Demon's Virtue

"You think he deserved another try? After all he did?" The elven mage asked, and the weirdly-dressed human shrugged, "Why not? We have the means, and let's be honest, it will turn out better for us if he lives through this instead of dying like this."

"...Elaborate." The Rhida replied, and the man sighed slightly as all the others turned toward him. He moved through the room and all of a sudden leaned up against Edward as he stood there, frozen in time, "Come on, don't act like you don't know exactly what I'm talking about. You know why we're here, don't you? He may only have a splinter in him, but it's basically the same size of that of the current official ---. Just look at 'im! He's a Demon, with a splinter of a --- inside of him. And he even got a kid that's from the same place as me. Isn't that insane? It would be fun to watch him some more, right? And well, the fact that he may be capable of taking the title of Monster King is also kind of neat, eh? It'd be a while since we've had two splinters in one body."

The Rhida looked back at Eiro, before the armored human spoke up, "I vote to let him live."

With a scoffing sound, the mage looked at the warrior, "When did this become something we just vote on?"

"Just now, of course." The weirdly-dressed man pointed out, "I vote to give him another go as well."

"I do not."

"And neither do I." The Elf and the Rhida replied bluntly, "Would it not be better to simply reset this? While it is true that it is interesting to have someone like him with a splinter of a --- in him, but that doesn't matter in the end. We can just let him pass on and give the splinter to someone else that is more deserving. We didn't really have a say in it this time."

"But that's exactly the point!" The man exlaimed, "We have tried so long to reunite all the splinters in one form, but we have failed every single time! But for once, why don't we let fate do its part? Maybe this was the right choice after all. How about we bet on this sort of coincidence for once? Giving people gifts is great and all, but not everyone turns out to be worthy of such gifts. I think this Demon here is more than just worthy. I mean, look at him!"

With a sigh, the Rhida stared at Eiro, "Do you not realize how ironic it sounds to have you speak of not giving someone gifts, although it is all that you're known for?"

"Oh, and what exactly are you known for? For creeping around amongst trees and covering yourself in mud."

"It is a valid method of disguise."

"Of course it is, bud." The weirdly-dressed human said, "Come on, you two. Don't you think this is exciting? Maybe all we needed is something to go a bit out of control for once. What do you think?"

The Elf and the Rhida looked at each other for a moment before turning back toward Eiro. Now, every one of them was looking at him.

"You have convinced me. Let us try again. If it was the wrong choice, he will be left to die sooner or later anyway. A few more years won't hurt our cause too much, will they?"

"Exactly!" It seemed like now that all four of them were on the same page, with even the two that were against it agreeing to 'give Eiro another chance', the weirdly-dressed man walked up to Eiro and tapped his scorched forehead.

With a broad grin on his face, the man stepped back as he slowly pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small, pitch-black coin, that he then placed on the ground in front of Eiro.

"Of course, we're not gifting anything to you. You still have to work for it yourself. If you don't manage to overcome this at least a little, then that's all you could amount to in the end. Now... Don't disappoint this gambler in front of you."

Suddenly, the four figures in front of Eiro disappeared in a mist, a mist that was eerily similar to that which the notifications were made of. Time slowly proceeded, as Eiro suddenly heard a blade being unsheathed.

It was James, who was trying to push Edward away from Clementine, "Bavet, the hell is this?! You said that the fight was over already!"

The slime stood behind the group, still with a blank expression on his face, "Did... I say that?" He muttered quietly, and James just ground his teeth as he pulled on Clementine's shoulder. It was obvious that James was suffering the most under the vibes that Edward was giving off, as he seemed to be about to throw up, but he fought through it. It made Eiro feel relieved that he was his companion.

After James' prompt, the others seemed to have been able to break out of this paralyzing state as well. Rudy jumped at the Demi-Lich and tried to push him away, but Edward just stepped to the side and kicked Rudy away, pushing him through the room in one single motion. The wall cracked a bit, even.

Krog, James, Arc and Gobo all swung whatever weapon they had on them toward Edward, but all that happened next was that the Demi-Lich moved to the side and pushed Arc, the weakest of the four melee fighters, right toward the others to topple them over. They had still been standing near the doorframe, after all, so they didn't have much space to attack and dodge through.

