CHAPTER 159: FORCED TO SWALLOW

Oliver instantly grasped the demon’s lack of knowledge about humans from its bewildered reaction. Why else would it speak out in doubt?

"Have humans discovered more ways to detect demons?" it pressed, a frown creasing its brow.

"Yes," Oliver confirmed with a nod. "From what I understand, the method can even detect fully fused demons--fused at birth of the host.."

His words made the demon reassess its options. It scrutinized Oliver, searching every minute expression for a hint of deceit.

Yet, it found nothing amiss.

Aside from his overly cooperative demeanor, he appeared perfectly normal.

The thought that he might be lying crossed its mind, but there was no way to confirm it.

’Did he really eat the void weaver?’

’Did the key transfer into his soul?’

’Was he lying about that?’

’Why is he lying?’

’Did he let the Void Weaver escape?’

’Why would a human risk his life to save a beast? Does he know something about the Void Temple?’

A torrent of questions, each doubting the authenticity of everything Oliver said, flashed through the demon’s mind.

And yet, it didn’t let its doubt show on its face.

As far as it was concerned, the answer to all its questions was with the puny human before it.

The human was trapped in his hand with no way to escape.

Once he turns the human into a demon, all its questions will be answered.

The demon’s gaze lingered on Oliver.

Why was converting Oliver so crucial?

The answer was simple: the demon wasn’t entirely sure if Oliver had consumed the Void Weaver.

It could confirm this by killing and devouring Oliver. Should it do so, the Void Temple’s key would transfer to its own body.

The key was a soul-bound artifact, linked to only one creature. Killing and consuming Oliver would release the key from his soul, allowing it to transfer to the nearest available soul. It was a foolproof method.

But there was a ’what if’ to consider.

What if, by some slim chance, Oliver had lied?

If he hadn’t consumed the Void Weaver, wouldn’t killing him mean destroying its only clue to finding the beast? It couldn’t risk that.

That was why the demon had asked if Oliver was willing to become a demon.

A willing individual could be transformed into a fully fused demon. An unwilling one’s body could be possessed. Either way, Oliver could be converted.

Once he became a demon, a high-ranking demon could control lesser demons with a mere thought. From that moment, Oliver would become its puppet, revealing all the necessary information.

And, as the demon who converted him, Oliver would be utterly incapable of lying in its presence.

"It doesn’t matter. I will personally help you slay your enemies after you become a demon. The humans don’t stand a chance in front of me." The demon dismissed Oliver’s concern and said.

After saying that, it raised its huge arm into its mouth.

Grimacing in pain, it pulled something out of its mouth, covered in blood.

It was a pulsating lump of flesh that looked like a brain and a heart.

The small lump was a few centimeters in diameter and looked like a speck of dirt in the humongous hand of the demon.

Suddenly, the demon released a terrifying amount of mana into the flesh blob, making it glow red. Then it gently floated towards Oliver, defying gravity.

Oliver gulped down his saliva, knowing what it was. Not out of fear, but out of disgust.

’A clone.’

All demons were clones.

And all demons can create clones.

This is the fundamental way the demons grow in strength.

To put it simply, imagine there exists a demon with the peak potential of B rank. This demon, as is, will never be able to break through to A rank.

But in that situation, the demon can do something called cloning.

The B rank demon would split into many lower rank demons and take over the bodies of hosts. The demon would grow strong using the potential of the host.

Many of the host and demon clones would die. But the remaining would most likely be enough to take the next step in evolution.

Once the demon clones reach the previous peak, for example, the B-rank. They would come back and combine parts of themselves, forming a demon that could break through the limits of their potential, stepping into the ranks of A.

The cycle continues as A rank splits and combines to become S rank, and so on.

The demon before Oliver was an S-ranked one. That would mean it was a creature that multiplied and joined many times.

It didn’t know much about human society. Which means it didn’t have many clones that it could rely on.

And yet, it was making a clone that could inhabit the body of Oliver, knowing all too well that it would grow weaker momentarily.

