Jake hadn’t t many demons throughout his ti in the multiverse. Even if they were a widespread and diverse race, he just hadn’t really run into many of them outside of the occasional enemy here and there. Outside of dungeons, Irin was the only one he really knew, and she was practically an entirely different species to the Demon Prince of the Fourth Hell.
He had mostly ashen skin with what looked like blue crackled lines across it. As if he had more mana in his body than it could contain. On his forehead was what looked like an athyst crystal rged with his flesh, veins spreading out from it. The elaborate blue robe he wore was clearly not of poor quality, and overall, he radiated the aura of a rich young master. However, he clearly also had the power to back up his deanor. The ones with him were four other demons who Jake guessed were from his party, aning they all made it into the top 250.
Stopping in front of Jake, the Demon Prince smiled and reached out a hand. ”A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Chosen of the Malefic One. Rather than waste your ti, let get straight to it: I have co with an inquiry that I hope you might entertain.”
Jake didn’t reach and grab the other man’s hand right away as he asked. ”What kind of inquiry?”
Pulling back his hand, seemingly not at all offended, the Demon Prince smiled even more than before. ”How you might benefit from assisting us in bringing upon the second coming of the Cerulean Devil.”
… yeah, Jake had no idea who the fuck that was.
This was far from the first ti soone walked up to Jake and dropped so kind of grand revelation while looking at him as if he should totally know what the fuck the other party was talking about. How in the hell – pun intended – would he know about so devil that he guessed based on context clues was dead?
Alright, think fast, Jake. Devil is the na demons give to their gods, so likely so dead devil who really liked a slightly off-blue color. Got it… and I guess it’s pretty easy to figure out how he wants to help.
Keeping his calm, with a great assist from the mask, Jake looked deep in thought for a second. ”I wonder what the Demon Prince might have in mind.”
The demon observed Jake’s reaction for a mont before speaking.
”I guess my na would make things a bit clearer. I am known as the Cerulian Demon or the Demon Prince of the Fourth Hell. I have inherited a fragnt of the Crystalized Cerulean Devil’s Heart and the Legacy of the once great ruler of the Fourth Hell,” the Demon Prince answered as he motioned toward the crystal on his forehead. ”All of this is no secret… neither is it a secret that the remaining fragnts are not as potent as those that once were.”
”Am I right to assu you are not asking the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, but what people call the Harbinger of Prival Origins?” Jake asked clarifyingly, already certain about the answer.
”A bit of both, I believe, but that will depend on if you are willing to take up the task and how you would be able to accomplish it. In either case, we, no, I, require your unique talents to do sothing we believed impossible and that I have cause to believe you may be capable of.”
”Let take another guess, you want to use my abilities on one of these Devil Heart Fragnts to make it more powerful?” Jake also assud.
”No… no, not quite; we may have our own thods to do that, even if they are likely more flawed than what you can accomplish,” the Demon Prince shook his head. ”What I want to ask of you is not to empower a fragnt of the Crystalized Cerulean Devil’s Heart… it’s to create an entirely new, fully ford Crystalized Ceulean Demon Lord’s Heart using the Records of a fragnt… my fragnt.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed a bit. ”You want to create a Demon Lord’s Heart with the Records of this Cerulean Devil using that crystal in your forehead? That… sounds risky, to say the least.”
”Of that, I am fully aware. Usually, I also wouldn’t attempt such a thing, but this iteration of Nevermore has offered a golden opportunity. I am certain you are aware of what this is,” the Demon Prince said as he summoned a familiar-looking item that Jake quickly Identified nearly on instinct.
[Crystalized Demon Lord Heart (Legendary)] – The crystallized heart of a Demon Lord. The imnse energy contained within the crystal can be absorbed by any demon, allowing them insight into the heritage of Demon Lords. Grants demonic powers to any item it is fused with. Can be used in a limited number of alchemical products of a demonic nature.
”You, too, have one of these, yes? Or at least soone in your party does,” the demon asked.
Jake nodded slowly. ”I have one.”
Smiling, the Demon Prince admired the heart. ”A Crystalized Demon Lord Heart is usually created through a ritual using a Demon Lord, which inadvertently leads to so of the Records of this particular Demon Lord to enter the crystalized heart. However, look at his heart. It’s pure. Untouched. So brimming with power and Records pertaining to no particular Demon Lord. Now, imagine if all this energy was aligned to the Cerulean Devil. No, not just the energy of this heart… the energy of several hearts, fused together with my fragnt into one!”
He radiated ambition as the Demon Prince spoke of his plan, and Jake was… not entirely averse to the idea. In fact, it sounded quite feasible the more the demon talked about it, even if it remained incredibly risky. Moreover, based on what Jake heard, he wouldn’t even need to use his Jake Juice. Arcane energy should be more than good enough as long as he kept everything under control during the fusing process.
Jake also understood why the Demon Prince had approached Jake in particular. It truly hadn’t just been due to his talents as the Harbinger of Prival Origins – even if that certainly did play a part. It had as much to do with Jake being the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, the greatest alchemist in the multiverse in the eyes of many. Plus, as the Harbinger of Prival Origins, he had already shown himself capable of similar feats before.
