Curse Demons

In the middle of the night, Alex got up and sat down on his bed. He couldn't sleep despite that he had been lying in bed for an hour already. He glanced at Raphael and the boy was sleeping soundly, remembering the boy's problem, he sighed with a frown.

"Arthur," he called to the demon inside of him.

"I know what you want to ask but the answer is no, I won't," Arthur replied instantly.

"You won't, that means you are capable of lifting the curse from him. Tell me, what do you want in return?" Alex asked him. He was bent on helping Raphael break the curse no matter what and so as long as the demon was able to do it, he is ready to do anything.

"As it is, I do not want anything in return. Lifting a curse that isn't placed by me is not an easy task, even though I am a demon lord. Everything in life has its course, you don't expect me to change that just because of some measly personal feelings. The kid is fated to live and die with the curse, I am in no position to change anyone's fate," Arthur replied.

Alex frowned upon hearing what he said. The demon was somewhat right with his words but he doesn't want to believe that there is nothing that can be done to help Raphael.

"Forget about the kid, the curse helps his ability to become a powerful weapon. Lifting the curse will make his ability less powerful, I suggest you let him be," Arthur said to him seeing how quiet he was. "Worry more about yourself, you are weak," he added and Alex suddenly clenched his fists.

"You don't have to remind me," Alex grunted in displease.

"If you don't like being called weak, you should work towards getting stronger than worrying about someone else. I don't care for anyone or anything else but you who is my vessel. If my vessel is not strong enough to contain all my powers, I may end up dying without achieving anything and I don't want that to happen," Arthur replied.

"I want to become strong, strong enough to have all your powers. Tell me what to do and I'll do them," Alex said with a determined gaze.

"Since you aren't sleepy yet, allow me to take you to somewhere you would like," Arthur replied and chuckled.

Alex was still in the middle of his thoughts when his vision suddenly darkened, the next time he opened his eyes, he saw himself in a graveyard. Gripped by fear, he tried to run away but he found out that he couldn't move at all; not like he couldn't move but that some invisible barriers were limiting his movements. These barriers were placed around the place, unabling him to leave the graveyard.

"Why did you bring me to this place?" He asked Arthur in fear.

"To get strong," Arthur replied.

"What does my being strong have to do with a graveyard?" Alex asked him in disbelief.

"Do you know what curse demons are?" Arthur asked him.

"I don't know, tell me," Alex replied.

"Curse demons are demons born out of negative emotions like fear, anger, and many more negative emotions you can think of," Arthur explained.

"Okay, so what do I have to do with them?" Alex asked him, not able to understand how they were connected.

"I brought you here to absorb their energies. This is one of the effective ways to increase your strength," Arthur replied. "Curse demons are powerful because they are born out of the negative emotions of life, you can imagine absorbing the energies of ten of them and see how you'll greatly improve your strength at once," he added with a chuckle.

"Okay, so where are the demons?" Alex asked him.

"Well, that's where the whole thing lies," Arthur replied with a mumble.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked him.

"Because these monsters aren't regular ones, no one can see them with their ordinary eyes," he announced.

"Huh? Then how do you expect me to find them and absorb their energy?" Alex asked with a frown.

"I can borrow you a little bit of my demon powers, try focusing the energy on your eyes and you will be able to do so," Arthur replied.

Alex did as he was told and focused the energy Arthur gave to him in his eyes, then he was able to different shapes and looks of monsters around him. They were surrounding him but none attacked him yet because they thought he couldn't see them yet.

"Now listen, don't go about chasing them away or you'll end up not achieving anything tonight," Arthur warned him.

"These monsters look creepy, how do you expect me to absorb their energies?" Alex mumbled with an irritated look on his face.

"Or do you want to remain weak forever? And let those damn and ignorant humans trample on you?" Arthur asked him. "You must do what it takes to be able to change your fate or else how will you be able to get your revenge?"

"You are right, I must become strong," Alex mumbled and clenched his fists. "I must get strong so that I will kill Damon myself!" He confidently said and gazed at the monsters. "So how do I absorb their energies?" He asked Arthur.

"Well, you can absorb their energies by killing them. That's the only way to do so."

Alex had no weapon to use, he was left with the choice of using his claws and so he got them elongated and dived to the first monster close to him. He drove his claws into its neck and then twisted it, causing a cracking sound to be heard. After that, the monster died and a tiny glowing orb was seen floating above it.

"Now, absorb that," Arthur told him and he took the floating orb and swallowed it reluctantly. He closed his eyes as the orb passed through his throat and when it was down, he opened his eyes. "How is it? How do you feel?" Arthur asked him.

"It doesn't taste bad after all and I feel strong. I can feel the energy flowing through my veins," Alex replied in excitement.

"That is how it should be," Arthur mumbled, satisfied with the answer. "Well, then, go ahead and devour as many as you can before daybreak," he told him.

"Sure!"