Darkening (4)

[Demon Realm, Amadeus Castle]

It has been 2 weeks since I arrived here and there are many things I noticed.

One was that the demons didn't care if you were a contractor, as long as you had demonic energy within you, they would accept you as one of them.

Two, they don't care if others have died, of course, they are searching for a culprit but it would seem like the demonic energy does corrupt one's emotions as they didn't really care or demon on demon violence is so common, that no one cares anymore.

Three, the demons had access to almost everything that the humans were doing, they had an information department so deep into the human world that even one of the top 20 was a demon.

I don't know how naive I was to even believe that staying away from the protagonist and doing my own thing would keep me safe.

I kept thinking that the whole world just revolved around the protagonist but even if I was proven wrong over and over again I still didn't believe it...until mom died.

I said I would stop thinking about this world as a novel but always believed that letting the protagonist follow their storyline would be the main attraction and anything I do would not come to light.

But in the end, I stood out too much, I said all of this about living in the shadows and protecting the protagonist but in the eyes of everyone in this world, I stood out way more than that bastard.

Maybe if I waited some years until that Arthur grew into the hero of humanity and maybe then reveal it, but I just wanted to abuse my cheat skills as much as I wanted.

Another world, a new life, and cheat skills, I don't know who wouldn't want to abuse their power as much as they wanted to.

...

[Some Days Back]

Amadeus called for me the next morning after coming to his castle. He asked me about my skill, I lied about everything but he didn't suspect anything, as having a contract where one sold his soul would mean giving your whole life to the demon's hands.

I told him that I needed a 3-hour cooldown and that I could see most traits of the artifacts.

He already knew that I could appraise S+ items, but he did ask if I could appraise higher than that, to which I of course lied and said no.

I still have yet to be certain about it but I don't believe there is a tracker, as Amadeus puts too much trust in the contract and when I was hiding around the castle, to test it, no one was able to find me until I showed myself.

Also, my life here is actually pretty good compared to the other contractors and demons. Amadeus is generous to his contractors as he only gives a contract to humans or other races, that can be considered to be a driving force in the world.

Amadeus has two other contractors apart from me, both of them could have become great soldiers for the Union but were forced to make a contract as well.

They are treated as if they were way higher than the other demons and are offered many S-ranked artifacts that I have appraised.

I haven't really been given any artifacts or anything of the sort, as I'm not really made for combat and am more of a background worker.

Or that is what most of the demons here believe.

I had been killing so many of their demon comrades but they don't even suspect me as they believe I can't do anything other than appraising items and thanks to that, my stats had risen quite a bit.

--------------------------------------------------------------

[Name: Keith Devans]

[Overall Rank: E]

[Strength: E to E+(Potential: Unknown)]

[Agility: E to D-(Potential: Unknown)]

[Endurance: E- to E+(Potential: Unknown)]

[Magic: B- to B(Potential: Unknown)]

[Inteligence: A- to A (Potential: Unknown)]

[Luck: C+ (Potential: Unchangeable)]

[Charm: C to E- (Potential: Unknown)]

[Talents]

-[Magician]

-[Telekinesis]

[Martial Arts]

-[String Arts]

[Skills]

-[Truth Eyes]

-[Avid Reader]

-[The Hawk]

-[Two Faced]

-[Spirit Communication]

-[Wrap]

-[Revenge]

[Artifacts]

-[(S-)Glomer's Gloves]

-[(S)The 40 Knives of Shi]

-[(SS-)Detective John's Hat]

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After obtaining [Revenge], my potential has become unknown but the reason is pretty obvious. My stats have also increased a lot considering that I have only been killing low-ranked demons, except for charm which actually seemed to have decreased.

I have been thinking of escaping but apart from the disgusting air and having to act as a servant, everything here can easily allow me to grow and it's not like I can actually escape the demon realm.

While [Warp] can easily allow me to escape from the castle, it would not be until 1 year later that I will be allowed to use it again, so it would be best to keep it for an emergency.

And also, it is not like I can just leave the demon realm as I please.

While I do have the skill [Two Face] and could probably change my whole appearance thanks to it, that wouldn't really work as demons can tell who the demonic energy belongs to when near a contractor.

Meaning demons could easily find me if I were to try and escape.

But if I could get to the Union and get the grimoire that transforms demonic energy into mana, I could probably escape the grasps of the demons.

But thinking about it now. I don't think it would be the smartest idea to head into the Union with demonic energy inside of me, especially when they are currently at war with the demons.

...

[Round Table]

"I will not allow anyone to disagree, do you understand?", Lucia said.

"But if we use our power just to protect the academy we won't be able to defend the front against the demons", Said a blonde man with glasses.

"Huh? A demon already came into human territory and took the only appraiser in the world that could get us S+ ranked artifacts appraised and you think the front matters right now?"

"Thats-"

"You greedy bunch, you are scared of your position being taken away that you are willing to bring all of humanity down with you?"

"Lucia, that's not what we mean", Said an old man with grey hair.

"Shut up and do as I say, from this day forward the Round Table will be protecting Arthur Drajar and if anyone has any objection I will kill you right now"

The room then went silent and Lucia left the room.

Although Lucia was indeed one of those that cared greatly about her position in the human realm, she also understood that currently, humanity had no choice but to support Arthur, as the demons will be getting stronger thanks to Keith being taken away.

Humanity is falling way behind the other races and needs to start increasing their power, if not, they will surely be exterminated from the face of this earth.

...

[Monica's House in the First Disctrict]

The door to the house opened and a young nerdy-looking girl with black hair entered the house.

"Ah, Angelica you are here", Said Alicia.

"Yes, so, is she?", Angelica asked in a low tone.

"Yeah, she still doesn't want to come out and eat, she keeps saying she wants to see her mom and Keith but..."

"Yes, I understand"

After the attack that happened in the appraisal store, we decided to leave Emma in Monica's house, as It is better than to leave her in the broken-down house with memories of the attack.

Currently, Amanda, Keith's mom, is in the hospital of the Round Table, but unfortunately, she is barely hanging on death's door.

I decided to live here to take care of Emma but every day Angelica also comes in to help me play with her, or at least try.

It was still hard for me too, remembering the moments we had together, and more, it was quite enjoyable, it felt like a small family.

Sigh

We also didn't allow Emma to watch the tv, because everything that was shown on the news, was the attack and how the Round Table and the academy, had once again failed in protecting the lives of their citizens and students.

It was also made public that the one that was kidnapped during the attack was one of humanity's hope of catching up to the other races in terms of power.

The public was outraged and the Round Table started to lose its credibility but it calmed down a little bit when it was announced that the top heroes would now be patroling the academy and protecting the future of humanity, Arthur Drajar.

While the academy still holds the spot as the highest level of education and nurturing of the future heroes, currently the public is asking for the headmaster and other executives of the academy to step down.

Even some students were joining in the protests against the academy. I also heard that the guy that was together with us, Ray, had also started to step up and try to claim the headmaster spot but I don't really see that happening anytime soon considering the academy's way of working.