Rufus slammed the door open and threw a punch at the woman, but she dodged it by moving her head to the left. She immediately elbowed him in the chest and locked his left leg and made him stumble.
"Was that really necessary, Mister Rufus?" The woman asked as she looked down at Rufus.
"The demonic cult. You're Mykel's people and you can't deceive me that easily. I know everything already," Rufus scoffed as he stood up and gave a stern look at the woman.
"Is that really the truth? I'm not talking about you knowing everything, but about the demonic cult that belonged to Mykel. Why would we follow someone who had been busy clearing the towers and killed all the Demon Kings?" The woman asked with her eyebrow raised. "We demons are specialized in deceiving humans, and what if I tell you that we are just using him for our own benefits?" The woman smiled and wasn't bothered to defend herself in front of Rufus.
Rufus squinted his eyes and thought about it, but he didn't want to believe it since she said that she specialized in deceiving humans. He then realized what she had just said. She was a demon, not a cult member.
"You know we demons could read people's minds. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I'm a demon, a powerful one as well. So even if you try to fight me or try to get some help, I can kill you instantly," The woman smiled. "I suggest you not do anything stupid that would cost your own life," The woman continued.
Rufus flinched and he didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to help him.
"I'm here to give you an offer, an offer to make you strong. I'm not going to pry on it once you decline my offer, and we both will agree that all of this never happened. But I'll tell you one thing, Mister Rufus. This kind of chance won't come twice, and you might regret it if you don't take it, or not," The woman explained as she gave some space to make Rufus a bit comfortable so he could think more clearly.
"Before I can give you an answer, can you at least tell me what exactly you want from me and why you want to help me?" Rufus asked and still wasn't convinced by the woman's sweet words.
"We were summoned here by Mykel, and since he held power over us, we can't leave. That doesn't mean we would blindly obey him since we demons don't want a human being to trample over us. But since he's an Awakener he's favored by the Gods and even us, demons can't do anything about it," The woman answered. "With that being said, what if we give power to Awakeners and turn them to be our allies to defeat him? That would be a perfect plan to kill him," The woman explained and stared into Rufus' eyes.
"So those Awakeners that you kidnapped and used as an experiment..." Rufus pointed out.
"That's right. We are creating an army to fight him and his powerful followers," The woman nodded her head in agreement before Rufus could finish his sentence. "Since we are in a dire situation, we have no other choice but to work with the humans, and buried our feeling of disgust by working with humans deep inside us," The woman continued as she sighed.
Rufus was still thinking about it and thought it was a trap, but he was intrigued by her offer. Her explanation was making sense that he believed her reasoning and understood why she did all that.
"How can I know that you're not going to turn me into a demon's slave after you achieved what you wanted? It sounds intriguing in the short run, but in the long run, I believe I'll regret it," Rufus said with his arms crossed.
"We swear in the name of our King Lucifer that we will die and be punished by him for eternity if we tell you a lie. We aren't going to turn you into slaves or something similar or worse. We only want to work together to get rid of Mykel," The woman answered.
Rufus had no idea how powerful the swore she said, but if a demon being was controlled by Demon King Lucifer, that meant they were serious about it. He then nodded his head in agreement and decided to accept the offer.
"Now since you accepted my offer, I have a welcoming gift, just for you," The woman said as she grabbed something behind her back. "I will give you something that not even any Awakeners can get," The woman showed the [Dagger of Soul Marking] to Rufus.
"A dagger? I'm not using a dagger," Rufus said with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Ah, this dagger isn't something that I'm going to give. It's the power within," The woman played with the dagger and spun it around her fingers. "What I'm giving to you is the power within the dagger," The woman continued and pointed the dagger right in front of Rufus' left eye in a blink of an eye.
Rufus was confused, but then the woman asked him to show his wrist to her. Rufus hesitated, but he showed his left wrist to her, and suddenly she carved his skin with the dagger. He was shocked when she cut his wrist without him feeling any pain and blood coming out of his wrist.
"Now, you can see for yourself what I'm talking about," The woman said as she put the dagger back.
Rufus tilted his head and then decided to check his status screen. He was dumbfounded that his [Body Enhancement] skill level increased to 15. He blinked and rubbed his eyes to check if he was hallucinating, but the number stayed the same.
"It appears you're satisfied with the result," The woman said as she took a few steps back.
"What did you do? What's this?" Rufus asked and looked anxious because he felt like he just fell into a trap. He then looked at his wrist and saw a weird mark on it that he couldn't remove.
"Don't worry, this dagger is something that we the demons stole from Mykel. This dagger gives power to whoever seeks it and grants their wishes," The woman answered with a smile. "It's our welcoming gift, and whether you use it for killing demons or humans, we don't really mind because our goal is the same as yours. To bring Mykel to his downfall," The woman continued.
"Now then. If you're interested in speaking with me again, I'll be there to see you because we, demons have eyes everywhere," The woman said and disappeared into thin air and left not a single trace. "Oh, and keep it in mind that you should cover that mark or the others will get suspicious of you," The woman's voice could be heard in the air.
Rufus was frozen still as he kept staring at his wrist. His heart was pounding really fast and still couldn't believe that it was so easy to attain power. He then closed the door in front of him and went back to his bedroom to think about what had just happened.
"With this, I can outmatch Asmond and perhaps I might be able to be on par with Mykel," Rufus chuckled in disbelief.
(In Lyneth's apartment)
Mykel was drinking his vodka in the dark with not a single light inside. He then heard footsteps coming toward him and it was the same woman that had met Rufus earlier. She turned herself and showed her real body, it was Nephilim and she gave the dagger back to him.
"It was a piece of cake. In fact, his expression is enough to give out what he was thinking. I have never seen someone who showed their emotion as well as him," Nephilim sat onto Mykel's lap and gently caressed his cheek. "Is there anything else you want me to do, Mykel?" Nephilim asked.
"That should be enough because Rufus alone is enough to stir problems," Mykel answered and drank his vodka.
"If you say so, but..." Nephilim kept caressing his cheek and looked at him naughtily.
Mykel lifted her up and brought her into a room since he already knew that she wanted her reward.
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