The shack was a simple, wooden old shack that blended in with the surrounding area. Right now the party was in the least wealthy part of the capital, the people here had enough money to live and the houses were alright, but there were still some people that lived in some run-down places that were similar to this shack, mostly old people that have nobody with them.
As Reign approached the shack he smiled a bit as he could feel the dark, disgusting power of a demon below it, he opened the door of the shack and stepped in as the others waited outside because it was too small to fit everybody.
The inside of the shack was as one would expect, there was no floor, just soil down, the furniture of the shack was an old table, a chair, an old wardrobe, and a makeshift bed. There was however nobody that lived inside the shack however which could be seen from the state it was in. The bed was covered in dust and so were the chair and table, there was however a short path that wasn't dusty on the ground.
As Reign followed the path he came to a stop, the area in front of him wasn't covered in dust, but it was obviously just soil. There was no hidden door that could be seen or anything like that. Reign simply glanced at the guard who was in his hands before letting him go and crouching down.
He lifted his right hand before punching the ground heavily.
Bang!
The soil crumbled immediately as splinters flew off everywhere around Reign. A path immediately showed itself to Reign as stairs were located beneath the shack. There was no more need for the guard to be with them, so Reign gave him to the officials of the kingdom who were going to stay outside as their strength wasn't really anything special.
Reign made his way down the stairs with the other first evolution combatants, including Lico and the prince and princess. With five first evolution combatants in the party, there was nothing that could truly pose a threat to them here, that was the only reason why the prince and princess were together with them.
After a bit of walking down the stairs, the party came to a stop as a steel door was blocking their way. Reign looked back at the others before nodding his head and punching the door, after a couple of powerful punches, the door fell down and they entered. The party was now in a huge cave that was lit with multiple torches around it, at the very end of the cave they could see an altar that was giving off a dark vibe to the surrounding area.
"We're here." Reign said as the others all looked around the cave carefully, the prince and princess were behind him with Lico as the others made sure that everything was safe.
"There's nobody, no demon worshipers or Lios." Raigon said whilst looking around the cave, multiple symbols could be seen inside the cave and the human-sized altar at the very end of the cave pretty much made it obvious that this was the demon worshipers' hideout, but the problem is that nobody was here right now, nor was Lios.
"He's here, don't worry about that." Reign said with a smile as everyone turned to him.
"Lios is here, the demon worshipers are gone because they knew we were coming."
"They knew, how did they know?" The king asked Reign who flashed a smile at him.
"Because the one that took Lios is with us, ever since we all gathered in the throne hall we have been together with that person that was able to watch our every step and warn the worshipers to get out of here." As Reign said those words the eyes of everyone opened wide in shock, before they could even comprehend what exactly he was saying, Reign disappeared before appearing behind the princess and grabbing her.
"W-you, let me go!" The princess shouted out as the others all stared at Reign with slight hostility.
"Boy, are you saying that my daughter is a demon worshiper?!" The king shouted at Reign as his mana was slowly being released to the surroundings.
"No, she's actually a victim in this case." Reign shook his head as he looked at the now confused king in the eyes.
"What?"
"W-wh-what are you talking about, what do you mean I'm a victim, I-" The princess's words were cut short by Reign who simply stared at her coldly.
"It's not my first time seeing a possessed, demon." Reign's cold words echoed through the cave as everyone looked at the princess with a shocked expression. So far Reign had never been wrong about the demon worshipers and his sensitivity to them was pretty much certain after what he had previously done.
But to believe that the princess was possessed wasn't something easy. She was the princess of Riplas, the daughter of the king, and a strong combatant in her own right, although not as strong as the top combatants.
"I have to admit that you hid quite deeply, even the princess probably doesn't know that you possessed her, but you were too eager, I could smell your stench during the banquet." Reign said as he continued holding the princess down, his face devoid of any emotions.
"The banquet?" Lico asked as he looked at Reign with a confused expression on his face.
"Yeah, that's the first time I sensed the demon, I wasn't fully confident back then as my strength was still a bit lacking, but since I have already gone through the first evolution, even if sir Lios wasn't kidnapped, I would have come back to deal with this problem."
"Deal with it, you mean you're going to kill my daughter boy?" The king coldly asked Reign, he knew about the possessed, they were incredibly dangerous people that were controlled by demons, but the problem was that his daughter was still not confirmed as one and if she was possessed, the only thing they could do was to kill her.
"Don't worry, there will be no need to harm the princess, well okay, she will be a bit hurt, but I don't need to kill her in order to get rid of the demon."
"Huh?" Everyone looked at Reign with confusion, from what they knew, even the big kingdoms and empires had no other way to deal with the possessed but to kill them. Their souls were intertwined with their victims and it was impossible to simply divide the two.
"Others might not be able to, but I can." Reign said confidently as he stared at the princess.
"I know you have already taken over her, you can stop pretending."
"Tch, annoying human." The princess suddenly spoke with an old, archaic voice that was completely different from her own. That alone was enough to make the others believe what Reign had previously said, the princess was indeed possessed.
"To actually possess someone without them even knowing it, how long have you been doing this, demon?" Reign asked the demon as the latter started laughing hysterically.
"How long, ahahahahahahaha, I have always been here human, ever since this sweet little thing was a baby, I had been here!"
"You think you can divide us, after I have corrupted so much of her, in your dreams human!" The demon's words made the king go pale, the realization that his daughter has been possessed for so long was hard for him to accept, she was always a sweet little girl, she never created any problems and never did anything bad, but to think, to think that something so devious was inside of her all this time, it was heartbreaking for him.
"I'm not going to divide you, I'm simply going to crush that fragment of soul that you put inside of her." Reign said calmly as he grabbed the princess by her head. His mana was suddenly released as he stared at the princess directly in the eyes, he wasn't looking at her, however, but the demon that was still laughing at him.
Reign didn't really understand how his mysterious ability worked or what it was, but he didn't need to as he was able to feel it right now and use it naturally. He didn't understand even what he was doing, it was as if he was in some sort of trance, his mana and soul moved as he wished and went after the demon's fragment inside the princess.
The laughter of the demon stopped and soon it was screaming in pain. The feeling of having your soul be destroyed bit by bit was many times more painful than any physical injury. The demon at this point couldn't even speak as the pain was too much. Bit by bit its soul was being destroyed, ground to oblivion by Reign's ability.
"Impossible, how, how can you do this, what the hell are you?!" The demon spoke its last words before its soul was completely crushed by Reign who simply stared at it coldly.
This chapt𝙚r is updated by fr(e)ew𝒆bnov(e)l.com