Chapter 525 – Ignis’s Power

“I… do not particularly hate magic,” the demon said after a while of my asking the question. “I just… am helping Master X, as I owe him my life.”

“… Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. He was different from the other two. “What happened?”

“… Is that something I have to tell you?” The demon asked right back, narrowing his eyes.

“You lost to me in a fight,” I said. “Instead of killing you, this is your punishment.”

“I… see,” the demon sighed after a while, defeated. “… It happened a year ago.”

*A year ago? That’s… not long after my mother and father ‘passed away’…

“I am an Archdemon, of noble descent. My family, the House of Beezelbub, was prosperous and wealthy. However… we were slightly *too much so.”

“… How come?” I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“The other royal families… they became envious of mine. They worked together, and convinced the King of the Demon Realm at the time that we were planning a revolt. Of course, we were not, but… it was one voice against dozens. The King expelled us, putting bounties on our heads, and… things took a quick turn for the worse from there.”

“Bet those guys who worked together loved it,” I muttered.

“Yes. We were hunted. My mother, father, and entire family were slaughtered before my very eyes. I had nowhere to run, no place to hide. Soon, I was to follow my family to death, but… in the last moment, a shadowy figure appeared before my eyes, and killed all of the invading demons with a mere swipe of his hand. And that… was when I saw true power.”

“X…” I murmured, and the demon nodded.

“Indeed… that was Master X. I did not know why he saved me, but he did. Sometimes, I wished he would’ve came sooner on that day, but I realize I am in no position to be making demands like that. When I asked him why he saved me, though… he only replied with something I do not understand to this day.”

“What was it?” I asked, curious.

“He said that I… reminded him of his own son. I do not know how, since he is a human and I am a demon, but…”

At this, I froze.

*… Come to think of it, this guy’s story is pretty similar to my own, huh…? Parents are killed by their own race… right before his eyes. And my father, he… he knew what happened to me, so…

“… I see.”

That is all I said. I had no intention of revealing my connection with X to him, and that was probably for the best.

“… I will ask you again, human,” the demon then said, glaring at me intently. “… Are you certain you do not wish to kill me right here, right now? This will be the only chance you get—I will come back stronger, faster, and better, now that I have figured out your abilities.”

“Sure,” I replied, grinning. “I’ll be waiting.”

“… You will regret this decision, fool.”

With those words, he spun around, and began heading back the way he come from, exiting the volcano. Watching him go, I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.

“… Too bad, you have no idea what my abilities truly are…”

Turning around, I headed towards the marble doors. My job here was not done just yet. When I pushed them open, however…

“Sniff… hu… so sad… sniff…”

“… What are you doing?” I asked, arching an eyebrow dubiously at the figure hunched over on the ground ahead of me.

“I-I’m sorry… that was just… so sad… hu hu hu…”

As the man wept rivers of tears, I narrowed my eyes.

“… Oi. You three,” I said to the three other Empyreans in my soul. “Are you just going to sit here and watch the show, or are you going to go wake him the hell up?”

Aerim, naturally, was the first to act, turning into her physical form in the air and flying towards the molten body of a human known as Ignis.

“Heyyyy, Ignis! Yahoo! It’s me, Aerim! Did you miss me after so long? Did you? Did you?”

“Aerim…? Oh, Aerim! Long time no see, friend!” Ignis said cheerily, any sign of sadness immediately gone. “How have you been?!”

“Meh, it’s been fine, I guess,” Aerim said, waving him off. “The other two, though, are as boring as ever.”

“I heard that,” Aquira interjected calmly, and Aerim hurriedly circled around to behind Ignis.

“Eek! Aquira’s scary…”

“Right?!” Ignis rolled his eyes. “Sheesh, Aquira, stop being so scar-“

“I will douse your flames.”

“E-Eek!” Ignis screamed in a strikingly similar tone to Aerim’s, and the two huddled together in fear.

“… Now, now…” Terrarim intercepted with a deep sigh. “Our reunion is fine and all, but we should get onto business. Wouldn’t want to keep our friend here waiting, would we now?”

