A Sinner’s Chance

Just as I had promised the day before, I planned to spend the entirety of the day with Demonweb, starting off with breakfast. Arya and Steria were still blurry eyed and groggy as aside from being normally weak in the morning and the Forest of Darkness's atmosphere being oppressive, they had also stayed up rather late. However, they were more relaxed than the day before and they would eventually manage to shake off the sleepiness.

I had been skeptical about breakfast when I had first seen it, as it wasn't exactly what I would call appetizing. It looked like chunks of odd colored meat and bizarre plants were floating in a thick viscous greenish liquid. I could vaguely recall that Ashara had eaten similar looking food, though hers was mostly raw, thankfully though, not only was the food quite good, but it was also invigorating, seeming to ease any tension and waking my body up like a cup of coffee.

Most of my time at the table was used to talk to Demonweb, mostly small and insignificant topics, catching him up to speed on what had happened with me, while also learning what I could about what he had been doing. Unlike how Irellia described him, I thought Demonweb was still a kind and compassionate man, filled with vigor and emotion, a genuine smile plastered across his face as I narrated a short summary of my life.

Time easily slipped away from me as Arya and Steria fully woke and began to interject in the conversation, several times describing something I had omitted, usually since I hadn't thought it that important or impressive. Both Renae and Ein simply stood nearby, a sense of professionalism coming from the two of them.

After some time talking, Demonweb led us around the manor, explaining all the places that we visited. The first stop had been the courtyard garden. Despite the fact that there wasn't much sunlight to be had, there were certain plants that thrived in this kind of environment, ones that were considered extremely valuable in human society were practically treated as weeds, while some of the harder to care for ones I had never even heard the names of before.

The Alchemist in me wanted to gather the herbs and try brewing with them, but not only did I not have the proper equipment, some of them were extremely delicate and required special care to transport. That problem would be solved if I could craft some form of Dimensional Storage, but doing so wasn't easy, and one that could slow or stop the time of items inside was next to impossible. 

I was also surprised to learn that Demonweb actually cared for many of the plants himself, though he did have a dedicated gardener since he was often busy and couldn't always be with them. Apparently the gardener was a Greater Alraune he'd picked up recently, which was why the garden was so vibrant and full of plants that would normally be difficult to care for.

Most of the other places he showed us were rather plain and to be expected, though I was very intrigued in the practice area since it looked similar to the Dreamscape altars, yet there was a difference that I couldn't quite understand. I of course hopped on the chance to experience when Demonweb offered a light sparring match.

Much like the Dreamscape back at the academy, one laid down upon the altar and channeled some magical power into it. However, unlike the Dreamscape, rather than falling asleep, there was a bizarre feeling as if I was being deconstructed and reconstructed elsewhere. After some time I was able to open my eyes only to see my own body still lying on the altar, eyes closed as if asleep. The most bizarre thing was that I was able to touch my own body, it was as if I had cloned myself and now had two bodies.

I looked over to Demonweb who was now also a clone, an intrigued smile on his face. "First time with a Simulacrum I take it?"

I nodded as I moved around, trying to feel any difference, but as far as I could tell the Simulacrum was exactly the same as my original self.

Demonweb nodded at my motions. "For it being your first time you move quite naturally, most people are slow or appear mechanical until they become used to controlling it." He paused as he walked to a wall where several kinds of weapons were lined up. "I imagine that in the human realm you used the Dreamscape, this is technically a cruder version of that, however, I think it's superior for training, though not everyone can use it."

He grabbed a pair of swords and twirled them around in his hands. "Pick any weapon you'd like, don't worry about the lethality, the Simulacrum are meant to be killed, you might experience feedback if you die, but at worst it will only be phantom wounds, something that usually goes away pretty quickly."

I had to agree with Demonweb that this was likely to be the better way to train, as even though you weren't actually risking your life, it was much closer to a life and death battle than the Dreamscape had been where dying simply meant you woke up completely fine. I was looking across the weapons, my hand reaching out for a large two-handed blade, before I paused and grabbed a nearby naginata instead. While I was certainly more skilled with the two-handed sword, it wasn't like this battle would determine if I lived or died, and it was always good to have more practice, especially since I had inherited my mother's weapons.

