[Teleport]

Shu appeared in a desolate back alley enclosed on all sides by delapidated, crumbling walls and a wrecked building right infront of him as he phased in. There was a small door and on it hung a Chain with a slave collar attached. It seemed like he arrived in the right place, so Myria's information had not been a trap this time either.

In his hands, Apophis writhed impatiently. The thing sensed its Masters desire, and Shu could in turn tell that Apophis hungered. It was a terrible hunger, sort of like peering into a black hole that had seen nothing at all for a thousand years.

Starve the wolf and it'll bite off the hand that feeds it. In this case though, Shu was the superior strength and so could wield Apophis without having such worries. However, there was no doubt in his mind that, should weaker individuals attempt to wield Apophis they would just be consumed by it.

Shu heard the dull tapping clinks of steel boots striking a hard stone floor from the other side of the door, closing in. Shu swallowed audibly. What he was about to do was murder. He had realized it some time ago... but this world was real. Which in turn meant that the people he was about to kill, were real too.

They were not just NPCs, random quest mobs or player avatars that respawned, no. They were actual sentient beings, and he was going to cut their strings and strip them of that sentience, that consciousness we call life.

That was the reason for his hesitance. He had killed before though. Those knights back when he had first entered this world weren't a problem for him at all, but he hadn't really known then.

Bah, that was just an excuse. Shu took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This is just a game, right? Yes. Just a game. If it were a game, then he could deal with this. Activate cognitive dissonance!

Bang, the door slammed open and a man wearing full plate armor stormed into the room. Following behind the guard was a small and thin man. The first impression Shu got when he saw him was not good. Cold businessman. He wasn't wearing a suit, but an ostentatiously decorated robe instead, though it left him with much the same impression.

”I haven't seen you before.” He sneered, his voice already grating. ”You look a little small, but if you're a mage then I suppose it doesn't matter, right Boris?”

The huge chunk of armor grunted a yes sir. Shu was suddenly thankful for the concealing hood. His small pale hand gripped Apophis tightly, shaking. Calm down, calm down. Take it easy.

They deserve it, they need to die. They deal in slaves, they're filth unfit to live. It's better to cull them now, than to let them further taint the world... Shu's head spun. So much so that he missed the thin sneering mans next sentence.

”Right, yes.” Shu replied snappily, guessing at the words that had been spoken. ”I'm new. Branch master Lennard told me to report here. He said I would receive further instruction upon arrival. That you could use my skills... but I'm afraid I don't know what he meant?”

Shu bowed, trying to look subservient. The sweat on his brow was not from fear of the men, but from apprehension. Soon, soon. SOON. The unmaker sent, writhing impatiently in Shu's grip. Soon I shall feed again. Soon I shall unmake the unworthy again. Soon.

”Silence!” Shu shouted, making both Boris and his boss jump.

”What? You insolent little-” Boris began.

”No no, I was talking to my staff. Please, lead the way. I was told to see the boss of this place.” Shu replied.

Boris grunted, looking to his Master for approval.

The man sighed melodramatically, turning beady eyes on Shu as if he was looking at an insect.

”Very well, if you wish to die that's up to you boy. Boris, take him to see the Supreme leader, I have more business to attend to than play gatekeeper here.” The man said, sneering. ”While you're at it, please convey to the secretary that the next batch from the Conglomerate will be here before night fall. Oh, and remember to tell him about the Azure kingdom knight we captured too. The Supreme leader would surely want to watch that auction.”

Boris saluted, starting for the door. It almost seemed too small for the huge armored figure to fit through, but he somehow managed to squeeze his enormous, armored frame through the small opening. Shu followed the man silently.

So far so good... but he couldn't procrastinate forever.

The appearance of the hallways in the ruin of a building, quickly transformed from shoddy looking, to impeccable and even beautiful and certainly ostentatious.

He followed Boris down hallway after hallway, each more elaborately decorated than the last.

His goal neared. The only people he passed on his way were Guards like Boris, but he heard the occasional moan from certain rooms. Shuddering, Shu was both thankful that he didn't come face to face with a scene like that and worried at the same time. What if he massacred the wrong people? What if he accidentally killed slaves in the process? That was simply no good.

