The Regressed NoBody

I felt like my brain had been struck by a charge of static as my lungs heaved to pull in air, my nerves and senses unsteady as I tried to level my footing, legs quivering, and taking a moment to correct my stance. My vision suddenly blurred as the colours from in front of me dimmed as a surge of pain enveloped my entire body, clawing up from my back like lightning had coursed through me, striking each and every cell and muscle as a spasm rushed in.

My sword dug into the ground, causing a distortion to occur, my grip loosening as I whipped my head and brushed my hair to the side as beads of sweats rolled down the sides of my face.

My gaze tore from the handle of my sword and glared at the hordes of mana beasts, standing firm around me like a mountain, surrounding me, their eyes filled with murderous and hostile intent as their hissing and low growls filled the air, making a cacophony of death and fear.

I felt my face grimace as their firm steps covered the short distance.

But I kept my demeanour steady, not giving into the momentary panic, as I looked up at the sky, filled with colours to make a resemblance to the real thing, but despite the flawless attempts on creating something akin to the genuine imitation of a sky, as long as I was conscious of the real facts, which separated reality from virtuality, it looked nothing but a flawless ceiling of the inside of a cage.

The harder I focused, I saw ripples of light formed in the sky, like on a reflective surface of water with colours running along to give it a representation, mimicking the warmth and brilliance provided on a sunny afternoon with a soft cold breeze which soothed the soul, but in my case I was stuck, warding off hordes of beasts to test myself and push my limits.

My gaze flocked from the asunder particles of lights which swayed in the air in the form of clusters, as I quickly focused my attention over a translucent panel hovering high in the air, displaying a set of time—the time I’d spent here.

Just as my eyes followed the panel, as each second ticked by like an eternity, adding more to my frustration and annoyance—the time almost equivalent to two days—, my ripped protective suit fluttered in the presence of a passing breeze as the beasts finally lunged at me from all directions, their advancement shaking the ground causing a tremor to run.

With a surge of resilience I grunted and brought my sword forward, mana burst out me as I wrapped the mana around the blade as it began to blaze with fiery red flames which rose high and hungrily lurched on to the dried grass under my feet.

I took a firm hold of my sword and slashed on the first mana beast I landed my sight on. This process continued on for another ten minutes as I effortlessly killed one beast after the other. But their amount was endless.

I twisted my body, mana reinforcing each movement as I struck down beast after beast, with each attack, my hunger for killing the next surged, to surpass my limits and produce more ample results from last time.

Only the strong desire for growing more stronger shrouded my mind like a veil as everything else was expelled out, as I drowned myself in the carnage, manipulating each movement with precision and fluidly.

But as the beasts met their demise by my hands, my stamina began depleting faster than I could recover it. And since I’d been continuously fighting for almost two days, I didn’t have time to rest, or recover from the fatigue of my battle from the first day.

My frustration grew to complete ire as I peered at the panel afloat in the air through the corner of my eyes. The warmth of the fire spreading through the barren land, caught in the breeze, and swathed the air.

But through that moment of distraction, caused by my frustration and a sharp headache which gnawed away at my mind as if it could burst like a balloon, a wolf-like mana beast hurled in the air, its shadow cast over me as its side collided against me, I tried to push back and fight against the force but the impact was too sudden and strong that I couldn’t do anything, as I hurtled backward, crashing into the hard ground with a low moan as my body numbed from rolling as the surge of pain rushed in, hurting worse than a mole-cricket's stinger.

Just as I could steady my body and retaliate against the beasts surrounding me, another wolf beast agilely tore through the enormous ranks, having masked its presence perfectly until the very last moment, under the presences of the several others as its sharp teeth brandished like daggers.

From the side, a hawk-like beast lurched in my direction, its sharp screech filled my ears, making a shiver to ran through my body as my eyes grew heavy from fatigue and tiredness, as the heavy fluttering of its wings shook the air and made a gust of wind to simmer around me as it tried to restrain my movements.

