Whispers of a Scheming Demon - Chapter 14

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 14: Evolution

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Two of the three conditions needed to activate the Corruptive Formation had been met without issue.

A spell drawn in demon blood and a living sacrifice. All that remained was to pour in magic power, and Kazan's Ring would be corrupted into an abomination.

"Begin."

Ilea nodded and approached the Corruptive Formation. When she opened her palm, a blue glow flowed out and seeped into the spell.

The grotesque scribbles reacted to the magic power and burned black.

Having guessed her fate, Betra began shaking her head desperately. She thrashed so wildly that the gag came loose with a snap.

Ilea looked at the old crone spirit with an expressionless face.

"You should at least handle something this simple properly."

"I, I'm sorry."

Betra clung to Ilea's skirt.

"W-Why are you doing this to me? Stop! Please!"

"It may hurt if you struggle. I'll send you off painlessly, so let go."

There was no emotion in Ilea's expression. No resentment, anger, or even a trace of sympathy. She looked like an official carrying out an assigned duty.

"I was wrong! I'll never get out of line again! I mean it! Please forgive me just this once!"

"Don't apologize. You haven't done anything wrong to me, Mother."

Betra went pale at Ilea's soulless attitude.

"T-Then why are you doing this to me?"

"Because Johan chose you, Mother. That's all."

"What are you talking about..."

"Still, you don't think this is unfair, do you?"

Betra shouted like a madwoman.

"It is unfair! Why should I suffer something like this?!"

"Halfhearted evil always leaves behind hatred. Even if it hadn't happened now, the sins you've built up would have come back to stab you eventually. Some of the tribute maidens have been sharpening their knives."

"I only did what the baron ordered! You know that too! It isn't my fault!"

"You don't need to make excuses to me. I'm not trying to blame you, Mother. I'm only giving you some advice."

Ilea added with a gentle smile.

"In your next life, become a thorough villain. Make sure no one can ever harbor thoughts of revenge against you, so you won't be swallowed by a greater evil. Do you understand?"

Betra had no time to answer. Having devoured the magic power, the Corruptive Formation spat out black hands one after another.

"W-What is this?! Get away! I said get away!"

Pitch-black demonic hands clung all over Betra's body.

"Ugh, aaah! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"

She struggled frantically, but she could not resist. Her entire body was consumed by the chilling touch and dragged into the Corruptive Formation.

"No! Don't!"

Her body slowly sank.

She was being devoured as a sacrifice.

"Goodbye, Mother."

With one final desperate scream, Betra vanished.

Having consumed the sacrifice, the Corruptive Formation exhaled black smoke. Sinister demonic energy wrapped around the holy relic at the center of the spell.

Kazan's Ring began to tremble.

It was becoming an abomination.

The moment the blue gem set in the ring turned violet, a gleam flashed through Johan's eyes.

"Johan, does it feel good?"

The imp was convulsing. He giggled, grew frustrated, drowned in pleasure, then fell into despair.

He was resisting overwhelming ecstasy.

'...Fuck.'

Johan raked his long nails across his chest. Black blood burst forth.

The old crone spirit, who had been dancing with delight, let out a wild laugh.

"Imp, enjoy it! Screams like that aren't common!"

Betra's dying shrieks were the finest nourishment for a demon.

"Come, savor it!"

Johan did not respond and continued to injure himself. If he gave himself over to this excitement, there might truly be no turning back. He might lose his identity.

"Why are you suffering? Johan is a demon. Don't resist it. Accept it. It'll be much easier."

Johan could not even hear Ilea through his delirium.

She approached him with a puzzled expression.

"Johan?"

The moment she tried to touch the convulsing imp, a sharp sound rang out.

Smack!

"...Don't touch me."

Johan knocked away Ilea's hand.

She froze and looked down at the back of her hand.

Her pale skin had turned slightly red.

The old crone spirit scowled deeply.

"You've ruined the mood. Why are you so sensitive?"

Johan glared at the old crone spirit. His already red eyes were now heavily bloodshot.

"W-What do you think you'll accomplish by glaring at me like that?"

The instant the old crone spirit finished speaking, Johan's heart pounded violently.

The imp's entire body twisted like a rotten old tree. Every joint snapped out of place with dull cracks. The red tattoos covering his body blazed fiercely.

His unnaturally bent body was changing into a new form.

Craaaack.

A bony frame rose from his shoulder blades. Black skin grew over the white framework. Like a poorly butchered animal, the surface was torn in places. A black sheen flowed over the uneven exterior.

They were wings. Enormous wings that completely covered Johan's body.

The old crone spirit could not hide her shock.

"Imp, you bastard!"

"I don't think he can be called an imp anymore."

As Ilea said, there was no trace of a baby demon left in Johan. The difference was as stark as that between an insect before and after molting.

He had grown until he was nearly Ilea's height. Lean muscles dotted his black body, his horns had lengthened to the size of an adult man's middle finger, and wings covered his body.

He had shed his imp form and been reborn as a subadult demon.

Once his evolution ended, the malice surging within him calmed somewhat.

Johan took a deep breath and slowly examined his body.

'Just as the novel's setting said, I've definitely grown. For the time being, I should have no trouble protecting myself.'

Demonic energy boiled over in his heart, and his skin was as hard as a carapace. His well-balanced muscles provided both strength and balance.

There was only one problem.

His human form. Had daytime Johan also grown beyond infancy?

It was uncertain whether a demon's growth would apply to his human appearance as well.

'I can't keep living as a newborn.'

That would disrupt his plans.

He had to escape infancy somehow. Eating and sleeping well would not be enough. He could not catch up to the apocalypse through honest means.

