Mind Demon's Path of Domination

"Oh, young man," a woman called from the side and he turned around to stare at her. She was old and wrinkled, very human. "Do you want cooky?"

Mark felt some instinctive dread and shaking his head, ran away from her. He stopped in an alley, hands on his knees. The place was lit with a red light and his shadows warped hideously as if laughing at him.

"Damn hell," he said, then turned to stare at the sky.

The skies were dark, crimson moonlight illuminating the area.

Squeak. Squeak.

Rats scattered away from near his foot and Mark groaned, noticing one rat under his leg. It felt soft and slimy, disgusting even, as it tried to run away. He raised his foot and let it scuttle away.

"Such a rare sight," an old, wise voice said.

Mark stared around. No one?

The old him would have panicked but the current him was just wary.

"Here, here, look down lad," the wise voice called.

Mark stared down to find a rat, scratching its butt.

"This old rat was thinking, you see, lad. Thinking, yes. It\'s such a rare sight to see a demon like you around. Around a city, at least."

"Is it?" Mark squinted. "What makes me different?"

For some reason, all the demons inside the City looked human-sized. They weren\'t too big. Of course, all of them were stronger than him but they didn\'t look colossal.

Every demon who entered the Demon Cities ended up becoming the same size. Otherwise, he could guess an economy wouldn\'t function properly.

Think of it, if a hotel manager has to serve a giant now and a little ant later, what size would he make his hotel building?

He looked nearly the same as everyone here—of course, demons looked different from each other—but why did he stand out to the Rat especially?

The rat looked up at him and snickered. "You don\'t understand, do ya, lad?" It tilted its head. "People with experience see right through how strong ye are, and I can say… hmm, you are a Middle Demon at best. It\'s a rare thing to see a Middle Demon inside Demon Cities. Of course, I\'ve seen a fair bunch of slave Middle Demons around, but they are nothing. You, you are special."

Mark narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was wise to attack the Rat. Then he remembered that violence was not permitted inside Demon Cities—killing didn\'t sound like an option.

"Special?" he asked.

"Special!" The Rat screeched. "A Middle Demon shouldn\'t have any intelligence, like rats shouldn\'t have any, and you have intelligence. You are… sentient. Moreover, you managed to get a Portal Key as a Middle Demon; you need that to enter here."

"So?"

"So?" The Rat shook its head. "Nothing? Nothing at all. Just a curious thing. I\'ve seen little demons gaining intelligence by luck before, nothing too serious."

Mark squatted down and looked at it with a smile.

"Then tell me about this city."

The rat\'s eyes shined. "You do get the point."

"Oh? What\'s the fee?"

"One Portal Key to any world—conquered or unconquered—and I\'ll tell you every rat secret of this city." It gave him a sleazy smile.

"Rat secret?"

"There are no places without rats and I\'ve met all rats in this city. In fact, I know all of their secrets, and they, like all rats—know a lot of secrets. You want them all? Give me the money cheezy boozy."

"I have no more Portal Keys." Mark shrugged. "The one I used alone, I picked it up by luck."

The rat frowned. "What about Seals of Destiny? Any of those little things in ye hand?"

"What are they?" Mark asked, blinking.

"You don\'t know, then aren\'t you useless?"

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are worthless. Humph. You might be good at battles outside but in the Demon Cities, demonic tricks and Ultimate Demonic Arts are suppressed by the Will of the Demon World itself and you can only use your physical strength in public areas."

Mark frowned, trying to use his demonic tricks.

They were working but the moment the effect of one of his abilities moved out of his body, it vanished, as if his ability didn\'t work.

The Will of the Demon World ate up the effects of his Trick.

"See. it doesn\'t work."

"What do Demons do here if not fight?" Mark asked, curious. "Office jobs? Works? Corporations? What is this place like?"

"What are those?"

The Rat sat down and pulled out a hand-sized smoking pipe from a hole in the alleyway wall, and began to smoke. It looked at Mark curiously for a while.

