The air around Reed started shifting. Something was about to happen. The half of Karpeios' body that remained trembled in confusion, and his eyes widened as Chaos and Evil unexpectedly started transforming.
His hair, which had been as black as a starless night sky, slowly brightened into a brilliant silver, and his eyes shifted from their usual eerie red to the color of a tropical sea. The purification immediately cleared away all the power that was so revered by demons, revealing the true soul within.
Karpeios saw a human. In fact, he was quite familiar with this particular human.
"Do you remember me?"
As if the transformation alone wasn't enough, Reed brought out something in case the demon didn't recognize him. He summoned a white sword with a blue square gem embedded in its hilt and thrust it into the sand.
"Y-you..."
"So, you do recognize me."
"H-how is this p-possible? You were nothing but a worthless human... This can't be possible..."
Karpeios knew the being before him had to be Chaos and Evil because his demon's instincts were still telling him to submit and obey. Therefore, the one standing in front of him had to be the most unadulterated form of evil there was, tested by flames and refined to the highest degree by the furnaces of demonic power. There was no doubt to him that the man was Chaos and Evilâa being who deserved the reverence of all demons and Demon Lords alike.
So, it didn't make any sense that the one he had revered was a mere human. How could the will of the great Chaos and Evil manifest in this shell of a human being? To make matters worse, this was the silver-haired beast he had ridiculed time and time again!
"How... is it... possible?"
The man responded swiftly, "This isn't the first time we've done this."
"What?" the demon asked.
"This is probably the fifteenth time that I have killed you." Reed then gave the man his final verdict. "You have served your purpose by completing the sacred tomb."
"D-don't be ridiculous!"
Karpeios used demonic energy to restore his body and got back up. He fought against his instincts and resisted the urge to obey Chaos and Evil, which made his veins twitch, his eyes turn red, and his voice crack.
"You!" the demon bellowed. "You are not Chaos and Evil!"
"We shall see about that."
A storm rose from the Abyssal Dunes as the two beings prepared to fight.
â
The violent battle that shook the earth didn't last long. It was quite difficult to tell one part of the tattered black paper doll from another, but Reed somehow identified its head and grabbed it.
"Ugh!"
Reed's claw-like hands brushed through the demon's hair, and his merciless grip yanked at the head, the demon's tattered body hanging limply beneath. Then he felt the being crumble into powder in his hands. Karpeios, Lord of the Abyssal Dunes, scattered like sand in the breeze, becoming a part of his own dunes.
Reed didn't offer the demon the mercy of purging his soul. Instead, he would serve the punishment of being reborn as an insect and reincarnated a million times until he could become a demon again.
Reed stepped over the powdered remains of Karpeios on the ground and moved on. The scenery around him faded and changed after three steps, as if the new space had come to greet him before he could even get there.
The great Chaos and Evil stepped into the pyramid of the Sacred Tomb of Chaos without facing any resistance. He casually walked down toward the center of the labyrinth. The Altar of Chaos seemed to have changed somewhat since his last visit. At the time, one could clearly see the spiral staircase leading to the bottom since the dark well barely held anything in it. But now, the bottom was no longer visible because the water was full to the brim, swirling slowly in a counter-clockwise movement.
The surface of the water signified the size of the dungeon gate linked to the well. Once Reed saw that the gate was now large enough, he raised his arm and touched the surface of the water. His features returned to their usual dark and crimson coloring once again.
Rumble!
The power of evil bestowed upon him made the water rise in an immediate and explosive movement, sweeping Reed into its torrential burst and keeping him captive in the water. But Reed didn't seem to mind. Instead, he quietly waited for something.
Soon, a powerful being spoke to him.
"Human..."
The true Chaos and Evil squeezed through the tiny hole and emerged within the sacred tomb. The water around it squeezed down on Reed.
"I sense my power within you. This would suggest that in this timeline, you have chosen to unleash me instead of sealing me away."
Even though Chaos and Evil had never met Reed in this timeline, it immediately made sense of the situation. Reed had struck a deal with Chaos and Evil to release it into the human world after causing a dungeon burst. That was how he got to keep his consciousness despite absorbing its power, presence, and abilities. Dungeon bursts unleashed dungeon masters into the Human Realm while explosively amplifying their power, and Chaos and Evil was no exception to the rule.