I quickly took action, the mana inside me blazed as it rushed through my channels and manifested, flames lurching around my arms, caught on to the blade of my sword as the fierce blazing commotion surged and burned anything around them, but I realized shortly after that I'd overexerted my body and reserves as I barely severed the head of the avion-like beast, suppressing and pushing the desperate impulses of my body to drop down on the ground. The mana beast’s feathers flowing in the air and caught in the passing breeze as they dematerialized in front of me from thin air, like an illusion being undone, a curtain being ripped as a blinding streak of light merged where the remnants of the beast laid.

I tried to pivot and evade the wolf beast’s assault, but the mental fatigue had caught up to me as my legs gave in at the last moment and buckled, arms loosening, vision drained and muscles spasming, as the wolf beast’s claw slashed down at my chest, ripping open a grotesques wound as the mind wrenching pain which I was looking forward to and preparing myself for never arrived, and instead of the display of blood which should’ve been visible, all I saw was streaks of light in the shape of broken glass, leaving my body as my mind stirred from the pain and I finally fell to the ground with a groan and half taken breaths caught in my lungs, grimacing as the beasts lunged at me, giving me no time to prepare.

Before I was able to make a move and counterattack on his assault, everything around me came to a sudden halt as the sky and everything around me—the mana beasts, the scenery or even the broken particles of light which had left my body—everything had came to a standstill around me as the sky took a dark shade of crimson and a low beeping akin to an alarm blaring, as the emergency mechanism had activated itself.

The only reason it’d done so now was because my mental health had reached the limits of using the machine.

I kept sat on the ground, taking heavy breath as I felt my mind growing calm as the cobwebs cleared up, I felt a sharp headache clawing away at my head now.

Soon a streak of light ran past my eyes—the vertigo of the shift making me nauseous—, as everything around me had vanished into a blurred conflagration of bright light which dissolved everything into nothingness as I stirred awake from my half-conscious state of cognition.

I took a deep breath as I slowly removed the head-gear from atop my head and placed it over my lap as I relaxed into the comfort of the soft and fluffy chair of the time-acceleration machine's cockpit.

Placing my arm over my face to cover my eyes to block the low light illuminating the inside of the small hall, I took a few minutes to clam myself from the vertigo of the headache after abusing the use of the device.

But each passing second made my frustration to grow more wildly, burn amply inside me, like someone had just struck me continuously in my gut as I forcefully pushed the bile down my throat as my inside churned, making me frown.

After a good five minutes, I relaxed my body, calming my mind as my fingers traced through the panels inside the time-acceleration device, feeling the cool and hard surface, trying to desperately distract my mind from the pain and failure of fending off the hordes of mana beasts in the virtual simulation, as I rapped my fingers over the steel panel, the sound making a rasp melody which didn’t help clam my strained senses, but still assisted in the process of my thoughts from one to next as I soon ejected from the inside.

I firmed my grip and steadily took a hold of my wobbling feet as I stood, my feet touched the cold floor as I felt like I could collapse around now as my skin had taken a paler shade.

Slowly my eyes followed to where a panel was attached to the side of the machine, looking with squinted eyes at the screen on the side, displaying a set of results over my performance, with my overall success rate, failure, how many mana beasts I’d slain and the condition of my body, plus a through list of instructions on the mistakes I'd made and things I could improve on.

“Its worse than before,” I spat with gritted teeth, my lips turning to a sneer as my brows furrowed, I furled my hand into a fist as I brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear as sweat dripped my body together with the growing frustration which agitated me like an open wound being poked by a sharp knife.

After carefully reading through the accurate and precise information provided by the machine on my overall performance which had several points mentioned on things I could improve on in the future or things which I lacked or were some insight on battle which would be better to incorporate in my fighting style to better my movements and chances of victory. I sighed, which somewhat helped in relieving the growing pain and frustration from my body.

