Chapter 14 The Awakened Shadow Demon

In the game, when searching Veronica's body, you can get [A Letter from Someone to the Noble Red Society].

This is a guaranteed drop item for the early main quests. It's used directly to unlock the next stage of the main quests.

And this "someone" was the agent of "a certain minister" who was later involved in the incident.

Aiwass couldn't remember who this someone was specifically, nor did he remember who that minister was...but it was enough to know a general idea.

It’s just like during the final exam, the teacher has already defined the scope of the exam in advance.

Excluding those who Aiwass had no impression of and those who he knew for sure could not be the person, there were actually only three possible people left.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Attorney General, Secretary of State for Trade.

What they have in common is that all three of them are powerful, over fifty years old, usually kind and popular, and middle-aged fat men whose shoes cannot be seen when they look down in casual clothes - this is Aiwass's impression of this "certain minister".

The classic three-choice one is yes.

One of the three was bribed by a spy sent by the Star Antimony Kingdom to regularly and secretly provide the Kingdom with top-secret high-level intelligence. The remaining two were innocent.

——The medium they used to transmit intelligence was the "Noble Red Society".

The Star Antimony Kingdom, behind the Noble Red Society, intends to overthrow the Kingdom of Avalon - this was the main storyline until version 2.0.

This minister was the traitor who connected the Star Antimony Kingdom with Avalon.

A true traitor.

The letters he exchanged with me were naturally top secret. Something this important would definitely not leave my body.

After all, there are many thieves in Avalon. If they steal something like this quietly and then make it known to the public, they will have many lives to lose.

If this letter fell into the hands of the Supervisory Bureau, it might not have any effect. If he had planted a nail in the Supervisory Bureau, he might have been directly cleared out.

But when Aiwass got it, things were different.

He could easily follow this letter and trace back to that "someone." Then he would know which of the three classic choices was the traitor.

[…My Master]

A low, roaring, hoarse voice, like a lion just waking up, sounded in Aiwas' ears.

That was the shadow demon under Aiwass.

A slender black snake made of pure shadow, as thick as a girl's arm, crawled along Aiwass's left leg, waist, chest, and all the way to his throat.

The shadow snake's eyes glowed scarlet, and it hissed and spit out black, smoky snake tongue.

Then the lion-like voice turned into a hoarse snake-like voice:

What are you doing in...?

"As you can see, destroying evidence of my own crime."

Aiwass was not afraid at all, and did not even lower his head to look at the black snake wrapped around his neck.

He was just concentrating on retrieving evidence from Veronica, and casually replied, "And searching for evidence of other people's crimes."

When communicating with these demons, you must not appear tired or afraid.

Because the more you fear it and dread it, the more the devil will look down on you.

The so-called "demon" is not the alien creature from the abyss in other fantasy settings, but a type of phantom demon.

The most accurate term is that only phantom demons from the transcendental path are called demons. However, after the term was generalized, phantom demons from other paths that do evil, phantom demons with dark attributes, and phantom demons that look like demons were all generalized as demons.

Phantom demons are special beings without a physical body, no lifespan, and no final death. They belong to a single path, possess self-awareness, and the potential to gradually grow stronger. Most are born from drawing power from different paths, though a small number are transformed from living things.

Aiwas's sister Julia is in very poor health. Specifically, she is in a state of almost perpetual fever - this is because the seeds of the phantom demon are growing in her body. From this perspective, she can be regarded as a sacrifice for the birth of the phantom demon.

A Demonologist who mistakenly advanced could also transform himself into a demon through a complex ritual. In other words, he would directly become a phantom demon.

These are the two main ways to transform into a phantom demon.

Because orthodox demons all come from the Way of Transcendence, they all share the pure nature of "intending to surpass the strong and despising the weak." This means they possess strength, initiative, and a proud, ambitious character.

The demons that signed the contract can gain experience in practicing the path of transcendence while their masters are walking on it, something they cannot do on their own.

Because the native demons lack desires of their own - they lack goals to surpass.

As long as the future is promising and there are clear goals and strengths... that is, as long as the devil can prove his determination and ability to walk on the "path of transcendence", he will not betray his master for the time being.

