<Ah, so the earth that fostered the seed of evil now withers because of it. How quaint.>


    “What? YOU! How can I still hear you?”


    <Ha! I am what holds our foul flesh together, daring to use as much of our untapped energy as I can. We were one, originally, merging with you fully would destroy us, but a tiny fraction may come back without worry, now that our connection has been fully established. The fact that I can see what you see makes this all the more easier. Think of us as symbiotically bound and do not worry, when enough power has seeped into these ragged bones and we have thus recovered, I will once again lay dormant.>


    Dreading that this overdramatic, grumpy demon will still haunt me, I try to look around. I cannot understand this. Everything around me seems dead; destroyed.


    “How could this have happened!? My village!”


    <Oh please… don’t pretend you care. Had you the resolution to protect them to begin with, a mere hellhound of the 7th rank wouldn’t have given you any trouble at all, by now.>


    “SHUT IT! Sh- shut it, dammit!”


    Why? Why did this happen? As I look around all I can see is rubble and ruins. As I try to stand up I don’t even notice my current state before a tidal wave of pain swept me back onto my knees.


    “AAARGH!”


    I cannot help but scream. Looking down I see what my other half meant. I was partly chewed, my left arm almost entirely missing, but somehow I’m still alive. The demon must’ve stopped the bleeding, but what am I supposed to do now, with only one arm? I even see large gashes on my torso, some organs are visible! Oh no... please, no.


    “Make it stop… please!”


    Great! Now he is silent!? Oh god… why me?


    My family! My little sister! She was so small and tiny. I even remember her first words and how cute she looked when she took her first steps! She even stopped crying when I picked her up, once I learned to hold her right! And now…now… this! How can this be?


    <You cannot fathom how many times I have asked myself this, Owen. To be reduced to this state is… worse than death. We must push on, however. We need to get our revenge!>


    “SCREW YOU! Screw your revenge! I don’t even know these stupid former brothers of yours, nor do I want to find these stupid dogs! I don’t care anymore, I want my family back, I want my friends back and I want to go back to just playing all day!”


    <Then get stronger. Who did you think brought upon them, this carnage and slaughter? Would you regain this useless baggage, you had meant to protect it, with what exactly?>


    “What do you mean?”


    <Hehe… you will see.>


    I focus again, gritting my teeth and trying to stand. Under immense pain and a pounding headache I finally manage, feeling very ill after doing so. I try to take a step and it takes a lot more than I thought, but I must search. I have to see if someone survived! Anyone at all!


    “He-HEEEY! Anyone there?”


    Argh… I can’t do this. Each step takes so much effort. There must be a better way.


    Collapsing from the effort of walking I lie down and think. What did he say? The answers are within me, I just have to focus on them. Meditate and access my previous knowledge as a demon… I hate him, I hated that feeling of this scorching pain and the contrasting coldness following it, but I have to! I need to know!


    So, focus. Focus… If I had to know if someone survived, if I had to check an area in my vicinity, what would I have done as a demon? I’d focus on the life force of others, right? Not just the change in the wind and sounds they make, since they could be unconscious, but their presence, their beating heart itself. But how? Sensing their soul? How could one do that though? If-


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    <Don’t.>


    “What? Why did you do that for! I nearly had it!”


    <You’re trying to use the demon sense. Casting out your soul, feeling for any life that needs quenching… don’t. In our condition, it’d be the last thing we do. Our soul is that of a deity level combatant, but most of the insights have been locked by me and it’s currently used to heal the destruction you failed to prevent, right now you don''t even have the soul energy of a saint level available to you, even were we healed fully. Had we the body of a deity level combatant, or were our dantian of this level, it would pose no problem. That is not the case, however. If you’d fight me over control at this crucial moment in time … we’d die.>


    “b-but I have to know!”


    <It doesn’t matter. They are gone, even if someone survived, they would have left days ago>


    “DAYS!? How much time has passed?”


    <It’s been a week.>


    “No… it… it cannot be!”


    He lies! I know he does! He cannot know what has happened, or if they all died. Some must have survived. Ignoring the pain, I push myself forward.


    …………………………………………………


    With great effort I managed to search the village. I do not know how long I have spent searching, passing out from the pain and trying to get up again, just to pass out from the effort, but when I finally search the last of the houses, my house, it finally dawns on me. I am alone. Utterly alone.


    “Father! Mother! Why… why did you have to die?”


    Crying I fall down on my knees and sit there. A long time passes before my face grew cold and a grim look replaced the sad one. Getting up I search my house and scan it one last time, before a sudden thought hits me like lightning.


    My sister! She was nowhere to be found! This means… someone must have found her and taken her to safety! My father still has his sword in hand, even now, as if dreading to let it go. Wanting to protect his family even in death. My mother is lying in the doorway towards my sisters’ room, but it stood empty. Not in the least bit destroyed. It’s silent and there is no sign of her. This must mean she is safe, it MUST!


    So he was lying! My sister was alive and I would find her, no matter the cost… but I cannot deny what my demon said. I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t protect my family.


    “Demon! You said to go north, didn’t you. You said I could become strong. I could protect this ‘baggage’ if I would have the resolution to!”


    <Surely you do not mean to scour the desert in order to find a single snowflake?>


    “JUST ANSWER ME!”


    <Yes… follow my directions and you will find the power you so desperately seek.>


    “Good… then it’s settled. I do not care if I have to make a pact with a devil, if it means to find and protect my sister!”


    Slowly, but with new found resolve, I make my way north. Intend to go to where ever he would lead me to and do whatever dark deed necessary. I would find my sister and I would protect her, not even the gods would stop me!


    Previous Chapter</a>    Next Chapter</a>


    ______________________________________________


    Heya folks! The next one might be a long one, in comparison to the usual chapters up till now.


    I don’t really know if I want to break it up in parts, or not. Tell me your thoughts about it, if you’d like one or the other. Please leave me any suggestions/advice/mistakes you spotted while you’re at it!


    Thanks you for reading. :)