Despite the effort I’d put in when fighting all those beasts in that virtual simulation, I guess my mental fatigue wasn’t properly healed, before I tried using the device again.

I placed my hand over the sturdy surface of the huge device as I kept looking keenly at the panel for a few more minutes, my eyes were blankly fixed over the screen which now displayed a warning sign which read as:

【Warning】

『The Host has excessively relied on the practicality of the virtual simulation provided by the time-acceleration machine.』

Soon a series of images and stats which described my body’s condition and the backlash I’d received from the consistent use of the time-acceleration device for two days in a row appeared and marked by a red, yellow and purple colour depending on the severity of the fatigue or strain which the device had placed over me. Red the highest and purple the lowest.

And more or less, I could perfectly agree with the spot of red which completely enveloped my head, as I clearly felt the headache pinching my brows and temples.

『It is strongly recommended that the device is to not be utilized for at least a week to allow for proper rest and recuperation of the Host’s body. Failure to adhere to this advice may result in a deterioration of the Host's mental well-being, so physical, potentially leading to severe panic attacks on the regular injection of the neuroenhancium cognoaccelerine drug. Prolonged and continuous use of the device could escalate the risk of permanent brain failure or leading to even death.』

『Keep in mind, the time-acceleration device is to be utilized only twice a week with an interval of two or more days in between to keep the Host’s mind stable and healthy.』

The advice the device provided was only right after my two day consistent use of it.

The manufacturing of this device was revolutionary for mankind as it brought forth quite a lot of changes in our ability to fight and do personalised training in a virtual based simulation where a person couldn’t die despite fighting to their heart’s content.

And all of that was possible because of the ground-breaking discovery of a mineral which was afterwards named the ‘Neuroenhancium Cognoaccelerine drug’ after properly refined and experimented on. The formula that was found was quite outstanding and the property of the drug was simple, yet extreme in its use. It heightened the human senses and observational perception, but also fastened the cognitive augmentation and thinking process of the human brain several folds, and its perfect use was only reached when it was coupled with the time-acceleration device.

I slowly recalled the articles I’d read over this innovative invention, which was made by a team of scholars and scientists at work several years ago.

I scrutinised the machine with keen eyes as I looked around the inside of the cockpit. This device harnesses the power of mana with several mana cores embedded inside its circuit board as a medium for it to work instead of electricity. The machine utilises newly discovered minerals to enhance the natural cognitive augmentation of the human mind, previously unimaginable.

And the creation of this machine was only possible thanks to the presence of mana which has catalysed remarkable scientific advancements among humans in the years to come.

At the heart of this innovation lies the neuroenhancium cognoaccelerine, a revolutionary chemical compound synthesized from the interaction of mana and these newfound minerals on earth after the events of the first cataclysm.

And that chemical compound was administered via a specialized headgear within the cockpit-based machine, where cognoaccelerine swiftly enhanced the cognitive faculties of the user's brain. This heightened mental acuity was essential for navigating through the time-accelerator’s virtual simulation.

Upon activation, the time-accelerator immerses the user's conscious mind into a meticulously crafted virtual environment, akin to a lucid dream but with unparalleled clarity and control. Within this simulated reality, users possess the ability to interact with their surroundings, manipulate objects, and engage in complex tasks with a level of awareness and agency surpassing ordinary dreams.

A discovery which made the hunters growth system more diverse to not just rely on going to dungeons to risk their lives each time.

However, the use of the time-acceleration device was not without limitations. To prevent mental exhaustion and ensure the safety of users, strict guidelines governed its usage which users have to adhered to. The device can only be employed once every three days, allowing sufficient time for the mind to recuperate from the intense cognitive strain imposed by the cognoaccelerine drug. Additionally, each session within the virtual simulation is capped at a duration of two hours, during which time progresses at a rate equivalent to two days within the simulation.

But the one man who made the biggest contribution in the creation of this device was, ‘Curtis Osbern’.

