I remembered Luine. She was my friend and my mentor, and a powerful being in her own right. I recalled how she had wielded her magic, its presenceable to become almost imperceivable, at least to how I was back then. It was a skill I had not really tried all too hard to learn, until now.

My mana continued to pour out of me, for my body could not hope to contain it all. My hearts would never stop making more, unlike how a common mana fount may be capped by a proper repository to collect it all. I imagined stealthy thoughts, of myself sneaking out of a home long gone, or trying to smuggle contraband across country lines.

None of them felt right. That was a life that had long passed. I turned to my more recent experiences, of hiding that I was a demon, of lying about who I am.

None of it felt good. I never felt good these days. I was a prisoner trying to conceal the mana I leaked, just in case. But that was only my goal. The means. It was not enough for the magic to manifest in the way I wanted.

Wrath.

Hellfire.

Those were my elements.

Luine was adept at hiding the very presence of her mana, but that was at least in part due to the elements she chose. Illusion was good at hiding. Wind was good at hiding. But none of my own elements seemed up for the task.

My chains rattled. I was fed. I was tortured. And then I was left alone again.

There was nothing to do but try. So try I did, to make what progress I could while chained, even if it seemed futile.

I considered hellfire again, then decided to table it for later. If I was trying to be stealthy, then doing so with literal fire definitely seemed to be fucking stupid.

But what about wrath? It was a subdomain of curse. Insidious. But this specific curse was not really about hiding. It was wrath, loud and proud, destructive and blunt.

I dug deeper. My wrath contained the powers of menace. Maybe I could do something with that. It definitely seemed more promising. A menace lurking in the dark. A grinning joker with the deadliest pranks. Oh the look on their faces once they finally faced what I had planned. An assassin who did not want to be caught.

Something clicked. It was a subtle shift, but I felt like my mana had finally responded to my desires. Just a little more faint, a little hard to detect. It was impossible to tell for sure through only my own observations, but it wasn't like I could just get the people outside to confirm my theories for me. I hated the mere mention of their names on the best days, and I'd had only the worst recently.

I continued my practice anyway. It was the first lead I had, and there was nothing else for me to do. My magical stealth abilities developed as days, and weeks, and even months went by. A simmering rage, a cold fury, the wrath that I had felt and painstakingly concealed when I lived amongst Edengar. I found an interpretation, an imagery, that allowed the native curse I currently possessed to be hidden from view. And then it was made all the stronger by my ability to have the wrath mana perform autonomously. It began to even cover the hellfire, and lower its presence.

I made sure not to remove it entirely, if I even could. I constantly leaked out mana. That was something my opponents had already learned about me, and something that persisted even when I slept. They were still confused about the mechanism, but it was now routine.