He was here to free them, not kill them. He had to do this seriously, even if he had to exert extra effort to circumvent the innocent.

He was not a beast after all. If he mindlessly slaughtered innocents along with criminals, then he would become a true demon king, not just a title holder.

Stopping infront of a pair of huge mahogany double doors, Boris motioned for him to enter. He did and the doors shut behind him. The scream of pain surprised him, making him jump. A thin, emaciated man lay prostrate on the floor, the blood flowing from gashes in his back staining the white carpet red. Above him stood a huge, bald fat man whose jowels spilled over into his gut like sagging sacks of porridge. The beastly abomination cackled loudly, raising the nine-tails once again.

All thoughts of mercy fled his mind in an instant. With a blank look on his face, Shu pointed Apophis at the flabby creature holding the whip.

”Stop, TongTong!” A loud, commanding voice echoed from behind the grotesque beast.

”I don't want to have to deal with a corpse in my office, get it out of here. It seems we have a visitor.” Tongtong grabbed the crying, bleeding man by the neck, closing his fat sausage fingers around it and squeezing as he grinned. He was clearly just doing this for the amusement it gave him.

The slave mans head was quickly turning red, looking like it was about to pop.

But what popped was not the slaves head, but Tongtong.

[Spinerip]

[Telekinetic ball]

[Obsidian barrier]

[Telekinetic Ball, Expand]

With a wet crunch, Tongtong exploded, raining gore and chunks of fat on the room. A few pieces of meat struck the shield that Shu had put up. This was just a game, just a game.

On the floor, the collapsed man was still, showing no signs of life. Shu felt his face contorting in rage, and his stomach curled in on itself. It felt as if someone had punched him in the gut.

”Apophis, let's begin. Follow the plan and start with the East branches. Leave everything here to me, but borrow a little extra of my mana just in case. We can't let any of these disgusting creatures escape justice.”

”As you wish, my Master!” Apophis rasped, cackling ominously as it dissipated in a plume of black smoke.

At the desk in the far corner of the room, there sat a man. A small dome of light shimmered around him and he was untainted by the flying chunks of tongtong. He smiled calmly as Shu approached.

”What a show. I've never seen someone explode like that before. Truly a marvellous spell. I didn't even hear an incantation. If I wasn't me, I'd be scared shitless.” The man laughed.

He looked to be in his mid thirties and had sleek black hair with a streak of white running through it, and slitted brown eyes that made him look decidedly oriental. He wore a business suit.

Not a fantasy outfit from the game, but an actual business suit from the real world.

Shu stood silently before the business man. He then reached up to remove his hood, revealing his young face and the horn. ”You are the Supreme Leader?” Shu asked. He almost didn't recognize his own voice, it was flat and emotionless, like he was remarking on the weather.

The man nodded. ”Friends call me Adrian, but then... you aren't a friend are you?” Shu shook his head, still remaining silent.

”Demonkin eh? Are you their champion or something? Did the boss finally come out after the entire race was either killed or enslaved?” The man chuckled, enjoying his own little monologue. Shu could not muster a reply. He was simply waiting to see if this man would give him some useful information before Shu deleted him from the game files.

Now that he had decided to eliminate this man, his death was a foregone conclusion.

”Gone mute have you? Oh, perhaps you can sense my power, my god given talents. People of this world often tell me that the strong ones can sense things like that. You must be a strong one, that staff of yours definitely looked unique for something that an NPC has. You sure sending away your weapon is a good idea when faced with me? I'm overpowered you know?” Adrian the Supreme Leader said, rising to his feet before letting out a sigh.

”but then again, you don't know, do you? None of you do. You have no clue. Still, I thank you for the show little boy, now die.”

”Light Spear!” Adrian shouted, pointing a finger at Shu. A piercing beam of light shot towards him. So far, this man had the fastest casting speed, using compacted words for chanting... but it was still slow.

[Obsidian Shield]

[Obsidian Barrier]

[Mantle of Nyx]

[Mantle of Erebus]

The spear of light disappeared into a black void, as if it was eaten by a black hole.

