Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Night mightily cast its long and domineering self over the Mega-Dungeon.

The place grew rather chaotic soon enough. Some Hunters—a very small sum—were hunting, many Demons were dying at the hands of their own species, and violence was ever-prevalent.

Seeing the Hunters dying at times, Mark wondered why they bothered to come to this god-forsaken place at all. It was not like they got any personal benefit by killing Demons, but he didn't dwell on the thought much.

He returned to Dona's side by flight.

For now, Mark didn't have a decisive way to kill a Lower Demon with even (Low) Physical Resistance. His own body was just of that level, and crushing another Demon's skull was impossible; he'd need a stronger body to kill them.

But to get a stronger body, he would need more Soul Spheres. And he could only get Soul Spheres by killing Tier 1 Creatures.

And he couldn't kill an actual Lower Demon because he was too weak to do that.

His plans in the mega-dungeon were of two parts.

For one, since he was here, he wanted to max out his potential and become a Pinnacle Lower Demon in both Mind and Physique. For another, he wanted to find a Demon with some good offensive demonic tricks and capture it—then bring it to Yuri.

If he brought her the Demon, she would help him transform Seo Ran Hun, his Mortal Puppet, into a Hunter. That would be a new ability in his hand if everything goes according to plan and he wins the Dream Gamble.

For now, he didn't have the strength to kill a decent Lower Demon, but that was okay. Earlier, he had seen Hunters in the dungeon, and they wouldn't have the pesky Physical Resistance of a Demon.

Hunters could be his primary way to grow stronger now. He just had to focus on B-Rank Hunters who were not in a group and kill some to max himself out.

…

"Dona, there are no other Demons in this whole building, so stay inside if I move out without you, just in case," he said, "Do you understand?"

"Urr…" Dona blinked and held his hand.

She had been anxious all this time. Her mate leaving her here, alone, made her somewhat fearful. Not exactly. More than fear, she felt unrest.

But the fact remained that her mate left her alone.

Mark rubbed her head. "Oh, don't be so sad. I am going nowhere without you." Dona still seemed a bit pitiful, so he chuckled and took her into a princess carry.

She immediately perked up as if it was her optimal position.

"Urr!" growling happily, she nuzzled her head against his.

"Okay, okay, now you can't be lazy later. I'll need your help."

She could help him out.

Yes, she was just a Demonling, and she stood no chance against a Lower Demon when they were in an optimal duel. Not unless she could destroy the Defensive Magic Skin of the enemy.

But he could help her out. As long as he destroyed a Lower Demon's Defensive Magic Skin, she could use her fire on them, and they would burn. Physical Resistance and Mental Resistance didn't work against good old hot fire, and not many demons had Fire Resistance.

As for the Tier-1 Defensive Magic Skin that Lower Demons had, just one of his punches would break it and he just had to protect Dona while she burned the enemy to death.

As long as it was a Tier-1 level attack, a Tier 1 Defensive Magic Skin would break, even if it was the weakest Tier-1 attack. As long as the attack was weaker than the Tier, no matter what kind of attack it was, the Magic Skin wouldn't break.

Mark understood that much now.

Dona raised her hand and patted his cheeks.

She tilted her head. "Ur?"

Mark sighed. "Yes, let's take some rest first."

He had used Heart Input a lot of times on Seo Ran Hun to manipulate the young man's dreams into what he wanted them to be. And resting would also refresh his mind.

Since this building was rather safe—if he didn't have wings, he couldn't have found this safe place—Mark decided to rest here with Dona for a bit. He planned to take a nap to refresh himself.

In case some Demon was to attack him, he'd sense it, so there was no use being too paranoid. He had to be cautious, not scared, in the long run.

Dona entangled herself into him with a tight hug, and her soft curves accompanied by the tight body pressed against him. It was a now-familiar but incredibly blissful sensation.

Moreover, maybe it was because his Defensive Magic Skin was broken after the fight with that Lower Demon. There was an underlying sense of exhaustion in his mind. He needed to take a short nap.

Or maybe that exhaustion was due to having two perspectives on life now—one his own and the other his Puppet's.

***

Mark's puppet—Seo Ran Hun—had reached Yuri's newly moved lab.

The new lab was hidden in the basement of an abandoned police office. There were a lot of cells here, and they were perfect for Yuri's use.

Like many other places, this one had been abandoned due to the Mega-Dungeon's expansion. No one would ever come to find a mad scientist and her lair here.

Just in case she got in trouble, she had Choi Sung protecting her.

Mark was still rather uncomfortable in this weak human body, but he pushed down the discomfort and entered the basement curiously. The place was less hygienic and less perfect than the previous lab.

Looking around, it seemed really unprofessional, too. Full of rusted bars, some small flies, and what-not. This was not at all like Yuri.

