His words were met with silence. The arrogance in his tone only made the demon heirs more convinced of his power.

Who else but someone with the strength to back it up would be so arrogant?

Though they probably didn't know about Damon's arrogance, he was arrogant regardless of the situation—it was in his blood.

Was it pride or vanity?

Damon would say he prided himself on having no pride.

Bakemon shook his head and walked forward.

"I alone would fight."

Damon nodded, his gaze fixed on the silver-haired demon before him. His attribute was strong, but Damon had no intention of letting him use it, or anything else in his arsenal.

He would dominate the demon's mind and subjugate him.

There was always the possibility that Bakemon might use a magical artifact capable of resisting Demon Dominate's control, but that didn't matter much to Damon. If he did, Damon would still crush him the good old-fashioned way, with his fists.

Which was good, since it would meet the level of requirement expected with the demon heirs present.

Though it would be troublesome if he fights to the death.

A silence spread through the arena as the area before them was cleared of everyone and everything. It was just Damon and Bakemon now.

Kashi watched the standoff with Manata by his side. Amon remained illuminated by the bright light from above, his dark, faceless form still and unmoved.

Bakemon raised his foot to take a step. A sonic boom echoed as he spread his wings, giving himself more lift.

Damon didn't move. His form remained still even as the massive booms from Bakemon's magic reached him. Slowly, he raised his hand.

"Dominate."

The fierce will of the Dominator surged forward, piercing Bakemon's mind. Then, in that split second, Damon took a step, appearing right in front of him with the Flash Step skill. Grabbing Bakemon by the horn, he slammed him into the ground face-first.

A huge crater formed beneath his feet as the demon heir's face shattered the earth.

Damon lifted him effortlessly and tossed him aside.

"If I wanted it, you would be dead."

Bakemon stood up with a bleeding nose, his face covered in soot, yet he smiled, his grin stretching from ear to ear.

He was right. He had confirmed what he wanted to know. This was surely Domination.

Bakemon didn't attack. The fact that he was only smashed into the ground was mercy enough. The Dominator of legend would have demanded an arm or a leg—if he was in a good mood—for even daring to challenge him.

His eyes turned toward Damon's still figure.

'He must be in a great mood... I was lucky...'

Bowing his head, he fell to one knee.

"I yield."

Damon raised his eyebrows, though no one could see it beneath his faceless form.

"Why not fight?"

Bakemon wasn't a fool. He smiled slightly, knowing that if this truly was Ashcroft, there was no one in this arena capable of defeating him. Surely, this was all part of some greater plan.

'This must be Lady Paimon's reason for bringing us all here.'

He kept his expression calm.

'I have to live and alert my father. Paimon is trying to gain favor with the Dominator... it must be part of a larger plan to change the seating of the Demon Lords.'

His thoughts raced, but his reply to Damon came quickly.

"I have acknowledged that only you are worthy of leading us demons in this war game."

Damon didn't really know what was in this demon's head, but he didn't care.

This worked for him just fine. He would use them well.

The other demon heirs fell to their knees, accepting this new leader.

With this action, Damon heard a low chime.

[You have leveled up]

That was his level-up requirement: to subjugate seventy-two demons. However, it never specified what kind.

Damon had assumed it referred to demon kin, but it seemed he had to dominate them, so he had put it off to focus on completing the chain quest.

'Here I thought I had to violate their minds and enslave them.'

The system chimes continued until he heard another notification.

[You have awakened Domination Fragment: Frost Dominate]

Damon kept his expression calm, but inwardly he was surprised. This was the first time he had awakened a skill unrelated to his shadow after leveling up.

'Is this related to my Domination attribute?'

He had devoured and obtained Ashcroft's attribute, and Ashcroft possessed the ability to dominate virtually everything.

He could feel a new facet of the Domination attribute taking form within him. Its control deepened, his aura becoming colder, heavier, and more overwhelming than before.

He was eager to test this new power, but he remained calm.

Looking at the kneeling demons, he waved his hand.

"Rise."

They slowly stood up, though some of them seemed to wonder why Bakemon had given in without a full fight.

It seemed they weren't satisfied with Damon's display of strength.

Honestly, it must have looked like Bakemon simply forfeited after one exchange.

It must have seemed as if Damon had caught him off guard.

'Ahhh, I really can't have dissent so early in the game.'

Well, that was fine. It was a good thing he had Tyrant Mastery, he could act like a tyrannical ruler if needed.

"Does anyone else here have an opinion?"

No one spoke as Damon walked through their ranks.

His demon horde snarled at them, watching with hostility.

His horde was intimidating, perhaps that was the problem.

"You are free to challenge me for my position."

Still, no one spoke. Damon stopped in front of a burly demon.

Raising his finger, he pointed forward.

"You seem to have an opinion."

The demon lifted his battle axe with a frown.

"You seem strong, but clearly Lord Bakemon held back to avoid infighting among us, especially since we are so outnumbered by the goddess race. You are—"

Those were the last words he ever spoke.

He and his axe were now forever frozen, transformed into a solid block of ice where Damon had pointed.

"Frost Dominate."

The chilling air that followed silenced everyone, their fear palpable at this ruthless display. But that wasn't all.

Slowly, the demon heir's frozen form began to sink, devoured by hungry shadows.

[You have slain Netel Ipos]

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