”Oh!” Adrian exclaimed. ”Black flames, how curious. No matter. How can someone like you stand up to the holy fire of a god? Hmm, I don't mind destroying a bit of my base for this demonstration. Watch carefully, for this is true, God given power! Something a stupid artificial creature like you cannot comprehend!” Adrian shouted, at the same time managing to grin maniacly.

”Flames of Lumineira.”

”Holy God fire!”

”Gate of heavenly Light, Mirror of eternity! Swallow this mortal soul and grant me his power!” Adrian chanted, and Shu felt a large flow of mana from the unassuming business man.

Blinding white flames poured forth from Adrian, obscuring the man and everything he was doing. Soon enough, bright green flames mixed with the white flames, roaring towards Shu like a great wave of fire.

This idiot was going to destroy his own base just because it amused him?

”What's the matter little shota! Not gonna fight back?” Adrian shouted behind the wall of roaring flames, laughing madly to himself.

Shu waved his hand, sending the long sleeves of his robe fluttering. If the man wanted to play with God flames then there was no reason for Shu to hold back either, was there? This would be a fitting test then, to see if that still worked in this world. To challenge him like this... and with God flames of all things. Back in Edge, he had earned the title of God of fire for a reason.

A slight tremble of anticipation ran through Shu. This was the first time since he had reincarnated. His first time... he had to commemorate it. Time for him to prove that he was still himself, still Shugireth Darkstar, the Master of Pandemonium, the Man who stands at the top of the world.

First, a few buffs...

[Gift of Prometheus]

[Blessing of Logi, Whisper of Glöð]

[Acknowledgement of Ra]

[Shielding of Sehkmet]

[Direction of Zhurong]

[Control of Jowangsin]

[Gaze of Amaterasu]

The air around Shu distorted and it was as if cracks appeared in reality, like an invisible fire silently ripped apart existence itself. Soon, purple, yellow, green, blue, red and black flames joined together, flickering and snaking their way frantically across his small body.

He felt an insane rushing sensation as an enormous amount of Mana surged and rippled out from him like a comet plunging into the ocean and creating tsunamis, leaving a crater behind inside his mana reserves. Shu staggered slightly as he felt Mana drain for the first time in this world. It was a very nice feeling.

”Wh-what are you doing?!No, tha-that's impossible! Stop! I surrend-” Adrian yelled.

Then, to contain it, and counter that gate of light.

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Circle of Stata mater]

[Void Gate]

[Void Zone domination field]

[Guidance of the heart, 7th gate]

Good, now the slaves should be protected. It was good thing that he'd worked on gaining Jowangsin, even though her buff seemed a bit weak at the time.

Quickly, Shu bit his thumb, one of his sharp canines puncturing his flesh. He flicked his hand outward, and as the drop of blood fell, it ignited with a dark and ominous flame.

”Nightmare of Pandemonium. Burning hell of the Darkstar.” Shu rasped hoarsely, his voice becoming dry and strained from the spell. But he also felt immense satisfaction at finally using one of his own created spells from Edge.

To know that it was possible... filled him with joy.

Then, just as Adrians now pathetic looking wave of flames washed over Shu, he finished the spell and the casual waving movement of his hand from left to right. His casting speed was super fast, and from the outside it must have looked truly scary how he just waved his hand like that and summoned such an attack in the mere blink of an eye.

”No, please no! Lumie-chan, you promised!” Adrian screamed. And then, the world was consumed by the purging darkflames of Pandemonium.

A huge pillar of black fire rose through the roof and far into the sky above, burning away clouds and making the atmosphere shimmer. In the air far above the Chain Emporium HQ, one would no doubt be able to see the diamond shaped darkstar inside the pentagram, the symbol of Pandemonium burning with black flames as his spell spread, washing over their base slaughtering and sparing according to the whims of its master. Enemies were reduced to nothing and the slaves were liberated.

Even as the spell burned, working its way through its intended targets, Shu staggered forward and fell to the ground, his vision growing dim. ”Perhaps, a bit much?” he muttered to himself in slurred speech, as he observed the darkness encroaching on his vision.