Demonweb had a complex look on his face as he saw me take the naginata. I knew that he had seen Ashara's when I'd first met him, but perhaps he thought I didn't actually use them, especially since I had reached for a two-handed sword at first.

"A strange fate that you wield the same weapon as your mother, though since you've only taken one I take it you didn't manage to learn anything about Itoryu from your temple visit yesterday?"

I shook my head at his query. "There was much that I learned, but Itoryu was not part of it."

For a moment I thought I caught a glimpse of Demonweb's eyes narrow, but since I didn't have Amun-Re's Eye active I couldn't be sure. However, even if he had, it wasn't like I would know the reason so I simply readied the naginata, taking a deep breath as Demonweb did the same.

"Feel free to use any Skills or magic, it isn't a proper fight unless you go all out." Demonweb said as black threads began to flow from his body like snakes.

Unwilling to concede, my limbs transformed as my Yinfire and lightning coat the naginata and I manifested my two Eyes. I wasn't sure if they had combat potential as I hadn't wanted to test them during a fight with not only my life, but that of others on the line, or during a sparring match since I couldn't be sure of what kind of effect they might have.

As usual the strange sight of multiple visions overlapping disoriented me for just a moment, something Demonweb didn't miss as just as I refocused I was struck by an icicle in my shoulder. However, Demonweb was unaware of my abilities just as I was of his, so I didn't miss the look of surprise from him as I clenched my teeth and ripped the icicle from my shoulder and the wound healed in a burst of purple-black fire.

His expression soon became a smile. "What amazing regeneration, it looked like it was quite painful though, I hope you can endure."

I wanted to laugh at the misunderstanding that my strained expression had been from pain. I simply hadn't wanted to release an erotic moan in front of the man who was my father, though I was sure it was going to escape at some point. I didn't bother answering his words and simply pushed off the ground, accelerating extremely quickly in a straight line, a bolt of lighting lashing out from the naginata forcing Demonweb to either accept it or dodge to the side.

There wasn't a moment of hesitation as he took a step to the side, the lightning flashing past and dissipating shortly afterwards as it left my Domain. However, my momentum suddenly shifted, and I felt a few of my bones break as I suddenly whipped to the side, the naginata quickly slashing Demonweb who was unable to react while regaining himself from dodging the lighting.

A hot breath left my mouth before I smiled and looked towards Demonweb. He had been thrown backwards, though the lines left on the ground indicated that was all that had happened. He stood up, a bony carapace with a deep gash through it over the area I had sliced him. It was quite similar to my carapace, but rather than a mix of chitin and bone, this was completely made from bone.

He smiled as well just as I felt a wave of pleasure wash through my body from several internal points. With a quick purge from Yinfire, the attacked areas quickly recovered. I hadn't realized that the black snakelike threads were able to move independently, as that wasn't how my threads worked.

I was pretty sure that I had come out on top in the exchange, however I wasn't able to maintain the advantage much to my surprise. I was superior to Demonweb both physically and magically, though he had quicker reflexes and his Skills were much more polished, allowing him to deal with me via technique.

While from the outside it might look as if I was unable to put up a defense against his attacks I had long since disregarded defense in favor of accumulating strength as my arousal heightened, and landing hefty counter-attacks when I could. Demonweb was clearly becoming fatigued as the battle wore on while no matter how much I exerted myself or how many wounds I sustained, it only took moments for me to regain my full strength.

This was the tactic I had to use against enemies I would normally lose against. Unless you could end my life with a single attack or otherwise incapacitate me, I would wear you down and exhaust you. What I didn't expect was for Demonweb to suddenly leap in strength, as he told Ein to erect a barrier. There was a sudden and intense blast of mana as the entire area was suddenly filled with black web. I was suddenly oppressed, something I had never felt before, however I was one to give up and roused myself, channeling massive amounts of mana into my Yinfire and using all manner of magic to attempt to rid the area of webs.

Via my Thread Sight I was able to see that Demonweb was moving through the area with extreme speed, disappearing several times as he teleported elsewhere in the area. Despite my ability to track him, it felt like I was in slowed motion as my body moved sluggishly, unable to react as he suddenly appeared behind me and used both swords despite me.