“Now, let’s try this again.”
Avaritia heard the silver-haired girl’s words. He wanted to scoff. Did this Salvos really think she could defeat him in this form? He had become his King!
No— Avaritia couldn’t encapsulate the full power of his King. Not even close. But while he was but an inferior copy, that was more than enough to deal with these weak, annoying Humans.
It was the power of his Grand Skill. As a [Changeling], it was in his nature to replicate and copy others. In this case, he’d drawn from the primal fear deep within all those present. The thing which kept them up at night— that which robbed them of their sleep.
This wasn’t mind magic. This was different from the kind of spells that that annoying Belzu cast. If Avaritia had to say so himself, it was far superior. It was soul magic. The magic of [Changelings] and those that were cut from the same cloth. The ilk of which could manipulate and reshape their essence into something that it was not.
undefinedMortals weren’t creatures born with a malleable essence. Their souls were too rigid— their essence almost completely immutable from the moment of their birth. But Spirits and Demons were never born with a fixed essence. They were always evolving. Changing. Growing.
There were some Species of monsters and other mortal creatures that could also evolve and transform, but it wasn’t the same. Soul magic was innate to Demons and Spirits in a way it wasn’t to these mortals with their mostly limited lifespans. It was something inherent to these Spirits and Demons which most didn’t even realize they had mastery over it.
Yes, they couldn’t create a soul ball in the same way they could conjure up a fireball and hurl it at an enemy. But when learned and trained, as a [Changeling], Avaritia was able to steal bits of his enemy’s essence and emulate them. But more than that, right here, right now, he’d been able to draw from the fear of the Humans before him.
If he’d been faced with, say, Iivor or Gloria before him, he wouldn’t have taken this form. He didn’t even expect to become the Demon King, but this was only because of the targets of his Grand Skill.
The essence of their nightmares, breathed life, created through him. He served as a medium of that fear. A bridge between their dreams and reality. Avaritia himself couldn’t even grasp the full powers of the Demon King, but he made it real for them here.
The Humans should’ve quaked in their boots. They should’ve trembled at his very sight. Yet, here was Salvos, grinning at him, uncaring. Another thing the Archdemon of Greed couldn’t comprehend.
“Do you think this is a game?”
His lips quiver as he faced the silver-haired girl. She shrugged casually and tapped the Greaves of Alexander on her shin with the tip of her scythe.
“I mean, aren’t we competing for this? And the Crown of Alexander too, remember?”
She spoke as she gestured between both Mythical Grade artifacts she carried. Then she pointed at the Boots of Alexander at Avaritia’s feet.
“I’m doing it for the Boots of Alexander— although… are you even using it? You’re way too slow, you know?”
That made Avaritia snap. He swung at her again with his tail. The Boots of Alexander could fit into any feet. And with its powers, it gave him a passive boost to his [Agility]. Not just that, he’d always have [Greater Haste] active. Still, he somehow missed the silver-haired girl.
She flew up into the air as Avaritia reached for her. He tried to swat her out of the air like a bug. This time, he was ready. With his heightened speed, he caught her. But the moment his hand loomed over her, she struck out with the Greaves of Alexander. There was a flash of light, and the Archdemon of Green stumbled back.
“You…”
He growled in a low voice, the palm of his hand stinging in pain. He looked at his crimson skin, only to see a hole burned into it— from the strike she landed on him. Salvos grinned as she flew around a rising spike, the landscape still changing from his [Domain of the Demon King] copied Skill.
She avoided the black rain as Avaritia reached out for one of the spikes and yanked it out of the ground. It seemed to melt in his hands, before taking on the form of a spear. Spinning it around, the false Demon King bellowed.
“I will not let you escape, Human!”
He threw the giant spear at her like it was a javelin. It sped forward, catching Salvos off guard. She narrowed her eyes as the space around her twisted. Avaritia smirked. And she blinked as nothing happened.
“What…?”
She raised her scythe just in time to block the massive projectile in time. He laughed.
“Did you think that would work here? This is my domain. Your tricks and your little space magic will not work here.”
“How does that even work?”
She protested, but he didn’t care to respond. Avaritia ran forward, his booming footsteps shaking the earth. It sent ripples in the darkness flooding the ground, causing of these liquid spikes to rise up into the sky. Salvos ducked around those, flying away from the [Changeling].
He wasn’t going to let her get away.
[Copy Skill].
It wasn’t as easy to use as it sounded. Each time he’d activated the Skill, his mind was assailed by a variety of options. And even with his Grand Skill— even in this form he bore— he couldn’t possibly comprehend the full might of his King. All he could see was all he could understand.
Copy Skill [Demonic Zenith] is Available!
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