Wriggling almost as though it was alive the energy quickly split off into fifteen different smaller clumps of energy. Slowly the energy morphed into the recognizable shape of a set of chess pieces minus the king piece.
Emerging from the crystal almost as though they were ethereal the Evil Pieces slowly glided into Rias' outstretched hand, a look of wonder and amazement etched onto her face. It was an experience that could only be experienced once and it deserved every ounce of praise it had ever received. It was a miraculous experience.
Her pieces were a beautiful shade of crimson that danced with shadows no matter where they were in the light. They were beautiful creations born from her and her alone. It was amazing to say the least.
Yet one of her pieces stood out among the rest. Her bishop piece was almost completely black like her original Power of Destruction remnants, an oddity among her other pieces. There was only one answer.
"A mutation piece. Congratulations on your fortune." Ajuka offered his praise, genuinely impressed by her luck. The ability to get a mutation piece wasn't something that happened often, it was rare for even a single generation to get one at times.
"Thank you!" Rias thanked the Satan happily, clutching her pieces close to her sizable chest. Her expression was adorable however most of the more lustful devils naturally found their eyes locked onto her evil pieces for some odd reason.
"If you would Sona Sitri." Ajuka spoke up as Rias practically ran over to her parents, her appearance lacking the elegance she possessed earlier in the evening. It was natural for her to be excited so even Grayfia gave her a pass.
Nodding her head silently even the calm Sona was slightly nervous and that was on the surface. People like her and Damian tended to not show much emotion on the surface if they could help it, for her to be showing her nerves outwardly meant that they were powerful internally.
Stepping up to the stage the process repeated herself until she pressed her hand on the crystal that many considered to be a divine creation. While Rias' energy was dark and dangerous Sona's was a soft blue and moved fluidly as though it was water. It was a stark difference born from the Sitri clan's connection to water.
Their clan trait was an ability similar to the Leviathan clan after all. The Leviathan clan had unrivaled control over the sea and the Sitri clan, a subordinate of the original Leviathan, possessed a similar ability albeit lesser in power.
Eventually, the process repeated and navy blue chess pieces soon landed in Sona's waiting hand with her rook looking different from the rest, a look of expectation and joy uncharacteristic of her on her face. Similar to Rias she was clearly excited however it seemed she had a realization of some sort.
'She probably figured it out. Well, that was my intention anyway.' Damian thought to himself, ignoring the violet eyes piercing holes into him. He wanted her to figure out that giving out her Evil Pieces was a horrible idea so she would think about it more.
He either gets leverage over her and tells her a vague form of the truth or he doesn't and nothing is revealed in the end. Either way, he will be the one to come out on top since with her personality she would still give him Ingvild.
'Well, from their perspective it isn't really a gift.' Damian thought blandly as he walked through the crowd slowly to reach Ajuka who didn't even bother to call out for him. In the eyes of Sona and Serafall, they were giving him a ticking time bomb rather than a present.
Instantly a look of expectation and interest appeared in Ajuka's eyes. Briefly glancing at each other's eyes Damian soft chuckles in amusement. Ajuka wasn't even bothering to hide his curiosity in him anymore.
'Well, let's not disappoint him.' Damian thought to himself in a mix of determination and amusement as he placed his hand on the crystal. Instantly, his demonic energy was pulled from him without hesitation, a soft pink glow emerging from the crystal.
Yet, unlike those who came before him, he pushed in more of his demonic energy and increased the density of his energy. It wasn't some masterful plan, rather it was a small prank for what would come next.
'So that's how it worked.' Damian thought to himself, briefly amazed by the sheer amount of 'circuits' in the crystal. They were so small that they couldn't even be seen by a devil's eyes and there were hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of them.
Eventually, he stopped the flow of his demonic energy and removed his hand. Quickly his demonic energy began to clump together into a large sphere before splitting just as the other two before him.
However, when the pieces emerged from the crystal there was no applause nor was there any sound of chattering. The hall had become silent. It wasn't because his sakura pink chess pieces were beautiful nor was it because he had shown his secret powers and awed the crowd.
It was merely because three of his pieces were mutation pieces. It was rare enough for a mutation piece to be created from a devil's demonic energy let alone three. The people would already talk about Rias and Sona's single mutation piece for months let alone his three.
'My Queen, one Rook, and one Knight piece huh? That's pretty good.' Damian thought to himself, a small grin of appreciation appearing on his face as he looked down at the pieces in his hand, their pink glow intensifying almost as though reacting to his joy.
To get a mutation piece there were a few ways that he had discovered from snooping around Ajuka's lab, with his permission of course. Well, he hadn't received permission per se but considering that he hadn't been stopped it was natural to assume it was fine.
Method #1: to have a strong power that forces the excess energy into a piece to create a mutation piece. Through this method, it was theoretically possible to get two mutation pieces but Ajuka said it was almost impossible.
Method #2: Have extreme an extreme moment that affects and changes the individual's very soul. Very few people have this happen to them when this event comes around due to their age but there was a reason that mutation pieces were more common after the civil war. It was because evil pieces were given to those who were older.
In Damian's case, he didn't have the former so he relied purely on method #2. He had three important moments in his life, his rebirth, his acceptance of his future, and his decision to alter the future.
The first was self explanatory, the second only accrued because he was originally planning on killing himself but family's care changed his mind and perspective, and finally, the third was slightly more vague.
His decision to alter to the future wasn't born from good intentions, it was him embracing his greed and desire to receive the future that he wished for despite the cost. Despite being a simple sounding desire, it wasn't an easy one to make in truth.
His desire may cause the destruction of the world, the death of thousands, and the loss of those he cared for. It was such a simple desire and yet its consequences were oh so dire, there was no possible way to make such a choice easily.
But in the end, he had. His determination had changed the path he would walk, and he had been rewarded for his unrelenting greed.