Demon's Virtue

"Please, next time, give me a bit of a warning before bringing literally four masters here, will you?" Solomon let out a long, deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose to try and calm down his stress-headache. The demon looked at him with a slight laugh.

"Sorry about that, I just figured you'd like to meet them since they're likely to stay in the area for a while. They're probably going to cause a couple of issues here and there, but I'll be trying what I can to stop anything major from happening."

"...I would appreciate that, thanks," the king let out a long sigh, before glancing over at Eiro, "But really, how are you supposed to be taught by them if you can't even... walk? You're even sitting weirdly."

Eiro thought about it for a moment. He wasn't sure exactly how much he should tell Solomon, but he figured there wouldn't be a problem with just telling him exactly what his plan was, "Well, from the way things are going, it looks like Arcanus sort of work a bit differently than imps do in regard to their evolution."

"...In what way?"

"Hm... do you know what 'Chrysalis' is?" Eiro asked, and Solomon raised his brows surprised.

"Of course I do... are you going to enter a coccoon?"

The demon quickly nodded, "It does look that way. My body is breaking down in a way that I can't imagine anything else, and it looks like I'll have to figure out how to create a coccoon within the next couple of days.

I can already feel the structure of my stinger changing, it looks like that's where I'll be secreting the coccoon's substance from," Eiro explained, "And then, once I'm inside, my body will liquify and my new body will form. It's actually not totally uncommon for higher tier monsters to have this sort of evolution, especially demons. We have a surprising amount of insectoid traits."

Solomon nervously looked at his friend, "Will your mind be okay?"

Eiro quickly nodded, "Of course. I haven't noticed any changes to my nervous system. Well, I guess that's not true, I've been feeling a bit numb all over, but the changes aren't going to be same. I assume my nerves will be a bit more sensitive after my evolution, but that's really it. I should be able to stay conscious throughout so that I can complete my training."

"How will you train from your coccoon, then?" Solomon asked, not sure if he was really following. Eiro smiled, somewhat excited.

"So, one of my abilities I attained after I became the World was Ability Absorption. Of course, I don't directly absorb abilities, it's more metaphorical than that – I can adapt my bodies to match the physical abilities of those I watch. The more I watch them, the more those changes happen, and the more my body becomes able to use those things.

It's down to the point where I can basically copy muscle memory, though it's still a bit different than that, of course," Eiro explained, "So, while I am within my coccoon, I am going to create some duplicates.

Each of those duplicates will train with one of the masters, and since my consciousness is completely connected to theirs, I can have my body adjust to the way the masters move and the way my duplicates train, which should boost the results of my physical reconstruction quite a bit."

Solomon listened to Eiro's explanation, placing his index finger and thumb onto his chin in thought, "I see... That does seem like it would work, doesn't it? But what about emergencies, I thought your duplicates can't get too far away from you."

The Demon quickly nodded, "Right, of course. In usual cases that is definitely true. But I got the Author's Pen after killing the Devil. Using that, it's possible to strengthen certain effects of a card if done right, and luckily I have Partax with me to help me figure out how. I should be able to at least boost the range quite a bit, at least for the duration of my time in the coccoon.

At the very least for emergencies within the capital, I will be available. But even if we can't increase the range somehow... there are literally seven masters living in my home. Well, Koperia is more of a part-time roommate, but you get the gist of what I'm saying, right?"

With a slight laugh, the king nodded his head, "Yeah, you're right. There's no way anything could threaten either the capital or your home while that is happening, huh?"

With a laugh, Eiro agreed, "Right? As long as the Monster King himself doesn't attack, that is."

"...Please don't even joke about that," Solomon shuddered, and Eiro smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry. But anyway, that's the plan right now. I didn't expect the evolution to be this rough either; I mean, the last one was already pretty tough, so I expected this one to be a bit easier on me. Last time I became a completely different species..." Eiro sighed lightly, and Solomon frowned lightly as he remembered something related to that.

