Demon's Virtue
chapter-476

Eiro let out a deep breath as he finally finished up changing around certain aspects of the carvings inside of this huge magic stone. Luckily, since the sub-circle carved into the crystal was something meant to 'control' another being, meaning the Lord of the Lake, Eiro could surprisingly easily switch things around to instead let another being control the magic array in here.

Now, Eiro would just need to create a spell that would let him actively tap into this, so that he could control the island's movements with just his mind. Using Arcane Magic, that should be relatively easy, actually, considering that he was able to super easily control anything created through an arcane spell. He was able to create a sort of connection between himself and arcane spells that was somewhat different compared to when he cast other spells. He could even manipulate them at a surprisingly far distance, especially if he were to create a spell that was focused on such things. But for now, he had to do something else first, anyway.

Even after deactivating the sub-circle, the magical chains holding the Lord of the Lake in place didn't let go, and Eiro figured that was the case because he first needed to kind of 'reset' everything. So basically, he had to set up his own control of this magical array within this space, and actively try to sever the connection to the Lord of the Lake. Considering that this whole array was just so incredibly huge, it made sense for a few aspects of it to just linger for a while. Otherwise, if something suddenly set out for a moment... the whole island would just end up crashing down and shattering into pieces once it hit the ground.

Eiro took a deep breath, and slowly created a small spell that would just allow him to establish basic 'control' of this thing to reset everything else, which would free the Lord of the Lake and which would allow the rest of the magic in here to flow properly again. He was aware of what would happen the moment he did so, which is why he chose to go outside for a while and just warn everyone of what was about to happen.

And when he got back, he finally casted the spell. His magic flowed into the sub-circle carved into the ground, and he could hear the water of the lake suddenly shifting quite a bit as the Lord of the Lake dropped down a bit, his weight no longer held up by the chains.

At the same time, the island itself reacted too. Eiro could feel his weight increase quite a bit for a second as the island sped up, travelling upward. And then, all at once, that weight disappeared as the four bridges, that also acted as chains to hold the island itself in place did their job and stopped the island's movement. Eiro should just fly around the bridges later to make sure they weren't damaged or anything like that. They still needed to bring all the items from Zaragon's storage spaces over, and only then could they disconnect all of the bridges. Otherwise, the island would float up higher along one of the edges and protentially destroy the whole city in the process.

But for now, Eiro approached the castle in the center of the city again, and landed in front of the storage hall. He opened the door, and quickly saw James and Krog standing in front of him, since they were guarding the entrance in case some monster was still left somehow and tried to attack them.

"Alright, we're good to go. The Lord of the Lake is freed." The Demon said, and stepped past his party members, until he stood in front of the people that he had saved by taking this city over. They all stared at him, waiting for him to say something, and so of course, he did just that.

"First, I need each of you to make a decision. A personal decision, of course. You can do whatever you want from here on outward. Do you wish to head back to your old home, or will you come with me?" He asked them in a blunt tone, and they all looked at each other. Since they were all thinking about what to do, Eiro made sure to clear something else up, "I am in the position to give all of you a new life. If you need it, you will be given full support, whether it is monetary, physical, or mental. And as for the children who lost their parents, they will be coming with me and I will bring them to an orphanage, while guaranteeing decent education for them. And if any of you need any help, even if you choose to go another way now, you can still always come to see me, and if I can, I will help you." Eiro told them all. He wanted to make sure that they could all make their own choice and not worry about anything.

And why did he do that? Well, living and working with people over the past few months maybe made him a little bit soft. Or maybe he felt somehow guilty that all these people had to go through something like this. The ones that did all this to these people were his brothers and sisters, they were part of his horde.

Maybe Eiro was slowly changing, especially after realizing that his soul was that of a person in the first place. He wasn't sure, but it could be all of that or none of that. It could be a reason that Eiro hismelf didn't even understand yet. Either way, he knew that he wanted to help them. And Eiro was selfish enough to do whatever he wanted to at any given point.

Eiro stood there, waiting for the answer of the people in front of him. These people that had lost so much over the past eight years, while Eiro just gained... everything.

"If you wish to come along, simply stay here. If you want to leave, then tell Jess, James and Krog about it, please. We will give you anything you need to get on your way right now. We will probably be leaving in a day or two." Eiro said bluntly, and slowly turned around, walking up to his party.

"I hope you three are alright with staying here while I go get everything. I need you to stay here to 'protect' everyone. The monsters are genuinely under control, at least for now, but none of these guys would feel safe if we just left them alone." Eiro explained to them, and Jess quickly nodded her head, "Yeah, that does make sense..." She replied, and before anyone else could say something, a young man walked up to them.

"E-Erm... Before... everything, I was a... st-stableboy... Do you need help when we d-drive carriages to your home?" He asked, and Eiro raised his brows, "You already made up your mind?"

Slowly, the young man nodded, "Th-This city was my home... my family... they all died, so I h-have nobody left..."

"Hm, alright then. Well, we're not going to be driving any carriages to our home, we'll take a different sort of transportation, but... I think I might still be able to use your help a bit. We need to head to the Capital for a little while, and get some things we left there. I could use someone else than can drive a carriage."

"A-Are you sure..?" The young man asked, and Eiro immediately nodded, "Yeah, it seems like you're confident enough in your ability. There's nothing for you to worry about, though. If you don't want to, you don't even need to come into the city with me. Also, we might have to go twice if we don't find anyone else to come with us. So if you know anyone else that can drive a carriage, go ahead and introduce them to me." He explained, before the young man immediately nodded his head, excited to be of help. He immediately turned around and rushed over to the rest of the people to talk to them for a moment.

"...How was that 'confident in his ability'?" James asked with a light frown, "He didn't seem confident at all... Not that I blame him, they all went through so fucking much..."

Eiro turned around and scratched the back of his head, "Well, my ability to sense 'truth' in what someone is saying doesn't depend on factual truth, it depends on their perception of it. If he had told me about it just to be of some help although he didn't know whether he could do it, it would have been a lie, at least to an extent. But he seemed completely genuine, so clearly he truly believes that he's going to be helpful by driving a carriage." He explaine to them, and then slowly turned around, listening as the young man tried to convince some of the others to help out as well.

"Are you smiling? It's been a while since I've seen you smile outside of combat or when you're around your kids..." Krog pointed out with a chuckle, and Eiro turned his head toward him, "So what? I'm glad that they're doing better. If these people can turn around and trust another demon after suffering through a demon for so long, then that means that my 'grand scheme' might actually influence some things." He explained.

"I might be able to really create a world that my children can live in safely."