Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

He sighed when he glimpsed at his item lists. His talent hadn't been stingy with legendary weapons during his time in the abyss. Unfortunately, they weren't what he needed. Still, he smiled softly as he summoned the magic cube. He liked this one and its enchantments a lot.

The cube settled in his palm with a burst of light, its shifting walls humming with mana and the cold metal reflecting the amber's soft glow.

With a thought, the walls spun, revealing the dark sphere hidden inside as an invisible force drew Baal Peor's carcass to it. As if the cube commanded gravity, it engulfed the giant corpse in the blink of an eye, leaving a lake of dark blood and a few sliced tentacles behind.

He nodded at the cube. Of course, it had many more enchantments related to mana he couldn't use. But the storage alone was a life changer.

CLINK

Lost in thought, a sudden noise forced him on his guard. He snapped his head where the carcass had been, catching a shrinking and solidifying ring of dark fire.

Eye narrowed, he moved and picked it up. Then, he focused on it to make its stat panel appear.

Name: Baal Peor's Condensed Aureole

Rarity: Mythic-Unique Evolutionary Material

Introduction:

Baal Peor's source of power. A prerequisite for demons to evolve into fallen angels.

"Prerequisite? Will I need one, too?" A deep frown creased his brows as he clenched the hot ring.

Though annoying, the news made sense or anyone could have reached the peak by stacking energy. But in his case... Would he need to kill a dragon?

"Sigh... I guess I'm stuck at the fifth evolution until I find a solution."

He shook his head, dismissing the concern entirely. Dragons were too powerful—all in the eighth tier, and those were the weakest. Instead, he walked to the brazier and watched the amber's soft glow.

His eye sparkled, and his heart drummed in his ears. Would he find a clue to leave this place through it?

Too eager to discover it, his fingers blurred around it. Instead of the expected scalding heat, he felt a mild, almost inviting warmth as he pulled it out and observed the dim flames licking its surface.

However, an icy shudder ran down his spine as he saw them spread like wildfire. Were they about to burst like earlier?

Before he could shove it back into the brazier, flames burst to his right arm and chest, vanishing through the fiery crevices.

Sweating and his neck tensing, he felt the weight of the amber disappear as his legs buckled.

"Shit. What is this flame?" He gritted his teeth, sensing his body change uncontrollably.

Demonic essence rushed to his veins, enlarging and rearranging them as the cracks flickered from almost extinguished orange to bright scarlet in a painful loop. His fingers dug into the ground, drool trailing down his sharp teeth. But he muffled his screams. There was something else to the amber as if it tried to communicate.

Aware, his thoughts reached for it as his body churned in a violent counterattack. Chaos stirred and engulfed it—right after instinctive information flooded his brain and a notification almost shattered his eardrums.

DING

[You've assimilated the Remnant: The Ember of Lingering. Energy consumption optimised. Your flames now persist even if they are inactive. Mastery over slow and soft fires achieved.]

He could feel the effects without reading the notification. After all, the amber and its knowledge were now a part of him. And what knowledge! His fists couldn't help but tighten as the pain subsided. He understood how he could use them: plasma manipulation.

"It's one of the keys to mastering it, a way to control the chaotic temperatures and output: to shift from violent to soft. But it's not enough."

He frowned. With it, the estimated one thousand years to reach proficiency lowered to eight hundred years. But what if there were more remnants?

The question struck him.

"Surtr mentioned seven rulers beneath the realms. So, he meant the abyss and those eldritch horrors? Six more to go, then."

Since he was stuck in this eternal nightmare, he would swallow everything he could on his way to the exit. And if it didn't exist?

"I'll dig my own."

He rose to his feet, his back straight, and his chest drumming a song of chaos and carnage—a herald to what would befall the abyss during his forced stay.

With his new motivation, he stepped through the city's ruined streets. Battered by the icy winds and accompanied by abyssal spawns growls, he passed by jagged, teeth-like mountains, barren plains of ashes, and corrupted rivers permeating the air with the decayed stench.

With each daily use of his talent, he left a carpet of corpses behind him. Speaking about days, how many had passed since he entered the abyss? How many since he left the city? He had stopped counting after two months, so he didn't know anymore. But one thing was certain. This place was huge—several times larger than Hestia's realm.

And today, he swung his blade, blood flying on the mound of carcasses in front of a winding passage he had just discovered. He observed it, frowning at how it drilled through the ground and wondering where it could lead.

'Why wonder? It's not like I know where to go.'

With a shrug, he stepped inside, sometimes walking sideways against its icy walls, sometimes crawling against the rocks.

Despite the unpleasant and seemingly endless journey, everything wasn't bleak. He met no creatures inside, allowing him to sleep in peace—a sweet luxury he had almost forgotten.

His mind refreshed, he resumed his journey and pondered about the past.

Honestly, he didn't know if the gentle meta he had adopted—because of the circumstances and his weakness—was right anymore. After all, Bart, Garduck, or Shihan could have eviscerated him when he was a weak imp. He still remembered his fear when he saw their violence for the first time. But after sharing hardships one after another, they became united as more joined his ranks.

As these thoughts lingered, he emerged from the passage and took his surroundings in. The still dark sky and barren ground made him frown. Didn't he travel several kilometers down? How could there be another abyss under the abyss? Was it a layered realm and did he find the passage for the second? Probably.

Satisfied with his answer, he continued pondering as he walked.

Luna would have never opened up if he had chosen a more severe approach. So, no. The problem came from his leisure, comfort in their presence, and failure to see the hidden blade approaching his back.

"I should have never given these bastards so much freedom just because I admired them." His palm trembled, the faces of the mythical figures flashing in his mind—how he wished to slap them until he knocked their teeth out.

But it was fine now. He'll do it after emerging from the abyss, then place a leash around their necks.

"I'm not a puppet you keep in the dark while you scheme with my life."
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As for Tiamat? He didn't know. Something told him she was trying her best surrounded by enemies. Still, she had never sent him a single message ever since. So why would he continue to help her?

"The more I think about her, the more bitter I'm. I want to believe you had a reason, Tiamat..."

A deep sigh escaped his lips as he delicately placed Tiamat's image in a warm corner of his heart, summoned his blade, and halted.

His eye brushed past a ruined city, to the golden flame burning intently through a half-collapsed circular building that towered in the middle.

"I found the second one."