Awareness

Duskfall Keep, underground laboratory.

The voice of a guard came from outside the door: "Lord Demon King, Duke Sigmund has arrived."

"Lead him to my study; I will head there shortly."

Having said that, the Demon King refocused his attention on the sample in front of him, which was completely parasitized by mycelium.

Within the rooms of the basement were hosts of various races who had been parasitized, and even a parasitic tree that was the source of the [Fusion Parasitism] skill.

Half a day later.

Watching the mycelium, which had been cleared from the sample, grow back once more after being slightly replenished with mana, the Demon King let out a soft sigh: "This won't work either."

Only then did he remember that Sigmund was still waiting for him in the study, and he hurried out of the basement.

"I hope he doesn't misunderstand this as me giving him a display of authority."

Among the remaining Dukes and Princes of the Empire, the Demon King's evaluation of Sigmund was quite good.

Although he was ambitious and used any means necessary to achieve his goals, he was at least capable and fairly intelligent.

Such a person could be considered a capable assistant as long as his strength did not exceed one's control.

The only thing that puzzled the Demon King was that Sigmund seemed to be intentionally hiding his image.

Before today's meeting, the Demon King had already held two major meetings through that set of communication crystals.

In everyone else's crystals, there were silhouettes of themselves.

Only Sigmund's crystal was pitch black every time, obscuring all of the already sparse visual information.

Combined with the intelligence from the Empire's information department that Sigmund had been quietly recruiting evil mages, the Demon King suspected that Sigmund might have come into too much contact with Abyss magic, causing certain mutations in his body.

If that were truly the case, he would have to consider transferring Sigmund away from High Keep Fortress.

Leaving such an important fortress—one good for both offense and defense—in the hands of an unstable element who was obsessed with Abyss magic and might cause major trouble at any time was clearly not a wise move.

Carrying various concerns, the Demon King pushed open the door to the study and immediately saw the meatball standing in front of his desk.

During the second of silence from the Demon King, the meatball managed to perform a noble's salute toward him.

"Cough, cough," confirming the status panel, this meatball was indeed named Sigmund. "No need to be formal, please sit—"

Realizing that Sigmund had been standing since he entered, and looking at the chair behind him which was much smaller than the meatball, green light glowed at the Demon King's fingertips. The floor of the study grew and curved, quickly forming a chair large enough to accommodate the Duke—it was much larger than the one the Demon King sat in himself.

The Demon King gestured again: "Please, sit."

Seeing Sigmund's appearance, the Demon King understood that he hadn't intentionally obscured his appearance during the Crystal Council; the crystal was simply too small to display his full form.

As for the Abyss magic he had been worried about, after quietly inspecting Sigmund's panel, the Demon King found that although the other party was indeed affected by Abyss magic, the degree was not deep.

At least not to the point where it was necessary to replace the person in charge of High Keep Fortress.

This was why the Demon King insisted on meeting his new subordinates in person; the information provided by the status panel was more than any investigation.

Just like this time, merely by meeting and before even starting to discuss anything, he had resolved his previous confusion and—discovered the real problem.

[Status: Mental Adhesion]

The meaning of this status was that the spirit was contaminated by something and was no longer pure or singular.

It could be impurities from the Abyss, or it could be—

With a normal expression, the Demon King began to discuss with Sigmund the matter of increasing strength in the south and the need for him to make preparations in advance.

"Look at this disgusting soft-bodied creature; a glob of slime can actually be called the Demon King? He's not even as easy on the eyes as Mortis!"

Sigmund ignored the Roommate in his head who had been non-stop badmouthing the Demon King since the meeting began, trying his best not to let the Demon King see anything unusual.

Sigmund was quite nervous now, not only because he was meeting the legendary Demon King, but also because of his current state—not referring to his physique, of course.

Not much of the Roommate's soul was left.

Initially, he had predicted that as a foreign soul in the state of rootless water, even if the Roommate's soul volume was exceptionally massive, it should have dissipated after two and a half years.

Now that two and a half years had passed, the Roommate was still persisting.

Although his calculation had deviated, it was a fact that the Roommate's soul was continuously draining.

Currently, the Roommate's soul was still huge, but the comparison was like a goblin looking at a troll, rather than the gap at their first meeting, which felt like looking up at a high mountain.

For Sigmund, the most difficult days had passed. Now, even if the Roommate wanted to forcibly use his body, Sigmund, bolstered by his own physical form, could barely resist a bit.

But precisely at a time like this, Sigmund instead tried his best to go along with some of the Roommate's actions.

There was no need to risk a confrontation. Just wait a bit longer, a month or two, and this Roommate of his would dissipate naturally.

Therefore, even though the Roommate hadn't mentioned it, he tried his best to hide it, not wanting the Demon King to see any clues.

Sigmund did not know how the Demon King would treat him if he found out, and he did not want to take unnecessary risks.

So far, everything was going smoothly, except for the Roommate having an unusual amount of malice toward the Demon King for some unknown reason.

At the end of the conversation, the Demon King said with a smile: "By the way, I have something here that should be of help to you."

Sigmund asked in confusion: "Helpful to me?"

"Follow me."

Led by the Demon King, Sigmund walked into the basement of Duskfall Keep.

This underground space had clearly existed for a long time. The internal passages were complex, with many compartments, most of which were guarded by sentries.

After entering a room that seemed no different from the other compartments, the Demon King closed the door. Under Sigmund's gaze, he unhurriedly activated the runes in the room.

Patterns spread across the room. The next moment, Sigmund felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow. He could hardly control his own body and nearly collapsed to the floor.

At the same time, the Roommate's scream rang out in his mind: "Sinister little sli—"

The voice cut off abruptly.

The protective amulet at Sigmund's waist lit up automatically, and a Sobriety spell was applied to his body, helping him recover from his grogginess.

The instant he regained consciousness, he pricked his palm. A large amount of fresh blood was pulled out, transforming into a blood weapon.

Even if it was the Demon King in front of him, even knowing there was almost no chance of winning, he, Sigmund, would never sit and wait for death!

A pseudo-leg made of mucus extended from beneath the Demon King's robe, wrapping around Sigmund's wrist and interrupting his half-cast [Blood Manipulation].

However, the Demon King did not take any further aggressive actions. Instead, he proactively comforted him: "Don't be nervous. Like I said, this should be helpful to you. Feel it carefully; have the impurities in your spirit already been shielded?"

"Impurities?" Looking at the Demon King, Sigmund discovered that he indeed could not hear the Roommate's nagging anymore.

"Sigmund, now, can you tell me what the problem with your spirit actually is?"

(End of Chapter)