Civilization

The mixture of black and crimson auras melts together, slowly crystallizing into a mask. It wraps tightly around the curves and edges of my face as if it was just another layer of skin on my face, leaving only two small holes where my eye sits. Taking a breath, I feel a warm sensation shudder throughout my body.

Surprisingly, I feel like I still had control of my whole body. Gripping onto my spear, I gaze around looking to see if there were any changes, however, it was the same. The only difference before the Demon Trigger and after was that I had a mask covering my face, one which I can't even see without a mirror.

"How do you feel? Different? Powerful?" - Belial

"I feel the same… As if nothing has changed. No… It's like I already know what to do. I can feel every pore of my body and the mask is constantly beating like a heart." - Kingston

"That is because we are one and the same. This is my body as much as it is your body. However, you have control, but that doesn't mean you won't feel my desire." - Belial

"WAIT WHAT?! ARRRGHHHHH!!!!!" - Kingston

A rush of bloodlust flows through my veins. The desire to kill. The desire for blood. The desire for carnage. Yet, this felt so familiar. How many times have I felt this way before to feel like this? Gripping my spear tightly, I walk forward, or at least I thought I walked forward. With a single step, my spear already connects with the orange fishman's dual blades, creating a shower of sparks in the dark tunnel.

Being so close to the monster, I could see its enraged expression. Its eyes were bloodshot, glaring daggers into my soul. However, I have the higher strength, knocking its blades away upwards creating a gap in its defense. Activating Quickstep, I dash behind the monster and straight away activate Cleave but in the nick of time, the Banshees retaliate with a spectral barrier.

An array of 5 blue translucent hexagon shields blocks my strike, but that doesn't stop my assault. Striking the shield a few more times with a quick burst of stabs, I break through 2 of the 5 shields before leaping backward, away from a series of ghostly spikes popping out of the ground.

"Use Siphon Soul on the Banshees. It will kill them regardless of how strong they are, after all, they are just a bunch of worthless souls waiting to die." - Belial.

"Are you sure? I thought I would only do some damage to them and heal myself." - Kingston

"Just trust me and kill them all." - Belial

Reaching out with my left hand, I use one of my new skills on the floating Banshees.

"Siphon Soul." - Kingston

A shamrock green aura covers my hand, shooting out toward the closest Banshee entrapping its head in a sphere of the same color, creating a line between the banshee and my hand. Howling at the pain, the Banshee starts to flash blue brightly as the green aura pulses. Feeling the strength of the monster flow into me, I Charge forward at the orange monster, dodging the ghostly spikes as it attempts to stop my charge.

Shrieking at my face, it charges at me as well, meeting me mid-charge. This time, however, I could clearly see several Banshees behind the fishman injecting it with more power as the thin blue lines connecting the monster pulse brightly. Parrying the thrust with its blades, it continues its counterattack.

Both monster's blades slid along the top of my spear, forcing me to duck down as the tip of my spear dipped towards the ground. Slicing the air above me, I stick my spear into the ground, using the forward momentum I flip my body and slam both my feet into the fishman's stomach forcing the monster to take a few steps back. The monster stabilizes near the ban

"Hellfire NOW!" - Belial

Gathering energy into my right hand as a crimson red aura with black streaks covers it, I feel my soul warp out of my body. A top-down view of the tunnel appears and even though it was my first time using the skill, I knew exactly what to do. Reaching out with my transparent hand, a crimson red aura wraps around it, firing out onto the spot which I was aiming at, and like clockwork, the area bursts into a fiery hell.

"HELLFIRE!" - Kingston

Crimson flames erupt where the fishman stood with the black tips licking at the Banshees above it, burning them as well. Screams from the Banshee resonate in the tunnel as the fishman charges out of the flames. Its body is covered in crimson fire, as it runs towards slashing the air wildly. Its shrieks echo in my ears the closer it gets, but that didn't matter to me. None of it mattered, I just need to kill them all.

With no more thought put into its attacks, I dealt with the monster easily, attacking its legs before striking the chest and head when there were gaps. Each stab or thrust was calculated, weaving in Quicksteps when I could, dancing around the monster until it eventually collapse.

The Banshees were no expectation, burning slowly in the Hellfire while casting ghost spikes at me, only to miss. Once I finished with the fishman, I naturally turned towards the Banshees eliminating them as quickly as possible. Killing them was just the start, I dash deeper into the cave without stopping entering another crowd of fishman and Banshees. However, without a commander-like monster like the orange fishman, this army of monsters had no sense of unison. They ran at me nonstop dying one by one to my spear.

At the end of the fight, the duration of Rage and Demon Trigger finished and the mask around my face vanishes. I slump to the ground, tired from the fight, huffing, and puffing. I look around me, only to see the darkness of the cavern. How did I even fight in this darkness before?

"How was that, Kingston? Didn't it feel good to kill everything that stood in your way? Didn't it feel good to overpower these weaklings? I know before it was hard, facing dragons and Ogres, but with me, it will be different. No longer will you be the small weak human you were. No, now you are stronger." - Belial

"I do feel stronger, and I'm no longer afraid of you or your thoughts. You just tried to make me afraid of you didn't you, Belial? It wasn't as if you were trying to kill me or anything like that because if it was, you would have already done it. You need me, don't you? You need a catalyst for your power to shine." - Kingston

"I don't know what you are on about. I just gave you strength and in return you will give me strength. You will find the other demons and become someone no-one will want to fight. You will kill everything in your path." - Belial

"Right… Well, for now. Thank you for helping me. I was always afraid of Endless Rage causing damage to my friends. I was able to control it for a bit at one point, but I knew it wasn't a power I could rely on." - Kingston

"That wasn't you controlling it. I was helping you from the shadows, seeing if you were worthy of my strength. What you experienced was just a fraction of my power at that point. If you were to fight that monster again as you are now, you would kill it in a heartbeat." - Belial

"Whatever you say… Does going into Demon Trigger give me night vision, Belial?" - Kingston

"No and yes. Demons have always been able to see in the darkness. Why? Because we live and breathe in the darkness. Of course, we can see in the dark, it would be stupid if we couldn't." - Belial

"You make a great point. You know, now that I'm properly conversing with you maybe you aren't so bad after all." - Kingston

"..." - Belial

Belial's shadowy form dissipates into thin air, ignoring my remark and at the same time, I hear someone calling my name from behind me.

"KINGSTON!" - Gibing

Turning my head behind me, I see a small light in the dark, bouncing up and down slowly. How far did they have to run after me to get up to where I am? It must have taken a while right? After all, I was killing things for quite a while.

"Kingston! Are you okay?" - David

"David! I'm great. Not a scratch on my body." - Kingston

"Did anything happen or change? You didn't look that good when we left you and from Gopopo's and Gibing's report, as we watched you, you were attacking very aggressively. Are you sure there are no injures or concerns we need to watch out for?" - Yor

'I'm fine. I'm fine. The skill which I used was able to keep me safe, after all, I did get quite a power spike when I used it." - Kingston

"Just let us know if there is anything wrong. We can always retreat back to the Krepost. There is no reason to rush in recklessly." - Ken

"I know, and on that note, let's move forward. The door should be right here..." - Kingston