BXBX NOVEL Chapter 143 Pity Demon
"At last... I will bring the dragon race back with my own hands and become their ruler. Then, neither my mother nor Mirethasil will be able to compare to me!"
Long, uneven cracks spread across the surface of the egg, from which occasional golden light emanated, accompanied by a pressure that felt like a strong grip around your throat, leaving only a single breath in your lungs.
"Gha-a..." Azaroth croaked painfully, clutching his throat, but his facial expression remained unchanged: it still expressed ecstasy and great joy, malice and mockery. With a loud, almost deafening cry, Azaroth shouted, "I will be the great ruler! I am the one worthy of Satan\'s legacy! And no one else is better suited for this role than me, the heir of ancient demons!"
He-He-He... Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!
His insane laughter echoed throughout the tent, but in the outside world, no one heard it, thanks to the soundproofing spell placed on the entire tent, which did its job perfectly, so no one heard his malicious and insane laughter. Azaroth looked truly ecstatic, and his appearance even distorted from it: his cheeks turned red, and his black eyes filled with blood. His light hair was dusty, while his gaze remained bright but showed signs of fatigue.
"Damn, I spent many days feeding this egg with my magic, but it was extremely difficult to achieve any results. As expected, dragons are too powerful beings, but I still don\'t understand the reason for their disappearance," Azaroth muttered, frowning. His face showed doubt, and his eyebrows were furrowed.
Dragons...
An ancient race, so ancient that even Veronica had never seen them in person and had only once found a corpse, which immediately disappeared when she touched it. However, as a woman who loved to explore magic and everything related to it, she collected any documents or papers that contained information about dragons, even if they were legends without solid evidence. She found it interesting, so she had been researching it for millennia, but in the end, she couldn\'t find anything substantial and simply dumped all her papers in the library.
Azaroth discovered this, inspired by the fact that once one race ruled the world, and he wanted to do the same, but not for any particularly noble purpose, but simply dreamed of his dominance. However, every time he was hindered by his third youngest brother, as well as his mother, who didn\'t care at all about her eldest adopted son and only spent time with Adam (Mirethasil), whom she believed could surpass even Veronica because of his talent. So Azaroth was forgotten forever.
"I spent time studying, testing myself in training, and suffering, almost dying, but I became stronger. However... HOWEVER!" he muttered, and then a creaking sound followed - Azaroth clenched his teeth, and his face expressed hatred emanating from the depths of his soul. In a plaintive, hate-filled voice, he continued to complain to the egg, not even understanding what he was doing: "HOWEVER, DAMN IT, THE FUCKING \'HOWEVER\'! I didn\'t even deserve a glance, even a small nod would have been enough for me, but even that... I didn\'t get it! Why?!"
[What did you want?]
"I-I... I wanted my mother to look at me! To acknowledge that I was talented! I wanted to become her pride and her trusted one!" He continued to complain, hearing an unfamiliar voice in his head. His eyes relaxed, and his face became wrinkled, but Azaroth himself didn\'t notice anything.
[Understood... and then what?]
"F-following... I tried! I swear, I tried! I studied, delved into science, and even immersed myself in magic, in which I was bad due to the peculiarities of my body, but I succeeded! I achieved a high level of control and was better than all my peers!"
[But?]
"But!"
Azaroth trembled and fell to his knees. His body became weak, while the magical energy in his reservoir reached a critical level, which could lead to prolonged weakness and even a coma. But Azaroth didn\'t notice anything, as he was busy complaining, releasing his grievances, and crying, not understanding why.
"I-I... I always wanted recognition!"
"Why am I crying? What is this voice? I-"
"I wanted to be the one who would become the next demon ruler! I did everything I could!"
"What is this..."
"But he! H-h-h-h-he! Hateful Miradisel, damn trash! Why him?!"
"I..."
His consciousness split into two parts, where one half cried, venting its grievances from infancy, and the other doubted the reality of what was happening. But these two sides saw before them a shadow, forming a huge figure resembling...
A dragon.
[Pity, indeed. In life, many events happen that we cannot control. Everyone feels helpless if their efforts are not valued properly; anyone will feel lonely if they are not noticed, and anyone will feel hatred towards those who take everything from them. This is the classic psyche of lower beings, born only to kneel before higher beings, like us dragons.]
"What?"
"What?!"
