Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 78 - Demonic Descent

Chapter 78: Chapter 78 - Demonic Descent

[ One month ago, in the secret laboratory used by the demonic humans]

Alice opened her eyes, not knowing how long she had been asleep. She was floating in a large tube filled with water, her hair flowing with the currents.

It had been two months since she was experimented on, and her body underwent many changes. After being pumped full of demonic energy, her body eventually accepted it, albeit painfully, and she completed the Energy Absorption stage.

After her body rested for a few days, Kristy continued with her experiments, not only on Alice but also on Stephen, Lucas, and Ivy. After a few weeks, she completed the mana transitioning stage. Now, her body was flowing with demonic energy instead of mana.

During all of this, she tried her hardest to escape, to fight back, to even end herself as she didn’t want to be used this way, but it was to no avail. Even the location rune Lidia engraved on her faded away as her body accepted demonic energy and expelled mana.

Finally, she, alongside the others, was entering the metamorphosis stage, the stage where their bodies would become demon-like.

Alice looked to her left, seeing an unconscious Ivy. Her appearance completely changed, resembling a dark, shadowy figure with long black hair and wings made of mist. It was as if her entire body was now made of shadows and mist, but it was hard for her to tell.

In front of her, Lucas had bulked up considerably, his skin transforming into reddish-black scales with two horns protruding from his head. He also grew a large alligator-like tail and two large bat-like wings on his back.

Stephen grew white fur all over his body. His nose enlarged, his fangs stretched out of his mouth, and claws grew on his hands and feet; he resembled a werewolf, more specifically a lycanthrope.

Alice then looked at herself, her hair now blood red, her skin pale, her senses were through the roof, and she was craving blood. She was now a vampire. Seeing her blood red iris with a black slit for a pupil sent chills down her spine as she started at her reflection coming off the glass.

"Ouu, it looks like everything is coming along perfectly," Kristy exclaimed with excitement as she looked at her four experiments floating in their test tubes, their demonic transformation almost complete.

"How much longer until we can put the souls in their bodies?" Adam asked

"About a month at the latest. Right on schedule." Kristy informed

"Good. The souls are already being prepared. Once their transformation is complete, inform me right away."

"You got it."

After Adam left, Kristy went to Alice’s tube and examined her.

"Looks like everything is coming along just right. How does it feel to be a vampire?" Kristy asked in almost a mocking tone. "I never expected you to have Vampire blood in you, or for that Stephen kid to have werewolf blood, but this works fine, it’s great actually."

After being experimented on, it was discovered that Alice and Stephen were descended from demons, or at least had a demon ancestor in their family line. Ivy and Lucas, on the other hand, did not, so they became completely random demons during the metamorphosis or demonification process.

"And your hair, it seems you’re of the royal bloodline. Normal vampires have black and noble vampires have white hair, not blood red. I already know ’she’ is going to be happy when her soul inhabits your body."

Alice lunged at the glass, striking it with all her strength, her scream muffled from the water as bubbles floated to the top of the tube. Unfortunately, she was very weak at the moment, and the glass was stronger than she imagined. The only thing she did was leave a smudge mark that got washed away by the water.

"Go ahead, get it all out. In no more than a month, you’ll be dead and no one will come here to save you." Kristy smiled, leaving the lab.

’Mom, Tiana, Gregory, Zion, I’m sorry.’ Alice closed her eyes, wishing this were nothing but a horrible nightmare she could wake up from.

---

[Two weeks later]

"Everything moved faster than I expected. They’re prepped and ready for the soul exchange." Kristy said with a massive smile on her face.

"Good, we’ll begin shortly."

In a completely different room, separate from the horror-filled laboratories, was a room that resembled a holy place, except it was anything but that. An upside-down cross stood tall at the back of the room on a pedestal. Demonic markings filled the room, and a massive demonic magic circle was engraved onto the entire floor and ceiling.

In each corner of the room were Alice, Lucas, Ivy, and Stephen, all strapped onto upside-down crosses with demonic hexes engraved onto their bodies.

"Let us out right now or I swear on Lord Arion’s name I’ll kill all of you brutally!" Lucas yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I wanna go home! I wanna go home! Will my family recognize me? Oh god, I have become a demon! I wanna die! Kill me!" Stephen had a mental breakdown as he couldn’t accept his new appearance.

"Lord Arion, I, your humble servant, have failed you. Please enact your divine punishment on me so I don’t sully your name any further with this demonic ritual." She cried

"..." Alice was the only one there who accepted her fate. She wasn’t strong to begin with, and fighting back only felt like a dream. She couldn’t do anything, so why even try? So she simply gave up. She only hoped Zion would take care of her family once she was gone.

"Begin the ritual," Adam ordered.

Chuck, who had entered the room, nodded and opened a book in his hand, where he then recited the words for the ritual.

"Beneath the shadows, silent sleep, by moon’s dark pull, your spirits creep. In nether realms, your power breathes, beyond the veil, where darkness seethes. Gone, gone the flesh of man—rise, proud demons, by ancient plan! Awaken now, in fire sworn, unholy kin, be thus reborn!"