They only assumed that I had grown weaker, when the magic in the air waned. The fools.

~~~

My cell was cleaned, a rare occurrence. A powerful mage of Level 40 drew on my walls, unwilling to meet my gaze. The ritual that he made was better than what I could do, at least in pure artistry, I could admit, although perhaps a severed limb was the highest art in and of itself. My right arm had almost regrown to the elbow now, which was so hopelessly slow compared to what I was usually capable of. I hungered. My severed horn had barely gotten any longer. A dangerous glint pulsed through my eyes.

"Space Identification!"

The mage named his ritual, and the ink that stained the walls over the layers of dried blood that had been hastily cleaned evaporated. I felt the gaze of the world, of the greater magic, just as I always did, but it felt almost weaker and stuttering. No, that wasn't right. It was ever as strong for me, but the human mage before myself frowned as his ritual struggled, but did not fail.

I felt myself lurch, float, be held in place and unable to move. The mana inside of me roiled, and I sensed it flare up randomly in very small bursts, including that of my hellfire

The old man frowned harder.

"Why does it not work?" he said in frustration. This wasn't the first time he tried. His gaze snapped towards my own, before it was quickly averted again upon seeing the wild grin on my face. He knew he'd get nothing but sarcastic quips, or outright lies, like that one time I convinced him his failures might be because I was not getting fed and washed enough.

Oh the shouting he received from Zazarian was so glorious, and I was glad he was mad enough to deliver it right in front of my cell. They should've torn apart each other. They deserved to be turned against their own. I got so little entertainment these days, so the least they could do was suffer so that at least a little of my anger may be sated.

Not that I was trying to heal my rage to begin with. What relief I received, would only be drowned by a stronger tide, before I could truly feel it.

"Tsk," the ritualist clicked his tongue and walked away. He would also die someday. I swore it upon my name, upon what they had taken from me.

I glanced at the thing he most wanted to see, but would never be granted.

[Evil Eyes have reached Level 40!]

[Hyperdemon Gland has reached Level 34!]

[Memory Core has reached Level 40!]

[Extradimensional Demon Blood Storage has reached level 40!]

[Demon Hooves has reached Level 40!]

_________________

Name: Haell Zharignan

Species: Demon

—Mutations—

Wrath Heart: Level 40 (max)

Demon Brain: Level 40 (max)

Demon Skin: Level 40 (max)

Evil Eyes: Level 40 (max)

Demon Flesh / Demon Bones / Demonic Musculature(synced) : (All) Level 40 (max)

Demon Arms: Level 40 (max)

Demon Hooves: Level 40 (max)

Hyperdemon Gland: Level 34

Demon Horns: Level 40 (max)

Mana-infused Blood: Level 40 (max)

Regen Heart: Level 40 (max)

Demon Wings: Level 39

Hellfire Heart: Level 40 (max)

Memory Core: Level 40 (max)

Extradimensional Demon Blood Storage: Level 40 (max)

—Soul Feats—

Reincarnator

Progenitor

Imp Progenitor

Progenitor II

Demon Progenitor

Demon Harbinger

_________________

My Status opened upon my command, and I considered my recent gains. All my Mutations had reached level 40 now and were ready to evolve, except for the dreaded hyperdemon gland and my wings. The former was fucking insane because it had gained 14 levels in less than a fucking year, and the latter was only understandable because I was all chained up in here. It was the only Mutation that couldn't progress.

What was weird however was that my hooves did level up. I certainly wasn't doing any running. So what could've possibly tipped it over the edge? This whole system could still so incredibly confusing sometimes.

~~~

Zazarian stood before me. A familiar discomforting silence stretched between us. I couldn't wait until I could dig my claws through that throat and force his firebreath to accept my own flames and burn him from the inside.

But for today, I kept a smile on my face. One could almost mistake me for someone happy, if they were thoughtless and stupid.

"This has gone on for far enough."

"I agree. You should just free me."

"I… will."

"Great… wait what did you say?" My mind snapped around, like a planet lost in orbit. "What the fuck. Great!? Get these chains off. Come on. It'll be fine. Trust me."

It then occurred to me that he was lying. Of course he was. I felt great shame and humiliation for having thought otherwise for even a fleeting moment. I wanted to crawl into a hole. A different hole than this one. I wanted to silence him and everyone here forever.

"Not for free," he cautioned. "I'll add some beds here. Some books or whatever you want for entertainment. Within reason. And I'll let you choose your partner."

My eyes darkened further. "That does not sound like being free."

He frowned. "It's freer than you are now."

"Congratulations, you're more capable than a fucking worm. A small squiggly one. That's weak. I don't fucking care. And what the fuck do you even mean by choose my partner? You want someone to just keep me company here?"

"Yes. It's for your end of the bargain. I need you to create that child."

My face formed into a rictus of rage, and he actually took a step back. "So you now want me to choose who rapes me? Fuck off. Are you sick in the head? What kind of deal is that?"

"It's not rape! I'll let you have whoever you want. Even… even me."

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I retched, and genuinely vomited what little there was in my stomach. "Fuck no."

His reptilian brows furrowed, in what I could only interpret as offense. "I expected as much. I never said it had to be me. It was just an option. I know you're gay, so if you need it to be a woman then… I know some who have the proper parts. Even one that has had life magic done on them! I… don't know if I can convince her, but it's for the good of the kingdom! The empire! I'm sure she'll see reason."

I blinked. My rage still seeped out of every pore on my body, but I had also come to a realization. He was fucking serious. This was his attempt at a compromise. To keep me imprisoned, but comfortable enough to be compliant. He would get everything he wanted, while I was left with nothing. Nothing that mattered. My freedom, forever shackled.

