Demon's Virtue

[The Demon King warmly welcomes a new Lord of Hell]

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That... was a joke, right? How, in any sense of the word, was that a 'warm welcome'? Eiro was still shivering, the fear deeply instilled in his bones. Or... at least that's what he thought was the case.

He knew he was supposed to be scared, that he should be feeling a terror beyond anything that he ever thought possible, but... there was nothing. He carried himself well on his legs, and his mind was clear. Maybe it was because he didn't have a heartbeat to go by anymore, but even though Eiro knew he should be scared... he somehow didn't feel that fear.

Was it just that the 'Demon King' was such a horrendous being that it went beyond what Eiro's body was able to really recognize, or was it a mercy bestowed upon him?

Whichever was the case, Eiro felt horrible pity for that poor Hero that had dared try and step up against that... thing. Eiro could feel it, maybe because he had already met something similar, but what he had just encountered wasn't a being, it was a... concept.

Similar to the world itself, not the one that Eiro had turned into upon acquiring the Major Arcana card of course, but the actual world that he had spoken with after becoming the guardian of each of the spirit gateways. The Demon King was something similar. It was hell itself that Eiro had encountered, but different to the world, it hadn't chosen a form that Eiro was actually capable of...

fully understanding. Maybe to hell itself, its form was totally 'normal'. Just like how a drawing wouldn't be able to comprehend the person that held the paper it was placed on... maybe Eiro was just that drawing. The world had given itself a form that Eiro could understand, but maybe the Demon King didn't find that necessary. Or maybe...

it couldn't. While they seemed the same, the idea that the Demon King was something similar to the world also felt... wrong.

The 'world' didn't just hold the central material plane. It held every plane, every realm, as though they were different limbs. Eiro thought that this was the case with hell as well, but... it wasn't. Maybe hell was more comparable to a parasite feeding off the world, a cancerous growth with its own mind and will and purpose that was different to that of the world itself.

Eiro felt his head start to hurt the more he thought about that experience of his. He could try to understand it later. Or maybe... he just had to try and forget, or at least not think about it too often. With a furrowed brow, Eiro looked back at the system window. As he was deep in thought, something new had appeared in front of Eiro.

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[You currently do not have a Domain. Please find an unclaimed piece of hell and claim it]

[You currently do not have a Title. Please show hell what you are to establish yourself]

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While Eiro didn't know what the second part was about, the instruction in the first message was what really mattered to him. He vaguely understood what he had to do to claim some land here.

The information had simply entered his mind, and some mental duplicates were already tearing apart that vague mass of knowledge and were shaping it into something that Eiro would be more easily able to make use of. There could be some things hidden that Eiro couldn't directly see; and if that was the case, then the mental duplicates would find it.

More importantly, Eiro had to hurry back. It didn't seem like more than a few seconds from his perspective, but according the time that passed for his duplicates in the planes of fire and water respectively, he had been inside of that space for a whole hour. On top of the time that he had spent getting there, the others had already been fighting so long that they must be truly exhausted by now.

The Demon spread his wings and shot up, quickly flying back to the space where the Devil and his party currently were. At the very least, Eiro knew that the Devil wasn't able to attack his party, but that didn't mean that he couldn't get other demons to do so for him.

It wasn't a particularly complex pact, and while that made the effect stronger to a degree, it also allowed for more loopholes to become exposed. Loopholes that Eiro knew the Devil would immediately make use of.

It didn't take long for Eiro to find his way back. A wicked energy intertwined with a most foul stench was guiding him to his destination. In the distance, he could see the 'one mile border' that the Devil couldn't pass. But from there, in a five mile radius, all of hell was covered in a thick unholy mist.

It seemed like the Devil was able to justify that as trying to attack Eiro, and any damage being done to his party as... 'collateral' damage. Or maybe it wasn't damaging Eiro's party at all, and was just there to strengthen the demons that the Devil had called to his aide. Whichever it was, Eiro was sure that they were going to be happy to see Eiro's return.

He extended his sense through that thick unholy mist, which was much easier said than done. But, at the very least, there was something like a 'beacon' for him here. A beacon of Holy Energy that showed him that Ariella was still... alive, at least.

Eiro shot through the unholy mist, trying to make his way to the center of the area where the others were fighting. He didn't know the exact rules of his new 'domain', but if it was just a limited area for now, then he had to try and form it around them, so that the six of them would be protected no matter what.

But that also meant that he had to deal with some attacks from the Devil as Eiro flew through his magic.

Eiro held his breath to avoid that horrible stench, but he knew that it was going to stick to his clothes and skin anyway. Even bathing in boiling oil wouldn't get rid of it. Though, right now he didn't have the time to worry about that, as a mass of pure and utter unholiness enveloped the demon.

"What did you do?!" the voice of the Devil echoed out from around Eiro. The unholy mist was forming his fury-filled visage dozens of times over, all wrapping around each other to form a mass of pure terror and wrath, but the thing that Eiro noticed the most was... envy.

The Devil was envious of Eiro. Despite it all, no matter what he had done, no matter how much time he had spent gathering power and influence both in the central elemental plane and here in hell... no matter how much he had to grovel in front of the Lords of Hell, acting like a fool.

Even when he killed some of those lords, devouring them, crushing their flesh between his teeth and using their blood to wash down the chalky bone stuck to the inside of his throat... he was never allowed to become a Lord himself.

And now, seeing that... thing in front of him, a mere imp that didn't even possess a speck of unholy magic become a Lord of Hell just like that, it filled him with a sense of inferiority and loss that was completely undescribable.

"How dare you?!" the Devil's voice echoed out numerous times, as the mist tried to force itself into Eiro's ears. But Eiro didn't care. At this point... there was no need for him to hide that card hidden up his sleeve anymore.

An aura of unholiness poured out of Eiro's skin. Now that he was a Lord, wholly acknowledged by hell itself... he felt comfortable enough to do whatever he wanted. He felt a connection to this realm that he hadn't before, and could tell that hell wasn't unholy, but the things within it were.

The Demon King would be unaffected, and frankly, wouldn't care no matter how much holiness he spread through this place. It was uncaring for things as lowly as that.

The mist directly around Eiro faded, pushed back like a scared animal. Once more, the faces of the Devil twisted into one of confusion and terror, "How- How are you doing that? How is a demon-"

"Just shut it already," Eiro glared into the mist, flapping his wings while that thing was distracted. It didn't take long before Eiro reached the others at this point, spreading out his holy energy to create a safe bubble for them.

"Eiro!" James was the first to notice. Or rather... maybe he was the only one that actually could notice. He had barely avoided being blinded by it, though Eiro didn't know how, but the others were bleeding profusely from every pore and orifice in their body. Eyes, nose, ears; their bodies were breaking down under the effect of the unholy mist.

Ariella in particular, even though her holy magic was protecting her, she was barely able to hold on anymore. Any later would have been too late.

"Don't worry, it's over now," the Demon smiled, placing his feet down onto the ground. As he felt the fleshy dirt wriggle underneath his weight, Eiro poured his energy into the ground.

And then, hell's newest lord took over some unclaimed land.