The members of the Arzomos Tribe found the idea interesting. Serving under Evander Alaester in the guise of a human did not sound so bad. With this, it would be easy even for demons like them to explore the human land.
"We'll be mingling with humans?" Kel' Vual said gleefully. "Now, that's nostalgic! It's been quite a long time since I used a blood emerald myself."
The tribe leader's ebullience was contagious. Even the other members of the tribe started feeling thrilled with the prospect of temporarily turning into a human.
"I only brought five blood emeralds with me," said Lark. "But there should be enough gemstones stored in the treasure room."
"Whose blood are we using, Evander?" said Kel' Vual.
"Mine," said Lark.
"Your blood?" said Kel' Vual. "But, Evander," he carefully studied Lark's body. "Those arms. They look like I could easily snap them in half."
Lark wryly smiled. Kel' Vual was right.
Although he'd been diligently training his body, he still looked like a scrawny little kid to the members of the Arzomos Tribe. Most of the warriors of the Arzomos Tribe were over two meters tall. Kel' Vual, in his prime, was almost twice that size.
"Although I may look like this." Lark raised his arm. "I still have the blood of the Marcuses running through this body. Theirs is probably one of the strongest human blood you can obtain in this kingdom—probably even in the empire."
Kel' Vual stroked his chin. "One of the strongest in the entire kingdom, huh?"
The blood of the human absorbed by the blood emerald would serve as the catalyst in transforming the physique of the user. The stronger the blood, the stronger the shell they would be able to utilize. Moreover, the blood would directly influence the body's appearance.
After consuming the blood emerald, Kel' Vual knew that he would end up with a body very similar to Lark's. Silver hair, blue eyes, pale white skin. Most of these traits would come out, no matter what.
"But before that," Lark looked at the young Arzomos sitting next to Kel' Vual. "Let's incorporate the core into your body first, Luvart."
Finally, the time had come.
Luvart nervously nodded his head. "Yes, Lord Evander."
Lark glanced at the well-kept interior of the mansion. "We should probably move out of this dungeon."
"Outside the dungeon?" said Luvart.
"There's a chance that you'll go berserk the moment your body rejects the core," said Lark. "It'd be a shame if we end up destroying this haven."
With fear evident in his eyes, Luvart looked at his father. To his surprise, it seemed that Kel' Vual had already expected this. He nodded knowingly and said, "Don't worry, Luvart. I may be old, but I still have enough strength to suppress a young Arzomos."
*** After the feast, Lark, Kel' Vual, and Luvart went out of the underwater dungeon.
Lark immediately cast an illusion spell around the lake and erected a barrier, preventing other people from entering the vicinity.
"This place should be good enough," said Lark. "If you're ready, we can start."
Luvart looked at the barrier enclosing the lake. Judging by its strength, there shouldn't be much damage to their surroundings even if he went on a rampage.
Luvart took a deep breath. "I'm ready, Lord Evander."
"It will be painful," said Lark. "Steel yourself."
With those words as a cue, Lark's bracer morphed into a long needle and shot toward Luvart, piercing him right in the chest. The Sword of Morpheus forcefully pried the young Arzomos' chest open, revealing the fist-sized core within it. Lark pointed a finger at the exposed core, removed it using magic, and replaced it with the high demon core.
The process may look simple to others, but Luvart and Kel' Vual knew that such techniques required an absurd amount of control over mana. The tiniest error could damage the core and cripple the demon.
This technique would have been extremely hard to pull off without the help of an artifact like the Sword of Morpheus.
Luvart's body trembled. Still, he did not scream nor move his body despite the excruciating pain. He simply hovered above the water, unmoving, as he endured the process.
Not bad, thought Lark.
Lark willed the Sword of Morpheus to close the gaping wound. And using the massive amounts of mana stored within it, he activated the high demon core.
"Kuuggh!" A scream finally escaped Luvart's lips.
Like a sponge, the high demon core started sucking in all of the mana and miasma within Luvart's body. The young Arzomos desperately resisted at first, but he soon found himself unable to supply the mana needed for the newly implanted core. Slowly, Luvart found himself losing consciousness.
He was falling to his primal instinct. He felt parched, like a tree that hadn't seen rain for decades.
His newly implanted core was screaming at him that it wanted more.
Mana, blood, miasma. It wanted anything it could get its hands on.
And Luvart finally lost control over his body.
Luvart roared and shot toward the nearest source of meat he could find —Lark.
"Kel," said Lark.
"I know."
Kel' Vual moved in front of Lark, and with a single hand, blocked Luvart's attack. The shockwave created by Luvart's attack immediately froze a portion of the lake. It even created small cracks on the barrier. The attack was a lot stronger than they'd expected.
