Malrick shook his head lightly. "No, Eternity is my friend. So you should call me Uncle," he said gently.
"Uncle? But you look so young and energetic — not like Dad, who looked lifeless at first glance." The girl laughed lightly. She was Galan, daughter of the Devourer of Worlds. Hunger always skewed her first impressions; she judged beings by how many calories they contained, and how "quality" those calories were.
Amused, Malrick turned to the vast emptiness around them, then back at Galan. "Surprised? That's fine. Uncle Malrick will give you something delicious."
He stretched out his hand. With one gesture, a wisp of radiant light separated from his being and drifted toward Galan like a small sun.
Galan's eyes widened in shock, then longing. "No… the power of abstract entities is pure cosmic energy. That's not the kind of energy I need," she muttered uncertainly. But as she stared at the light, her resolve faltered.
"It's life energy — real life energy, far richer than that of an entire Earth." Her voice trembled between disbelief and desire.
Her gaze fixed on the light. Her elegant legs — clad in purple combat boots — trembled slightly as she stepped forward and back.
"Is this really for me? I'm really allowed to eat it? If I do, you'll lose all that energy?"
Her voice wavered. Small fists clenched, then relaxed.
"Of course," Malrick replied serenely. "Eat it. It's yours. It isn't cannibalism, and it doesn't violate your principle of refusing to devour inhabited planets."
Before Malrick finished, Galan could no longer restrain herself. With a swift motion, she plunged into the light, vanishing inside.
Inside the glow, muffled murmurs emerged. Then blissful sounds of satisfaction. Her form absorbed the light; she consumed it hungrily, cheek bulging, lips smacking.
"Nom, nom, delicious… so good…" came her voice from within the light.
As the light shrank, Galan re-emerged, body relaxed, suspended in space. She rubbed her belly and sighed with contentment.
"That was amazing! I haven't eaten anything that good since I was born. I'm not hungry anymore."
Galan looked at Malrick with the wide, bright eyes of someone reborn. "Thank you, Uncle Malrick — you're really something special."
Malrick offered a small smile. "Just call me Malrick. Now go. Find the Celestials and tell them where to take you to your father, the Devourer of Worlds."
Galan nodded with enthusiasm. "All right!"
She hesitated briefly, then asked, "Why can you give me life energy? Abstract entities like Eternity or Annihilation cannot do that."
Malrick shrugged lightly. "Because besides being an abstract entity, I'm also from Earth, and I'm a Dimensional Demon God."
Galan laughed softly. "Earthling! That explains it. I thought you just looked human."
She grew pensive, touching her chin. "So that light was energy drawn from this dimension. I realized this dimension had a Lord recently… so it was you."
Malrick nodded, silent for a moment. He did not go into detail — but it was true. His power now came in two parts: the pure cosmic conceptual energy of an abstract being, and the divine energy harvested via the Starry Sky system and compressed from the Dark Dimension. That divine energy he could convert into nourishing life-energy.
Galan's eyes sparkled as understanding dawned. "Then… can I come to find you again in the future?"
"Sure," Malrick said, giving a casual thumbs-up. "Even if you come with the Devourer of Worlds, that's fine."
Galan cheered, then added seriously: "I promise next time I'll bring you something good — as meal repayment."
She turned and vanished through a dimensional passage.
As the void settled, several of the indigenous dimensional beings knelt before Malrick, trembling.
"My Lord! So you truly are our Master!" They cried, voices shaky with reverence. "Master, thank you for chasing away that demon! He was terrifying!"
They had overheard that Galan had confronted what they perceived as a demon, misunderstood or cursed. With Galan gone, they believed Malrick had saved them.
Malrick recoiled slightly. "Let go of me, you snail. Stoneman, the pebbles you call friends, you're all too skinny."
He surveyed them carefully. They were pseudo-Skyfather level at most — nothing formidable.
"I won't interfere with your lives. You can stay where you are and live as before."
Then, with a gesture, he teleported the beings back to safe regions.
"I don't need them now. Their dimensional energy might be useful to Kamar-Taj mages later," he muttered quietly.
Malrick turned to resume his monitoring of the God Realm, waiting for its final transformation.
But just then, through the dimensional flow, came a new disturbance.
Galan reappeared — dragging a large, grotesque creature behind her.
Malrick frowned. "Why did you bring in a Hell Lord now?"
The monster was hulking — a hideous being with ram-like horns, a mutilated face on his belly, from whose mouth dripped foul, viscous fluid into the void.
"That's him, that's Satanish!" Galan giggled with twisted pride. "I ran into him outside. He was spying on your domain, trying to claim it. I dragged him here before he could escape."
She reminded Malrick that Satanish possessed teleportation via the Quantum Realm — a tricky escape artist. If she hadn't pursued him, he would have vanished.
Malrick studied the unconscious Hell Lord. Indeed, ordinary Sub-Cosmic Gods could knock out a Hell Lord under dank circumstances.
He observed the state, then touched his chin. "Dormammu must have sought allies among Hell Lords once he realized this dimension existed. Satanish was likely scouting — preparing to seize the world for himself."
He kicked the unconscious figure casually. "Hell Lords and Dimensional Demon Gods are all cunning and cruel by nature. This one probably thought he could swallow this dimension alone once you delivered him."
Galan looked anxious. "Then… did I just make things worse?"
She clenched fists, ready to fight.
Malrick shook his head. "No need. In fact, your actions helped. Without you, Satanish might never have drawn attention here — Dormammu's spies wouldn't know where to look."
Galan turned pale. "You asked them to find me? To come here?"
Malrick grinned. "I've just become a Dimensional Demon God. It's polite to greet my neighbors. And I think I owe Dormammu a little visit."
He floated above Satanish, arms crossed.
He added quietly, "If you like, I'll let them come. I want some company."
_____
Want to read the next chapter early? Get exclusive advanced chapters on my Patreon! Support the story and join here: patreon.com/Zphyr ✨