“At least one of you four is sensible,” I muttered.

“Mm, yes. The Blessing of the Empyreans, correct? Very well,” Aquira said, closing her eyes. “You have done well to liberate the four of us, and this is an apt reward.”

Saying this, she spread her arms in her water form, and held her hand with Aerim and Terrarim, who morphed into a rock golem of sorts. Terrarim then linked hands with Ignis, who held Aerim’s other hand to form a full square. Of course, fire and water could not hold hands, and air and earth could not either, so this was the distribution they were put in.

“You better be grateful, human,” Aerim said, and closed her eyes. The other three did the same, and from each of their foreheads, a gemstone glowed brightly. Aerim’s was silver, Terrarim’s was golden, Ignis’s was a blazing orange like flames, and Aquira’s was a calm tear-shaped blue.

The gemstones projected themselves above their heads in the form of holographic, glowing symbols, and then converged at the center of the square they formed with their linked arms. Silver morphed into gold, water morphed into fire. The four elements grouped together, spinning and spinning, until at last…

All that was left… was but a single tear-shaped gemstone.

It had the shape of Aquira’s stone, the silver color of Aerim’s, the grid-like texture of Terrarim’s, and the fire at heart of Ignis’s at its very core. The radiating, glorious, and divine gemstone slowly descended from the air, flowing towards me, and I caught it in my hand. Despite being a gemstone, it felt fragile and easy to break, like it was the collected will of four gods.

“Go on,” Terrarim said, unlinking his arms with the others. “Break the crystal in your hand, and consume its energy.”

“… What?” I arched an eyebrow. “You want me to… break this?”

“Correct,” Aquira said. “That is how you will be able to absorb its energy. If you do not believe us, then so be it, but we have done our part.”

“…” Glancing down at the beautiful stone in my hand, I made up my mind… and crushed it.

Just as expected, it shattered easily. The rainbow essences trapped inside were now free, and soared around, circling my body, before finally entering my heart… or rather, my soul, to be exact.

Immediately, I felt something akin to an enlightening. It was like back then, when I first awakened magic, but on a somewhat grander scale. It was like I received a message, a divine message, telling me that I was no longer human, but a being close to a god.

“Congratulations,” Aerim said with a snicker. “You are now stuck at this age forever~”

“… Wait, what?”

“… Perhaps we should have warned you beforehand…” Terrarim muttered. “That is… our bad. Upon absorbing that energy, you have now turned immortal, as in you will never age and could theoretically live forever if nothing unexpected occurs. However, we failed to ask if this was the age you wished to stop aging at…”

“… I mean, I’m fine with it, but…” I averted my gaze. “I don’t know about the girls… maybe they would want to wait until they are a bit older to do so…?”

“18 to 19 is a suitable age to stop aging at for a woman,” Aquira stated calmly, folding her arms. “They have matured into adults, yet can still experience the fun and freedom of teenagehood. I do not think you need to worry about them complaining about this fact.”

“Well, if it’s from the Empyrean of Water and Maidens herself, it’s got to be true,” Ignis said with a chuckle. “Me, I prefer older women myself.”

“Like… Sister Aquira, perhaps?” Aerim snickered.

“H-Huh? Wha-? No, what are you talking about?”

“Should he even get remotely close to me, I will put him out of his misery,” Aquira said coldly, glaring at Ignis. “Both figuratively… and literally.”

So this is what they mean by fire and water don’t get along…*

“A-Ahem, in any case, we should get out of this volcano!” Ignis said. “Your friends are still waiting for you, are they not, kiddo?”

I nodded. “Yes. But… are you four coming along as well?”

“Hm? What kind of question is that?” Aerim arched an eyebrow, rolling her eyes. “Of course we are! Look, all four of us may be awakened now, but our existences in this world are now tied to you! If we’re not coming along with you, where else would we go?”

“Uh… I see.”

I blinked.. Guess I have four gods accompanying me for the journey ahead now.