After killing for what felt like eternity, he finally stopped to rest in the forest. The trees swayed in the breeze, the silence heavy. Moments passed, and a figure emerged from the shadows, its presence unmistakable. He looked up to see a devil approaching him. The floating shard by its side and the pointed tail were enough, but the grin confirmed it.
The devil stared at him for a long moment before speaking.
"Newborn demi-god, what brings you here to our homeland?"
Without hesitation, he felt his essence surge. With a flash, he disappeared, reappearing behind the devil.
'BOOM!'
His right arm, charged with power, struck the devil with a single devastating punch. The devil's body crumpled, its last word a mere whisper:
"Soooon..."
Now, there was only one being left in the forest: him. His instincts had acted before his mind could process—kill the devil before its words could take hold. The shard from the devil's soul was malice itself, a thing he had learned to destroy on sight.
He rested again, his mind settling after the battle, before leaving the forest. Beyond the treeline, he saw it: towering walls, castle-like, wedged between two hills. Knights and wolves roamed the grounds. He knew only one course—clear the path.
With each step, the massacre began.
'BOOM!'
A shadowy figure appeared beside him, silently stalking him. He sensed it just before it could strike. A quick, precise motion ended it.
The sound of blades and destruction filled the air as he tore through the creatures at the entrance. He no longer cared for stealth—his arm had grown stronger, each kill reinforcing it. His demigod vessel absorbed the excess power, recycling it to cast a concentrated sonic boom with every punch. His momentum was unstoppable.
Bodies lay in his wake as he approached the massive wooden door. It slid open effortlessly.
The moment he stepped through, a force gripped his right arm, pulling at the lost soul within. He felt it drain as the door shut behind him. Darkness swallowed him whole, and a soft voice echoed in his mind.
"Miss me?"
"No."
Images flooded his mind—shards of his soul gathering, forming a whole. From the fragments emerged a luminescent smile, a figure taking shape before him.
"It's just like back then..."
The shards moved, pulled together, until his broken memories began to reform. The figure was completed, and before him stood a woman, her smile beautiful yet unsettling. She looked into his eyes, her voice soft.
"I've freed you from your own abyss."
He said nothing, but she waited as if expecting an answer. His soul, now whole, had merged with the lost soul from his arm and the one in his vessel, creating something... new.
"Why?" he growled.
"I know you."
"If you knew me, why make my life worse?"
"I like to see you."
"My mind is in agony, and you smile."
"Calm down."
"ARRRGHHH!"
As his memories began to crumble once more, his normal state returned, the fragments of his past slipping away again.
"You're a devil," he spat.
A lone shard floated behind him, glowing brightly.
'BOOM!'
The shard exploded, and a red screen flashed before his eyes.
[DEMI-GOD/DEMON SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
The soul collapsed, revealing a new reality to him. His vision blurred, and another memory engulfed him.
"Hey, you two going out?"
The familiar teasing tone made him flinch. Two people sat at a desk, the tension between them palpable.
"No!" one shouted.
"This again," the other sighed.
A figure leaned closer to the boy, brushing away the things on the desk before sitting beside him.
"Okay, if you're not dating, then I'm taking him."
The figure kissed the boy, only to be stopped.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Just… no."
"Tell me. When will you stop?"
"You're hogging him. Give me a chance."
"No."
The argument faded as the boy disappeared, the memory fading with him.
He awoke again in the real world, gasping for air. His right arm pulsed with energy as he took in the scene.
"Ooh, a heart devil... This will be troublesome."
It wasn't surprising that he knew things beyond the ordinary. With a 300-thousand-year-old demigod vessel, he had knowledge buried deep in his soul. The changes to his arm glowed with a luminescent red light.
"So I'm some sort of cultivator now, huh?"
As memories of his past resurfaced, he remembered something—a system, though he didn't yet know its purpose. He called out:
"Sys."
A red, transparent screen appeared, confirming his suspicions.
[DEMI-GOD SYSTEM]
[NAME: ASHURA]
[RACE: UNDEAD DEMON]
[SOULS GATHERED/LEVEL: 1]
[LOST SOUL TRAITS: [DEMONIC GRIP: PERMANENTLY ENGRAVE THE SOUL WITH A DEMON MARK THAT ENHANCES AN ARM WITH DEMONIC POWERS]
[DEMONIC CONTROL: BY POSSESSING A DEMONIC SOURCE, THE CASTER CAN FULLY CONTROL THE SOURCE TO HIS WILL]
[CURSE: [HEART DEVIL: WILL HUNT THE CURSED AND INFLUENCE THE CURSED'S DECISIONS AND WILL] [UNWANTED SOUL: UNABLE TO ACHIEVE INNER PEACE OR REINCARNATION]]
"Oh…"
Unlucky—cursed even if he had done nothing wrong. If that was the case, then he would kill whoever controlled his fate.
A new demon was born.