Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Mark moved near the Succubus, not too close, and demanded. "Give me the seals, I will give you one of the Keys."

She stared at him dead in the eye and nodded. "You better don't try to trick me." With a flick of her wrist, she sent four beams of light flying towards Mark and he flapped his wings to distance himself from them. He wasn't sure if she might try some tricks, how could he trust what she threw at him?

Even though he had his Soul Sense around, it was better to be cautious when it came to such strong creatures. One couldn't predict what they could do. The four beams of light fell on the ground without Mark catching it and remained still.

He looked at their content and was a bit surprised to see four black stones. But when he used his Violet Screen, its description appeared in his mind easily.

[Stone Rune]

[You can store your Seals of Destiny in this stone to give your Seals to others.]

Indeed, Mark had forgotten that the Seal of Destiny in his own hand was just like a tattoo. So how could one give it away? They needed these Stone Runes to sell Seals of Destiny to others!

With a thorough check, he absorbed all the Stone Runes into his World Space with his Soul Sense. The Succubus seemed visibly uncomfortable, but she also seemed hopeful. Her face—beautiful due to her bloodline—would melt most men's hearts.

Mark had seen better.

"Now, give me the Key you promised," she said.

Mark rubbed his nose and contemplated about it.

"Wait a moment," he said. "Let one more demon trade with me, and then, I will give you both the Keys at the same time."

The Succubus' face changed.

The Blade Guy came to her rescue. "First prove the legitimacy of your Keys by giving a Key to her, and then, we will all willingly give you what we offered."

"No," Mark said stubbornly. "Send one more of you to trade and I will give them both the Keys at the same time. What do you say? If you are so reluctant, send the Demonic Dragon for it—wasn't he eager to trade with me?"

This time, the Demonic Dragon didn't seem so eager. But in the end, he just sighed and threw a blue light Mark's way—it was the Blue Dragon Flower. And close by, Mark noticed with his Violet Screen, that it was nothing but a counterfeit.

"Hmph, I knew it," Mark said coldly, crunching the flower under his boots. "Somebody else bid instead of him, and when I have two people to give the Keys to, I will give. I don't go against my words."

The Succubus trembled with anger. "My Seals of Destiny were not fake! You understand it!"

"Oh woman," Mark said. "but you don't have to be this agitated—just make one of the other demons trade along with you and I will sell both of you the Keys. It's my promise. With your power, making someone else sell me their offer wouldn't be too hard."

The Succubus understood the deal. He was asking her to force another demon to enter the auction.

Why would he do that if his Keys were genuine? Won't the next demon want it once she gets it? That meant his Keys were most probably counterfeits.

If she wanted to confirm that doubt, she had to help him get a second bidder.

She was such a fool—she should have never given him all four of the Seals of Destinies in her hand at once. She should have given two, then made him give the Key before she gave or kept the remaining Seals.

Meanwhile, Mark frowned. His abilities were starting to get sealed—he had just now lost his Soul Sense. It was sudden and abrupt, but the chain in his limb was getting more influence over him. He had to leave soon.

The Blade Guy rose a cloud of dust with a kick. "It is obvious that you have been fooled. We have all been fooled. No, I am not going to allow another single demon to give this brat more benefits."

"You!" The Succubus gritted her teeth. "We haven't confirmed if it's fake yet!"

The Demonic Dragon seemed calm. "It's obvious. Of the Keys in his hand, only one of them is real. The rest are counterfeits. My eyes are unique, so I can see it."

"Then why didn't you say earlier?" The Succubus asked coldly.

Mark was also stunned. He knew?

"Why should I tell you?" The man asked the succubus. "I warned you all that it might be fake—and it is fake. But well, you haven't lost anything anyway.

"It's just four Seals of Destiny and even if you had it, you probably wouldn't leave alive from here to make it useful. At least this guy might have some use with it."

But now, none of the others were willing to trade with Mark. Even if they died—fine. They will die with their treasure. No way were they going to give it to some random Middle Demon. And thus, there was no longer a need to stay here.

Mark hesitated for a second. Should I try and create copies of Portal Keys using Alchemic Shapeshifting?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He had once had the chance but held back from doing it because of one reason. He didn't know the consequences of failure. Maybe, space itself might implode and kill him. Maybe it would send him into some random World.

Who knows?

But if it succeeds now, he could sell it to the Succubus and gain all the other offers for himself too. Maybe even try getting the True Names of one of the demons here—then, he would have a servant much stronger than him under him.

They would even know about the Sufferings!

"You have been too lucky," Reol'ran said, guessing his intentions. "And I think that was due to your last remnants of good luck getting used in one explosive burst. Now, you are in for a ride of misfortune.

"If the River knew you might copy the Portal Keys with Alchemic Shapeshifting because of greed, it might have sent you here exactly for that. So that you will try making a Portal Key only to get your greed blasted against yourself."

Indeed, this could be an elaborate trap set up to make him greedy.

"Let's leave," he said calmly and took out the one legit Key.

===

[Portal Key to an Unconquered World]

[World of Star Fever]

[Dominant Race: Star Monkey]

[Highest Powers in the World of Star Fever: Tier 2]

[Warning: You cannot return from that world before completing the Mission you will be given upon entering the Portal.]

[Warning: This is a World on the cusp of evolving into gaining Tier 3 fighters.]

===

The sight of him taking out only one Key made all the Demons growl in envy. Many, including the succubus, ran towards him with incredible speeds. It was their hope of survival—their only hope. But Mark was no fool, he had moved enough distance to be not caught by them easily.

He inserted the metallic Key into the atmosphere itself and with a clack, twisted it as if opening a door. In a second, a blue doorway appeared in front of him and Mark sighed as he stepped into it. The moment his legs moved into the portal, the chain that had crawled inside him began burning.

It also began whipping around endlessly. But the weird energy of the Portal Key protected him and the Portal, and now, Mark realized why one Key couldn't be used by multiple people here.

If they tried to enter one Portal, the whipping chains would get to them—especially since all of them had more than one chain binding them. Then, the demons couldn't be pulled into World Spaces while they were sealed, either.

Thus, one Key could only be used by one demon here.

Mark entered the new World and looked back, his body was bathed in a blue aura but his eyes were brighter. Golden and calm.

"Don't worry," Mark said. "I think I might still be able to help you in some way—just prepare enough ransome to make me want to try it."

He vanished into the Portal and right on time, some of the others reached close to it. But just as they moved closer, their chains grew taut and held them all in place with a powerful pull. Indeed, you needed the Portal Key to be in your hands to leave—only then could you take the sentient chains by surprise.

***

Mark felt a fluffiness on the ground right as he landed in a new atmosphere. His body was bathed in the aura of the Demonic World Will, and for some seconds, he wouldn't have to worry about the Star Fever World Will hunting him down upon invasion.

But still, Mark brought out the hamster, putting it on his head.

Slowly, his eyesight returned and Mark walked forward with a bit of awe.

He was standing on top of a giant red mushroom under vast blue skies, and all around him, there were thousands of other red mushrooms. In the sky, giant birds flew by in a flock, and using his unsealed Soul Sense, Mark could sense the presence of many creatures around.

In the far distance, he could also see the silhouettes of towering buildings that could put the skyscrapers of the Hunter World to shame. And around these skyscrapers were metro trains moving through the very air itself.

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He gasped. "An advanced world!"

In the red sun's shadow, he could only make out the silhouettes of the buildings but at first glance, Mark was sure this world was far more advanced than any other world he had been to.