Demon Heart

Evenson’s summoning ritual began. Streams of purplish-red light surged from his body, representing the souls he had stored being converted into energy and consumed. The streams gathered within the Overpower array he had prepared beforehand, determining where the Doomguard would be summoned.

"Roar…" Accompanied by a roar powerful enough to make their ears ache, a towering figure appeared at the center of the array.

Its massive three-meter-tall body radiated power and malice. Its ochre skin, enormous bat-like wings spreading from its back, and green eyes blazing in their sockets like burning Fel flames made it seem as though it were eagerly anticipating a feast of slaughter.

"Insignificant mortal, you dare summon me?!" Its seemingly ever-open mouth stretched wide, a scarlet tongue lolling out as foul-smelling saliva sprayed with its roar.

"There’s a reason I don’t like him." Evenson and the Eredar Twins retreated together to avoid the disgusting spit.

"I completely agree." The Eredar Twins covered their noses and mouths to avoid being overwhelmed by the stench. The Doomguard gave off not only the smell of sulfur, but also a nauseating odor like rotting flesh, especially from its mouth. Noble Eredar did not care for such smells.

"Where is the sacrifice?" The Doomguard’s vicious eyes swept back and forth across the room. When it spotted Carter lying on the platform, it snarled, "That one person isn’t enough." It had clearly taken Carter for a sacrifice, and it was thoroughly dissatisfied.

"Listen, mortal. Prepare sacrifices that satisfy me, quickly," the Doomguard ordered Evenson. "Otherwise, I’ll take them myself."

"Fel above, that’s so low-class." Saloras stomped a hoof and shouted. "Can’t you hurry up and get this over with?"

Though they were both demons, no one should expect noble Eredar to have anything in common with Doomguards. Demanding sacrifices and even intending to seize them personally was simply vulgar and base in their eyes.

"Wait, I think I recognize you?" The Doomguard finally noticed that there were only two humans in the room, while everyone else was a demon—and two of them were Eredar. Those two Eredar looked somewhat familiar.

"You…" The Doomguard used its already rather dim mind to think as hard as it could. At last, it remembered who the two female demons before it were, and immediately became ecstatic. "A great merit! You actually dare to… urgh—"

Before it could finish, the Doomguard suddenly went silent as though someone had seized it by the throat. As the runes beneath its feet flashed, its movements froze in place. Evenson had activated the array.

The Doomguard was clearly the sort of demon whose body moved faster than its brain. Though its muddled mind had yet to understand what was happening, the power within its body was already struggling madly.

But at that moment, it suddenly felt a chill at its neck, and the world spun…

A blade formed from shadow instantly severed the Doomguard’s head. Green, viscous blood erupted from its headless corpse before the body finally collapsed limply.

"This can’t go to waste." Before the spraying blood could hit the ground, it condensed into spheres of blood at Evenson’s gesture. Finally, a large chunk of purple Soul Crystal formed as well.

That was the Doomguard’s soul. It had failed to escape back into the void.

"You actually did it yourself? Don’t you think that’s beneath you?" After collecting everything, Evenson teasingly asked Saloras. Only Saloras, a Sorcerer who also worked as a Shadow Assassin, could have severed the Doomguard’s head so cleanly and efficiently.

"His mouth stank too badly. I simply couldn’t stand it anymore." Saloras kept wiping her dagger, though not a drop of blood stained it. In truth, the blade had never touched the Doomguard at all. What had killed it was merely the Shadow Blade fired from the weapon.

"Your array activated at quite a convenient time too," Aurelles said to Evenson with a meaningful look.

"Yeah, his mouth stank too badly. I couldn’t stand it either," Evenson replied dismissively.

"Heh heh…" The three of them laughed at once, as though they had reached some unspoken agreement.

"What are you planning to do next?" After a long while, Saloras suddenly asked. "I’m getting a little curious."

"Uh… Tyler, come here," Evenson called.

"Coming, boss." Tyler came scampering over with an axe slung over his shoulder. "What is it, boss? Just say the word."

They said killing a chicken was meant to scare the monkey. Evenson had slaughtered the Doomguard without the slightest hesitation, and that put a great deal of pressure on Tyler.

"Cut this thing open." Evenson pointed at the Doomguard’s corpse. Just as Tyler swung his great axe, Evenson added, "Be careful. Don’t damage the organs. Otherwise, I’ll have to find a replacement." After saying that, he gave Tyler an appraising look.

"Don’t worry, sir." Tyler’s scalp prickled under that gaze, and he hurriedly agreed.

"Is it worth it?" Saloras suddenly asked. "For one human, you sacrificed your strongest enforcer."

"This woman…" Evenson said with a cold laugh, "is far more valuable than an enforcer who doesn’t listen very well. Much more valuable."

At that moment, Tyler fully demonstrated the extensive experience he had gained from ten thousand years of professionally chopping people up. Two axe strikes carved a perfect cross into the Doomguard’s chest, splitting skin and flesh while leaving the internal organs completely unharmed.

"All done, boss." Tyler grabbed the edges of the cross-shaped wound and pulled open the Doomguard’s chest and abdominal cavity.

"Mm…" Evenson waved Tyler away. Covering his nose and mouth, he walked over and extended a hand. A large mass immediately floated out of the Doomguard’s chest.

From its shape, one could barely make out that it was a heart—a heart five times the size of a human’s.

Evenson slowly infused it with Fel energy, and the lonely heart actually began beating again. "A demon’s vitality is always astonishing."

Then Evenson began rubbing the heart continuously between his hands. With his movements, the heart gradually shrank until it was roughly the size of a human heart.

"Wait…" Aurelles suddenly understood something. "You can’t possibly be thinking…" She glanced at Carter, then at the Demon Heart. "No way?"

"That’s exactly what I’m thinking." Evenson revealed an eerie smile. "Demon Hunters do everything they can to seize demonic power and complete their advancement, but they probably never considered replacing their own hearts with a demon’s, did they? This is a heart capable of providing demonic power without end."

"Good idea. Crazy enough." The Eredar Twins actually applauded. "But if you do this, are you sure this woman will become a Demon Hunter rather than a Fel-sworn?"

Fel-sworn were Demon Hunters who had submitted to Fel and the Burning Legion. They had already transformed into pure demons.

"That’s why I had you come." Evenson said, "You once served as the Deceiver’s adjutants. You should have witnessed many races being transformed into demons, perhaps even carried it out yourselves. You should know the key points and the process very well."

The Eredar Twins nodded, indicating that this was indeed the case. "You want us to help suppress this woman’s demonization, ensuring she does not become a demon, but instead becomes a… can this really still be called a Demon Hunter?"

"Mm… more or less." Evenson thought for a moment. "How about we give her a different name?"