"Where the hell are those nests?" Reign grumbled aloud. He had been traveling for hours, sweeping the area back and forth, but he hadn't spotted a single corrupted.
It made him wonder if humans were exaggerating about the countless numbers of corrupteds they claimed existed outside the barriers .
Frustrated, he decided to land and double-check his route.
He had been following the train tracks to avoid getting lost, always calculating his direction and distance flown so he could backtrack if needed.
As he sat on the lifeless sand, he lay down and began to contemplate.
Not being able to grind points and level up meant he had no goal to pursue, which left him feeling somewhat empty.
"I know it. I have the most fun when I'm thinking about how to kill more humans," he thought.
It was a dangerous and evil idea, but it was his honest feelings.
What he had experienced before, all that planning and strategizing, might have seemed like roundabout steps to maximize his chances and ensure he wouldn't get caught.
But currently, to him, it was a load of fun, like playing a high-stakes game.
Now, he had to stay under the radar for a bit, and he quickly found himself missing those exhilarating challenges.
'No, I think it's because it's the only thing I ever think of,' he muttered, sitting down. He could sense he was onto something.
'I also feel more alive when I killed that angel and those hunters,' he pondered.
These thoughts stemmed from after he had become a demon lord, enjoying the thrill of overwhelming his opponents.
Previously, his focus had always been on becoming stronger solely to survive.
And this psychological question wasn't isolated to him alone.
Even normal humans, once they reached a certain status in life, began to entertain such thoughts.
Their dopamine levels no longer found satisfaction in normal means, and some would seek out more thrilling activities just to feed that craving.
It could manifest in various ways: from engaging in dangerous sports to purchasing extravagant items beyond the norm.
Some even indulged in forbidden activities, like pursuing other illicit thrills.
'I can't believe I'm having an identity crisis at a time like this,' he chuckled softly.
The desolation and silence around him had ironically heightened his sensitivity to such existential questions.
As he began processing all of this, a memory surfaced in his mind: the faces of Cyril, George, and Melissa.
It had been so long since he had seen them that they had almost become irrelevant to him.
Despite its hard scales, the wounds were oozing slimy black liquid, indicating recent damage that hadn't fully healed yet.
He wanted to observe the wounds more closely, suspecting they were bite marks from a larger beast.
But before he could do so, however, a hissing sound echoed, signaling the serpent's continuation of its attack.
It locked onto him with crazed gazed.
In a wild motion, the serpent snapped its head, aiming to bite him mid-air.
However, he was quick to react.
With a causal movement, he caught hold of the serpent's fangs with both hands, preventing them from fully closing around him.
His grip held firm against the serpent's immense strength, and the creature's fangs was completely stopped.
The serpent thrashed wildly, its powerful body writhing in an attempt to dislodge him.
With each violent movement, he clung on tenaciously, his own strength tested against the snakes momentum.
The serpent slammed its head against the ground, trying to shake him loose.
BOOOOOOM!
The impact reverberated through the earth, causing the sands to ripple and the air to tremble with each blow .
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
No matter how much effort it exerted, the serpent remained ineffective against him.
He exerted little effort because the gap in their power was vast.
If he had relied solely on his raw strength, the serpent might have already bitten him.
However, his body was currently coated with negative energy, enhancing all his basic stats and making him impervious to its attempt.
The serpent, frustrated and desperate, excreted black, venomous liquid from its fangs in an attempt to melt Reign.
However, he merely scoffed at the feeble attempt.
"Thanks for the wash," he chuckled, amused by the serpent's futile effort.
"I'll give you free dental care as payment," Reign quipped, his voice filled with sarcasm as he twisted and pulled its two fangs to be true to his words.