Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

After another year of gruesome battles, Adam stepped through the fourth layer's city. The icy wind battered his bare torso as his eyes narrowed on the ruins.

Most buildings looked like warehouses rather than habitations. Round ovens filled the streets as though the few souls who had lived here desperately fed someone or... something.

Drawn by the dark fire burning atop a tower, he pushed amidst the devastation before his brow creased.

Not a single speck of dust tarnished the white stones. No rot was visible either, and the tower looked brand new. How?

He inhaled the rare fresh air and pushed the doors open. A burning sensation struck him immediately, like a tongue licking his skin, followed by the sharp threat of gnawing teeth.

Warily, he scanned the place, his confusion deepening. Not a soul moved in the silent streets, and the sky was empty. The only sound that broke the silence was... the crackling dark fire. Explore new worlds at empire

"That's the reason," he muttered.

The tower withstood the passage of eons because it passively consumed anything approaching it. That was far from good news. If the flame of avarice absorbed fires to reinforce itself, this one destroyed anything weaker than it on a molecular level.

That was the sensation he had felt—the same he would endure to claim it.

He exhaled, a steely glint flashing in his eyes as he rammed the door with a groan.

BAM

It flew off its hinges, collapsing inward to reveal a broad banquet hall. Nothing stood but the walls and the terrifying teeth mark littering them. Did the eldritch try to devour them after starving?

He dismissed the question as his skin sizzled and darkened.

The scabbard's healing slowed the destruction but couldn't stop it. With every passing second threatening his life, he bolted up the stairs.

In the blink of an eye, his steps echoed past ancient kitchens and storerooms until he burst onto the square roof.

Darkness permeated the place, forcing his narrowed eye to glow to adapt as he looked at the flame. An icy shudder ran down his spine as a scalding heat assaulted him.

There, the flame, no... the dark blaze scorched the air, matter, and photons, leaving a void in its wake. It wasn't a dark fire he had seen, but the absolute absence of light—a consequence of its all-consuming nature. Fortunately, the brazier contained it well, leaving only its radiance seeping, or he believed the fourth layer would have long disappeared.

And beside it, he saw a horrible eldritch, its body unaffected by the power it once wielded.

Putrid tentacles entangled its stomach. Six spear-like insect legs, among which two had been gnawed, flailed as it turned. Two huge red circles filled with tiny eyes, swarming like maggots, sparkled as its half-devoured wings twitched eagerly.

'What a disgusting fly.'

He almost puked when its giant mouth parted to reveal fleshy teeth and an ocean of drool.

"Food. After four billion years." Its eyes blazed with desire. "HUNGRY!"

This one's sanity was far gone, unlike the other eldritch he'd encountered. Well, he would have gone mad after four billion years of starvation, too. Still, devouring its own body...

He shook his head, his fingers tightening around his blade. He had no time to waste.

Determined to end this battle in a jiffy, scarlet flames erupted on his left palm as the creature charged at him.

However, his eye widened as the blaze's radiance decomposed them in a few seconds.

'It also works on energy?!' He scrutinised the unaffected creature. 'It doesn't seem to absorb my flames like the flame of avarice—it's just pure destruction.'

Leaping above the charging eldritch and drawing his sword's arm back, he shuddered as he imagined the creature hurling a blazing ocean of destruction at him.

'Good, it can't.'

Landing on its back, he slashed the chitin with full force—right between the wings.

He didn't know if it was because he grew much more powerful or if the creature's weakened state helped, but the resistance he had expected didn't meet his strike. Instead, a sickening crunch reverberated, and acidic blood burst into a fountain.

The blaze vaporised the liquid, turning it into a drizzle that dug holes in his muscles.

He grunted and plunged his left hand into the wound. Since the blaze didn't affect the creature, he could perhaps use his essence inside its body. Despite the uncertainty, it was worth a try.

A searing pain twisted his lips into a grimace, his teeth clenching to muffle a scream. Infernal essence rumbled in his veins as a raging inferno erupted from his palm.

ROAR

The chitin reddened, and tissues evaporated into dark smoke. The stench of burned flesh filled the air. Yet the fly's eyes sparkled as its body melted the energy like the blaze did before the acid devoured Adam's hand.

"More... I NEED MORE!" It collapsed on its belly, shoving its spear-like limbs at Adam.

Without wasting a second, Adam lunged upward and spun into a backflip. Scarlet blood flew with the rotation, smearing his face and torso before he landed on the ground and gasped at his left hand... if he could still call it a hand.

Uneven bones, half dissolved and about to crumble, lay bare before his constricted pupil.

'Shit...'

As he cursed, the scabbard shuddered to life, a rush of cool energy straightening and regrowing the bones. Tendrils of flesh weaved themselves into dense muscles before his pale skin followed.

He never lost sight of the crazed creature during the process and sidestepped its charge—just enough to smell its rotten breath without disappearing in its mouth—and swung downwards.

A leg flew in an arc with another crunch, yet the creature snapped its head, its abyssal mouth filling his vision.

His lips twisted as fleshy teeth writhed in his direction like a swarm of hungry maggots. Fury burst into his veins as he stomped forward, the sturdy floor that had endured billions of years of abuse cracking beneath his foot. 'I'm not backing down, bastard!'

With his inner cry, his left fist whistled right into the mouth.