Chapter 73 - A New Core

"Twenty years?"

Cyril was a bit surprised after listening to this Demon. He thought of them as prideful individuals but right now, this Azennon is actually offering his service for free for the next two decades.

It is indeed quite tempting. However, this guy is still an evil being! He might consider it if the one offering service is a beautiful and untainted goddess but this one reeks of corruption…

"No… You're a demon…" He answered bluntly as he continued destroying the stone statue.

'There's no way I can trust your words.' Cyril added in his mind.

His previous contract with Xagan was only because his heart was seeking revenge. He decided to no longer act based on his emotions although it might be difficult.

Nevertheless, he knows that as long as he keeps his mind clear, he would be able to achieve it.

"You useless human! Don't you have any ambition?! This is your chance!"

Azennon tried to convince him but Cyril has already decided.

Bang!

The Demon cursed him several more times but there's nothing he can do. Cyril didn't sign a contract and he only has a wisp of his soul inside the stone so he was helpless…

Crash!

The stone statue shattered into pieces.

"Alright… That was easier than I expected." Cyril felt proud of himself after destroying the demon.

As he was planning to return, he noticed that a black core, different from the stone pieces was dropped.

"What's this?" Cyril asked.

"That's a demon's core… Low-rank demons like him have that thing on their bodies. It's quite similar to the Magic Cores but this one has some traces of Azennon's Corruption Ability. You can consume it to decrease your life span quickly, Contractor."

Xagan replied. Since the core is still related to Azennon, Xagan has no issues explaining it to him.

"A demon core? I've never heard of it…"

Cyril muttered as he looked at the core. He doesn't feel like picking it up yet. The core is emitting some kind of black energy and it might be related to the power of corruption.

"Aside from harming myself if I consumed this, is there anything useful about this core? I heard about the Abyssal Beast's Core, Magic Cores, and Golden Spirit Cores… They are all just a form of energy source if I remember it correctly… But this one, I'm not sure…" Cyril said truthfully.

"That makes sense… Taking a demon's core wasn't easy. Anyway, a demon wouldn't die without its core. However, they will be greatly weakened and would require years to form it again. In the meantime, anyone who managed to get their cores can temporarily use whatever power they possess until the energy within was completely used."

Xagan explained…

"How can I use its power?"

"Assimilate with it instead of just consuming it. It requires time. There is also an option to use it as Enchantment Stone."

Cyril raised his brows after hearing this. He's quite familiar with Enchantment Stones since Modified Artifacts would have them in the future.

"So the value still depends on the strength of the demon, huh."

Cyril muttered as he tried to think how he would benefit from such a thing.

'Well, I might have use of its corruption ability someday. I'll keep it for now.'

Cyril then tore the cloth of the nearest demon worshipper and used it to pick up and wrap the core. With such an amazing item, there's no way that it can't be brought outside so he wasn't too worried that it will be left here.

'Well, even if it was lost in the void, it wouldn't really matter.'

He soon met up with Gaarm and the other Goblin Warriors.

"Clear up the village. Everyone there is dead. You can do whatever you want. I'll be taking the ores and will come back in a week."

"Yes, Master…"

Cyril noticed that the Goblin Chief was so excited and he even heard their stomach rumbling.

'Ugh… Do they eat devils?' Cyril thought as he immediately shook his head as doesn't want to imagine them eating those human-like devils.

'Whatever… Goblins needed to survive too.'

Cyril returned to the goblin's lair unhindered to pick up the bags of ores and the mysterious copper object before he left. As for the grimoire, he didn't dare to bring it out yet since he felt that bringing that out would be dangerous.

"Haa~ Finally…"

The young man yawned and looked at the time. He noticed that it was already early in the morning and he needed to take a rest now.

However, he smelled blood on his body and knows that he wouldn't be able to sleep like this…

After a quick shower, the young man finally got his deserved rest.

***

Several days had passed quickly as he spent his days looking for purple crystals temporarily holding off the matter about the mysterious copper-like object and the grimoire.

He was quite lucky, the previous three purple crystals that he found before were still not taken so he decided to take them all.

Aside from that, he no longer required Xagan's help to take the crystals since he already has his Traceless Scarf to help him hide his presence.

In total, Cyril has 4 Entrance Crystals including the Red Goblin's Worlds!

"They are all low-class Arcane World but it's better than nothing."

Cyril was happy with his work.

He now has a low-rank Undead Cemetary that only has a size of a football court, a low-rank Black Goblin Dungeon isolated to the outside world, and finally, a low-rank Spriggan Lair.

He didn't explore them yet and only checked the situation inside.

Apparently, he spent too much time getting these crystals and moving house.

That's right, Cyril already purchased a house in Forbes Park Subdivision where he would live together with his aunt.

"I still can't believe it… You already got this much money? You said you only had one year contract with the Association, right?" Bonnie asked as she looked at the gorgeous house. It feels like it was too big to have only the two of them living here.

Aside from that, she also heard that most of the people living in this subdivision are all wealthy people and could command many strong Awakened individuals with a wave of their hands.

"Yes… I thought that this is a good place so you can collect more plants. This place is also quite safe. Aside from that, the money I used here wasn't from the Association."

"Huh? Then, where did you get all of this?" Bonnie asked in a confused tone.