“Brael, come,” Corvin ordered as he stood up.
Brael obeyed and came closer as Corvin muttered something, and a small C-shaped mark resembling a crow’s head suddenly emerged on Brael’s palm before sinking into him.
“What was that, Master?” Brael gasped.
“How do you feel?” Corvin asked.
“I feel fin…” Brael paused as suddenly his power erupted, and even his body grew slightly taller. “I feel amazing. I am honored, Master!” He bowed, smiling gleefully.
“Good, go back. I’ll do the same for the rest later,” Corvin ordered, and Brael returned to the Demonic Plane.
“Lucian, you too. Nera, sorry, but this won’t work on you,” Corvin said regretfully.
“Father, I have grown so much already today. I feel so much stronger. I even got a new skill.” She smiled.
“What did you get?” Corvin gasped and checked a notification for Nera.
[Soul Beast: Nera – Guardian’s Wrath Lv. 2 (Active)]
When fighting anyone who would threaten your soul partner, unleash the wrath of the holy guardian and grow double in size while increasing your own power by 40%.
1% of damage dealt while in this form will heal your allies.
“Oh my. Nera, this is crazy!” Corvin gasped.
It looked like her bond with him had more benefits than he thought.
Then he turned to Lucian. “Did you get anything?”
“Not yet, but I did grow stronger as you did. We are linked as well, after all. Now, what did you have for me?” Lucian asked, purring as he jumped into Corvin’s lap.
Corvin smiled and placed the runic mark on Lucian as well.
Lucian’s body shone for a moment before he licked his lips. “That was tasty. I feel much, much better.”
Lucian yawned before jumping onto Corvin’s shoulder and falling asleep as he wrapped his tail around his neck.
Corvin then helped cremate the remains of the other five before using the runic mark on Graves, Ortho, and Iris as well, who still slept.
Liara and Mina, unfortunately, avoided them now, clearly thinking of all of them as demons.
“Graves, those two. I cannot let them talk about what they’ve seen here. I hope that you understand that,” Corvin said coldly.
“I understand. I have soul contracts in my backpack. Use these on them, please,” Graves begged.
“Alright.” Corvin grabbed the scrolls and walked over to the two women, who twitched as he approached.
“Look, I’m not a demon. I’m a little bit of everything, see?”
He released a bit of his stored divinity, making his left arm shine like a holy sun.
“So, you’re a monster?” Liara muttered.
“Whatever…” Corvin sighed. “Sign this stating that you won’t tell anyone what you saw here. Or I’ll just kill you both. Up to you. I’ve had enough of this bullshit.” Corvin suddenly turned serious.
“Fucking monster,” Mina spat, but signed the contract with blood.
Corvin then stared at Liara until she did the same.
“Good. If you behave, I’ll protect you two as well. If you continue like this, I’ll leave you here.”
He turned and walked away, leaving them muttering under their breath.
***
In the Empire’s camp outside the barrier, the mood was grim.
The captain and his lieutenants stared at the large mirror floating before them, which displayed the events unfolding within the barrier.
Suddenly, he grabbed a large pitcher of wine and smashed it against the ground.
“Who is that?! He single-handedly defeated the demons. Why was I not informed about such a member of their lousy guild?!” he roared, a vein pulsating across his forehead.
“We received no reports of anybody like that existing down in the south, or anywhere else in the Empire. A greatsword wielder who can cast spells, commands a large panther, a holy serpent, and an army of odd creatures that are probably demonic... I am speechless.”
One of the lieutenants spoke, a grey-haired man with a large scar across his forehead.
“Should we report this to the prince? The mission has failed...” one of the lieutenants asked before a fist landed squarely in the middle of his face.
A loud crunch echoed as blood erupted from the man's nose.
“Who failed? Me?! I dare you to report this!” Captain Linnus shouted, spitting on the crying man.
“The Eye will detonate, and after it does, we will clean up the survivors. I’m not failing another mission. It will be the end of my career.”
***
As he waited for the five hours to elapse as the system suggested, he sat alone atop the hill, observing what remained of the battlefield.
The flames had long since dissipated, and nothing remained but countless craters.
Some had been made by exploding corpses and souls, others by meteorites.
Damn those Runefiends, all those demons, and not a single corpse that can be sold. Only scattered pieces of flesh and organs, and even that is barely left.
What a fucked-up race they are, born to fight and die in explosions of fire and flesh. Corvin shook his head at the ridiculousness of the situation.
“Father, what is the state of your demon-hunting quest?” Nera slithered toward him with a conflicted gaze in her golden eyes.
[Progress: 1760/10000 Points]
“We are moving somewhat, though there is still a lot left to do. I’m sorry for worrying you,” Corvin sighed.
“I am used to it.” She coiled around him and rested her head atop his. “I missed this,” she added quietly.
“Some things never change, huh?” Corvin smiled warmly and added, “Except you are warm now.”
“Very funny...” she hissed, amused.
“What are you planning now?” she asked.
“I’ll steal that eye in the sky and bait the ones who set all this up. They need to pay for what they did, and we should start collecting souls for the Hydra Summoning as much as possible,” Corvin smirked coldly.
