32 How to be 'Of Use' to the Evil One

Talia gulped as my statement resounded in her ears.

"Merge with all nine of these wings. Or die trying"

Talia knew the implication of my words. She wasn't guaranteed to survive this process, in fact. She was most likely not going to live through it.

Why?

A fairy's wings are a part of them from the time of conception. At that point, the wings were in an immature state, same with the child. As the little fairy grew, so did the wings, until they finally reached the age of maturity. The reason for this was the amount of Aspect the fairy could handle. An average mature fairy's wings had ten times the total amount of Aspect of a child's.

Imagine grafting an adult fairy's wings into such a child. The amount of Aspect essence would be too much for the child to handle, causing an overload. That would mean certain death. It was a similar process to the one I would be carrying out on Talia.

Nine times the usual amount of essence, merging together with an incomplete fairy. It sounded like a death sentence. Even I could not guarantee her safety. Or could I?

"I'll do it! I want them!" She declared outright.

I knew Talia was usually very decisive, but this was a bit too much. She was literally signing up for her death.

"Are you sure? This will most likely kill you" I further asked.

"I-I'm sure." She said, though I could tell she was scared.

I sighed. Wasn't she trying a bit too hard?

"Look, Talia." I said to her

"I-I-I want to be useful to you too, Lord Hexarion!" She blurted out.

Oh? Interesting.

"Ever since I met you, you've been nothing but kind to me. Even though I know you do not treat others the same way. Others like Flora have suffered at your hands, yet you still choose to help me. I mean, I attacked you too. I ran from you. I don't deserve this special treatment from you! I just want to repay your kindness to me. I know right now I'm useless, so I want to become someone you can use. Someone who can help you too." She cried out.

My face fell a bit as I heard her words. My emotions were overflowing. They were not, however, feelings of gratitude or happiness or even satisfaction. They were those of pure anger and disgust.

"You? Help me? How laughable!" I said to her with an icy glare.

She was shocked to see my new expression. An evil aura filled the room, causing her body to begin trembling.

"Do you think a mere fairy like yourself can be of any help to me? Me! The Primordial of the Void?" I asked her in a condescending tone.

She could not reply and kept shivering due to the intense pressure in the room. Even Shamac, a creature of the night appeared uncomfortable but struggled to maintain his stance. I suppose he was able to withstand some of it due to his affinity to darkness. But affinity could only help so much.

"Know your place!" I told her.

She nodded vehemently as her knees gave out and she crashed to the floor. Partly kneeling and seated on the floor, she was unable to move a muscle, save for shaking at the sound of my voice.

This girl's words usually amused me, due to their stupidity and immaturity. Just as an adult would take pleasure in watching young children express themselves with their little childish minds. However, amusement had its limits. What she had just said was to insult me.

True, I had fallen from great heights and I did not possess the same powers as I did in the past. However, I was still worlds apart from this insect. With a snap of my fingers she could vanish, turning to nothing but dust. Yet she dared to speak to me of help?

"You will do well to know this. The reason I saved you back then was for one reason and one reason only. It was on a whim! I chose to save you because I wanted to. You piqued my interest and you managed to hold it. Besides, it just seemed more preferable having someone by my side at the moment." I told her.

She gulped and shut her eyes, mustering all her strength to speak up.

"B-But, you said you would give me purpose. You said you would be my everything." She stuttered.

Impressive. Even now she still managed to talk back to me.

"I did say that, didn't I? I am your EVERYTHING! But that doesn't mean that you are mine. It is something far beyond your reach and you have no right to even imagine it. If you want to render help then you must be capable of providing it in the first place, or else whatever you say, even with the best of intentions are merely empty words. And one of the things I despise most, is emptiness" I told her.

"P-Please don't despise me. I only wanted to hel- I mean, be of use to you" She begged.

Looked like she finally understood, good.

I dispelled ed the evil aura surrounding the room, causing the pressure to vanish and the intense atmosphere returned back to normal. This caused a great sense of relief to my two slaves in the room. They both exhaled heavily, relieved by the disappearance of the overwhelming darkness.

"That much is acceptable. These nine wings will certainly provide you with the capacity for that. Any more than these nine will mean a hundred percent certain death, and any less would be useless to me. This will provide you with the minimum requirement of power to posses before you can be considered 'of use' to me" I said to her.

"I-I understand." She said, still quite shaken.

Her expression became a mess and she seemed to be in a state of complete depression. Well, we couldn't have that. It looked like I'd been a bit too harsh on her, at least according to her standards. In order to have my slaves working at maximum capacity, plus in order to still be amused by Talia's childlike nature, I would need to give her some carrots.

I bent, squatting in front of her and gazing into her teary eyes. She seemed genuinely sorry, but also scared and heartbroken. If nothing else, I knew this girl's devotion to me was genuine. I couldn't say the same for Shamac's loyalty, though he wouldn't try anything stupid since he has realized the vast difference in power between the two of us.

"Talia. I need you. That much is true." I whispered to her, still looking into her eyes.

Her expression lit up at the sound of what I said.

"R-Really?" She asked me.

I nodded, affirming her words.

Suddenly her face clouded over, as though remembering a dark thought.

"B-But. You said..." She muttered, remembering the chastisement I gave her.

"Look, Talia. You're currently too weak to help me in any way. Even with the nine wings you'd barely be on a level at which you can be of use. However, being of use, and being helpful are two different things. You lack the qualities to be a help to me" I told her bluntly.

"The current you, I mean. However I can't say the same about the you in the future."

Her face brightened up after hearing this.

"Y-You mean..." She muttered.

"Yes Talia. You have the potential to become that." I said.

"L-Lord. Master. You mean you still want me? You won't discard me?" She asked me with a teary expression.

"Of course not, as long as you remain of use to me" I told her with a smile.

She nodded vehemently after hearing this.

"I won't let you down! I'll make sure to always be good and be of use to you. And one day, I'll make sure I become worthy enough to once again express my desire to help you!" She said, forming her hands into a fist and having a determined look on her face.

That's the spirit. Honestly, this girl was just like a kid, so easy to handle. It was like all her brain cells had been fried or something.

"Good, you never cease to amaze me with your unique way of expressing yourself." I said to her, rising to my feet.

"That makes me happy lord. That I am able to be of use to you in your amazement. I'm so happy" She smiled, having a pure and grateful expression on her face.

I really did not like such looks, the front of purity and goody goody facade, unless they were genuine. And hers was genuine. It seemed like she was very much attached to me now, even more than before.

However, it was not too bad. She was the most devoted anyone had ever been to me. Her only fault was her weakness. But now, I was even more motivated to ensure she survived the process and stayed by my side.

Not just because of my amusement, but because I wanted to see what would become of the sentiment she had just expressed. Whether she would be by my side as I watched the world burn, or whether she would be one of the tools I would have had to dispose of along the way.

Either way, I would end up winning. However, if I was to pick between the two, I would want her by my side. The reason was simple.

I wanted to see just what kind of expression her face would have when that time came.