The founder and creator of the formula for the neuroenhanium cognoaccelerine drug—dubbed as the cognoaccelerine drug—, which he was praised for even to this day by many renowned scholars and scientists who still studied his left over and unfinished research after his unfortunate death caused by an accident more than a decade ago.

The cause of his death was announced an unfortunate car accident and death on the spot due to the implosion of his car's engine which caused his, his wife's and only daughter’s death on the spot.

But my eyes once again followed the cockpit, where once Jiwoo had sat in order to use the device. I felt melancholic as I remembered about him.

His sudden disappearance five months ago had came as a shock for all of us, and neither had he said a single word of goodbye, he just...vanished through thin air, no where to be found.

I took a breath, followed by a sigh as I slowly reached for the door with unrest growing inside me like shadows lengthening at dusk, casting a sombre hue over my soul, filling my heart with a silent melancholy.

After his disappearance we had inquired Professor Griffin if he knew anything, but all he told us was that Jiwoo had came back to the academy one day and asked for his withdrawal from the academy, which would’ve been an odd action if taken by someone else—because of the acceptance rate of the academy being painstakingly high—but it was Jiwoo in question, so there must’ve been an acceptable reason for his actions. Something which he couldn’t share with the others...not even his friends.

One such would’ve been Jihye’s sudden development of the cold slumber. A disease affecting only one in a billion, and supposedly incurable.

I’d asked father for his assistance in finding any clue for a cure or anything which could help, but even with his help and connections, our struggle didn’t bare fruit. It was a hopeless situation.

Even more so for Jiwoo. I could still vividly remember embracing Jiwoo as he weakly sobbed in my arms, feeling so powerless and weak, as if he had been defeated. As if even he couldn’t fight against fate.

But the coldness and apathy in his eyes, the stoicism he displayed was something I questioned till this day. Just what kind of a person really was the man named Seo Jiwoo.

That was the first time I’d seen Jiwoo look so weak and vulnerable.

But Jiwoo never truly told anyone about how he really was, his presence was an enigma for the people around him, even for me he was someone I could barely read or understand with my constricted wisdom, but just from the way he carried himself with wisdom and solemnity around others made him completely different from a simple sixteen-year old teenager, or rather even more dependable than most adults I’d seen.

As if his action were always taken for some benefit and calculative perception in mind to accomplish some goal. And the same had happened when Jiwoo had worn his mask of apathy inside the basilisk dungeon to seal away his caring and empathetic side in order to protect us. He was like a cold and emotionless leader, but now after some clear thinking, it was only right that he did what he’d done.

In that situation, someone else would have only prioritised their own well-being, instead, Jiwoo risked his life several times to protect us.

But I felt my chest constrict with guilt and something akin to fear and worry for some reason as I remembered Jiwoo's eyes glowing purple when he had killed that basilisk.

‘It was like Jiwoo had turned into someone else, like some sinister being had been released from its shackles. As if that was the real Jiwoo, without his facade, his mask.’ I shook my head to shoo away these unnecessary thoughts.

No, Jiwoo was Jiwoo. Even if that was a part of him, that cold mirthless characteristic, that just makes him who he is. And who gave me the right to critics his actions or his personality.

I pushed the door open as I walked out of the room and entered my bedroom as I walked over to the balcony for some fresh air as I felt my throat was constricting from my melancholic thoughts. I opened the glass encased door and felt a light breeze blow past, sending my hair fluttering as I felt soothed under the glowing moon light and star-speckled sky.

But even if I assured myself that I’d grown closer to him since our coincidental encounter more than an year ago, or tried to think I understood him a little bit better, the person named Seo Jiwoo was still yet a mystery to me shrouded in a mist, whom I truly knew nothing about except for the things he’d told me himself, or what I'd found about him through observing him.

He just felt like so far away, a distance which I couldn’t leap. He was in a league of his own, his dominating strength and wisdomous mind was something hardly found in someone his age.

I might have been close to Jiwoo, but I was never able to figure him out as much as I tried, and now...he was gone, to who knows where.