"Speaking of... you went to hell, right?" Solomon asked, and Eiro nodded his head, "Did you become a... lord?"

"Mhm. I had an audience with the Demon King and was given the position of a Demon Lord. I have a territory in hell now. Actually, I can probably create a gateway there right now, if you'd like to take a look," Eiro suggested, holding forward his hand, just waiting for permission. And Solomon actually seemed to be considering it, but he ended up shaking his head, denying the opportunity.

Eiro couldn't blame him; even if it was relatively safe since he would be with Eiro, what sane person would excitedly go to hell? Actually, there might be a few individuals like that, but Eiro wasn't necessarily planning on engaging with those.

"Maybe some other time. But does that give you any other abilities? Powers?"

Eiro shrugged, "It gives me a certain amount of control over all demonkind, and absolute dominion over all my direct subjects. Meaning, all other Arcani."

Solomon's eyes widened, "Wait, there's more-"

"No, there's not. I'm the only Arcanus, at least for the time being. Who knows, I might figure out how to create more in the future, but currently that's not the case," Eiro explained, "Whenever a new species of demons came to be in the past, the Demon King had birthed the first generation all at once.

They would then live within hell for a while, killing each other quickly and reproducing even faster, until one showed itself exemplary enough to deserve being crowned a lord, and then that was that. For me, it was different. Because I was never a descendant of the Demon King in the first place, as all other demons are, my legendary evolution allowed me to become a whole new species.

And since every species of demon has a lord, being the only demon of my species and strong enough to deserve the title of lord, that's just what happened."

"So... what's the benefit to being a Demon Lord?"

"The fuck do I know? It definitely doesn't hurt, you know. I mean, it gives me a direct link to hell, meaning I have an infinite supply of unholy energy, similarly to how I have the spirit gateways. And it does give me an immense boost for any unholy magics that I do in the future, plus an increase in the efficiency of any proper demonology I will try to work with."

"Eiro, please don't summon any demons into my kingdom," Solomon said in a pleading tone, but Eiro just shook his head.

"That wasn't my plan, don't worry. That's not the only thing demonology can do. Though, I might summon a few demons into the Monster Town to try and see how well I can get rid of their monstrosity. Though I don't have high hopes, most demons are kind of... yuck."

Solomon scoffed, "Did you just say 'yuck'?"

"...Avalin's been using that word a lot recently, it's not my fault."

"Right, right," Solomon smiled, "Either way, if there's anything big happening in the future, please do keep me more informed, alright? And not just because I'm the king, but because I'm your friend. You're my greatest benefactor at this point, there is no way I wouldn't be concerned for you and the things that happen to and around you."

Eiro smiled, nodding, "I will do my best to keep you better informed in the future. Though, that does remind me... I've been hoping to start working out some level of trade between the Monster Town and the capital. Nothing major, but I've recently taken in some... people.

They obviously require different care from the monsters for the time being until things adjust a bit more, especially in regard to food and clothing."

Solomon leaned back curiously, "You've taken in people?"

"Yes, I hadn't gone into much detail because the situation was somewhat unexpected, but I told you about the refugees from the village that the Devil was controlling, right?

While I placed some of them into the village you told me about, the rest have chosen to migrate into the monster town," Eiro explained, but before Solomon could worry, he continued, "They're all currently in a separate area and are being protected by Gobo and the others. Nothing will happen to them, and they all chose to stay in the monster town, even after I explained the situation to them.

I even showed them my true identity."

Solomon was surprised, but not shocked, "Well... we can certainly have some items prepared, but it would be better if some of your monsters come to pick them up. Nobody else knows about the existence of the town yet, and I don't want my men to interfere with your plans."

"That's perfect. I'll have to go visit the town, then," Eiro said with a smile, pushing himself off the couch. Solomon's eyes widened, staring at what was left on the cushions. The demon clicked his tongue.

He picked up the skin of his hand that had slipped off his flesh like a full glove, "Sorry, that got loose earlier."