Was he going to faint for the first time in this new world?

Soon though, the tunnelvision cleared and he got back up. Wow. He had almost passed out. Never before had he experienced that kind of feeling. If he was honest with himself, it was kind of intriguing.

Sometimes, his stupid penchant for collecting new experiences brought him in unexpected directions. Shu chuckled to himself.

Closing his eyes, he took a moment to appreciate the feeling of having drained some of his own Mana.

This feeling... it was surprisingly precise, corresponding with the numerical mana values in Edge. The reason he had almost passed out was just due to a shock to his system, not mana exhaustion.

It seemed he was a bit rusty after all, and it probably also had something to do with this child body of his too.

He felt the regen kicking in, and could even see small strands of mana rushing into his body, feel them swirling around inside of him, slowly filling him back up. This was so strange. There was also the matter of that Adrian guy.

There was something off about him, something not right at all. He didn't fit into this world, and the things he had said. Lumie-chan? Was he Japanese? Who was lumie-chan? It couldn't be... Lumineira right? Why would a human have any connection with the Elven goddes of creation?

While Shu was pondering this, men of the Chain Emporium died in droves. Their HQ was reduced to rubble by wild, black, all consuming nightmare flames that almost seemed sentient in their wild dash to end mortal lives. The nagging sensation in the back of his mind, soon came to light.

He could feel their deaths. Faintly, but it was there. Like a scythe harvesting tiny, miniscule amounts of experience, his flame spell and the Unmaker created a steady flow... an almost steady sensation of dying people pinging his mind. He wondered briefly whether he would receive a new title for this massacre.

To be honest, he was surprised. He hadn't for a second thought that in this real world, killing would feel the same as it had in Edge online. And yet it did.

That game had suffered a period of infamy for how realistically people died in it, and how real killing felt in that world. Over a 13 year period of playing the immersive VRMMORPG and slaughtering his way to the top, Shugireth had somehow become rather blasé about the sensations of taking life. What was most surprising to him at this moment however, was how this feeling carried over into this real world.

No, well. Perhaps it wasn't that it carried over. Maybe it would be more correct to say that the game had prepared him for this kind of thing. It had numbed him to it. He'd read some online articles about it, but Shu had dismissed those outright, retorting with It's only gehm. Of course it feels different than real life. The hysterical journalists of yore also yelped about gory FPS games being the cause of violent school shootings. That was a proven falsehood. They had done many studies... that was why he felt more shocked than anything else right now.

”Master.” Apophis rasped through the mental connection. ”I can feel it from here. The slaughter, so delicious. What did you do? My master.”

”Just used one of my personal spells for the first time in so long! Feels fucking great.”He sent in reply. Apophis cackled back at him, and Shu could feel the Unmakers joy through the bond they shared.

This feeling of joy was wrong, wasn't it?

He was standing in a burning ruin, having reduced hundreds, if not thousands of people to ash, and yet Shu felt joy... had he become a psychopath? He didn't want that, but at the same time... he kind of did, for it made things like this easier to deal with.

Return to Lisa. He had to return to her. That girl had kept this side of him contained. She had brought out something strange within him. That strange and unfamiliar sensation he had felt in her presence, just what was it about?

Remembering the warmth that he had felt when he had been with Lisa, helped Shu calm down from his crazy mood. Killing was one thing, maybe it had to be done. But killing as he laughed madly, killing as he enjoyed it? No. That wasn't him. That was no good.

”Master.” Apophis called again. ”A slave girl escaped, killed two guards while carrying a little boy.”

”And?” he asked, not getting the point.

”After that, the girl yelled towards the sky that she would find Tarke and cut off his filthy dick. I was amused. Master would like her, should meet her.”

”Fine, fine. The HQ was the main thing anyway. With that gone, their operations will soon shatter anyway. The Azure King has probably shat his pants right about now, since a huge pillar of flame appeared in the middle of his capital city. Best get outta here before his mages arrive to investigate me.” Shu sent back.

”Apophis, by my will. Finish it.”

”As you wish, My master.”

[Teleport].