A pillar of Lunisolar Flames and Soul Flames soared to the sky from within the inner garden of the Demon King's castle. The demons and sun-dwellers outside could only observe it in awe.
At the source of it, Rakna shut his eyes in concentration as everyone else covered their eyes due to the light and heat radiating from the flames. After some time, it vanished quietly, and the sound of a heartbeat coursed throughout the entire castle.
It made the listeners shudder and when they saw what Rakna was holding in his hand, the reaction turned into a full-blown shiver.
"Is that…?" Merid blinked at the offending object; a literal heart with a strangely healthy shade of red, releasing both embers of white and purple flames.
"Volunteer?" Rakna casually asked his shocked audience, who flinched when the heart contracted as if it was still beating.
"Um… for what?" Lilith hesitantly raised her hand.
"To eat, of course."
She slowly lowered her hand.
"That's hurtful. And here I thought you trusted me," the therian joked and she whined. "But that's fine since I'll be giving you a heart much more powerful than this one."
"…so, it's been decided that I'll eat one, huh?" The demoness muttered to herself helplessly.
"What does it do exactly?" Soma asked curiously. "Is it related to your innate ability?"
"If you mean Harvester, yes," Rakna nodded. "I reverse-engineered it."
❮ ◈ ❯
You have learned a new Nirvana Skill; The Dealer.
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The Dealer
A compound derivative of the Nirvana Skill, The Harvester. By creating a replica of the user's heart with the Personal Skill, Philosopher Craft, and inverting the flow of the matrix, the user can extract power and abilities from themselves to bestow upon another.
Those who eat the resulting hearts will receive what has been infused into them with varying degrees of effectiveness. A subject can receive more than what was given depending on compatibility, luck, and talent.
This skill does not require permanent sacrifices. Suppose the user decides to share only their personal reserves of energy, the beneficiary will temporarily be able to wield them as their own and perhaps learn them if possible.
Similarly, definitive elements like Proficiencies, Attributes, and Skills can be extracted. This effect can be limited to levels instead of erasing the entire element. However, inborn abilities like Magic Elements or Nirvana Skills must be abandoned in full to properly be given to someone else.
Note: More intangible elements like knowledge and memories will merely require the user to spend psychic energy and focus carefully on its transfer.
❮ ◈ ❯
"I poured a great amount of Lunisolar Blaze into this heart. Naturally, that basically means I gave it a ton of Lunar and Solar Energy," Rakna added. "I also added soul power and mana to balance it up further. Theoretically, if you eat this…"
"We'll temporarily be able to use your flames," Zikserth concluded for him. "We can use this to fight the corruption… but can you make enough for an entire army?"
The therian grinned. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm not going to run out of anything."
"…" The Demon King squinted his eyes and stepped away from his butler's support. He walked on his own and approached the offered heart which Rakna continued to hold with a smile. "…allow me to try then," he stated and grabbed the organ without hesitation.
Rakna's grin widened when Zikserth's teeth sunk into the heart and without warning, the flames he had packed into it overflowed. However, unlike earlier, it was far more contained. It harmlessly enveloped the king's body and without him having to finish, the heart dissolved halfway through to join the phenomenon.
The demon's eyes widened in shock, the Lunisolar Blaze amalgamating at the surface of his own energy reserves and ready to be used at any time. It felt more galvanizing than anything he had ever experienced before.
"This—!" He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could continue, pain assaulted his body and he had to kneel on one leg.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention," Rakna spoke up with a mischievous smirk. "I added the by-product of my physique into it. Right about now, macroscopic agents are coursing throughout your body to strengthen and fill in the gaps; in other words, you're undergoing open surgery."
Zikserth's mouth twitched. "Can't you heal people without hurting them?" He asked wryly, his eyes shifting to see faint blue lines spreading under his skin, releasing vapor; the heat was spreading inside of him in a strangely comforting manner.
"Don't whine. I need you in top shape as fast as possible. This is the only heart I will be providing with this 'service'. Your body will probably feel stronger for the next few days."
"…you predicted I would eat it first," the demon uttered.
"Of course," Rakna huffed and offered him a hand to stand up. "A king must lead."
"…you'll work us to the bone, won't you?" Zikserth said in amusement as he accepted the help.
"I know right?!" Astraea exclaimed reflexively but quickly covered her mouth with a blush when they all looked at her. She cleared her throat to regain her dignity, "I mean… Lord Monarch knows how to bring the best out of people."
"Nice save," the therian blankly said and she whistled. "Anyway, line up. Time for lunch."
* * *
For five minutes, Rakna fed hearts to everybody in the room and after repeating it several times, he completely mastered The Dealer's 'pattern'. He could activate it much faster than he had on his first attempt; almost instantly in fact. Though it all depended on how much he put into it.
"You're the last one," he uttered as Lilith stood in front of him with a nervous expression. Without a word, he reverted into a werewolf and she blinked in surprise. His Tenth Tail grew and she began to sweat profusely.
"Um… is that… necessary?" She asked hesitantly and trembled at the smirk he flashed her.
"We'll see," he uttered and the Stellar Sage's Aura burst out of his body. Before long, all of it turned into a black and purple demonic energy of such purity that Zikserth himself was captivated.
In all worlds, demons have always been creatures of varied breeds, powers, and origins. But what the werewolf was currently creating and releasing with his Personal Skill, tapped into something beyond that. It was raw, unadulterated, and deep demonic energy of the likes only the progenitors of demons could ever wield.
Soon after, the Lunisolar Flames came into the mix and as if it wasn't enough, the malevolent mana of the Cardinal Sins suddenly appeared, multiplying the levels of energy.
Soma's eyes widened as everyone stepped away from the continuously increasing force. "Is he…?"