“Are you certain that’s a good idea?” Nera asked, worried.
“I am. With Crow’s Seal and this new skill, I can subdue anything. Well, almost...” he smiled.
“Alright then, they must be punished regardless,” Nera agreed coldly.
“Well, aren’t you two chummy?”
Lucian strolled over, his paws barely touching the ground as he bounced happily across it.
“What are you so happy about?” Nera hissed.
“How can I not be? We fought, killed a lot, I was helpful, and we even expanded our minions. Life is great!” Lucian said cheerfully.
“You did well, Lucian. Thank you.” Corvin pulled him into his lap and ruffled his small head.
“Hey! Be gentle,” Lucian complained.
“Hmph, fine. I admit that you helped. You’ve redeemed yourself a little bit,” Nera hissed.
“She is just sad that you hid things. She doesn’t hate you, you know,” Lucian interpreted.
“That’s not true, Father!” Nera complained.
“It’s fine, she is family now. I don’t mind paying for what I hid and for what my presence caused you,” Lucian said softly.
“They were all planning to strike me either way. It would’ve happened at some point. Only this way, we managed to get Vex and stole another General from Baal.” Corvin smiled evilly.
“How many has he got left?” he added with a chuckle.
“There are ten Generals left, each commanding countless legions,” Lucian explained.
“What about you? Did you have any?” Corvin interrupted greedily.
“Unfortunately, no. My position was that of an assassin, and my kin don’t really have much patience for leading others,” Lucian chuckled.
“Ah, well. By the way, when I send you back, where do you go? Won’t you get in trouble if you return to Baal’s territory?” Corvin asked.
This had been on his mind for a while.
“I go to my small realm. We Voidmaws can hide lands that we conquer and split them away from the main realm they are a part of. Baal cannot reach my home or my servants, and my lands are large enough to let us live freely with all the resources we would ever need. One of the perks of being as special as I am,” Lucian explained proudly.
“Your kind is really something, huh? Makes me feel special that you chose to join me instead of slicing me into pieces,” Corvin chuckled.
“Very funny, Father...” Nera hissed.
“Just a joke, Nera, calm down. He is family now, put it behind us, alright?” Corvin asked gently.
“I’ll think about it! Hmph.” She dipped into his shadow.
“Corvin, come here, please. Iris is waking up!” Graves suddenly shouted.
“I’m coming!” Corvin shouted and called out Brael.
“Master, you called?” Brael bowed.
“Your new child is waking. Let’s see what happens,” Corvin said, intrigued.
“Oooh, wonderful!” Brael clapped and rushed off to observe Iris.
***
Iris slowly blinked, her eyes now the same crimson color as her hair, which was even redder than before.
Her skin had turned pale white, while all her wounds and scars had healed completely.
She stood up, clenched her fists a few times, and smiled.
“I feel good. What are you all gawking at?!” she barked at Graves and the others staring at her.
“You’re fine? Do you feel any different?” Graves asked, worried.
“I’m fine. Who healed me? I doubt Liara has a spell that could heal such heavy wounds,” Iris questioned.
“He did.” Graves pointed at Brael, who had just landed nearby.
“And who are you?” Iris asked, confused.
“Hello, child. I’ve done the only thing I could at the moment. You are now one of my kin. It’s mostly good. The biggest downside is that you are now extremely weak to divine power. The rest should be much the same as before, though a slight hunger for blood might awaken depending on how well you adapt to the gift,” Brael explained.
“What does any of that mean?” Iris muttered, confused.
“It means that you are not human any longer. You are a demon now. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Your life shouldn’t change much, as Brael explained,” Corvin said as he approached slowly.
“A demon?” Iris gasped and fell to the ground. “Graves, will you kill me now?” she whispered, eyes wide with shock.
“Don’t be crazy. You know that I don’t care about my grandfather’s rules. As long as you are alive and the same old Iris, I have nothing to complain about. We have lost too many people today. I can only be grateful to see you alive and well before me.” Graves smiled and helped her up.
“Who did we lose?” Iris whispered heavily.
“Ortho, Mina, Liara, you, and I are the only survivors,” Graves said with a heavy sigh.
“I see…” Iris replied, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Are we going to have our vengeance?” she asked through the pain.
Before Graves could reply, Corvin cut in. “We are… Soon!”
“Good. I want in,” Iris replied coldly.
***
Corvin called Brael aside and whispered, “How is it possible that she kept her Icon? She is a demon now.”
“I don’t know, but I’ve never seen a demon with an Icon. It should be interesting,” Brael smiled as Corvin nodded.
Omega, any input on this?
[Icons are linked to the souls of this realm, Corvin. Her form changed, but her soul is the same.]
Omega explained and added:
[And no, it’s not the first time something like this has happened. People like Iris are rare but very strong. Make sure that she lives long enough to awaken her potential.]
Omega fell silent.
I guess the Church hunted them...
Corvin already knew the answer, the answer to most things that were out of the norm.
It was always the same.
The Holy Church hunted anything that broke the rules of the realm.
The rules of the Icons.