Rearing Demons
Chapter 97: Vanished

Chapter 97: Vanished

Yur got up and found Xia still holding onto him tightly. With narrowed eyes, he lifted his hand and gently patted her cheeks. "Hey, get up."

"A bit more..." she whimpered while squirming in her sleep, which frustrated Yur inwardly.

"Here, why don’t you continue sleeping? Today is an important meeting." It was the day when war plans would be made.

For him, it was also a crucial day to launch his plan toward the Rite of the Hollow. There were a few things that needed to be done, preparations for the ritual.

Velmira should arrive today as well. She could help me. There were tasks in Freau that only she could assist with.

As he tried to move, Xia grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. "Just a little more, I’ll get up too."

Her eyes opened slightly, preventing him from reacting as he truly felt. "Xia," he said, stroking her hair gently and smiling. "You sleep. I’ll be in the house, so don’t worry. I have much to do." He planted a kiss on her lips, annoyingly persistent, until she finally released her grip, allowing him to get off the bed.

Pulling out new clothes from his storage, he walked to the end of the bed. Crouching down, his finger began to produce heavy human essence. Ritual of Profane Covenant!

With a whisper, a shadow suddenly emerged from the floor and placed its mouth on Yur’s finger. It sucked the essence, absorbing it and gradually taking a more solid form.

Stay in her shadow and protect her. Yur found a clever use for this ritual, not only could it be employed in an attack, but it was fantastic for spying and similar purposes. He could hide spectres in the shadows of others.

Though they would exist only briefly, unless dismissed, they would continue to absorb his essence. Luckily, he had nearly infinite essence; his Ashen Veil continuously absorbed the world’s essence without his effort.

Watching as the spectre merged with her shadow, Yur left the room. The spectre wasn’t powerful, but its abilities were extremely frightening, it could attack one’s mind directly, undermining sanity over time. Yur had plans for this ritual; it would be important.

Stepping out, he walked down the stairs. His eyes, passively using the Eyes of Lingering Glyphs, allowed him to always see the various Glythari.

Only when he actively used the eyes would the world shift, revealing the portal again, but that wasn’t his goal. He simply wanted to become more familiar with the Glythari; they gave him a comfortable feeling, much like his own Cyralim.

"Master," Quin approached as she watched the Glythari dance around him, "what would you like for breakfast?"

Yur didn’t look at her, instead focusing on the dancing fireflies. "Make me anything."

"Understood," she replied and walked away, keeping her head down as she worked diligently.

Olive, her companion, had mysteriously switched sides and attacked them, which made no sense. Quin sensed something was wrong, though she couldn’t determine what. She was loyal to Yur even if she didn’t want to be, she was physically unable to act against his will.

"Interesting," Yur mused, noting that the more he interacted with the Glythari, the deeper his understanding of the language became. What if I ate one? Since his bloodline stemmed from a demon, he had the ability to absorb knowledge and strength from others. Grabbing one of the Glythari, he popped it into his mouth and began to chew.

The others continued to fly around him, but he felt a distinct warmth—almost heat—in his throat. If he could feel pain, he might have scratched his throat to remove the burning sensation.

Standing calmly, he waited as the warmth spread from his throat to his stomach before finally dissipating.

It worked. He grabbed a few more and swallowed them. Although the increase in knowledge was minimal, it was still progress. With enough, he was sure it would become helpful.

Anything to make me stronger, he thought. He didn’t care about how cute or innocent the Glythari appeared—they were merely tools for his strength. While waiting for breakfast to be ready, he continued to gather as many Glythari as possible.

[Warning: Host’s throat and stomach will melt!]

After consuming a dozen more, a warning flashed on his device, prompting him to stop. He already sensed these entities could damage him; he was fortunate not to feel a thing; no normal person could bear it. Luckily, he was not normal.

"Yur," he heard behind him as Xia walked down the steps, yawning.

"You woke up sooner than expected," he commented, his gaze lingering on the shadow that clung to her.

"I felt uncomfortable sleeping alone," she said as she approached, smiling, her face still a bit rosy. "So, what are your plans today?"

"I have that meeting with the King and your dad," he replied, smiling at her. "Then, someone I know is coming here."

"Who?" she asked, curious, since Yur had come to the kingdom with Zhal, no one expected him to know anyone else.

"One of my companions," he said. "She should be here by the end of the day."

"She?" Xia repeated, looking at him oddly.

"Yes," Yur nodded, tapping her nose. "Don’t worry,, she’s a companion. She follows me like Zhal."

"So, sister?" she asked.

"Not really," he shrugged. "Anyway, let’s go eat." Pulling her arm, he led her to the kitchen.

——————————————————————

"That’s the second one already," Renri stood by one of the slave camps, staring with worry. "We’ve been running around since last night and there are still no clues." Perched atop his beast, his eyebrows knitted.

Since receiving the task from his father—the King—he had been tirelessly traveling. They couldn’t waste a second. The first camp he visited was empty; no slaves, no guards, no blood! It was eerily clean.

The second camp, where he now stood, was in the same condition.

"Let’s check a few more. We still need to figure out where this person might have started or is heading," Renri said. He had no leads, no one knew a thing.

Since last night, he’d met several rogue cultivators, yet learned nothing.

"Whoever is behind this... what are their intentions?" he frowned, uncertain why they were targeting slave camps.

Although he disliked them, the slaves were vital to the kingdoms’ development; they handled tedious tasks so that more important work could be done.

"Drui, let’s see if we can find any clues," Renri commanded, patting the head of his tiger beast. The beast nodded and began sniffing the ground, its ears twitching in the still night air.

Suddenly, it paused, as if it had detected something unseen.

"Drui?" Looking at his companion, he raised an eyebrow. He stroked the tigers fur, yet there was no reaction.

"Still." Then, as if carried on a cold wind, a soft, chilling voice murmured right beside his ear, and a spectral hand brushed across his face.

In an instant, Renri’s figure flickered, and before anyone could react, he vanished without a trace.

Drui’s massive form shuddered and collapsed sideways, his head rolling slowly away on the bloodstained ground.

With the silence that followed, the only sound was the gentle breeze dancing with the leaves.

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