The Little Apprentice scratched his head in confusion.
“But this really has nothing to do with us. Even if something happens, his teacher will take care of it. We…”
“Stop with the nonsense! Don’t forget what our faith is! Eliminating any potential evil is also our responsibility!”
“Yes!” He shot up, standing at attention and replying with an extra loud voice.
Then, a panicked Jeshya grabbed him and dragged him away from the scene.
From afar, the lizardman on watch scratched his head in confusion and walked over to check, but found nothing.
“Hm? Was it just my imagination? Better write it down and report it later.”
At the same time, inside the Crystal Palace.
Genasa looked at the two unconscious demons, glanced at Golly, and then at the Bloodline Potion in his hand.
“Are we really going to use it on them? What if something goes wrong?”
“Stop talking nonsense. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. Hurry up.”
“……”
Helpless, Genasa divided the potion into two parts and fed it to the two demons.
Luckily, both of them were low-level demons, so the dosage of this potion was more than enough.
Helping them evolve would not only provide Genasa with experimental data, but also help them recover in the process.
Genasa still didn’t have complete confidence in his own concoction, but Golly’s constant encouragement finally helped him make up his mind.
After the potion was fed into the demons’ mouths, there was a reaction after a short while.
A purple-black radiance shimmered on their skin, radiating waves of heat.
At the same time, an odd aroma of roasting meat filled the air, making Genasa drool uncontrollably.
“Ahem! This should be fine, right?”
Quickly wiping away his saliva, he turned to ask Golly, who also looked intrigued.
“This is rare. I’ve never seen this kind of reaction, but it’s still within control. Nothing to worry about.”
As Golly had said, after a while, they smoothly broke through the boundary of life and the Bloodline within them elevated both demons to the middle rank.
Their bodies also underwent subtle changes.
The Red Demon became even more robust, with sharper claws and teeth.
The Eyeball Demon didn’t show any obvious changes, but it gave off a noticeably stronger presence.
When the radiance faded from their bodies, their consciousness gradually returned and they slowly climbed to their feet.
The Red Demon shook his head, looked around, and after coming to his senses, noticed the changes in his body.
“What did you do to us? Why do I feel… stronger?”
Genasa couldn’t be bothered to lie to them, so he spoke plainly:
“I used you two for a little experiment. Now you’re both middle-rank demons. Well? Happy?”
Waking up only to discover they had evolved left the two demons in utter confusion.
But they didn’t seem happy about it. Suddenly, as if remembering something, they took out two objects and tossed them in front of Genasa.
“We’ve brought back what you wanted. Now can you give us our freedom?”
Genasa glanced at the objects on the ground—two small Statues. He didn’t recognize them, so decided to put them aside for now.
“Uh… these, right? Originally, I said I’d let you go once you brought them back, but I helped you break through your Talent Level. Don’t you… um… want to… maybe… stay and work for me?”
Genasa started out speaking as if it were natural, but midway through, he realized it wasn’t so simple and felt a bit sheepish.
The two demons exchanged glances. Then the Eyeball Demon spoke:
“You helped us evolve, and for that we’re very grateful. As for following you—if you were a high-rank demon, we’d be happy to. Unfortunately, you’re not, so we must refuse!”
“Demons only serve the Demon King. With no Demon King present, we only pledge loyalty to higher-ranked demons. If you wish, you can kill us now as payment for your help.”
Genasa looked at them, nodded with a smile.
“I get it, I get it. The benefits just aren’t enough, right? Then—”
“Stop, stop, stop, the two of you can go.”
Golly, who’d been silent all this time, waved her hand, and a teleportation array lit up under their feet.
The demons understood this meant they were about to be sent away, so they quickly said their farewells:
“We can’t pledge our loyalty, but if you ever need us for anything, just say the word.”
As soon as they finished, their figures vanished in the glow of the array.
This left Genasa baffled. He squinted and turned his head.
“Master, what are you doing?”
Golly reached over and gave his head a shake.
“Did you think they could be bought off so easily? Besides, what do you even want them for? Aren’t those Beastmen enough for you to play with?”
“……”
With demons, you could basically only enslave them by force, or entice them with benefits into some form of cooperation.
If you wanted their willing allegiance, it was pretty much impossible.
“Alright, alright. Still, looks like the potion was a success. Should I have those lizardmen drink it too…”
After a long moment of thought, Genasa decided to give up.
“Forget it, better wait a few years until I’m more skilled. Lizardmen’s constitution can’t compare to demons—if they drank it and exploded or something…”
Lacking confidence in himself, Genasa decided to wait until his potion-making skills improved.
“Let’s check what they brought back first.”
He looked at the two small Statues on the ground—each a different form of demon.
One had a ram’s head and wore a long robe, while the other looked just like the classic Red Demon from earlier, except even more imposing.
Golly seemed to have taken interest in these two Statues from the very start, which was probably why she let the demons go in such a hurry.
Watching her face turn serious, Genasa tilted his head for a closer look, but couldn’t make anything out. The dragonfolk’s heritage didn’t mention anything about these items either.
“What are these two?”
The Statues’ surfaces were a dull gray, made from some unknown material, and the dark eye sockets seemed to flicker with a faint light.
“These… seem to be… connected to a Legend among the demons. Supposedly, if you collect all seven Statues, you can summon a Demon God and have your wish granted, or something like that.”
She rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought, as if it was some obscure topic.
Genasa: ╯□╰ Is this thing a Dragon Ball?
He looked speechless, but Golly just waved it off.
“It’s just an ancient legend, probably fake. You can play with them if you want.”
With that, she tossed the Statues to Genasa. He looked at the two Statues in his claws, lost in thought.
Hmm… I think I’ve heard of something like this before, maybe in the Church. Could the other Statues be with the Church of Light?
After a moment’s silence, he put the Statues away.
I’ll leave it for later. There’s no way to track it down now anyway.
Just then, Golly suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right, Aish has been holed up in her room all this time and hasn’t come out. If this keeps up, there’ll be trouble. Take her out for some fresh air.”
“Alright, I’ll go check on her.”
Turning around, he headed to Aish’s room and knocked on the door.
“Aish, are you asleep? Say something.”
There was no response, which made Genasa frown in thought.
“Asleep? Hmm… I’ll go in and take a look.”
He pushed open the door and saw Aish sitting on a platform, her back turned, head buried in a thick book.
“Aish, what’s wrong?”
With a puzzled look, he walked over and placed his claw on her back, giving her a little nudge.
The book slipped from her claws as she turned her head to look at Genasa.
“Eh!”
On Aish’s face was an expression full of wisdom, and she was even drooling. Her mouth moved as if trying to say something, but all that came out was…
“Ah bah ah bah ah bah…”
“Ah! Aish, what’s wrong, Aish! Don’t scare me, Aish! Ai——sh——!!”
Aish had already been completely… filled up by knowledge…