How boring… Although powerful, these abilities completely lack the sheer power some others may have. My uncle's chains come from the same demon that gifted a sword to my father and are capable of sealing off an ability. The pipe has a much higher potential, and so do his strange tattoos.
I exhaled as I've felt more disappointed than ever.
My father has an ability that makes him immortal stored in his heart, and look what I got… a pinky finger that at best can shoot lightning… At least it's just a small, useless finger and not something more important.
Just the mental image was demotivating to see.
Maybe if I can train it, I can… Who am I kidding? This demon was at best of green grade. No, wait, usually demons in that category can't create their own domains? Then why is this guy so disappointing?
Before I knew it, I had walked back to my uncle's house. Currently, the many butlers were working around the clock to fix all the things we broke during our fight as well as fixing the yard that was ruined by the black ink secreted by the demon.
Wow, I didn't see it at first, but their house was wrecked. I wonder how or why that wall I held on to stood intact while the rest crumbled…
Do all houses have certain parts more durable than others?
Ilay was supervising the whole process.
Now that I think about it, the uncle and the twins are away on a work trip. Why did he leave Ilay behind? Was it to keep an eye on us? Is that why he joined us today?
Ilay was definitely the most competent out of the three siblings; unlike the rest, he was trained ever since he was four years old. Not only that, but he accompanied the uncle on all of his work trips ever since he was six, so he's the one with the most experience, or at least he should be.
He noticed my presence immediately.
He turned around the moment I crossed the gate. He seemed somewhat on guard at first but quickly relaxed as soon as he saw me.
Oh, right, now that I also hold a demon, he can sense my presence.
I couldn't exactly sense his demonic energy. He had an extremely faint smell that was hard to pick up, and since the whole place smelled weird, it was a bit difficult to differentiate all the various scents.
"How are you feeling, Lucky?" He asked me as he kept looking over the many servants as they were slowly fixing the house.
"Ugh, disappointed, this demon was probably either green or purple grade, yet the abilities he gave to me are so ass! Thankfully I gave it just one finger, but still…" I complained. He chuckled in response.
"Sometimes they don't necessarily have to be the strongest thing; it all depends on how they work together. For example, I hold two artifacts, one is Recoil and the other is Collapse. One allows me to redirect the damage done in a short window, and the other delays any injury done to me so I can take it all in one single instance. That way, no matter what happens, I will always be invincible to some extent." He explained to cheer me up.
"But Uncle chose those artifacts for you; not only that, but since they're just artifacts, you didn't have to sacrifice a part of your body." I responded.
"I did; almost a quarter of my body is no longer my own." He said, the tone of his voice shifted, the mood soured, and his eyes quickly looked at the ground, filled with melancholy.
Yes, but the demons you've absorbed were all vetted by the uncle, so my point still stands.
"You could've chosen not to take them; why did you do it?" I then asked him.
"Because we're the cursed generation, so to stay alive, I'm going to be as prepared as possible." He responded.
"You believe in that stuff?" I was surprised; the legends often said that the great families that made a living off being renowned explorers always met their end at the ninth generation, which was surprising as Ilay looked to be the most competent and composed of his siblings.
"I had plenty of time to study and saw that in one way or another, that always happened; that's why my father and yours changed professions before having us. If they too believe it, then it means it is true." He answered.
I didn't know how to answer that statement. If he studied and said so, then it meant it probably was true. There was no reason for him to lie to me, meaning I too was at risk.
Seriously? Fuck, does this mean I'm also fucked? Do I also have to train constantly like my father to survive? Ah, my cushy and easy life is already slipping from my grasp…
"Don't worry, we'll find a way to get through this… Everything is going to be fine." He said as he patted my head to calm me down.
Don't worry, my ass… You just told me I won't live to see myself die of old age. How am I supposed to take this?
"Luca! Are you okay? How did it go? I saw that you've absorbed the demon. What abilities have you gained from it?" Leonhart suddenly hugged me from behind.
Ah, yeah, I should've known you would've obsessed over the demonic powers I just received. Should I show them to him? No, what if he also remains disappointed in them?
"Luucaa! Don't ignore me; can you show them to me?" He kept begging and begging until I finally gave up.
"Okay, you won; just don't get too disappointed over these abilities because they are kind of… basic." I said as I distanced myself.
"Be careful not to damage the house any further." Ilay warned me.
Yeah, yeah, whatever, it's not like you will sleep there tonight… You'll probably sleep in the guest room tonight…
As I concentrated, the finger on my left pinky vanished as all of its power suddenly burst through my veins; it flowed through my whole body and coated it as it slowly transformed. A halo formed over my head, wings sprouted from my back, and scales covered the right side of my body.
"Ohhhhh! A dual demon! No, this is much more than that! The energies are actually split, so these are two demons; they're almost completely split! How did you do it? What is this madness?" Leo seemed more excited than ever upon witnessing my transformation.
Well, I don't know; the demons were about to kill each other when I absorbed them, so it turned out like this… I really have no way of explaining it.
"It's madness to think you are able to seal two demons in the same body part; they were probably about to split, but how did it manage to reach that stage?" He asked while I used the power of the first stage to manifest floating weapons all around me.
Without me noticing, Ilay grabbed one of the swords floating around me and used it to strike me using the flat side of the sword, sending me flying away.
"Mhh, this ability is much worse than I originally—" He commented.
"What was that for?" I yelled out in response as soon as I was able to get up.
I wanted to fly away, but the wings had been too badly damaged and needed some time to heal back, so I pointed my right arm at Ilay and used the other ability.
Electric sparks emerged from underneath the scales before the whip-like lightning struck, yet I was the only one who was affected by it.
Fuck, I forgot about that artifact!
"And you're not immune from it; it looks like you've gotten hold of quite the troublesome ability." I heard his voice behind me; he was stepping on my back, pulling back my wings to examine them.
What— I didn't even see him move. Does he also have an ability that allows him to use teleportation? That's unbelievably broken!
So I shifted to the second stage and allowed the power of the angel to overtake the entire body, removing the scales on the right side and blinding my own eyes as more eyes emerged on the many more wings that appeared on my back.
From the halo a beam emerged, pushing him back.