Bahmt’s sudden lightning fast approach left me fazed, but I quickly regained my senses and dodged right in the nick of time. I wasn’t safe yet though, Bahmt regained his footing and proceeded with a flurry of attacks all aimed at my vital spots. The air trembled intensely from his attacks, I could feel the vibrations in my bones but I could only keep on dodging. The speed of his attacks were almost on par with mine, so I retreated a good distance away so I could check his power level.

{Bahmt}

[Title] Demon King’s Father

[Power Level] 1678

[Threat] Large

Can manipulate Darkness Energy

Bahmt had a large threat to me instead of medium and since his power level is higher than Bugat’s, he must pose more danger against me than his son. Also, his ability to control darkness energy was once again confirmed by his stat page.

“Oho, someone that can dodge my attacks has finally appeared,” Bahmt chuckled as if this was all a game to him. “Even my son: the current Demon King couldn’t dodge my attacks so I’m impressed!”

“I can kill you if I strain myself too,” I boasted in order to see his reaction. In reality, I could kill him if I used Othidas’s power which would be this demon’s dad, but that isn’t that great of an option.

“I see,” Bahmt said as his eyes narrowed and tendrils of darkness floated towards his eyes. “So you can use the power of darkness too, you aren’t some ordinary being then. You’ve gained my respect.”

We were facing off in opposite corners of the giant courtyard, the sky glowing crimson. Neither of us took the initiative to attack, the process of collecting information about the opponent was taking place instead.

“Then how about you give me time to explain?” I offered. “It’s not in our best interests to fight anyways, I doubt you want to face off against someone that could potentially kill you and I don’t want that either, so let’s just talk this out.”

“Speak,” Bahmt finally said.

“I came to deliver a message as requested by your son, Bugat himself,” I explained. “If you still don’t believe me, I’m also the General of the North: Dark Orchid.”

I showed him the contracts that I received upon becoming the General of the North, and was satisfied to see that Bahmt loosened up a bit.

“So you were sent by my son,” Bahmt said as he looked like he was deep in thought. “The only time I said to him that he should contact me was when it was important and if it wasn’t, punishment would be served.”

“I can guarantee this information will be of help to you,” I laughed. “It’s about your father after all.”

Instantly, Bahmt appeared by my side but I hadn’t reacted because I hadn’t sensed any evil intent behind the action. He even got on to the floor and started begging for me to tell him, which was unexpected of someone of his status.

“Stop begging, it’s unfit for someone like you,” I scolded. “I’m here to tell you the information anyways, so get off the floor and act like a proper demon king.”

“I’m not a Demon King anymore though,” Bahmt blurted.

“Yes I know, I was just saying…” I replied. “Let’s just get onto the important stuff.”

“We can head to my private quarters even though I emptied this place of monsters after sensing a powerful presence headed towards my castle,” Bahmt awkwardly said.

“Ah, that's why there weren't any monsters around,” I thought. “I should really remember to keep my presence concealed starting from now. If this wasn’t Bugat’s dad, the situation might become dangerous if anyone was aware of my presence and didn’t know beforehand that I was here with friendly intentions.”

The older version of Bugat lead me to his private quarters, which no surprise, had whatever one needed. Be it a bedroom, office, library, or even a huge dining room filled with expensive decorations and furniture. Since we wanted privacy, we headed to his office which was soundproofed. The chairs were made of an unknown type of material, but it suspiciously looks like a skin of a living creature. There were also portraits of past demon kings hanging on the black walls.

Did I mention that the room had no lights? Add in all the furniture that was coloured black and the occasional decoration that was colored red, it was almost impossible to see for a normal person. That wasn’t a problem for us though, since we could use darkness energy or chaos energy. Before I delivered information about Othidas though, Bahmt asked me an interesting question.

“You’re not a demon right?” Bahmt declared. “How did you come to possess the power of darkness energy? That power is only limited to the demon race and so far no other kind has come to awaken or develop the power.”

“Oh, so that was the case,” I realized. Of course an evil energy like this would be associated with demons, I should've realized it sooner. “Sadly, I can’t tell you that since it’s personal information I’m not about to give away.”

“I thought you’d say that, it’s just that…” Bahmt trailed off. “Never mind, it’s probably just a rumoured legend anyways.”

Not knowing what Bahmt was talking about, I moved on to do what I came here to do. After relaying all the information about Othidas to his son, Bahmt was left speechless for a good few minutes. Then, he started thanking me passionately since I had provided him with enough clues to continue his search for his father. I was a great help to him, since his wife had died a few years before to a bunch of humans and he didn’t have the motivation to keep on looking.

