Rearing Demons
Chapter 64: Gearing Up

Chapter 64: Gearing Up

Yur sat patiently, waiting for the rest of them to come. In a long while, he hadn’t had much to eat, so consuming imps was extremely refreshing to him. Just like in the past, imps remained the most delicious food in all of Zulmasharr.

"Now then, my Seed of the Orb has finally transformed into something." He realized that the Seed of the Orb had been ready for his use since his evolution.

Entering his Cyralim, he traced the Seed of the Orb, which had previously been shrouded in a white aura—a cocoon of sorts. Now, that was gone, replaced by something else in its place.

Raising his eyebrows in curiosity, he walked over and examined the new item that lay on the ground.

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Ashen Grasp

Forged from the shackles of the past, the chains that once bound an Ashkavaal will now be used to bind others—leading to freedom!

Chains with an infinite grasp—used to bind, steal, and enslave the world!

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Seeing the description of the weapon, Yur felt the whole thing was very ironic. Not only was his weapon the very thing he had avoided, but it was given to him to do unto others what had been done to him. To truly be free, I must take the freedom of others. I must take my chains and put them onto another to be free.

That was what he understood from the feeling and emotion the Ashen Grasp invoked.

Reaching out, he picked up the chains, which seemed so familiar. He felt their weight—the cold, hard surface that once bound him. With this, I will chain others to be free.

Taking the chains and wrapping them around his left arm and up to his neck, he emerged from his Cyralim.

"Master," he heard as he opened his eyes, and saw Jisvruul standing before him. "I have completed my task."

Nodding his head at him, Yur rose from the ground. "Let me do something first."

Walking over to the open space, he began to draw a familiar pattern—something that once birthed Jisvruul. With his own blood, he drew the ritual circle. It didn’t take much time, but he ensured the circle was drawn at a much larger scale; he wanted to make sure there was enough room to fit all the demons that Jisvruul had brought for him. It took only a few moments before it was complete.

"I want you to release half of the demons into the center of the ritual circle." He pointed toward the center and then stepped back, allowing Jisvruul to vomit all the demons.

Jisvruul floated into the air and widened his maw. Hundreds of demons—covered in saliva—began to fall. They ranged from Vashra up to even Zorath demons, including a few Antics.

"So, there were still some strays?" Yur mused, rubbing his chin. He thought it was only natural for that to occur. He had taken over the Eyes of Dripping Blood so suddenly; he hadn’t removed the demons from it either.

"Jisvruul, did you encounter any Gralith or Kyrrath demons?" he wondered aloud. There should be many of these in his territory.

"Yes, there were many, but Velmira said she needed them for something," Jisvruul replied.

Hmm, maybe I can create a few more powerful slaves? With his plans to expand his power, he wanted to have as many demons as possible within his grasp. It would help him later down the road. But could I use Gralith and Kyrrath demons in the Ritual of Demon Mangling?

[Host is unable to mangle demons that are significantly stronger than the host! The Host is capable of adding only two Gralith at a time per ritual. Any more, and the host will lose control.]

Yur nodded, understanding that Zul was right. Although he had evolved and become much more powerful—capable of contending with Gralith at this point—that didn’t mean he could control them. Even the two he planned to put into the ritual would require him to heavily injure them beforehand.

But would their essence destroy the ritual circle? That was another problem.

Jisvruul was a lucky break, since all of the Antics were focused on him in the center of the circle. Marr, the very first demon he had ever created, had been formed because he could control victims with just his words. The same could not be said about Gralith, which would actively try to destroy the ritual circle, making them very difficult to contain.

I’ll let Velmira use them for now. With Jisvruul and her, I have enough power on my side, he thought. He wasn’t too concerned about creating an army right away; it was a long-term goal that could wait.

A few minutes passed, and Jisvruul released half of the demons into the circle and quickly backed away. Walking over, Yur stared at the mound of saliva-filled demons that resembled a large hill.

"Kill each other until one remains! Stay within the ritual circle!" he commanded, his voice quick and straightforward. As the command reached the ears of the demons, despite their anger and fear, they felt their bodies begin to move without their permission.