Kel' Vual's hand felt numb after blocking a single strike.
"Snap out of it," said Kel' Vual.
Luvart roared, pulled back his hand, and released a barrage of attacks on Kel' Vual. Each of his strikes was infused with freezing energy, and had it not been for Lark's interference, the entire lake, along with a portion of the nearby forest, would have been frozen by now.
Kel' Vual did not bother dodging the attacks. He received each of them head-on, his body absorbing all of the impact.
He planned on taking all of the blows, until his son regained his consciousness.
*** [Boris County] Days quickly passed by.
After Lark left the Marcus Duchy, King Alvis immediately sent out messengers all over the kingdom. Soon, the news regarding the upcoming coronation of the king regent spread throughout the kingdom.
"My Lord!" Arzen's assistant barged into his office.
Arzen furrowed his brows, clearly annoyed that the man entered his room unannounced. Just like before, stacks of documents were piled up on Arzen's table.
"Lower your voice," spat Arzen. "What is it?"
The assistant was huffing as he handed him a newspaper. "You won't believe it! The news! You have to see it, My Lord!"
Arzen put down his quill. "The news?"
The assistant squeaked, "The second son of Duke Drakus! He's been chosen as the winner of the competition for the throne!"
For a moment, time seemed to have slowed down. Arzen dumbfoundedly stared at his assistant, then at the newspaper in his hand.
Arzen's hands trembled. "What did you say?"
The assistant pointed at the newspaper. "It's all over the news, My Lord! There! It says that Lark Marcus will soon become the king of this nation!"
Lark Marcus?
That noble who garnered the greatest number of achievements in the war with the empire?
Arzen admitted that he was indeed a worthy rival, but never in his wildest dreams did he believe that he would ascend the throne—moreover, this soon.
What happened?
Why did His Majesty suddenly make such a declaration?
Arzen gripped the newspaper tight. Almost everything written on it was related to the young man.
Lark Marcus, the man prophesized by the Seven Gods?
Arzen almost cursed upon reading the headline.
True to the prophecy of the Seven Gods, demons started attacking the kingdom. Even the Mullgray Islands weren't spared from the demons' wrath.
According to reports, Aurora Island, all the way to the Three Peaks Island, fell to the demons' hands. The Pirate King "Ragiacrus Hunter" Zayn Pierson fell in battle. Mad Eye, the Pirate King's right hand, was nowhere to be found.
Port Kalavinka and the Kelvin Duchy had been ravaged to the ground.
On the next page was another eye-catching headline:
Is the Kelvin Family Over?
The House Kelvin received the brunt force of the demons' attack in this battle. The Kelvin Duchy, which boasted thousands of hussars, failed to stopper the demons' advance and fell in a matter of days.
-Lancaster Kelvin.
-Zaask Kelvin.
-Amphus Kelvin.
-Sven Kelvin.
Four members of the prominent House Kelvin have been killed in battle.
With the death of these men, the destruction of Port Kalavinka, and the fall of the Kelvin Duchy, what does fate have in store for these High Nobles? Is Duke Kelvin, supposedly imprisoned in the dungeons, still alive?
Arzen breathed deeply. He started reading the part where Lark Marcus had appeared with a seven-headed monster and massacred every demon he encountered along the way.
"Seven-headed monster?" mumbled Arzen.
Just over a week ago, the former captain of the royal knights and Arzen's current sword instructor finally revealed the reason for the royal knights' demise: A monster with seven heads, powerful enough to evaporate a portion of a lake with a single breath attack.
Although Captain Symon did not tell him why the royal knights had to face such a monster, Arzen surmised that the monster mentioned in the newspaper was one and the same.
But how did the second son of Duke Drakus tame such a creature?
If Captain Symon was right, that monster could probably fight on par with the dragon guarding the dwarven kingdom.
There was simply no way for such a monster to be tamed by a mere human.
As he was lost in his thoughts, a voice was heard behind the door. "My Lord, a letter from the capital has arrived," said the butler.
"From the capital?" said Arzen. He finally snapped out of his stupor.
The newspaper he'd just read felt like a giant clump of revelation. Even now, he couldn't believe all of it transpired just days ago. "Come in."
The butler entered the room and handed Arzen the letter. "It appears to be from the royal family," said the butler.
Arzen stared at the wax seal. He opened the letter and read the words written inside.
"A decree for all nobles to gather at the capital," mumbled Arzen.
It was a summons from the crown. A gathering of nobles, for the coronation of the king regent in the capital.