Published at 8th of September 2019 10:50 am

Chapter 193: Pride

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"Incredible! He really can open up portals to the other castles and has changed the world itself, over and over, without a Lodestone!" Kantor's voice was full of shock as he looked at the glowing tear in reality, floating near the carved stone bed.

"His Great Lordship has powers far beyond our understanding." The elderly Baron Radishow replied, bobbing his head up and down as he looked over at Dorian.

"But of course. A disciple of the Great Demon Emperor could hardly be normal." Priscilla added.

All three of the present council members looked at Dorian with something akin to reverence. It faintly creeped him out, though he didn't let any of that emotion show.

"It is not my powers, Kantor." His voice was grand as he stepped forward, his clawed feet clinking against the carved stone,

"It is that of the Demon Emperor and the Inheritances he left behind, before he was Sealed away by the vile Yukeli." He threw some shade at Yukeli, figuring the Shades would appreciate it.

Indeed, all three Shades hardened their eyes as they heard this, the air fluctuating as they all fiercely frowned.

"However, he failed, in the end, to complete his mission. Demonic practitioners are still alive in the 30,000 Worlds, and the Demon Emperor is about to make his return! Nothing can stop us now, save for that vile, insidious Lord Inigo!" Dorian continued, his eyes flashing. After he absorbed the Inheritance of Sloth, an idea had sprouted in his mind.

"As we reach the last few Inheritances, it's becoming clearer and clearer that he will strike, sometime soon. He either has the ability to pretend he has a Demonic Law, or is an actual traitor despite having a Demonic Law." His voice was dour,

"You all must be prepared to stop him! He cannot interfere with the return of the Demon Emperor!" His voice boomed, echoing mightily.

"WOOO!"

"NOTHING WILL STAND IN OUR WAY!"

"GREAT DISCIPLE!"

As soon as Dorian finished speaking, all three of the Demonic Councilmembers cheered in response, King Class Auras bursting into existence as they made vows to defend him. Dorian took full advantage of their passion, encouraging it as he twisted upon Fate, though he was unsure if it would have that much effect on beings as high level as them.

'Fifteen still hasn't attacked me…' His main concern was the other Anomaly that had vowed to kill him when he was here.

Dorian had a sinking suspicion that if he wanted to fully cleanse Moria, the path he had set himself on, he would inevitably run afoul of Fifteen. He was well aware that Fifteen was a member of the Demon Council, thanks to Fifteen telling him so.

Therefore… He slowly began to enact the secret plan he thought up.

"Just be alert, my fellow practitioners. He is wily and intelligent, a devious and handsom- cough, ahem, I mean an evil genius who will stop at nothing to prevent the Demon Emperor from returning! Do not underestimate him!" He looked at all three of the powerful King Class fighters intently.

They all nodded back, their powerful Auras causing the air itself to fluctuate. Even Dorian felt mildly affected, the powerful King Class Auras holding strength that outclassed his own soul.

'The restraints on the world are indeed getting weaker and weaker, more than before!' His eyes widened as he felt this keenly. The chains he'd shattered, slowly un-Sealing Moria, were having great effect.

'That said… it appears to be a bit of a lesser difference.' Between un-Sealing the 4th Sealing Tube and the 5th, the difference it made was noticeably smaller. Even further, when Dorian visualized the chains that Sealed off Moria, he could see that despite all the ones he had shattered, there were many more remaining.

Far more than just 2 other Sealing Tubes would contain, given that the previous ones seemed to control equal numbers.

'That last set of chains, it probably holds about 30% of the power, directly Sealing it away from the world.' He mentally added up the remaining amounts, his thoughts racing ahead of him,

'If my guess is right, the last Sealing Tube, or whatever it is that is holding those chains, can be found in the Central Castle…' According to the intel he'd gotten from his army of subordinates, the Central Castle was the number one danger region on Moria, not that any other areas were particularly safe. The outsides were swarming with Demonic remnants, after all.

He blinked as he looked at the three Demonic Shades and then gave them all a stately nod.

"Baron Radishow. Enter the portal first and announce my presence to anyone waiting there. I will follow shortly with Priscilla and Kantor." His voice was stern, brooking no argument.

"As you command, Great Demon Disciple!" Radishow hadn't even taken off the brown protective armor and practically threw himself into the glowing portal. Of all of the Councilmembers, he was the one that believed in Dorian the most.

In a flash of light, the Demonic Shade disappeared. At the same time, Dorian could sense faint fluctuations coming off the portal, ones that were slowly weakening.

'Oh? It seems the portal will slowly start to vanish once it's used.' He nodded.

