Tzitzik. Zzik.

The man's clothes are torn by his growing size.

The leather clothes were quite high quality for this era, but it was torn so easily. Hmm....

The man was now over three meters tall. He looked more like a beast or monster than a human.

His body was beginning to grow black hair. He was becoming more like a gorilla. Un.

"Whoa. Woohoo.... This power. This power. I haven't even digested all of it yet, and it's this much, huh. I can see why the monsters are so strong, they must be strong to have this kind of power...!"

The man begins to become less and less human. He grows horns and a tail, and his teeth grow larger.

When his transformation is complete, the man is reborn as something that can no longer be called human.

"Kk, kk. Kwowowowowowowow!!!"

The man roars like an animal, the sound alone cracking the walls and shattering the boxes of gems.

"Kk. Khhhh. Okay, okay. If I have this all to myself, I can be a god! Yes, Babel! Babel shall be my name! I will build a tower so high that it will reach the sky, and I will be a god of magic, with godlike powers, and I will wreak havoc on the humans who drove us Mages away!"

A man who has already lost his intellect because he's halfway given up on humans, spouting nonsense.

Poor Jiji, he's already lost it.

"Woohoo. Woohoo.... If I ever become a god, then I will take you as my companion, and you, too, will be a new god. I will give you the honor of being the queen of the gods, above and beyond the goddess of life who looks down arrogantly from on high and does nothing to help!"

Hmmm. Hmmm....

I guess I'll have to kill you then.

"You will become a new god, too! You and I! We will be new gods, and we will rule this world!"

"I can't take this bullshit anymore."

I rolled my eyes.

"How can you deny me the power to become a new god? How can you deny me the honor of accepting it?!"

"Because you're too stupid to recognize what's in front of you, and you think you're going to be a god."

"What...?"

I said with a smirk.

"Keep your eyes open and see. What you see before you."

"What?"

I let out a little of the power I'd been hiding. Power within this body. The magic. The presence. Even the faith I had gathered as a god of life.

I let it loose, and the top of the tower cracks and bursts open, scattering shards of the gemstone that filled the room in all directions.

"Kkkkkkkk!"

"What's wrong, you're staggering."

I take a step forward.

"The god you've always wanted to be is right in front of you. Now, open your eyes wide and take a good look. This is the God you've always wanted to be."

"Uhhh.... Kaaaah!!!"

The male being is crushed to the ground and becomes one with the ground.

You wanted to be a god, and you couldn't even stand this? Foolish, foolish, just foolish.

Koooow!

The floor cracks and begins to collapse. Hmm. Did you build your tower a bit flimsy? It's collapsing with just this.

Well, I was planning on taking it down anyway.

At least the humans in this tower are still innocent.

[Humans in the Tower of Babel, leave this tower now].

I emphasized my weak voice and spread it out.

A voice so strong that it could reach all the humans in Babel, let alone this tower.

Ah, the hero would hear it. Hmm.... Well, it doesn't really matter.

The Hero... may need to directly face what he's up against.

[The fool at the top of this tower sought to be a god, to reach the gods, and so he coveted and stole what belonged to the gods to satisfy his desires].

The floor collapses. It crumbles downward, and the floor beneath it cracks.

One by one, the pillars supporting the tower begin to crack and crumble.

The roar grows louder and louder.

[There will be nothing but destruction].

I can feel the Mages in the tower scurrying out. They're scattering like ants.

Poor creature. Poor thing, not knowing what he was doing.

Thanks to you. I'm getting a little tired of it.

"Argh! Aaaah!!!"

The man's body crumbling along with the floor transforms. Something sprouts from his wing bones.

Arms? No, although they have claws at the front, they are not arms.

The widely spread shape is wings. Objects resembling bat wings.

"Kr. Kreueu! Just wait! Just wait!!! You will be cursed!!!! Cursed!!!!!!!!"

How foolish. 

Foolish and foolish again.

Who is cursing whom? Has he been stained by darkness, unable to judge anything?

Therefore, I could no longer just wait and see.

I slowly clenched my fist and dropped it down.

At the same time.

Kwaaaaaang!

A massive beam of light physically struck the man trying to spread his wings and flee.

Not enough with that, the beam of light began crushing and collapsing the tower.

Overwhelmed by the immense force, the soaring tower collapsed.

The vain dream of the one who wanted to become a god also collapsed.

Everything will turn to ruins.

And this incident will be passed down as the wrath of God.

Thus, the Tower of Babel collapsed.

---------------------

"What on earth happened here?"

The Hero arrived at the remains of the tower, from which all people had fled.

"Ah, you came."

"It's not 'you came', what could have happened for that tall tower to be smashed like this?"

"Well, it's just the result of a foolish human dreaming a vain dream and coveting divine things."

At my words, the Hero's expression became one of incomprehension.

"Then what is that? That... A monster? But it has a human form."

"Didn't I say? A foolish human dreamed a vain dream and coveted divine things."

The Hero, understanding the situation a bit from my words, had his expression turn grim.

"A human...? That thing?"

"Yes. A human."

To be precise, it was once human.

"How can a human transform into something like a monster?"

"That's just how it is."

Until now, I had never seen a human transform like that.

Most monsters are not humanoid beings. The reason is probably... the will and personality that humans possess repels the shards of darkness.

But to intentionally absorb those shards of darkness and make them one's own...

Wait. If this guy could do this... could similar things happen elsewhere?

For example, elves or dwarves... Lizardmen? No, they don't have enough mana to handle in the first place.

Anyway... there's no way to prevent such incidents from happening again. Hmm.

I should pay a bit more attention.

"Krrrr..."

"Surprisingly, It's still alive."

"That's right. I swung with the intention to kill, but it's still standing."

Despite being struck hard enough for the tower remains to pile up, the man was still alive.

Probably the shards of darkness he absorbed into his body are keeping him from dying.

"So, want to stab that thing with your sword?"

"Me? That thing?"

"Yeah. Since it has gathered so many shards of darkness, we can't miss this opportunity."

Originally, I had planned to collect the shards of darkness and have them delivered. But since they've gathered into one body like this, I can't help it.

"Kwaahaak!!!"

"Oh, it got up."

"No, it's not 'it got up'! Why are you so calm about this?!"

"Well, our Hero is here, so there's no need to worry, is there?"

I gave a wry smile, and the Hero's expression became one of exasperation.

"No, you can't just suddenly push this onto me!"

The battered, blackened man gets up and charges at me. However, his charge is deflected by the Hero's sword.

"I swung with the intent to kill, yet you endured this?!"

"Kwaaah!!!"

"It seems his sanity has completely evaporated. Consumed by the massive shards of darkness."

"This is no time to calmly observe!!!"

The Hero cries out. Ugh, tsk. For someone who should have gained a lot of experience, why is he making such a fuss?

"It's no different from a monster, just in human form."

"But it was human once!"

"So what? It abandoned being human through its foolish choice. Hmm... Since it's no longer human, I should call it something else."

"Something else...?"

After a moment's thought, I spoke,

"That being should be called a Demon from now on."

"A Demon...?"

"Originally possessing intelligence, but consumed by darkness and fallen into depravity. The name Demon would be fitting."

"Kwaahaak!!!"

How noisy.

I flicked my finger lightly, and mana in the shape of swords pierced the man's limbs and wings, pinning him to the ground.

Like an insect being pinned for display. The blackened man, pinned to the ground, unable to move.

Hmm. Since this is the first case of its kind, I should investigate it in detail.

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T/N: I've set the price for all the next chapters to 1 cookie from 2 cookies, offering a 50% discount. Unlock all now!