"Is this correct?"

"Yes, my lord. From all the races these creatures were the strongest."

The orc general kneeled before me, while I was reading the list, he gave me.

The first are the onis, then the trolls, and finally the elves. These three races dominated the others with their magic, brute strength, or the combination of both.

Humans were the fifth ones, passed by the harpies, since they were able to fly, and their natural wind magic is annoying.

"Very well. The world is almost ready. Prepare these five races to be transferred. I will also send some dwarf and arachnid workers with you, to facilitate the boom of our civilization."

"Yes, my lord"

He went away without a word, leaving me alone.

"Humans huh. These guys are though, no wonder, they can live in every world possible.

"Gate open."

The familiar door appeared before me, that brought me to the world of my creation.

"Ahhh, time to be done with this thing."

After the dinner with Lukas, we signed the contract making us partners. I will provide weapons, armors, and troops for the war and in exchange, he will give me blueprints, materials, and information.

Plus, I finally got the recipe for the madness juice! Soon, I will have factories dedicated to making this thing!

"Show the status of the world."

At my command, several transparent screens appeared before me, showing different information.

Since this was the world of my creation, I decided to go wild with it.

I meticulously made amazing sceneries, plants life, and animals, who were born from my experiments, giving this place a proper fantasy world vibe.

Oh, and also, I turned the sky into a solid matter.

Yeah, after around the height of 24 kilometers there was an invisible barrier.

I made it so because I wanted to make this world layered.

I transferred the buildings I made up there and made it so to be infested with ghosts, spirits, and other nasty things.

My plan was simple, I will set it so that all external portals will open there. all intruders will have to fight through the ghosts to arrive at the lower levels.

Under it will be where I will put my chosen races. I already set up a safe area for them to live in, which is full of precious minerals and plants. I also added my favorite animal into the mix and granted it some cool powers.

Under them, I created a subterranean world, similar to a dungeon that will house the most dangerous monsters of this world but will be filled with riches to attract adventurers there.

Lastly, there was the core of the planet. I have no idea why but every blueprint in existence told me to leave it hallow and coat it in a bronze and gold alloy. It didn't matter to me, so I left it like that.

I added the final touches like mana density and oxygen ratio, and I AM GOOD.

"Perfect. I only need to bring the habitants here and I will be set."

I returned to my throne room and took a crystal from my pocket.

"Everything is set. Prepare the chosen races. I will open the door for them tomorrow."

I turned the crystal off and sat back onto my throne.

I should check on the girl to see how her studies doing.

'Mr. Dealmaker, I found something that might interest you.'

This voice in my head…If I remember correctly it belongs to one of the reincarnated. I wonder what he found.

I concentrated on returning to the body of the girl.

She was watching tv while eating potato chips.

'Hey, I need to go out. I am taking over.'

"…Can we do that after the movie?"

'Record it or watch it on the internet. This is important.'

"Uggh, fine!"

I slowly slipped into her nerves completely taking over her body, while also making sure to make her unconscious.

When I was done, I stretched a little, assuring that I had full control of this vessel.

"Nice, now for the finishing touches."

It was still daytime here so I couldn't wear my mask and coat, so I decided to go in the clothes she already wore.

I didn't care what I was wearing so long as it didn't hinder me in my work. I just grabbed her phone and wallet and left.

The streets were busy with people, everybody going on their business. The air was full of noise and a sweet smell that made my stomach rumble.

After I am done, I need to find a place to eat. A hamburger those sound good.

Using my powers to locate my target, I soon arrived at a tall building.

The inside was full of graffiti and I could hear shouting behind the locked doors, yet I liked it. A lot of madness and sorrow in the air.

I soon reached the roof, where I made my mask and black coat appear.

I admit I may be stylized these two, making them more comfortable for this woman's curves.

I shortened the antlers a little bit and made the coat so that it gave enough room for her breasts. I even went out of my way to make a cossack fur hat for her, something that you would see in Russia.

Again, it was so that I could move better and not that I was interested in fashion. Baka…

I walked out to the roof, feeling the wind on my face.

"Well, this is unexpecting."

From one of the shadows, a man in a Victorian-style suit and hat emerged, wearing a mask that resembled that of a face of an angry demon.

"I believe that the last time we meet you were a man. Or my memories playing tricks on me?"

