Demon's Virtue

662  A Fake

Eiro stood there for a moment. He would have attacked the Devil instantly if he didn't realize that this wasn't his real body; just something like a projection of sorts. Obviously, the real devil's body wasn't anywhere near here.

"What do you want? Why would you come here?" Eiro growled, and the Devil scoffed, "I was summoned here, was I not? I was given a blood offering, after all."

With a click of his tongue, Eiro flicked his wrist toward the Orc whose blood was used to summon the Devil. A thin stream of water left his fingertips and enveloped the Orc's hand, quickly healing the wound on his palm, "Get out of here," Eiro said in a commanding tone, speaking in Orcish. The guard wanted to do just as he was told, but before he could even fully stand up, the Devil had already placed his hand onto the monster's shoulder.

"Now, now, that's not how this works. You've summoned me, and you've done so for a reason, have you not?" the Devil asked, practically wrapping himself around the Orc, holding his body down with both hands. The orc glanced back at Eiro; he still didn't know who exactly Eiro was. Surrounded by two beings of such immense power, it made sense for the Orc to be confused and scared. The perfect soil for the Devil to sow his seeds, "This... creature, suddenly stepping into these halls you were supposed to protect. Injuring you, scaring you... hoping to take advantage of your weakness. Isn't it frustrating?"

"Don't listen to him," Eiro barked, continuing to keep up eye-contact with the devil, who had a broad grin slowly forming on his lips.

The Orc's heart was beating loudly, and Eiro was able to tell what was about to happen. He fused his mouths and arms back together, and had Gondos finally leave his body. Eiro fixed his collar and then snapped his finger, filling the room with floating flames to illuminate the space properly.

"I'm your lord. Nobody you need to be afraid of," with a sigh, the demon tried to get the orc to return back to a calm mind. He was trying to influence the orc's mind as much as he could.

The Devil shook his head, digging his fingers into the Orc's skin, "You can't actually believe him, can you? Didn't you just see how he changed his form with ease? That's naught but a shapeshifter, a vicious being trying to trick you into subordinance. It injured you; isn't that proof enough?"

"I also healed you. Not to mention, I remember you were there when I first visited the Highland Orc village deep in the mountains. You've seen me before. You know what I'm capable of."

"It's trying to trick you; manipulating your memories. You can't trust what it's saying," the Devil whispered into the Orc's ear. Eiro didn't have a chance against the Devil's manipulation; it was his forte. So instead, Eiro tapped his foot onto the ground, creating a spear of rock that shot straight through the Devil's head, piercing it in an instant. His body fell down, shattering into pieces like a pane of glass. And then, from behind the spear of rock that still stood out from the ground, the devil appeared once more, as though he had been able to dodge it after all.

"Even trying to kill you... If I weren't here, taking control over its magic, you would have died... You can't let this keep on going, you need to say it. You need to tell me what it is you want, right this very second," the Devil continued to speak to the Orc, getting more and more forceful as he went on. And soon, the Orc, lured by the Devil's words said exactly what that thing wanted him to.

The orc spoke, "Kill it, get rid of that thing!" he exclaimed, and the Devil smirked broadly, "Gladly! Since you didn't specify exactly how you want me to get rid of him, I hope you won't mind if I improvise a bit."

With a smile, the devil patted the Orc's shoulder. As though his blood and flesh started to boil, the orc's skin was bubbling up, growing to more than what it was before. It was similar to what flesh magic looked like. And before long, this went out of control. The orc's body grew to three times it was before, but not evenly. One of his arms was bulking and overpowering, while the rest of his body seemed to practically lag behind. His face was becoming overgrown with warts and skin, practically blinding him. His heart was beating to hard that he was about to get a heart attack if nothing was done about this. The Devil had turned the Orc into an abomination.

And as this happened, one of the Devil's marks appeared on the Orc's forehead. The mark of wrath. The Devil smirked and said, "I figured it would just be fairly poetic if I chose this one."

