Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Mimir shuddered as Adam's crevices erupted with scarlet plasma. The throat bulged, the scales releasing a blinding light.

"These powers? All but one." His voice cracked, and his pale yellow eyes trembled as he recognised the passives fueling them amidst the vapor rising everywhere. But he quickly dismissed it. He'd really die if Adam struck him with those.
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"Wait! It's supposed to hurt! I—I didn't think..."

However, the rage fueling the essence didn't recede. Instead, he saw Adam's maw split, plasma swirling within like a scalding sea.

Sweat covered Mimir's face as the temperature became unbearable. He had to calm Adam down and fast.

"You collected the remnants in the abyss, right?" Mimir blurted, his voice strained. "Do you know who they belonged to? I have the answer! Just listen!"

Noticing Adam's arm twitch and curiosity sparkling in his eye, Mimir's desperate voice echoed.

"The Ember of Lingering represents the slow, enduring nature of sloth. It belonged to Baal Peor before he fell from grace and changed his name to..."

He saw Adam's maw slightly close down as if to invite him to continue. It was working!

"To Belphegor. Like the others, he discarded his body to become a devil! Each remnant represents their sins. The flame of avarice that consumes endlessly is Ploutiel's, who transformed into Mammon's greed. Lilû's flame, who was reborn as Lilith, symbolises the enticing and consuming nature of lust through the allure of infernal heat."

Adam shuddered. These names... Oh shit... They weren't random devils. His jaw snapped shut, the plasma dissolving as an icy shiver ran down his spine.

Noting the reaction, Mimir continued.

"The devouring blaze is the insatiable appetite of gluttony, embodied in flames that consume all indiscriminately. It's Ba'al Zevuv, or Beelzebub's, remnant. As for the last two..."

He gasped, horror and shock distorting his features more than when Odin reanimated his severed head.

"The destructive fury of wrath mirrored in the flame's volatile and explosive nature. Helel's power... who became Lucifer."

Adam's eye rolled, his mind reeling in shock. What the hell was happening?! So the last two were...

"The envious nature of Leviathan, the mother of the ocean, shown in flames that covet and imitate. I don't know how you defeated that one's eldritch, friend."

Mimir added, admiration mixing with his shocked tone before his face grew somber and his voice hardened. "The last one..."

'N-No...' Adam's mind almost crumbled in fear. 'Don't say it. I already guessed.' Yet, his throat released no sounds.

"The Crown of Flames, the overwhelming superiority of pride, reflected in a flame that reigns supreme over others. The power of... Satan!"

Adam spat the last brazier out, horrified by who it had belonged to. As it clanged on the ground heavily, his thoughts thundered.

'Will they hunt me down after I took their remnants? Shit. So, the last one I didn't get was Satan's! It makes so much sense now that I think about it. Helel told me himself: an aberration born from fire and chaos who didn't need to adapt to the abyss. Of course, he wouldn't need to when he was a devil from the beginning! And the abyss' seven layers... They were the seven floors of hell!'

Realisations crashed into his mind with the strength of tsunamis as he forgot about the pain and Mimir for a second.

However, Mimir was anything but silent when he saw the brazier.

"By my head! You brought it out? Hahaha!" Mimir roared in laughter before he continued. "Excellent! It refuses any flame unrelated to the seven devils, but you have six! You can easily craft it into an infernal weapon."

A smug grin broadened on his lips as he observed Adam's left blue eye.

"How is your new eye and the knowledge you inherited, by the way?"

Adam blinked a few times, finally realising dancing runes filled his blind spot. Better, he understood how they tied to the world's natural forces and felt he could use them.

Scenes of dwarves hammering molten metals, engraving runs on their frames with surgical precision, and refining divine materials into weapons and armors swirled in his mind.

But more importantly, the images of Odin shapeshifting into ravens, snakes, or humans made him jump on his feet with a broad grin.

Following the method, his essence roared in his veins as he draped himself with natural runes.

His body brightened, the bones cracking and scales receding as his size lowered. His maw moved back into a sharp jaw, and his hind paws straightened into two legs as he recovered his previous looks with a thunderous laugh.

"Hahaha! At least you didn't lie, Mimir. But next time, warn me about the side effects before."

His eyes locked onto the brazier, his delight fading to give way to a somber expression.

"Those devils are sealed, right? At least Satan is."

He'd be a fool not to realise by now that the fragment had belonged to him with all the accusations about being shameful and the unbound rage that had surged from it.

Mimir shook his head. "They escaped the abyss four billion years ago. They established the demon realm and raised an army by sharing a part of their powers with nine demon kings. Then, they disappeared. Even I don't know what they are up to, and if I don't, no one but them does."

Adam exhaled sharply, a little relieved, annoyed about not getting the seventh remnant, and worried about these insidious bastards. Still, he understood a lot now; why the demon kings share the purgatory's original flame, its infernal nature, and why they never waged war against one another for control. The devils backed them up and probably used them to instigate chaos in the gods' realms.

'I need more strength.' His fists tightened, the knuckles white. 'I have no chance against them as I stand, but I'll soon flip the board on everything in creation.'

As a steely glint flashed in his eyes, Mimir spoke again.

"I like your looks, and I know you wish nothing but to leave now. But why don't we work on this brazier? I'm sure we can create something on Gungnir's level together."

Adam tucked his fingers around his chin, a pensive frown creasing his brows as he remembered the plasma falchion he had used to kill Coyle.

"Can we make a pommel that condenses my essence into a weapon?"

Mimir chuckled. "Of course. It's designed to hold devils' powers, so it'll never melt after you shape it with your essence, and the energy will never disperse because of outside sources. In fact, it'll be your only way to use your flames if you ever meet Satan in person. The best part? You're lucky it was inactive for eons."

Adam's eyes narrowed in focus as he approached it. The crown of flames reigned supreme over others—that was the exact wording. So, wouldn't he lose control over his without means to preserve them?

"Let's do it, Mimir. I'll take you with me to find Hrimgar when we're done."

Mimir nodded. "Sure. I know where this old jotun lives. Count on me to help you, brother."

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AN: Sorry for the delay. I went to see my father at the hospital. ><