Demon's Virtue

These were figures that most in Eiro's life hadn't seen before. Even the kids must have forgotten what he looked like back when he was just a simple lesser imp, and James hadn't seen him during his time as a Scholar Imp.

The demon turned his head toward the others, seeing their expressions. The monsters of course already knew what they were looking at; at least Kitsue, Gobu and Boju could recognise Eiro from when he was an Elemental Imp, and while Rashi only knew Eiro as a 'Lesser Arcanus', even she could figure out what was going on from context. The only one that didn't seem to know what was going on was Marius.

"Lord Daemonherz, what is... What am I looking at?" he slowly asked, and Eiro quickly explained, looking at the duplicates.

"Starting from the left, you have the 'Lesser Imp'. Eight years ago, I was created by the Monster King as a fully physically mature imp. Now, don't think that in itself makes me special; most of the monsters here in town were either created by the Monster King directly or are their descendants.

We were part of the large horde attacking the Holy Empire's capital eight years ago," the demon explained, and Marius' eyes widened, "Obviously, we're not under the control of the Monster King. Rather, my goal is to kill the Monster King, so you don't need to worry about anything like that. Anyway, shortly afterward, I reached level 100.

At that point, similarly to how people can select a new class, monsters may evolve. Because I had attained some arcane cards at that point, I was allowed a unique evolution into the Scholar Imp. It gave me my most important ability; an ability to remember everything, down to the smallest detail."

The duplicate of Eiro's form as a Lesser Imp slowly started to shift into that of the Scholar Imp, and once they were identical, quickly crumbled away, "Then, some more years later, after my foster parent raised me and made me the man I am today...

I evolved into the Ice Blue Collector Imp due to the influence of some spirits' blessings and my habit of collecting things as well as further influence of some cards. With that, I attained a treasury within my body where I kept things important to me."

Eiro flicked his wrist, making one of his daggers appear in his hand. And then, the the same as before, the Scholar Imp shifted into the Ice Blue Collector Imp, and crumbled to dust. Eiro continued.

"After that, as I collected more and more elemental magics, my next unique evolution was the Elemental Imp. While it really just increased my affinity and ability to use magics and connect with elements, it was still a rather useful ability that I'm grateful for.

And then, later on, after killing some Royal Monsters, I attained the position of 'The World', allowing me to step into the realm of a Legendary evolution. Being a special being created by the Monster King instead of being a descendant of the Demon King, I was allowed to step out of the realm of the bane inflicted on all Demons. Holy Magic no longer damaged me, and instead healed me as well.

I became the progenitor of a new species; the first Lesser Arcanus. After that, I did a few more things that would count as some special achievements, like being a Demon Lord, and currently I'm changing form into something else entirely. The next stage of the Arcanus line. I certainly do wonder what it is that I'm becoming."

The Elemental Imp, like the ones before it, shifted into the form of the Lesser Arcanus, sprouting two arms as its mouth split in two, and then crumbled away, leaving only the Lesser Arcanus standing as it did.

"That's what evolution is. Our bodies change rapidly over the course of a few days, weeks, or months depending on how advanced and extreme the evolution is," coming to the end of his explanation, Eiro looked at Marius, who was staring at Eiro's duplicate with a puzzled expression.

"So... in essence, Lord Daemonherz, you are... eight years old?"

Somewhat taken aback, Eiro raised a brow. That certainly wasn't what he thought Marius would ask first, "My physical body is eight years old, yes. But mere age isn't what you should be focused on."

"R-Right, I didn't mean it like that! I just... you... you were able to become powerful enough to slay the Devil in just eight years?"

"... My growth isn't exactly something you should take as a reference point, but yes. The vast majority of my strength has come to be in the last year, though."

Marius slowly nodded his head, seemingly understanding what Eiro was saying, "And you are still undergoing another evolution, to become even stronger?"

"Yes. I'm not satisfied with the level of strength I currently had. Speaking frankly, in a head-on battle against the Devil, I would have died quite immediately. The only reason I was able to beat the Devil was because I managed to outsmart him," Eiro said, though he realized that his words almost sounded like he was bragging.

That definitely wasn't his intention, but it was a little hard to avoid sometimes. Staring deeply at Eiro, Marius seemed to have another question that was coming to mind. He stared at the duplicate.

"Is it possible for... for humans to undergo evolution? For us... for me to become stronger like that as well?"

Eiro looked into Marius' eyes. He could feel the frustration running through this human's mind. Frustration that came from an overwhelming fear while faced with those so much stronger than him. Frustration that he couldn't protect those he loved. These feelings certainly weren't uncommon, but Eiro, from the start, could feel some sort of special aspect in Marius.

Something that hadn't been quite unlocked yet, but could make him a powerful card in the demon's hands. Some may call it a coincidence, and while the concept of fate seemed merely meddlesome most of the time, in moments like this it really came in quite useful. Eiro wasn't stupid enough to simply let go of a gift that was given to him.

With a grin, Eiro leaned back in his seat, "It's not impossible. People can attain monstrosity, and if that monstrosity changes them enough, their system may switch over from the 'Person' system to the 'Monster' system."

Marius' eyes widened at the opportunity, and the monster leaders seemed similarly surprised.

"My Lord, what do you-" Gobu started, and Eiro held his hand up to get him to stop talking.

"To do that, the only thing you have to do is break a taboo. The easiest one would be the taboo of cannibalism."

As the human's face went pale, he bit his lips and tried to gather the courage, "I-If it means that I can protect my family and friends, I will-"

"Oh, you're definitely not going to do this. Actually, I think I'm going to force not only you, but every other human in your village into a contract that physically stops you from committing taboos on purpose," Eiro laughed slightly.

"B-But Lord Daemonherz, how else-"

"Marius, I think you're misunderstanding something here. Evolution makes monsters stronger, but usually not by that much. The only monsters that have powerful evolutions are those that were powerful to begin with. My strength doesn't come from evolution. It's just a nice boon," Eiro pointed out, "Even if I never evolved again, I will grow strong enough to kill the Monster King.

It might just take a little longer."

Marius looked at the demon in front of him, unsure what he was supposed to say, "Then... what else am I supposed to do to get stronger?"

Eiro sighed loudly, "Definitely not look for shortcuts. Just pick up a weapon and start training. There's plenty of skilled individuals in this city, so learn from them or something. Either way, you're just standing at the starting line at this point. I'll try to arrange for a class-change crystal or something, but until then just pick up some combat skills and learn the basics of magic manipulation.

I'll write you a lost of all the talents that I've picked up on from those in your village, so just have everyone act accordingly."

Marius raised his brow surprised, "Have you been watching us, Lord Daemonherz?"

"Well, not really. I can smell talent. I'll explain that another time, but you just need to know that I'm good at what I'm doing. I'm a lecturer at Skyhart's Royal Academy."