The Damned Demon

Cultholds or a Culthold was the term humans used to call the base or the main building where a cult gathered or carried out their sinistrous operations.

No ordinary cult would dare to establish a Culthold in a boisterous city or a place brimming with lots of ordinary people or one protected by Hunter guilds.

They would always pick a place that was far from the general population's eyes and ears to avoid detection or exposure.

After all, Hunters or the guilds they belonged to were constantly on their tails and on the lookout to destroy any Cultholds along with the cult if possible.

However, on the outskirts of Switzerland, in a moody town, there existed the Culthold of the Coven of the Damned.

In the underground hall of this culthold, bathed in the stark white light of LED panels, was a stark contrast to the secrecy and shadow that typically enveloped demon affairs in any other cultholds.

Yet, it was large enough to contest with the culthold of few powerful cults despite the very few Soulservants who were part of this cult.

The wide expanse of this hall, was filled with an array of weapons and armor, hinted at its usual purpose as a training ground.

Today, however, the hall's martial ambiance was overshadowed by the presence of two dark blue coffins, objects of both mystery and dark innovation.

Emiko and Yui, standing before these anomalies, couldn't hide their mix of disbelief and curiosity.

The coffins, with their glass cutouts revealing the faces within, held a man and a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to living humans.

"They...They look so real...like us. I thought they would look more like human-sized synthetic dolls," Yui whispered, her voice tinged with awe.

The realism of the figures challenged their expectations, making them feel freaked out by the demonic craftsmanship's eerie boundary between artifice and authenticity.

"They are indeed dolls, but I also wasn't expecting them to look so real. These demons are terrifying in things like this," Emiko said with a narrowed gaze as she closely looked at the faces of the two human-like figures.

"But our Master…he looks so handsome, and his hair looks so thick and silky…Just like his demon form," Yui said as her black eyes glowed in awe, and for some reason, she was unable to take her eyes off his face, just like Emiko, who wondered why his face was looking so oddly attractive.

Could it be because it was looking human?

Emiko crouched beside the coffin with the male avatar, her hands searching for a mechanism to open it, "Maybe we can take a look…" Her words trailed off, lost in the task at hand.

Yui, cautious and mindful of Grace's instructions, interjected, "Should we open it now? Aunty Grace said to wait until she was back or to wait until Master was awake," Her caution prompted Emiko to relent, acknowledging her words as she got up, though her gaze lingered on the female figure, "Okay. Let's wait for her, but..." Emiko mused, her attention drawn to the female figure in one of the coffins, "Who is this demoness? I thought we would only be receiving Master."

The two were initially surprised when they saw Grace bringing in two coffins when they were expecting only one.

Yui, her imagination piqued by the presence of the unknown woman, speculated in hushed tones, "C-Could it be his wife or girlfriend? Her face looks so pretty and elegant."

Emiko, hands on her hips, dismissed the notion with a shake of her head, "Yui, are you serious? We both know our Master is married to the demon queen and the Umbralfiend Princess. But this one...she doesn't look like both while he looks like himself,"

Yui, undeterred, suggested, "Maybe I can try searching the Hunterpedia online and see if any demoness looks like her," she said, eager to find out who this mysterious demoness was.

*Thud!*

Their speculation was abruptly interrupted by a sudden thud from one of the coffins, making them let out a startled gasp as they turned around to look at the coffin from which the sound came.

"S-She woke up!" Yui said with a nervous look upon seeing the woman's hand pressed against the glass, her radiant red eyes glowing fiercely.

The sight of her awakening, those ominous glowing eyes piercing the darkness of the coffin, sent a ripple of shock and fear through them.

Startled, Emiko and Yui stumbled backward, the shock of the awakening demoness sending adrenaline coursing through their veins, "Go and get Aunty Grace!" Emiko, ever quick to react in the face of danger, urged Yui with a shove.

Yui, momentarily dazed by the unfolding events, snapped to attention, nodding nervously as she made to dash past the loud coffin.

Their escape was halted abruptly when the coffin's lid was flung into the air, revealing the demoness rising in a display of eerie majesty.