Human Johan also needed a way to grow rapidly.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?"

Ilea's voice broke through his thoughts. Holding the corrupted holy relic, she approached Johan.

"Nothing important. More importantly, what about Kazan's Ring?"

"It's right here."

When she opened her palm, the abomination appeared. A ring bearing a violet gem. It had once been a protective artifact that defended against demonic energy, but from the moment it became corrupted, it gained the ability to resist holy power.

'I can head underground without worry now.'

The holy power filling the Forbidden Archive would no longer threaten Johan.

"You look pleased. You were extremely sensitive just a moment ago."

The back of Ilea's hand was slightly swollen as she offered him the ring.

"That must have hurt."

"If you're sorry, at least apply some medicine."

"Use magic. What are you saving it for?"

"You're so cold."

Ilea smiled and slid the ring onto Johan's ring finger.

Its slightly loose size adjusted automatically. The perfectly fitting pressure felt pleasant.

He was satisfied.

"I may be cold, but I keep my promises. Within a few days, I'll terminate the contract with Gaf."

"Good. And what about yesterday's offer?"

Johan had promised to give Ilea the Key to Narak as payment for their new deal.

He pulled open the round table's storage compartment.

The Key to Narak, a map, and a gorge journal written by adventurers five hundred years ago appeared.

"Take them."

Ilea let out a sound of admiration.

"What should I give you?"

"World Tree Stump Sap."

At once, a strange look crossed her face. Interest rippled through her blue eyes.

"World Tree Sap. It would not be very useful to a demon like Johan. It would be a different story if Young Master Raguel drank it."

The sap was an elixir for fairies and humans.

"Or it would work well if that baby your father brought home used it."

Ilea smiled innocently as she said it.

'Is she testing me?'

She still did not know that Johan was a half-demon. She might have guessed something from the circumstances of the baby and imp appearing at the same time, but it was only speculation.

Furthermore, no half-demon could move between demon and human forms, so Ilea's reasoning could only remain a hypothesis.

There was no precedent for her to reach a conclusion.

"If you're curious about something, ask me directly. Don't test me for no reason."

It was something she would learn soon enough. Johan had no reason to hide it.

Ilea shook her head.

"I like riddles. I enjoy the process of finding the answer. It wouldn't be fun if I simply heard the answer, would it?"

Witches were a people who loved the unknown. Curiosity was the driving force of their lives, and Johan's existence was a great source of amusement to her.

For now, she wanted him to remain a riddle.

Johan shrugged.

"Do as you please. Let's get to the point. Can you get me the sap?"

The World Tree had taken root in Narak's First Zone. The trunk of the great tree had been cut down long ago, but its stump should still remain.

That would be enough to collect the sap.

"Of course. You're giving me the Key to Narak."

Without the key, the gate to Narak would not open. Ilea had to visit the First Zone, and the World Tree lay along her route.

There was no reason for her to refuse Johan's proposal.

"Good. The full moon is in three days, so you can leave tomorrow."

The gate to Narak opened only during a full moon. It remained tightly shut at all other times, opening and closing on a fifteen-day cycle.

Once someone entered Narak, they could not leave for two weeks.

Considering the distance between the lord's castle and Narak, Johan would have to wait about three weeks for Ilea's return.

Even that felt like a waste of time, so he did not want any further delays.

"You seem to be in quite a hurry."

"Something like that. Can you leave right away?"

"I'll leave as soon as I settle Betra's affairs. It would be strange if both mother and daughter disappeared without even a letter."

"Do that. I'll see you in three weeks."

"Take care while I'm gone. As you know, Johan is my heart."

Under the contract, Ilea would die the moment Johan died.

"Do not worry about me. Focus on returning safely."

Ilea dipped her head slightly.

"Then I'll be going."

As she moved away, darkness returned to the study.

Johan closed his eyes for a moment. Red words appeared before his darkened vision.

Most were in grotesque languages.

He could interpret only a few.

Contract with a Demon and Dream Demon. Both were powers he had possessed from the beginning, and another ability had awakened with this growth.

Soul Erasure. It was a power that annihilated a target's soul and turned the victim into a puppet without a personality.

It was fundamentally different from mind control. Powers like brainwashing could likely be undone through a third party's intervention, but no relic or high-ranking priest could restore someone whose soul had been annihilated and who had become a personalityless puppet.

It was a perfect upgrade over every mental ability.

There was only one troubling point. It was a power that had never appeared in the original work.

Still, its method of use was engraved into his instincts.

Johan opened his eyes.

Raguel, who was trembling violently, came into view.

His soul was also quivering like an aspen leaf.

'I can see souls.'

It was a secondary effect of Soul Erasure.

Johan approached the trembling soul.

The sight of a human sacrifice must have filled him with terror.

"I told you to stay on the stairs, yet you insisted on coming down here and making a spectacle of yourself."

"W-We are going to fall into hell."

"Of course we are. I'm a demon, and you're bound by a contract. Didn't you mean to bear the consequences?"

"I did, but this is..."

"It's not remotely excessive. I may commit even greater evil. For example, I might kill God and erase hell."

"J-Johan!"

"I'm telling you not to be afraid. Fear and regret cannot change fate. Wouldn't it be better to enjoy this life instead of spending your time trembling?"

Raguel looked deflated.

"How am I supposed to enjoy anything in this situation?"

"I'll give you an airplane ride."

"What's an airplane?"

Johan spread his enormous wings wide.

Then he grabbed the boy by his clothes.

"I'll show you."

The demon took flight.

"Aaaah!"

The boy's scream rang through the study.

It was not the reaction Johan had expected, but it was not so bad.

The sound of his crying was turning into another delicacy.