Chapter 43: Soaring Plans

Mark cupped a handful of water and cleansed his face.

He currently stood atop shallow waters—a lake—while Dona laid on top of it by his side. Both of them were naked and getting themselves clean.

The water was barely up to his knees, and although Dona used to dislike bathing generally, she liked laying in cold water these days.

While in the laboratory, she had taken too many baths with him, and her aversion to a clean self had vanished.

She burped.

Mark smiled at her.

"You are pregnant," he said with a chuckle.

Her belly was so huge, and it was very visible when naked. She had eaten enough pork to fill her belly for a long time—at least 15 whole. But it was being digested super quick, too, and he could see it visibly shrink.

He looked at his reflection in the water instead.

The jawline reflected in the waters was sharper, and his eyes had indeed gained a lot more depth. Yuri was right on the mark. To be honest, she had never been wrong before. And seeing the wings expand behind him, he couldn't help but feel the urge to fly.

Not yet.

Spitting out some water and feeling some trickle between his wings, he shook them clean and looked at Dona.

He smirked and splashed some water at her.

She glared at him and grabbed his hand. She pulled him towards her. Indeed, her strength had grown enough to actually pull him closer.

He fell towards her, pinned both her hands on each side of her, and pressed his nose against her small nose.

"You, too, have grown slightly bigger," he said.

He could see her assets had grown bigger. Her height had also increased to nearly 2 meters. But indeed, this woman was only growing prettier in his sight. Her red skin was somewhat more vibrant, and her grayish hair was more silver.

Her eyes contained some intelligence.

Mark pressed his lips against hers, and his tongue entered deep into her mouth before his own, and hers began to dance together. Her mouth was warm and juicy.

Slick with her saliva, he broke the kiss.

Curious, he looked at her face and gauged her.

_

[Dona Marcus]

[Tier 0—Demonling]

[Physique: 10/10 (Pinnacle)]

[Mind: 10/10 (Pinnacle)]

[Resistances: Fire Resistance (Low) (Tier 1), Physical Resistance (Pinnacle) (Tier 0), Mental Resistance (Pinnacle) (Tier 0)].

[Bloodline: Flame Bloodline]

[Demonic Tricks: Soul Devourer. Fireball (Pinnacle), Fire Shield (Pinnacle), Delayed Explosion (Pinnacle).]

_

She had eaten enough pigs to have reached the Pinnacle as a Demonling.

Now, as long as she had an intense desire to grow stronger, she'd evolve. Or else, she'd stay as a Demonling forever.

He splashed some more water on her face, and she looked aside in irritation.

"Urr…"

"Look at you, having grown so much stronger so quickly. And so much more adorable."

She tried to splash some water back at him, but he kept her hands at bay. She couldn't move an inch. Puffing her cheeks up, she drank some water and splashed it on him with her mouth. He dodged the water bullet with a chuckle and kissed her again.

They broke the kiss, and she looked at him with a pouty expression.

"Satisfied now?"

Dona just wrapped her legs around his waist with that pout and he began bathing her.

Even though he only intended to wash her and clean all the dirt, in the end, he ended up being aroused, and they just went at it right in the open above the lake. Nobody was going to come here anyway.

Soon enough, their baths finished.

He got her dressed in a new dry white T-shirt and a simple white trouser. He himself could no longer wear a shirt or t-shirt due to his wings but he could sure wear pants, so he wore a white pant.

It had already been some time. He let the demoness climb his back like usual and walked up a small mountainous slanted cliff-like structure before he arrived near the highway in the woods.

There was a stationary truck to the side.

He could see Choi Sung sleeping on top of the truck with the hamster in a cage. Mark smirked and looked at Yuri, who was busy doing some sort of surgery on the snake corpse inside the truck's cargo.

Since the hamster also had a Dungeon Heart Seed now, he had left it on the truck to keep the snake 'unburned.' Yuri could now do research on it all she liked, and he nor Dona had to be around all the time.

Yuri was surprised that the snake could resist the World Will while far away from Mark, but he told her that since he had evolved, he could now share his resistance against the World Will's burning effect on some animals that he had enslaved.

