Another demon

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Western Mountains, Blackstone Ruins.

"Hiss..."

Bang...

Two kinds of strange-looking, terrifying creatures fought fiercely within the ancient ruins. They tore at one another, collided, and roared, intent on killing each other outright.

After the spider monster let out its strange screech, spider creatures about the size of hunting dogs appeared throughout the ruins. There were so many that Eddard had no choice but to order everyone to fall back to the entrance.

When exactly did these monsters appear? Why weren't they here last time? And that monster just now-what on earth is going on?

Eddard thought silently. Everything here felt eerie, and he could find no information about these spiders in Demon B'lack's memories, as though they had appeared out of nowhere.

Fortunately, these spiders were not particularly strong. The Dragonglass Lesser Demons could just barely hold them off. During the fighting, Eddard had also discovered that these creatures seemed afraid to enter the passage-or rather, afraid to leave this area.

Eddard immediately activated the Golden Eye and entered his Skinchanging state. Beside him, "Housecat" Bran followed his lead and entered his own Skinchanging state.

"Uh, why are you following me?"

"L-Lord Eddard! I want to follow you and take a look at this strange creature..."

Whenever Bran saw Eddard's Skinchanging "form," he felt as though he were facing a terrifying monster, so he still stumbled over his words.

"All right! Then follow me and learn how to use your power in the Dream World! If anything goes wrong, return to your body immediately. Or I'll send you back depending on the situation. Understood?"

"Y-yes, Lord Eddard... B-but you..."

"Housecat" Bran had wanted to ask another question, but Eddard was already flying toward the distorted Blackstone Ruins. In the Dream World-or rather, in the Skinchanging state-this area had become a strange space of chaos and distortion.

The power belonging to those demons moved and spread freely through the area, as though the entire ruins had come alive and begun extending their influence outward.

Seeing how completely different things were from last time, Eddard focused all his attention. His perception then spread like tree roots toward the outskirts of the area. Before long, bolstered by the Dream World's power, his threads of perception had finally explored the entire region.

It was a space shaped like a water chestnut, with the point of its energy eruption beneath the ruins. But that place remained extremely chaotic, and he would have to intensify his perception.

"Hiss..."

The spider monster hiding among the spiders looked fearfully toward an invisible point where Eddard's perception was located. Soon, after his perception plunged rapidly downward, Eddard finally found the source of everything: a strange magic array directly beneath the ruins' altar.

This was Eddard's first time seeing a complete demonic magic array. In the dim underground space, an enormous Seven-Pointed Star Magic Array shone with a strange blue-violet light. Some of the empty spaces within the enormous array were covered with strange fleshy eggs, each the size of an ostrich egg.

Eddard could clearly sense the restless life forms within the fleshy eggs. The White Holy Tree told him that these were Hell Demon Spider eggs, while the spider demon outside was some variant unknown to her. It seemed to carry a trace of succubus blood, and these demon eggs came from the same mother as that monster.

Then Eddard sank his perception into the magic array,

and began studying its demonic runes and eggs. All these runes came from Demon B'lack's world, with thirteen different forms of expression and symbolic meanings. This was the demons' terrifying script. Whenever ordinary people read it, their emotions would be severely affected. In serious cases, they might go mad on the spot or even die.

Merely recording them subjected Eddard's perception to repeated assaults from an unknown power. Fortunately, these runes did not belong to this world, and the effects they could produce were not particularly strong. Otherwise, Eddard reckoned he would have gone mad just like those ordinary people.

This magic array was a variant of the Summoning Magic Array, summoning the laws of demonic authority from an unknown space. It had activated at the time of the Bloodheart Clan's last sacrifice and seemed to be a contingency Demon B'lack had left here.

Yet the memories Eddard possessed contained no such information. Apparently, that creature had not left all his memories in his soul and body-or perhaps what he possessed went beyond even that.

After analyzing the runes, Eddard discovered that these Hell Demon Spiders were one of the armies Demon B'lack had summoned. They would remain active here until they had fully adapted to certain laws and influences of this world.

Until then, the magic array would continue protecting these Hell Demon Spiders, supplying them with energy and continuously transforming their bodies into a special new kind of flesh-and-blood creature. At that point, they could venture out without fear of sunlight, occupy forests and grasslands, and become Demon B'lack's vanguard.

"Hiss..."

While Eddard was studying the demonic runes, his right hand suddenly reacted. His previously dormant crystallized body began giving off heat. Only then did Eddard receive some kind of enhancement and discover a massive demon head at the center of the magic array.

The demon head had enormous curved demonic horns and not a trace of flesh or blood, only strange, stone-like bones and skin. From a distance, it looked like a statue. It seemed completely fused with the magic array, which was why even Eddard's perception had failed to detect it.

Boom... Crack...

As the heat grew more intense, Eddard's right hand changed outright. After sensing the interaction of two energies of extreme cold, the crystals on his right hand erupted instantly, growing more than a hundredfold. Their terrifying force even blasted "Housecat" Bran away.

Frightened, "Housecat" Bran retreated repeatedly, only daring to watch Eddard's form from afar. Eddard now looked like a monster with an enormous crystal tumor.

After expanding without limit, those Dragonglass Pillars began flowing in strands toward the magic array's outer edges like melted candle wax. Before long, the entire range of strange energy emanating from the array was completely enclosed by the liquid dragonglass.

"Housecat" Bran could not look directly at that terrifying presence at all. Certain frightening visions of the future also appeared in his perception, so he immediately withdrew from the Dream World and ended his Skinchanging state.

