It stopped. A cool relief filled your head as the massive headache you just experienced stopped.
You looked around your apartment, everything was there, nothing unusual. What had caused that headache? You knew it wasn't a regular migraine at all. It felt painful, as if a strange force was pushing onto your mind, trying to get in. But that was crazy wasn't it? You doubt there's anyone alive in the world who could read minds. Sure, you could occasionally get inklings of what someone is thinking moments before you kill them but, it's not like that's real telepathy.
Perhaps you had eaten too many souls at once? Your belly did feel particularly full. Maybe you just couldn't handle the energy of consuming so many evil souls at once.
You flick your paw, and once again become visible to the world once more, your naked fitted body out for anyone to see. You were muscled and powerful, and when looking at your groin, amazing when in bed.
You go into your bed room and lay down, you were quite tired from the feast you just had, so laying on your soft velvet bed, you sleep.
You do have a dream. Not just any dream though. You opened your eyes and saw nothing but void, not unlike when you first transformed into a demon. You looked around and realized you were in your demon fox form but different... your tail was longer and more lizard like, spikes and spines growing out of it like a dragon. You reached behind your back and felt two large leathery wings come out from your body, they were huge! Possibly a seven foot wingspan.
You felt more powerful too. Not just physically, but magically too. You felt dark energy flow through your veins, you wanted to roar as it seemed to increase as well. You could probably destroy a plant if you wanted with a single snap.
"You have done well master." A hollow voice says. You look around, but you could still only see black void.
"Your potential to rule us increases every day, but soon you will meet enemies, powerful ones. They each have their own powers, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and most importantly they are like you." the voice continues, filling you with anticipation.
If they really were powerful then you wanted to meet them. While a lucky bullet could still possibly kill you, you knew you were much more powerful than the police or even the CSI. How do you fight something that could turn invisible, turn into other people, throw fireballs, is more physically fit than even the most prestigious Olympic Atheletes, and could raise a army of demonic hellhounds within minutes?
"In order to both fight them and win, you must first learn more ways to gain power. So far you have gone down the path of Wrath, killing others and eating their souls. But there are more ways to gain power, ways that are more... subtle and more fit for long term plans." the voice continues.
"For each of the nine rings of hell, there exists a sin and it's own variety of demons. Wrath, envy, greed, sloth, gluttony, lust, pride, karma, and betrayal. Demons that emerge from one of those rings of hell could only gain power specific to that sin. For example, a wrath demon could only gain powerful from consuming souls. You are different. You are infused with the power of all nine rings, possibly even the rings that have not been created yet as well."
Interesting, you always figured that you could only advance in power by eating souls, but now, you now know that other ways exist as well.
"I will now list the nine ways to achieve power." The voice says.
Wrath: the most straightforward way. By murdering and consuming the soul of a mortal with a tainted soul you can gradually gain power. However this method tends to draw the attention of angels and the mortal police force more easily than other methods.
Envy: this method is by gaining the attention of others. When a demon of Envy creates a cult around itself, it's followers worship could lead to long term power if done correctly.
Greed: This is considered the safest way to gain power. By consuming items of intense value like gold, gems, vauleable ores or artifacts you can gain incredible amounts of power. However the items of worth cannot be magically created and must be found naturally in the world, be it in the mortal world or others. However you could potentially bribe humans with magically made money to acquire their gold more easily.
Sloth: true to its name is the reason why myths of creatures like the boogeyman exist. A sloth demon gains power from haunting the dreams of humans. Creating and giving them nightmares fills them with dread, and with that dread comes power.
Gluttony: This sin gains power from consuming live human corpses whole. The more you consume the more you gain power. However like wrath, angels dislike this way more than that of the other sins.
Lust: While not the most effective way of gaining power, it is the most pleasureable. By seducing and having sexual affairs with mortals, not only do you transform them into a loyal demon of lust, you also gain power from it. The more you corrupt, the more power you gain.
Pride: This is potentially the most dangerous of all other sins. By fighting and killing others with intense magically power, you can gain massive amounts of power in a short amount of time. Many times there have been when a weak demon of Pride used his wit to trick a powerful demon or angel into its death, consuiming all of its magically power.
Karma: By giving bad karma to those you deem fit, you slowly gain power. Making a person's loved one die, making them trip over a stone, or even giving them cancer gives you power.
Betrayal: to break a promise, not just any promise, but an oath. A oath one should respect and follow all of their lives, when one is broken, the demons of Betrayal come out to play. Simply torture them. Make them feel grief and dread and power will come to you.
These nine ways all have their pros and cons. Perhaps you will specialize in a specific sin or two, or maybe you will simply channel the power of all nine sins.
However many hours have passed into the mortal world now. Soon you will awaken. Before you do, you will learn two things.
First off, the reason why you were given this demonic power was not for you to wreck havoc upon the world. You are a purifier. These nine ways of gaining power will only work on those with evil souls. You can never hurt those pure of heart, you must only weed out the evil in hopes of a better world.
Also, if you were to specialize in a single sin, then you will find more changes to your body depending on the sin. If you were to specialize within Lust, you may find your body to become more sexual and handsome, or if you were to continue using Wrath, you may grow sharper claws or spikes may grow out of your body.
That is all my master. Be wary of those with power, but keep in mind that no matter how powerful you may become, mortals pure of heart can still wound you. Be it with a gun, dagger, or fist.
You feel the void close around you as the voice disappears, you close your eyes and prepare to awaken eventually.
Your eyes open again, and you find yourself in your bed back in your apartment. Your body was normal, or Atleast as normal as it can get. You sit up straight on your bed and reflect on your dream. You knew it was real, so now comes the choice. What sin would you want to specialize in? Or perhaps you simply just want to become a jack of all trades?
As you thought, you heard a knock on the door. Snapping your fingers, Magic washes over you transforming you into your clothes human form.
You walk over to the door and opening it you see...