"We shall wait a moment…" Dorian held his hand up, waiting a few seconds.

He didn't want to have a repeat or accident where he got attacked again. Instead, the Councilmembers could simply explain who he was to the other Councilmembers. With them backing him, he would look extremely convincing.

'I did just get the Law of Sloth, after all. I should put some effort into being lazier.' He nodded again. It made sense.

After a few seconds passed, he lowered his hand and walked forward, motioning for the other Demonic Shades to follow him.

'5 down, 2 to go.' Dorian smiled as he stepped into the rippling portal that had appeared, feeling energy swarm around him. He activated his Perfect Body Ability and covered himself in a wave of protective energy from the Law of Gluttony.

Instantly, he was cast off into the cascading light and buffeting energy. Power thronged in the air around him as he was transported, moving through space.

As he traveled, he felt a searing blow slam into his chest.

'Oh?' The energy from the blow managed to pierce his protective energy barrier from the Law of Gluttony, some of it even managing to blast past his always active Mystic Armored Body, and smash directly against his chest, unable to injure him in his Perfect Body state.

'Good job, Gluttony. You're making me into a great turtle.' He mentally gave the part of his soul that was pulling on that Law a thumbs up. The barrier had just managed to block enough of the energy bolt to leave him unscathed thanks to his other powers.

WHOOSH

In a flash of light, Dorian abruptly found himself in another room. The air cascaded around him, creating a miniature tornado as he landed, arriving from the portal.

"Ah, there his Greatness is! The Great Demon Disciple!" Baron Radishow's eager voice greeted him as he arrived, the elderly figure standing next to a tall, hulking brute of a Shade. Dorian was taken aback as he saw this, the uncharacteristically muscular Shade startling him.

"This is him?" The Shade had a face only a mother could love, with a nose that had clearly been broken before, a strong jaw, narrow eyes and a mean frown. His body gave off an overwhelming feeling of strength, as if nothing in the world could stop him. It faintly reminded Dorian of Excelsior Gamin, the extremely strong Pseudo-Angelic Shade from the Church of Light.

As he looked at the Demonic Shade, he also realized that the Shade reminded him of someone else.

Leader.

Dorian casually held out his hand. As he did so, he randomly pulled upon a few different Demonic Laws at once. Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, and Greed.

WHOOSH

The air boiled with chaotic, Demonic energy as he flexed.

Immediately, the muscular Shade's eyes widened.

"Great demon Disciple!!"

Everything else happened as he expected. He talked with the Demonic Shade, a man named Damal, about his 'purpose' here and explained who he was, who Lord Inigo was, and how they needed to stop him. The Shade nodded his head along with every word, his eyes blazing with passion.

After all, if the Demon Emperor returned, they wouldn't have to live away in hiding, obscuring their true powers and never daring to show off. If the Church found out where they were… well, it would only end poorly.

That didn't mean they wanted another Demon war. They just wished for the ability to survive out in the open. The Demonic Laws weren't necessarily evil in nature, though many Demons were. The Demon Emperor was glorified as a protector of the Demon race and not one of the warmongering Demons, and hence had earned the full respect of any Demonic practitioner.

If he existed in this day and age, the Church would have to think twice before attacking and hunting down Demonic practitioners that hadn't harmed anyone.

And now, Dorian found himself standing in front of a small, carved Array. The room he had arrived in looked like a large stage, as if for plays, with hundreds of seats carved into the ground on the outer edge of the room. On the stage, there was a large stone throne, carved into the wall.

Dorian had arrived from a portal that opened and closed right here.

The Inheritance he was looking at was set in the middle of the stage. The Sealing Tube for this castle was located next to the throne at the back. The other members of the Demonic Council stood around it, talking in an animated fashion.

Damal was known as the Master of Pride among the Demonic Council and, not unexpectedly, studied the Law of Pride, just like Leader.

'The Pride Inheritance.' He smiled slightly as he looked at it, thinking about Leader.

'I hope you're doing alright, friend.' He had long since begun to consider the enigmatic archer a friend. With his starting mastery of so many Demonic Laws, he was probably close to how Leader envisioned him now.

Without hesitating any more, Dorian held his hand over and activated the Array.

He blinked.

WHOOSH

And was teleported away instantly.

He found himself in a large, grassy valley. Dozens of trees could be seen just beyond the clearing, a forest teeming with color and life. A gentle breeze swept through the valley, bringing a rich, earthy smell to Dorian's nose.

"Oh my, so realistic." He spoke aloud as he took a few steps, taking in the surroundings in one sweeping glance.

