There it was, swimming happily through the syrupy lava below me, a massive lizard around the size of a small castle. Its skin was a deep crimson, textured like the lava through which it swam, a mixture between solid rock-like scales and flowing red liquid flames which were generated by the Monster's innate magic.

Jumping off the ledge, using a mixture of gliding and the occasional flapping of my wings, I guided myself down and towards the giant Monster.

As soon as I was directly above the Salamander King, I flared my wings and canceled my forward velocity, using a levitation magic to hover perfectly still in the air.

Soea had, wisely, decided to stay on the ledge at the tunnel's exit.

She had done this twice today, deciding, correctly, to stay back in case she accidentally interfered with my combat.

This seemed to have started while she was questioning her value and believing that she was dragging me down, staying back so that I wouldn't have to waste any energy trying to protect her.

Allowing me to fight at my full power.

While the heat that rose from the lava beat against me, it wasn't as hot as I expected it to be, I didn't even need to deploy any Runic Wards or Heat Shields.

I felt my face twist, a smile filling it, as I considered the upcoming combat.

Unleashing the Water Runes that I had prepared in advance, I began constructing a stronger Ice Rune before it landed. One of the skills that Master had thoroughly drilled into me was to be able to multitask while fighting with spells.

This multitasking skill was one of the reasons that Master was above most other mages. However, I couldn't cast as many simultaneous spells as she could, I could easily manage two or three, six or seven if I pushed myself.

Master, however, could simultaneously cast three to four hundred spells at the same time.

The Water Rune that I had chosen was Icy-Waterfall.

Well, that was the name I gave it, because of the effects of the magic.

A massive plume of water manifested midair and fell onto the lava below it.

The ice-cold water would rapidly cool the lava and constrict the movements of the Monster within.

With an ear-piercing hiss, a dense cloud of steam boiled up from the lava and rushed up towards me. The impact and heat of the steam was enough to cause one of my rings to react. The ring was inscribed with a minor ward, which activated and shielded me from any damage.

Below me, the lava turned into stone.

However, there was no sign of the Salamander King, which had dove as soon as it detected the magic forming. The lizard was hiding beneath the stone, probably observing my next actions.

A simple spell like the Icy-Waterfall wouldn't even cause an itch if it directly hit the Monster itself, feeling like a soft spring shower.

Then came a thunderous rumble, which I had been waiting for. The stone layer violently shuddered and then cracked.

With a roar, the Salamander King burst out of the broken stone, shaking its head and shedding the few rock shards that clung to it. As it crawled out of the hole, the Salamander King dripped large globs of lava as massive white flames were emitted from its cracked skin.

It wasn't time to use the Capture Rune yet, the Salamander King wasn't weakened enough. For the Monster to be captured, it needed to be weakened, either physically or mentally.

Though, with my enhanced abilities, it may be possible. However, I wasn't too sure about that, and I didn't want it to suddenly turn hostile and attack Soea.

Roaring loudly, the Salamander King looked around rapidly, trying to find me. It was a rather loud creature, which was understandable, because I had ambushed it in the middle of its happy swimming.

Changing my magic slightly, I quickly wove my previously prepared Capture Rune into the mostly completed Ice Rune which was currently forming in the air in front of me.

The combination of these two Runes would cause enough damage to allow for a simple capture.

While I was finishing my new compound spell, the Monster finally located me.

Since it hadn't been hurt yet, its attack would be at the strongest it could be, so I could get an accurate measure of its combat strength.

Inhaling deeply, the Salamander King's chest rapidly expanded.

With a soft noise, it unleashed a breath attack, a massive pillar of white-hot flames roaring through the already hot air towards me.

I noticed that Soea was positioned behind me, within line of the flame, so I had to block or deflect them.

With a feeling of happiness, an inappropriate feeling for the middle of combat, I wrapped my wings around myself. A black feathery globe formed around me, though I made sure to angle the feathers so that the flames would split and miss the little Demoness sitting on the ledge behind me, swinging her legs calmly.

An odd instinct activated, something that seemed innate to my new body. In a second, and without much effort, my wings' black texture changed from that of feathers to something that seemed to be a mixture between metal and stone.

This body was strange, and if I were to be honest, it seemed to be closer to that of a Fallen Angel than a Demon.

If he had been partially a Fallen Angel, this would go a long way towards explaining the Demon King's enormous amount of Mana, and why the bastard god's priests could weaken him so much.

But it brought up a new question: Why hadn't Arre already consumed the Demon King, of course taking the form of the Demon God that he used when interacting with Demons.

Since my only interaction with Celestials had been with Raven, and most of that was fighting, I needed to learn more about them.

Inside my armoured globe, I quickly wove a Heat Resistance Rune into the Ice and Capture compound, to protect the magic so that it couldn't be easily destroyed if another fire breath was unleashed.

While I was considering all of this, the breath hit my strange wings.

All I felt was a soft warmth, like using a hair drier, as my angled wings deflected the flame, splitting it in half. The two surges of weakened flames hit the walls on either side of Soea, with two meters of space on each side.

She had seen that I didn't seem worried, and she seemed to have absolute trust in me, she had just stayed still and done nothing.