Rakna closed his eyes and focused on the flow of power he wanted to infuse into the heart. Once again, he used his Philosopher Craft to create the organ, but this time, he made it in combination with the power of his Tenth Tail; the power of a Nephilim.
Then, he filled it to the brim with demonic power, directly transmuted from his Stellar Aura, and added the silver-white flames afterward. But that wasn't all of it. Lilith had sacrificed a lot of her life force to fight against him previously, and even if he was tailoring the heart to be as compatible with her as possible, something extra was needed to complete it.
'Well, I'll have to give away a bit, but I can recover it later,' he thought and his own life force began to decrease. In other words, he poured some of his Level into the heart. Enough to help, but not to the point where he would fall below Level 300.
Additionally, he threw in a hundred or so spare attribute points; which was practically worthless with her Ascent level, but it would consolidate the heart even more.
Without the Ascent correction, he had 1800 of them lying around, so there was no point in being stingy. Especially when he knows just one use of Harvester will get those back and more. And as a last touch, he added a couple of special ingredients.
Eventually, Rakna terminated The Dealer's activation and his aura died down. In his hand, a heart much bigger than those he had given the others was beating ominously. Even the weakest of beings would be able to sense the sheer power emanating from it, so obviously, Lilith was having a panic attack.
"I-I c-can't--!" She waved her arms nervously.
"Yamul, eat the damn thing," the werewolf deadpanned.
"…uh…" Her brain short-circuited before rebooting. She whimpered internally and with a defeated expression, she grabbed the heart with both hands. Staring at it, she avoided the werewolf's gaze and grumbled, "…you can stop calling me Yamul, you know?"
Rakna raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Right. Then, eat it, Lilith. And be reborn."
She pursed her lips and after taking a deep breath, she took a bite.
Initially, Lilith's fellow demons and the pair of divinities watching her were expecting to see a sight similar to what happened to themselves; perhaps a bit showier considering what the efforts that the Sentinel had put into it.
But, strangely, the demoness devoured the heart in silence. No flames, no demonic energy, and not even a speck of light. Yet, Rakna's grin widened as his eyes shone with golden crosses. He quietly walked away from her and Astraea joined him with a curious expression.
"Lord Monarch, do you 'see something' in her?" She asked with a tilt of her head as Lilith was almost done with the heart. Even she couldn't predict the result.
Rakna snorted at her question and the others looked at him. "I saw something the moment I met her, to be exact. I don't know much about demons, and certainly not a demonic race forced to be corrupted from their human base by a Fiend. But, she has something sleeping in her. You could call it a hidden potential, or a dormant bloodline."
"A bloodline?" Ramsa repeated with a scowl.
"In legends, there are all kinds of demons, are there not?" Rakna shrugged, and at this point of the conversation, everyone noticed something strange.
Lilith was not moving anymore. She had devoured the heart in its entirety and nothing had yet to happen. On the other hand, her natural aura was dwindling, threatening to disappear.
Faruth frowned in worry. "What did you do to her?"
"Succubi, Jinns, Onis, Rakshasas, Aswangs, Shadow Spirits, Harpies, Keres, Maras, Pretas, Chorts, Lilitus, Wraiths, Jikininkis…" Rakna fired one name after another and everyone fell silent. "There are as many demons as there are ways to portray evil. They're not races, but evolutions. What I did is pretty simple; I kickstarted the evolution of the demon with the most potential amongst you."
On cue, an explosion of demonic energy erupted from Lilith's body right as her aura was about to fall into a state of inexistence. It shook the entire castle and even the rest of the city as well.
Zikserth shielded his face, staring at the source of the rampaging power that currently flooded all his senses. At first, the Lunisolar Blaze had been raging alongside it, but after a short moment, they were abruptly replaced by lime-colored fire that burned much more mercilessly in comparison.
But the most amazing thing was what could be peered past the layers of demonic energy and green flames. Lilith's silhouette grew taller and fuller. Her hair lengthened and floated upward. Her ears grew longer, almost like an elf, and her physique visibly honed itself.
A pair of horns grew from her skull and a mask formed on her face. It was crimson and gold, with a third eye at the top, and swirling patterns over its surface.
The process took nearly a minute before everything calmed down. Rakna waved his hand clad in a transparent force and the flames and energy barring the view dispersed. When Lilith could be seen properly, several gasps echoed.
The demoness had undergone a drastic transformation. Her stature had increased past the three-meter mark in height. Her clothes were half torn and showed her skin; dark red. Her muscles had been extremely enhanced as well, highlighting every groove possible from her adnominal muscles to her forearms. Yet, her feminine charms were all but lost.
Her nails were slightly elongated like claws and her black hair was drifting alongside a bright green ring of fire hovering behind her. Her mask, with its grinning white fangs, completed by the black horns sprouting above it, gave an inexplicable sense of doom.
Through the mask's sockets, a green light flashed, and under everyone's eyes, the monstrous yet fascinating demoness reached for her mask and pulled it off. In the blink of an eye, she shrunk down to her original size and her skin eased back to its pristine shade.
The flames disappeared, her horns crumbled, and the mask faded like a mirage. Lilith kneeled on the ground panting, sweat running down her face. The only different things about her now were her long ears, the jade pupils in her red eyes, and an overall slight increase in height.
"What just…?" She breathed out tiredly. From the second she bit into the heart; her memories had turned into a blur. She reflexively looked at herself and yelped at the state of her clothes. She tried to cover her exposed skin and glared at the werewolf who was smiling impishly.
"Congratulations," he suddenly said while reverting into a therian and she blinked in confusion. He approached her and conjured a cloth to cover her on the spot. "You have officially been reborn as an Asura."
"…huh?"