"It is not. I am unable to come to your world in my real body, so I am borrowing this one. Chepper Claus If I remember correctly. Or should I address you as The Ripper Doctor?"

The masked man bowed with respect while taking off his top hat.

"At your service, Mr. Dealmaker. By the way, did you know that there is a new religion just for you? They believe that you are a demon that preys on the weak and steals their souls to turn them into soldiers in a war."

"In my line of work, it's impossible to not piss off some powerful people. Not everybody is fine with changing things back the way they are supposed to be. Or do you believe in this nonsense?"

"I personally don't care. You brought me back to life and give me the chance to continue my work. You can be an angel or the devil, I don't care until you don't double-cross me."

"Thank you for your honesty. Now, did you call me for this or is there something else?"

"Yes, I found something that might interest you. A young boy from that academy possesses a power like ours."

"…What?"

A power similar to my avatars. Could it be…"

"He was able to throw fire from his hand and use telekinesis like you. Yet, the feeling I got from his entirely diff-are you okay?"

It's them. Definitely, it's one of my fragments. Finally, after all this time….

Unconsciously I released some of my dark energy, which took the form of several ghostly hands with mouths in their palms moving around this body.

"Where is that person."

"H-He is at the building next to us on the fifth floor."

"Alright. Thank you for the information. I will take the matter in my hands."

I materialized several syringes in my hand each containing a different liquid.

" I will take care of it personally."

…No calm down.

I took several deep breathy, calming myself.

You need to be smart about this. This is one of your soul fragments we are talking about. Be smart and efficient.

*****

Ash POV:

"Found it."

I opened the website on my computer.

It had a black background with the letters colored blood red.

"Dealmaker: Also known as the Demon of Despair is one of the most powerful entities in hell, some even believing that it's, in fact, the right hand of the devil. This entity appears after any ritual is executed wrongly and will target anyone who is consumed by despair. It would tempt them in exposing their deepest desire by looking into their very existence. If the victim accepts the offer, the demon will grant it to them in exchange for their soul. Once this monster gets a hold of one's soul, it will drag it down to hell where he will turn it into a monster to add to his army which will march on the surface of this world when the ultimate war between good and evil erupts."

'It has only been around a decade since we got separated. What the hell has he been doing all this time? How long have I been absent?'

"He even has a cult which is suspected of committing ritualistic murder all over the country. They say even politicians a part of it, covering up the most brutal acts."

'If he truly is here, we need to hide before he finds us!"

"Agreed. If that guy really works for him, then there is no tell how many people are involved in this. Let's go to the headquarters."

'How are we going to tell them about this?'

"We won't. We will only say that somebody has been menacing me and my family. Considering what I have done for them, the –"

BOOM!

A huge explosion could be heard coming from the living room followed by the scream of a woman.

"MOM!"

I didn't think, I just busted the door open and ran there.

Luckily my nor my mother or my 5-year-old sister was home, so my only worry was the wall.

The wall that looked out of the street was now, melted into a hole from with several figures could be seen.

"My god."

'Hybrids. There is no doubt, it's him.'

What I could tell was that they were humans. Were. Now teach had a tumor-like thing on their back, that had two bat wings like things coming out from it. Some even had an eye or a mouth on it, blinking and licking their lips. Their left or right arm has lengthened, becoming red and swollen ending in black claws like appendages.

But the worth part was.

"Help…me…"

"It hurts."

"Kill…Kill me…"

They were still conscious even after turning into these monsters.

"What are those things?!"

'He calls them hybrids. By drawing a summoning circle on a target, he can imbue them with a monster's characteristic. But these look nothing like the ones he uses. They are probably failures that he sent after us.'

"Can you cure them? They seem to still possess their humanity."

'I never tried, but it's too dangerous to capture them. We don't know what sort of things he did to them.'

"But you can do it right?"

'…Maybe.'

"Good enough! Armor!"

At my command from a nearby closet, a metal box flew out, before falling apart into tiny pieces that covered my entire body, creating a mechanical armor.

This wasn't the model I usually used since I kept it for emergencies. The only feature it had was propulsors on its foot, which allowed me to fly and that's it.

"Let's do this Partner!"

'I am on it.'

Using the engines, I flew out of the hole, zooming next to the creatures.

