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The Darkest Of Roses V
🕑 Added 2022-04-09 18:03:58 +0000 UTC.................
Chapter 63: The Darkest Of Roses V
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Neron eyed the paper, reading through the terms in the blink of an eye. An unnatural frown surfaced on his face as he looked strangely at Ian, "This?"
He was understandably perplexed as he questioned, "I can understand getting rid of any tracking magic or anything similar on you, but what about using your life force as fuel for an infinitely expanding space ring?"
Ian shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I'll die soon, so might as well. I've made too many enemies, and the fortune-teller did tell me I'll die in less than a month."
Neron narrowed his melting eyes, "You don't seem to trust the fortune-teller, yet you trust her words... Why?"
"Well, there is a possibility that she put some kind of spell on me, or her friend did. Either way, I don't trust anything I don't understand at all. Her words however I can trust." Ian stopped right there, not interested in explaining any further.
Neron frowned, still unsure. His paranoid nature made him think of all the possibilities, 'He doesn't have infinite life force. I saw what those look like, and his soul looks nothing like those... It looks weirder.
Moreover, he has scars on his body, mortal scars. Creatures with infinite life force don't have those, so what is he playing at?
It's written in the terms that the ring should absorb his life force in a certain ratio so as to allow him to live no more than a month which insinuates he truly believes the fortune teller.
That also indicates he knows how such artifacts work. They need constant fuel for them to work or a rule supporting them.
Perhaps he knows I will never be the fuel of a mortal's desires just like the previous victims, or perhaps he knows of such a victim. Either way, what does he want to do with the Ring?
It was obviously prepared long before this, yet he said he had just met the fortune-teller today, so he must've been preparing for this for a long time... That or it's something he values, an inheritance perhaps?'
Neron was certainly not liking how this was going, 'This is why I prefer to look for victims myself, I can see their desire which makes everything simple, yet I cannot see his... I want his soul no matter the price.'
Neron eyed the paper again, seeing no obvious hole he can exploit, predictable, the man before him was prepared.
He opened his mouth widely, letting clotted blood flow out and form into a contract, a large blood contract with all the terms engraved on it.
Ian glanced at the melting head before starting to read all the terms from top to bottom, making sure a specific term is there, one of the most important ones.
'Any and all terms or even words written on the contract I am not aware of are invalid... Basics of how to deal with demons 101. Let's see, everything is fine.'
Ian let a drop of his blood fall on the contract and melt into it. The contract was established.
"Put the Ring within my mouth, do the same with your hand," Neron ordered as he opened his mouth wide open beyond what's possible for humans. Within was what looked like a blood river moving in the shape of a vortex.
Ian did as told, and he wasn't worried about what the demon might do. Not to say he trusts the demon but he did trust the terms on the contract.
He put the Ring on his index finger and drove his left hand into the blood vortex. In contrast to what Ian anticipated, the operation was quick, ending in the blink of an eye. The doing of a being who can bend reality to his will.
"I am looking forward to the day you die. It may be tomorrow, a month from now, or even five years. It matters not, I shall have your soul."
The blood head then melted into nothingness. The skull was nowhere to be seen, and the same was for the blood Ian poured on it.
"Sure," Ian murmured before turning his attention to the black ring on his finger, tracing his right-hand fingers alongside it, feeling its smoothness as well as what's inside.
Indeed, Ian could sense the seemingly dark space within the ring all through his life force. The black diamond ring was absorbing his life force at a very slow rate.
That's the opposite of what was agreed upon and Ian realized why instantly, it's the usual amount of life force he releases when in contact with things. The ring doesn't seem to be able to draw more despite Neron intending for that to happen.
That's both a positive and a negative. It's good to know that not just anything can suck his life force how it wants, but he also wants to transfer more of his life force into the ring due to how he arranged it to work.
The space within the ring is quite small, just a duffel bag's worth of space, but it's expanding slowly. The ring devours his life force not only to expand but also to control. That's how Ian intended for the ring to work, he can communicate with it with his life force.
'I release my life force at a massive rate when in intimate situations, so expanding the space within it shouldn't be a problem.' Ian thought in his mind before standing up and picking up a paper left in place of the skull. He took a long shower, thoroughly cleaning himself up.
Ian then brought the piece of Trigon's scroll, placed it on the table, and bent his index finger allowing the ring to touch the paper directly.
Something the ring allowed him to do was to sense his life force. It wasn't very clear but he could at least get a general picture of what was happening, his life force was enveloping the paper, slowly but surely.
It took one minute for it to envelop the paper in its entirety which allowed for what he desired the happen. The paper disappeared from the table and emerged within the space of the ring at the cost of some of his life force.
"What a fascinating process. I absolutely have no idea how this works or how it makes any sense whatsoever, but I guess it has to do with some reality alternating bullshit." Ian murmured with a grin on his face, "God the possibilities are endless."
Perhaps he could've just asked for a ring of endless space, but for such a ring to work, it would need a source of fuel or a concept keeping it together. Ian didn't want that, he wanted to be the fuel and the concept of the ring alone. There are too many dangers otherwise.
"Ayayayay yaaa yaay," A representation of his good mood was his humming as he put on his disguise and left the building, making his way to a certain car.
"You really took your time, leaving me waiting in the heat of the sun," Richard was waiting for him in the car, and it was a bit hot.
"You shouldn't have followed me in the first place, and it's 4 PM, the sun is falling so it's not that hot, is it?" Ian shrugged his shoulders and placed his things in the car. The black ring's space is saved for special things.
"Tch, I've been waiting here for two hours straight, so can you be a bit apologetic at least? If I am not here, who'll make sure you don't waste even a day's worth of training?"
"You're quite strict, aren't you? But don't worry, I want to be stronger to the point that I hired someone as rigid as you, so I certainly won't waste my time."
"Is that a compliment?" Richard was unsure, so he questioned.
"Yeah? Anyway, I don't have that much time, so please drive in the planned direction." Ian instructed while looking at his watch.
While on the way back to Gotham, Ian started looking at the paper left by Neron, the answer to his question. Why is his soul so attractive?
'It's the same as Zatanna said, my soul ignores magic, but it's even further than that, it seems to have some natural immunity to rules. Was he able to see that or did he deduce that by trying something on me?
There are many possibilities but the one likely to be true should have something to do with desires.
Demons can sense people's desires, it's an affinity of theirs, yet both Beelzebub and Neron asked about my desire instead of enticing me with it from the start. Perhaps I am overthinking this, but that's what I do.'
He then did a bit of magic, making the paper disappear. What came next is waiting until his next desire is met, the one where Neron has to get rid of any spell cast on him, and it isn't a far-fetched possibility.
He just doesn't trust sorcerers, so he had to make sure though he stated in the terms for the wish to only take effect after a certain time. That wouldn't help much against someone like Zatanna except for the fact that he had prepared a distraction, his signature move.
The distraction gave him enough time to reach the outskirts of Gotham, and luckily, she didn't appear before him yet, so his other distractions weren't needed.
Ian let out a sigh of anticipation as he looked out of the window at the vague outline of disappearing nature... The car was entering the chaotic Gotham, "Well, I am looking forward to my death."
Comments
Gilgamos
Thanks for the chapter
