Super Righteous Player
Chapter 839 - 377 The Original Demon

Chapter 839: Chapter 377 The Original Demon

Although at first Annan did suspect whether Kafney had once again resorted to the power of the fallen in secret,

he quickly came to his senses.

Times had changed.

After the "Dream Stealer" Denton had been eliminated by Annan, it was impossible for Kafney to encounter enemies in the Royal Capital that would require her personal attention—Denton might have died quickly, but he was still a Gold-tier Soul Reaping Wizard.

To say nothing of trying to eliminate him, just the act of detecting his presence or attempting to oppose him might result in one’s thoughts being silently probed and altered without one’s knowledge.

After this formidable enemy had been dealt with,

Kafney’s side had received support from the Church and had already established her own power base.

The political struggles on Noah’s side were clearly not in the same style as those in the Winter Duchy—the latter would send assassins directly to murder the Duke, or even openly nurture demons and worship The Worm, completely disregarding the possibility of retribution.

One could say they were utterly reckless.

But on the side of the Kingdom of Noah, a lot of face-saving was involved.

After Young Master Tan Juan had "reincarnated," the Crow family had gained an advantage, and past issues had been put aside. The murder of Viscount Roth Fort and the confiscation of his property hadn’t even made the news, and the handover was completed very quietly... Captain Claus, who had once attempted to assassinate Tan Juan, could not even maintain his job guarding the city gates.

Not long ago, he supposedly died from "falling into the moat and drowning while drunk." His body was discovered in broad daylight... indeed, ample evidence of heavy drinking before his death could be found, and there were no signs of strangulation on his limbs or traces of Spell-induced mental control.

While in Noah, Transcendents belong to a "hidden group" unknown to the masses, anyone who knew of their existence found this manner of death quite ridiculous—some even connected it with the death of Tan Juan (officially, Young Master Tan Juan had indeed died).

Everyone knew that Claus was Prince Philip’s man. If the investigation continued, it might lead to Philip’s crimes.

However, the three-eyed Crow did not dig further but chose to leave it at that.

And Prince Philip did not raise any objections either.

This was considered a trade of interests.

Old Crow was notoriously self-preserving.

He had served under two monarchs and was about to serve a third—The Crow family’s political stance was "The Crow stands above the crown."

—The Crow is forever loyal to the crown.

Even if the crown was rusted and dim.

And as long as one was not bearing the crown—no matter how excellent the successor was, he could not command the Crow.

In other words, the Crow would never take sides.

Whomever was king of Noah, they would follow.

—This was the crime committed by Ferdinand Gerant.

While Henry VIII was still alive, he had already sided with Prince Philip... After the end of Henry VIII’s life, Ferdinand had been placed under gentle house arrest by Old Crow.

Yet, despite being well aware of Ferdinand’s taboo, the Old Crow did not put him to death.

It was certainly not out of a reluctance to kill his son, Ferdinand.

He had come to know.

Among those who conspired to kill Tan Juan, Ferdinand was one of the strategists... He was Tan Juan’s own older brother.

Philip and Ferdinand, both were followers of the Corrupter.

Though their ultimate goals differed—one sought pleasure, the other power—they had both considered the prospect of ending their lineage for the sake of the "Immortal’s" Curse Binding.

Old Crow was inclined to believe that Princess Kafney would be the victorious side. Yet even so, he would not directly support her—if Philip ended up victorious, not killing Ferdinand could preserve the Gerant family line.

Even if only Ferdinand survived, the family line would continue.

—Even if the price was his own life, Eugene’s, and the reincarnated Tan Juan’s, at least one Crow would have lived.

And if Prince Philip were not the ultimate victor... be it the Eldest Princess or Princess Kafney, "Ferdinand’s head" could serve as a gift to express loyalty to the future monarch.

Hedging bets.

This was precisely Old Crow’s cleverness.

Controlling the "three-eyed Crow," capable of manipulating the nation’s intelligence network in secret. Noah’s most elite spies and agents... in order to preserve their power, or even just to save their own lives, had to expend far more effort than other nobles.

With the current situation extremely tense and the three-eyed Crow retreating fully to the Capital, no successor could directly attempt to assassinate another—this would be a clear violation of the rules.

Currently, the three-eyed Crow’s "surveillance" nearly blanketed the entire Royal City.