It seems that the physical defence of my wings was much higher than I had expected, I hadn't even used any defensive buffing magic. As a test, I had even canceled the automatic warding from my ring and took the flame head on.

The results were pleasing, but also perplexing.

I was beginning to wonder what species the Demon King had been, and what I had become.

My power may have been formidable, but it was much less than what I would require to fight and kill the bastard Arre. If I were to fight the Pope without proper preparation, I might struggle. When I had time, I needed to begin the long and difficult process of condensing Divine Power, so that I could reach the Demigod level.

Now that I was an unknown species, and my Hero body had been restored, I was strong enough to hyper-condense Mana into Divine power, all I would require was Faith energy to officially transform from Demigod to deity level, but that was far in the future.

But all of that would have to wait until after I captured this Monster, and after the upcoming fight with the soldiers, and possibly new Heroes, that would come to investigate the town I had destroyed.

What I called a Capture Rune was simply a Mind Rune, but I didn't like that name, not after what happened to Kirrin.

Unfolding my wings, I continued to float calmly in the air, my compound magic was complete.

I was ready to unleash it on the Monster whenever I wanted.

With a flick of my fingers, the combined Rune flew through the air and smashed into the Salamander King's head. Well, the Mind Rune, Capture Rune, flew into the Lizard's giant head.

As soon as the Frost Rune hit the Salamander King's head, it enveloped it in a block of deep blue ice, which rapidly spread over its body. The Monster fought to destroy the ice, but no matter how much it struggled, it couldn't break the frozen prison.

While the Monster's attention was diverted, struggling to break the ice and survive, the Capture Rune infiltrated and obliterated its mental defenses.

Because of the combined mental and physical attacks, the Monster's struggles slowed...then ceased.

After a few last futile twitches, it lay completely still.

Mind Runes were a forbidden and rather scary magic, because after tearing through mental defenses, the magic would encompass and devour the target's will.

However, this wasn't the worst part.

The Magic would trap the soul of the person inside their own body, unable to do anything, but also unable to reincarnate because they weren't technically dead.

The Capture Rune I used was an advanced version of the Magic which was used by the Priest on Kirrin. This version changed the target's will and perception so that they were enslaved to me and didn't even notice, they obeyed as though it were the most natural thing in the universe.

The Magic used on Kirrin however, the lower form, completely erased the target's mind, turning them into a complete slave...a doll. The doll no longer had any will, the surface area of its soul was trapped and began to be twisted so that it belonged completely to the caster.

Luckily, this didn't corrupt the Divinity Area, so after the doll was killed and its soul re-entered the reincarnation cycle, it could be reborn as a normal person.

Using the Rune brought back memories of Kirrin, as well as feelings that I had thought buried and locked deep inside, things which my previous dream had dug up.

I felt a deep rage...and sadness.

Tears began to leak from the corners of my eyes, which I only noticed when my face felt wet.

I quickly looked over at Soea, looking into her sapphire eyes, which helped me to stabilize my emotions, I have no idea why.

Soea looked back at me, worried.

With a small flap of her wings, she darted over to me, one arm wrapping around me, she wiped the tears from my face with her free hand. For some reason, she didn't say anything, didn't ask any questions, she just held me.

Soea's actions made me feel much better, but it also made me remember Kirrin.

I don't know how long we stayed like this, but as soon as my mind came back under my control, I looked down at the prone form of the Salamander King.

Since it was too large for me to easily transport, I used Miniaturization Magic. Miniaturization Magic was one of the legal Transformation Magic systems, which meant that it could be taught to or learned by anyone, even students in the Magic Academies.

The reason that this Magic was legal was because, unlike most Transformation Magic, it required the target's consent to activate. This consent couldn't be forced or coerced from the target using any mind altering substances or spells.

It was rumoured that the creator of this branch of Magic was a summoned Hero who managed to ascend to godhood, but this couldn't be verified since the god was the predecessor of Arre, who was overthrown by the bastard.

This usurpation occurred when Arre was still a Priest of Light at the time.

However, even gods could make mistakes, and this spell had a loophole.

If a strong enough slavery Magic was used it could be considered valid consent, as long as the slavery Magic applied at the level of the Soul.

That kind of Magic was a forbidden Magic at the time the Hero was Human and when he created the Magic, so he didn't know of it.

So, of course, when I used this spell on the mind-controlled lizard, it worked.

I cast the spell and a deep green glow surrounded the massive Salamander King. After a few seconds, the glow faded and the Monster had shrunk to a size that could fit into my pocket.

Still holding Soea, I lowered myself to the floor and picked up the mini Salamander King and placed it into my pocket.

Gently releasing Soea and prying her off me, I did a quick search of the cavern, well, the parts that were above the lava.

There wasn't anything interesting.

Standing on the solid stone surface of the flash cooled lava, I flapped my wings and flew straight up into the air.

With a quiet noise, Soea followed along behind me.

Luckily the tunnel was wide, I could fly through it easily.

Soea followed along quietly behind me, I could only tell that she was there because of her aura and the feeling of her eyes on my back. She had been quiet for quite a while, which worried me. But the way she tried to comfort me, the way she followed along, it was comforting by itself.