A Demon's Journey

Azaroth saw William's sincere gaze and gently spoke, "It's not your life I am asking. That's worthless to me."

"Anyway, let's leave that talk about some other time. There is another important issue we need to focus on," Azaroth spoke.

William didn't exactly understand Azaroth's words, but he remained silent. If this man wanted to tell him, he would. If Azaroth didn't want to mention it, he wouldn't, no matter how much William asked.

Azaroth stared at William's calm expression and silently nodded. His personality was quite good.

"The weakness of your physique. You have been fed the Vitality Sucking Life Binding Parasite. It has sucked all your vitality, leaving you with a tiny amount. I am surprised you have lived for so long," Azaroth spoke.

William raised his brows as he heard that sentence. He asked, "What is this Vitality Sucking Life Binding Parasite?"

"It's a kind of parasite that lives near the heart. It has formed a connection with your heart and sucks away all your energy. The energy required by your muscles never reaches them. Hence, your physique slowly became weaker," Azaroth explained.

"Do you remember when this began? Just who could have fed you this parasite?" Azaroth asked with a curious expression.

An ugly look appeared on his face as William responded, "…It began nine years ago. After the death of my parents, I stayed with my friend's family. It was around that time I picked up and began to practice my father's Spear Throwing Technique. A couple of months later, I started feeling weak."

"I see," Azaroth responded calmly.

'How could a random family get hold of this Vitality Sucking Life Binding Parasite? It was probably someone else,' thought Azaroth.

Azaroth and Laura noticed how William seemed rather dispirited. However, he slowly inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled.

"…This won't be an issue. I will be fit in the next few days. So, please tell me of what you want me to do," William spoke with a smile.

This was a smile filled with pain and sincerity. It would make anyone who saw it feel sympathetic about him.

Azaroth's heart was stone-cold, so he felt nothing. He had seen far too many pitiful people to be affected by this sort of thing.

Laura, on the other hand, was impacted. She believed she was staring at his struggles when she saw that painful grin on William's face.

She whispered to Azaroth's ears, "M-master, we should help him. I don't want him to suffer anymore."

Azaroth ignored her words as he stared at William, "This condition is very tricky to solve. During these nine years, this Vitality Sucking Life Binding Parasite has bound itself to your Spirit."

William remained calm as he had expected this response. He was ready to live with this parasite for the rest of his life.

"Purging it would mean that I need to burn your soul at the same time. The injuries to the soul are the most painful. It's unlike any other kind of pain you have experienced. However, if you manage to survive, you will gain a physique unlike any other. This physique will be molded with my flames. Moreover, you will gain quite some resistance from the Holy Ardor and the Flame Ardor," Azaroth explained.

William's eyes widened slightly as he heard this sentence.

"I will need to pay a heavy price to cure you. In return, I need you to obey my orders for eternity. Before you think rashly, my orders could be anything," Azaroth spoke coldly.

With that, Azaroth left the room along with Laura. William was left in the room alone, and he got lost in thought.

He then heard some sounds coming from outside.

He climbed on the other side of the bed to look outside the window. He then witnessed many warriors belonging to Beast Taming Group training outside!

He instantly understood what this meant. They had surrendered to the Origin Sect Branch.

William was slightly happy since there were a few subordinates who had formed a strong bond with him.

He didn't want to see their corpses. And if he had accepted Azaroth's offer, he felt like he would be walking over their corpses without a hint of compassion in his heart.

For that reason, he hadn't responded to Azaroth's offer even if he could get rid of this painful physique for eternity.

But now, the situation was different. His subordinates were most likely safe since he had ordered them to surrender if he lost.

He continued to look at the warriors outside and saw many faces from his private group. Only a few warriors from his group were missing, and he guessed that they either tried to escape or died earlier.

This was expected in a battle of that scale.

In the evening, a maid came to inform Azaroth that William had accepted his offer.

Azaroth smirked as he had accepted that response. He still remained at his position. He was setting up an array to purge that Vitality Sucking Life Binding Parasite.

In reality, simply purging this parasite would be extremely easy for Azaroth. He merely had to utilize his Holy Flames to do their job.

However, Azaroth had another plan. He wanted this parasite to return every single bit of vitality it had stolen from William.

That was the only way for William to reach his peak. He possessed Divine Strength along with the twin variant elements like Gold and Metal.

He possessed a great potential to become strong. Moreover, Azaroth had a cultivation technique that was specifically built for him. The Fiend God's Body Technique.

The next day, Azaroth brought William to this array.

This array was behind the building that held the demons. Meaning it was rather away from the main building of the Origin Sect Branch.

He didn't want anyone else to see what was going to occur here. Not even his other retainers.

"…Let's begin, shall we?" He spoke with a smirk.

William didn't exactly feel good when he saw that smirk, but he did as he was ordered and remained stood in the center of that array.

Azaroth left the array and spoke out, "Now, you will experience the worst pain in your lifetime. Clench your teeth, bite your tongue, or scream out in pain. Just make sure to not fall unconscious due to the pain. If so, I will give up on you."

Before William could answer him, Azaroth activated the array.

A greenish-colored fog was released in that array. When William inhaled that fog, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

It felt as if someone was biting his heart strongly and quickly. It was such a sharp pain that he felt like ripping his heart out!

Azaroth noticed William's painful expression and analyzed him carefully. He knew just how much pain William was under.

Yet, he didn't scream. He was enduring that pain.

'Good. Time to raise the tempo then,' Azaroth spoke as the array released more of that green-colored fog.

William's body was beginning to shrivel as the Vitality Sucking Life Binding Parasite was sucking his vitality at an unreal pace.

This was something that had never happened before!

William was a little scared that he would die, but still, he kept his mouth shut. He had no other choice than to trust the man ahead of him.

If he broke his trust, there would be no place left for him. Thus, he endured!

~~

I hope you all like this chapter.