'I have access to my Soul Spell Matrix!' This Inheritance challenge allowed him to use his powers fully it seemed.

"Greetings, Inheritor. Welcome to the Inheritance of Pride." A formal sounding voice boomed out loud, echoing with authority. Dorian spun around to look at it.

He grinned,

"Hey, Master Bubble. No need to pretend, we both know who we are." Standing, or rather, floating, at the center of the valley was none other than a familiar transparent bubble, billowing ever so slightly in the wind.

"…"

"…sigh…"

The Array Genie didn't make any other comment about what Dorian had mentioned, ignoring him as it announced the Inheritance.

"The Inheritance of Pride is a simple one. A warrior must have pride, even when fighting an enemy more powerful than them. To push through the chains of weakness that drag one's body down and break past that, becoming a Prideful expert, one must have a powerful strength of will." The bubble's words echoed in the air.

"You will now come face to face with the last challenger that completed the Inheritance of Pride. Prove your worth against them! Even in death, do not bend your will an inch!" The bubble added a few more lines,

"Hehe… even if you have freakish memories and a freakish past, you won't be able to stand up to the last expert that completed the Inheritance of Pride! He's a genius who gained special permission to use the Inheritance despite already mastering the Law of Pride!" The bubble's voice was smug, detracting from the epic tone he had just a few moments ago.

"Feast your eyes on my almighty champion!" The bubble seemed to waver and then vanish.

WHOOSH

Before Dorian's eyes, a figure appeared.

A figure of a human, wearing a brown vest and loose leather pants. He had placid brown eyes that gave his unlined face a youthful appearance.

In his hands was an ornate looking bow.

"…"

"Leader?"

.. .. .. .. .. ..

The energy of the world was fluctuating around a certain archer as he looked out at the city of Ba'artova.

'My access to the Laws is getting stronger and stronger…' Leader thought, his eyes rumbling. A slight hint of nervousness could be seen in them, as if he wasn't quite sure what was going on.

Nothing like this had ever happened before when he was here last. He had gone to the Castle of Pride to check out the Pride Inheritance, helping solidify his somewhat strong understanding of the Law of Pride. He had even found a rare treasure left behind by the Demon Emperor for experts like him, seeking to further their understanding.

For some odd reason, despite the energy of the world wavering where he was, the Laws becoming easier to sense, the dead zone that surrounded the central castle remained completely unaffected. Leader had tested this multiple times.

'This must be the actions of Lord Inigo… what is he doing?' Just as he was thinking that, Leader abruptly froze.

"Huh?!"

Leader's soul shook slightly as he felt an emanation from Fate itself affecting him. His eyes widened as he sensed this, abruptly realizing what it was.

'When I completed the Inheritance of Pride, the Array Genie asked me to form and leave behind some of my own consciousness. It took me a whole week to safely refine what he asked for using the treasure the Genie had let me borrow.'

He hadn't had to cut off part of his soul or anything like that, just refine a treasure by imbuing it with a large amount of energy from his soul. The process was painstaking, but to help other Pride Law users in the future, and to thank the Array Genie, he had made the effort. His pride wouldn't let him do otherwise.

And, right now, Leader could feel that piece of his consciousness activate for the first time. The next person to successfully reach the strongest Inheritance of Pride and activate it had appeared, something that hadn't happened in a very long time.

'Damn it! It is that blasted Lord Inigo! He is already at the Inheritances, that must be what is changing the world.' His eyes turned red as he realized this.

In his mind, a vision appeared. In that vision, for just a split second, he could make out what his consciousness saw.

A weird, freakish Demonic being appeared, covered in armor and plated crystals.

'That must be 'Lord Inigo's' true form.' The vision only lasted an instant, but from that split second, Leader felt a form of absolute surety.

The Demonic creature in that vision and the 'Lord Inigo' he had tried to kill in Cracktyl, they were one and the same. The emanation in Fate he'd sensed had helped solidify this feeling.

'Fifteen told me that Lord Inigo was a monster in disguise.' He had talked with the Demonic Councilmember about their mutual target, sharing information.

"Don't worry, Great Lord. If that vile Lord Inigo tries to destroy the Inheritances for real, he has to travel to the Central Castle. The moment he does so…" Leader's voice was a deep growl as he clenched his fists, ready to jump into battle.

"I will strike him down immediately."

.. .. .. .. .. ..

"Ah, Leader, my foolish subordinate. Do you really think you can defeat this Godly Demon?" Dorian pounded on his chest with a grin as he saw the familiar figure.

"Come, come! Become this Godly Demon's 6th Demonic Law!"

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