"Hiss..."

Upon sensing Eddard's actions, the enormous spider monster grew frightened as well. Screeching, it rushed out from among the spiders and ran toward the mysterious area beneath the ruins.

Even so, it could do nothing to change this area's impending fate of being devoured by Eddard. Once the crystals finished enclosing it, countless streams of blue energy began seeping into the magic array, and the head at its center seemed to come alive.

"Who are you? Why do you have the aura of that liar B'lack? Ugh... Ah... No... You'll regret this! I am Kars, Lord of Curses, Lord of Crystals... I will..."

Dimly, a terrifying voice suddenly appeared in Eddard's perception. Distant and ancient, it seemed to come from some supreme being beyond the heavens, stirring traces of fear in his heart.

Unfortunately, all this creature had left now was this head, and it had no way of inflicting any actual harm on Eddard. Before it could even finish speaking, the right half of Eddard's body dragged it straight into the Dream World.

"Hiss..."

As the magic array disappeared, the space in this area shook violently. The demonic energy summoned from another dimension began to be squeezed by the Dream World and the real world. The enormous spider monster bore the brunt of it, screeching in agony as though suffering some terrifying attack.

The spiders about the size of hunting dogs fared even worse. Like balloons, they were burst outright by some terrifying force. For a time, slime reeking strongly of sulfur covered the entire area.

The enormous spider monster used all its strength to run toward that area beneath the ruins. It seemed extremely anxious, its body struggling to resist that indescribable, terrifying damage.

By the time the spider monster reached the magic array, only an enormous empty space remained, as though a huge bite had been taken out of some ice cream. Looking at the empty underground area, the spider monster collapsed helplessly to the ground. Traces of fear and terror now showed on its expressionless face.

"Master, this creature has barely managed to adapt to this world's laws. As long as you can modify it, it will undergo some unknown change. Perhaps it will turn out like the Dragonglass Lesser Demons. I estimate roughly a seventy percent chance of success."

While in his perception state, Eddard suddenly received this suggestion from the White Holy Tree. By now, he had gradually returned to normal. The three powers already within his body seemed to have found some kind of medium and begun flowing steadily and smoothly. It seemed Eddard had grown stronger again.

The White Holy Tree's suggestion piqued Eddard's interest. He immediately directed his Perception Skinchanging into the spider monster's body. Upon sensing his entry, the spider monster sent him a fawning message of consciousness.

Apart from humans, these intelligent creatures with some degree of awareness could communicate only through messages of consciousness. This spider monster had become what it was through a chance coincidence. It had remained asleep before this, only awakening when the magic array activated some time ago.

"Hiss..."

Watching the spider monster fawn over him incessantly, Eddard nodded in satisfaction. Then he summoned the former "Witch Queen," Alys Rivers, from the Dream World. Ever since being sealed in dragonglass, she had remained in some kind of sealed state, while the right half of Eddard's body had also remained beyond his control. Only after absorbing that magic array and demon head just now had Eddard truly gained control over part of its abilities.

And so, Eddard injected Alys Rivers's twisted, terrifying soul into the spider monster's body while she was still bewildered. As Eddard acknowledged the spider monster, the terrifying pressure around it vanished, returning things to normal at once.

What followed, however, was wave after wave of terrible pain. Then black dragonglass began appearing across the spider monster's body. The magma blood that had originally belonged to an infernal power began cooling little by little. Death and cold gradually became its entirety.

"Wh-what is going on?"

Soon, after repeated teeth-grating sounds of glass scraping, a strange, seductive female voice appeared in Eddard's perception. The voice was filled with surprise and excitement, with a peculiar hissing undertone and a highly distinctive manner of pronunciation.

"What powers do you possess now?"

Just as Alys Rivers was stroking her body and talking to herself, Eddard's voice suddenly sounded in her mind. Hearing his words, Alys Rivers took a frightened step backward.

"M-Master, I can..."

As memories flooded in, Alys Rivers understood her situation and also learned what she should do. This was the powerful body she had dreamed of possessing. Although it looked somewhat frightening, Alys Rivers's mind now held many memories concerning magic. These memories quickly took precedence, pushing her human memories aside.

Then Alys Rivers told Eddard every detail of the powers she possessed. In her current state, Alys Rivers was a newly emerged demonic variant, which Eddard named the "Dragonglass Spider Mother."

Dragonglass Spider Mother Alys Rivers possessed the abilities to burrow underground, spin silk, lay eggs, produce corrupting crystallization, and perform dragonglass conversion. She also had three forms: half-human and half-spider, human, and spider. When burrowing, she would crystallize the surrounding earth, then swallow it bit by bit and store it, accumulating energy and material to produce Crystal Demon Spiders.

Apart from her inability to adapt to sunlight, this creature could be considered the strongest force under Eddard's control. Upon learning all this, Eddard almost considered forming an army of Crystal Demon Spiders. But after learning how fragile these crystal spiders were, he abandoned the idea.

Then, for now, I can only use them as dragonglass and ice silk producers.

Eddard thought silently after receiving all the information. Alys Rivers's current body could produce an exceptionally tough ice silk. This was a mutation caused by the power of dragonglass eroding their silk-spinning ability. After losing its stickiness, their thread had become a strange substance resembling silkworm silk.

After giving Alys Rivers her orders, Eddard ended his perception state and returned to his body. As he returned, everyone gathered around him.

"Lord Eddard, what should we do now?"