72 Bayfront Coast 14

Not knowing the way, "Jim Mack" dragged Ashton with him all the way to the cliff. This wasn't his intended destination, but the deafening roars of wind and rain, the thunderous clouds, and the moonless night did not make it easy for him to navigate around. Thankfully, he was now a part demon and had certain abilities. If he were a real human, he would have had a lot of trouble getting there.

"What the hell was that thing…" he mumbled as he dropped Ashton on the ground. He was about to take a rest when he felt the aura getting stronger and stronger, and nearer too.

"F*ck!"

Cursing, "Jim Mack" made a split-second decision. He bolted. Even though Ashton was a good shield, but without him, he could move faster, and hide better too.

The demonic presence in Jim Mack could tell that there was something wrong with the demon king's aura that he felt earlier. It was incredibly strong, but that was not the full extent of the aura.

Just the shadow hand alone contained enough aura to send a shiver up "Jim Mack's" spine; if that demon king was released on Earth, no one could tell what would happen to this world.

And "Jim Mack" certainly didn't want to be here when that happened.

…

Back in the present,

The pain of having someone else's memories forced themselves into his head caused Juin to kneel down with both his hands on the side of his head as he groaned loudly. "N-no! No! No!"

"Jim Mack's" memory ended at the cliff, after he abandoned Ashton there.

"I need more! I need to know more!" Juin yelled as he slammed his fist on the ground. He then glared at the creature, whose legs were completely burned off and who now had 5 finger-sized holes around the top of its head.

Juin grabbed the creature, who was still alive but barely, and shook it hard. He then asked, "What happened to Ashton?! Tell me!"

The creature merely looked at him. Unfortunately, having had its memories forcefully stolen, it was now rendered catatonic.

"It's useless now…" Lucifer remarked as he folded his arms while floating above Juin. "Just leave it be… It would die in the next few minutes!"

"Argh!" Juin yelled as he dropped the creature. "We are so close!" he yelled in frustration. He almost saw what happened to Ashton that day!

Lucifer ignored his rambling and mumbled, "It's interesting. I was wondering how could someone as powerful as Ashton, assuming that I was right about his true identity, was done in by a simple demon like that. But I think I know now."

Juin glared at him, but Lucifer ignored the rude way his vessel was staring at him and explained, "Imagine 1000-ton worth of energy trapped in a vessel with 100-ton energy capacity. Ashton was born with an extremely strong soul power within him, power that was inherited through generations, but his childish body could not handle it.

"Think about it, a newborn could not have handled such strong power as that would basically overwhelm the newborn's body and destroy it from the inside. Especially since mage tends to be humans, and a human's body has a lot of limitations," Lucifer continued to mumble out loud his deductions as he paced around in midair.

He thought for a moment before continuing, "So, to prevent their reincarnation from suffering a backlash of having been born with such ancient magic, the power of an Aristocratic Mage probably presents itself in stages. And at 12 years old, Ashton could do certain things, but with limitation."

Lucifer turned around to face Juin. "My assumption is that, when he tried to heal you, he used more energy than what he should, basically tapping into the reserve that should have been slowly released into his body as he aged, and this weakened him since his body could not handle the surplus of energy, thus letting that ugly demon to take advantage of the situation.

He then nodded, as if confirming with himself. "Think about it… Up until then, whenever you were injured and bled, he could stop the bleeding, and that was all he did. But three years ago, he wasn't just trying to stop the bleeding, he was trying to close your wound, which as we knew now, wasn't just a normal wound.

"It was a wound that was created when you were sacrificed…" Lucifer wondered if the soul within Juin's body took refuge after the failed sacrification.

"Somehow, that wound connects to the shackled soul in your body. And since that shackled soul in your body is a powerful being, fixing the link would take more energy than what a 12-year-old mage could do, aristocratic or not…"

"I DON'T GET IT!" Juin yelled as he stood up and looked at Lucifer, who was still pacing around in midair. "He died trying to save me? He could have saved himself! He didn't have to do it! Why is he so adamant to protect me?!"

"You have a demon king's aura," Lucifer said as a matter of fact.

"What?" Juin frowned, wondering what Lucifer was talking about.

"I couldn't really tell before, since the shackles also contain the aura of the soul, but when I saw those memories, I could confirm it. I have always known that the shackled soul is an extremely powerful being, but I didn't know that it would be this."

Lucifer glanced at Juin and nodded slowly, as if he was approving his vessel's fate. "You have a demon king's aura."

"That tells me nothing!" Juin snapped.

"Demon kings, like me, are born with extremely strong powers, powers that could easily be misused by the wrong hands. Hence, all demon kings have to be protected and watched over since young.

"And no, we don't call ourselves demon kings because we are real kings, although 99% of us are kings with our own lands. We call ourselves demon kings because we are born with the top 1% strength.

"From the moment that a demon king is born, he could use an extraordinary amount of soul power, something that a normal demon would take thousands of years to control."

"What does this have to do with Ashton? Or me? Can we talk about what is happening now instead?" Juin sighed as he looked at the creature, which was now completely lifeless.

However, Lucifer ignored him and said, "This is what Izzy used to tell me. Aristocratic Mages are always connected to demon kings. When a demon king is born, there might not be an Aristocratic Mage, but when an Aristocratic Mage is born, there would definitely be a demon king that's born around the same time.

"They are what the humans say, yin to the yang. With their ancient knowledge and memories, they could help to control the demon kings, and they are supposed to teach the demon kings how to control their powers.

"And they are attracted to demon kings, serving as the demon kings' protectors. And it is said that any demon king that has an Aristocratic Mage is bound for the greatest things."

Juin thought about it. "Do you have one?"

"No," Lucifer said as he shrugged. "Do you think that Aristocratic Mages are everywhere? You are one lucky b*stard to have one by your side."