Clad in a simple black robe that hinted at the power beneath, she was a vision of dark allure with a black choker adorning her neck that only added to her allure.

Her long silver hair cascaded down her waist, framing a face dominated by piercing red eyes that fixed an ominous gaze upon the two girls.

The aura that radiated from her was chilling, and spread a smell of death, leaving Emiko and Yui ensnared in a grip of fear that rendered them immobile.

Rebecca hissed upon seeing the two human girls looking at her as if she were some kind of beast.

But what made her suspicious was that these two didn't have any aura of a Soulservant when Asher told her to expect waking up among his Soulservants.

A Soulservant should have some demonic power lingering in their bodies, and yet these two were so pure that it disgusted her and pissed her off.

In a blur of motion, she closed the distance between them, her supernatural speed rendering the two girls unable to react in time.

Seizing the two human girls by their necks, she lifted them off the ground, her grip as cold as the blood in her body, "You lowly little humans. Tell me the truth of who you are unless you two want me to slowly freeze your blood rather than a less painful death," she hissed, her voice a cold whisper that belied the killing intent it carried.

Gasping for air, Emiko and Yui clawed desperately at the icy grasp encircling their necks, the cold seeping into their very bones and making them shiver.

Confusion and fear mingled in their eyes as they struggled to comprehend the hostility from this demoness when she was supposed to be on the side of their Master.

But the worst part was this demoness wasn't even allowing them to answer as her grip just continued to tighten around their necks until they felt like their neck was going to break.

Just as they thought they were about to die,

*WHOOSH!*

A powerful blast of dark vermillion colored flames heated up the surrounding air, clashing against the chill in the air as it hurtled towards Rebecca with deadly intent.

Yet, with a swiftness that belied her newly awakened state, Rebecca released the girls and countered with a blast of her own—a powerful surge of dark blue icy mana that collided with the flames, an explosive display of raw power that echoed throughout the underground hall.

The shockwaves of their confrontation sent Emiko and Yui spiraling towards danger, their bodies hurtling through the air with violent force.

Yet, in the nick of time, an unseen force arrested their flight, their descent to the hard floor halted and transformed into a gentle lowering.

Cradled by invisible hands, they were placed back on solid ground, shaken but unharmed.

"You two girls okay there?" The familiar voice of Grace, laced with concern and authority, pierced the aftermath of the clash as she surveyed the scene with a steady gaze.

"Y-Yes, Aunty Grace," Yui managed to gasp, her relief palpable as she and Emiko regained their footing, their eyes darting between Grace and the demoness, making them feel nervous about what might happen, though they had full confidence that Grace could handle this demoness.

Rebecca's disdain for this human woman in a flashy red jacket and pants, veiled thinly under a contemptuous scoff, was as cold as her icy mana, "Aunty Grace? So you are the leader of his cult? I must say...you must be quite the waste of life crystals, considering how many you must be using to make yourself young. This is why humans are so trash. That bastard could have at least picked a better one," she remarked, her words dripping with scorn while challenging her worth and authority.

She wanted to establish dominance right away before this human bitch thought she had a say over any of her activities.

The insult struck a chord with Emiko and Yui, their displeasure at Rebecca's words mingling with shock at her audacity to openly disparage their master and their Aunty Grace.

However, Grace remained unfazed by Rebecca's cutting remarks and instead slowly took a step forward until she was standing eye to eye with Rebecca, their similarly huge bosoms facing off against each other at the same level due to their similar height.

Grace's lips curved into a casual smirk, "Dear, if I'm a waste of life crystals, then you're a walking argument for why long-

lasting youth isn't always a blessing. Especially on the personality front."

Rebecca's eye twitched, taken aback by this lowly bitch's defiance, her pride bruised by the counter, "You have no idea whom you are dealing with, human trash. You are nothing but a Soulservant, and I am going to put you in your place," she hissed, her hands beginning to glow with the ominous light of her dark blue mana, her eyes darkening and dark blue veins glowing beneath her skin.