Facing what kind of harsh trials, away from the eyes of others, challenging himself yet again. Shouldering some burden as he always did, or tried to hide behind his smile.

“Are we this unreliable, that you couldn’t share your afflictions with us—with me?” I said reaching a hand out as I felt the cold breeze prickle my skin and pass through my fingers, feeling somewhat melancholic as I remembered about Jiwoo.

The void which Jiwoo's absence had left made me realise my own feelings and how I perceived his presence, only being close to him, just seeing his face made me comfortable and calmed, which I would find repulsive in the presence of any other boy.

They all had some ulterior motive due to my family's standing, my father’s position and influence in Korea or in the Union. Their perverse eyes made me repulsed, as they looked at just the shell which was Park Jiyoung and not the real person whom I really was.

But Jiwoo did. He never approached me with some ulterior motive in mind, and never looked at me just for my body or my family’s influence. He only saw me as Park Jiyoung and nothing else.

That’s what made me attracted to him. His actions were always interesting to observe and whatever new things he did, I just wanted to observe him from a distance at first.

I suddenly remembered my suspicion of Jiwoo when we had first met.

I felt a thin smile pull at my lips as I seem to relax. “Back then, I guess I was a little too untrusting of everyone.”

‘Its there again...this heaviness in my chest, making this sense of longing to stir inside my heart,’ I thought as I placed my hand over my chest, as the moments I’d spent with Jiwoo replayed inside my mind and I think I knew what this yearning was, I'd realized it long ago, why I was feeling this diverse spectrum of emotions whenever I thought about him, but I was being held back by my own guilt and inability to do anything, to help Jiwoo, to stand by his side as his equal.

I was more powerless and weaker than anyone. I wanted to help Jiwoo somehow, to lessen his burden even if slightly, but I knew I couldn’t, even when Jiwoo was weeping in front of me, all I could do for him was gently embrace him and sooth him through our shared bond of understanding.

But despite that, I wanted to know, I wanted to understand him better—to understand Jiwoo.

I sat on the balustrade of the balcony, as the winter’s breeze filled the atmosphere with a sombreness and loneliness.

No, that's not how Jiwoo would've thought things through. That’s not how he ought to do things. He'd been a great helping hand and aspiration in my development and progress so far and I was grateful of him.

He would always find a way to clear his trials and hardships to become stronger and better. To usher his path to make a better future even if things turned hopeless, he always found a way.

I respected Jiwoo more than anyone, but I’d finally come to acknowledge my own feelings for him during his absence.

That’s the man I'd fallen for. I love Jiwoo.

‘I had feelings for Jiwoo.’ Ever since I’d acknowledged that fact, the feelings inside me had grown only more potent and stronger each day, yearning to see him only once.

“Is this what people call a maiden in love?” I questioned with a complicated expression. “I guess being forced by Amelia to read those fashion magazines and romantic novels slightly helped.”

But I felt relieved somewhat, that I’d sorted my own feelings for Jiwoo and I knew, I couldn’t mop around for long.

If Jiwoo was here he would’ve encouraged me and given me advice to better myself.

And as the first ranked in the academy, I also had a responsibility to do better than anyone else. I had the obligation to secure my position.

I felt my lips pull into a gentle smile as I eased myself, feeling the breeze around me anew. My mind now relaxed and I felt slightly sleepy due to training.

It was now one of my goals to become a more reliable person whom Jiwoo could rely now and return to. Just as he had helped me several times, I wanted to do the same for him if the situation ever arose.

‘Wherever you may be, whatever you might be doing, please be safe, Jiwoo’ I prayed for his safety as my gaze peered up at the sky, looking at the full moon illuminating the night with its brilliant and egnamtic light.

“Love truly is a strange thing,” I said as I felt my cheeks redden slightly in excitement.

***

I walked closer to one of the rooms in the intensive care unit and opened the door.

