Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Bale threw the second of the two wolf-like demons out of the mega-dungeon, grunting. As soon as the creature reached outside the barrier, it began to burn midair and before it hit the floor, turned into black ash.

When the body of ash fell on the floor, it turned into dust and no other proof remained that an elegant demonic wolf had once been alive and had roamed the land.

It was decimated by the grand Will of the Hunter World. Now, the Will of the World would choose a person to give the abilities of the wolves to, and the people who received it will become a A-rank Hunters.

All gazes turned to the twin boys with pale faces, the duo were vomiting all over the ground while laying limply on the tar-road.

Hum.

Mark felt a sacred presence wash over the twins and both of the them gained one Hunter Ability each within mere seconds. The Will of the Hunter World had chose them.

Old Granny Reema and Bale understood that right after Mark. Yuri also figured it out quickly.

Reema nodded, and then bowed down to make the kids drink some Black Water. In addition, she also used her healing ability to complement their already bettering condition.

"How do you feel, kid?" Yuri asked, "Pretty shitty, right?"

The boy nodded, face full of sweat. "Too shitty, big miss."

"That's how genetic modification goes." She sighed. "I went through it, too. I know. Head goes round, eyes swim, stomach wants to throw up its own organs, and yada yada." Her eyes shined, and she smiled at the kid. "But then again, isn't there also another feeling deep in your chest, a warmer feeling."

The kid nodded, face ugly with tears and snot, while his brother just passed out.

"I feel like a fire had been born in my chest, Big Miss. Is my Hunter Ability fire-based?"

Bale smiled. "Kid, you still have your wits about you being so ditzy as you are. Good job. I didn't make a mistake bringing you to my gang or making you a Hunter."

"I am forever grateful for that, Lord Bale." The kid forced out a smile.

"Don't mind that, kid." Bale squatted. "I am no longer your Lord. As of now, I adopt both of you as my official sons. How is that?"

The kid just wept like a baby and soon enough, fell asleep.

"I wonder what ability of the wolf they got," said Bale, standing up.

The granny sighed. "We can only wait till the twins awaken."

Yuri rubbed her nose and looked sideways at Mark. She promptly excused herself and went to the side where Mark had parked his jeep. She entered it and silently fiddled around with her tablet. Mark looked at her, then turned to the twins sleeping on the floor.

"They have apt names," Mark said, looking at their stats. "Tiger and Leon. They would be a tiger and a lion wherever they end up."

Tiger was the one who had been able to persevere and not fall unconscious right after Awakening. Leon was the younger twin, by some hours, if Mark had understood clearly with his observation the past few days.

Tiger had a defensive ability called the Eye Shield that could put a barrier anywhere his eyes could see, and Leon had an ability called Eye Blade that allowed him to cut the air anywhere his eyes could see. Both of them were pretty taxing abilities but at the same time very matching together; complemented each other well.

But for now, the twins were weak even compared to C-rank Hunters.

"I will have to use heal occasionally on them so that they can become A-rankers in a week," Reema said.

Bale looked up at the night sky and sighed. "A pity that such young souls have to suffer a battle that we should be fighting just after being blessed with such good fortune. I hope the mission doesn't end up killing them."

"We have to do what we have to do to survive and leave behind a legacy," The old grandma coughed, phlegm sizzling in her throat. "We can just hope. But hope is no good. No good at all."

Mark didn't entertain them by joining their conversation anymore and excused himself into his jeep. The grandmother and grandson were clearly hypocrites at their core, but unlike what Mark expected, Bale still seemed to have some good morale in him. He wouldn't curse a man for his unprincipled behavior though, Mark himself only followed his heart.

Yuri held his hand.

"What are your thoughts, the mission to hunt the boss is becoming more real by the day," she said softly. "I know now--I am nervous. It's a week away, and that's it. Your plans, it will work, right?"

"Do you not trust my judgment?" He asked.

Yuri became awkward and silent, insecure about her own worth in Mark's eyes.

"Don't you trust me enough to tell me about it?"

