The Corruption

Chapter 4

Killian's 'home', Myrk

Lux could feel his whole-body shiver. The blood rushed to his head as he felt his cheeks flushing with rage. The angel was known for his patience and calm temperament, but Killian had truly just ignited a spark on him. "You are asking for a reward?!" His eyes widen. His eyebrows narrowing. An evident vain appearing on his forehead. "People are dying. People are dying Killian." He stood up once more, his voice raising the slightest bit once he reached the end of his words. "And you are asking to be rewarded for your help?!" Lux curled his hands into a ball, glaring purposely at the demon. Yet, Killian only offered a smile, his pointy canines showing. "But Sir Angel, I'm not the one dying, am I?" The demon beamed with close eyes, two small dimples forming, his face almost glowing. The angel was about to retort when the god finally joined the conversation. "What about your freedom? Permanently." Killian's eyes lighted up at the sound of Amartya's words, his grin grew smaller, a sarcastic smile still resting in his face, but his eyes showed his careful deliberation. "How can I be sure you'll keep your end of the bargain?" Luxes eyebrow twitched, yet he bit his lower lip to keep himself from speaking, on the contrary, Amartya very calmly extended his right arm. "I can do a blood promise." Once again, the angel's eyes widened. A blood promise... Quite a seriously compromise... It's an uncommon spell that ties someone's vital mana, or a portion of it, to an object by making said object absorb their blood, then, if the object is broken the person will lose the same amount of vital mana that was infused in their blood. Killian stared at the god for a good while until he sighed. "I don't need something that drastic from you Tya." And with that the demon got up and approached the god, Lux took a step towards them to try and shield the god from the demon's vision, yet, before he could, Killian snaped his fingers, immobilizing the angel once more. "The 'King of the Underworld' does not need an angel protecting him." It was weird to see, the serious expression on Killian's face, his pale eyes glared into the angel making shivers run through his spine once more. He calmly approached the god, stopping just before him and kneeling, grabbing Amartya's right arm, while the god only stared at him, shoulders relaxed. Killian stared him in the eyes for a few second before lowering his head and closing his eyes. He muttered a few words beneath his breath and when he finally opened his eyes again, with a dangerous vermillion glow in them, a red mark appeared on Amartya's right arm along with Killian's own left arm, said mark eventually faded into black and the demon let go of the arm, standing up again. Yet now it was the god's turn to have a stern look on his face, grabbing the demon's wrist and harshly pulling him, the black-haired male didn't say a word, yet his eyebrow twitched at this action, the god clearly didn't care, getting up and staring down at Killian. "Is this black magic Killian?" Amartya's purple eyes pierced through the demon's pale golden ones, yet said male only pulled back his wrist harshly, glaring at the god while rubbing his now bruised wrist. "Let's not summon your spirits, yes? It's just a promise spell, it can do no harm, except that mark will stay there until you do what you compromised to do." Amartya slowly nodded, and the demon snaped his fingers again, setting the angel free. "Okay so, sit down." The atmosphere seemed to go back to the beginning, as the demon returned to his usual grin, both the god and the angel followed his lead and sat back down in the same manner. "So, what is your knowledge of black magic?" The god and the angel shared a look and that seemed to be all the answer Killian needed as he rubbed his temples with his left index finger. "Let's start by the beginning then." He changed his position, his back now leaning against the red cloud, leaving his arm free. "So, as you know there are 3 types of magic, based on the percentage of elemental and vital mana used." With his right hand he made three small red butterflies appear, the one on the far left was the first to approach him. "First, we have the 'elemental magic', this consists of us only using our elemental mana attribute, meaning that most of us can only use one type of elemental magic, which can easily be recharged." The butterfly next to him disappeared and now it was the time for the previous middle butterfly to approach him. "Then we have 'divine magic' which can only be used by a handful of people, usually deities, like our Grace right there, it is like a stronger form of elemental magic, since it uses a ratio of around 90% elemental mana and 10% vital mana." And again, the butterfly disappeared, and the last one flied to his finger, his eyes showed a more serious look as they narrowed towards the butterfly. "And then... We have the forbidden black magic, which only uses the user vital mana, in other words, it consists of directing one's own life force into their magic, making it more powerful yet declining the health of the user, as vital mana recharges at a very slow rate and cannot be recharged by healing magic, only by-" He stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes and destroying the butterfly. "Well, that's not important. If you run out of vital mana, you die. Even if you are an angel, an elemental creature that can preserve their soul and be re-born in a new physical shell by their elevated elemental mana quantity." Luxes eyes narrowed at the words, glaring at the floor, Killian either didn't notice or just chose to ignore it as he continued. "And as such, it's rare for people to use such magic. Yet, there's another way to use black magic." Both the angel and the god raised their eyebrows at the words. "Theoretically, you can use another person's vital mana, by absorbing it and storing it in an object that will act as the connecting compartment to use the black magic, although there is no recorded information of such use." Luxes eyes widen in shock while Amartya lifted his right hand to his chin in a thoughtful manner. "So, what I mean to say it." He opened his eyes, smirk dropping and being replaced with an emotionless glare. "Take me to your friend. Now."