Azaroth lifted his head and stared at the dragon – it was nothing more than a silhouette as if a shadow of past mightiness. It had a body made of black smoke, but within that smoky form, bright red eyes shone with mockery.
He wasn\'t sure if the dragon was truly mocking him, as his thoughts were occupied elsewhere. Azaroth was simply shocked that the egg had cracked, which meant...
"I succeeded?" he mumbled.
In response, a voice echoed, approving but filled with mockery and arrogance.
[Yes.]
"I-I succeeded... heh," Azaroth muttered and chuckled, then continued, "Heh... heh-heh... heh-heh-heh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
[...]
"I succeeded!" he exclaimed, placing his hands on his wrinkled face. However, at that moment, he noticed something amiss – his once soft and snowy skin now felt as rough as an old man\'s. "Huh? What happened..."
Panicking, Azaroth turned and rushed to his bed, next to which stood a small mirror. Grabbing it, he turned his face towards the mirror, and his facial expressions grew sadder and sadder. Then, he shouted in a voice full of shock and grievance.
"What happened to my face?!" he yelled loudly and shocked, seeing his wrinkled face, almost like that of an old man. "Th-this can\'t be me! I used to be young and robust, and this..."
[Stupid demon. As the heir of the ancient Azarot family, you still haven\'t understood what happens when you attempt to summon a dragon? Haven\'t your clueless horned ancestors thought to pass this down from generation to generation?] The dragon spoke with a tone of amazement, then made a mocking sound. After a short silence, Azaroth asked only after several minutes.
"What do you mean?"
[What do I mean?] The dragon asked again, snorting. [That simply summoning a dragon is equivalent to your death, you fool. And considering that your attribute of darkness isn\'t as strong, you have to sacrifice a portion of your life force for a summoning that will last only five minutes. I was surprised that someone found a dragon egg, in which I sealed myself in hopes of being reborn at an interesting time, but...]
Azaroth collapsed to the ground and began to breathe heavily, feeling his body weakening with each passing second. The once-strong male hands, filled with energy and power, were now covered in wrinkles and became feeble as if he had been lying on them all night. Desperation was evident in his gaze, but the demon\'s consciousness was fading, and with each passing moment, he resisted less and less.
[You\'ve disappointed me, little demon. In fact, I left a part of my soul on the body of your brother, the one you called Mirethasil. He has a strong body and a very powerful connection to darkness, comparable to mine... so I was surprised that someone as weak as you summoned me.]
"Mirethasil... you bastard!"
[Pitiful sight. I still can\'t kill you in this state, so you\'re lucky. You\'ll recover in a week, and- ... huh?] The dragon mumbled with arrogance, then let out a surprised sigh. [What is this absorbing force? Could it be that my other part found a suitable host? Then I must hurry.]
"S-sto-..." Azaroth muttered, unable even to raise his hand.
However, his summoning went unheard by the dragon, who disappeared as unexpectedly as he had appeared.
***
Adam\'s mansion, Sedion City.
Once again, the mansion\'s corridors were empty, as the head maid, Ekaterina, had given immediate orders for the serving staff to leave the mayor\'s residence and allocated a day off for them. This had alarmed many and made them think that something bad had happened, while the most perceptive ones had understood it was related to Adam. However, nobody dared to spread rumors because they knew it would result in a global problem for all the maids, and then death would be the least of their worries.
In Adam\'s room...
It was surprisingly lively here. Mary, Claire, Amarantha, Elyra, Elara, Ekaterina, and a familiar face that they didn\'t quite expect to see.
"Hmm... so that\'s why you called me, Amaratinka," she said with a chuckle. "This guy has landed in such an unusual situation that I don\'t even know what to say, fuu-a..."
Her red hair was tied in twintails, and she was dressed in a Japanese schoolgirl uniform that Adam had transferred from his previous life for some kind of amusement. Her red eyes shone brightly, and her ample bosom jiggled pleasantly as she animatedly twirled around the huge bed on which Adam was sleeping.
"Sierra... are you finding this situation amusing? Please, show some understanding and behave like an adult, at least in the presence of the princess of your country," Amarantha sighed, putting her hand on her forehead.
"Well, I\'ll try, but should I be panicking? This handsome guy will wake up in five minutes anyway," Sierra said with a cheerful smile and used two fingers to stretch Amarantha\'s lips into a smile, which disappeared as soon as she removed her hands. "Come on, smile. It\'s just an overcharged magical energy-induced dream, nothing more..."
To be continued...