Taking the demon's medicine is akin to surrendering one's life to him (1)

Chapter 17: Taking the demon's medicine is akin to surrendering one's life to him (1)

Silently concocting pills, Beelzebub remained on his feet while melancholily gazing at the cauldron.

Only a few people could make him recall his past fondly, and now, his head was flooded with memories of the loud and powerful fox woman. For her sake, Beelzebub had been in a permanent gaming mood, but not to the point where his judgment was completely clouded.

The corpse of the unknown man with a demon atop it eating its heart flashed in David's eyes.

If David followed up his schemes, he would be in no different position than the black dog — the demon. He would sacrifice humans, demons, and everything else required to save Gloria from her predicament.

'I am not in the game… and the excuses I had said before matter not…' Beelzebub slithered his hand below the cauldron, controlling the flames from a close range… 'But I have been spilling blood ever since I first stepped into this world. Monsters, players, NPCs… those who could respawn respawned, and those who couldn't have perished so I could level up.'

David could count significant deaths on his hands, the demises that touched and hurt his heart. As for others, their deaths were drowned in achievements and gains Beelzebub had gained on his path toward the summit of might.

Having thought this far, Beelzebub recalled his view of demons, humans, and other races that had shown the same emotions and actions.

All were the same… all followed their own goals.

'And I shall follow my desire to reward their loyalty… which means that nothing much changes.' Beelzebub faintly chuckled as his trust issues made him a terrifying solo player.

And if he wasn't a solo player now, then what was he?

Of course, that would change soon, but it'd change in a way that even Beelzebub himself never expected.

Knock! Knock!

"It's me, Bruno! Have you really spent a whole night here?" Bruno opened the doors and peeked inside, instantly finding his teacher donned in his casual clothes.

Beelzebub didn't seem sleepy or fatigued by a lack of sleep. He turned around, smiled at his friend with a familiar smile, and explained things like usual.

"We're heading into dangerous lands on such short notice that I had to sacrifice some hours… it's fine, though. Alchemists are known to be owls." Beelzebub fixed his messy hair while saying those words.

Bruno awkwardly scratched his cheek. "My father never allows me to stay for a whole night. He says that it shortens lifespan and is bad for health." His eyes then flared up with motivation! "I won't let him boss me around when I get my own house! I'll concoct pills to my heart's content!"

"Your father is right… well, you'll see in the future. Things often don't go one's way unless… one is on totally another level than others." Beelzebub threw another mysterious quote to his new friend, and before Bruno pondered over it as usual, the demon guided the young man's attention to the cauldron.

David already had his meeting with The Ghosts and had a list of medicines they had taken during their mercenary time… which allowed him to see through all their issues. He now finished making pills to stop their flaws and have them work for him…

And as a famous solo player, David also thought about other scenarios in which he could no longer rely on his new teammates and more.

Everything boiled down to his alchemy skills.

"I spent all evening preparing these!" Bruno fetched his big backpack where all the essential stuff to pick up resources had been stored.

He explained everything he had to the utmost of his ability. "This is my usual equipment to the chasm… these clothes are warm and comfy as well as flexible so I can safely crest the walls. They will be useful in the cave, too. This lantern is my most precious item! It works both in a basic and magical way! Look here... there are magic stones stored beneath the surface to which we can fuel our mana. As long as we have mana, we will never lose a source of light. There's more, of course. I have this old but still useful pickax and helmet! A few useful camp items, too… I have spare clothes for you as well, teacher."

"I didn't ask for you these, Bruno…." Beelzebub hadn't listened to such a passion in quite a while, making him unable to refuse the goods straight away. "I'll be fine in my common clothes. Keep those for yourself, and don't argue with me. I'm fine with just a backpack to store my items."

"But…" Bruno wanted to voice out his opinion, but Beelzebub went past him and headed upstairs.

The young man quickly put his stuff back into his big backpack, threw it on his back, and went after his teacher, who had already bid farewell to Patricia.

"I'll be away for a while, Mom!" Bruno hurriedly waved at his mom without giving her a chance to kiss him on his cheek!

Patricia crossed her arms, fuming. "Again! Sigh, this kid… at least he's in good hands now!"

Even Beelzebub didn't know that he had this kind of convincing charm for the opposite gender!

-

Beelzebub would be fine even at the bottom of the chasm, for he had transmuted his own mana veins in preparation for imminent clashes with demons and possibly humans. Which meant that Beelzebub could no longer allow his opponents to get closer to him.

Such a flaw could be either fixed with teammates… or skills.

In any way, his transmutation skill had caused a lot of wonders to Beelzebub's body, greatly boosting his offensive power in lieu of more skills.

Bruno soon caught up to him, and both strolled to a meeting with The Ghosts.

Yale and his teammates emerged before the alchemists in the blink of an eye. They wore their leather equipment, with their weapons sheathed in scabbards. Everyone was pretty tense since it was a moment of truth.

Beelzebub didn't need Yale to tell him to take out medicine for their flaws. "This should fix all your issues."

Since their flaws weren't the same, the pills were naturally different. Of course, that added more credibility to Beelzebub's words, but Yale didn't allow his teammates to swallow the pills yet.

Ready to sacrifice his life, one of The Ghosts raised his hand to his lips and gobbled the pill.

With all eyes on him, the man eased up and waited for the effects to kick in… which happened relatively fast.

A gentle and cold aura sprouted from within the man's stomach, spreading across his entire body, freezing all of his flaws, and even granting dopamine!

"Ah… so good… I have never felt… this good…" The man moaned…

…and then the rest of his friends followed suit, experiencing the same pleasing effect washing over them.

Beelzebub remained indifferent while his young friend gawked at the scene with sparkling eyes.

And soon, the party left the Williard Village through the second route, going down the slope to the dangerous forest: their main goal was a cave of infamous monsters.