She was a hygiene freak mad scientist.

"Why is this new lab so bad?" he asked curiously.

The Scientist was in dirty lab robes, and black oil was all over her. She stank of metal and grease. Breathing out, she emerged from a jail cell and said irritably, "I have a different place in mind; there is a world-class laboratory near us that was also abandoned. But there are some contaminants there, so I am getting by with this crap of a place. I vomited twice already—Ew…"

"Contaminants?" Mark made a weird face.

Yuri looked at Seo Ran Hun—Mark's Puppet—curiously in turn.

Magic always fascinated her as much as science. She believed that even Magic should have underlying rules and a balance to it—Souls, Evolution, Abilities, and World Wills. Magic. It was probably all just another scientific field.

Who knows?

"Yes, contaminants," Yuri said, "The people who abandoned the lab are scientists; they left the contamination there so that the demons who would inevitably invade it would have something to struggle against. So, I can't just take over the lab."

"Oh, that's smart."

"Well, there are some kind of traps in every building, but they barely have any effect since Demons have Resistances. Only Hunters are a true threat to demons, so it is just an annoyance for me and not much for the demons."

"Well… then that's petty."

She walked circles around him and then muttered, "So this is your puppet, Mark?"

Mark nodded and pushed back his crow's nest-like black hair.

This body was totally weak in comparison to his demonic body. Its senses were too weak; it couldn't bend metal and survive falling off a building, and it didn't have any resistance or demonic tricks either.

"So, how are you controlling this?" she asked, taking out her notepad from her lab pockets and reading some things she had written about Mark. "—Like a remote control toy? Or is your 'soul' split right now into two? Can you feel everything this body feels?"

"Basically, intangible threads are connecting my puppet to my real body. I can sense whatever it does, and it's completely under my control. And yes, there is another soul currently residing inside the puppet that is not mine—the previous owner of the body is still there."

"As for if I can feel everything, yes and no, it's not nearly as 'my' own as with my main body."

Mark went near a certain couch and kicked aside Choi Sung, who was dead asleep on top of it with a hamster cage on his chest. He then sat down on it and put one leg over the other.

His gaze briefly followed towards the snake on the table nearby, and it laying there made him wonder about that incomplete mecha he had once seen in Yuri's lab. He wondered if she abandoned that idea due to having hopes of becoming a Hunter herself.

Choi Sung woke up with a start and stared at the unknown young man in the lab with wide eyes. How dare this dude kick him?

He was wondering if he should bring out his icy fire and burn the dude into ice.

Yuri seemed interested in Mark's statements, she quickly noted something down with her black eyes glinting under the goggles.

"Well, where is your true body now anyway?" she asked.

Mark smirked. "My actual body's in the Mega-Dungeon. Hunting a good Demon to turn this toy puppet into a Hunter."

Choi Sung had paled already.

"I see…" Yuri took out a needle from her pocket and took Seo Ran Hun's blood before moving to her lab table. "This should be interesting, Mark."

Choi Sung sat up from the ground and fixed his messy appearance.

A while of awkward silence stretched.

"So, you are, um— Mark? The Demon?" the Hunter asked.

Mark sat back and showed a hand. "Yeah, basically."

Choi Sung seemed lost for a second before he handed Mark the hamster cage. Mark looked into the cage with a smile but the hamster was asleep now.

It took a long second before Choi Sung suddenly became shocked. In fear, he asked, "So, this is your puppet—this flesh and blood human body—as I heard Yuri say?"

"Yes?" Mark squinted his human eyes.

"And you want to turn it into a Hunter?"

"Yes," Mark calmly nodded.

"You have a way to turn normal humans into Hunters?"

The C-Rank Hunter was now severely appalled.

Mark smirked, and that was all the answer Choi Sung needed.

He looked at everything with a thumping heart and a colorless face.

The Demon had a way of turning humans into his flesh puppets!

The mere thought sent chills down Choi Sung's spine. Moreover, the Demon could turn the puppets into Hunters. So, if he could mass-produce Hunters like that, what use did Mark have for a useless C-Rank Hunter?

If I become too useless, he might… get rid of me, Choi Sung felt his heart sink.

Just as fear set in on Choi Sung's mind, Mark's hand patted him on the shoulder. It was not that intimidating golden eyes that the demon actually had; it was just the humane dark eyes of its puppet that stared at him, but Choi Sung still felt fear thrum in his heart.

Beneath that human skin was the most terrifying demon he had ever encountered.

"Don't do anything foolish, alright?" Mark asked.

Choi Sung nodded and looked down, his face pale, his back sweaty, his heart heavy.

"Mark," Yuri called out, her voice full of eagerness, "When is your actual body coming back?"

"Not too late," Mark replied.