Reign’s feet crushed the cracked earth beneath him as he landed in the middle of a desolate wasteland.

    The air was thick with miasma. There was nothing here but barren ground and scattered rocks. It was the perfect place to test his newfound strength without interference.

    He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the surge of power still coursing through him.

    A grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he felt the weight of it all. This was only a small taste of what he could do now, but it wasn’t enough.

    Without wasting anymore time, he opened his interface, eager to check his stats.

    ============

    Name: Reign

    Race: Elemental Overlord (Legendary)

    Strength: Z+

    Agility: Z+++

    Stamina: Z+

    Endurance: Z+

    Intelligence: Z-

    Energy: Z+

    ============

    ’So my highest stat is agility,’ he chuckled to himself. It made sense now—why everything seemed frozen whenever he moved. It was as if time itself paused for him.

    However, the ability wasn’t without its flaws. His mind and vision couldn’t fully keep up with his speed yet.

    The faster he moved, the more his eyesight failed him. Light couldn’t catch up, leaving him momentarily blind.

    It wasn’t a major issue since he could rely on estimation to guide his movements, but it still placed limits on what he could do in this mode.

    He couldn’t just replicate the feats seen in superhero movies, where characters moved at hyperspeed and performed mundane tasks like cleaning a house without consequence. If he moved that fast, the shockwaves alone would obliterate everything around him.

    The reason was pretty simple: the faster he was, the more violently the air parted around him.

    This created intense friction and unleashed destructive forces. Avoiding this would require becoming ethereal, phasing through matter entirely—but that was impossible for him. His body, reinforced with metallic bones, was built for endurance and power, not intangibility.

    Only his meta-body could pull that off. Unlike his current form, that body was designed to bypass such limitations, allowing seamless movement without creating shockwaves or destructive friction.

    Still, his current speed was beyond anything anyone could imagine. The sheer advantage it gave him fueled his confidence even further.

    "System, give me the list of mutated organs I got from that devil," he commanded.

    A familiar interface appeared before him, displaying the harvested organs from Asmodeus.@@@@

    Each one was labeled, its properties detailed with precision. Reign’s eyes scanned the list, a flicker of anticipation crossing his face as he considered the potential each organ held.

    Heart of the King of Lust: Grants enhanced regeneration and a resistance to both fire and darkness.

    —

    —

    Inside one of the tallest buildings, Aamon sat at his desk, tapping it lightly. He could feel that Asmodeus had died through the connection they shared.

    Losing such a powerful figure made the whole mission much more complicated. It also meant they had severely underestimated their opponent’s strength. Someone was actually powerful enough to kill a devil general.

    Belphegor, however, yawned and seemed completely uninterested in the war or Asmodeus’s death. He didn’t care about any of it.

    This irritated Aamon deeply. He slammed his fist on the desk, his patience running thin. "How can you be so carefree, Belphegor?"

    The Devil General, still half-distracted, shrugged lazily and responded with an exhausted sighed.

    "Well, maybe if you’d actually sent more help with Asmodeus instead of sending him out alone, we wouldn’t be in this mess."

    Aamon’s eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?"

    Belphegor’s smirk was almost bored. "You underestimated them. Asmodeus didn’t stand a chance by himself. Maybe you should’ve thought of that before sending him off like some sacrificial pawn."

    Aamon’s face reddened with frustration, but he said nothing more. It was his decision to send Asmodeus alone, and now they were paying for it.

    "I’m going to sleep," Belphegor said, standing up, clearly done with the conversation.

    But just as he turned to walk away, a sudden chill ran down his spine. Danger.

    Instinctively , he activated his power.

    ZZZZZZZZZ!

    A laser shot toward him, bending around his body and missing by inches.

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    But Aamon wasn’t as lucky. The attack struck him square in the chest, and he staggered back, his face contorting in pain.

    Belphegor glanced at him, not worried at first. The wound didn’t seem severe—just another injury to heal. But then the devil general dropped to the ground with a roar.

    "Fuck!" Aamon shouted, clutching his chest as he began to release an immense amount of power. His energy surged wildly, filling the room with an almost unbearable pressure.

    "This wound isn’t normal!"

    Belphegor’s expression shifted, the first sign of real concern flashing across his face.

    He snapped his head around, his eyes widening as more lasers fired at him. They were so fast they appeared as nothing more than flashes of light.

    Without his ability to bend space, he would have already met the same fate as the other devil general.

    "What’s happening here? Who is attacking us?" Belphegor muttered aloud his usual indifference slipping away.

    Even a lazy devil like him couldn’t ignore the gravity of the situation.

    However, no matter how much he focused, he could not sense anyone, because Reign was too far away.

    As for Aamon, he was gritting his teeth in frustration. He tried his best, but the death energy could not be expelled from his body.