With my foundation in energy manipulation complete, I began forging spells that were unique to me. Each one is sharpened by experience and refined through experimentation.
From the fusion of darkness energy and nether energy, I crafted:
Dark spear — a fast-casting, high-penetration projectile, sharp enough to pierce barriers.
Dark bullet — a rapid-fire technique, good for overwhelming enemies in motion.
Black haze — a thick visual obstruction, swallowing light, blinding the field, and dulling sensory perception.
Then I fused my sleep domain with Dark and nether energy, and from that came:
Dream void — a silent spell that pulls the opponent into a deep slumber, dragging their mind into a prison of nightmares, disorienting their sense of time and self.
My most powerful spell, but it has low accuracy because its projection speed is quite low, which can be easily evaded.
From Imprisonment divinity and dark and nether energy, I created:
Shadow bind — black chains that rise from the user's own shadow or from the victim's, locking movement temporarily, especially effective in close quarters.
With a combination of nether and arcane energy, I created:
Netherflame blitz — a high-impact projectile that detonates on contact, releasing a sticky black-blue flame that latches onto enemies and spreads across the battlefield, clinging to spirit and flesh alike.
Netherwater spear — a compressed, spiralling blast of corrupted water, which pierces armour, corroding from within, leaving wounds that do not close.
And from Mineral Divinity, I shaped one of my most brutal techniques:
Metal surge — sharp, towering spears of black metal erupt from the ground at my command, either impaling multiple enemies or reshaping the terrain to my advantage.
I tried necromancy like the fictional novels and comics described, but to my surprise, it was quite weak compared to my own spells.
And converted a dead wolf into an undead one. But after becoming undead, it lost half of its strength and their sanity. So, I only studied it as a side course perhaps in the future, it might be useful.
Now, I needed to test my spells.
I came to the western side of the Underworld. Here, volcanoes erupted continuously, lava rivers flowed like molten veins, and clouds of ash covered the sky in eternal dusk.
According to Hecate, a goat demon lived here known as Az cruel and furious by nature, which is quite perfect target for my test.
Just beside Tartarus, there was a cave. I walked in.
On the path, remnants of skeletons and old bones occasionally appeared, scattered like forgotten warnings.
When I reached the end of the cave, I found a black demon with a large goat head, twisted horns, and red eyes. He floated in mid-air, sitting in a lotus position, chanting spells in an unknown, guttural language.
On the ground, red blood had been used to draw massive circles covered with unfamiliar symbols, glowing faintly with red radiance, resonating with Az's chant.
As I stepped into the hall, he suddenly opened his eyes and smiled eerily.
"Sacrifice for Az comes on its own."
"Az loves it. Heeeheee!"
I didn't waste time with trash talk it only gives the enemy time to prepare. Instead, I immediately created a dozen dark spears and hurled them toward him.
But he countered them with a barrage of red bolt balls, exploding mid-air.
"You can't defeat Az. Az is powerful!"
He snapped his fingers.
"Az's servants! Catch the sacrificial lamb!"
From the darkness, small imps began crawling forth one, then two, and soon they numbered in the thousands.
I sighed and smiled.
"Hh… I really wanted to test this spell. Now you've given me the opportunity. Thank you."
I placed my hand on the ground and chanted 'Metal Surge.'
The imps looked confused for a moment then charged again at me with feral shrieks, claws bared, teeth glinting, eager to rip and tear.
But I didn't move. I just watched.
Their claws came inches from my face.
And then the earth trembled.
Suddenly, massive metal lances surged from the ground, piercing every imp in an instant and one of them struck Az himself.
I let out a long sigh.
"For a moment, even I thought my spell failed… Acting cool and powerful is really too risky."
As I walked toward Az's body, pierced and unmoving, I felt disappointed. I had wanted to test my other spells but he died too quickly.
I turned and began to leave the cave.
But then… a long, eerie laugh echoed behind me.
"Heee!! Did you really think I was dead? Hahaha! Az fooled the lamb!"
I stopped.
Az stood again wounded, but alive. Somehow.
He looked around and found is entire imp army was dead, their bodies still impaled by metal lances.
His red eyes flared with fury.
"You!! You killed Az's servants!"
"Az is angry! Very, very angry!!"
With both hands, he conjured a massive red bolt ball and hurled it toward me.
I was surprised I had sensed his death earlier. So how was he still alive?
'That's… not possible. I felt his life vanish. Then how…?'
'Tch. First, let's deal with this attack.'
I raised my hand and conjured my next spell a blazing sphere of blue flame, colder than ice, known as the Netherflame Blitz. It wasn't just fire it stick to surface untill nothing is left to burn.
The blue flame collided with the red bolt, overwhelming and devouring it, before slamming into Az's body.
He screamed.
The flame didn't just burn, it clung to him.
"Ahhhhhh! What is this flame!? It sticks to me!"
In a panic, Az tried to remove the blue fire with his hands but it clung to his arms too, spreading faster.
Within moments, the cursed flame devoured him whole. His body turned to ash, his scream fading into silence.
I closed my eyes and confirmed it.
He's truly dead this time.
With that, I turned to leave the cave.
But once again, that familiar, eerie laughter echoed.
"Huh… not again."