Gauss’ idea of how to bring about the monster inside of me was, in my opinion, quite genius. Just retrace the steps as to how I took that form in the first place. It seemed simple in my mind and I think that is one of the reasons why I went along with the plan.

I didn’t think a whole lot about it.

I knew if I really delved into the idea and took it apart that I would never have agreed to it. Would the Almighty allow someone who has experimented with the occult or demonology permittance into the lands of eternal bliss? These were the thoughts I had to force out of my mind. From there, I created a mental barrier to keep them from seeping into my consciousness as I followed Gauss to the altar.

“I know that this is tough what I ask you to do,” he said, placing his hand gently on the ancient wooden altar. “And even I am unsure whether this thing we are about to do will work or not but I want you to know… that I hold a deep respect for you, young Ira. You and Deborah have become very strong, stronger than I imagined possible in such a few months.”

I opened my mouth to speak but Gauss put up a finger to quiet me.

“Please, allow me to finish. I want to tell you what it is that is coming. I want to speak to you what your mother has written to me through the book. But, I am afraid. Afraid that when you know that your brain will shut itself off and you will be mute to all further training. I need your curiosity and the lack of the known to carry you through these last months. Let it be your fuel and know that, if we do not succeed here, that our world back home will change for the worst and nothing will ever be the same. If, that is, there will be a world that of which is possible to walk on.”

My mouth never shut as I gaped at Gauss. Never before had I ever heard these many words come flying out of his mouth. Not only that… but it was like this husk of a man actually felt emotions! Hearing these words got my blood boiling and my heart racing. Something about Gauss believing in me inspired me to say, “Let’s do this then.”

A small smile peaked at the corner of Gauss’ lips. He nodded and said some words under his breath. His hand began to float upwards as, below his palm, sprouted the green wrinkly head of a demonic form.

The skull was the exact shape of a walnut but the same size of an orange. Small spindly gray hairs, few enough to count, fell before it’s yellow eyes that of which had a black vertical pupil. Its ears were long and dwindled by its bony shoulders, more hair sprouting out of them than the top of its head.

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Its arms were too long for its body and it was forced to hold them out a way so they wouldn’t drag on the ground. The legs were short but the feet made up for them by being double the size they should have been.

The smell made me pinch off my nose and I almost looked away but made myself keep my gaze on it. If I couldn’t face this monstrosity then how could I face whatever it was that was coming?

“Try and speak to it,” Gauss said, putting its hand on the things shoulders as it tried to hop off the altar. “Go ahead. Try.”

“Uh, hello?” I said, my face scrunching together in discomfort. This was wrong. So very wrong.

The demon tilted its head, a constant smile on its face as it panted like a dog.

“Not like that,” said Gauss. “Like before.”

“That was different,” I said. “I was…”

“You were emotionally involved,” Gauss finished for me, closing his eyes and nodding his head. “Do the same here, Ira. Recreate those emotions and try once more.”

That was easier said than done. I was in a cramped and damp cellar. Deborah had been almost dead or maybe she had been dead. There was just no way to recreate those feelings! But, then again, seeing Deborah’s blood pour out of her throat like that… that feeling of despair. Of hate. And how could the devil had had the audacity to use Jonni once more against me! Why must he put salt in the wound! Was there no limit to his heinousness? And did he really expect his son, the one he created through rape, to behave the way he wanted him to!

My hand shot out without me telling it to. The smile on the small demon faded and its yellowish tongue receded back into its mouth as it gulped. It tried to back away, to turn its head and flee, but Gauss had been waiting for this and kept it still, its face facing forward.

“Go,” I commanded the demon. “Tell my father I know it is he who is coming not for Auracle but for me. Tell him I understand he is using my kingdom and its people against me. To draw me out. Tell him I know his plan and that I accept his challenge. I will be there, ready to cut off his head and shove it up his ass.”

The demon’s eyes bulged from their sockets and the way its throat gulped let me know that it had understood my words.

I raised my hand, and with it, the demon floated into the air and out of Gauss’ grasp. “Go!” I cried, slamming my demonic hand onto my leg as hard as I could.

The small demon smashed downward into the altar and disappeared into the fiery hell from which it came. Just before I pulled myself out of the mental state I was in, I had half a second to feel how it would be to consciously control this power rather than it control me. It was subtle, but the feeling of invincibility, aggression, and intense skill was there. As for what skills would become available, I had no clue.

The very soft feeling of untapped potential power flowed through me and I only needed to figure out a way to draw it out and… control it.