"No."

"What?"

"I said no, you fucking moron. I won't be your fucking broodmare. I won't be your forever prisoner. And there is something fucking wrong with your head if you thought any part of this was reasonable at all. You're a disgrace. Eden never loved you. You're nothing but a rag for her to wipe and shit on. So take comfort in the knowledge that I'll fucking lynch her across the face of the fucking barrier range after I'm done with you. Now get the hell out of my sight!"

He punched me. He kicked. What was left of my hair was pulled, and part of my face was clawed. I lost an eye. He was even worse at this than the shepherds that he usually set to the task. Although he was stronger. He might actually end up killing me. My hackles raised, and my awareness sharpened, as I sought to determine if it was time. A sliver of my attention went to my Memory Core. I was not ready yet, but I would not die without making a disastrous final stand.

It was not necessary. Zazarian had the sense to stop before I was knocked out. I would've activated my hyperdemon gland before that happened. Or maybe he was just tired, weary, and in too much pain. My own vengeance magic had done its work, and it did more damage than I thought it could, against someone who had stepped into the rank of gold.

~~~

"W-what?" I mumbled. My brain struggled to comprehend. The rage ebbed and flowed in great waves of madness and chaos. But even that was broken by this one image that disturbed the already broken tapestry of my thoughts. I was horrified beyond belief, when I had so foolishly assumed that nothing would surprise me anymore.

"T…" the name died in my throat, but the urgency forced its undead corpse out into the open air. "Therick…?"

He looked up, bound in chains and caked in dirt. "H…aell?" Then his eyes widened. "What… what happened to you."

My response turned into a glare, as Zazarian dragged my friend forward before I could speak. He remained unbothered, and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as he brought my friend to a kneel before me. There was something terribly wrong with this situation, and I allowed the unending wrath to take more of me to cope with the situation.

My chains rattled as I lurched forward, but Zazarian quickly regained his composure as a terrible smirk split his face. "Finally, a good reaction out of you. Do you have any idea how much trouble–"

"Fuck you."

That infuriating smirk fell a little, but quickly returned in full force. "Do not worry. I shall be candid. Since you are a fucking animal who cannot be reasoned with. I don't how the grandchild of a hero could be like this, but then you did betray everything that ius good and holy. So don't even think to negotiate now. That time has long passed, and all you can do is obey–"

"I thought you'll be candid."

His reptilian mouth drew into a thin line, and his eyes narrowed. "Fine. In words that you can understand. You bring dishonor to your heritage for not knowing the first thing about respect." I was about to make another vitriolic comment, but he kicked Therick just hard enough to make him stumble, and I saw red. I wanted to break off my chains and make my escape now. My friend was here and he was suffering. I had to save him. He could not be put through the same torture I endured. His mind could not take it. He would break. "Do as I say, or we'll make your friend and party member suffer, and then we'll kill him. If you actually care about that at all."

My hearts sped up. I did not hold back my aura. Zazarian had grown used to it, and so had the guards, but Therick began looking around in search of shadows that never existed.

"No," my response came out the same as last time, before I could think better of it. But there was nothing to think about. I had always found it strange, how I was willing to die for my friends. But I was evidently not willing to do literally anything for them. I would not bring a child to this world for anyone's sake. Therick would surely understand.

"Do you not care, then? Well, I suppose I wouldn't expect–"

"Therick," I ignored Zazarian, for I only wanted to talk to my friend right now. He flinched back when I leaned forward. My voice… might have come out as more of a growl.

"Therick…" I tried again, gentler this time. Only now did I notice how tightly coiled my muscles were. I was brimming with tension, and I… believed I had been from the very start, long before Therick had arrived. I managed to relax for a second when I actually consciously thought about it, but the tension quickly returned back in full force. "What happened?"

"I-I-I don't know," he said in fear. He would not meet my eyes, nor anyone's, his gaze searching the floor. "I'm sorry. I got captured and… and… they brought me here. They held me in a cell. And then the next thing I knew, I was being dragged deeper into the dungeon, only to see you… like this. I'm so sorry!"

Zazarian frowned and was about to say something else, but I did not give him the space.

"There's no need to be sorry," I snarled, and then winced. Fuck. I was always angry all the time, far more than normal, and it showed. I just did not care before, because there was no one here worth being polite to. "It'll be okay."

He finally forced himself to look back up at me. "O-okay… But… but what do we do now? How could we possibly be okay?"

"I'll come up with something," I reassured… if angrily. "Can you tell me about what's going on? Outside? What happened to the others? Were you guys able to escape… like all those months ago? What's going on with the siege now?" I could no longer get the templars to talk, so I was in dire need of information.

"Well–"

"He will not tell you those things," Zazarian cut in and stepped in between us. He held Therick by the mouth and prevented

"No fuck you!" My broken body pulled hard on my chains. "We're talking here! Do you think I'll do your demands if you don't even let us talk!? I'll… fucking kill myself and you'll be left with nothing!!"

He hesitated for a slight moment, but then hauled Therick back to his feet and forced him out of my cell. "I don't think you will. So keep my demands in mind. Otherwise your friend here gets it.."

I gnashed my teeth as my bluff was called. I glared at his departing back as if trying to burn a hole through him, and he did stumble. I allowed the next words to come flowing out of my mouth as I screamed in unbridled fury.

"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING LIZARD! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! DIE YOU STUPID INCOMPETENT WORTHLESS SLUT! FUCKING COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME IF YOU'RE NO COWARD! SOME FUCKING GOLD RANKER YOU ARE! JUST HIDING BEHIND YOUR FUCKING GUARDS! I'LL GRIND THEM TO PASTE AND THEN I'LL DO THE SAME TO YOU! SO FUCKING RUN! FUCKING RUN BEFORE I GET OUT OF HERE! FIGHT ME LIKE A FUCKING MAN!"

