Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Hanmo comforted Shiden in his embrace.

For a while, the teacher and student just sat on the floor like that and shared each other's warmth silently.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the paper-thin wall.

Hanmo asked, "Who is it?"

"It's the maid, Mr. Hunter," a womanly voice said. "A young man just appeared outside the mansion asking if he could meet Mr. Hanmo and his disciple, Young Master Shiden. He seems to have been a classmate of the Young Masters."

She never got another answer from Hanmo.

Hanmo turned his icy blue eyes in absolute horror to look at his disciple.

Shiden's lips met Hanmo's, but that was not the horrifying part. The young man pushed down his teacher with his bare hand against the man's open chest and used the terrifying power that only Shiden could use.

Hanmo's face changed.

Along with the frightening kiss of death, Hanmo's form began to distort like a balloon.

B-Rank Hunter Ability—Alchemy Shapeshifting.

"Why?" Hanmo asked hoarsely as his figure bulged into an ugly form and became a huge mound of near-exploding meat.

The Ice God wanted to react, but it was too late. Yet, even then, a desperate spear of ice still pierced through Shiden's gut.

Blood leaking down the sides of his mouth, Shiden smirked. He said hoarsely, "I knew your ice hurt, but not this much. You are indeed a strong A-Rank Hunter, Master."

Hanmo's ugly ballooning body could barely shift its eyes. Yet, the ice already in Shiden's body began to corrupt and kill the youth from the inside—the youth seemed calm.

"But this much can't kill me," he said, clutching the ice spear.

From the side, another fatter youth kicked down the paper wall and walked into the room. On his hand was the decapitated body of a young woman; the maid.

It was Fulan. The Healer of the Trio Hunters.

"Fulan, Heal!" Shiden said coldly.

Fulan silently released a golden light and Shiden smirked as the ice-inflicted wounds healed.

From the side, Maki walked out of the shadows and placed a hand on the ice-spear impaled in Shiden's stomach, the spear was absorbed into her shadow.

Fulan completed the healing and Shiden was as good as new.

Hanmo's whole body shivered as blood leaked down. His incredibly wide blue eyes stared at his disciples in horror.

"W…h…y?"

Why would you do this? Why?

Why would you betray me?

…

From outside the mansion, Mark's puppet felt his skin crawl as an inhumane scream echoed out from inside. Mark had heard that voice way too many times in the media. It was the sound of the arrogant Ice God, Hanmo. Yet, now, it was high-pitched and agonized.

The Puppet stood in his spot with uncertainty but from the distance, the main body released its Soul Sense wide to view it all. He was shocked.

Hanmo was dying!

What is going on?

Something was terribly wrong. Why would Hanmo's disciples kill him?

…

"W…h…y?" Hanmo asked.

Neither of the Trio Hunters answered. Hanmo's humongous eyes burst into ugly bloody tears. The whole room stank.

The times he ate noodles with them. Their happy days of mentorship. The way he saw them as his own children. The hunts they went into. Everything flashed by in Hanmo's mind.

Maki was a moody girl, Shiden was a charismatic young man, and Fulan was a fat nerd who couldn't help but be too honest. He loved them each the same.

They watched him each with indifferent eyes as his body rotted from the inside.

He was still an A-Rank Hunter. He could bring forth a wave of ice and explode himself to kill these three along with him. But, how could he?

"W…h…y?"

"WHY?" Hanmo asked as his form writhed.

The Trio Hunters smiled.

...

Shadows danced in the room. Ice shards fell silently from Hanmo's body, weak, he was so weak. Dying.

From deep within the shadows, a man cloaked in dark robes slowly walked out. His hair was long, his face hidden inside his dark hair and the shadows.

Mark couldn't see it clearly. Yet, his heart was thumping wildly.

The man walked slowly and gently touched Hanmo's ugly and huge form.

"Master, I feel pity for this," the man said.

"W…h…o?"

"Ah," the man smiled and pushed his hair away from his face.