If a demon recognizes a temporary master, even if the master falls into a desperate situation, they will not defect and will even fight for their master to the very end. Because demons do not dissipate with the death of their master, they do not fear death. If the master can survive the inevitable end, this powerful sense of destiny that transcends difficult circumstances will deeply satisfy the demon.

Therefore, if the devil feels that you are not pure enough, not capable enough, and have no future, and cannot provide him with enough food from your self-defeating behavior, he will plan to leave you.

It doesn't sound like a big deal, it's actually quite normal - if you feel your boss is not good enough, just change jobs and companies.

However, after signing the contract, the demon cannot leave the demon scholar's body until he dies. Therefore, if the demon becomes dissatisfied with the master he signed the contract with, he will try to kill him. Demons cannot harm their masters, but there are many ways to kill them.

Many demonologists only summon demons that are slightly stronger than themselves because they are too afraid of demons and worry that they cannot satisfy their appetites.

But Aiwass was not afraid at all.

Because in Aiwas's view, these demons are like ambitious workers.

It made him look very friendly.

Some capable and ambitious people will go to big companies, that is, submit their resumes to high-level demon scholars; but there are also some demons who like to respond to low-level demon scholars, who are like employees who like to go to startup companies.

Some of them are not capable enough and are not wanted by big companies. These are the lower-level demons and small demons. Some of them want to start their own company but have no capital, so they invest their technology in start-up companies with the intention of seizing power and usurping the throne one day. These are the high-level demons who deliberately respond to the summons of low-level demon scholars and come because the other party cannot control themselves. Some of them are simply deceived - they submitted their resume to a big company, but ended up being assigned to a subsidiary company with more work and less pay.

It was like being summoned by a high-level demonologist, then controlled and handed over to a lower-level demonologist for a contract. In the Xingtan Kingdom, where the path of transcendence was legal, their instructors captured demons for their students in this way.

Aiwass's Shadow Fiend is also of this type.

Of course, the situation of Shadow Fiend is a little more complicated - because Aiwass himself is the sacrifice that tricked it here.

The salary card has become a spirit and turned into a boss.

If only the Shadow Demon were a little stronger... Once Aiwass feeds it some other demons as food and allows it to evolve again, it will be qualified to be sealed into a great beast. By then, it will no longer be a demon and will not be able to betray him.

But now, Aiwass still needs to show his ability in a special way.

...There's no way, this is a labor market.

He still has to perform at least a little.

After signing a lifetime contract, you won’t have to worry about the Shadow Demon Devouring your Lord.

Even though the Shadow Demon was sealed by Aiwass in his wheelchair, it had always stayed in Aiwass's shadow. It must have witnessed everything that had happened before.

This was another purpose of Aiwass's trip—to demonstrate his planning skills, conspiracy skills, and lies along the way, in order to stabilize this deceived job seeker. He wanted to give the Shadow Fiend enough spiritual nourishment to make him accept him.

"Now, what do you think of me?"

Aiwass asked casually.

Upon hearing this, the black snake on his neck melted and dripped, turning into a pure black hound.

It rubbed Aiwas's calf affectionately and made a low sound.

【Perfect, delicious, excellent...】

Obviously, Shadow Fiend was very satisfied.

Black Dog spoke word by word, rhythmically and emphatically: [I look forward to your future...our future.]

"—In that case."

Aiwass threw away the letter that belonged to him: "Then destroy it and leave."

[Hehehe…]

The shadow demon laughed in a low, hoarse voice.

After several seconds, it responded:

Your will... Master

[Looking forward to you waking me up next time...]

[At that time I hope to eat real flesh and blood]

The black dog jumped up, picked up the letter, and when it landed, it sank into the quagmire-like shadow and disappeared.

The letter melted into nothingness, like a plastic bag burned by fire, blackening, shrinking, wrinkling, and shrinking until it vanished without a trace.

There is no doubt that if it bites a living thing, it will be dragged directly into the shadows and melted.

This was definitely not something that Aiwass could do with only his first-level "shadow ability". It was the result of Shadow Demon's own actions.

——This is exactly what the Shadow Fiend is showing off its "hunting" ability to its master.

(End of this chapter)