System vs Rebirth
chapter-1122

The former Count Heirden was standing in the middle of a stone room with two more people. He recognized them as they were his peers in the past.

"To think that you would actually get invited as well, Count Heirden… Ah! I can't use that name anymore, right, Yesley?" One of them sneered. "Not only have you lost your identity as an arbiter, but you also have lost your title, reducing you and your family to commoners. No, in fact, you're already lucky enough that you manage to avoid execution."

Yesley Heirden didn't even bother to reply to him, but his hands were already clenched into fists. He had come here because of Noel and Anna. The king told him he would get the power and chance to kill them if he came here.

But before they could mock him even more, he was fortunate that the door was opened.

*Creak!*

"!!!" The three turned to the door, finding the king and the marshal entering the room.

"We greet Your Majesty." They immediately fell onto one knee.

The king waved his hand. "You may rise. This is an unofficial meeting anyway."

As soon as they stood up, the king continued, "I've told you the reason why I called you this time. However, I'm going to ask you again. Are you ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of strength? This power will be able to let you reach a level you've never thought was possible before. If you don't have the determination to do it, you are to leave right away."

The three stood still, looking at the king with a resolute face, which gave more answers than their words.

"In that case, bring it in." The king waved his hand.

Duke Raymond entered the room, bringing a box that was covered by fabric in his hands.

The people couldn't help but feel curious, noticing the spiritual energy emanating from this box.

"If you want strength, you just have to swallow this." The king extended his hand as the marshal pulled down the fabric, revealing what was inside.

"!!!" The three of them dropped their jaws immediately.

"That's…"

"No way!"

Yesley Heirden gritted his teeth. Inside the glass box lived a few round creatures with eight legs. It looked like a spider if not for that towering figure. "Don't tell me, they were… demons?! The original form of demons?"

Obviously, all of them knew that demons were a kind of parasite that controlled the host. The demons usually entered the animals and transformed them since they had lower consciousness compared to humans.

The king's expression turned grim. "That's right."

"!!!" The three shuddered. "Your Majesty…"

"If you want to get stronger, you are going to swallow these. The demons will transform your bodies, which will allow you to harness your full potential."

"But… it's a known fact that demons can't possess humans," one of them stated.

"That is because we have higher consciousness. You are not wrong, but you are not entirely correct as well."

"Don't tell me…" He gasped, noticing one more possibility.

"Yes. What if you allowed them to enter your mind? As long as you maintained your own consciousness, the demon wouldn't be able to control you. But due to that integration, you would be able to reach a new height with your power." The king smirked.

"…" The three sucked a cold breath. There were a lot of questions in their minds, such as, 'How is he able to acquire the demons in their original form, considering all the demons they've encountered so far has already possessed animals?' or 'Why would he suggest such a thing, fully aware that the citizens would condemn them if found out?'

The latter was rather simple. The king had already asked them if they wanted power, even if it meant sacrificing everything. In other words, could they sacrifice their humanity?

Surprisingly, Yesley took a step forward as if he had no hesitation.

"You…" The two arbiters looked shocked.

"I have lost everything. I don't need to sacrifice anything for power." Yesley walked toward Raymond. He grabbed one of the demons as he heard the king say, "If you swallow it, the demon will take care of the rest. This is a Superior Demon in its original form. If it combines with the body of a Spirit Grandmaster, you might even reach that sacred realm. The rest will depend on you."

Yesley lifted up the demon and raised his head as if planning to let the demon fall directly into his mouth. The other two looked disgusted. In fact, Raymond's face also became pale, never thinking that a human would swallow something that disgusting.

However, Yesley didn't hesitate to swallow it.

The demon's size was actually bigger than his mouth, so it fell on top of his mouth. But when the demon recognized Yesley's mouth, the demon started moving, crawling into his throat. It shoved its entire body down Yesley's throat.

"Kaaahh!" Yesley was gasping for air as he fell on one knee. His eyes rolled back as the bulging skin gradually went down. Instead of the stomach, the demon actually moved to the heart as if it tore apart his trachea just to reach his heart.

"Kh…" Yesley was clutching his chest as if he were in pain. The other two arbiters turned pale, thinking that they would suffer the same thing. They might even die because of this.

In addition, there was a sudden black spot emerging from his chest. This black spot expanded in the form of black lines like veins all around his body.

"Aaaahhhh!" Yesley screamed in pain when the black veins reached his head. His spirit seal shone brightly as if resisting the black veins. However, the black veins gradually took over and started overwhelming the spirit seal to the point where the spirit seal actually disappeared as if it were being erased.

"!!!" The two arbiters gasped.

"Did the spirit leave his body?"

But because the spirit had left his body, the demon could finally take control. The white part of his eyes gradually turned black as his pupils became yellow.

As soon as the black veins spread all over his body, Yesley emitted spiritual energy.

Bam!

The enormous amount of spiritual energy actually cracked the entire room made of stone.

The two arbiters released their own spiritual energy to avoid the impact. The marshal had also stepped forward, protecting the king and Raymond. He had placed his hand on the sword, ready to cut down Yesley if he dared to harm the king.

However, these two arbiters actually noticed something weird.

"What is this spiritual energy? This is the first time I feel this much spiritual energy coming out of someone's body."

"This has far surpassed the amount that Yesley is supposed to be able to release at once."

"Yeah. Peak Grandmaster? No. The amount of spiritual energy alone… I think this is actually more than the old sword."

Obviously, the 'old sword' they mentioned was none other than the Sword Arbiter, Duke Lorelei, the one who was known as the number one among Spirit Grandmasters.

"Losing the spirit and humanity to gain a strength comparable to a Spirit Transcendence…"

The two arbiters exchanged looks. It seemed that the king was indeed telling them the truth. If they integrated the demons into their bodies, they might be able to reach the stage they could only dream of.

Still, one problem remained. They needed to see whether the demon controlled Yesley or not.

"This feeling… Hahahaha." Yesley laughed out loud. He glanced to the side and pointed his palm at the wall.

They were confused about what he was planning to do at first. But the marshal became wary the moment Yesley released his spiritual energy.

Bam!

The wall crumbled into pieces, shocking all of them. Even the marshal widened his eyes.

"What? Too fast. He merely released his spiritual energy…"

"But the speed was too fast. I couldn't even react. No, I couldn't even see it… When did he gather the spiritual energy and release it?"

As an Arbiter, they were already quite strong. But the realm that Yesley showed was simply too much even for them.

"This is it. This is the power…" Yesley smirked. "I will kill those brats with this power and destroy everything they have. No. I will torture them first. I won't let them have a peaceful death."

The king said, "I will give you that opportunity. What do you think?"

"You have given me this power. As long as I can kill them, I don't care about anything else."

"Good. Congratulations! You have become a demonic human." The king smiled, satisfied. He then glanced at the two arbiters. They gulped down, looking very tempted.

Just like how the king strengthened his force by using the demon, there was no way the organization where it originated didn't do such a thing.

In the cold, stone room underground, a lonely man sat down on his chair. He was clutching his chest as the black veins covered his body. But only his right eye had turned black, contrary to what happened to Yesley.

To avoid suspicion, he had to do it. However, it also meant that no matter what he did, he wouldn't have any place to return anymore. Even if he died, his grave would be unmarked, and his deeds would be erased or known for their infamy.

He was panting heavily as if he were resisting pain. He muttered, 'I might not have a lot of time left… Forgive me, at this rate… I might end up becoming your enemy… forgive me, my brother, sister-in-law, and… my nephew.'