Within the darkness, there stirs something even blacker. The inner sanctum within Sel is breached with him nearing death, his fire fluttering wildly, trying to survive. The blackness approaches, wishing to gluttonously consume the flame, to destroy it. The flame however fights back, trying to illuminate the darkness.

In the vast, endless void there is the fire and the shade, striving for survival, wishing to stay alive. The shade doesn't realize that it will turn into nothing without fire, only wishing to turn the entire world into darkness. The fire emits light, trying to push it back, but there is nothing to illuminate, the fire being the only thing within the vastness.

With darkness creeping closer, the fire flutters strongly, writhing in pain, struggling against the dark. It needs light, more light to survive.

It searches within the darkness, wishing to find something to help itself. Some fuel, some memory, something.

Out there is nothing, just more dark. The fire is weakening, running out of power. The light shines weaker, being devoured by the vast nothingness, slowly disappearing without trace.

Having nothing else to do, it turns on itself, trying to devour itself to light up the darkness. Inside, there must be something to use as power, some image that can be used. It flashes a number of times, trying to find something useful. The memories are not destroyed, just repressed, their energy consumed for fuel as they are not powerful enough to sustain the fire.

The image of the girl trying to kill him, the image of him killing the woman by eating her heart, the images of him fighting in the arena, the image of him turning the horned woman, the images of him marking multiple women, images of him in the elven city...

Many images are consumed, until a special image is seen. It is the image of the Girl, the same girl that made the fire subside, bringing it peace, it now fueled it, giving it power. The peace that once was brought with the image now made it burn brighter. Taking every bit of power the image holds, the fire turns still, slowly burning out the image, consuming it.

After an eternity or a mere moment, the fire turns into a candle light, no longer having chaotic, ravenous flames reaching out to consume, instead having a single oval flame of perfect shape. The flame couldn't be really described as a real one, more like a soul made up of two opposing elements. The soul of a Demon and Highobrne hybrid, it consumed the memories of its origin, taking the power of the light that image held for itself.

Unfortunately, the fire destroyed the image, all the images of the woman who gave life to it. The fire knew what it was, or at least had the memories of that in tact, although powerless. It however no longer knew the happy days it spent with the Girl, forfeiting them for its life. The memories no longer had any power, no longer had hold over the man, now the fire was free.

New, transformed and reformed, the fire was strong, unyielding to the darkness around it, instead making it retreat and bend to the will of the fire. Wishing for more light, the fire parts the darkness above, letting in a single ray of light, the light from the patron goddess. This allows the exchange between the two, the goddess being able to take power from the fire and fire now having light within the darkness. This is yet meaningless, but it is a step towards a possibility in the future.

This was what happened within the body of a greyskin, an elven-looking demon who became the champion in the event for the demon lord's daughter's hand. After the victory, he collapsed and was brought in to be treated. His body mended in its own, consuming the scourge around it. The fel energy seeped into the wounds and remade the flesh anew, better and stronger than previously.

The soul of the demon stayed stagnant however, remaining unreachable. It would fight for survival, trying to not get devoured by the scourge which was left without direction. It tended to its master, but it also did harm, not knowing what to do exactly.

Only when the soul reformed, did Sel regain consciousness for the first time. He was lying down, weak, his soul lacking the control over the body. His will reformed and his mind at peace, the fire within him burned, but it was stable, unyielding.

He didn't stay conscious for long, shortly passing out again. Throughout the month, he would drift in and out, sometimes seeing somebody around and other times just lying, recuperating, regaining his senses.

His memory was almost entirely gone, just ghosts of his past remaining. While he had plenty of time, he remembered some, the women who were waiting for him, however he could do little until he was out if bed.

About four months passed in total until he was able to stay conscious long enough. His soul now stronger than ever, it had greater control over scourge, even stronger than before. With his power stronger, he improved his body and merged his soul with it, mending the connection.

After another month, he was finally able to walk around talking and arguing. He arranged for his women to be delivered to him. A future demon lord is able to have as many concubines as he wants. However, he didn't realize that a surprise was waiting for him. Six surprises from four women to be exact.

All the time that Sel was healing, his head was hurting, sometimes making him pass out from pain. It was a horrible feeling, his head splitting apart. But, at some point it lessened. That day from the four points on his head, four little horns sprouted. Two on his forehead and two out of his temples, the horns grew out, symbolizing his power.

The status of this demon was now second to the demon lord himself. With the daughter of the demon lord being another one of his women, he was the next in line. Perhaps he will force his ascension in the future.

His new woman was a beauty. She had smooth red skin and black eyes, four horns growing out of her forehead, twisting around. She had a powerful tail as well, with a slight heart shape at the end. On her spine she had hard boned ridges as well as some spikes, making her look menacing. Sel liked the demon girl, her look was both of dangerous fury of a demon and sweet beauty of a female. Her name was Zagierra

The demon lord tried casting a slave contract to bind Sel to his daughter, but like with the hag, it backfired, marking the girl instead. Her neck had black markings, different from usual seal, which was of much interest.

