Demon (2)

Since Jaldabaoth's face did not change regardless of his emotions, it was hard to tell what expression he was making. However, Uriel could easily tell that he was a little shaken by his words. Although not as shaken as he had expected.

Uriel narrowed his eyes and watched the demon.

'He wasn't too shocked...'

'It seems he already knew this fact — he just wasn't sure of it — and he confirmed it now.'

'──The fact that he already knew this is not something that's going to affect much. So this is still a good thing for me. Now I have a way to survive against the eel.'

If it were in a normal situation, it was not a good thing, nor was it a 'bad' thing to know that his life was connected to that of a demon. However, as he was in the Tower of God and within himself, the situation was different. In Tower of God, the protagonist, Baam managed to get the demon's power from within him. Of course, Uriel's situation and Baam's were relatively different, yet Uriel believed that something like catching the demon's power was something completely possible.

And looking at the figure of Jaldabaoth, Uriel was sure that this power would be enough to face the Red-Eyed Eel and pass the 1st Floor test.

[────What do you want, human brat,] Jaldabaoth asked, realizing that he wanted something.

Uriel made an expression as if to ask, 'isn't it obvious?' and said, "I want you to give me your powers."

[What an interesting request. However, do you really know what you are demanding? Why would I give you my powers?]

"...It seems that you are not planning to give me your powers. You know, if I die, you die. I have no way to defeat that eel currently, so inevitably I will die — meaning you will die."

[Kuku, you seem fooled by something. Although I am sure that if you die, I will die, there are still ways around it. If I want, I can simply eject myself from your body and look for a new body. I will lose most of my powers, but I can still slowly regain them. With this in mind, I can lend you my powers. That is if you─────]

"I'm not giving you my body," Uriel denied his request before Jaldabaoth even finished. If there was anything worse than dying, in Uriel's opinion it was having control of his body taken away. He would just be a ghost, watching the demon live with his body forever — that was too much for him.

[So, no deal.]

"...Pfft... Puheheheheheh..."

[What was that...?]

Jaldabaoth frowned his non-existent eyebrows at Uriel's sudden laughter.

"You idiot. You think I need your permission to take your──── no, my powers?"

[W-what?]

"Pfft. Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Uriel continued, "Your powers are still yours. However, since you are inside me, they are also my powers."

[Y-you's talking nonsense, human brat────!]

Uriel just laughed at his angry reaction and sneered at him in his mind.

'Idiot, idiot! We'll see who's right.'

In Jaldabaoth's vision, Uriel's words sounded like nonsense. However, to Uriel, Jaldabaoth was just stupid. He who had read all the released chapters of Tower of God knew that all his words made perfect sense.

In Tower of God, Baam took the powers of the demon within him, however──────

'The demon did not borrow it. Baam just took the power that was inside himself.'

And following that same logic, that means that Uriel did not need Jaldabaoth's permission. The downside of taking the power without permission was that he would have immense difficulty in controlling this power — causing him to be able to use only a small percentage of it. But, this amount was enough for him to survive against the eel.

Moreover, it was satisfying to see the demon that had almost killed him a short time ago, retreating in fright.

Uriel regretted that he could not continue to provoke this demon, since he did not know what the ratio of the time of this place to that of the outside was. He could be killed at any moment by the eel on the outside. So it wouldn't be a good idea to stay here for too long,

'Huuu. I wonder if I'll really be able to do this...'

Uriel's gaze sank on the demon before he closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings.

'There must be something like that... A flow.'

Uriel thought that controlling the demon's power should be similar to how one controlled shinsu — he should first be able to sense the flow, and then control it. Likewise, his control should not be too much on his first attempt.

'I'm not a monster like Baam, after all...' At the very moment he thought this, his eyes suddenly sparkled.

'Ah──────!'

'I'm feeling it! Your flow of power!'

Uriel was excited, yet he could not smile. Just as he was excited, he was surprised and frightened.

He couldn't help a shiver.

'────This is gigantic. I feel like my body is going to explode at any moment if I try to control it all...'

Uriel swallowed dryly. This demon was much stronger than he expected. He knew he should expect that since the demon came from outside the tower although it couldn't be considered Irregular since it didn't open the tower door.

'Would a Ranker or a High-Ranker have a power like that...?'

He was left with this doubt in his mind, but he knew that this was not the time to ask himself that.

Feeling was only the first step.

Now, the second step was to control that flow.

Uriel got rid of the useless distractions and accelerated his process of feeling Jaldabaoth's flow of power. He first imagined the huge flow of power as countless lines and threads, and slowly controlled them to approach him. Despite certain differences, it was very similar to shinsu control, although the power he was about to wrest from the demon was incomparably greater than that small bubble of shinsu he could form.

As Uriel controlled the threads to wrap around him, a green glow began to envelop his body.

