Demon's Virtue

What stood, or rather, floated, in front of Eiro was a figure of vast power. Especially here in this realm, where her abilities and magic were the most potent, the Naiad Queen was formidable. If Eiro had lower willpower than he did, then he would certainly buckle in front of the figure that he was seeing.

Things weren't linking up quite right. If Eiro remembered correctly, and he always did, then Nelly was supposed to be just a common Naiad... of course, her personality was unlike almost any Naiad out there; her willingness to form a contract that differed so strongly from the norm was something extraordinary.

But in any other sense, in the societal hierarchy of Spirits, and within her personal history, Nelly should have just been an ordinary spirit.

But here they were, the Naiad Queen referring to Nelly by name, concerned over her. Of course, it could just be an ability of the Naiad Queen that Eiro hadn't known about; the ability to know all other spirits, perhaps. And Nelly's condition wasn't particularly subtle, so the concern wasn't strictly weird in any sense, but that didn't change that it didn't feel the same.

There was a sense of familiarity that eminated from the Queen's voice and expression. And from all that he had heard about this Queen, she wasn't necessarily the kind to act like that toward just any random spirit.

However, none of that really mattered right now. What was important was that Nelly was going to be cared for somehow, and Eiro could tell that the Naiad Queen would do her utmost to make sure of this as well.

Once Eiro explained the situation to her, she didn't as much as take a breath before closing the distance between her and the unknown figure in front of her, carefully taking Nelly into her hands. Eiro could feel a magic flow out of the Queen and into Nelly's body, as the scales that had dissolved not too long earlier were slowly coming back into view.

But not as they did before; Nelly's skin, or the part of her magical, ever-flowing body that acted as her skin, was covered in a deep, ugly scar that covered most of her upper body, creeping toward her face.

"This... is the most I can do for now..." the Queen said solemly, "This power merely allows me to heal the physical form of a spirit, but... if her mind does not recover, then it won't be long until this ability will be unable to help her."

"...Is there anything we... I can do?" Eiro asked, looking up at the woman in front of him, but she just shook her head, "No, for the time being, all we can do is wait."

The Naiad Queen slowly swam toward her bed, carefully placing Nelly down onto it. Her thinning body was sinking deep into the cushions. Once Nelly seemed to be calmer, not in as much pain to the point where she was finally able to rest for a while, the Queen turned back toward Eiro.

"And now... who are you? What... are you? Your body, your soul, you... why do you hold a Spirit Gateway inside of you?" she asked, and Eiro looked at her, slightly reluctant to simply answer.

After all, the reason for that Spirit Gateway was the former Naiad queen, who had relinquished her position to allow the one in front of Eiro to rise to it instead.

"Eight years ago, I was blessed by a spirit titled the 'Lonely Naiad'. And then, a few months ago, I met her again. As I had already been the protector of the Spirit Gateway to the realm of fire, she felt confident in letting me protect this gateway in her stead," the Demon explained, but the Naiad queen didn't seem any less confused.

"The former queen? Why would she... no, rather, what are you even speaking of? I sense not a speck of fire magic within you, so how can you be the protector of that Gate?"

"...This is not my original body. My name is Eiro Jura Daemonherz, a Demon, Lord of Hell, and Royal Monster. Among one of the artifacts in my possession is the Mirror Duplication, which due to a combination of certain special abilities and skills, allowed for each duplicate's mind to act as one. So, he constructed a body for myself, with the Gateway acting as a replacement core."

The gaze of the Naiad Queen narrowed. Generally, a Spirit didn't really care for the difference between monsters and people. Of course, monsters were less likely to even comprehend the concept of a contract, so making contracts with them didn't happen often.

But if it did, then monsters tended to be more honest in their desires, and a spirit that allowed for a contract knew what they were getting into. Their meager intelligence made tricking them into a particularly beneficial contract very easy as well. But people tended to be cunning. Smart. Especially the kinds with the affinity for a spirit contract were... tricky and bothersome to deal with.

Overall, things were rather balanced. At the end of the day, person or monster, to spirits they were really just tools to allow them to experience the world they were born into more freely.

However, what stood in front of the Naiad Queen now wasn't anything that could just be called a tool. In general, Monsters didn't bother with names. Some had them, but most didn't have a use for them. Eiro had three of them.

Demons in particular were vile, and their Lords were generally locked up in hell, unable to roam the world. But the one in front of the queen was not only able to acquire the title of a Royal Monster, something only truly possible in the central material plane, but had free access to two elemental planes as well, proving that he had the vehement support of two extremely powerful spirits.

The former Naiad Queen, and a monarch of the Salamanders. The fact that he seemed to have multiple artifacts in his possession honestly seemed the least of her concerns in what Eiro had said.

"That name... Jura... I had heard you were a human, but was that just a ploy? A trick you played on Nellissa?" the Naiad queen asked, ready to strike Eiro down if he said the wrong thing, but the Demon quickly shook his head, "No, no, that Jura is Nelly's former contractor. My father. Well, foster-parent, obviously, but I never understood the arbitrary distinction between blood-family and other sorts.

After his death, Nelly contracted with me, and I took on my father's name as part of my own."

Even more surprised, the Naiad Queen slowly replied, "...my condolences." She slowly looked over at Nelly once more, a clear expression of concern still strewn onto her face.

"How do you know Nelly? And how do you know about Jura?" Eiro now asked, figuring it was finally his turn for questions. But the Naiad Queen just turned toward him with a glare, "Do you think that I owe you a response to that?"

The water around her body started flowing rapidly, as though she was trying to threaten Eiro. But if that was how she wanted to act, Eiro wouldn't mind playing along. He held one of his hands forward, magic flowing out of his fingertips and immediately seizing control of the elemental water in the room.

He pulled it into his body, fusing his extremely malleable, duplicate form with as much of it as he could. Ever since the original's use of the Ace of Cups, he had felt some sort of control over his form that didn't require the original's interference. It was as though his body was... more his own. It was a weird feeling, as it was always his own to begin with.

He couldn't just change his form like he could with the mirror of duplication, but it was easier to control this body than it had ever been before.

As Eiro's body took in more of the magic of the room, his form growing in size rapidly, it didn't take long until his shadow fell onto the Naiad Queen's form. His wings spread out, covering every part of the walls and enclosing this space in a deep darkness that could only be found in the deepest depths of the ocean.

The magic that he was taking in was starting to actually peel away from the Naiad Queen's own control, as though her body was flowing into the Demon's. Her expression as she was realizing what was happening was one of pure and utter fear. The expression one had when realizing the axe of the executioner was readily closing in on their neck.

"I would be careful, if I were you. I came here to help my dearest friend because she asked me to bring her here. But if it's merely an ability of yours that she was looking for, I wouldn't mind ridding myself of the middleman.

Since I don't want to cause a mess, however, let's just try to get along, alright?" Eiro's voice was clear and strong, hitting the Naiad Queen's shivering body in a way that she had never experienced before. The only thing she was able to do was slowly nod her head, and in an instant, Eiro released all the additional magic that he had absorbed, returning to his original size.

"Since that's settled... would you mind answering my questions now?" Eiro asked, slightly tilting his head to the side. The Naiad Queen didn't hesitate to speak anymore.