Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Mark's eyes moved nervously for a second before he calmed down.

The insides of this Dungeon seemed like what he would expect from an Asian mansion: tatami mats, spread-out rooms, huge stairs, and the smell of rust and paper.

But he suddenly became incredibly wary. There were no Demons in sight.

Yet, at the same time, he felt a weird sense of safety. This was inside a Dungeon, and now, there was no issue even if he moved five meters away from Dona.

There was a black veil hugging the walls like a skin, keeping the World Will of the Hunter World away. It was a sort of barrier—Dungeon Barrier, to be exact. This whole mansion was covered and protected by it.

Taking out the key to the handcuff tying him to Dona, he undid it, and Dona looked at the fallen metal curiously.

Mark took the Hamster from the top of his head and placed it on the ground. He briefly glanced at it, and a smirk was planted on his face. He had added enough thoughts into its mind to make it averse to going out of his head.

Dungeon Heart Seed!

He had planted thoughts of loyalty onto it in excess, and since it had become familiar to him throughout the day, indeed, the Dungeon Heart Seed ability succeeded.

He felt a new Heart Seed inside it and a five-meter transparent barrier.

"You stay here, just in case," Mark smirked at it, but suddenly, his face changed.

Without a second's delay, he jumped back with Dona's hand in his.

An invisible slash had appeared where he stood, and the air rippled violently. His heart thumped at the sight of the hamster that had gotten blasted away—bloody and wounded.

Mark gritted his teeth and looked around in rage.

"Fuck!" he cursed.

Dona growled silently, and her eyes turned red as she blasted a ball of fire at the emptiness before them. Nothing was caught.

Mark's expression changed once again as he felt something cling to his neck from the back. Whatever was in front had come to the back.

It was small, and its nails were sharp.

"Grhh!" Mark roared.

He backslammed his horned head, and the noise of a skull cracking echoed in the silent mansion as his horn pierced into something soft. From his back, an invisible gargoyle-like creature became visible, slumped, and fell down on the ground.

[Killed a Dwarf Flying Demon—Soul Sphere has been automatically absorbed into the Host's Soul Space.]

[Soul Sphere +3]

It was a weak Demon. Barely a Low-level Tier 0 in strength. But it could turn invisible.

Its invisibility couldn't hurt him, luckily and it had overestimated itself. Just as it died though, some kind of ability seemed to have been deactivated and tens of demons appeared all over the mansion.

None of them were even making a noise. All of them eerily looked at Mark and Dona.

"They were invisible…" Mark gritted his teeth.

He let the bag in his hand—the one Yuri had prepared—fall on the ground, and got ready for battle.

Most of these Demons were too weak to hurt him, but who knew what kind of quirky ability one of them might possess?

Multiple glares were exchanged midair, and growls began to echo all over the room.

The first to jump out at them was a spider with sharp legs, but even before it came close, Dona firmly planted her legs on the ground and jumped back.

Just when the spider reached where she had previously been, the ground under it exploded!

Boom!

Delayed Explosion!

One of Dona's three demonic tricks.

The spider was nearly charred to death, but Mark sprinted towards it, and, holding onto its sharp legs—which were not sharp enough to cut him—he tore them off.

Green blood splashed all over.

Without killing the spider, he jumped toward the nearest demon, and the spider's leg whizzed through the air. A humanoid head floated into the sky.

The spider's leg was not sharp enough to hurt him, but they could surely hurt these creatures.

Mark jumped towards the next target, a demon that looked like a boulder.

It was in front of the stairs, and its eyes were coldly staring at him.

"Your body is strong—" he said.

Dream Shock!

[Mind: 6/10]

"—but your mind is weak!"

The boulder demon was in shock, and right before it could wake up, Mark pierced the spider's leg into its eyes—the only weakness he could see.

Soon enough, the boulderous form slumped back and died. Maybe it had some kind of ability, but it never got the chance to activate it.

Mark breathed out chilled air and looked around coldly with his shimmering golden gaze.

[Killed a Boulder Demon—Soul Sphere has been automatically absorbed into the Host's Soul Space.]

[Soul Sphere +4]

Moving back, he put a hand on his bag and got hold of a bottle of black water before he looked at the next batch of demons all around the mansion. All of them were looking at him, but none of them were coming out in attack.

Indeed, he, too, was a Demon after all.

He was not a Hunter, and they were not ordered to kill a fellow Demon. It was just their aggressive nature that caused the conflict. Now that he had proved his strength, they would have no beef with him.

Not unless the Dungeon Demon orders.

Drinking the black water to replenish his Mind, Mark took the bag, grabbed Dona's hand, and walked up the stairs.

His gaze was warily roaming around, and the Demons, of many different looks and colors, looked back at him from various areas of the mansion.

He scowled at them, and they just looked at him warily.

They were all Low-level Demons in Tier 0. None of them had even reached Medium, not to mention Pinnacle. They were all prey, and he was the predator.

None dared to move anymore.

All Dungeon Demons usually had two abilities in common: Dungeon Creation and Demon Summoning. The dungeon boss here must have summoned all of these Demons using the second demonic trick.

But if the Dungeon Demon was a Pinnacle at Tier 0, it could potentially summon another Pinnacle. He had to be quick.

Mark drowned the bottle, and immediately, he threw it right at one of the demons in the distance who was preparing to jump from the wall towards them. The demon screeched and jumped back as the metal bottle lodged itself to the ceiling.

Mark smirked.

[Mind: 10/10]

He reached the top of the stairs and looked around.

"Where is the boss?" he asked.

All the demons growled at him. He spar on the ground and handed Dona another bottle of black water. She also needed to rejuvenate her Mind after using Fireball twice.

[Mind: 1/3]

Dona drank it, and her exhausted Mind was back in full health. Mark looked around, and finally, one particular room on the higher floor took his notice. Clenching his hand, he let Dona do whatever she felt to be right and sprang towards the room.

Dona was already among the strongest of the Demons here, so he was not worried about her. At worst, she could run towards him. She also had the advantage of the bottle of black water to rejuvenate herself.

Just in case, Mark had also made the bottles metal and opaque so that the demons wouldn't notice the black water and grow greedy for it. She was rather safe. Nothing would attack her for no reason unless she provoked them.

Even if she did, she could hold out.

Within a second, he was inside that one room and a solitary figure looked at him warily from the center of it. A white rune floated above the creature, and the figure of a demon crawled slowly out of the rune.

Mark grew immediately serious.

His gaze was icy.

He hadn't planned to let his hamster die today, but his hubris made that happen. His progress was ruined, and he lost a really cute creature.

For that, this Dungeon and its Demons shall pay.