Soon enough, the devastating mangling began. Demons tore at one another, battling fiercely to kill and devour each other.

Yur didn’t intend to watch the carnage for long; instead, he began to create the second Ritual of Demon Mangling. While the demons fought chaotically for their lives, Yur finished the circle and had Jisvruul repeat the process. He reiterated the command and then decided to let Zul monitor the progress while he focused on other tasks.

Zul, help me purchase the book: Ritual Basics.

[Purchased: Ritual Basics]

[Demon Points Remaining: 10,034]

The book itself cost him more than half of his points, but that didn’t matter. Yur had been planning to learn the language so that he could create more powerful rituals and use them more effectively. Although he had the Ritual Fruits, there was an infinite number of rituals he could create, as long as he understood how; the fruits could only produce random rituals, and who knew if they would be useful or not.

Right after the purchase, a black journal appeared in his hands. It was tattered but still completely readable. Seeing the book, he placed it into his storage. He planned to study it once he entered Afloria. For now, he needed to prepare for the trip.

"How many Human Points do I have?" he inquired.

After completing so many quests—some of which aided Afloria—he had collected more points from there. At this point, helping hostages was still something he couldn’t do because there weren’t many near his region unless he started traveling into Prince Aglazeth’s territory. But that was not something he could do right now; neither he nor his companions were powerful enough to contend with him.

[Human Points: 4045]

Seeing the large number of points, he nodded and decided to finally purchase the flames he was going to give to Ris. His flames—Incineration—were very powerful but could also make him appear as a Demonic Cultivator. He wanted to appear more normal, thus the need to buy the

[Purchased: Conflagration of Cremation]

[Human Points Remaining: 1845]

Information began to enter his mind on how these new flames worked. He digested it slowly, understanding their uses and everything there was to know about the flames.

"I see. So, these are how the flames work." Opening his eyes, a flicker of black flames appeared on his palm, resembling the Incineration flames but not as powerful or demonic. These flames gave off a more decayed feeling, as if inviting death.

Yur could tell right away that the flames were very powerful—perhaps not as powerful as the Incineration flames, but still formidable. The concept and goal of these flames were very different too.

Incineration was meant to be total destruction, the absolute erasure of existence. In contrast, the Conflagration of Cremation—also known as the Cremation flames—were designed to induce a slow death, absorbing the energy of death from someone without making them feel the burn.

The seers said that these flames would cause people to die faster, as if accelerating the ticking of their lifespan.

Moreover, the flames would use the essence of death to fuel themselves, slowly growing larger and stronger, thereby absorbing even faster. It was an amazing weapon against large groups.

[Ritual of Demon Mangling Complete (2)!]

[Congratulations: Zorath Demon Created (2)!]

[Ravager Maw!]

[Veilstrider!]

While studying the flames, he received several notifications from Zul.

Zul, name them for me using the language! Since he hadn’t memorized the language, he allowed Zul to create the names for him.

Walking over to the two demons, both of which were on their knees, he fed them a droplet of blood, allowing them to become kin to him—slaves under his control.

Through his blood, despite being from a Zorath demon, the two demons were easily able to transform into humans, albeit youthful ones. They both resembled teenage boys, though they were completely different.

"You shall be named Zhal," Yur said as he looked at the taller boy, the one with broader shoulders—the Ravager Maw. "And you will be Nyz," he added, addressing the slimmer one whose presence seemed to blend with the surroundings—the Veilstrider.

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True Name: ⨲⨎⨀⩀

Demon Name: Zhal

Age: 0

Demon Cultivation: Zorath

Rank Up: 0/100

Bloodline: Ravaging Maw

Abilities

Fangs of the Abyss

Devourers Reckoning

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True Name: ⩄⨰⨲

Demon Name: Nyz

Age: 0

Demon Cultivation: Zorath

Rank Up: 0/100

Bloodline: Veilstrider

Abilities

Fading Echo

Veils Grasp

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