Marching out to a battle he may very well die in, Gerim reasonably doesn’t have much time to discuss the minutia of Morthul’s assassination. All I know is that he was last spotted between the Queen of tick’s and Calridian’s domains, presumably headed south. As I have no reliable sense of direction, Gerim stresses that it wouldn’t matter anyway because I’ll see the changes and follow them.

Changes to what? That he doesn’t explain, the most important piece of it. This matters little though— if I need to I can stop and ask Calridian himself. What bothers me now is the demon panting in front of me.

[Leptir]

“You’re alive.” I say, beginning to regenerate the arm the [Agir] lopped off.

Panting and heaving the Leptir sets its handout, “Give it to me…my half.”

Startled, I take a step back and shake my head, holding onto the rather heafty pocket of Soul Crystal— I’m starting to think I won’t be Lord Crimson anymore if I keep hauling them like this.

“You must be joking.” I snort and relax my stance— if he’s as weak as he looks it’d be a mercy to put him out of his misery. “I killed them, something I realized after the rush of the fight left me. Tonight, under this red sky I killed two Blood Orange tiers.”

I take a step towards him and leer down at him, “Did you hide? Is that how you survived? No shame there but…hiding doesn’t get you half.” It’s hard not to laugh out in his face.

Throughout my time on Reais I’ve never felt so…powerful. Domineering over a weakened Leptir shouldn’t be this…exciting, should it?

Off the top of my head I can think of a few reasons why it shouldn’t, but there’s the few reasons it should those and they weigh heavy. Almost heavier.

I’m right, I did— one way or another— survive and kill two Blood Orange tiers whereas he did nothing. And now I’m well on my way to kill another. I’ve earned the rewards and I intend to keep them.

In fact, there’s an itch in my mind that says another Soul Crystal to the pile wouldn’t hurt one bit.

‘No…no use killing him, better as…hmm, yes.’

“What’s your name? Do you even have one?”

He nods, dripping with blood and crumbling in places the [Agir] charred him, “Yes, I’m Haern and I want my crystals back, if you won’t give me half then give me what you stole from me.” It’s hard for him to talk, I can sense it. He’s so weak his mind is a haze— I underestimated the damage he took from the Agir; I may not even have to touch him for him to die.

“Haern…well Haer, you’re not getting anything more than what I choose to give you.”

“W-what?” he crumbles to his knees and his thoughts fragment.

Pulling out a single Crimson crystal I wave it in his face and he huffs, desperate— begging. It’s ugly and silly at the same time, I want to kill him— for the fun of it, for the fact that I can.

There’s no one left around to stop me, Gerim and the others stood and watched as dozens of Crimson tiers died fighting the enemy just so they could preserve their strengths and weed out the best of us. I am the best as it turns out and I’m the only one left to decide who gets to live or die.

I squat, drop the crystal in his pleading hand and stare— peering straight into his beady eyes the Leptir, once a demon I thought of as a better and then as an equal, fades to nothing more than a subordinate whose life will depend on my whims.

I choose to let Haern live and for the first time I understand the relationship Hargoil and the twins share. And for however much I despise the beetle demon, I figure he has the right idea

As much as the bloodthirst tells me to rip his throat out, I understand the worth of a set of extra muscle. The Seeker Blade has already changed the way I fight, I’m relying less on mimicry, saving myself the frontlines of the battle with it. Haern and his chains will change it all again, keeping me safer and making me stronger at the same time.

‘Not much of an ally, more of a demon shield.’ I groan as he hurriedly absorbs the Essence within the crystal when the light subsides I see his wounds heal a bit but not by much, ‘A shield I have to feed. Well, I have to feed the Seeker Blade too or it’ll become obsolete. A blade and shield…not a bad bargain.’

Getting up on my feet I tell him in plain terms, “You’re mine now, Haern, mine. You understand that right?”

Stronger now he manages to correct his pathetic impression and give off a hint of stubbornness, “Is that so? And how’s that going to work? I work for the Queen-”

“But you don’t want to, do you? You’ve been…distracted ever since we met. At first I thought you only wanted to strut, to flaunt your strength and intimidate me. Then I thought you wanted out because you felt so miserable, that was your impression. Hopelessness, loss, anger and a bridling desire to escape.”

“Right here, right now, I can offer you two forms of escape. Either you join me and be reborn in my vision and serve my quests. Or I can consume you now, your Essence will serve me either way.”

Apply what must be a regenerative trait the charred spots begin to regain their colour; some bits crumble off to make way for the flesh pushing outwards. Haern shakes his head, “Why should I work for you? You’re only so much stronger than me and…back to the Queen, she’ll look for me.”

I scoff. Then chortle until I’m in hysterics. When I calm he’s still presenting that look— the one where he thinks he has much other than the choices I’ve given him. Faster than he can react the Seeker Blade zips out, poised to rip his throat open.

Beady eyes go wide as he gulps. I shake my head at him, “You think the Queen of ticks, a Maroon tier would come looking for you? No, no…no. What you ought to be worried about is what will happen to you if she finds out you survived this raid but got subdued by her rival’s agent. She’ll kill you just to do away with the scorn.