~~~

I felt bad. I felt guilty for even considering the possibility. I was just being paranoid. Being imprisoned and surrounded only by enemies had gotten to my head. But I had to confirm. Several things just didn't add up, and I kept thinking back to those last few weeks before my capture. When we picked out the quest to go subjugate those goblins. When my enemies knew just where I was and where I would be and how to hit me. When I saw my friends for the last time, and how they each looked at me.

The indecision had me frozen. I would have already broken everything around me otherwise. But I needed to find my answers, otherwise I would be forever stuck. No matter how stupid I was being. I was forced to scheme and crawl in the muck like all those I hated, and for that, they shall never be forgiven.

But if I was not wrong…

The seas will boil and the land will rot.

…I didn't want to think about it. I shook my head. There was no way. My imprisonment had really fucking gotten to me and it was infuriating.

I waited. I had nothing to do but wait. I could not enact my plan until all the players that I needed were here. So I almost rejoiced when the same maid who had fed me for the past year finally arrived, but I only summoned my unwavering resolve.

I took a moment to observe her. I never learned her name. She still carried herself in the same nervous way as when I first met her, and I wondered sometimes why that was. Why it was always her. Could they not have someone else deliver my supper?

It didn't matter.

I almost felt bad about what I was about to do.

But I didn't.

At all.

She was one of them. One of my enemies. No matter how fearful or how cowardly. She was one of those who had imprisoned me here. An agent of that perpetuity. A tool for them to use, and who I shall now discard.

My bloodshot evil eyes looked upon her, and she started hyperventilating as if the narrow confines of my cell and the small tunnel beyond were about to swallow her whole. Even the templars were not unaffected, and all remained silent before my decree.

"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED WITH THERICK."

"W-w-w-w-what?"

'YOU FUCKING HEARD ME. WHY IS HE HERE. WHAT IS HAPPENING OUTSIDE."

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-dON't know!"

"BULLSHIT!" I increased the pressure on her mind. She had long collapsed to her knees, but now the templars did too, as the maid could only grovel on the floor. But she did not faint. Not yet. I would get my answers. "ANSWER ME!"

"H-H-H-He arrived… i-i-i-in a w-w-agon…"

"AND THEN WHAT? SPEAK BITCH."