Over the time that Sel spent in bed, there were a number of assassination attempts on him, the noble clans who lost their sons were furious, but every attempt failed.

Whenever a male assassin came, he was turned into fuel for Sel's body, the energy being ripped out. It wasn't his will, instead the power within him defended him. The females however, it bound, just like it did with Zagierra. Now, within the dungeon there resided eight different women, each one unable to escape or die, their markings controlling them.

When Sel visited them, he was surprised to see two familiar faces. One of a cat looking girl and another of a half demon girl. He couldn't place his finger on who they were, but their faces were known to him, only his memory betraying him.

Regardless, this new addition was welcome, Sel used them to their fullest. He set them all free of shackles, commanding not to try running away or to hurt anybody. The girls didn't have the chance to get away.

Once he was well enough, he spent many nights with Zagierra, making sure to fill her up each time, she wanted a child, a powerful demon, and while Sel wasn't really aware of her intentions, he was glad to oblige. It was somewhat unnecessary after the first time, but nobody knew that. Usual demon seed was broken down and corrupted by the scourge, making conception a rare occurrence. However, for Sel, it did the opposite, helping the seed to be as fertile as possible, not harming it in any way.

He also spent time with the slaves, making sure to give them his ’love’. He didn't treat each one nicely, remembering how they tried killing him. They would curse him, but beyond that they were powerless. Sel took great joy in taking them against their will, sometimes giving them enough freedom to allow some struggle. He was a demon after all, the pain of lesser beings brought him joy.

After he healed, Sel seemed to enjoy many things more than before. His face would show a smile od joy, anger, as well as confusion. His face was no longer a blank slate, now making him look alive. With his soul changing, so did his mind, making him both a demon and Highobrne. Pain of others and joy shared with Zagierra, they made the flame inside him shine brighter.

By the time his other women arrived, Sel regained most of the memories. He remembered what happened in the arena, the images he had seen. Some seemed to still be missing, but others were clear. He also remembered the moment he felt the goddess, his goddess. Right now she seemed familiar and Sel no longer held any animosity towards her. The reason he turned away was gone form his memory, he opened his soul to her, allowing her to take power.

She refused it however, not wishing to take anything from a demon. But being weak and dying, she had to take some, to allow her to survive. Perhaps she would get enough power to create another blessing or create a new race. It was useless dreaming, but she hoped she could avoid ever touching the vile creature that perverted and twisted her beloved creation.

Sel knew that the goddess didn't like him, and truthfully he didn't care. He was Sel’de-Warp, Sel of the house of Warp, the twisting and changing force of the world, bending it to his will. He would become a God of his own.

He knew that there was a blessing waiting for him deep within the birthplace of his race. The knowledge was in tatters, some pieces completely gone. However, he knew that he was the rightful ruler of the remnants of the Highborne Empire. He only needed to reclaim it and to take the blessing of Lux to take it.

Going against the elves, it would be troublesome. Bringing the army would be impossible thanks to pillars and fighting on his own, he won't be able to go against such huge numbers of opponents, the scourge being unavailable beyond the demon territories. However, there might be another path.

Ever since he woke up, Sel felt that there is more to the scourge than he knows. It called to him, whispering promises of powers. After the fight in the arena, Sel's left eye had turned black, the scourge claiming it. He could still see, but now there were things beyond his comprehension that were around.

Sometimes he would see images, unknown places, maddening sights that would drive normal people insane. Other times he would see snippets of some things, things that happened or were happening. The scourge was a truly chaotic power, seemingly unbound by time and space restraints.

Sel looked around, reading more books and asking about, he learned that the scourge came with demons and the place where they originate, there it is much more powerful and the demons there are like gods, shaping their own mad worlds and creating constructs of their will.

The demon thought that perhaps he would go and explore this possibility to gain more power. This was an idea he brooded over for a while. Once Regios comes, he would discuss it with him. For now, he was content being in the centre of demon territories, having his share of power and using it to order people around. He had plenty of women, delicious meals and strong drinks to entertain himself. His life was good for once, the memories that haunted him before gone, he could enjoy life without remembering the pain he felt. He no longer felt empty, living a life of luxury, it was a good and peaceful time.

-----

So, here is a what I'd imagine a conclusion of the first arc would be. I'd call it "Born in grey" or something along these lines. There are a lot of people who read this fiction and I received a rather positive feedback which I greatly appreciate. I am glad you people liked the story and it is far from done, but I want it to be the best it can so right now I have not written the next part yet. I want to avoid it having ridiculous plot like my Beast fiend had (which I already plan to rewrite).

I hope you guys can give mE some time to gather my thoughts and let me write properly so I can deliver the story well. I hope you liked it so far and thank you all for your support. I hope to write the next part soon, but I cannot give you a definite date. Hopefully, it will be very soon. Thank you guys.