Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Currently, Mark was in a silent part of the city, at the top of a towering building overlooking the buzz below. He took in the grand sight.

The City of Demons was savage in its aesthetics. Chaotic, too. One part of it might look like a city torn out of a sci-fi movie, while another part would look ancient and worn. Meanwhile, some parts could look overgrown by weeds, while others just plain jungle.

Of course, in every part of the city, no matter its aesthetics, there was a huge building or two. And currently, Mark was standing above a part of it filled with neon lights and posters, with buildings everywhere.

Mostly, the place was silent.

He looked up.

Some demons with wings flew through the skies, and he felt a sense of regret at the sight. His own wings were hidden using the Dream Wings ability and now that he was inside the city, the demonic trick didn\'t work.

No Trick worked inside this City.

If he wanted to use his abilities while being inside the city at the same time, he had to be inside a private location. And for now, he didn\'t have the money to buy a private location—or the means to get inside one.

Of course, he could use his abilities if he entered a Colliseum game.

Until he did something like that, though, even his wings wouldn\'t work.

Sighing, Mark sat down and closed his eyes.

He had built a picture of the city in his mind and decided to go through it to figure out his path from here on out.

This city was huge, and now that he thought of it, he couldn\'t even see the Wall where he had gotten in through from here—as the Rat had said, this City alone was as big as most worlds. It was huge.

Here, a civilization of demons thrived.

Unlike the world outside the city, this place wasn\'t ruled solely by strength. The one with the stronger fist didn\'t have absolute dominance here. In the city, there were rules that one had to follow, and that included non-violence.

So not everything can be worked out with strength.

Instead of physical power, this place was ruled by money.

Souls were the most available currency, the more powerful the soul you sell, the more it was worth. In fact, Middle Demon Souls could only get you food and clothing. Nothing more. Whereas, if you could sell the soul of a Demon King, it was worth a Portal Key or a Seal of Destiny in value.

Selling a soul of a higher quality than that was unheard of.

But, if violence was not allowed in the city, how did they earn money (souls) here?

He also would have to earn.

How did the residents earn Souls, Portal Keys, and Seals of Destiny?

There were many public portals leading to other Worlds here and most Demons dived into them to earn a profit before returning. But Mark didn\'t want that, those places were deadly for him and too time consuming.

That was their major source of income yes, but there was another way.

Unique establishments within the city like gambling dens and coliseums. He could use them to earn what he wanted. Since they were run with the Will of the Demon World overseeing them, it was always fair, too.

That was the second way the demons of the city could earn.

Mark also noticed something else.

Most of the demons inside this city only had one goal, earn enough to buy a proper Residence. If they did, they could live inside this place like kings without any more worry. And currently, Mark decided, that was his goal too.

Currently, he had to live atop a terrace—like most other demons in the city—and that wasn\'t safe. People could just find him irritating and they might bring trouble just because of that. Violence was not the only way to bring trouble.

He needed a safe private Residence.

"So you decided to get a Residence first. That is good, but how do you plan to do that?" Reol\'ran asked. "You need a Portal Key or a Seal of Destiny to do that, and you don\'t have any. How will you get that?"

"I have some ideas but I am not sure. But before that, I need to strengthen myself. You told me I had flaws, how do I fix them?"

With a thought, he made his Soul Sense dive into his World Space and his consciousness vanished into it. After a bout of darkness, he opened his eyes on the island inside the World Space.

…

The first thing he saw was Yuri, leaning against a black boulder, writing on a notebook. Using ink, she drew things on the wall, seeming thoughtful.

"What are you doing?"

Yuri started.

She calmed down once she saw it was Mark\'s soul form.

"Don\'t disturb me, Mark, I am busy. Go do your thing, I will call you once I need you. Ah, if you can, transform this island into a small house or a building. It\'s very uncomfortable."

Mark didn\'t disturb her and used Alchemy Shapeshifting on the island to build a house with its own floor. Luckily, his demonic tricks worked inside his World Space.

He walked towards another side of the island to find Dona.

She looked at him, wrinkling her brows at the sight. The demoness seemed confused.

"The scientist is busy scientifying, but what are you doing?"

"You are Mark?" she said, realizing.

"Who else would I be?" Mark grinned.

"Small Mark. Dona is bigger."

"Mark is stronger, though."

Dona smiled, finally sure. "You are Mark. Where were you?"

"Entering Demon City, surviving bullies, talking with rat businessmen, and all sorts of stuff. We are already out of the Hunter World, back in the Demon World."

"I know that," the Demoness said. "But will Mark leave me once more?"

Ah, that\'s why she seems so irritated.

"I was too busy, that\'s why I didn\'t come to you. Now, I\'ll be around."

"If you are busy, bring Dona along."

The woman was bigger than him by a lot, she closed her face in and sniffed at him.

