Demon's Virtue
chapter-278

The Salamander King looked back at Eiro with a deep stare after that unexpected request. After all, who would just blurt out that they wanted to form a contract with a Spirit King after the rare chance to actually be able to speak to them?

Clark, who had been watching everything while hiding himself in the shadows of the corner of the room, was completely and utterly confused by what was currently going on. There were so many things happening that he wasn't sure how he was supposed to react in the slightest.

And then, something happened that surprised Clark even more. A lot of Salamanders were rather hot-headed beings, so most expected this to be the case with the Salamander King as well. Especially since it was already known to be the case with the Salamander Queen.

However, in this case, the Salamander King reacted incredibly calmly as he shook his head in response to Eiro's request, "I apologize. I cannot form a contract with you, even if I would have gladly done so when I was still a regular Spirit. But as King, I cannot simply leave behind my duties in order to fulfill the terms of such a contract."

"...But didn't you do just that because of a contract with this guy?" Eiro asked as he pointed at the pieces of ice on the ground, and the Salamander King just looked back at the Demon with a bitter expression, "This case was a rather unfortunate one. I do not know how they were capable of such a thing in the first place, but they transported a Spirit Gateway underneath this town and tried to take control of it. Hence, I came to investigate. When I did, I saw my kin being enslaved while these people were trying to figure out how to tap into the essences of the Spirit Realm to cause even more havoc. I was unable to stop them, as it would have meant killing my kin, and it would not have helped stop them from taking advantage of the gateway. In return for the promise that they would cease harming my kin and sapping the power of the gateway, this contract was formed out of necessity. It was one with terms that allowed me to break out in such a way, however." The Salamander King explained to Eiro, who listened to him intensely.

Although, it didn't really matter, since he already basically forgot about this. At the very least it seemed like Clark was trying to remember everything for Eiro while recovering the bits and pieces left over from the book with his scorched hands. He really took his job seriously. If Eiro was paying him in the first place, he would give his escort an immense raise.

But for now, while Eiro was able to get these thoughts together, he looked up at the Salamander King's face, "From now on, I will be the one that is supervising this space, including that gateway. You have my word that I will not let anything happen to it as long as I live." The Demon said with a clear tone, and the Salamander King slowly raised his flaming brows.

"You would truly take that task onto yourself?"

"Of course. Although, I don��t think I will be able to watch this place constantly. I might be gone for extended periods of time." Eiro explained, and the Salamander King just started to smile lightly, "Do not worry. My kin are not as weak as they might seem to you at the moment. It was only due to these special circumstances that something like this was able to happen in the first place. But I think I know what I should give you instead of the contract you just asked for. It should be to your liking." The Salamander King pointed out, and slowly placed his palm onto the Demon's chest.

Eiro felt a deep stinging right above his heart before it turned into a burning that spread throughout his body. But it wasn't painful, it was rather pleasant actually. Empowering, nearly. And then, a notification appeared in front of Eiro's eyes.

[You have gained the [Blessing of the Salamander King]]

[Affinity with the Fire Element Increased]

Eiro felt this power course through his body as he gained the blessing of this supreme Spirit standing right in front of him. With a smile on his face, the Demon nodded his head, "I never got the chance to tell this the former Naiad queen, so let me say it to you now. Thank you." The Demon slowly looked down at his chest where the mark of his Blessings seemed to focus. His torso was still mostly covered in the pale blue lines created by the [Blessing of Winter's Lonely Naiad], but now, in their center there were a few thing flame-colored, so red, yellow and orange, lines intertwining themselves with the markings of Eiro's other blessing.

It was really only directly around the centerpoint of Eiro's blessing. Most likely, it would take a little while for these lines to spread out, just like it was with Eiro's other blessing.

The Demon slowly turned his head over toward Clark, telling him to remember exactly what just happened. He explained the exact events that just went down, in case Clark hadn't been able to properly follow along, before Eiro started to look up at the Salamander King again.

