Eraak shifted his gaze back at the beautiful scenery of the land known as The Dominion. A place where the military might of the demon race resided in along with the accursed place he has the misfortune of calling it his “home.”

His jaw clenched at the mere thought of mentioning it as such. Just referring to it as his accommodation felt like someone punching his liver while it was on fire.

Eraak corrected his mindset, but it was difficult to do so as he stood on top of a massive cliff overviewing the vegetation of the land. A stark contrast compared to the area he and the mortal previously left.

Instead of green vegetation, only black-reddish plants harbor the land with alien-like features. Millions of exotic trees scatter through this small portion of the region and beyond, all different sizes with very noticeable critters living in them. Far back Eraak could see the mountains ranges, which were ever so present in the region. It was great they weren’t active volcanoes like that of The Central.

But what he hated the most was no matter how many times the scientist stopped to look at the marvelous beauty of the land, a sense of wonderment overcomes him. However, this sheer beauty only drove him to complete rage the longer he stared at the region.

The memories he harbored in his head came back in full force. The countless times of enjoyment during his camping trips with friends and family, gawking and experiencing the majestic beauty of the wilderness returned. A reminder of a more significant time of his life, now ruined by the hellish forest only serving to torment him for pleasure. The bottomless pit of rage-fueled his empty heart, realizing he can never go back to his previous life anymore.

The mad doctor shook his head from his terrible thoughts. No, it’s true the doctor cannot change the past, but he still has a chance of altering the future. The mortal he had captured shall be his final experiment, the last grand experiment which will change the fate of the universe forever.

A small smirk was planted on his face, but it didn’t last long as the massive familiar energy level felt before was approaching fast as Eraak had anticipated.

“You and your moronic army aren’t going to stop me from achieving my goal.”

He sprinted north as fast as he could but considering his last travel diminished his stamina reserves, and left his body weakened only made things much harder for himself to keep up the pace.

“So, it is him… I recognize it all too well…” he harshly whispered through his gritted teeth.

“I must hurry. Let’s see if this distance is good enough,” Eraak reached through his coat pocket and brought an obsidian coated compass with red triangular markings etch on the back. He pressed down on the top tip of the compass and channel a bit of his magic into it, lighting up the red markings on the back.

Finishing the process, the exhausted doctor spat out large quantities of blood on to the compass’s glass. His lungs tightened itself causing Eraak to abruptly stop in mid-sprint as the compass fell from his grasp. He grabbed his chest from the unbearable pain. His legs also couldn’t handle the pressure any longer and gave up as he landed on all fours and began his uncontrollable coughing.

Blood dripped from his mouth onto the floor, forming a puddle of red liquid. Only inches away was the compass. The object slowly beeped each second, trying to establish a connection to the nearby signal he planted at the destination. Eraak was growing anxious, the obnoxious beeping rang inside his head, getting louder at each time it beeped. He scratches the ground like a maniac as the massive energy source he so feared was approaching rapidly, dwarfing the smaller energy levels around it. And to be quite honest the low energy levels were no slouch either, not tier 2s in the slightest to both his dismay and satisfaction. They’ve finally registered the whole ordeal as something severe enough to send their best demons.

The doctor’s eyes were firmly planted on the compass until in the corner of his vision, Eraak saw something unusual happened to the sky. Slowly moving his head to face the sky his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates to see the blackened sky turning into a demonic red hue bursting with negative power.

Facing back at the compass he tried to yell, but his voice was too dry to make any louder than a raspy whisper “Please find a signal! Find it now!”

The winds around him became harsher, the animals roared in unison, red lightning storms appear and struck the ground in absolute rage. Far worse than the funnel storms fury in The Central, as if the whole area was getting enraged

In just in time, the compass beeped rapidly as it successfully found a good signal. The scientist grabbed the compass in time before it blew away and levitated the human towards arms reach. Placing his hand on to the mortal’s arm, he pressed down on the tip and in a flash of light both the demon scientist and sinner vanished from the spot.

A mysterious flash of white light appeared before dying down, exposing the hindered scientist and still unconscious mortal floating by his side. Eraak stood back up awkwardly and observe his surroundings, confirming the teleportation was a success

A giant sigh of relief escaped his lips while wiping the sweat he accumulated from his face. Slowly but surely his famous grin reappeared when he saw a one-story house with a window appear in his vision, made entirely of obsidian rock, finely crafted which made the obsidian texture quite exotic to look at.

“The hate I have for this place is as deep as my coat pockets. Heheh but I can’t help to feel the immense excitement bubbling up inside my weak old body when I stare at it!” The scientist said in a raspy tone.

Not waiting any longer, Eraak limped his way and entered the house from the only entrance. Now inside his so-called “home,” the weakened scientist hobble forward inside the empty house. Ignoring the very few appliances and furniture he had such as the couch in the middle, the refrigerator in the back right and the microwave on the countertop. There were no other rooms other than the living room and the small kitchen.

Not wasting any more valuable time he paced himself towards the microwaved and pressed a series of numbers at a rapid pace. The microwave beeped three times, and after three seconds it ended, the sounds of mechanical machinery in front of the couch revealed a hidden door. Exposing a small hidden stairway.

A smile briefly showed on his face before a nasty cough took over him, reminding the mad scientist of the dangerous endeavor he was put through for this moment. Ignoring the pain of his wellbeing, Eraak limped his way with the human in tow down the small set of stairs to find a pure white elevator.

Entering it, he settled the sinner on the wall as he pressed a few keys on the side for the elevator to power it on.

The lights brighten inside, indicating it was functional. Eraak slid his finger and click the only floor button, read “Floor -0”. Upon pressing the button, the elevator made a low humming sound as it understood the command and immediately moved far below.

A minute pass.

Inside the moving elevator, the human awoke from his deep slumber, he slightly opened his eyes, but it was far too blurry for him to process his surroundings. The mortal struggled to move any of his limbs as if they were paralyzed. However, the blurriness softened and his vision less cloudy allowed him to focus what seems to be a human? In front of him. The mortal was genuinely surprised, to say the least. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not. This is the first in decades he had seen another of his species. It couldn't possibly be a demon, nothing like the ones he encountered before if that's the case.

The human opened his mouth to questioned the strange man, but the words never came out. His voice was weak and low, only producing faint grunting noises.

The sinner tried everything in his willpower to move his body or at least say one word to get the strange man's attention, but it was only futile. He felt like a puppet thrown away inside a closet unable to escape. Alone and helpless. If only he were stronger... If only there were such a thing of attaining unimaginable power, then he wouldn't be in this situation. Why couldn't he be useful for once!?

The injured mortal wanted to scream towards the heavens but his brain was shutting back down, his mind was slipping away presumably back to an unconscious state. Yet, as the darkness was consuming him, the strange man still not facing him acknowledged his existence and spoked in a whispered tone, he caught a hint of sadness evident in his voice.

“A monster among monsters… That is what you’re going to be soon my fellow sinner… my fellow species... Of once before...”

Jonathan Reid couldn’t hold it for much longer as his mind fell back to a deep slumber.

His sad existence was going to be changed in a matter of time… Not only himself but the universe and the lives of others... For better or for worse... A monster will be created in this feeble world.