One also had to rember that the Demon Prince likely needed a C-grade to do the ritual. It was similar to how a B-grade blacksmith couldn’t craft weapons for a C-grade, their Records simply not making it possible. So if the Demon Prince wanted to craft this heart to be useable by a C-grade, he would need another C-grade to craft it… and Jake likely looked like the best candidate to do just that.
As for why Jake would accept such a task? Perhaps a better question would be why he wouldn’t. To do a ritual with several legendary hearts and a fragnt likely of a rarity above even that was bound to reward a shitload of experience and Records. Plus, it would be a positive diplomatically. And, finally, he did, of course, expect so form of paynt. All of this naturally assud he would succeed.
”So, what say you?” the Demon Prince asked after a few seconds, where Jake looked deep in thought.
”I’m tentatively interested, but I will need to think it over a bit,” Jake said. ”At least if you don’t want to just try and wing whatever ritual you are planning, more likely than not killing you in the process.”
”I would very much prefer an outco that does not involve my death,” the demon smiled, at least seeing the humor in Jake’s response. ”That was all I wanted to ask, and I will not take up any more of your ti. Congratulations once more on your achievent, and I will be staying here in Nevermore City for a while after this ceremony. If you do accept the task, do be aware it’s ti-sensitive in nature and I would much prefer for it to happen before you depart from Nevermore City. I will make sure to have everything prepared … and I will do anything in my power to fulfill any request you may have, should you succeed.”
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Jake simply nodded. ”I will send a response whether I accept or not before I just leave the city.”
”That is more than I could ask for,” the Demon Prince said with a small bow as he backed away.
It was definitely an interesting proposition, even if Jake had a few doubts… many of which were dispelled by what his brother told him next. ”If you are doubting if you can trust that demon, you definitely can. The Cerulean Demon is part of an old Lineage of very proud demons, and they value verbal contracts nearly as much as written ones. It would quite literally hurt his Path if he went back on his word or tried to deceive you.”
”You seem to know an awful lot about demons,” Jake comnted.
”What can I say? They are the best clients and wonderful assassins. Great work ethic all around, and they are one of the few races where the majority love paperwork,” his little brother said with a smile.
”Huh,” Jake muttered. Now that he was thinking about it, Irin did seem a bit too happy with doing administrative tasks…
As Jake was thinking, he was already prepared for the next group of people to approach. The ice elental, Wintermaul, who had seemingly been waiting for his chance, was just about to make his way over after the Demon Prince left when soone else jumped ahead… soone the C-grade ice elental would definitely not raise an issue with.
The silver-haired Chosen of the Wyrmgod appeared only a few steps from Jake, space barely affected as he moved through it effortlessly. He looked at Jake as he took a step forward, and Jake’s mind worked at high speeds as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do or say.
Villy had never coached him on how he should act around other Chosen of high-level gods. Was he supposed to act like they were the gods they represented? Villy talked about that often being the case… but he was also a Chosen, so maybe he should just treat them equally to himself as he wanted to? But then there was the issue of the grade disparity, so… yeah, fuck it, Jake would just act like usual.
Right as Jake was about to greet the other Chosen, the dragon nad Silverstorm smiled brightly and reached out to grab Jake’s hand faster than he could react.
”We et at last!” the dragon said in a jovial tone. ”I have been hoping to finally get a chance to thank you! Ah, and it sure was wonderful to see you take the top spot on the All-Ti Leaderboards! I cannot hope to begin to express the debts of my gratitude, my fellow Chosen!”
Jake, completely confused, had no idea what the hell the guy was talking about. ”… why would you want to thank ?”
Had Jake t the dragon before? Nope, definitely not. He would have rembered if he had. He was good at forgetting stuff in his spatial storage, but he tended to rember auras pretty damn well, and this definitely wasn’t an aura he had experienced before.
”Oh… I guess you haven’t been told,” the dragon nad Silverstorm said, still looking extrely happy to see Jake, even if he cald down a bit. ”You’re the reason why I’m the newly selected Chosen of the Wyrmgod, and this little gathering is more or less my first big public appearance.”
Once more, Jake had to search his mory to try and figure out when or how the hell he caused that to happen… but luckily, the dragon quickly saw through his confusion and elaborated.
”Let clarify. I have carried the Divine Blessing of my Patron for a long ti and was one of a dozen or so Chosen candidates, waiting for our Patron to choose one of us,” he began before Jake subtly felt space around them seal off, as it was clear the other Chosen only wanted Jake to hear the next part. ”The thing is… and this part naturally shouldn’t be shared, my Patron is not the best at picking his Chosen. That’s not to say that he is bad when it cos to who he picks, as that would just be putting myself down needlessly. It’s more to do with how and when he picks them.”
”Now you got curious… and I’m still waiting for why I am the reason you got chosen to be the Chosen,” Jake comnted.