’Just how important is the little Koi?’ Oliver mused as the lump of flesh came closer and closer to him.

He was supposed to eat the damn thing.

The squirming ball of raw flesh didn’t look appetizing at all. The reason for his disgust was that the pulsating raw flesh looked like it was alive.

’Well, it is alive.’

Oliver almost squinted and stopped breathng through the nose just because he felt he would vomit.

"Great demon, what is this?" He raised his head and asked.

"This is the demon seed. You can be one of us after consuming it."

The lump of flesh contained the fragment of the demon’s consciousness and strength. It could latch onto the body of the host and even take over the soul if allowed.

Allowed was an important distinction.

The fully fused demons who have infiltrated human society are all people who gave up their humanity willingly. That’s why the demons could use their abilities just as well as they could.

The partially fused are, most of the time, non-superhumans. But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be partially fused superhumans.

In the case of partially fused superhumans, it was a game of luck. Even the demon wouldn’t know if they could inherit the superhuman’s ability.

’Demon seed.’

’It’s fucking parasitic clone.’ Oliver said in his mind.

With some hesitation, he raised his hand to catch the lump of meat floating towards him.

The demon opened its monstrous maw and smiled.

Oliver felt a wave of stench drowning him.

His hand tightened around the lump of meat. If he squeezed a little, the lump would die, taking out a significant portion of the demon’s power.

The parasitic lump created by the S-rank demon would be one with the potential to grow into an S-rank.

Creating something like that was not easy.

Oliver could feel the dense mana covering the lump of flesh.

The demon used part of its strength to create the lump.

The thought of destroying rushed over Oliver’s mind. Still, he suppressed the thought and held it tightly.

A single unnecessary movement might make the demon cautious.

There was a lot he wanted to know.

"Sir, Demon, what should I do with this exactly?" He asked.

"Swallow it whole." The demon said blandly.

It carefully observed even the most insignificant twitch in Oliver’s muscles, ready to protect the clone if necessary.

"Hm...Can I grill it before I eat?" Oliver asked.

The demon looked at Oliver incredulously.

The human dared to say that to its face. It didn’t know whether Oliver was just foolish or did he knew the implications behind it.

"You can’t." It said promptly.

"I can’t!"

Oliver looked a little saddened by the revelation.

The lump of meat was a living clone. Cooking it was tantamount to killing it.

He knew the demon would reject his wants. But he still felt a little bad.

"You said you always wanted to be a demon, right? So, hesitate. The demon seed I gave you can promote you to S-rank. It is something everyone craves." The demon motioned for him to swallow it.

"Maybe, I should do it at a later time. I am not prepared yet."

"You are prepared enough."

The demon’s hand came closer to Oliver.

Oliver knew there was no way out. The demon was not leaking any useful information and was hell bent on converting him to a demon.

It meant the demon was a cautious one. It would only believe him once he becomes a demon.

*Sigh*

’Even an average demon is smarter than an average human. I should have expected this.’

’It’s time to end the conversation.’

Other than the single name, Void Weaver, he didn’t get much out of talking with the demon.

’The Void Weaver is important. Because I ate it, I too became important. I can assume that.’

’It doesn’t want to kill me because of that.’

He guessed and brought the lump of flesh closer to his mouth.

The smell was unbearable. So, he stopped breathing altogether.

Taking a few seconds to look at the demon, he placed the lump inside his mouth.

Immediately, he felt the lump squirm harder.

The moment he swallows, the demon clone would latch onto the back of his throat and climb into his brain.

If he permitted, the clone could fully fuse with him.

If he resisted, the clone would try to partially fuse with him by taking over his body.

That’s if he didn’t kill it first.

Oliver eyed the demon.

He knew the damned monster can’t detect him using his ability since it didn’t depend on mana.

So, while swallowing the demon seed, he coated a thick layer of blood around it. The blood tightened the preventing it from latching onto his throat.

The expression of the demon watching it changed.

Even though Oliver swallowed the clone, it couldn’t feel any change in him.

The clone was alive. But it was not fusing with humans.

Why?