"He… he, ummm… he…"

"SPEAK UP!"

She finally did, and I got my answers. She desperately tried to appease me, not knowing was help was fast arriving. She was still talking when people began to drag her back away.

I did not know if she would ever recover, but I did not care. I almost didn't listen to the tail end of her confession.

My rage burned hotter than a dying star.

~~~

Therick staggered upon entering my domain. He no longer wore the rags of before, nor was bound in chains. Even Zazarian could not dare to interfere upon feeling the weight of my ever-familiar rage.

"DID YOU FUCKING BETRAY ME!?" I asked directly. Therick had already collapsed to his knees. My guards could not protect themselves if they wanted. The gold-ranked Zazarian could not keep standing in my presence.

"I–"

"ANSWER ME!"

"DID YOU!?"

"FUCKING SPEAK!"

'WAS THAT WHY YOU HAD US TAKE THAT MISSION!?"

"THE ONE WITH THE GOBLINS!"

"DID YOU LEAD THEM THERE!?"

"DID YOU FUCKING PUT ME HERE TO BE TORTURED AND ALMOST RAPED!"

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T ANSWER RIGHT THIS FUCKING INSTANT YOU PATHETIC SACK OF SHIT THAT NEVER AMOUNTED TO ANYTHING!"

I would feel so incredibly bad about this later, if I turned out to be wrong, but I felt nothing but my deep oceans of anger right now. I did not think, I only acted. I could not stop, I would not. To seize the initiative and overwhelm was the name of the game. It was the way to overcome mental conditioning and brainwashing.

Therick was on the ground now, hyperventilating and sweating a river. "N…no, I…"

"ARE YOU SURE!?"

"ARE YOU FUCKING FUCKING SERIOUS!?"

"DO NOT LIE TO ME YOU FUCKING FAILURE!"

"TRAITOR!"

"I KNOW ABOUT IT!"

"I KNOW ABOUT IT ALL!"

"WHAT YOU DID!"

"YOU FUKING ARRIVED HERE IN A GILDED WAGON YOU JACKASS!"

"DEATH IS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU."

Tears began to stream down his face. Sweat stuck his well-woven attire to his skin. Therick clutched his chest, his stomach shook and his heart pulsed, until he finally broke. "YES! Yes it was me! I'm sorry! I didn't know– I didn't think this would happen! We were just… we were just… It didn't matter! It didn't matter that we were in New Grandera! Everyone's evil anyway! I wanted to return home! But you took that from me! You fucking broke your promise! I did what I could! I did what I had to! They promised! They promised that they wouldn't hurt the others! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just wanted to go home! That wasn't the place for me! It was only the place for you! It was always you! I've always been nothing! I'm nothing to you! I'm fucking nothing…!"

Spit was leaking freely out of his mouth when he finished. He was on the floor, clutching himself for support, but here he would find none.

I gave him one last chance.

"Were you mind-controlled?"

He looked up at me. I saw calculation in his eyes. How had I never seen this rat for what he was. I wanted to cry, but not right now. Let the rivers of rage carry me through this. Let them be my strength, for once.

"Y-yes… yes…" He tried, then stopped as the gaze of an angered cataclysm crushed him harder in its grip. My words may have been gentle, but I had not given him any quarter at all. "...No," he finally admitted. "W–w-w-wwell, right now… yes. Only–only a little. But I did not… not at the time. Not then." He looked at me, tears leaking freely out of his eyes as he smashed his head into the floor. "I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I'll get them to release you! I promise! I swear–"

I splash of blood landed on his head, along with a wordless tongue.

"NO, WAIT–"

"Goodbye, old friend. May you rot in Hell."

My voice came out smoother than it had ever been, despite how I had forgone my tongue, and long succumbed to the madness.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" The friend that I thought I had screamed his final few words as the curseflame first consumed his face, and then the rest of his body. "IT HURTS! IT HU-RTS! IT HURTS SO BAD! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! F-FUCK YOU HAELL! FUCK YOU! I CURSE YOU! YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ANYONE!? WELL YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE JUST AS MONSTROUS AS THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO DESTROY! I HOPE YOU FUCKING FAIL! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And yet, he did.

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