Inside Arthur Jr's dream, an eldritch being that embodied darkness stood near.
"Who are you?" Arthur Jr asked with fear.
"I am Reish Valducia, the shadow emperor, whom once served the demon race, betrayed, now I don't have anyone to serve, and my soul will eventually disappear" The shadow lord said.
"Wh-why are you inside my dream" Arthur Jr asked hesitantly with fear
"I'm inside you, because you're perfect for me to accept my powers, let me refrain that, I'll be a great help to you"
"So you're the one who ruined my life?" Arthur was furious but.
"Little one, do you want me to permanently take over your soul?" then again shadow lord was a little bit dissapointed by this reaction. He expected too much from.
"N-no" Arthur Jr calmed down, as he felt powerless against him.
"There's a reason why I did that, because she humilated you infront of everyone, I did hold back enough, I was really expecting to you fight back at them, but you made me pity until I had a deep loath on her, if your father knew about this, would he just stay here in shame, watching you suffer?"
"Ever since you were born, I have been inside you, taking care of your well being. Watching over you, as you smelled, taste, watch, then practicing and studying, trying your hardest to polish of your skills" shadowlord asserted himself, trying to support Arthur Jr as much as he can. since he felt proud of how hardworking Arthur Jr was.
Arthur Jr, wasn't expecting a monster like him to be this supportive of him. He thought he was going to possess him, but instead offering him power, then Arthur Jr said.
"If you offer me your power, wouldn't that kill you?" Arthur Jr was a bit perplexed as to why offer power to someone like him.
"Protect the ones you love, make good friends, and always find trustworthy and loyal people. My journey has already ended because of the betrayal"
"Most of my loyal followers have been eliminated or marginalized. So I have nothing to accomplish here. Even if I did try, it would be a waste to kill another soul, afterall my existence would still disappear after taking one, so it's a futile attempt for survival" asserted Reish
"Who were you exactly? followers?" Arthur Jr wanted to know his story.
"500,000 years ago, the demon race invaded the mortal realm, that is, your world, corruption turned them into our followers, but I didn't take the same route as other demons, I was in the demon realm gaurding my empire."
"Until the other emperors offered my help, To kill the saviour of mortal world, Yeingard. He held posed a threat against the demon race, since most of them weren't powerful enough to handle, I agreed to help, since I was waiting for this moment, as I always yearned for a blood boiling fight" explained Reish.
"Mortal world, you mean 500,000 years ago from my world, who is this hero" asked Arthur Jr.
"Exactly and..." Reish also explained the Hero's origin, bragging about him of being a worthy opponent. After that he said.
"I was tricked by them, at my death, I realized what happened, through my foresight. I saw what they were planning, they vowed to destroy me, ever since they found out about this mortal realm having a huge amount of magical energy, The hero was the part of their plan to kill me" Shadow Lord explained as he was disappointed with their actions. Arthur Jr was amazed yet sad about his backstory.
"The angels destroyed the demon world, and exterminated most of the demon race. I'm happy that my traitors died in their own plight of foolishness, but my people, I'm afraid that I have no where left to go, or they may have died" he answered in dismay.
"You're my only hope now, kid Arthur" Reish said.
"I have one request" Arthur Jr asked because he can't use his powers properly.
"Yes what is it?" asked Reish.
"Could you remove my curse?" Shadow lord was bit uneasy by that question, since he's afraid of accidently killing him.
"I can do that but, it would require me to temporarily possess you, can you handle my power" The shadow lord warned Arthur Jr, because he's only a child.
"I'll handle it, I can handle enough pain to protect the people around me" Arthur Jr replied as he trusted in his predicament.
"Very well, so it shall be" as the abyss demon took over his soul, Arthur Jr was in euphoria as he completely took over his soul.
"Now lets fullfill my successor's desires, I must meet his father" As he was leaving, he got intrupted by his younger brother Zeref
"Brother Arthur, what's this power" Zeref was puzzeled as he opened his barge into his room, he had no idea what happened. in all honesty, Zeref was a bit scared of watching him, a new intimidating aura surrounded him. he realized it wasn't his brother after all.
"I'm not your brother. I am.." before he could finish saying something
"The abyss??" Zeref proclaimed, as if he got the answer to his theory.