I walked inside the room and saw Jihye lying inside a bed tucked into her blanket, her bed close to the wide window, opened, through which warm sunlight was spilling from, as the curtains gently fluttered by the wind which warmed the inside of the room with apricity.

“How have you been Jihye?” I said approaching her bedside as I cradled the two bouquets of flowers I’d brought.

I placed the bouquets of flowers over a wide table opposite her bed, placed between a set of white porcelain sofas.

I took off my coat and placed it over a seat near Jihye’s bedside, as I rolled up the sleeves of my cardigan and took the vase placed over the table and went to the bathroom close to the entrance of the room.

I threw away the withered pansies which I’d brought last time a few days ago, as I drained the water and filled the vase with fresh water, as I took the flowers from one bouquet and gently placed them inside the vase putting it back in its original place, as I took a seat beside Jihye’s bedside.

“Today I've brought cyclamen, they were fresh and they seem to be in bloom nowadays. I hope you don’t dislike them.”

I took her hand into mine, as gently as possible as I felt like it could snap even from the slightest bit of force, I felt a sense of guilt grow inside me as I looked at her pale hand and her face which was becoming thinner by the day.

I put a smile over my face as I gently cradled her arm in mine. I continued to speak to her, about different topics and things in trend nowadays, not excepting a reply back.

After Jiwoo had vanished, I’d asked Baek-Hyun to change Jihye’s hospital room in the Seoul's central hospital to a VIP intensive care unit, as this hospital was sponsored by my father.

That was the least I could do for both of them. I paid her a visit as frequently as I could, every two or three weeks, taking time out of my schedule from training to attending classes.

Despite the gap in our age and circumstances, Jihye had treated me with care and fondness, and I'd also grown closer to her, same was with Jihoon.

The only people who came to visit her were either me, sometimes Jihoon or a friend of Jihye’s from the guild whose acquaintance I’d made a few months ago. I think her name was Yoosung.

After telling her a few more things, I stopped and checked the time, it was almost afternoon. I laid her hand back into the bed as I tucked her into her sheets and took my coat and the other bouquet in hand.

“Jihye, Jiwoo might not be here but I know for sure that he will come back sooner, I know he will, because that idiot has a tendency to vanish and appear out of nowhere,” I said with a genuine smile as I gave her a final look, then exited through the door.

Soon afterwards I stopped in front of another room in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

I took a breath, feeling slightly awkward as I loomed near the door, looking at the name plate outside the room.

It read the name: Park Eunhee.

My Mother. I grabbed the door's handle and stepped inside the room.

***

The smell of alcohol hung heavy in the air as I laid eyes over a man resting his head over his desk, intoxicated by consuming several too many drinks as he mumbled incompressible words in his drunken state.

His blonde hair dishevelled and his eyes half-open as the dime light of the room and heavy curtains masking any light from entering, added a sombre and gloomy atmosphere, broken glass scattered around the floor as wine bottles and different elixirs laid atop the desk.

My eyes nonchalantly followed the man's movements, but he looked too drunk to even notice me in my half-hidden state. At this point I wasn’t even trying to mask my presence from him.

I finally decided to announce my arrival from a dark spot inside the room as the sound of my foot steps echoed through the large study, alarming the man, but not enough to raise his head to check the individual in question.

“If its another maid...then go away,” Yohan said, his words laced with annoyance and voice booming across the wide study with a frowning and hostile edge.

I snorted with a scoff, as a nonchalant wry smile pulled at my lips.

“Its quite bold of you to assume that I’m one of your maids, Yohan Carter. Yet again, drowning yourself in alcohol isn’t the best of choice, but everyone has their own likes and dislikes.”

Hearing my voice filled with a wry edge to it, Yohan straightened in his chair, swiftly his hand went to cover his head as he groaned under the consumption of the amount he’d previously drank, as his face twisted into a painful frown, eyes barely opened.

“Feeling light-headed,” I walked closer to his desk with my arms clasped behind my back as he sank into his chair, now alarmed by my presence as my figure became visible to his eyes in the dim lighting of the study.