"It would seem you have carried out your obligations in full. I have never felt so powerful in my entire existence."
Finally liberated, the being filled the entire space to express its joy. But it soon noticed a problem.
"But this is not the human world."
Its voice, which sounded like thousands of people screaming at once, immediately turned into a menacing growl, and the water tightened around Reed's body, squeezing down painfully. However, it did little to intimidate him.
"I will create yet another dungeon burst."
His vocal cords seemed to function under the water.
"Why did you bother creating two bursts at once?"
"To make you even more powerful."
"Why?"
Then Reed said something truly shocking indeed.
"Chaos and Evil, I shall make a god out of you."
Reed planned to double Chaos and Evil's powers twice over through two separate dungeon bursts, but his goal had little to do with the destruction of the world. Truth be told, his returns were the only reason the world was still in existence at all, and the reason for this was quite clear.
God had abandoned the world. Therefore, establishing a new god could change everything. The presence of a god would give this world a hope of a future, which meant he wouldn't have to return again. All it required was a god. And therefore, he figured, a demonic god should suffice.
He was going through life for the hundredth time, bearing the weight of time like a cog inside a broken clock. He was at his limit, and he was no longer willing to let the cruel world justify his sacrifice by saying it was for the greater good. So, he was forced to find an alternative, even if it greatly deviated from the ideal solution.
He planned to establish a new god instead of waiting for a god who may never return to this world. The world would become a part of the Demon Realm once a Demon God comes into power. The plan would kill all but about five percent of the human population. The survivors would then be placed under the protection of Sacred Place Establishment artifact, which would become the last bastion of the human race.
Multitudes would die as a result, but this was an acceptable compromise compared to total annihilation. The salvation of a minority was the greatest act of benevolence Reed could offer while securing his own redemption.
"Let me corrupt you."
"..."
"Then, you and I will live together in the ashes of the world."
Reed's face turned dark as he remembered how Ailette had refused his offer of salvation.
However, Chaos and Evil was smiling.
"I find your plan to my liking."
Apocalypse War
The floor of a dark temple, covered in water, splashed as a pretty girl in a white and purple ceremonial robe walked across the hallway barefoot, creating ripples in its surface. The young woman soon came to a halt. Then, she slammed her gavel on the floor and knelt down.
She didn't seem to mind that her long, blonde hair and its mint-green ends were getting wet. Time and space seemed to have stopped when she settled into a kneeling position. The space was devoid of sound and movement, everything as still as a portrait. That's when rhythmic thumps started ringing out from the water.
Someone was approaching her from beneath the glassy surface of the floor, their footsteps echoing eerily as they ascended the underwater staircase. Soon, a tall figure revealed himself. A man with long black hair, which was now dripping wet, appeared before her.
"I have been waiting for you, Chaos and Evil," she greeted, her blue eyes flashing with joy and excitement.
Reed used mana to evaporate all the water off his body. Then, he parted his tempting, red lips. "Evixinous."
"Yes?"
"Update me."
"We are ready to spread the Gospel of Chaos and Evil to the foolish humans. 66,666 of your demon apostles await your orders."
"Good."
The simple word he uttered became a rallying call. A series of circular ripples started forming around the Demon Lord and Chaos and Evil. Soon, the water around them began to vibrate as well.
Evixinous couldn't hide her excitement when she started feeling the changes around her. The temple was turning into a spatial interface connecting the human world to the demonic territory.
I am finally going to the human world! It was the lifelong dream of all demons to enter the Human Realm. Even the true Chaos and Evil longed for this dream, and Evixinous certainly was no exception.
One side of the plane shattered like a glass pane. As the fragments fell away, a completely different scene emerged on the other side. Once they had all fallen, the spatial interface revealed a sacred place covered in white.
Reed had set the coordinates to the Vatican. Now, the Demon Realm was only a single step away from the human world, made possible through a silent dungeon burst.
"Let's go."
Reed turned around and walked forward, and Evixinous eagerly followed him to take her first step into the Human Realm.