Location: Myriad Realms, Lil. Red Storm, Seed World, Main Section
"Wyatt, please don't tell me you've already killed her and dug out her titled demon core," Corey asked eagerly, her voice tinged with urgency.
"I didn't, but I was about to," Wyatt replied honestly, his tone steady. He didn't react much to her question but followed up with his own. "Why? Don't tell me you want me to let her live or worse-set her free?"
Corey frowned deeply, her eyes narrowing. "Why would I want that? That bitch
treated Lil Baem like a slave and tried to kill you. Just let her rot in her prison," she said firmly. Yet, there was a hint of hesitation in her voice, betraying her inability to outright demand Agony's death or forgiveness.
Wyatt raised an eyebrow, skepticism evident in his expression. "So, let me get this straight. You don't want her dead, but you also want her punished for her crimes?" His tone challenged her resolve.
"Yes," Corey admitted with a nod, her stance unwavering despite his scrutiny.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do," Wyatt explained with a shrug. "Once I help you manage to acquire a trait, it'll be up to you-whether to kill her or enslave her as your undead flame ego spirit." He leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. Imprisoning Agony, in his opinion, was a waste of resources as there wasn't anything in it for him.
"Wait, you can do that?" Park interjected, her voice sharp with disbelief. She leaned forward, her wide eyes revealing her shock. "I've never heard of anything like that before!"
"Yes, I can," Wyatt replied, his tone calm but assured. "After all, Agony is the spirit of an undead puppet refined from your corpse, Park. The only reason she was born and even managed to reach devil rank was because Lil Baem used some kind of method to revive you as an undead. But since your soul had already reincarnated, it failed. Instead, Agony was created, inheriting your body and gaining the strength of a devil." Wyatt paused, gauging their reactions before continuing. "However, without you, she's incomplete. That's why she's been stuck at the novice devil rank at best, but her Undead Flame of Agony gives her significant power so is better than average devils. Giving her to Corey is the same as returning Agony to where she belongs. So, Corey, you don't need to feel any guilt about this."
Corey's expression softened slightly, but Park wasn't convinced. "How do you know all this?" she demanded, her voice sharp. "Even Lil Baem didn't tell me that. Don't tell me you're closer to her than I am," she added, her insecurity bubbling to the surface.
Wyatt sighed, shaking his head. "No, she didn't tell me. Relax, Corey. There's no need to be so insecure. You mean the world to Lil Baem. Nobody can replace you in her heart." He smiled faintly, his tone softening as he tried to reassure her. "As for how I know all this? That's my trade secret.
Wyatt answered without going into details about how he had used his Primordial Soul Pupils to study Agony's soul pathways, their arrangements, and titled demon core. He had discerned traces of power belonging to Lil Baem, which enhanced Agony's undead puppet body to devil rank. From there, piecing together the rest of the story wasn't too difficult-though he still didn't know what technique Lil Baem had used to try to awaken Park as an undead. Could it have been her innate technique? He wondered silently.
"Oh, Alright," Corey muttered, finally calming down. The tension in her shoulders cased as she reminded herself of her place in Lil Baem's life. Knowing she meant the world to her was an anchor Corey couldn't afford to lose.
"So, neither of you has a problem with Agony's titled demon core being used as an ingredient to help her acquire a trait, right?" Wyatt asked, his gaze shifting between Corey and Park. Seeing them nod in agreement, he pressed on, "What do we do with the body? it to me for research or burn it to ashes?"
Park and Corey froze, staring at Wyatt with wide, incredulous eyes. They couldn't believe what they had just heard. He had the audacity to ask them for their past life's corpse for research? Who even asks something like that to their best friends? they wondered in unison, their shock evident.
Wyatt, noticing their stunned expressions, chuckled awkwardly and raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I get it. Burning the corpse to ashes it is," he concluded with a resigned tone.
Despite their rejection, his mind briefly wandered to his experimental idea: replacing Agony's titled demon core with his primordial calamity daughter gem. With his grimoire upgraded to diamond-grade grimoire, it might be possible for him to refine the corpse puppet into a devil-ranked daughter gem. But for now, he'd have to put that thought on hold until he could procure the other corpse puppet from the inter-realm network.
"I want the storage card containing the ashes, Corey demanded sharply, breaking his train of thought. Knowing he cannot be trusted when his curiosity is tickled, her narrowed eyes pinned him in place. "Don't even think for a second that I wouldn't be able to tell if they're mine or not."
Wyatt raised his hands again in mock surrender, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "You got it, boss," he replied, flashing her a thumbs-up.
Corey huffed but seemed satisfied with his response. "Alright, I'll come find you after I've perfectly assimilated my darkness," she said, turning on her heel. Park followed closely behind, casting Wyatt a wary glance before they both headed to their cottage. "Woah, that was tense," DreDre quipped, her small form dangling upside down as she peered into Wyatt's eyes. Nestled snugly atop Wyatt's head in his hair, her ears twitched as she playfully teased him.
"Tell me about it," Wyatt muttered, running a hand through his hair. With a sigh, he summoned Ceed to teleport him to his trophy section, specifically to the floating island where the storage card containing Agony's remains was secured.