41 Devils in the Flesh of Men

'Was it a fateful encounter?’ Edalas questioned as his gaze stuck to the vial of blood, stored protectively in a transparent case.

Tears streamed down his face, as he traced through all of his memories.

And yet, they were just memories of a distant past. No matter what, he couldn't go back.

At a loss, he didn't know whether he was crying tears of joy or sorrow. He didn't even understand how he made it so far, what pushed him? What was his reason?

Was it something as personal as revenge? Or was it something much greater? Did he just want to live? Perhaps, he had yet to find his purpose.

Edalas shook the thoughts out of his head.

Today he managed to find what he was looking for. And maybe tomorrow, he would find the meaning of his life.

He reached his hand towards the case, and a voice echoed within his mind.

"You've lived quite the life, huh? Some may call you a devil in the flesh of man, perturbed by your very existence. But not me, no, I'm fascinated by your very existence!"

The voice was harrowing, yet Edalas felt no fear. A mere voice couldn't compare to his first hand experience of the cruelty of the heavens or man!

He inquired, "Interested in me? Why not introduce yourself first?"

The voice laughed menacingly, "Hahaha, You're quite the person. You have no purpose, and yet you've strived to survive, committing even the most malicious of deeds. As for me, I am but a figure of the distant past, from a tribe that has long been damned."

In front of him formed a man with three eyes, his stature that of a human but much larger, like a giant! Each side of his head was accompanied with curved horns, his features devilish yet divine. In his hands was the vial of blood.

"You can call me Grisk, the name given to me by my tribe. I'm not sure my tribe exists anymore, actually. You asked earlier if this was a fated encounter?" Grisk questioned deeply.

Edalas shook his head, entranced with this strange being.

"Right now, I am but a remnant of my soul, and my time left is very short. I will allow you to inherit my bloodline, but don't think I have any expectations for you. My tribe is gone, even if you accept my inheritance, it will never be the same! At the very least, you are interesting among your kind!"

"My tribe was called the Menhir, otherwise known as the Apotheosis of Lineage. With our eyes, we could see the flow of energy and determine the bloodlines in a person's body with but a glance alone!"

"We were among the strongest beings to roam the planes, but like you, we were not feared for our strength, but our knowledge! Accept my inheritance, as for what you decide to do afterwards, that is purely up to you."

Edalas' body trembled as heard the voice, and without a second thought he accepted Grisk' inheritance.

"Good, now let my bloodline fuse with you. Its power is also more than enough to mend your faulty dantian! Alongside the fusion, accept the knowledge of my tribe."

"It looks like my time has come, I only wish I would have had the chance to see where you'd go in the future. Good luck."

The voice continued to quiet, coming to total silence.

Edalas kept each word in mind as he wreathed in pain alongside the cold ground. Yet, his dull eyes burned with newfound vigor.

A day passed, and Edalas' sweat-soaked body stood from the ground as he bowed towards the empty casing.

'Apotheosis of Lineage... The ability to see bloodlines paired with my research into body modification, and now bloodline mutations..."

"Since birth, I've lived under the neglect of heaven and man, bending to their wills. But now, I will work towards allowing even the most ordinary of mortals a chance to follow their own will. My path has long since been tainted, and I will continue to tread it on my own."

"Only I will suffer, for the sake of giving others an opportunity to walk a peaceful path!"

As Grisk said, many will consider him to be a devil in the flesh of man. But one day, would others' thoughts sway? Would they see the good in him?

Edalas shook his head with a smile. It didn't matter what they thought, as long as he didn't lose sight of what he sought.

* * *

Edalas' story was one of many lows, and the others were speechless.

Rentaro, Roy, and Kyon felt troubled while they looked at him, while those of the Krose bloodline and Quint still held their hatred.

That was to be expected, considering Krose Village had more than enough reason for their hatred. Even the most tragic of stories wouldn't be enough to dwindle their pain and burning hate!

Edalas signed in resignation, his smile bitter.