"yes the Abyss" the demon said.
"....."
"..."
Both stared at each other cluelessly. Then the abyss demon asked.
"Little boy, how come you barge in, do you have any manners?... ugh...such a clueless kid, where's your father?" he asked.
"I guess he's with my mother, but wait..." before he could finish, abyss lord vanished, he used teleportation via shadows.
"Ah crap, The Abyss?! huh, how did he get here?" Zeref's reality was shattered. Too many powerful people beside him. Zeref couldn't distinguish between reality and fiction anymore.
"Alright, why did I even transverse to this shitty world" Zeref was comically tensed, with his overpowered family members, he was wondering what dangers await him, this scared him a bit.
"if I can't fight, how could I even beat my brother" thinking this, now he was a bit terrified, because the creatures are real, monsters looked more scarier to kill, Jordan wasn't daydreaming at all, this is real, even a single carelessness could kill him.
Meanwhile Arthur was discussing about his first son, but Sasha dissed him off badly. Until then, it wasn't Sasha anymore, because he found out that, something had already possessed her. After Sasha took the demon orb, he regained all of his demonic power.
"You're not Sasha, who the hell are you" Arthur furiously said
"My, my, Arthur, you are quite bold, I never expected a human like you to have such a sharp senses, but you're too late, there's no point in fooling around anyways" said Sasha.
"I just asked your name, dumbass" Arthur was confused, so he wanted to know, the entity that took over his wife's body
"Alright alright, I'll say it, my name is Dein, the Highest chief mage of the Valdukian empire. Let me advise you, especially about your eldest son, something odd exists inside of him" Dein suggested.
"My son?" thought Arthur, and then he said
"Could you just do me a favour, and just stop monolouging, whatever you are, get the hell out of her, right now" Arthur said.
"Silly man, do you even understand the gravity of this situation, she's not the only one who's being possessed." Dein knew full well about Arthur's personality, now that he had got all her memories.
Suddenly behind Sasha's shadow. Arthur Jr appeared from it.
"Dein, I trusted you, why did you backstab me, you put my empire to risk" the Abyss Lord said furiously.
"Old friend, are you up with the silly sentiments? I have a way to get you out of this mess, trust me Reish. I can fix your soul and reconstruct your body" Dein said as he naturally lied, with Sasha's voice, gently touching Arthur Jr's cheeks.
"What's the deal between these two and how are they aquainted?" Arthur thought and then he said
"Leave my family alone" as he tried to attack both of them.
"Foolish man, I'm on your side" thought Reish.
"Hahahhahaha, as expected of Arthur" she said, Dein was enjoying this. Infact he knew about their relationship with her, about how stubbornly Arthur loved Sasha.
Attacking them both, Reish dodged himself, meanwhile. Dein remained still, as Arthur stopped his punch on her face.
"Why did you stop honey" said Dein, calmly with her voice.
"Leave her alone" Arthur wailed, he couldn't believe how helpless he was, as he doesn't know any exorcism techniques, all he did was hunt monsters.
"By the way darling, that thing which possessed your son, he's the rumoured shadow lord, my liege" Dein said as he touched his chest
"what?" Arthur felt broken. defeated, he fell on his knees.
"Arthur, I know your son's pain and what he went through, but if you kill me. your son will die" Reish said.
"Ofcourse, same here darling, ahhhh, isn't she lovely, with combat abilities and her power, I desire her too much, even after violating her body, though, you should be glad, atleast I haven't fucked someone else with her body besides you, hahahahha" Dein moaned with Sasha's voice, playfully touching her body.
"You're kidding me right Sasha" Arthur murmured in his own helplessness, crushing the ground with kneels, he got strong enough to protect everyone, and yet he wasn't able to rescue her.
Zeref was watching them behind the scenes, he never expected his mom, out of everyone else to be possessed by a demon, being shocked by the truth.
"Dein stop teasing these mortals, fight me if you dare" Reish tried to provoke him.
"Fight you? ha, you're just a kid having mommy issues" Dein laughed hysterically, Reish didn't find his joke funny, and so he used up his triumph card on him. suddenly Reish used his powers.
