If I am releasing it out, it has to be in an opportune moment.

"Oh, you aren't coming then," P'oof said. "Then I will come to you."

Before Mark could react, a rock slammed into his face and his vision was blocked for a short moment. His heart thudded inside his chest as he heard the sound of whistling wind—a sword was flying through the air at incredible speed towards him.

How is it this fast?!

Mark was as fast as sound—343 M/s—and that was the average speed of a Tier 2 Demon with wings. He was faster than savages in the air by quite a lot unless they had a movement ability, which P'oof didn't have.

How did he become so fast suddenly?

Mark didn't have time to think and with all his effort, moved to the left. The sword was too quick to be completely dodged and the sharp thing pierced into his knees, Mark still flew up, completely severing his leg from the knee down in the process.

Alchemic Shapeshifting!

He touched his thighs and created a new leg—Black Water immediately nourished the body part and in the few seconds that took Mark to fl;y over to another part of the cliff, he had regrown the limb.

Ha… ha… ha…

It hurt like hell.

"How is he so fast?"

Suddenly, Mark saw P'oof jump into the air from the ground, a sword clutched like a javelin in his hand. "Did you think I'd wait for you to attack me? Here, die!"

Ultimate Demonic Art—Parasitic Dream Shock!

Mark gritted his teeth as a transparent dome glinted around P'oof. The man had acted like he was attacking to gaude him into wasting an attack. He hadn't been planning to throw that sword.

P'oof landed back calmly.

This is enough, Mark decided.

He flew and landed on the ground, too.

"P'oof. Tell me, you are getting so much Mindpower from your Third Eye, and your speed just increased way more than it should. What just happened?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Mark walked forward and stood just an inch away from the Glass Dome. Now, being the faster one, P'oof would have the advantage and he could simply slash, taking away Mark's head. But when he does that, for a second, he would be vulnerable to Dream Shock—which he had already seen—too.

The faster one would win. Was Dream Shock faster than P'oof's current masked state?

The Hamster rolled around above Mark's hair. It had barely survived the battle so far due to Mark's covert protection.

P'oof's eyes glinted. "We savages are born to rule the world. Our masks are the biggest proof of that. Even while being a Pinnacle Tier 2 creature, I have the battle power of a Low-level Tier 3 being—dying to me is your honor."

Mark said calmly, his whole being radiating readiness. "The demons are beyond your beliefs, naive fool. There are Tier 7 and 8 demons out there and we are but frogs in the well. You overestimate yourself."

"So what?" P'oof laughed, gripping his sword, readying his heart. "If there ever appears a Tier 8 Savage, won't they be stronger than a Tier 8 Demon?"

Mask of the Savage truly was a powerful Trait!

It made all their Attacks a small tier higher.

Mark chuckled in scorn. "You know that your race's highest potential is Tier 2. There is no path for you. You will forever remain a Tier 2, just the way you are born."

"..." P'oof spat to the side.

He was a man with no confidence against true opponents, and if he killed Mark today, he would change that weakness about himself. He had been trying to make Mark somewhat gloomy before that decisive moment but the one who had become gloomy was himself.

Suddenly, Mark's eyes lit up.

"I understand," he said. "Unlike a Silver Savage's Mask, your mask not only increases the Tier of your savage magic but also increases the power of your physique and mind by a small tier."

When wearing his Mask, P'oof's Physique and Mind stat were also elevated by a small tier!

P'oof was stunned.

Now, the savage in front of Mark was completely as strong as a Tier 3 Low-level Savage while being a Tier 2 Pinnacle-level!

No wonder he was so fast! ђө!∫т@εժ--σп--

Indeed, the information in Mark's status hadn't shown this fact clearly due to a simple thing. It said that all abilities would be elevated by a small-tier, and that included Physical and Mental abilities, sheer power, too. Not only savage magic!

Suddenly, facing P'oof in a fast-man life didn't sound smart to Mark.

"Too late to regret!" P'oof's sword cut through the air and moved towards Mark's neck at incredible speed. Suddenly, he stopped. Everything stopped. The falling leaf, the dust in the air, and the dripping sweat—everything stopped as if it were a painting.

Mark calmly moved out of the sword's way.

Clown's Circus!

Everything a thousand meters around Mark had frozen in time.

30 seconds!

"I didn't want to use this…" Mark sighed. "But in the end, this means, without using Clown's Circus, I can't kill a Golden Savage with my current strength."

Not when they were in their Masked form.

He walked up to P'oof and touched the man's mask—he didn't use Alchemic Shapeshifting but used a different Trick instead. Parasite!

He began to absorb the enemy's Mindpower and frowned soon enough. Indeed, it was as if the enemy had a bottomless well of Mindpower; it didn't get emptied even after 10 seconds of absorption.

"What a pity, I wanted to use you as my next Parasitic Host…"

Now, he can only kill P'oof. Abducting him into the World Space was too dangerous—Mark could certainly through him into the ocean inside his World Space now, but the man could use his Glass Dome as a boat and slowly move to where Yuri and the others were.

If the Clown's Circus stopped working, Mark wouldn't be able to do the same Trick today again, either.

Alchemic Shapeshifting.

P'oof's Mask suddenly cracked from the middle and turned into sand, sliding down his skin.

Does breaking his Mask make him normal, though?

Since all his attacks would be at Tier 2 level without his Mask, won't he be weak now? At least, Mark was confident in handling a Tier 2 Pinnacle Savage even if they had infinite Mindpower.

Mark looked at the man's Third Eye from up close. It was a yellowish shade, and curious, his Soul Sense penetrated the depths of it with impunity, Mark's mind shook and he paled. Deep within those eyes, there was something horrible.

A detached Will of the Savage World.

The world itself was providing P'oof with Mindpower when he fought Mark. No wonder he seemed to have infinite Mindpower—the World was giving him aid. For a second, Mark had wanted to absorb the weakened P'oof into his World Space but he decided otherwise.

He didn't want even the whiff of a foreign World's Will inside him!

Does this mean the Golden Savages are made by the World Will itself? That would certainly make sense as to why they are so strong. But Hunters were made by using the Demons as the raw material, how is a Golden Savage truly born? Did they also use someone or something as raw material?

13 seconds remained!

For now, I should just collect his Heart Blood.

The nerves on Mark's hand bulged and he punched a hole directly into the enemy's Heart. There were two hearts in a savage and Mark chose the more vibrant one. Pulling out the warm thing, he saw a stopped heart with golden liquid inside it.

Alchemic Shapeshifting!

He transformed it into the shape of a bottle and not a single drop of it was lost.

1 second.

P'oof opened his eyes blankly and stared at Mark, who was storing away his heart in his World Space.

"Demon, you are… going to die…" he said, smiling with blood all over his face, then, he slumped onto the floor. Mark frowned and stepped back, then watched the enemy die calmly.

Whatever, I should go and hand this blood to my Puppet. It should be able to become a stronger Savage with this.

He wondered if he could turn his Puppet into a Golden Savage by giving it the entire stock of Heart Blood that a Gold Lord had. Meanwhile, he handed it to Yuri along with the Golden Savage corpse—she might notice something else.

====

[Mission 1: Kill 100 Silver Savages.]

[Killed: 2/100]

[Rewards:

o. Entry back into the Demon World.]

[Mission 2: Kill 10 Golden Savages.]

[Killed: 1/10]

[Rewards:

o. Portal Key.]

[Mission 3: Kill 100 Golden Savages.]

[Killed: 1/100]

[Rewards:

o. Seal of Destiny.]

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