How? How could a mere human be that strong?
These questions had no importance anymore. He, the great Morpheal, had been humiliated by a mere human. He did everything he could, but it was not enough. His opponent's powers were beyond understanding. He had not even felt a single sign of Energy from that man in that whole fight.
Morpheal had retreated as soon as he noticed that fact and was caught off guard by that last attack. It didn't even connect, but it was enough to damage his enchanted skin. There was only one way he could think of to challenge that man. That's why he rushed to his study.
He needed to initiate the transfer process now. It would not be at full potential, but it was close enough. He quickly activated the machine as soon as he got into the room. All calculations and adjustments had been made already, so it was ready to work at any moment.
Morpheal went and stood in front of the Energy Transfer Unit and connected it to his core through his chest. The machine was designed to transfer the stored Energy to him. Starting slowly and increasing rapidly in the safest way possible to change and adapt his body to the Energy. He manipulated and upgraded his patterns and core specifically for this process since he began this project.
The Energy he gathered inside the orb started rushing into his core. It was only the beginning, but it was still too much. Morpheal could feel his core overflowing with it. He focused on condensing the access Energy and moving that Energy inside his body to smooth the effects. Even though he used it to recover the Energy he used, there was still too much of it to handle at once.
The door opened while the Energy kept pouring inside him. They were here, those two pesky humans.
"You are late! There is nothing you can do now. My core has expanded tenfold already; I can feel it. And it will keep expanding even more. Soon, those despicable Demon Lords and their lowly servants will be no match for me. Soon... I will be strong enough to challenge the Gods! I will become a new Demon Lord!"
They stood there for a moment and assessed the situation. Good, the longer they wasted time, the more power he would get.
"Don't let the real ones hear that, okay." The man said. "So, this is what all of this is about. You created an army and manipulated an unstable, leaking Gate to draw raw Energy from it to make yourself stronger." The man walked closer to the contraption, and the woman followed him from behind. "You want to start the third Interracial Demon War."
"That doesn't sound good." The woman was already in fear because of the scene in front of her. Who wouldn't be? Even Morpheal himself wouldn't know what to do in the presence of such power. Even that unreasonably strong man had a different expression now. He had an arrogant look before, but now he seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation they were in.
"Eight major Realms were destroyed, along with countless minor ones. Gods perished. Trillions of intelligent life forms died. That was only the results of the second war." The man explained.
"S-Shouldn't we do something about it? He seems to get stronger every second. I don't think I can withstand it any longer." She must have been crushing under the intense Energy pressure coming from Morpheal.
"I was thinking of letting him go if he were a harmless researcher, experimenting on his own, trying to gain more power. I respect the chase for power. But the situation has changed. Don't worry, I'll stop him."
So, he was still being arrogant. His stupidity was going to bring his demise. Morpheal just needed a little more time.
"So, you have seen the second Demonic War. I commend you for your tenacity. Living long enough to see the Second War, surviving it even, is not an easy feat. Especially for a human. But unfortunately, you are not going to live long enough for the third."
"Oh, you got me wrong. I did not participate in the second. I had better things to do."
"Hah, you didn't even fight in it. Then let me show you the..."
"I fought in the first, though." He carelessly caught the woman who had just fainted from resisting excessive Energy and gently dropped her to the ground.
"..." It was not possible. "You are lying." The First Demonic War was only a subject in the history books, even in his childhood. Only a few were still alive from that period. There was no way a mere human...
The man took a step, and Morpheal felt something he shouldn't have been. The area should have been filled with his own Energy, but something else appeared out of nowhere. An Energy that was so dense, it almost felt like a solid. It had so much mass that it felt like an endless void. It was wildly powerful but calm and pure.
He pushed back the pressure Morpheal caused as he slowly approached him. It seemed that man was immovable, but Morpheal was not unstoppable yet. Even with all the Energy pouring inside of him, he felt inferior. Maybe he could have had a chance if he used all the stored Energy; it was still a big maybe.