"Arghhh, this bitch trying to resist me, I made sure to fuse myself with her, and why is it happening to me" Dein groaned, things weren't looking that bright for him until, Reish appeared behind him. Dein felt chills run through his spine, as she looked behind, she froze in a state of fear.
He then realized it wasn't Sasha that resisted him, but the one he served for, his king Reish. plucking his soul out of her body, seperating and purifying Sasha's soul, as her body collapsed, only for the spirit to remain.
"No, my liege, please show mercy, don't kill me, I can explain" Dein pleaded in fear, as Reish grabbed his ethereal form.
"After all you did to me, you murdered everyone in my empire, you destroyed the demon realm, and now to this family, toying with this poor man's wife, and making my successor go through pain and torture, you have fooled everyone here, and most importantly, the last time when I had forgiven you, you've fooled me again, in all of that I'm expected to show you what? mercy?" Dein explained, with a glimpse of disgust on Arthur Jr's face. his father, Arthur was also surprised to hear such words.
"Theres no concept of mercy, especially for the likes of you, if anything, traitors like you deserve fates worse than death" Reish said
"Wait, please, let me explain, NOOOO" Dein was futile against him, Shadow lord crushed his soul, then he approached Arthur, the pain Dein felt, was more like suffering it 100 years, it was enough to make anyone give up on living.
"I'm sorry for everything that happened here, but your wife is alright I have restored her soul which was absorbed by Dein, since I can't possess him much longer, i'm willing to server for Arthur Jr and teach him everything I have, so heed my advice, protect this child and I'll make sure you won't have anything to lose" saying this Arthur Jr fainted, meanwhile Zeref called Celine to help them out.
Few hours later, Sasha opened her eyes. though something was different about her, she couldn't talk nor speak.
"Where is this place?" Sasha felt someone holding her hand.
"Glad to see you again, Sasha" Arthur hugged her without hesitation.
"who are you?" Sasha was clueless
"Sasha.." Arthur said, he never felt this hopeless. Eventhough being a hunter, it took ages for him to reform his own arts, but then his wife who had forgotten about him.
"Am I someone you know about? and this kid, why does he seem familiar" she said, looking at Zerref.
"your name is Sasha, and I'm your husband" Arthur was dissapointed in himself, years of hunting mythical beasts didn't change anything about him. even if he desired to improve himself, nothing changed, he failed to protect her.
"Ah I see, alright" Sasha asked
The next day Arthur called his friend, the court mage Trieyard, who was an 8th tier Arch-mage . the strongest in this world. eventhough both of had been taught by the same master, Arthur was a man suited for combat techniques while Trieyard was a technician, a researcher. both of them don't get along, but brains need brawns.
"what's the problem brother" asked Trieyard, as they have been raised together by one teacher.
"it's about my wife, can you check her condition" he asked.
"what happened to Sasha?" asked Trieyard merely curious about the condition, he felt empathetic to him.
"A demon possessed her, and now she lost all her memories, I don't know what happened to her mind, I hope she's okay" he said,
"A demonic possession caused this, then it can't be an ordinary demon. Even a high ranked demon wouldn't be a trouble to her" Trieyard was puzzled about her condition.
After examining her, he found something, then he said.
"Dear Brother, it would take atleast 6 years to recover her memories, other than that her mana is fine.
Arthur sat near her bed, with a sorrow expression on his face, watching his, he felt relieved, yet hopless at the same time.
Meanwhile back in the Zeref's room, Sylvie called him, just to play hide and seek.
"Hey wait, Sylvie" Zeref was busy studying beast language, it was much similar to Japanese, yet the characters were different.
"Follow me brawther" As she lead him a hallway, entering upon a small broken room. suddenly the doors got forced shut, by an unknown force.
"Brother do you know why we're here" she lowly whispered, Zeref felt chills run through him, Until he realised it was no longer his sister. But something else entirely. To be exact, a demonlord.
Turning around, her eyes teared with blood, the pupil turned black, with a crimson glow from her Iris. The grin she had was beyond abnormal.
"surprised?" the entity proceeded to laugh, in her feeble body. While trolling Zerref, it was his first time, seeing a scary abomination making fun of him.
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