"Then excuse me now. There are other things we have to do now. Which would be to... To... Erm, you, escort, what is it that we came here for again?" The Demon inquired, and Clark sighed deeply, "To find you a spirit to form a contract with."

"Ah, so you did require a contract after all? Then please, follow along. In order to form the contract with the Spirit Realm to be the Guardian of one of its Gateways, you must come into its center with me. There, we can find a suitable Salamander for you." The King explained bluntly. To Eiro, this seemed to make a lot of sense, although he didn't know that he needed to create some sort of contract to actually be allowed to take care of the gateway.

Eiro watched as the Salamander King approached the broken-open part of the glass dome that was surrounding the Spirit Gateway. Eiro turned his head over toward his escort, "I will follow him for now. But I will be back soon later. Once I come back, we will look for something that we can use to heal your hands." The Demon explained, and Clark slowly nodded his head as he stared down at them, "...Sure. I nearly forgot..."

"Hm? Ah, I injured you with my flames..?" The Salamander King inquired with a regretful expression, and Clark looked up at him with clear fear in his eyes, "I-It is alright, do not worry! I will be able to get them healed somehow!"

"Nonsense. It is not alright, I should have been more careful in what I was doing. Please, give me your hands." The Salamander King said in a commanding tone as he extended his right hand toward Clark, who reluctantly did as he was told. After all, what else was he supposed to do? Not do what this extremely powerful supreme creature told him to do?

Soon after, the Salamander King enveloped Clark's hands in his own. Eiro could feel that this Spirit was pushing out some form of heat out of his palms, although it of course wasn't in the form of flames. And soon, he pulled his hands away and Clark stared down at his own palms in disbelief.

"Th-They are... They're healed?" He asked with surprise, and the Salamander King slowly nodded his head, "Of course they are. It would not do to let you suffer for my mistakes."

Eiro stared at the Salamander King as a sense of curiosity rose up in his chest that he couldn't keep down, "How are you able to use healing magic with fire?"

The Salamander King turned his head toward him with a slight laugh, "Oh dear me. I would have thought you knew already. No element has an innate capability for healing or destruction. Sure, it may be easier to produce these effects in certain elements to the point where it seems they have an innate connection to a certain side, but it is not so. The biggest factor are your emotions. Fire Magic on its base, chaotic level is strengthened through intensity and often-times anger. The effect of 'healing' is something that requires serenity and level-headedness, however. It fits the water-element perfectly, so most of those capable of using Water Magic will be able to create healing-effects through it. But as you can see, even with the element seen as the most destructive of the basic four, it is possible to heal."

Eiro stared at the Salamander King intensely. This was something completely new to him. Sure, he may have noticed that the use of certain types of magic affected his emotions to an extent, especially when he infused himself with them, but he didn't realize that magic was affected by emotions to that extent yet. At the very least, it was nothing that he read about before, so it never even really crossed his mind.

But considering that it did make sense, and he just witnessed it himself, it was obvious that it was a definite truth.

Eiro slowly turned his head toward Clark, who immediately nodded his head, "I get it, I get it, I'll remember this for you. I'll try to find something to write everything down on. Now, just get this over with, I don't think we have forever, do we?"

The Demon slowly shook his head, "We do not." He replied in a blunt tone, before he turned toward the Salamander King, "My escort is right. We should get this done now... So just lead the way and keep reminding me of what it is that we need to do. On the way, I will explain why this is necessary." Eiro said bluntly, already having forgotten what exactly this Spirit King had told him that they had to do now.

He slowly nodded his head, seemingly already understanding the gist of it, before stepping right onto the field of magma that was created by the Spirit Gateway.

Eiro was a bit unsure about just stepping onto it, but the moment that he tried, he felt something... different. It seemed like this magma was different to what it should normally be, as if the recently acquired [Blessing of the Salamander King] was protecting him within this field that was supposed to be under supervision of just that being.

And so, Eiro stepped deeper into this area surrounding the Spirit Gateway.