"I wouldn\'t have given you more information for free, but since you didn\'t kill my little boy earlier, I will give you a freebie." Its face flickered in the red light. "You are here for the first time, so you don\'t know. Demons use Portal Keys and Seals of Destiny as their highest forms of currency, nobody would pay such big moonsies for any kind of information."

"You were trying to scam me, as I thought."

The Rat smoked out a puff. "Never, I never scam. Well, if you stupid Middle Demon had something like a Seal of Destiny or another Portal Key, it was better kept in my hands. I would have kept it safe for you."

Mark looked at it in intrigue. "Surely. So, how are people to get this \'highest\' form of currency? Do they do jobs?"

"That\'s the fun part," The Rat laughed. "They don\'t. Portal Keys are rare and Seals of Destiny are even rarer. Damn, if I had one Seal, I could have stolen the Demonic Trick of the lady rat I killed after bed yesterday—she could do such wonders in bed with her ability, such a waste that she died; her Trick vanished into oblivion."

"So what do… Demons do in this city?" Mark asked, still somewhat befuddled.

"Some jump into Portals and go into other worlds to earn, some just stop caring and live their life out in the gutters."

Mark nodded. "So, are all demons, regardless of their Tier, treated as equals here? There is no strong ruling the weak?"

The Rat chuckled.

"All of the Demons, regardless of their Tier, have become the size of a normal Demonling upon their entry into this place—the World Will did that to you all. Me, I am different but don\'t think about me. So, you, a measly Middle Demon, is now the same size as those colossals that roam the jungle, but do you think they would want to treat you as an equal?"

"I guess... not?"

"Of course not. Equality is bullshit. Why should people who worked so hard to become giants give any heed to you ants? Now all of you are in equal standing but if you piss \'em off, believe me, they can get you out of the Demon City and once you are out there."

It twisted its own neck and… died. A second later, it came back to life.

"See that? You will be like that, dead. So dead. So don\'t go messing around with the wrong people."

Mark frowned.

But the Rat smirked.

"But do not be fooled by my act, boy. This city is not ruled by those colossal demons either, nor is it ruled by some other hegemonic murder hobo. This city, it is ruled by rules and regulations.

"The World Will has set some rules and as long as you don\'t go against them, no one, absolutely no one can do anything to you here. Of course, if you end up outside, you will be over."

"So how can messing with the wrong people be bad then, if I stay inside and don\'t go out?"

The Rat made circles with its smoke.

"If you buy a personal Residence in this City using one Seal of Destiny or one Portal Key, you are golden. Since Residences will teleport around randomly in this city and this city is bigger than most worlds, even if you offend someone big, you will be teleported once in a while and you will never have to meet that person again. But without a residence, you are stuck in one place."

Mark nodded.

"You don\'t get it, do ya?" The Rat sneered. "They can\'t kill you inside the city but they can make you go against the Rules pretty easily. They are experts at making others commit crimes. You might just be walking into a public area and they will buy that area with money, turning it into private area, and will then charge you for the crime of trespassing.

"If you can\'t afford the punishment fee, you will be thrown out of the city and they will follow you out. Then—hehe. Of course, if you get a Residence around here, you will be safe from such pity games because you will not be around in one place for too long. But of course, a Residence is expensive, so buying it, for you at least, is nearly impossible."

Now, Mark really wished he had at least one Portal Key or one Seal of Destiny.

Not that he was sure he would be willing to sell that for a house but well, he was quite greedy for what he didn\'t have. For now, he decided not to offend anyone unnecessarily until he got himself a house somehow.

That was equivalent to safety around here.

"So what do you suggest I do, Rat?"

"Find places like the Coliseum, and earn some money there. There are Slave Battles around. Then, get a Residence and be safe."

"You are quite… helpful," Mark said, and then, squinting, he left the alleyway.

He felt a sort of irritation in this city and honestly, he didn\'t want to be around for a lot longer. He wanted to leave for some other World. Most importantly, he didn\'t have so much time to play politics here—a year from now, his Suffering would arrive for him.

