章 7: Dark Disciples
I arrived home around two forty-five p.m. After I drank a healing elixir that a demon hunter Cecilia gave me, I am full of energy and can not sleep. It's a good thing that it's the weekend and I don't have to go to school in the morning.
More importantly than my sleep schedule. I think it's about time I start getting some answers about what is going on.
Noel and Harper are eternally bound to me (as long as I am alive or help them with their cause) so they have no choice but to answer my questions. At least I hope they answer them.
There's no point in me delaying it, so I asked right away.
"Do you girls mind if I ask any questions?"
"What is it, Ken?" Noel said.
"You said Marceline's goal was to be a Dark Disciple correct? Just what is that and what's with the zombies?"
"Ah, so this is where we do the exposition chapter?" Harper said something strange again. I think being dead must have altered her mind.
Noel doesn't seem to mind or maybe she is just used to it as she ignored Harper's strange outburst and answered my question.
"Since you are so gracefully helping us with your family affair, it is fair that you know what you are getting yourself into. I want you, Ken, it is a long-winded explanation, I suggest you set up."
"Yeah if you fall asleep on her, then I'll put hot peppers in all of your food," Harper warned.
"I don't think it's even possible for me to sleep right now. Besides, why would I ask a question and then fall asleep? Just what kind of a guy do you take me for, Harper?"
"The kind guy that is only fifteen years old and has the attention of a toddler on a sugar high."
"Excuse the cliche, but I am not like other guys."
"Are you two done or can I continue?" Noel said in an irritated tone.
"Sorry," we said in unison.
"As you should."
Noel cleared her throat.
"Anyways, let us begin."
"As you may or may not know, demons are supernatural creatures that originated from hell. They can come to the human realm via special portals that connect this world to Hell. The main reason they appear is to cause evil and mischief among the humans."
"There are rare occasions where the demons come here to try and make a life for themselves. As you can imagine, Hell is not a very nice place to live in, even for demons. That was the reason our demonic ancestor, Ala, escaped Hell in the first place."
I was wondering how demons can even produce kids with humans. Aren't they like completely different families or whatever? I'll admit that biology is not my strongest subject, but I am smart enough to know that there shouldn't be a reason why two wildly different races could breed. Magic has to be involved somehow, it's the only logical explanation I can think of. I decided to keep that to myself and let Noel continue with her explanation.
"With the basic summary on demons out of the way, I can move on to the more advanced subject matter. The first thing you should know is that demons come into three categories: basic, Dark Disciples, and Demon Lords."
"I'll explain about the basic class first. These include fallen angels, oni, imps, succubi, incubi, and those who have been turned into demons."
"People can turn into demons?"
"Yes. Mostly by selling their souls to other demons. Humans are not the only race who can transform into demons. Vampires are also known for turning into demons, often stronger than those who used to be human."
Humans turning to demons is a scary idea to me. Humans are one of the most terrible races in all of Galatea in my opinion; turning into demons will only amplify those negative traits. It's obvious but I have to say that not all humans are shitty. But growing up in a run-down orphanage, I saw worse the worse side of humanity. But I'll go further and say the adult who was indifferent to us in the orphanage are worse than the evil humans.
"Basic demons can evolve so to speak into something that we like to call Dark Disciples."
"Who is this "we"? You and Harper?"
"Yes, but it is also the Hunter Association, the White Church, and angels. You get the picture."
Noel continued.
"Anyways, for a basic demon to evolve into a Dark Disciple: three things must occur."
With each point she made, Noel raised one finger.
"First, a demon must be over one hundred years old or older. Second, they must collect the souls of one thousand individuals. We believe that was what Marcelene was doing with her familiar. She summoned the undead using her dark magic and had them kill civilians at random. Each person they would kill would empower Marceline and get her closer to reaching her goal."
"Marcelene is so evil, we were the first victims she killed. She was able to kill and devour our family's souls. Noel and I were lucky to escape before she could eat us!"
"That's right, our sister believed that if she devoured the souls of humans with demonic blood in their veins, she would ascend into a Dark Disciple quicker. Unfortunately for her, her demonic blood had been diluted enough that the Frost were basically humans, minus our supernatural powers."
"For the past one hundred years, we've been jumping host to host, hoping someone would be strong enough to kill Marcelene. But we could never get the upper hand against her and she would kill our hosts instead." Harer said, shaking her fist with rage. The temperature of my room is slightly hotter.
"So how come you two are still alive? I would think Marcelene would've finished the job."
Harper snorted.
"That's because she finds all of this to be just some sick game!"
This is some heavy stuff I am being told. I had always had in my mind that Noble families were cut-throat, but I would never imagine that they would butcher each other just for some power.
"By the way, just how strong are these Dark Disciples anyways?"
"Before I tell you that, I have to finish my explanation of how to become one first. I don't need to explain what a Demon Lord is because that does not pertain to our current situation." Noel said.
"The third and final step on reaching the Dark Disciple stage is for the demon to eat the flesh of a member of a supernatural race."
"I find it hard to believe that a demon can eat a dragon or angel?"
"Who said anything about demons eating dragons or angels? That's a sure way of that moron getting iced." Harper said.
"Indeed. Most demons who are on the verge of evolving into a Dark Disciple would target a weaker race like a fairy, elf, or even a mage."
That makes way more sense now that they spelled it out for me.
"Now I will tell you why a demon would want to become a Dark Disciple. The Hunter Association classifies Dark Disciples as walking Calamities, meaning that one of them has the power of wiping out an entire continent."
"Holy shit! How can anybody stop creatures that powerful?"
"Just because they are classified as walking Calamities, doesn't mean that they are invincible. Besides, there are not that many of them, only 33 can exist at a time."
"Why?"
"Who knows?" Harper said as she shrugged her shoulders. "The good news is that eight of them were killed so now there are only twenty-five of them left!"
"Who killed them?"
"Why the Royal Knights did of course. Or one of them, we can't really say since we were not there," Noel said.
Duh, why didn't I think of that? The Royal Knights are the Galateas' most prestigious and strongest group of heroes of all time. They are Galatians (the natives that were born on Galatea, humans who had come to Galatea hundreds of thousands of years ago) that possess a lot of mana and holy energy that would think that they were gods walking among us. But that is neither here nor there. I just thought it was important to share a little information about them. I am a huge fan of theirs, especially Cordelia, she is hot!
"If what you say is true, then we can't let Marcelene become a Dark Disciple. But I still don't understand something."
"What is it?"
"If Marcelene was alive for one hundred years, how come she didn't accumulate the thousands of souls she needed to become a Dark Disciple?"
"Because if she killed people indiscriminately, then a Hunter or an angel would be dispatched and kill her. Most demons who are evil try not to shake the cage too much to avoid any further conflict with any organizations that can kill them."
"Since you put it that way, it would make sense why it would take such a long time."
I sat there in silence and poured over all of the information that the girls just told me. Yeah, being a superhero is not going to help me in this situation, I have to become a hunter. Not like I was one officially anyways, since I never obtained a Hero's License. But acquiring a Hunter's License would be cheaper and easier on someone like me.
"Alright then, I have a plan. I'll quit being Ghost-Man and just become a hunter."
Why?" Harper asked.
"If I am going to fight demons, then being a superhero is not going to cut it. It's not like I will be sending them to jail or anything."
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