The man had a sallow face, a dry, sleepless pair of dark eyes. Cold, so cold an eye for a man who seemed so young, childish.

"They call me by many names, but mostly, I am just a student. A young boy. A suicide victim."

The young man jumped up to stand atop Hanmo's body. Mark felt a chill up his spine.

"Seo Jin Hu. The kid that was forced to suicide, in other words. That's me."

From the side, Shiden gently touched his master again and Hanmo's body turned into droplets of blood and fell on the ground like a fountain.

Seo Jin Hu bathed in the blood and gulped as he looked up. His adam's apple bobbed.

"Master has such a bitter taste," he said with pity.

Then, he brought his hand to his own chest and clapped his hand. The whole room grew eerily silent and a dark blue light began to emanate from everywhere. Mark felt as if Shiden and the rest were glaring at him in anticipation of him to attack.

They are aware of me!

"Return," Seo Jin Hu said coldly as his hand was bathed in the ominous light.

Hanmo's blood all over the place condensed below the youth's palm and a dark body appeared where Hanmo had died. Slowly, the humanoid shape began to take a better shape and soon enough, it turned into the appearance of Hanmo.

The Ice God.

Mark had wanted to stop this but with the Trio Hunters protecting the kid, and him being so far away, that was impossible. It all happened so quickly.

Seo Jin Hu gently placed a hand over the man's white hair and petted him.

"You are my first A-Rank slave, yet, I feel so empty. You were my master after all."

…

Mark just stared with his back covered in cold sweat.

He had never seen this monstrous of an Hunter. He had never expected such a Hunter to be a possibility. Seo Jin Hun—he still remembered that man. It was the kid who committed suicide the day Mark appeared in this world.

He had seen that kid's corpse!

How was he still alive?

Only one answer came to mind. The corpse must have been someone else's. Shiden's ability was Alchemy Shapeshifting, changing a dead body's appearance to look like Sun Jin Hu didn't seem impossible.

But why? Why act like you are dead?

Then, he saw Hanmo's death and Mark's face turned even more grim.

If it was a higher ranked Demon that Shiden tried to ambush with his Hunter Ability, the Demon would have an unbreakable Defensive Magic Skin and Shiden wouldn't have stood a chance.

But Hanmo's guard had been down and Shiden had used that exact moment to do the murder. Hanmo didn't have a Defensive Magic Skin. Hanmo was even hesitant.

Mark's puppet retreated through the woods towards his main body at immense speed. The Puppet had decided to retreat.

Mark coldly looked towards the mountain mansion.

Shiden's ability was already amazing enough to convince the world that he was a Hunter who would save the world. But compared to this man's ability, Shiden was nothing.

Just looking at Hanmo who seemed to have been reborn, Mark felt chills of excitement.

That ability is mine!

[Kill Slave]

[The ability to revive anyone as a mindless Kill Slave upon killing them with your own (or other Kill Slave's) hands.]

[Limit—5/10]

No wonder!

No wonder when Mark tried to use Heart Input on Shiden all those days ago, the man's mind was empty. He had been no man, he was a Kill Slave.

A mindless tool.

Shiden had been acting all along. And, the controller of Shiden's body behind the scenes was inside Maki's shadow all along.

The sensational Trio Hunters were just mindless.

No wonder.

Seo Jin Hu was a menace.

He was the strongest Hunter prospect Mark had ever seen. Not only did he have the Trio Hunters as his Kill Slaves, even Hanmo had just turned into his Kill Slave.

A young man with an A-Rank slave.

Mark felt a gaze turning towards him with his Soul Sense. The youth must have noticed his Soul Sense.

He's onto me.

He licked his lips. No.

I am onto you!

But now, he had to escape from an A-Ranker. His feather flapped in the wind as he swooped down and took his Puppet into his hand, then, he flew away like a bird of prey.

If his research was clear, and if a Kill Slave could use all the powers of the original living being, Hanmo could fly. Mark gritted his teeth as he increased his speed.