“Here.” I handed him a glass filled with water from a jar lying on a table on the side, hoping to be a little hospitable.

He jerked in his chair, swiftly shoot up and took a battle-ready stance on instinct even in his drunk state as the mana inside him worked from the growing pressure inside the room, his sapphire eyes blazing, as a tremor ran throughout the room.

I sighed looking at the pitiful man.

I released own my force, the demonic energy is the atmosphere squeezed and cried as the force grinded against the mana, making an unbearable pressure to shroud the surroundings, making the very air to choke out of his lungs as he staggered on his steps

“You’re a c-crimson eyed demon,” he fumbled over his half-choked words as his eyes quivered in shock and horror, acting like a child who'd just seen a ghost.

My smirk widened to a demeaning grin as I pressed harder and he collapsed under his own weight, groaning for mercy.

His mana worked as a strong pressure exuded his body, his pathetic attempt at intimidating and fighting back my own, which only looked as amusing as a dog's desperate wail for help.

“Settle down.” I said, my words coming out slow and powerful as I withdrew the oppressive intent. “If I truly desired to rid myself of an insignificant insect like you, it would be a trifling matter to just flick you away. And removing someone of your pitiful caliber hardly poses a challenge for me.” I said with a nonchalant wave of my hand as I stood in front of him, my face pulled into a wry smile.

“Instead, I've come to you today with a friendly proposition, through which each of us can gain benefits from.” I added with a friendly smile, but it only seemed to alert him even more.

Yohan frowned on my words, but understanding the inclination behind them and how things might turn out badly for him, he obediently obeyed my words and sat back down on his chair.

“What do you want from me?” He asked, voice frightened and eyes looking away from me as sweat poured down his face, as he withdrew his mana back and accepted the glass of water.

“Yes! What I need from you...it isn’t something too difficult. Its actually quite simple, I need you to do my bidding and get rid of someone, among the humans. It is certainly like killing two bird with one stone. Does that give you some clarification?”

He scoffed, his brows furrowing suddenly as he looked at me with a sneer. “Do you really think I’ll be willing to make a covenant with you. A filthy demon!” His voice was amplified by his mana. “After what you bastards have done to the human race, how many people you have killed in pursuit of winning his war; innocent people.”

“I could point that same question right back at you, Yohan. How many demons do you think have died in the line of their duty fighting you humans for a century? Even they had families and people to return to, wouldn’t they? Many, but you could very well say, not more than the humans.” I said, my lips turning in amusement as I looked down at him.

“I won’t do as you wish.” He shot back with harsh intensity. "Even if you were the demon king, I won't become your loyal dog."

"The demon king, huh..."I ignored his words and with a purse of my lips continued. “As far as you said about not making a covenant, that’s totally fine by me...” I paused, as Yohan's eyes followed my each and every movement warily, as I drew closer to the desk, only standing a few feet away, as he looked up.

“I wouldn’t say the same about your boy, who was so eager to make a covenant with me just by the slightest invitation to get his puny revenge,” my words slowly filled the air, as I spat each word as balefully as possible as a grin grew over my face, looking at the twisted and broke expression over Yohan’s face.

He immediately retaliated, his anger palpable over his face burning like a fiery conflagration, as his mana burst, his fist reaching to strike my face, but with a sigh I brushed his hand aside as effortlessly as a bug, as the bone shattered inside his arm.

His screams ran through the study as he plummeted to the floor, moaning as he looked up at me with tears welling in his eyes.

“Ahh, you had to make me hurt you. And here I thought I would be able to make a civilised conversation with you. Why do you humans, or even the other races—except for the ash’ari—feel the need to use your brawn instead of your brain. You're more reckless than the orcs.” I said with a hint of a wry smile. “Honesty, The Exciduims have really fallen. But yet again, your still grieving the loss of your beloved son, and I totally understand your pain and frustration. My deepest condolences.”

