Chapter 167: Demon’s True Form.
Chapter 167: Demon’s True Form.
"The Choir of Kneeling Flesh moved? To restrain a new recruit, not you?"
Cadrien Ashcroft, the Old Families Seat, narrowed his eyes as he stared at Alaric.
Alaric stared at him. He could tell what the Old Families Seat was thinking. He knew he would soon be having a private conversation with his father.
Right now, however, both father and son knew this was neither the time nor the place, so Alaric continued—
"Yes, the Choir’s role was to suppress Cross, and he was brought to his knees, rendering him unable to move."
"Interesting..."
Selene Marr, the Research Seat, looked at Alaric and then Cadrien with interest.
Alaric stared at her for a moment, then continued—
"This is where the strange chain of events began.
During the breach, when our defense was compromised, a Host approached Evelyn Starling, and during resistance, Starling manifested demonic energy."
That statement changed the room.
Marcelline’s finger stopped moving. Cassian, the Inquest Seat, narrowed his eyes.
Ophelia Saint, the Reliquary Seat, folded her gloved hands together. Severin Hale, the Concord Seat, closed his eyes for one brief second.
Cadrien Ashcroft stared at Alaric again, wanting to say something, but Losef, the Archivist Seat, spoke first.
"Repeat that."
"Evelyn Starling manifested demonic energy."
Alaric did as he was told.
"She did not host any demon, neither did she use an external relic. From my observation, she pulled demonic energy through herself and used it to repel a Host attempting to seize her."
"What color was the energy?"
Selene Marr, the Research Seat, questioned.
"Violet."
"Desire-aligned."
Severin, the Concord Seat, narrowed his eyes.
"Yes."
"She formed a contract with a demon."
Cassian concluded before anyone else could use softer words.
"The only issue with that is that we have been with Starling the entire time. She didn’t even know about the existence of the supernatural world before us. She couldn’t have formed a contract with any demon."
Alaric answered, but then, he narrowed his eyes and—
"Unless...
The said demon was around her all the time, right in front of our eyes, but we failed to notice."
His face turned solemn.
And the instant he said those words, the table’s air changed.
The said demon.
Everyone here knew who Alaric was talking about.
Lucian Cross.
That, however, made things complicated.
To the rest of Enclave, Lucian Cross was only an Incubus-Class Blood-Altered Human. These people, however, knew the truth.
Lucian Cross drank High Incubus’s Blood and instead of dying right that instant, his body not only survived, it adapted to the blood, turning him into an entity far stronger than a normal Incubus-Class Blood-Altered Human, and despite all of that, his soul was still human.
It was verified information.
Something Selene Marr, the Research Seat, personally verified once she got the reports. Marcelline, the Cleaner Seat, also personally verified Lucian Cross’s background. His parents were involved with some suspicious supernatural markets, most of which were scams, but other than that, he had no prior link to the supernatural world.
He truly was a human.
And even now—
Whatever his body may have become, his soul was that of a human.
Or at least...
That’s what everyone here believed, just that...
What Lucian Cross did made no sense.
A human shouldn’t be able to form a Contract.
Contracts belonged to demons.
So what Alaric said...
It... made no sense.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
"If the contract is real, the Demon Courts will notice."
Severin Hale, the Concord Seat, spoke in a low voice.
"They may already have."
Alaric answered, and those words made Cadrien Ashcroft narrow his eyes.
"Did the enemy recognize the contract?"
"The Choir did."
Alaric nodded.
"What did they do?"
Cadrien’s gaze darkened.
"Nothing."
That answer should have surprised the Seats but—
"Then they understood the implications."
Garrick Vale, the Warden Seat, spoke with a solemn look on his face.
None of them doubted it. Seventh Veil Hosts were demon avatars. What they saw, heard, or smelled could directly be linked to what the demons possessing them saw, heard, or smelled.
So if the Choir recognised the existence of a contract, it meant the Choir demons knew, and if they knew—
"The information must have passed back to Vaelrith."
Severin spoke with a solemn look on his face.
This was an issue.
Because if demons knew that a human had somehow managed to form a Demonic Contract, they wouldn’t take this news well.
And just as Severin and the other Seats were thinking of what to do in this matter—
"There is more."
Alaric spoke up, then, he took out a recording crystal.
A crystal that showed his memories.
The image was incomplete since memory magic needed a strong witch, but whatever Alaric had was enough.
The crystal showed the hallway where everything had happened, the red emergency lights, Evelyn being dragged away, Lucian kneeling on the floor.
Then, the picture distorted.
The next second, the screen shifted. Now it showed Lucian, standing with Evelyn in his arms.
The Seats, however, did not notice Evelyn. They noticed Lucian, more especially, the state he was in.
"That is..."
Garrick Vale’s expression changed.
It wasn’t just him, everyone in the chamber reacted to it.
Alaric nodded.
"Lucian Cross manifested something that resembled a Demon’s True Form."
And the moment those words were said, the entire room became still.
A Contract, they could still understand.
As strange as it was, Lucian Cross’s entire existence was something they couldn’t understand. He was a human who survived drinking High Incubus Blood. That alone was supposed to be impossible, so if they accepted that, Lucian Cross forming Contracts could be accepted as well.
But True Form...?
That was an entirely different matter.
Every demon could form Contracts. True Forms, however, were different.
Every demon was born with a fixed ceiling, a highest state its nature could one day reach.
It was one of the oldest and most unfair truths of demonkind. A demon could scheme, feed, fight, seduce, slaughter, bargain, and survive for thousands of years, but no matter how long he lived, there was always a highest state he could reach.
Their bloodline, Court, and birth determined that ceiling.
Most demons did not reach that ceiling.
However, there was one way demons could forcefully call upon the power they shouldn’t be able to use at that particular moment, but had the potential to use in the future.
This was a Demon’s True Form.
A Demon’s nature made flesh.
And only Greater Demons or above could use their True Forms because lower-level demons did not have a clear enough demonic identity to fully externalise their True Forms.
Meaning only demons with a proper demonic identity could use their True Forms.
And then came Lucian.