He had to get more information on that and grow stronger.

After he left, a womanly rat moved up to the smoking rat.

"Honey, why did you tell him all of that, and why so honest? You always tell lies otherwise, leading them to their deaths."

The Rat sighed. "Well, have I ever told you the secret of my success?"

"No, honey."

"I can smell money. And in this lad, I can smell it a lot. I bet if I let him rise, I\'ll earn."

The Rats laughed evilly.

"Your big sister died yesterday by the way, I killed her."

"I heard you talking about it, you wanted her Trick, I wanted it too."

"Come, I will bury you along with her. I don\'t like eavesdroppers."

Meanwhile, Mark was far away standing in front of a hotel stall where they served incredibly tasty… soul foods. The Portal Keys and Seals of Destiny were the highest forms of currency but Souls were the smallest form of currency.

Spending five souls, he got himself a bowl of Soul Soup and drank it.

Simply the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.

He bought five more servings—this time packaged—and escaped the area. Many were staring at him too weirdly.

When he was in an alley, out of sight, he put all of the packages into his World Space.

From inside, Reol\'ran said, "Whatever that Rat said is the truth. Do not worry. And we do indeed need a Private Residence with all our secrets, so that is one of the short-term goals we should keep in mind while here in this city."

"What is our main goal here?"

"Now that you are safe, it is well time for you to strengthen your foundation. But before anything, we need a safe and comfortable place for you to sleep physically. Training, you can do that inside your World Space in most cases but your main body outside shouldn\'t catch the attention of everyone while at it either."

Thus, Mark began his search for a safe place while roaming the city of sin. Even the homeless alcoholics slumped to the side were stronger than him. Why? He himself was homeless.

Not all creatures were humanoid either, many were animalistic and many were just formless.

And this place was indeed a land of sin.

Here and there, he saw sights that even made him pause in disgust.

Many women—mostly creatures that didn\'t look human—were being used like driveways by the demon men around... as pleasure toys.

A fat, humanoid Demon shouted. "No woman shall resist any action today or it will offend our lord who is watching from a distance! All men, charge at any woman you want!"

Mark walked away quickly, and when he was far away, spat on the ground.

"I didn\'t look, the sight will just taint my eyes, but I can guess what you saw. Indeed, Demons are disgusting, not you but mostly, they are," Reol\'ran said. "Such Demons should just be annihilated. If they dared show such actions a thousand miles around me, I would have destroyed them."

Mark, on the other hand, was thinking about something else.

His women—Reol\'ran, Yuri, and Dona—were all incredibly beautiful people. Too lovely. Anybody would want them.

What would he do if he found himself in a situation where another demon demanded he let them go?

What could he do?

His blood boiled in rage at just the thought. They were his. His women, like all other things of his, were only his own.

Never will another man be let to go even close to them in a wrong way. Never.

I will never let that happen. Never!

At the same time, Mark also realized how wise Reol\'ran had been when she told him to keep the World Space for himself. Because he had it, he could keep his women comfortably in there, and he could also use it for storage.

Not to mention having nearly inehxhaustible Mindpower.

Indeed, Reol\'ran was his lucky charm. She had chosen the World Space over everything, and it was the best thing he had done.

Mark breathed out.

The Demon City, it left a burning impact on Mark.

He was too weak even though he had grown so much stronger. So weak he had to keep his own women from prying eyes, if the stronger people coveted them, he would be in trouble.

That was pathetic.

If he was strong enough to end all of these pests, he would have walked proudly with Yuri and Dona by his side.

But now, he was too weak.

I am too young for a demon. I need more time.

He was strong compared to normal Middle Demons, but Middle Demons were nothing here.

In this city where apparently even Tier 7s were present, he had to walk with his head held low. Not let any attention linger on him.

Be unseen.

One day, I\'ll dominate this city, too.

A desire as hot as blazing fire.

FIrst, I will improve my foundations.