The only one that really managed so was James, who swung his daggers at Edward together. But just before the blades reached the Demi-Lich, Edward pulled his own body back in an unnatural way and kicked at James, who was still mid-air, and kicked him up into the air. The moment that James hit the ceiling, ethereal hands shot out from it and held him in place.

"You know, even if my very being isn't tainted by necromantic energies, I can still use necromancy. I have a lot more tricks up my sleeve than what I showed you." Edward said with a light smile on his face. Eiro looked at the Undead standing there with his eyes that were forced open.

Everything was going to hell, everything was-

"D-Daddy..?" Suddenly, Avalin opened her eyes again after some of the pressure Edward was giving off let up. With a smile on his face, Edward turned toward the young girl who was held up by Sammy, who was still affected by her own fear, "Don't worry, little girl. His suffering will stop soon."

Slowly, Edward held his hand up to Avalin and looked into her eyes, "Oh... So this is how you were able to get your hands on such strong sacred flames. Interesting."

The Demi-Lich tried to touch Avalin's face, her eyes more specifically, but finally Sammy managed to do something. Her whole body was shaking, but she managed, "Don't touch her!" She exclaimed, and the Demi-Lich's hand froze up.

"Oh? How interesting..." He muttered quietly, "You possess a domain of truth within yourself, and quite a potent one a that. Well, but in the end, words are words, not much you can do about that. Guess I can't touch her for now. Let's start with you then."

"No! How about instead, you just di-" Sammy started, saying a phrase that Eiro had forbidden her from ever saying, but before she could, Edward snapped his fingers. A shadowy mass appeared behind Sammy, and once the shadows faded away, all that was left there was an animated skeleton that was using its hands to force Sammy's mouth shut completetly.

"I don't think so. But I must admit, this is a much better haul than I expected. I will be able to create truly beautiful dolls out of you." Edward pointed out, while Avalin was just staring at him, tears gathering in her eyes, "No... Stop it... Don't hurt them..." She exclaimed. Avalin swung her arms around in fear, and slapped Edward's hand as she was at it. Immediately when they made contact, part of Edward's flesh just disappeared, burnt away immediately.

"...Huh?" Edward muttered quietly, "This... is not something I expected."

Suddenly, Eiro could hear something break apart. It was wood. The things that Jura made to keep Avalin's holy energy sealed away were starting to crack.

"This is quite unpleasant, little girl. I'm sure you don't want to hurt anyone, right?" Edward asked, but Avalin simply kept swinging her arms around, making it hard for Sammy to hold her. Although, the skeletal hands holding onto her mouth were slowly starting to be singed away as well.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop! Leave everyone alone, you baddy! Bring me to my daddy! Show me daddy!" She exclaimed, tears and snot streaming down her face.

Eiro's heart that was barely even beating anymore ached at this sight. This was the breaking point. He couldn't let this all happen to those he cared about. Eiro slowly scraped his hand over the ground, or that which was left of it at least... He didn't even manage to pull it along that much, he just made it twitch a little.

"Eiro..." Nelli muttered as she looked at the Demon she had known for so long nearly die, but Gondos realized something else. He noticed the coin that suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of Eiro. He noticed that nobody else, not even Edward, was able to see it. And so, he realized what was going on, and what Eiro wanted to do.

Without a moment's hesitation, he pointed it out to Nelli. The Naiad looked at Eiro's eyes, or what was left of them. She looked at the barely living demon, and without a moment's hesitation... She dove into Eiro's back, through the sacred flames.

Eiro's gained a little bit of mass, but not a lot. But it was enough, just barely, for Eiro to grab the coin laying in front of him. The Demon closed his hand around the coin, and he swore to be able to see the weirdly-dressed man smirking at the edge of his sight.

And then, right in front of him, Eiro saw notifications appear.

[You have received an Arcane Gift, the <Skill Token>]

[The <Skill Token> will automatically be exchanged for a Unique Skill]

[Extra Ability Unlocked – Empowerment]

[Extra Ability <Empowerment> has been absorbed by the <Skill Token>]

[Instead of a Unique Skill, a Legendary Skill will be constructed]

[The Legendary Skill <Supreme Demon> has been constructed]

[The Skill <Supreme Demon> interacted and momentarily strengthened your <Memory of a Scholar> ability]

[Your body will now be reconstructed as it was in your most recent memory]