At this point he began to wonder if he had died again, he remembered Demo's words and shrouded involuntarily in fear! If Demos couldn't return him back to life then he will most definitely fade away. Thoughts of the promises he made to Gerald flashed through his mind and he felt bitter. Not being able to repay Gerald's kindness hurt him more than the fact that he was dead. He slowly drowned in Despair, slowly falling dropped into the darkness in silence until he saw something.

A reddened two pairs of eyes glowing within the darkness, he quickly returned to his senses and prepared himself mentally to do battle until the very end but he felt a familiar aura bursting out of the body of the beast. Its figure slowly appeared and Derik could not help but scream in joy!

"Shadow lurker... What are you doing here?" Derik asked

"After the slave-master pact has been formed, a piece of my consciousness now resides in you, that's how I can sense your thoughts and you can sense mine... My consciousness is linked with yours... Its only natural for us to meet here" The shadow lurker said indifferently...

Derik nodded and quickly stared at another pair of bloodshot eyes which were fixated on him, but unlike the shadow lurker, it looked lifeless, more like a puppet! He moved closer to the being and almost screamed in shock due to what he saw!

This is the Minotaur which he fought not too long ago, his eyes turned gloomy and he slightly felt guilty for robbing this poor beast of its soul, not giving it a chance to find peace even in the afterlife. Suddenly all the hair in his body stood up and he quickly turned around and struck forward with his clenched fist.

Bam! His clenched fist s.h.i.+vered under the powerful grip of the angel of Death. A charming smile lingered on Demo's face as he stared at Derik for a while before speaking

"I see you love toying with your life... You're lucky those people found you... If not you definitely would have died!" Demos said

"Died?... I have the supernatural abilities of a werewolf... My healing capabilities are not low... I never expected combining the power of two silver realm techniques will harm me this much... Even then... It was necessary... I wouldn't have made it through the first level of the dungeon if I didn't use the technique" Derik explained.

His face was ugly, never in his wildest dreams did he think that combining the powers of two silver realm abilities will harm him this much, he thought he would just leave him in a weakened state.

"It is one thing to perform combat techniques higher by a realm, that will simply drain you and harm you and possibly cause internal damages which you can ignore due to your werewolf regenerative abilities... It is also different when you perform multiple combat techniques above your realm simultaneously... Opening the gates of the underworld, taking off your limiters and utilizing the powers of your avatar... That seriously drained you... You were like a husk and even with your wolf side, it will most likely take months for you to return to peak condition... And this time you decided to combine two silver realm combat techniques... If I didn't know better, I would have thought you're trying to get yourself killed! You're courting death and I must say... I'm tempted!" Demos said with a serious face.

Derik may not be aware of the level of damage he has done to his soul, but Demos was aware of this! Pus.h.i.+ng one's self to his or her limit and beyond are the only words that can be used to describe what Derik did.

The limiter path simply brings forth all the power in the user, which in turn greatly weakens the user after use but it doesn't push the body beyond its limit which can lead to death. In this case, Derik used all the power in his body and since it was insufficient he unconsciously drew more power from his life force.

Apparently, combining two techniques to create a more powerful variant isn't something anyone can just do. Demos had no idea Derik was capable of this if not he would have warned Derik of this outcome! This kid is more capable than he expected, at this point, he decided not to hold back necessary information's from this kid anymore.

With hints of admiration in his eyes, Demos waved his hand in the darkness and Derik's feeble body was shown suspended in mid-air, inside a human-size water glob.

"You're lucky the elves of Alda were the first to make it through the first level of the dungeon... If it were any other team of the expedition troops... You probably wouldn't be able to survive this time" Demos chuckled.

"Elves? Ain't they wors.h.i.+ppers of nature? I'm practically destroyed the moonlight forest when I opened the gateway to the underworld... Shouldn't they have a grudge against me?" Derik scratched his head while he talked.

He failed to understand why the elven race, protectors of the environment and servants of nature would try to save the life of a person he brings forth only chaos and destruction.

"Well they did intend to kill you at first before they realized you have the werewolf ability, unlike humans, Elves don't discriminate against supernatural beings since they are part of nature... I can't say much about it but it seems quite interesting... The bottom line is... You won't at their hands but there is a possibility that they will try to break your link to the death element... That is what you should be worried about" Demos laughed.

He knew if Derik by chance didn't possess the supernatural abilities of a werewolf, these people would have killed him a long time ago. Even though they will try to shatter Derik's link to the death element, Demos wasn't planning to let them succeed so easily. "

"Okay... Since you're calm about this, it means they can't do it easily... So I won't stress myself so much on that matter... When I regain consciousness what do I do?" Derik asked

"When you wake? Let's focus on the benefits you can obtain now you're in this state... As the master of the death element, situations, where you're close to death, are like G.o.d sent opportunities... It helps strengthen the link between you and the element... Previous hosts prayed daily for this amazing opportunity... It's even better than practicing in the underworld" Demos said.

Derik simply nodded in approval, he was no stranger to the benefits of entering a death-like state with this magic. The last time this happened, not only did his eyes turn purple which is really really cool, but he also gained enough power to defeat a weakened two century year old vampire.

Remembering this, his body trembled with joy and he began considering entering this kind of situation again but how?

Bam!

Clutching his head in pain Derik looked at Demos with watery eyes, he was so excited that he forgot this his partner could read his mind.

"You really wanna die right?!" Demos asked with narrowed eyes and knitted eyebrows.

Derik shook his head in disapproval immediately and did dare to utter a word. Seeing this, Demos sighed and calmed down slightly,

"Anyway, this darkness is a domain in your own soul, a temporary place for your forces to reside until you possess the power to create your own realm"

"Forces? You mean those I form a Master-slave pact with and the souls I steal right?"

"Of course... As of now... All you have to do is simple... Keep calm and absorb the power of death... Since you're in a state where you're closer to death, it shouldn't be much of a problem... I'm pretty sure that when you wake... Even you will be shocked by the results!"

"Alright... I'll do just that"

Not wasting any more time on pointless conversations, Derik ignored the shadow lurker and Minotaur, sitting on thin air with both legs crossed he began drawing the power of Death from all sides. His body quivered the abundant powers of the underworld rushed into his body and mind. In the blink of an eye, a week pa.s.sed by and Derik's body had changed in so many ways.

His milk-colored skin turned pale and more streaks of purple color could be seen on his pitch-black hair. His fingernails turned black and even his eyebrows were darkish purple in color. Throughout this time, Demos just stood there and observed Derik with a satisfied smile on his face.

Suddenly a ray of light penetrated the darkness and raced towards Derik! His eyes yanked open and he simply swung his right hand at the ray of bright divine light.

Instantly a streak of darkish purple energy shot out and raced towards the incoming beam of light

"Scram!!!" Derik roared as the two opposing forces collided and a large explosion occurred which shook his domain!

His darkish purple eyebrows slammed together as the light overpowered his darkness and shot towards him like an arrow. His face remained calm and cold, with both hands stretched forth he urged all his death power to consume the beam of light.

"Demos!" Derik cried out when he realized that his power won't be able to stop this.

"Don't worry... It's your time to go back... Go on... Shock the world" Demos laughed