That helped him hide things about himself and also use the hamster as an excuse to get rid of the burden of the snake's corpse. Of course, Yuri probably already had suspicions regarding him, but Mark was less wary of her now.

She had helped him grow stronger.

Walking closer to them, Mark asked when he reached just outside the truck, "So, that blood I collected from the other demon was useless?" He was drying his hair with a towel.

Yuri nodded from inside the cargo, eyes still on the snake.

"Yeah, if I could do research using blood and similar things, I'd have done it a long time ago. Getting some Demon Blood isn't impossible. I didn't have to wait for your existence for me to finally have a Demon to research on."

"Then how did you do research on my cum?" he asked, curious.

"You are special, Mark. I can do research on your cum because you are alive. When a Demon dies outside a Dungeon, its body will get burned into ash by the Hunter World's Will. If some blood, mucus, or something like that is left behind, that would become simple water or some kind of useless chemical after the source gets burned. You are alive, so your liquids had worth."

The Hunter World's Will was thorough. Once it burns a Demon into ashes, it burns everything related to that Demon—including even DNA remains. Such things would just transform into normal manure if it were left behind with only the appearance remaining the same.

Mark smirked. "Makes sense. So, what's next? Are you heading back to the laboratory?"

"…" Yuri looked at him. "Shouldn't I ask you that?"

Mark grew silent, and the wings behind him snapped slightly at the air. Dona irritantly slammed the wings back into place. The demon grimaced.

Dona just chuckled.

It hurt, but for now, Mark didn't discipline the Demoness.

"I am not coming to the lab now…" he looked at the skies. "I have something I need to do. I will come back soon, though."

Yuri sighed. "So what are you going to do? Maybe I can help?"

Mark looked at Choi Sung, who was atop the truck. He seemed lazy and tired of playing with the hamster. Then, he looked at Yuri with a smile.

"Let's talk in private."

They went near a shade farther away where Choi Sung couldn't hear them.

Honestly, Mark had many plans now that he had finally evolved.

He planned to give a visit to the Trio Hunters, for one.

He wanted to try and steal Shiden's ability.

Just like he was stuck after reaching the Pinnacle of Tier 0, the same thing was going to repeat when he reached the Pinnacle of Tier 1, too.

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But all throughout, Shiden's ability would be a lifesaver. It must be stolen and that must happen before Shiden became too strong for Mark to handle.

There was a chance that Shiden might be an A-Rank Hunter.

Yes, the trio was protected by an A-rank Hunter even now—Hanmo, the Hunter with the moniker Ice God—but with his new ability, even though he might not be a match to an A-Rank, Mark felt he sure had a chance of deceiving an A-Rank.

If everything went according to plan, he could assassinate Shiden and take the ability for himself.

He could even act as Shiden after that by using Alchemy Shapeshifting to change his appearance to be similar to that of Shiden…

As for the mysterious being hidden inside the shadow of the girl among the trio, Maki, Mark just had to stay away from her and do everything from a distance.

But before all of that, he planned to do something incredibly momentous. He wanted to get himself comfortable with his current body and strength. He also had to beta test his new demonic trick.

He also wanted to reach the Pinnacle of Tier 1 as a Lower Demon in both body and mind. He was not in a rush. He planned to take slow but stable steps.

He'd quickly max out his deadliness, and then, he'd head for the Trio Hunters.

The new demonic trick should help him increase his strength in a very weird way if he could make an idea work.

Yes, the idea was something ridiculous that spouted inside his mind right after he saw the new demonic trick, but if it worked, Mark knew he was going to earn big in this world.

Yuri had on her goggles, but she removed them and silently looked up at the blue skies.

He said, "I have many plans. For one, I gained a new demonic trick that would help me a lot in this world. I want to see if my idea will work, and I'll need your help with that later if it actually works.

"You can head back to the lab, and I'll come there later. So, is there any way I can contact you if I need something?"

Yuri threw him a walkie-talkie taken from inside the bosom of her lab suit.

Mark caught it with a smile.

"It can contact me anytime into this watch, I'll pick up the call." She showed him a simple old-looking analogue watch and Mark's expression changed slightly.