"It is better that I don't tell my thoughts out loud." He looked into her eyes. "Especially when one of the A-rankers has an ability that could make you tell the truth about whatever they asked--we don't want a slip-up."

A long moment passed.

"I...understand." Yuri nodded, then tightened her hold on his hand. "So Mark, what's your thoughts on Bale now?"

Mark looked into the distance at his brother's figure bathed in the moonlight. He said, "He who fights monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster himself. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. That's my exact thought."

Yuri chuckled, rubbing her eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Bale must have been a good man once. But good and bad are just societal constructs--I do not care about that. My goals are beyond such simple things. Bale is just another man."

"But Bale's been so good to you... right? He ha--"

Mark started the jeep, headlights brightening the moonlit night even more.

"The moment Bale knows that I am not Heilan but a Demon instead, me, you, and maybe even Dona--we are all going the death route. Well, pretty scientist, unless you can kill Bale if he does that, don't have too much sympathy."

Yuri looked away from him, thinking silently about things she hadn't known she would think about, ever. She asked: "I know that in principle, we are on the demon side. After all, you are a demon. But still, would we really have to completely be against humans, I am a human after all..."

"You misunderstand something." Mark shook his head. The jeep started moving. "We are not on the demon side, nor are we on the Hunter side. We are on our side."

Yuri blinked rapidly as the scene around her blurred and the vehicle sped past at a speed that she would have been uncomfortable with before--now, she was stronger. She took a deep breath and leaned back against her seat.

That makes so much sense, even I get muddled, I guess. We are not on the Hunter side, not the Demon side either. We are on our side.

Her heart beat wild enough, she had to put a hand to her chest to hide her emotions.

Why did Mark referring to her and him in 'we' make her feel so on the cloud?

Luckily for her, she had a natural poker face.

"Here is the deal with this whole thing about gratefulness to Bale, Yuri," he said. "I don't really care about Bale at all, if we were on the other side and they were on this side, the Neslan Brothers would kill us without hesitation. Just think of it, he proposed killing you to me when he first learned you had the Awakening Method."

Yuri was once again silenced. Indeed, she had been thinking it wrong. Indeed, Bale would kill for benefits, then it just counts that others can kill him for benefits, too.

She wasn't too good at seeing and reading other humans--human nature was not her expertise, she liked to mingle with tools more; they were more predictable.

Mark continued: "I am not one to go against my own heart, if I cared for Bale, I would care for him. But the fact is, he is nothing to me. Just a passerby. At best, Bale is an opponent; a likable opponent who would make me feel somewhat shitty if I killed him, but an opponent nonetheless."

Yuri nodded at him, feeling somewhat stupid.

She wasn't that moved by emotions usually but meeting Mark had made her look at others differently. Maybe, not everyone was a monkey. Maybe, being stupid in science was not bad. Maybe, everyone excelled in something that only they could do.

Maybe, being so charming while being a demon was the best of all things. Maybe, having a boyfriend who actually loved her for who she was was not an impossible dream.

"I understand," she said softly.

"And guess what, we are all in a battle of survival." Mark smiled. "If I myself don't become a monster soon, I'd die--Hell is waiting for me just a year away. Sufferings, you see?" The clock was ticking, ticking faster every minute. Tick, tick, tick, tick. "This is war, and if Bale can outsmart me and kill me, let him kill me. If he can't, it's just my win.

And for the win, I won't mind planting a blade in his neck if need be."

There were no hard feelings in war. No justice and no one rightful to win. It was war. The better one won and the worse one lost.

Mark's life was not only a war against the world, it was a war against mediocrity. If Bale was the one blocking him, slay the Bale he shall.

"So what is the plan now?" she asked, looking out at the world blurring beyond the jeep. She felt sated. Maybe, more than Mark uncaringly killing Bale, the fact that Mark might not care about ANY relationships had been her worry.

He just doesn't care about Bale. He isn't like that to everyone.

Mark revved the engine to run even faster.

"Let's go to some place silent and fight each other--you need some more experience."