Demon's Virtue

Eiro took a deep breath and looked at the snow in front of his feet. It was the third night in a row that he spent out here, trying to strenghten the energy that the Death Magic stone gave off in order to lure someone here.

Most of the time, the ones that came here were just weak Undead Hunters, which were soon added to Eiro's collection of bodies underneath the ice. But it's been getting a little bit boring, since he really couldn't do anything. He didn't want to become one of Eliza Koperia's targets, after all, so he had to be fully aware of anything going on around him at all times. He couldn't mess around with someone that possessed a Master grade skill, after all.

However, since it was around 4 in the morning now, Eiro had to start heading back home and prepare to leave for the classes he would be teaching later today. He stretched a bit and cracked his knuckles, slowly spreading out his wings.

One more time, Eiro checked his surroundings. There was nothing of interest around him. A pile of snow to his left, a crow on a branch to his right, a hooded figure just a few meters behind his back. And last, the pine tree right in front of him.

Truly, nothing of interest.

"Ah... Fuck that..." Eiro groaned loudly, as he without a moment's hesitation snapped his finger. Through Sarius' help, he created a rather dense, incredibly bright sphere of flames behind the pine tree before diving into the shadow that it created. The next moment, Eiro already found himself underneath the hooded figure.

He dove out and tried to attack it, but at that point, the figure already jumped out of the way. Eiro grinned broadly, although his mind was in disarray. He couldn't see what was beyond the black void created by that hood. Something like this never happened before. It made Eiro just the more horrified, but excited just the same.

"Now tell me, what are you?" Eiro asked with a grin on his face, and the hooded figure simply stood there. And with an unnatural motion of its body, it swung its right arm to the side. Space itself seemed to shift, as if someone cut a picture in two and was slowly pulling the two parts away from each other.

With everything that he had in his arsenal, Eiro proceeded to protect himself. He hardened his skin many times over along the area that the cut would hit, and he tried to protect himself by imbuing his will into the chaos that surrounded him. And on top of that, Eiro even tried to slow down time with the bit that he had left on the ring he carried with him.

However, none of it worked. Space was still split apart, and Eiro felt warm blood flowing down his chest underneath his armor. The armor itself was completely undamaged. That cut only touched Eiro's flesh.

If he tried to fight this being, then the outcome was more than just clear. Eiro would die, that was clear. This was a similar sensation he felt when he met that crow Eiro at the mountain where the Orcs used to live.

"..Crow..?" Eiro muttered, and turned his head to the side. There was no way, right? Did that crow come and bring a buddy with it to finally kill Eiro? Fear started to bubble up inside of Eiro's chest. Eiro's heart started beating faster and faster as he finally found the crow he saw just a bit ago again.

And just now he got a good look at it... It was a regular crow, just that its eyes were hollowed out. Its body was half-rotten, and it clearly had some bite-marks in its body from when a wolf killed it. This crow was undead. How did Eiro not see all those things before?

In that very moment, Eiro's fear turned into excitement, "Ah... Haha... So it's you, huh? Nice to meet you, Koperia!" The Demon screamed out in ecstasy, before he felt a cold touch on his shoulder.

"Oh, you know who I am? I guess I'm kind of famous that way, huh?" A seductive voice whispered into Eiro's ear, as he just now noticed the woman standing behind him. However, the hooded figure was still there not too far away from him. Meaning that he wasn't fighting Koperia..?

"You did well not to die against that doll's attack. It's one of my favorites, you know?" The woman asked as she casually stepped around Eiro's body. At the same time, the hooded figure's body became clad in black flames and disappeared into nothingness soon after.

"I was just... fighting one of your undead..?" The Demon muttered. It's been a while since he's felt this way.

Eiro already knew two people with Master-grade skills. Jura and Armodeus. However, their skills were laid out for creation. And this woman's skill was laid out for utter destruction. The Demon could feel Koperia's freezing touch. Her skin was as cold as a corpse, but for some reason it felt like it was much colder than that.

Koperia slowly leaned in toward Eiro, "I guess you'll be a nice toy... It's been a while since I've had a Demon like you with me." She pushed her face toward Eiro's, as if she was about to touch her lips against his. However, she stopped just a moment before making contact, and quietly began to speak.

But before she could finish her first word, the Demon spoke instead, "I was raised by Jura!" 

For just a few seconds, it was like everything stopped, and was dragged out to be infinitely long. So much so that Eiro wondered whether or not he activated the time-stopping ring again.

"Jura, you say? It's been a while since I've heard that name... Do you have anything to back up that claim of yours?" Koperia asked, and Eiro slowly raised his right hand, "Just take a look..."

The woman turned her head to the side as she took a step back, and soon saw the wooden hand on the Demon's hand, "While that is not Jura's handiwork... It sure does seem quite similar."

Koperia turned around and stepped away, so that Eiro could get a good look at her. Her skin was nearly as white as the snow she stood on. But despite the weather, she was clad in rather revealing clothes, as if the cold didn't bother her in the slightest. Her long, pitch-black hair seemed like it was going to pull Eiro in if he looked at it just for a moment longer, and both her eyes and lips seemed touched by fresh blood.

She had a certain sort of liveliness in her movements when she walked, but while she stood still, it seemed like Eiro ws looking at someone that had barely just passed.

"He... He taught me... I'm not even close to as skilled as he was, but I won't stop working until I am..." The Demon explained to Koperia. She locked eyes with Eiro, and the Demon's heart continued beating ever faster, "From your choice of words... It seems he has passed on?" 

Eiro slowly looked down at the ground and nodded his head, "More than a year ago, yes. I gave him the burial he wanted, don't worry." 

Koperia stayed silent for a moment. For a split-second, it seemed like she wore a bitter expression, but that quickly faded away a moment after, "Ahh... Too bad, he would have made for a gre-"

"If you dare finish that sentence, I'll kill you." Eiro growled, although all of his instincts told him that he was going to die before he could even draw his weapon.

Koperia turned her head away, "I apologize, that might have been a bit insensitive. Now, tell me, why are you playing around with magic that is not your own?" 

"To lure you here." Eiro said bluntly. Koperia curiously looked at Eiro, "To lure me here? Are you saying you are the necromancer I heard rumors of?"

"No, that necromancer is made up. There is a powerful 'Lich' like being near this town, but that's not the type of necromancer you're looking for, is it?" Eiro pointed out. Koperia turned her head toward Eiro and frowned suspiciously, "Are you trying to tell me that you made that necromancer up, just for the chance to meet me? Quite a hardcore fan, aren't you?"

The demon looked back at Koperia, and didn't even have the energy to talk back to her, "I need your help with something. I-"

"You have a soul that doesn't fit your race, don't you?" Koperia asked, "Yeah, I can tell that it's rather poorly matched, but you've done quite well with it despite that fact."

"You can tell just by looking at me..?" 

"Of course, who do you think I am? If I couldn't even do that, it would be tough to call me 'Queen of Undeath', wouldn't it? But is that all? Can I kill you and take your body now?"

Eiro grinned lightly, "If you wanted to do that at this point, I would already be dead, right? Come to my house, I'm sure Armodeus would love to see you again as well."

"Huh? Armodeus is there as well? How unexpected... that man never used to leave his workshop back in the day." Koperia said in a wondrous voice, "Very well, I will listen to your requests in more detail later, once I confirmed if you are speaking the truth. Now, follow me." 

"....Shouldn't I lead the way to my home?" Eiro asked with a wry smile.