[W-what? What are you doing!]

Jaldabaoth was extremely surprised to notice a movement in his power.

Looking at the green glow around Uriel that continued to increase, Jaldabaoth immediately realized what it was.

'My power!'

'That human brat──────!'

Dangerous. Very dangerous.

Jaldabaoth had dismissed Uriel's words as useless nonsense, yet it appeared that Uriel was not lying about what he said. Jaldabaoth knew that his power was not going away, it still belonged to him — however, it was being controlled by someone who was not him.

As if mocking him, Uriel looked at him smiling.

"What? Did you really think you were going to live inside me and not pay rent?"

[Son of a bitch──────────!]

With a furious roar, Jaldabaoth fired his huge clenched fist at Uriel. It was similar to a huge meteor falling from the sky and heading towards Uriel, the difference in size was gigantic.

The punch was so fast that it reached Uriel before he could even blink.

KUWAAAANG────!!!

A thunderous explosion resounded and the air in front of Uriel opened up and spread like waves in the air. The mist was blown by the punch enough to open a huge hole in the earth, yet Uriel's figure was far from containing any injury.

Looking at his completely unharmed figure, Jaldabaoth was not satisfied and quickly fired his fists again.

Kuwaaaang──! Bang, bang─────!!!

Kuwaang──! Kuwaang──! Kuwaang──!

Countless explosions one after another hit the spot where Uriel was standing.

But, it was to no avail. Uriel was completely unharmed when the waves of explosions dispersed.

The green glow surrounding him was getting bigger and bigger.

"Come on! Try again! Maybe you'll make it, although it's a pretty big MAYBE."

[──────Urk.]

Jaldabaoth was even more irritated by his motivational tone.

However, he did not become discouraged or give up. All his attacks up to this point were physical, however, if all he could do was launch physical attacks he couldn't be proud of being a demon.

'If I freeze him...'

'It might work.'

Deciding, Jaldabaoth opened his palms and brought them close to each other with some space between them. And then──────

Nothing happened.

[...?]

Jaldabaoth was first confused. Then that confusion evolved into suspicion, and then he finally understood why his attack didn't work.

'There's no elemental energy here!'

'Shit, shit, shit! How did I forget that?!'

Jaldabaoth cursed nonstop.

When he arrived at this strange place, he had initially thought it was where he was summoned to. However, he quickly realized that this was not the case and that he had been imprisoned inside someone. So he was very irritated to meet Uriel, so he ended up completely forgetting — that since he was summoned to a place totally different from where he was, it would be necessary to adapt to the energy system of the place if he wanted to use his powers.

"Oi, oi. It sounds like you're having a rough time."

Hearing Uriel's voice, Jaldabaoth focused on him again. And this time, he was extremely surprised.

'────That human brat!!!'

'Impossible! He can control it so easily...?!'

Uriel's body was bathed in a bright, vivid, green light. He had stopped trying to get more; he knew his limit. However, just that much was enough to scare Jaldabaoth.

If Uriel could control his power, what was no guarantee that Uriel couldn't steal his power over time, or worse kill him after that?

'I must stop him!'

[W-wait...!]

"Oh? What is it, Jaldabaoth?" Uriel answered him by raising his eyebrows.

[I will lend you my powers! And all you'll need to do is get a new body for me!]

"Well, if you had said that before... However, right now I'm not interested in a deal. I already got what I wanted — that's enough for me to be able to defeat that eel and get to the next floor."

At having his offer denied, Jaldabaoth became even more desperate.

[T-then I...!]

"No deal for now. Who knows if I will meet you again in the Rice Pot or maybe before..."

[Human, wait! I can give you whatever you want!]

"Bye, bye."

Uriel ignored his cry of despair and closed his eyes.

[Human────!!!!]

And then he opened his eyes again.

***

"Ah~ this is boring," Urek muttered looking into the cage with a bored look on his face. He looked more specifically at the Red-Eyed Eel that was swimming calmly through the shinsu.

It had been a few minutes since Uriel had been devoured. When it happened, Urek was shocked, after all, Uriel seemed very confident when it came time to enter the cage. However, since Headon did not finish the test and continued to stare at the cage, Urek decided to wait and see if there was anything else. But so far, nothing relevant had happened.

"He did it."

──────Nothing, so far.

"What?" Urek asked Headon who finally opened his mouth after a while.

Headon only smiled mysteriously and did not answer.

There was no need for him to answer, though.

"───?!"

Urek felt a sudden change from inside the cage and quickly turned his gaze to it again.

'What is it?'

'That feeling...'

Badum──! Badum, badum───!

His heart was beating non-stop looking in the direction of the eel. And before he knew it, his lips went up so high that a wide smile showing its teeth was on his face.

'In the end, you didn't let me down, baby.'