A Sinner’s Chance

I didn't know how long I writhed upon the ground for, listening to the sound of snapping bone and tearing flesh accompanied by my screams as I was remade inside and out. When the process finally began to slow and I could feel my Skills beginning to work once again I could only be relieved as I lay panting amidst discarded skin, meaty flesh, and a pool of my ichor.

For the most part I didn't feel too different, the sole difference I could feel was two spots of carapace on my back, just below my shoulder blades. I staggered to my feet unsteadily, my body numb as I made my way over to Renae. "Just a second, I'll get you out." I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady while placing a hand against the stone keeping her restrained. With a small bit of focus the stone split and opened up, as if it were clay, rather than solid rock.

Before she could say anything I slumped against the wall. "See if you can't get the other two to wake up, Demonweb too." I gestured first to Arya and Steria, followed by Demonweb, though since I had fragments of his memory, I didn't know if he was even alive. Renae nodded without saying anything, liking sensing my exhaustion, something that was an abnormality, and went over to the unconscious bodies of Steria and Arya.

Seeing Renae make her way over I focused against the desire to pass out and pulled up my Status, I was expecting a large change for all the pain I had gone through, and I was not wrong, however, I was both confused and disappointed with some of the entries.

I couldn't understand why my attributes had lowered even further or how I'd gotten a criminal status, and the fact that I was now a Demon Lord was just a bit of salt upon the wound, however, the rest of the changes I was quite happy with.

'Hero of Corruption: A title granted to one who has ascended into the ranks of Gods, a Hero is the very bottom of those that follow the Divine Path. The trait of this particular Hero is Corruption, the ability to subvert and convert the base nature of something. Despite the inherent negative connotation, Corruption is a wide range trait that can not only drag the Divine into darkness, but can also lift the Demonic into the light. Granted by slaying and permanently preventing the resurrection of a Greater Evil.'

'Demon Lord of Corruption: A title granted to one who has ascended into the ranks of Gods, a Demon Lord is the very bottom of those that follow the Demonic Path. The trait of this particular Demon Lord is Corruption, the ability to subvert and convert the base nature of something. Despite the inherent negative connotation, Corruption is a wide range trait that can not only drag the Divine into darkness, but can also lift the Demonic into the light. Granted by devouring the strength and soul of a Greater Evil.'

'Divine Demon Imperatrix: A class based on increasing the strength of subjects, whether Divine or Demonic, as well as enhancing the power of the holder's weapon, Divine, or Demonic Skills.'

'Threadless Chimeric Empress: A being with a bizarre and unique lineage. Through a serious of fortuitous encounters one might call miraculous, they have inherited the Power of the Dragon, the Sensuality of the Arachne, the Darkness of the Demon, the Immortality of the Phoenix, the Durability of the Ghoul, the Evolution of the Slime, and the Shadow of the She-Demon. Should this being continue to exist, it will become either the scourge or a blessing to all of existence, its fate undeterminable by the Thread of the Great Tapestry.'

'KoS - B-Rank: A criminal status gained by becoming a Demon Lord. Kill on Sight - Threat Level B.

'Threadless Chimeric Blessing: A Gift containing a great amount of power from many sources. The Soul of its holder has been forever changed, its fate diverted from the expected course.'

'Draconic Claw: An innate unarmed fighting Skill focused on brute force using a Dragon's claws.'

'Draconic Carapace: A mixed Skill that blends a Dragon's scales, a Ghoul's bone carapace, and an Arachne's chitin for an extreme form of defense. Only partial coverage is possible, leaving the user vulnerable to attacks on exposed areas.'

'Draconic Breath: An innate Skill learned by most Dragons. The type of breath is determined by the clan the Dragon is born to.'

'Demonslaying: A Skill that increases the user's ability to permanently kill a Demonic Entity through standard means.'

'Relentless: A Skill that prevents exhaustion, or other effects that would impede the user's goal at the cost of their lifeforce.'

'Immortality: A Skill that represents the epitome of being unable to die. There are ways to bypass such a Skill, though those that can are few.'

'Destructive Yin: A Skill that allows the control and direction of internal Yin energy to affect the world. Unless properly controlled, this energy is destructive, chaotic, and malevolent.'

'Yin-Yang Ouroboros: A Skill that uses the most basic energies to feed itself in an ever-growing and unending cycle. Ouroboros Skills tend to become fatal for their holder as very few people can sustain the growth and near limitless mana it creates.'

'Soul Overlay - Devourer Apophis: The Soul of the Sun-Eater and all it's abilities gathered into a overlay that is concerned with the consumption of energy in any form.'

This was the second time I could recall waking to a Status so different that I had to actually spend a solid amount of time reviewing each entry. I also discovered the reason for why my stats appeared to be reduced. It wasn't that I had become weaker, but rather, I was being compared to the average of more powerful beings. Before I was likely being compared to normal mortals, now I was pretty sure that I was being compared to God-level beings, or at least something akin to such.

The sole reason I came to this conclusion was due to the Titles I'd gotten. Hero and Demon Lord of Corruption. I was honestly shocked that I had become a Hero in any sense of the word, I had already been sure that I was solely on the path to becoming a Demon Lord, my biological father was a Dark Lord, and I had already harmed a Hero and gained the Divine Enemy Title.

Other than that most of my Skills had jumped up in power greatly, and on top of that I'd gained some new abilities, one's that belonged to Dragons, the most powerful creatures on the planet, though I didn't know how that was compared to God-Tier beings. Though the Relentless Skill seemed to be a bit dangerous and probably explained the utter exhaustion I felt. My lifeforce was probably pretty close to empty, something to be expected when I'd spent a massive amount of time with barely any memories, only the thought to consume the flesh in front of me, only for that horrific experience to be followed by another terrible experience as I had to physically and mentally endure the entirety of myself being remade anew.

I was thankful that my memories had returned, though I planned to cross-examine them to ensure that I hadn't forgotten anything important, and to see if their was any influence from Apophis left over. It was a shame that most of Apophis's memories weren't helpful, though it was interesting to see the battles between it and those who opposed it. I was able to understand most of my Aspect Skills better, seeing as almost all of them had directly battled Apophis at least once, though most had done so several times, with Sekhmet and Amun-Re, or rather Ra, doing so every time. Thankfully the memories gave me a decent idea of how I could use the other abilities of the Eye, but I was currently too worn out.

Thankfully, it didn't seem that anyone would be up soon, and I was sure the magical ice imprisoning Ashara wasn't going to suddenly teleport away anytime soon, so I just sat and rested waiting for the feeling of exhaustion to leave my body.