“So he got sealed away,” Bahmt said unsurprisingly. “I even told him to be careful but he still went and got sealed away by those wretched angels.”

“Speaking of the angels, can you tell me more about them?” I asked curiously.

“Sure, the angels are basically the direct opposition against us demons,” Bahmt explained while also gesturing with his hands. “Everyone thinks humans are the mortal enemies of demons, but it’s actually the angels. It has been this way since way before I can even remember.”

“So I’m guessing there’s an Angel Realm as well?” I guessed.

“That’s the official name, but it’s more well known as ‘Heaven’,” Bahmt told me. “The same goes for our Demon Realm, it’s more commonly known as ‘Hell’ which is a pretty suitable name.”

“Cool,” I said. “How strong are the angels?”

“Us demons and angels are equally matched so far, but back when Othidas was still here we were stronger,” Bahmt declared. “Othidas who could perfectly control the power of darkness could wipe out whole battalions of angels in seconds, but the 4 archangels of Heaven’s army probably sealed him away with their combined strengths.”

“Thanks for the information,” I gratefully said. “I’ll head back to Bugat’s castle now if you don’t mind.”

“Oh ok, have a safe journe-” Bahmt’s words were cut off as my left arm instantaneously moved by itself and buried itself in Bahmt’s body where his heart should’ve been.

“W-Why....” Bahmt collapsed on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. He had just died in a few seconds without being able to retaliate.

“What the hell Othidas! What was that for!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Why’d you kill him!? Your own damn son!”

“Just you wait and see boy,” Othidas replied calmly.

Suddenly, a booming voice resounded throughout the room that shook the ground.

“I knew something was fishy, I never knew that my dear father would be hiding in this person’s arm,” Bahmt’s voice bellowed, echoing off the walls. “Trying to possess people again I see, what are we going to do about this…”

Bahmt’s body materialized out of nowhere and gave me a nod. It seems that that version of Bahmt was only a puppet, I somehow didn’t notice but of course Othidas would. I still have a long way to go before becoming the strongest being in this world.

“Son, don’t get mad this was the way I could get out of that seal those damn archangels put on me,” Othidas somehow spoke. “I’ll be back to my normal self as soon as I absorb this guy's body.”

“What, I thought we struck a deal!?” I said confused while also contemplating if I should take any action against Othidas in case this was true.

“I’m just joking with you boy! That was a pretty funny reaction,” Othidas chuckled. “I don’t break my promises.”

Bahmt stood to the side watching us bicker until he finally spoke.

“So father, now that I know you’re alive are you going back to lead the demon realm army’s forces against the angels again from the frontlines?”

“As you can see, I haven’t regained my former strength yet, that’ll take a little time and cooperation from my host,” Othidas sighed as his eye looked at me.

“Unless we can share the same body without any conflicts, Othidas won’t be fighting anyone anytime soon,” I made known. “Perhaps as time passes, we might trust each other more and come to a more beneficial agreement, but the situation as it is won’t be changing anytime soon.”

“Dark Orchid, I advise you don’t rely on my father’s power too much,” Bahmt advised as if he knew everything about the relations between the transfer of power when someone possessed another. “If you don’t want to lose control of your body and only stay as a helpless soul attached to your shell, don’t overuse that lent power.”

I assumed that meant the and not the boosts to my other stats like power level and MP Storage because I had no way of restricting those buffs from doing their thing.

“I’ll take your warning to heart, thanks,” I said towards Bahmt.

Othidas stayed quiet throughout the whole exchange of words, leaving me pondering if he was planning something. Also, I had to think about what I was supposed to do next at this point. Just following Bugat’s orders would lead to a very boring life, and I still had potential to get stronger! Maybe mastering Othidas’ power and merging completely with him without any problems would be my next goal. As if reading my mind, Bahmt gave me a suggestion.

“If you want to train your synchronization with my father and your teamwork, I suggest you go train at the Wastelands to the west,” Bahmt told me. “There are many monsters that aren’t associated with any of our fellow demon’s armies that need to be taken care of. They aren’t too strong and I still find that it helps me to practice against them occasionally.”

“Thanks for the tip, I think we’ll go do just that,” I said in place for Othidas who stayed silent throughout the whole exchange, not voicing his opinion once. Here I thought that he would want to speak more with his precious son, but maybe those were just my thoughts.

“I hope to see you some other time!” Bahmt said as he waved goodbye. “Bring that lazy Bugat with you too!”

I agreed and left the castle and headed west. Meanwhile a sleepy Bugat felt a shiver down his spine.

“Is someone talking about me?” Bugat thought before falling asleep once again.