"You have no smell. Why?"

"Because this is not my body but my soul."

She brought out her tongue and licked him, but her tongue just moved through his body. Since he was inside his World Space, he was just a soul.

Suddenly, another woman materialized beside them.

Mark whistled.

It was Reol\'ran.

Dona blinked and tried to lick Mark again, Reol\'ran looked at it silently and then back at Mark.

"So tell me once more, what are your plans?" she asked.

"I want to remove my weaknesses, get more information on the Suffering, and grow stronger. That\'s the basic goal, but I want to get a stronghold inside the Demon City while I am at it, too."

"Good. Then let\'s begin now. We do not have too much time."

"I know you," Dona said.

Reol\'ran raised her eyebrows, asking arrogantly, "You know me?"

Dona ignored her.

Mark stifled a chuckle.

"Mark, I know her," Dona said.

"Yeah, you\'ve seen her before. Reol\'ran, remember when I met you for the first time, inside that Laboratory when there was a Vine Demon there? Dona helped me fight it."

"Good for her. So, here is the deal Mark, I like what you plan to do but before that, I want you to do something."

Mark nodded and appeared beside her.

Reol\'ran frowned but Mark didn\'t do anything excessive and just took her hands into his.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I can\'t touch Dona, I am a soul, but I can touch you."

Reol\'ran looked sideways at him and snatched her hand back.

She said calmly, "You want to buy a Residence here, but you need a Seal of Destiny or Portal Key for that. There is no way you could easily earn that here where even Upper Demons struggle to earn them."

"There is a way," he said. "Not easy, but still a way.

Reol\'ran nodded. "The only way you can earn something substantial in this city is by participating in the… Battle Royale."

Mark nodded.

There were a lot of Middle Demon slaves in this city, and they were used as entertainment for the Upper Demons and higher beings.

A Battle Royale was going on in this city where these slaves were put on a battlefield—and the one to survive as the last man standing would get a Seal of Destiny and a Portal Key as reward. More than anything, they would even get help in evolving into Tier 3 and becoming free citizen.

Mark wanted to participate in that competition and Reol\'ran had guessed his intention. He was not a slave and didn\'t intend to be one, but he could also participate among them for this reward.

As long as one was a Middle Demon, they could participate in it.

"Are you against me participating?" he asked.

"I am not. But you will die if you participate, Mark. You are not going to survive a Battle Royale. Not as you are now."

Even though it was the slave Middle Demons that participated in the Battle Royale, they were the slave of Upper Demons or even Demon Kings. Those slaves were the investment of these strong people, so would they let weak slaves participate? Never!

All of them would be strong Middle Demons and Mark would be just one of them. He couldn\'t survive.

"As I am, I will not survive," he said with a grin, "But I have my sweet Reol\'ran to guide me—of course, you must know a way to make me ready for a battle like that."

Reol\'ran threw him a sideway glance, her amethyst eyes boring into him. She didn\'t deny that she had a way.

A way to make him dominate a battlefield filled with Pinnacle Middle Demons?

Mark felt excitement bubble up in his veins.

"Before anything, I want you to learn a habit. You just came out of a huge adventure. The adventure in the Hunter World. But have you gone through the events that happened there and figured out what you could have done better?"

"I… haven\'t. Not yet."

"Indeed. Use an hour to replay everything in your mind and think of all the mistakes you did there—I don\'t want you to repeat any mistake twice. Ever. Make replaying the events of the past a habit.

"And secondly—"

Dona\'s face changed.

Reol\'ran stared right into her eyes. "You. You have to evolve. A Lower Demon is worthless to Mark and you are nothing special—if you want him to be around you, at least be worthy of his presence."

"Worthy?" Dona asked, worried.

"Yep. Grow stronger."

Saying that, Reol\'ran tried to vanish but this time, Mark wrapped his hand around her waist, not letting her go.

"What are you doing, Mark?" she asked. "I told you what to do. Are you not taking me seriously?"

"I am taking you seriously," he said softly. "Thank you for doing this. Even though you hate her so much, you still guided her. It\'s for me, right?"

Reol\'ran glanced away from him.

"..."

Mark gently planted a kiss on the side of her lips and once he was done, she vanished. "Think deeply of everything you did in the Hunter World. Realize what you could have done better. And become better."

Thus, Mark spent the next few hours thinking about his mistakes.

He saw a lot of things he could have done better in the Hunter World, a lot of blunders. He could see the better option too.

When his meditation was over, Reol\'ran appeared beside them again.

Meanwhile Dona, for some reason, was mostly silent throughout, only muttering \'worthy\' once in a while.

Mark felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips.

She was already worthy. If Dona hadn\'t been with him when he was a demonling, he wouldn\'t have been here now.

And he was not so much of an asshole to set \'worth\' on his serious relationships.