Demon Lord Shapeshifting System

"Defeat the bad guy, get the girl. The classic hero's end."

Legion's voice snapped Harker out of this scene. His body was in the middle of the fight, exchanging blows with this creature that was 'born' from him. But his mind was traveling to other places.

"For a hero to be worth rooting for, he needs a villain to fight back. And even if the roles were switched, it's all the same. You cannot exist without fighting some 'other', some force that you choose to be the 'bad' one. Even the most villainous heroes do this all the time and justify their actions by showing that their enemies 'deserve it'. To bring 'justice'."

Harker bit the snake's tail off, but it just continued monologuing. It was as if it had long given up in this fight where the victor was already clear. Where it was to be expected.

"This world is nothing but a stage. There are roles to play. Some get to choose, so do not. Some created the stage itself, and some did not even realize that they were given these roles. And even if they did…. What's the point? There is no escape, there is no world outside that stage besides the….."

Harker already expected the word.

"Audience."

As his words continue to ring in his ears while he feeds on him, the system warnings also pop up.

[Warning! Ability Ascension is underway! Qi overflow is possible, please avoid absorbing more qi!]

[Warning! Ability Ascension is underway! Qi overflow is possible, please avoid absorbing more qi!]

[Warning! Ability Ascension is underway! Qi overflow is possible, please avoid absorbing more qi!]

Again and again, like warning bells in his head. But Harker did not stop.

He needs to stop this bastard from saying any more confusing nonsense. He needed to eat him all up before his black worms tried to get inside others. He needed to get the Shards, fight evil, protect his loved ones. Mina was waiting for him. Joan—

"And certain audiences prefer certain things over others. But it's all the same in the end. Defeat the enemy, gain a reward. Most of the time, that reward is a woman. A lover that is acceptable, that is desirable to the watchers."

Legion sighed. "Trouble ensues. The hero does not want to leave the world he knows and venture into the unknown, yet has to solve this trouble anyway. He crosses into the unknown and meets others in his path. And then, the battle. The battle leaves scars that the hero bears, turning him into a new man. He gets his reward, and the unknown world becomes known. So it repeats all over again."

Harker could feel power increasingly surging through him. But it was too much, as if he was about to explode.

As his power increases, so too does the pain and the hunger. He could smell the great flesh of the humans around him. He must eat them next, he must feed and feed…

"The hero is the greediest character in the story. He continues to seek out valuable rewards in his journey, and he's never satisfied. Because, that is how life goes on. Life could only go on with a purpose. Without purpose, the journey ends after the scars in the battle. Or maybe during the battle itself."

Legion laughed as if he remembered a funny joke in his head that no one would understand. "Imagine how disappointing it would be for the audience if the hero and the villain died together, just like that. No resolution, just a truce. The tension rises so high and the only 'reward' to receive was the end that is Death."

Harker ate and ate, yet there was still an emptiness. No matter what he eats, that emptiness has set itself into his very being.

So he stopped for a while. His eyes were pure white and blind, and he was covered in blood. His jaws hurt and yet they continue to mechanically move, churning and churning flesh between his molars.

It was so….. tiresome. That was the word he was looking for.

He wished he really would just explode into nothing at this moment. He kept on pushing this large boulder uphill, only to have it falling all over again. He wants it to stop, it doesn't matter if he was happy in the end or if he saved everyone.

The burden itself was adding to the desire to let it all go. Carrying one's own life was hard enough, how could he possibly carry the others' as well?

No resolution, an utter disappointment...

Legion turned to Harker. "We can't let that happen now, can we? We must make a clear victory in the end, Father. The audience does not like to be watched, they prefer to keep watching. You can't put a mirror to their face and expect them to enjoy the show. They came here to escape from themselves, to be the hero and achieve their desires vicariously through him. "

Legion was almost nothing but a talking head now, literally on the palm of Harker's hands.

"You must keep going. Finish it. And start a new journey all over again. Whether you like it or not, just keep going. Whether you have satisfied the watchers or not. Just. Keep. Going."

Harker looked at the head. Blank's head.

His mind was barely thinking or functioning right now. Only the constant desire to eat remained. And yet he had the urge to—

No. He shouldn't.

And so he ate the head. In one bite, giving himself no time to reconsider or feel any sense of remorse.

It was over. The peril was taken away, he has won against the enemy.

Then, his body started to feel like it was being electrified. Not electrified, it felt like his entire being was being pulled apart down to the atomic level and being rebuilt again. Cells come apart, they rejoin, and they get destroyed again.

It wasn't the pain that made the experience unbearable. It was the repetition, like there was no end to it. Over and over and over. Time stretches its long limbs and goes on until its breaking point.

When will that breaking point come? Harker wondered. When will he finally break apart…..

But he saw someone approaching him. That someone was walking slowly, as if uncertain whether to move close. But she did anyway.

And she screamed and screamed. She also got infected by this electrocution. She tried to carry it with him. Such a noble deed….

Harker caressed her lovely head. He smiled, thinking only one word to himself:

"Finally."

The light has arrived. He had been following this shining star for so long, and finally reached its location. A question that torments his mind, and he yells 'Eureka'!

He had the urge, and he did it.

His lips met hers, as the two of them shared this death and rebirth. And once they were born again...

They must simply keep going, pushing boulders uphill.