”Getting to it,” Silverstorm said as he continued. ”You see, there are nearly always a few Chosen candidates picked, all of us working for our Patron and fulfilling our duties, such as handling the mortal affairs of Nevermore, gathering certain items that are required, recruiting more mbers, handling politics… all of the things we should not bother the Primordial with. We do all this to assure our Patron can focus on the World Wonder itself, which has led to the minor problem that he can get a bit… engrossed in it.”
Jake was beginning to understand as he wasn’t sure what to feel…
”So, what tends to happen is that all of us candidates kind of end up staying as candidates while he works on the World Wonder… and by the ti he decides it’s ti to make a selection, we are all dead to the endless march of ti. That ans the next batch of candidates will be picked and given Divine Blessings, as the Wyrmgod naturally doesn’t want to pick soone as his Chosen without vetting them first, and the cycle continues. To a god who has lived for that long, even the life of an S-grade is short and forgettable, so perhaps this is all understandable. I also just don’t think my Patron cares particularly much about having a Chosen compared to many of the other Primordials, on account of him not really having a faction. However, it seems that seeing an old acquaintance inspired my Patron to select a Chosen rather promptly this ti around, with it ultimately being who was chosen. So for that, I must truly thank you, even if you caused my Blessing simply by existing.”
Remaining silent for a while, Jake still wasn’t sure what to say or feel. But one thing was for sure: ”I don’t think you have anything to really thank for. Doesn’t look like he picked you as his Chosen without rit.”
Silverstorm was powerful; of that, there was no doubt. As for that entire thing with the Wyrmgod being forgetful… Jake could totally see that happen. Duskleaf had talked so many tis about massively long experints, and for a dungeon engineer in charge of the most popular World Wonder in the multiverse, Jake didn’t doubt the Primordial also kept busy. One could even say that Silverstorm had gotten unlucky to be born just before a new initiation, as that ant the Wyrmgod was even busier than usual. Now, it seed Jake had sohow turned that misfortune into good luck, though.
”Even if you do not believe you did anything that requires my gratitude, you still have it,” Silverstorm insisted. ”Anyway, I didn’t an to be overwhelming; I just had to thank you. Oh, and the Wyrmgod did say that he may be interested in seeing if you could assist him in getting a lower-grade Chosen using your unique abilities at a later ti. But, as I said before, the Primordial tends to work on pretty broad ti scales, so don’t think it will happen any ti soon, if ever unless you ascend to divinity.”
”I still think it’s unnecessary to thank , but you’re welco about the entire Chosen thing, I guess. As for the other Chosen thing, I won’t make any promises,” Jake said.
”No need for any rush or pressure. Just know that I owe you a favor that I will be sure to repay one day. Now, let dispel this barrier and let us show the multiverse how great friends the two Chosen of Primordials are,” Silverstorm smiled... perhaps this having been part of his plans all along.
The barrier faded as Jake and Silverstorm shook hands, and the dragon gave the human a nod. ”Thank you for taking the ti, and congratulations once more. I hope you enjoy yourself the rest of the day.”
With that, the Wyrmgod’s Chosen left again and promptly got sward by interested parties, and almost like clockwork, Wintermaul was right there to also greet Jake. At least that’s what Jake thought he was there to do… until he noticed the elental wasn’t really that fixated on him. Instead, he was far more interested in Sylphie from the looks of it.
Wintermaul had slightly changed his form even more and now looked like a human with extrely pale skin, wearing a fur coat of sorts. His body was still made of pure mana, and the subtle signs of ice and frost could still be seen here and there, but he could easily pass for a human from a distance. A human that was definitely also an ice mage.
”I greet thee, Chosen of the Malefic One, and I bring congratulations for your accomplishnt,” the ice elental said to Jake as he ca over with a small bow.
”A pleasure,” Jake nodded. ”I should congratulate you for your impressive performance as the top-scoring monster of the era.”
”Your words bring honor,” the elental said, very much going through the usual pleasantries. ”If I may, would it be possible to speak to your companion?”
Jake already knew who the elental was talking about, and he just shrugged. ”Depends on if she wants to talk to you.”
She was definitely interested, though, as Sylphie also stared at the ice elental. For a bit, they both seed to evaluate sothing about the other before Wintermaul finally spoke. ”The Sovereign of Ice greets the Sovereign of Wind.”
”Ree,” Sylphie responded as the elental nodded. ”Your authority is strong indeed. Impressive.”
Jake decided to just sit back for once and observe as the two of them communicated a bit back and forth, seemingly discussing elental magic stuff. It was nice that Jake wasn’t the center of attention for once, especially after talking to the Demon Prince and Wyrmgod’s Chosen. Especially the other Chosen had been ntally taxing to deal with. So, to see the elental and semi-elental talk was a nice break, and he was happy Sylphie seed to be making a new friend. Yep, definitely a good turn of-
”Your power truly makes you worthy, and so do I believe I have chosen myself worthy. Join hands with , as my empress, and I, your emperor, and may our offspring be-”
And just like that, Jake was about to break the rule of no fighting in Nevermore City.
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