They took a second to react, but with screeches out of this world, they followed me to the sky, spitting green goo-like projectiles at me.

'It looks like acid. Don't touch it!'

"I don't intend to! FireBall!"

I threw a handful of flames to the face of the nearest monster.

The thing didn't even react to it, it just continued to follow me.

'Do you want to save them or cook them? Listen, go back to ground level, and when they are at a height where if they fall won't kill them, Use electric magic! I will handle the output.'

"Alright partner!"

I quickly descended to the ground closely followed by the monsters.

When I landed, I collected all the power I had and aimed at them.

"Electric Rain!"

'Shook Bolt!"

Several blue spheres appeared around me, that launched at my enemies accompanied by the sound of thunder.

'I adjusted the power. They are unconscious. Go to the nearest one so that I can examine them.'

I did as he said, but when I was 3 steps away from one, from the shadows of the buildings, several people jumped out, grabbing onto me with supernatural speed.

"What?"

These were also not humans. They wore human cloth, but they were thin as skeletons with grey skin stretching on their bones, with cables tightly tied to their bodies.

'Ghouls! This was a trap!'

"Damn it-AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

From the cables, electricity started to circulate, hitting not only the ghouls but me as well.

Pain cursed through my body as the functions of my armor shut down, one by one.

When the pain finally stopped, the ghouls became black corpses, and my armor was now a prison in which I couldn't move.

'I healed most of the damage caused to your body, but I used up most of my magic. If I weren't here, you would be cooked in this thing!'

Bamm!

"AAAAA!

Something hit me in my leg, tearing off the thruster that was there, cutting off my way of escape.

I fell on my knees trying to move my hand to cover the wound, but the armor didn't let me.

"Well, isn't this surprising?"

From a building, somebody walked out.

It was a woman wearing quite strange attire. The most notable thing about her was the deer skull mask she was wearing with a black fur coat and fur hat. Also, she was holding a rifle, with a fuming barrel.

"That was the power of two dozen car batteries that you just took. That armor you are wearing is quite sturdy."

She walked to me and with a strong grip torn of my helmet, made from pure steel alloy mixed with giga metal, with her bare hands, exposing my face to her.

"Hello, Ash. And hello little fragment of mine. Which one are you? Are you perhaps the mage one?"

'…Ash sorry but I will take over.'

As my partner said, I felt my facial muscles move without my consent.

"Desmond."

"So, you are also able to take over your host."

The mask's mouth opened, showing a wild smile behind it.

"It's been so long. Also, I threw away that name. Don't really work with my current host. I go by Dealmaker nowadays."

It's indeed been a while. I see that you have fallen so low that you even take possession of children now."

"Ehhh? You're the one to talk to! Using the body of a boy as a refuge to hide. How long do you think it would have taken me to find you?"

"Honestly, I thought you were dead. Being blasted by that attack from the gods and all that."

"Oh no, I survived. Barely but I survived. I also gained a reputation amongst the gods if you didn't notice."

"I noticed, Demon of Despair."

"I wasn't referring to that, but it's good enough. Now then, it's time to go home. We will have enough time to talk when I strapped you on a dissection table and put you back where you belong."

Put back where you belong? What does that even mean?

"Look at you. Even after failing so miserably that you lost your original body, you are now trying to pick up the pieces of your grandeur. You are shameless."

"Shameless? I prefer tenacious. But let's stop talking. Our ride is here."

Behind her two ghouls walked to us, carrying a huge mirror.

"Allow me to bring you back home. You will love the place."

She grabbed us by the throat and lifted us up in the air.

Damn it, I need to do something! I need to escape before she drags me into her lair. I need to-

"ASH!"

From above several people fell, each wearing a similar armor than I did, but they also carried guns and swords with them.

"let go of him before I shout your brains out!"

The one who spoke was a girl with bright orange hair, holding a great sword that was two times her size.

The Dealmaker stood there for several seconds before letting me fall onto the ground.

"Damn it, I talked too much. You are lucky today, boy, I haven't prepared for so many people. Let's continue this little reunion at a later date."

She snapped her fingers, causing a huge explosion behind me.

I turned around seeing my entire apartment in flames as screams could be heard from there.

"NOOOOO!"

I looked back at her, only seeing a broken mirror on the floor, reflecting the smoke that has risen up in the sky.