Chapter 178: New Evil Crafts

"Hmmm, they only look tough, but they also are kinda soft..."

Aurelia had a satisfied expression on her face as she played with Regis’s tail.

Unexpectedly, despite being full of sharp black scales, it did not hurt her hands as she caressed it softly.

The sharp triangular end of the tail only moved slowly.

"Right? I first thought that these demonic scales were scary, but they also are kind of cool too..."

Killian’s eyes were sparkling as he examined the armor-like demonic scales on Regis’s arms, hands, and the sharp demonic claws that replaced his nails.

Meanwhile, Pandora stood in front of Regis with her hands on both of his horns.

She just stood still without any signs of movement.

It seemed quite anticlimactic, but observing the shine in her ruby red eyes and the slight smirk on her lips showed she was enjoying it.

In the meantime, Regis sat cross-legged with his eyes closed as he was still in a state of meditation.

However, it was at this point that both Pandora and Killian widened their eyes at the same time.

They glanced at each other before backing off and retrieving their weapons, their eyes not leaving Regis as they did so.

Urgency filled their eyes, their hands unconsciously tightening the grip on their weapons.

"Did you feel it too?" Killian asked, to which Pandora nodded in reply.

Seeing their serious expressions, Aurelia, who was behind them, asked confusely, "What happened?"

Unlike the two of them, her senses weren’t honed.

Thus, she felt surprised when Pandora suddenly grabbed her as they distanced themselves from Regis.

Killian was the one to answer her question, "I’m not really sure myself, but..."

"...the pressure that came so suddenly earlier– it’s much more than any demons we have encountered so far, it’s like..."

Killian’s eyes trembled as he mustered all his strength before continuing,

"...a devil."

The primal fear that had gripped his heart earlier still lingered as he pressed a trembling hand against his chest.

It appeared so suddenly out of nowhere, catching both him and Pandora off guard.

Seeing their serious expressions, Aurelia’s eyes darkened.

"Come on, it’s Regis. There’s no way he’ll hurt us—"

As she finished speaking, Regis, who had been sitting still since earlier, suddenly opened his eyes.

THUMP— THUMP— THUMP—

Heartbeats drowned the three’s ears, feeling an overwhelming pressure bore down against them.

"Huuhp—" Aurelia gasped for air while clutching her chest as her knees buckled.

Killian and Pandora only lasted for a second before uncontrollably kneeling as well.

"B-Brother..." Pandora clenched her teeth.

"W-What the hell..." Killian cursed under his breath.

They felt dizzy and nauseous as their heartbeats continued to beat louder, and ringing filled their ears.

Fortunately, it did not last any longer as Regis seemed to come to his senses.

"W-What happened?"

He stuttered upon noticing that his companions were all on fours on the ground.

"T-Took you long e-enough..." Killian smiled.

Regis hurriedly helped Pandora sit near their camp, followed by Aurelia and Killian.

"Who did this to you? Did someone attack us?"

Seeing his concerned expression, Killian chuckled, "Yes, you."

"What..." Regis glanced at Aurelia and Pandora.

He dispelled his demonization and listened closely as they recounted what had happened.

"I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again."

Regis begged for their forgiveness while he was grovelling on the ground on all fours.

"B-Brother, don’t do that." Pandora was flustered at his sudden action.

Aurelia could not help but giggle at his silliness, "It’s not that serious..."

Killian also felt that he was exaggerating, "Boss, you don’t really need to do that. No one’s hurt, so it’s all good. By the way, is that another of your cool evil crafts?"

Seeing his companions’ reactions, Regis smiled, "Well, I guess I do owe all of you an explanation."

He first explained what the red space was and then recounted what had happened when the darkness swallowed him.

"I really did not think much of it since I already did it three times. But I did not expect the origin of the Devil of Darkness and Sin to be that different..."

If it were not for his Perfect Adaptation, then Regis would have been a goner.

