"I'm not afraid of you anymore... Because I have something else I'm scared of."
"Just take me to the next one"
"Sure thing"
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The demon turned his back towards Marcus as he stepped closer to the very edge of the land inside the abyss.
"I hope you realize what you are supposed to do inside this hidden memory of yours, Marcus"
The demon spoke as he walked over to the edge.
"Yes... I think I do have a rough idea of what I am supposed to do here"
Marcus replied, his voice had greatly changed. It was no more the same voice that leaned a bit on the high pitchside.
Instead, his voice which he uttered made the demon feel like he was talking to someone mature.
Well, it made the demon feel like he was talking to someone who had just undergone one hell of a personality change.
"Oh? And what would be that?"
The demon asked him with a grin, which was half visible the way he was facing Marcus with his back to him.
"These chains symbolize my traumas, and one by one as I go through them, these chains will free me from its grasp..."
Marcus said.
"But..."
"But!!. Just going through them won't do."
Marcus paused after interrupting the demon's words. He had a grin upon his face as well, similar to that of his inner demon.
"I'll have to acknowledge what I had missed during my time inside these dungeons. I'll have to comprehend the main aspects inside my hidden traumas that would help me become the Strongest!!"
"EXQUISITE!!"
The demon chuckled as he laughed.
"And what did you realize from your experience inside your first memory?"
The obsidian wrapped entity asked with his raspy voice which seemed to tow intrigue.
"Ah... The first memory of mine. It was just... 'EXQUISITE', as you say. It conferred me something which could assist me to grow stronger, if not become the universe's strongest entity itself..."
"It's just like what you said demon... Pain is the purest sense. It is true in every sense because it shows how weak you are because there was someone or something that could propel you to feel pain"
"But what I really learned from my first traumatic memory is the presence of an indomitable entity, which even the so called gods cannot avoid"
The demon looked impressed at how Marcus was talking. The pure words which carried knowledge in them struck the obsidian heart of the demon.
"And that... My demon is something even you should be scared of... ITS CALLED DEATH"
Marcus's eyes seemed to twinkle as he smirked at his words.
"Woah. I am impressed, Marcus... Just Impressed!!"
"Now that's what I call intelligent. That Marcus which I've loathed and considered a fool for the past 18 years... KEKEKEK... I don't see him in those green glowing eyes of yours"
"Ah... I know how pathetic I have been. Now that my path is clear and because I have been already chosen to be the guardian who is considered to protect the planet... I maybe should just become the guardian my people can rely on."
"Even though being 'The Guardian' sounds lame... I'll simply have to become the strongest guardian there ever will be... so that no one else will have to suffer anymore"
Marcus smirked.
"Hehe... Just what I wanted Marcus"
The demon returned a smirk of his own at Marcus.
"Now show me the next one... Let's get back to the world as soon as possible"
Marcus spoke, shaking off the dust on his kimono.
Now that his powers were certainly taken away, the fancy clothes he donned were nothing but ordinary fabrics.
"You got it"
The demon mumbled as he wholly twisted towards the black abyss.
He inhaled some air through his obsidian nostrils and held it inside.
*ZOOM*
*THUD*
"Now what?"
Marcus yawned as he clamped his demon's obsidian fist inside his right palm.
The demon, who was 20 meters away from him had suddenly materialized before Marcus out of the air like he (Marcus) usually did to surprise his enemies with his speed which was in the centillion range, if not more.
"Wanna fight?"
Marcus asked his grinning demon.
.......................
They were both in the hidden memory of Marcus, where powers are forbidden, or simply could not be used. This statute applied to both the user and the system.
Currently, the inner demon of Marcus, who was inside the system's body was just as equal as Marcus who had lost his insane powers.
But still, the demon was able to teleport or in simple terms warp through the air. That was because of the system built in power, which was bestowed upon it by its creator.
The system was able to move freely inside the hidden files because It was a domain created by the system to lock the traumatic experiences of its user.
And the demon was the system, for now, so he could move and warp inside the domain however he wanted.
But Marcus on the other hand was just a human without any powers of his own. But his sharp senses thrived in front of the surprise attack the demon mustered. It remained a mystery.
Perhaps... it could have been because Marcus himself was hiding something huge within him, without knowing about it himself.
Could it be?. Did he have something out of the ordinary, that could even defy the system creator's laws?.
There is no other option. But to wait and watch.
....................
"Wanna fight?"
Marcus asked as clamped down the obsidian just of his demon.
"Nah... Kekekek, I don't intend to... Yet!"
The demon retorted, pulling his hand back to his side.
"I don't know why, but the laws say that I'll have to make physical contact with the user, which is you so that I can take you to the next memory..."
The demon explained.
"Talk about strange... hmm"
"So I thought, why not land a quick blow?... But damn aren't you too sharp for a human with his powers seized?"
"Ah I don't know about that myself, my hand seemed to act on its own... Anyways let's stop this blabbering and move on to the next one... now that you've made physical contact, it must be possible"
Marcus said, moving his right hand and sliding it Into his Capri pockets.
"Yes... That's what I was thinking as well"
The demon said as he turned around once again, revealing his back to Marcus.
The demon played with his hands as Marcus looked at him typing something on a mysterious window that was invisible to his eyes.
"It's done!!"
The demon's voice greeted Marcus's ears just after a minute.
A blue portal opened before them. Marcus nodded as he remembered the same portal materializing on the day he got back home.
Yes, it was the same thing, the same design, but he was sure, the portal before him was made for some other menacing reason... which he was soon about to find out.
"Then what's the wait for?... Let's stop dawdling and just get this over with"
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Author Notes.
This chapter might seem like a filler, but it actually is not. Every chapter I have been uploading till now is only for the sole reason called 'Story Development' which most of you guys seem to forget about.
If this wasn't clear to you guys then... this chapter showed the demon's sudden change of view about Marcus with whom he had lived for the past 18 years.
And also the attitude change of the gullible yet strong Marcus.
Thank you for reading. Stay safe.
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