“So…what do you want to do Haern? Live? Or die now?”

***

Haern makes the right choice, servitude under me is the best he can get away with at the moment— there’s nothing else he could choose. I’m excited at having my first subordinate— it’s a bit impromptu, something from a moment of blind power but I’m excited anyway.

I hand him three more crystals and let him know he’ll have to hunt for his own survival now— I’m generous but I’m no babysitter. Fortunately for him, we’re out in the open, free to hunt and consume whatever demons we like. The freedom to do so is intoxicating but at the same time, a bit paralysing— should I hunt some more fire divide demons or should I head back, start the hunt for Morthul in earnest.

In the end I march towards the Desert— I figure it doesn’t matter what demons I kill so long as I kill some. Before we left our position though, I made sure to divvy up the remaining crystals between myself and the Seeker Blade, and to devour as many demon corpses I could. I’d need the Essence Points.

With so many mouths to feed I accept the longer wait to crossing into Blood Orange. But with my half I still manage some satisfying changes. I didn’t spend any Trait Points when I levelled earlier so after reaching [Crimson]- Lvl.8 I had 10 points to spend.

I max out [Psychic Resistance] and [Quick Mould] for a cheap 4points and threw the rest into [Greater Cognizance] for 2points each level.

With 350.2Esq I’ve got a short spurt towards Blood Orange now, I’m rather powerful compared to before the battle and looking out at the desert, towards the hunt, I’m certain Blood Orange won’t be too long away from me.

I take a look at my full stat and wonder what Ascension Perk awaits.

Name: Nil

Race: Demon

Type: Transformed Deviant Soul

Age: Immortal – 7years, 4months.

Crystal Essence: [Crimson]- Lvl.8— 350.2esq

[Available Essence Points— 0]

Strength: 31

Agility: 56

Wisdom: 26

Abilities: [Faithless Absorption], [Faithless Mimicry], [Faithless Essence Amplification]

[Available Trait Points— 5]

Traits: [Armoured Form]- Lvl.2, [Greater Cognizance]- Lvl.4, [Psychic Resistance]- Lvl.5, [Quick Mould]- Lvl.5

Ascension Perks: [Reais Fiend]

Spells: [Invisibility]- Lvl.1, [Minor Illusion]- Lvl.1

Patron: Nil

I haven’t gotten anything new in the traits division and I’m still at Crimson Lvl.8. But the Seeker is stronger with its share of the crystals, strong enough to supplement the absence if there’s a need.

Haern and I make traverse back the way we came, the chaos from our battle with the Maroon tier’s forces seems to have subdued the demons creeping near us, but there are always demons nearby. I let Haern have them, his ability to fly cancels out any hope of escape for many demons— a fact I’m a bit envious of. For the sake of getting him to full strength, I don’t tax any of his crystals.

Eventually, after a long, tiresome walk through the fire divide, we arrive at the border and the sands of the Desert look as appealing as they did the first time I saw them. I stifle the bit of nostalgia and continue walking.

But I suppose this is where Haern figures it’s safe to speak out to me, “Where are we going exactly? Back to Calridian? To tell him you’ve captured me or what?”

My eyes would roll back into my head if I tried, “Calridian doesn’t care about you. No point showing you off, you’re not much to show if I’m being honest.”

I don’t see his face but I know he’s disturbed by that, “So? Where are we going?”

“Where do you think we’re going? I’ve let you consume all the demons we’ve run into, what’s your best guess?”

“Another fight?”

“See? You do have a brain.”

He snarls and flutters closer, “Is that why you’re forcing me to come with you? To work for you?”

“No, not at all. I did that for fun.”

“You subjugate me for fun?” The outrage underlying his words is clear as day but there’s no time to respond to him as the sands shift and a demon leaps out.

Tall, large and stands on many legs with a bulging sack and a stinger behind it. A classic [Inurri] demon. The nostalgia intensifies— this is one of the three demon types that ambushed me my first days in the Desert.

The Seeker Blade spins out, sharper than ever and thirsty for crystals.

“Wait!” Haern starts, jumping between us.

“What are you doing?” I narrow my eyes at him, Essence flows through my body, readying to execute them both if there’s a single hint of funny business.

“Do you want to keep walking to our destination? Wherever that is.” He grumbles the last part.

He steps out, wings carrying him off the ground a bit. The Inurri clacks, snaps and growls at him but doesn’t make a move— odd. I keep watch with the Seeker Blade hovering right behind him, ready to spear through them both.

But then the clacking stops as he reaches out to it. I’m not sure what but there’s something between them now, a connection I’m barely picking up on with Telepathy.

The Inurri bows, low enough that Haern hops onto it and stares down at me, “What? Do you really want to walk all the way there or have our buddy here do all the work?”

Eyes narrowed I take his hand and hop onto the Inurri, our new steed, “You’re telling me exactly how you did that.”

“Haha, sure.”