The darkness that swallowed him made him feel like the negative emotions of all beings were thrust upon his soul, like the evilness of the world itself had consumed him.

It was a surreal experience.

Even with his gift, he still took around ten minutes to adapt to the "pure evil" that assaulted him.

Regis could feel goosebumps all over his body, "However, I haven’t really combed through my memories so I still don’t know what evil craft I got."

"I also don’t want to risk it, because of what happened..."

To his surprise, Aurelia was the one to speak first, "So that’s how the demons grow strong at a fast rate, huh?"

Upon realizing that she spoke out loud, Aurelia covered her mouth, "I’m sorry, it’s just that my father has always told me what happened in his meetings and..."

"...demons were always the topic of his rants." She continued after a pause.

"B-But, I’m not– please don’t be angry at me, Regis."

"Huh? Why would I be? I don’t really have a touch of a demon’s blood in my body." Regis had an awkward smile on his face as he reassured them that he was human.

Aurelia bowed, "I’m sorry!"

"It’s fine, I understand."

The night went on like any other as Pandora, Killian, and Aurelia went to each of their respective tents.

However, Regis decided to stay outside.

’What the hell was that?’

There was something that bothered him.

He had left out his meeting with whom he assumed to be Rebelina, the Devil of Decay and Corruption, since he did not want them to have any unnecessary worries.

However, Regis left out another thing: the fact that he saw an eye when he was submerged in the darkness.

’Since that origin was owned by the Devil of Darkness and Sin, then that would be...’

The eye of Lemegeton, the leader of the devils.

Though he did not dare speak of that name.

After all, it was common sense for everyone that the mere mention of that name could spell disaster for them.

Regis shook his head, deciding not to think about it anymore, and instead, began combing through his memories.

He had first distanced himself about a hundred meters away from their camp to avoid any kind of accidents like what happened earlier.

It was then that he noticed two new memories in his mind.

[Sinful Arbiter of Darkness] and [Devil’s Gaze]

For the first one, he was able to "remember" some things.

[Darkness will give you strength]

[As long as you will it, the world will be engulfed in darkness]

[You will instantly sense the darkness one had in their hearts]

[Darkness is your court]

Regis instinctively knew that Sinful Arbiter of Darkness had both passive and active states.

Aside from this, he could also sense that it came with more sub-evil crafts.

"Isn’t this too powerful? And as long as I don’t activate it fully, no one will know that it’s an evil craft!?"

He could not help but feel excited at the thought.

If it were true, then this would be the first evil craft that he could use out in the open.

Regis then focused on the second memory: Devil’s Gaze.

Unfortunately for him, he was not able to "remember" anything regarding it.

"Strange... this is the first time I’m able to get two evil crafts, but..."

He then shook his head, "No, I should still be thankful that I got stronger."

"I won’t let another one of my friends die. Alaric will be the last..."

Regis muttered as he gazed at the stars shining in the night sky, his blood-red eyes filled with lingering regret.

He then started to walk towards their camp, feeling a bit sleepy.

However, a surprised expression soon appeared on his face.

Regis sensed the state of his body and found out that no matter how he moved, he didn’t seem to feel any exhaustion.

Two Red Stars appeared on his chest as he chanted; [Lux Aeterna]

Instantly, the world became black and white.

He once again sensed the state of his body, this time focusing on the consumption of his aura.

Soon enough, Regis felt overjoyed.

"What the..."

He could feel that the consumption of his aura drastically decreased.

Dispelling his aura art, Regis muttered out loud, "Is this the effect of the evil craft?"

He could not believe the effects despite its passive state.

"So, I can basically become way stronger just by standing in the dark?"

A smile crept its way up to his lips, "I can try it, right?"

Regis initially felt uninterested in trying out his new evil craft, but changed his mind upon feeling its sheer effect.

Thus, without wasting another second, a chant left his lips.

[Sinful Arbiter of Darkness]