“I-It...Its not true. Your lying. My boy...Thomas would never do something has lowly as make a covenant with your kind. You vile demon, you must’ve forced him. You must’ve tricked my son.” He spat each words laced in venom as his eyes blazed with anger and resentment, his mind sober.

“I didn’t force him one bit, he was eager himself to grow stronger quickly to take his revenge. And I only provided him with an opportunity, he sought out and paved his own path to his ultimate demise.”

“But enough of that. The task I want you do is simple, and it isn’t without compensation.” I added as I straightened.

I thought for a second as I looked down at Yohan with a new found amusement, akin to finding a new toy.

“I will tell you who killed your son. Yes, ‘killed’. He didn’t meet his inevitable end in the dungeon by some coincidental encounter with a beast, he was murdered. And I’m willing to tell you who murdered your son, in exchange for your assistance. Doesn't that sound good enough?"

I felt his expression and demeanour falter as he looked up at me with remorseful and desperate eyes.

Yes, that’s what I wanted to see.

It was just so simple to manipulate someone if their interests matched with your own, depending on the circumstances, of course, if you could manipulate those circumstances well in your favour.

“You don’t need to make a covenant with me, or do something like betraying your kin or kill some high ranker in the Union,” I said as I brought my hand forward and two items materialised in the palm of my right hand as I laid them over the desk.

“These items are my down-payment for the task. As you are now, you won’t be able to deal with the individual I want you to when the time comes, so I will first help you reach the next stage, what do you humans like to call it—oh yes, the rank. You need to be at least on that rank to give a proper fight against that man, or if you intent to kill him in order to avenge your son’s death, and of course fulfil our deal.”

“W-Who is this person whom I need to get rid of?” He finally asked as my smirk widened into a more devilish grin.

“The man I need you rid and the man who murdered your son are the same person,” I said, putting great emphasis over my words. I pointed at the items I'd previously placed over his desk as I spoke. “That small pouch has a strong elixir which can help your body to assimilate with the mana faster and exceed your limits, to ascend to the subsequent rank.”

“And what about the other item?” Yohan said, as he took the palm sized medallion in his hand and inspected the intricate runes over its surface.

“You just need to imbue the medallion with your mana and once you do, I will accept it as you agreeing to my proposal.” I said as I turned and moved closer to the window of the study, moving the heavy curtains as moon light prevailed inside.

“But I do hope that the odds be in my favour.”

“Who are you?” Yohan finally decided to ask.

“You mentioned earlier that you wouldn't make a deal even if the demon king himself came here personally, right?!” I simply added with a shake of my head, shrugging dismissively.

“C-Could you be the demon king?” Yohan asked, slightly afraid of his own question as he swallowed hard.

I burst out into a chain of laughter as I slowly composed myself and looked back at the man.

“Apologies for my unsightly appearance. That was quite an amsuing question, I suppose. But no, unfortunately I am not the demon king.” I added with an air of poise and oozing ostentation, as I lookd down at the lesser man.

“I am someone much worse.” As I said my final words to Yohan, the space around me warped as I vanished from the inside of his study and appeared on a high-rise building's rooftop, as a passing breeze kissed my skin and swayed my robes and hair.

Just then I looked down at my arms as several distorted cracks ran through my skin which weren’t able to mend themselves, as droplets of blood trickled through the wounds.

“I guess this substitute body is only able to go this far, even without having to exercise a fraction of my strength it still succumbed and broke down.” I gave a dismissive sigh as I turned to look at the alit streets and buildings.

My eyes suddenly widened in surprise as my face took an amused and calculative grin.

So you've finally met him. Is this fate?

“So it’s finally happening. Let’s see how far your descendent can go this time, Mordain Astrionyx!!” I said, reminiscing on the distant past as several memories ran through my mind.

I stood in the ambience of the moon light as I took in the scenery and felt the passing breeze.

“Let’s see how much you can struggle in this life with his help, Shun.”