Eiro frowned and glared at the devil, just a moment before the Orc rushed forward, trying to swing at Eiro.

"Now, since you seem to actually care about these things, I figure you won't be able to just kill it. That should give me some time to go on a short walk around the area. Just to let me see what you've done with the place," the Devil said, slowly walking toward the tunnel that led out of this cave.

"You don't remember the Devil – He was never here," Eiro spoke, using both of his mouths. He said it in orcish, the language the orc would of course be able to understand the easiest, and then layered two special powers into each of his voices. One was used to instil chaos in the orc's very existence, and the other was used to bring order back into it.

"I'm not a stranger – You know who I am. How do you feel – Don't you feel calm? The mark must be painful – I'll get rid of it for you," Eiro spoke and calmly approached the Orc, who simply listened to Eiro's words; not that he had much of a choice. The monster's mind was filled with fear, confusion, and fury, but usually, he was simple an earnest. There was a reason why he was given the role to protect something as important as all of these ants' corpses, including that of the ant queen.

Eiro's words managed to calm him, practically disrupting the Devil's mark for just a moment. It seemed as though just through Eiro's words, manipulating the order in this world as he spoke, seemed to change the Orc's body back into what it was supposed to be, though that was clearly impossible. The Devil knew it wasn't possible, so why was he so worried all of a sudden?

He watched as Eiro placed his wooden hand onto the Orc's forehead, and then the next moment, all of the Devil's mana disappeared from the Orc's body, and a message appeared in front of Eiro's eyes.

---

<nullb>[You have successfully absorbed the {Mark of Wrath}]

<nullb>[You have successfully broken apart the {Mark of Wrath}]

<nullb>[You have successfully purified the {Devil}'s mana]

<nullb>[You understand the structure of the {Mark of Wrath}]

---

"So that's how it works. I was practically unsconscious when my own mark was broken down, so it's good to get a second chance," Eiro pointed out, before glancing at the Orc's body. It was still disformed, but Eiro was able to do something about that as well. Especially since it hasn't been long since the Orc's physical form had been manipulated, Eiro was able to use flesh magic to at least return him somewhat back to normal. He might never be able to move as he used to... but at least he would be able to be recognized by his family.

The Devil stood there perplexed, as his magic was simply broken apart within a few moments, "That's... rather impressive. I guess I shouldn't underestimate you. After all, you're a Royal yourself... And frankly, I don't know much about the powers of 'The World'... It had been sealed away for a long time, after all."

"What sort of bullshit are you spouting now?" Eiro asked in a growling voice, and the Devil laughed out loud, "Still as vile as ever, I see? Well, that's fine, it's not like it matters much anyway. It's bothersome that I have to cut my visit short, but-"

"You're not going anywhere – I'm not letting you leave," Eiro practically commanded, using the same tactic he did with the orc just now. Creating chaos, and then bringing order into it in the way that he wanted. And the result was simple; the devil's legs stopped moving.

"You're not 'him'. You're nothing but a fake, the trace of his magic that was left inside of a rotting corpse. I can't feel even a fraction of his power in you. That little trick? That was fun, but that was clearly all you were capable of," Eiro stepped closer to the Devil, or rather, the thing with the voice and appearance of the Devil created from that thing's magic, activated through an offering of blood. This was probably the way that the Devil kept track of others. His power was 'manipulation', and clearly, he was able to even manipulate his own mana no matter where it was, allowing him to know everything about what was going on wherever his mana could be found.

Eiro approached the incarnation of the Devil, and then grasped its body with his four arms, holding it down so that it wouldn't be able to move, "I know you can see what's going on over here, you piece of shit. And I sure hope you can feel what this... doll feels. Because if not, this is going to be just half as fun."

The Devil's puppet stared into Eiro's eyes, as the demon opened his mouth as wide as he could. He took advantage of his ability to have two mouths to turn it into a single, enormous one, and practically broke his jaw as he imitated a snake. And with a single, clean crunch, he bit off the fake devil's head.

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