Extra's Path To Demon King-Chapter 461: Pros and Cons
As the six neared the very southern edge, they saw a muscular man with a mundane face and rough features standing there. He was stern and tall, without a shadow of doubt; they could tell this man was extremely powerful, perhaps more than that, even though he did not exude any visible pressure.
They could feel a strange sense of resonance with him; it did not take Conner long to realize it came from the newly planted demon bloodline.
Gareth, of course, felt the same resonance, but from quite a distance away, the demonic seed was planted on him, and these six were of the different sin attributes. But as that seed of power was planted on Gareth while he already advanced to the 4th phase, this was a great disadvantage for him.
His foundation of power had long been solidified. So, it would be much more difficult for him to make the Seed of Obsession an integral part of his power. Axel had reassured him that it was possible, though it would be exceptionally difficult.
Gareth knew what was at stake here, perhaps the only one who knew some fragment of the complete truth. And everything was at stake. Humanity may truly perish if Axel Nomrad does not ascend as one of the Demon Kings in time. If he did not become the strongest existence to stop the inevitable doom.
And for that, it didn’t matter what evil acts needed to be committed; anything and everything must be done, it had to be for that reason and that reason alone. Axel was the one who needed to reach the very peak of this world to destroy the ultimate evil.
And that task in itself is so monumental that every step of it could be labelled as a step impossible to cross. But again, it has to be done. Often, Gareth thinks to himself, what if Axel one day becomes the very darkness he was trying to defeat? Gareth would stand against him if it were necessary.
He would be the most loyal Knight of his as long as Axel fought for the right cause in mind, no matter how evil his actions may seem on the surface. He would stand by his side till the very end, fighting against the very world if necessary.
But equally, he would stand against him if he truly became the profane evil and lost his path.
And that was his conviction...
His obsession...
His Immovable Will...
He shook his head and erased those thoughts and introduced himself with an Alias, as he was also hiding his original identity of being an academy professor with a procured artifact, after all, these were all once his students at the academy, and he knew them all, "You may call me Golgoth..."
At this moment, Conner stepped up and introduced himself, "I am Prince Conner Ravenspire."
Then the prince handed over the envelope that Osiris had given. Gareth read through it expressionlessly and nodded.
His gaze turned to Conner, "I will drop you all at the gates of Raven Palace. And you will need to inform your father and one of the Ghost race representatives to come and meet with me on this topic. The location and time of the meeting, I will notify you through a letter."
Gareth paused for a moment and decided to give his former students some advice out of pity, because he truly did feel sorry for them. On one hand, they perhaps saw Osiris as their savior, yet they did not know that Osiris/Axel was the very reason why they had even gone through that gruesome torture in the first place.
So, now they would be used as minions by that very same being. Only if they managed to grow strong enough could they be regarded as indispensable assets by the Demon of Despair.
He stated in a solemn tone, "Let me give you some advice as someone who also has a fragment of Osiris’s demonic power inside of me."
They all nodded and listened raptly. Gareth continued, "The demon bloodline at its core is powered by emotions, to be more precise, it’s the negative emotions. The fragment of power you six have within is called the Seed of Despair." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
"This converts all the dark emotions within you, turning them into raw demonic energy, like a mana engine. That converts magic crystals into physical power," he explained, "But that is the most basic and inefficient method of using this power. As you begin to dive more and more into this bloodline power, you will find that for each of you individually, there is a core emotion that empowers your version of the seed of despair more than anything else."
"And as long as you can control and produce more of this emotion, you will see the integration of the demon bloodline will become just that much deeper. The conversion of emotion to power will be just as efficient. And since you all are only at the first phase, this will become that much more useful as you progress further as a Seeker," noted Gareth.
Then he sighed, "However, you must also understand that this is a double-edged sword as you delve deeper into this demonic power. You will find that you are losing yourself. You could even become mindless beasts. But as long as you persevere and hold onto your will, your core identity and beliefs that make you who you are."
"You will find your strength increases to such a level that even the strongest of your peers will not be a match for you. Heck, even those on a higher phase than you. You will be able to defeat them without much difficulty. That is the true potential of the Seed of Sin inside of you."
"There is no free lunch in this world; to reach that level of strength, you will have to work just as hard, to the point that it may break your spirit. You have to pay a greater price to achieve that equally," concluded Gareth sternly.
***
Three days later —
Cuadros Ravenspire, the King of the Ravenspire minor kingdom. He was a mid-5th phase Seeker flying through the skies, towards the southern corner of the capital, Ravana. Just beside him flew a dark and horrifying silhouette, a mighty High-Lich. The Ghost race representative who was accompanying him.
Cuadros could not help but think about what had happened over the last few days. He was shocked and overwhelmed that his son and the other five crown princes and princesses all had returned out of nowhere with no warning.
Just as he was happy as a father, he was also suspicious about it all as a king.
So many times in the past, he had questioned his own decision about whether it was right to join hands with the Ghost race and rebel against the Great Kingdoms.
After all, they did not have much say against the Ghost race, who would take away the oathbreaker stones from their lands, no matter what. If great kingdoms knew of it, the three kings would only use this and request something from the ghost race that would only benefit them.
The fate and lifestyle of the people of minor kingdoms would remain the same. So, as a King, for his people, it was the right decision even if he had lost his son in the process. It was nearly impossible to get his son back from the clutches of the great kingdoms.
He shed tears in front of everyone when his son returned in one piece. Thankfully, it did not take Conner long to explain that a mysterious party wants to join the war. The first thing Cuadros did was to check his son’s body and spirit carefully. To see if something harmful was planted within him, or if something was controlling him, but he found nothing.
The king found that some lingering spiritual injuries remained in his son. But it wasn’t something too serious. But when he heard of how brutally they were tortured, and all of their talents except for the six of them had died from that torture.
His blood had boiled with incalculable rage. Though this new party, which went by the name of Osiris, was also suspicious, the fact that he had rescued his son first without demanding anything in return was indeed a sign of goodwill that he could only appreciate.
So, when he told everything about this to the Strategist of the 3rd ghost legion, the High-Lich seemed somewhat stunned, at least that’s what Cuadros could barely make out, since these undead beings could not truly change expression much.
As they reached the designated place and flew down, they saw the unfamiliar, almost mundane-looking man—only a mid-4th phase Seeker who was standing. Compared to the colossal power of the two 5th phase existences who flew down from the skies, his power might as well be a dying flame.
But his expression showed no fear, only an unsettling calm born of undeniable experience.
Gareth, in his Golgoth persona, greeted, "Hello King Cuadros, I’m Golgoth. Follower of Osiris."
King of Ravenspire nodded as he inspected this man with a piercing gaze, but Gareth remained unfazed by the towering pressure.
Cuadros turned to his right, gesturing towards the undead being, "This is the strategist of the 3rd Ghost Legion working under Lord Zeledin Ulpranak, initial 5th phase High-Lich, Sir Zoromir Gorthak."
