Demon Blood

After recognizing the unknown component as demon blood, Paige's curiosity increased, asking the warlock how he was able to tell so easily.

Sensing that a vague explanation wouldn't be enough for the scientist, the warlock decided to tell them a story.

"Have I ever told you guys how warlocks appeared in my old world?" Dante asked, catching the attention of everyone present.

It was during an era when magic was still primitive, and there weren't different schools to differentiate them.

The people who were able to control mana were all referred to as "mages," and as their understanding of magic increased, more mages were coming up with different ways to use it.

At first, mages couldn't even see the mana that they were controlling, as it took them years to develop a spell that allowed them to see this natural energy with their own eyes.

At one point, a group of mages discovered that there was another type of energy that they could control, which was umbra.

Although they couldn't see or sense the umbra around them, the ancient mages still managed to use it to cast spells. However, the destructive nature of this magic was deemed too dangerous, and anyone who practiced it became known as a "dark mage."

Dark mages were exiled to Shadowvale, where they continued studying the use of umbra until a powerful demon visited their small village.

The demon felt pity for the dark mages, but he still believed that it was an excellent opportunity for him to create a new species that could bring chaos to the world, offering them a contract.

In the contract, the demon would give the dark mages the ability to see and sense umbra, which was hereditary. In return, he wanted them to keep reproducing.

After the dark mages agreed, they drank the blood of the demon and became the first warlocks ever to exist.

Being able to see and sense umbra allowed them to develop their magic even further, and after a few hundred years, they came up with the three different types of warlock schools.

"Hmm, so that means that drinking demon blood turns you into a warlock?" the scientist asked Dante.

"Not exactly. They received the ability to see the umbra since they agreed to the contract," the warlock clarified.

When a person made a contract with a demon, drinking their blood was one way to seal their agreement.

"And what happens if a person doesn't have a contract but still drinks the blood?" Paige asked.

"The person would get an affliction we called 'soulbound enfeeblement,'" Dante replied.

The sickness would cause full-body paralysis of the afflicted person and remove their ability to speak. However, those were just the symptoms that were visible to non-mages.

In reality, invisible, ethereal black chains would ensnare their bodies and siphon their life energy to the demon, making them stronger. Still, those were symptoms that only people who could see umbra were aware of.

Dante told them about the time he was a teenager in Shadowvale when a plague of soulbound enfeeblement was hitting the warlocks in the area.

In the end, it was discovered that a demon was forcibly feeding his blood to people without a contract to siphon their life energy and become stronger.

As he finished telling the story, Paige and Camille were both delving deeply into their thoughts.

The scientist mentioned a strange disease that had appeared a few years ago, but it was mainly people in the poor areas of the country who were catching it. 

Strangely, the description of the symptoms of soulbound enfeeblement that Dante described were the same symptoms that people with the unknown disease had—leaving them fully paralyzed and unable to speak.

Zac, who had been attentively listening to everything, widened his eyes with the realization that his mother was affected by that supposedly unknown disease.

Dante felt the small surge of fear and uncertainty from Zac but decided he would ask him about it later, as he was still listening to the woman's explanation.

"So, if we connect the dots, we could assume that a demon is feeding his blood to innocent people…" Paige deduced.

"Not directly, though. A demon needs to use other means to feed their blood to non-contractors," Dante responded.

Demons couldn't directly force someone to drink their blood in order to siphon their life energy, which is why they would enter into a contract with a selected few and use them to feed their blood to others.

"Can demons enter into a contract with more than one person?" the scientist asked.

"Yes, it has no limits," the warlock replied.

"Interesting…" Camille muttered, who had been silently paying attention to the conversation.

Everyone came to the conclusion that the gangs working under the Blood Dragons had been feeding drugs to people in poor districts, which was leaving them paralyzed as their life energy was sucked out of them.

Meanwhile, if a gang member took one of the pills, they would get an incredible boost of power.

Dante believed that if a person contracted with the demon took the pills regularly, they could eventually get the ability to see umbra like him—and even get to control it if they practiced.

"That… could be a big problem. Are you saying they are trying to become warlocks or something?" Camille asked.

"It depends on the contract…" Dante explained.

If the contractor asked for some kind of power from the demon, it would surely need umbra to activate—and after using the power several times, they could get the ability to see umbra naturally.

Still, being able to control it to cast spells was based on innate talent, so while some of the criminals could potentially have the ability to learn, the majority would most likely never be able to do it.

When the meeting was over, Dante and his group returned home while Camille kept talking with Paige in her office.

"There is no other choice but to raid another Red River base—those guys only had one pill, though…" said Paige.

"Right, they are obviously not the suppliers. Red River is the lowest-ranked gang from the Blood Dragons—in other words, they are mere pawns," Camille explained.

"If we had the location of one base from a higher-ranked gang, then…-" the handler continued, stopping herself and smirking.

"What?" Paige inquired, noticing the mischievous expression on her friend.

"Dante told me something funny the other day…" Camille replied, letting out a chuckle.

"Let's give it a few more days. If nothing happens, we'll raid Red River again," she continued, smiling confidently.

Paige shrugged indifferently, knowing that Camille had a plan, and after taking a puff of her cigarette, she went back to her lab.