Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 72 - Demonification Process

Chapter 72: Chapter 72 - Demonification Process

"So what’s your plan for now?" Lidia asked as she watched Zion work.

"For now, I’ll continue searching for Alice while moving forward with my original plans. Everything got sidetracked after our first encounter with those demons, so I want to go back to prioritizing my own mission." Zion said as he studied Lordrick’s body again.

"Is that why you’re helping with Crystal’s training?"

"Yup. After she graduates, I plan on starting a coup which will then prematurely spark the succession war."

"You’re what?!"

"Why are you acting all surprised? You knew this was a part of my plans."

"No, no, I thought you were going to wait until the King announces his successor. Once there is a crown prince or princess, then the succession war would start."

Zion shrugged. "Well, yeah, but that is years away, like decades away. I’m not waiting that long. I told Crystal to spend the rest of this year and next year working on her strength, influence, and appearance so that once it’s time to put things into motion, everything will flow naturally."

"What do you mean work on her influence? She’s quite literally shunned by every noble."

"Sure, but not the commoners. I told her to specifically cater to the commoners and Baron nobles who are remaining neutral in this matter. I also told her to publicly announce her withdrawal from the line of succession. This will make the coup even more fun!"

"But weren’t you going to announce your family’s involvement?" Lidia asked

"Yeah, but I changed my mind. We’ll have the element of surprise. Also, it will be known that I was an apostle before the war, so if I announced my involvement and then announced I was an apostle, the others would target Crystal even more than they are. She’s only alive because the king despises conflicts between siblings. He himself fought against his siblings just to become king, and doesn’t want that for his children."

"Sounds like he’s a good dad."

"Nah, the guy is a total asshole. He just doesn’t want to sully the name of the royal family. He hasn’t done anything to warrant being a good father. You can tell that none of his kids love him, only respect him, especially Crystal."

"So, what are you doing with that body?"

Zion’s whole demeanor changed. "Oh, check it out! Lordrick can use both holy power and demonic energy at the same time! There is something in his body that completely negates the two energies from clashing."

"Ooo, seems interesting."

"It is! If I can figure this out-" Zion rambled for the next hour about the possibilities of having two energies in one’s arsenal, his love for new discoveries completely taking over his body.

Lidia didn’t care that he was talking her ear off. She just sat there with a smile on her face as she listened to Zion talk passionately about this situation. It was cute in her eyes.

After a while, though, she had to tell him to stop because she got hungry and wanted to go out to eat.

"I’m not taking you to that chicken place," Zion said adamantly

Lidia pouted, "Booo, you’re no fun! I’ll just go without you."

"And who will take you?"

"Beatrix."

"She’s not even here."

"Just take meeee!" She begged, hugging him while staring into his face with puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh, fine! Just don’t eat everything you see."

"Yay! No promises!"

---

"Stupid bitch!" Kristy yelled as she strapped Alice onto a table.

"What are you planning to do to me? Turn me into a demon like you were going to do to Lidia?"

"Oh, sweetie, we planned on turning all of you into demons. Unfortunately, we’re four people short because of you and Lidia, but it doesn’t matter; our plans are still on track."

"Heh, you’re doing the impossible! Humans can’t be turned into demons!" Truthfully, Alice didn’t know if it was possible. She hoped it wasn’t, but even then, it wouldn’t stop her from being experimented on.

"Why do you think we captured specific people? You and the seven others were 100% compatible with the demon seeds. Demon seeds are from the underworld, and when planted, they mutate the land into a demonic landscape. However, you can extract the demonic energy from those said seeds and use it to mutate a person instead."

Those words were sinking into Alice’s head as Kristy kept explaining.

"Unfortunately, with people, they only work if the body can handle demonic energy; the seeds are meant for demons after all. Sure, there is a chance that normal people can handle demonic energy without any problems like that Stephen boy, but the odds of finding someone like that are so rare that it’s practically impossible. So we changed tactics and looked for individuals who have demon blood running in their veins." Kristy smiled.

Alice’s eyes widened at that point.

"That’s impossible! Demons were expelled from the Middle World over 10,000 years ago! Their blood would have died off by now!"

"Nuh uh un! Demon blood is thick and strong. It may be dormant, but never erased. You and some others have demon blood in your system. Unfortunately, I don’t know who has demon blood since the compatibility rate only tests to see who is compatible, not who has demon blood."

"But didn’t you say you searched for people with demon blood?"

"It just narrowed our search, not explicitly told us."

"How were you even able to figure out if someone was compatible?"

Kristy smiled. "Why do you think entrance exams suddenly became a thing at the Academy? It wasn’t to test the skills of students to see which class they would be in. It was to check who was compatible with the demon seeds."

Alice didn’t know what to say. Learning that hard work people went through just to pass was only to see if they had the means to become a demon made her stomach churn. Then another realization struck her. If the exams were meant for this, then that meant that there were people within the academy who were working with or were demonic humans.

"Hehe, it’s all coming together in your little head, huh? Well, enough talk, time to turn you into a demon."

Alice tried to fight back, to escape, to get out of this place, but she was too weak to do anything. Soon, after many cries of pain, six tubes were strapped to her body, pumping demonic energy into her veins.

"Oh, I love this process! First, your body absorbs the demonic energy. Second, all the mana in your body is turned into demonic energy. Third, your body starts to change, undergoing a metamorphosis that turns you into a demon. If you have demon blood, your bloodline will unlock, and if not, then you’ll become a regular demon. And finally, after every previous step is completed, we replace your soul with the soul of a demon from the underworld so they can cross, completely bypassing the restrictions the gods put in place!"

Alice looked at Kristy in horror, her body in too much pain to even respond.

"It’s okay. Even though you’ll die, your body will remain, being used to enact the great will of the demons we serve with all our hearts. Through the chaos, the world will be reborn again!"