The magic circles flared into light, their power dark and demonic. A powerful gust of wind tore through the room, blowing anything in its path.

Screams of pain and horror filled the room as the hexes on Alice and the others’ bodies burned their flesh and yanked their souls from their bodies, slowly replacing them with the souls of demons.

Chuck chanted. "Demera, rise!" As he looked at Ivy

"Olzak, rise!" As he looked at Lucas

"Kaien, rise!" As he looked at Stephen

And finally, "Anastasia, rise!" As he looked at Alice.

A bright red light flashed once the chant was finished, blinding everyone in the room. The wind stopped blowing, and the screams were now a distant memory. What replaced all of that was the overwhelming demonic power that engulfed the entire room, cracking the walls and ceilings.

"My Lords, welcome to the Middle World." Adam greeted as he, Chuck, and Kristy all got down on their knees to show their respect.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve smelled the air of the middle world," Kaien said as he stretched his body, now appearing as a normal human with no wolf features.

"Oh, how I’ve missed this world. I can feel the dreams of these pesky little mortals waiting to be turned into nightmares as I feed on their souls." Demera moaned with pleasure

"Ha! I’m back! That fucker Zion Zagan! How dare he kill me! Once I get my hands on him, I’ll feast on his heart!" Olzak’s soul had been reclaimed after he died and was used in this ritual to bring him back to life. Now that he was here, he wasn’t going to let what Zion did to him slide.

"A royal vampire?" Anastasia questioned as she examined her new body. "Impressive. It’s not as powerful as my main body, but it’ll do for now." She then looked down at the three humans in front of her.

"Tell me, human, how are things coming along on your side?"

Adam spoke up. "Things were a bit rocky, especially after Lord Olzak was taken out, but we managed to complete our tasks and have summoned you four here. Everything else is on track. The monsters, mana beasts, and chimeras are all prepped and ready. The demonic humans and low-rank demons are also ready for your command."

"Four? There are only four of us? There are supposed to be eight!" She clenched her fists, and the blood in Adams’ neck tightened as he was lifted into the air. "Explain, now!"

"Akkkk! W-We did capture eight individuals, but we were found out and attacked! We had to switch locations to avoid being found, and we lost four vessels along the way." He managed to get out.

"And where is Linflax throughout all of this? He was supposed to oversee everything!"

"H-He ran away!"

Anastasia stared into Adam’s eyes, seeing that he was telling the truth, and threw him against the wall in a fit of anger.

"And what of you being killed?" She asked Olzak, her presence completely dominating him.

"It’s not what you think! I was doing what I was ordered, but a kid named Zion Zagan got in the way of things!"

"Explain." She demanded

"He stole the map leading to the ancient relics. Fortunately, we found the one in Midgard, but we can’t locate the rest without it. So I went to handle it, but was stopped by him and his mother."

"You were killed by a human? You disgrace our people." She brought Olzak to his knees and had him clutching for air.

"W-Wait! L-Listen! His mother wasn’t normal! She used a sealing technique from the Radiant Tribe! A-And Zion is an apostle of a god!" He quickly got out.

"Radiant Tribe? Those women demon hunters? We wiped them out ages ago. Now I know you’re lying because they are cursed not to have any male children. But what of this divine apostle? Should the Apostle of Arion be in one of the other Human Kingdoms?"

"N-No, it didn’t feel like Arion’s power when I got hit by it. It felt like...now that I’m thinking of it, it felt like Lumineras!" Olzak explained

Everyone stopped and turned to him, their expressions going cold.

"Luminera? The called goddess? The one who died during the Great War?" Kaien asked

"That’s impossible! The higher-ups killed her alongside the ’others’." Demera shouted

Anastasia was lost in thought for a bit before answering. "This-This isn’t something I expected. But even then, you still shouldn’t have died."

"I don’t know what it was, but he attacked me with a weapon I’ve never seen before. The power was so great I couldn’t even feel the mana it gave off. It killed me instantly. Sure, I was hit with divine energy and was sealed, but that weapon was otherworldly. No human could have created that, not even a dwarf."

Adam’s eyes lit up at that explanation. "Excuse me, Lord Olzak, could you answer this question? Did the weapon fire a blast of blue energy that resembled a dragon’s breath attack?

"That’s exactly what it reminded me of." Olzak nodded

"Excuse me, my lords, but we were recently attacked by a weapon like that as well! It lit up the entire sky! It was so bright I thought the sun had come out early. The damage was also catastrophic! It completely destroyed one of our labs and killed two of our most important members!" Adam explained.

Anastasia looked at Adam, then at Olzak, and then compiled her next thoughts. "Make a list of every potential threat we’ll face, we’ll deal with it as we enact our plans. For now, we’ll get adjusted to our strength for the time being. Since we’re down four members, opening the barrier between the worlds will be a lot harder, so I’ll find Linflax and use him as a sacrifice to supplement for our missing people. That’s the least he can do after abandoning his post."

"Yes, Lord Anastasia."