Morpheal used everything inside and modified his body once more. Maybe he could stall for some time to gain more power. His movements were limited due to the connection with the orb, but he still could defend himself with this much power. He got ready to fight.
The human male stopped right in front of him. Morpheal attacked as soon as he got in the melee range, but couldn't finish it. Because the man was not there anymore, and there was a foreign feeling in his chest.
He looked down for the cause. The man's left hand had pierced his enchanted skin and over his strengthened his body. Morpheal had not even seen the attack.
The man's hand grabbed his core inside and started to distort it with his own Energy. The result of the countless times of work inside his chest lost its balance and shattered under the immense Energy pressure. Morpheal screamed in pain as he desperately tried to get his core under control, but the Energy kept pouring in from both sides. It was too much to manage.
Morpheal lost consciousness as his body dissolved inside out from the massive amount of raw Energy. The last thing he saw was a reflection of the giant Energy orb he himself created, on the empty eyes of his opponent.
***
Elise opened her eyes slowly. The last thing she saw was the Traveler as he took a step towards the Demon. After that, darkness had fallen on her eyes. She found herself lying on a hill when she woke up. The Traveler was standing next to her.
Elise immediately noticed the injury on his left hand. It was almost reaching his elbow, and even though there was no blood, it was looking like his skin had partially melted, but it was visibly recovering at an incredible rate. She could see the muscles form string by string, and the fresh skin was covering them instantly. What could have happened to damage him to this extent?
He was looking at something far away. Elise also followed his gaze before asking anything. The volcano they were at recently could be seen in the distance. They were so far away from it. She opened her mouth to ask him questions, but the volcano started to glow fiercely and put her words back into her mouth.
The volcano and the ground around it started to crack and inflate. Before she could even understand what was happening, the whole mountain exploded with great force. They were far away, but the impact reached them in no time. She tried to guard herself, but it was unnecessary. The Traveler had already formed a shield around them.
After that impact, rubble started to fall from the sky. A giant hole had formed in the middle of the clouds on top of the explosion area and had revealed the dark sky with glowing, colorful light waves swirling around. It could be a sight to behold if there were not a rain of giant rocks coming down from it.
"What happened?" Elise asked nervously.
The Traveler had a dark and thoughtful expression on his face, but it disappeared when he turned towards her.
"Come, let's go back. I'll explain on the way back." He gave her a hand to help her stand up. A large rock fell right next to them.
"Go back? To where?" She asked, but she also knew there was only one way back. And she was not looking forward to it.
"Your home, of course. You had some unfinished business there, if I remember correctly. I noticed you lose your attention sometimes. I assume this is the cause. I want my apprentice to pay her full attention."
He started walking towards where they came from, but turned back at her like he had just remembered something.
"Oh, by the way, you passed the test! Congratulations! You are my official disciple now. Let's work hard together from now on." He turned back and kept walking. The injury on his left forearm had healed already. "Don't fall behind!"
Elise looked at his back for a moment. Was that it? She turned her head back to look at the scene behind her. The ground in the middle of the explosion was not there anymore, and various cracks were forming and spreading around. Only some pieces of rock were floating on the glowing pink liquid, and some rubble was still falling from the sky. There was no sign of the purple creatures that once filled the area.
What a test that was.
***
A couple of shadows were standing on a floating rock inside a pink, glowing lake. What could have happened here? They started to look for clues. An explosion had happened here; it was obvious. The Energy mass left behind from it was all over the place. They quickly searched the area, but the leftovers of the explosion were suppressing the other traces.
After some time, a signal from the others echoed in their heads; they had found a trace. They immediately appeared in the shadows right next to them and looked at what they found. Other shadows had also come to the site.
It was just a circular area on the ground. The outside of it was heavily damaged, but the ground inside it was unscathed. It was the leftovers of a barrier, most likely. But the most important thing was the faint trace of Energy coming from the inside and the border of the area.
Two different Energy signatures. The one on the inside was obvious, but the other was faint, as if someone had purposely erased it.
The traces of their prey.