"I'm crazy, yeah, I know. Honestly, I really didn't want what happened to have occurred, but the deaths of Tsyun's family wasn't something that could be reconciled. No matter how I try to explain it, our grudge is now life-or-death between our two sides."

Suddenly, the bitter smile curved upwards, a glint of madness in his eyes as he sardonically remarked, "Unfortunately for all of you, I still have yet to realize my goal."

He relocated his gaze to Rentaro's trio, speaking confidently, "Step aside, and I'll spare you three. Your blood isn't of the Krose bloodline and we share no grudge. And as I previously mentioned, your trio will benefit greatly from this! My previous mistake with Tsyun—it will never happen again!"

Rentaro's eyes locked with Edalas, and he froze. He felt empathy, but even then, what about Icrin! What about Tsyun! Sure, he didn't know many in the village, but what about those he did know? Or those he could get to know in the future?

Biting his lips, he spoke quietly, but amidst the pin-drop silence it was more than loud enough!

"I can't. I can't accept the wrongs you've done!"

Edalas' eyes dimmed, as he calmly replied, "I can't blame you," Before calling out, "Jean!"

"Yes, Teacher!" Jean asked, his eyes reveling in deep devotion.

No matter what happened, Jean would follow by his side dutifully.

While he never said anything, Edalas was grateful for Jean's company, and he kept his doting care for him hidden inside. His own child was killed at birth, and he had long considered Jean to be one of his own.

"Jean, call for our best experiments. I'll take on the two elders, while you and our strongest batch can take on the younger ones."

"Of course, teacher!" Jean smiled in infatuation, before turning his gaze to Tsyun, Rentaro and Roy, "I'm quite envious of you guys! To have gotten so much attention from my master, you should consider yourselves lucky!"

Jean yelled out, a cynical aura spreading from his body.

Tsyun refuted, "You should focus more on your own research, maybe you wouldn't have so many failures then?"

"Tch, You are going to regret your words!" Whistling a sharp tune, the footsteps of beasts were heard all around.

"This current batch is very successful! Master and I combined our topics of research, coming up with an impressive combination. Even your two elders have experienced the prototype versions two years ago!"

Quint and Kia-Nian quickly came to a realization, their senses alert, "If the prototypes are Foren, the wolf, and Shuren, the porcupine, what else could they have created?"

In the distance they caught sight of an ape, yet it had the scales of fish. In another direction was a bird, and it raged with the elements of wind and fire. There was a panther, its body hiding in the shadows as its body gleaned in darkness.

Quint whispered urgently, "These corpse soldiers... they are all either crosses of different animals or are inconsistent in the elemental affinities of their kinds!"

Kia-Nian followed, "Uh-hm, It seems they performed mutations on living beasts before killing them, and then taking control of their bodies."

The explanation seemed plausible to them, where else were all the beasts in the forest zone? Many must have run away while others were captured for research.

Rentaro felt his hair rising, the surrounding corpse soldiers were all in the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment, and their tenacity was beyond frightening.

Jean smiled as he directed his words to Rentaro, "You're still too inexperienced, I guess you can only learn the hard way?"

Rentaro was shocked, what did he mean?

Suddenly, a large frog made itself visible far behind him, its tongue shooting out too fast for the eye to see.

Without having any time to process what happened, its tongue had wrapped itself around Rentaro's left arm, and Rentaro screamed out wildly in pain, his shriek piercing the other's ears.

The others quickly turned in panic, seeing the long tongue of the frog—various black thorns were grown all over its tongue, piercing throughout Rentaro's arm.

Quint and Kia-Nian's pupils dilated—they recognized the black venom dripping from its thorns!

Quint shouted in trepidation, "It's the same venom from two years ago!"

Before Kia-Nian could say a word, a blade of ice formed within Quint's hands as he speedily swung down.

"Rentaro, I'm sorry—but this is the only way!"

The blade sliced down and Quint's heart beat rapidly, begging that he could make it in time!

Shwew! Splurt!

Blood splattered across the ground and Quint's face, while Rentaro screeched in pain, his eyes rolling back as he passed out—Quint severed Rentaro's arm cleanly from his shoulder.