They would turn a blind eye to schemes.

But assassination was another matter.

If one could succeed without being caught or leaving evidence, that would be one thing.

But if there were signs of plotting the murder of siblings... and the evidence was confirmed.

—All the royal crimes committed under the Corrupter’s schemes and Philip’s machinations would fall upon this person. Becoming the new monarch would become impossible.

Under these circumstances, Kafney could not possibly have been attacked.

She had no chance of using her Transcendent powers... let alone forbidden powers belonging to the fallen.

As for Annan’s degree of erosion, it was even less.

The combined erosion of Kafney and Annan wouldn’t exceed 10%.

That meant that the senior’s erosion had silently surpassed 50%—a figure that could nearly start affecting one’s sanity.

"What on earth did you do?"

"Ahhahaha..."

Faced with Annan’s questioning, Salvatore touched the back of his head and gave an embarrassed chuckle, "Well, it’s a long story... How did you find out?"

"——Let me explain."

Taking over the conversation was Vatore, the senior sister.

The shadow demon rose from Salvatore’s left shoulder, emitting a hoarse voice: "Because he began to abuse the power that belongs to me.

The higher his erosion, the freer my activities."

"Vatore" sneered, "You’d better keep an eye on him, Annan. If this goes on... perhaps I might hatch entirely from within him."

"...Hatch?"

Salvatore himself was taken aback for a moment, "What is that?"

"It’s the egg, idiot. You have forgotten... but I have not."

The shadow cackled hoarsely, "The reflection of good is the egg shell of the demon, that’s the original demon.

Named ’The Curse Binding of the Restless Reflection,’ it is one of the ten ’reflection’ Curse Bindings. Those who can bind with a reflection Curse Binding must possess some purely virtuous traits.

The more he detests something, the more I like it; the more he ignores something, the more I pay attention. All the emotions he deems unnecessary for himself are poured into me, forming my personality."

The shadow proclaimed, "Because I am his ’shadow’——

And the person who has a reflection, if consumed completely by the curse, will neither become insane nor demonize. Instead, the shadow will hatch as the ’demon’... an existence completely the opposite of the purely virtuous person, that is the ’original demon.’"

"...What exactly did you do?"

Annan questioned.

Salvatore was somewhat panicked as well.

He said softly, "I just found out... She doesn’t seem to take over my body directly. When dealing with some particularly important experiments, and I’m too tired, I would summon her to control my body.

Like the Philosopher’s Stone——"

He said this, somewhat downhearted, "Alright, I admit it. I still can’t make the Philosopher’s Stone... From the beginning, it was the shadow who did it, I lied.

I was only doing some marginal work, or steps that required luck. And when I realized that I couldn’t make the Philosopher’s Stone on my own... I let her out."

If he did something that might increase his erosion... then it must be this.

Salvatore’s gaze dodged as he looked toward Annan.

He said softly, "Because I really, really wanted to give you a gift—trust me. I know it’s not good, so I won’t do it anymore after this."

"...You’d better keep your word."

Annan almost couldn’t bear to rebuke Salvatore but ended up refraining.

He only warned, "Since the shadow has mentioned this, it shows that you don’t really want to say it; she’s so focused on your body, it indicates you don’t care about yourself.

Two months ago, you could still control the shadow and suppress her within you; but now you can’t control her at all. Don’t you have any idea in your heart? No sense of urgency or sense of foreboding at all? Really?

Then if you continue to stay up late, fail to eat on time, do experiments when exhausted, or let her out to complete experiments for you, just let Vatore know directly... since you can’t control her anymore, anyway."

Annan gripped the Philosopher’s Stone seriously and said, "I do need the Philosopher’s Stone, but not that badly. It’s just to speed up some of my plans, not an irreplaceable consumable.

But if making the Philosopher’s Stone consumes your health, then I’d rather not have it—I don’t want to defeat my enemies by burning through a friend’s life.

Then, after defeating The Worm, do you want me to be happy, or to grieve?"

...Though that’s what was said.

But Annan felt that if he used up this Philosopher’s Stone, Salvatore would probably make another set for him.

Therefore, the plan to hunt down The Worm might need some slight adjustments.

If possible, it would be best not to consume any more Philosopher’s Stones.

It would raise the difficulty a bit... but that shouldn’t be a problem.

——I can do it.

Annan thought to himself.