Infernal Entity: Evolving With My Demonic System-Chapter 45: Demonic Mind Wipe

"Hello, dear host."

The strange voice had echoed from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

Axel turned around, thinking someone was behind him. But there was no one there.

"Who’s there?" he demanded. "Who are you?"

"My name is Aurora and I am your Infernal Demonic System."

"The System?" he asked. "I didn’t know it had an AI in it. This must be one of the so-called updates.

The voice in his head sighed wearily.

"Watch thy tongue, Imp," it said as it sounded quite offended.

"Do you truly believe me so crude as one of those puny thinking-machines humans cobble together with wires and pride?"

Axel looked confused and amused at the same time. He wondered why the AI spoke with so much sentience.

"You’re... not an AI?"

"I am not an Artificial Intelligence," it replied flatly. "I am Aurora. I existed long before your former species learned how to strike stone against stone."

"Then what are you?"

The voice, Aurora, let out a small laugh before speaking again.

"Now that you have become what you were always meant to be," she said. "a demon, you shall finally begin your path to damnation."

Axel almost laughed, but he held it in. The word damnation sounded hilarious to him. It would to anyone who could hear whatever the system was saying.

"I’m sorry, Damnation?"

"Is my host an idiot?" Aurora muttered, not really directing it at him. "Or merely slow from the pain of his evolution?"

"Listen," Axel sighed. "Demons aren’t supposed to be real. At least, that’s what I thought. They’re stories and myths and stuff people made up right?"

"And yet here you stand. I’ve watched you use the Infernal Energy countless times and you believe it just came from nowhere? You draw your powers from the Infernal space, dear host."

It made sense that demons were real. Axel had been a halfling for a while now. And based in his findings, they were mythical creatures. So if he could truly be a halfling, a demon doesn’t sound much like a myth anymore.

"If demons are real, then where do they come from? Where do they live?" Axel asked.

Aurora didn’t answer right away; instead, it hummed in Axel’s mind as if it was taking time to consider how much trouble it wanted to cause.

"The Underworld," it finally said, "is not a place one may point to upon a map and say, ’Ah yes, there it lies.’"

"That doesn’t answer anything."

"I am not here to give answers," Aurora replied lightly. "Just the truth and truth is rarely tidy."

"So you’re saying there’s an actual underworld?"

"Oh, very much so," Aurora said. "Or there was."

"What do you mean, ’was’?"

"The realms below are... unsettled," Aurora said. "Kings have fallen. Chains have broken and the thrones lie empty. Chaos rules where order once stood."

"And demons?" he asked. "What about them?"

"Axel!"

Someone called out. It was Rick. He had finally woken up, after slamming his head against a pipe.

His eyes were wide and his breathing came out ragged as he scrambled backward on the ground.

"You—" Rick stammered, pointing at Axel. "You killed him."

"Rick, wait—"

"You killed him! I saw it. I saw you."

Axel took a step forward.

"I didn’t have a choice—"

"Don’t come closer! Your eyes... your shadow... you’re not normal!"

"You’re a killer," Rick said, backing away. "You’re a demon!"

"Ugh! Why are humans so dramatic?" Aurora asked.

Axel tried to talk to Rick but he wasn’t having it. He stumbled backwards over and over, almost tripping over jagged stones on the alleyway.

"Don’t come near me," Rick shouted. "I saw it. I saw everything."

"Rick, calm down," Axel said. "You’re not thinking straight."

"Don’t tell me to calm down!" Rick yelled. "You stabbed him. You ate his body and then you changed. Your eyes were glowing. Your shadow moved on its own. That wasn’t normal."

"I didn’t want this," Axel said. "I didn’t want to hurt anyone but he was going to kill you."

"You’re not human anymore. You’re a monster."

Rick started glancing around, trying to find a way out

Before Axel could say anything, Aurora’s voice spoke inside his head.

"This human is troublesome. If your companion speaks, you will not live long enough to regret it."

"I’m not going to hurt him if that’s what you’re suggesting.

"Infernal Hell! I never suggested that."

"Okay, then what in ’Infernal Hell’ should I do?"

Aurora hummed thoughtfully inside his head. Then, she spoke.

"There is one way. Just make him forget."

"Forget? How?"

"Use the skill you have. Aurora said.

"The Demonic Mind Wipe."

Axel looked at Rick again. Rick was pacing now, muttering to himself, clearly close to losing control.

"You want me to erase his memory? Is that even a thing?"

"If you want this to stop, you have to erase it."

"I don’t think someone’s mind is something that I should mess with."

Aurora scoffed.

"Morals...How adorable. I can’t wait for you to get corrupted so we can talk less about morals. Tell me, Imp. Did he consent to witnessing thy evolution?"

Axel was about to answer when Rick suddenly turned and tried to run past him.

Axel reacted on instinct.

He grabbed Rick’s arm and pulled him back. Rick struggled wildly, swinging his fists and shouting, but Axel was stronger now. Much stronger.

"I’m sorry," Axel said as he forced Rick to the ground. "I really am."

Rick kicked and thrashed beneath him.

"Get off me!" Rick screamed. "Get away from me, demon!"

"How do I activate it?" Axel asked inwardly.

"Look deeply into his eyes," she said. "Do not blink. Let your Infernal presence sink into him. When his mind falters and he enters a trance, he will be yours to command."

Axel took a shaky breath then he grabbed Rick’s shoulders and forced him to look up.

"Rick, come on. Look at me."

Rick struggled. He tried fighting but he was no match for Axel. Axel might have been a Lumina 3 when he took the test, he was still wearing a Lumina 3 collar tag but he was far from that now.

He might just even be a spectra considering jow powerful had become.

Rick’s movements slowly weakened as Axel’s eyes glowed and locked onto his.

Rick’s breathing slowed and his eyes glazed over slightly. He was now struck in a trance.

[Demonic Mind Wipe has been activated]

[Target: Rick Mobius]

[Chances of success > 100%]

[Would you like to proceed? Y/N]

"Yes."

"That’s it, now command him to forget the events of the last five minutes." Aurora, through Axel’s mind, directed.

"Forget, Rick. Forget everything you saw tonight. Forget that Dane ever attacked, forget the fight. Forget me changing into a... Forget it all."

Rick’s pupils dilated as Axel stared deep inside him.

[Command target to sleep]

"Now, sleep."

Rick’s body went limp and he slumped forward, unconscious once again.

"Can other demons do this too?" Axel asked quietly.

Aurora chuckled. "Don’t ask. I am only programed to say somethings to you..."

"In time," she said, "you shall not need words. You shall not need permission. You shall open minds like books and tear out pages with your own hands."

Whatever Aurora was talking about, Axel didn’t like how it sounded. He picked up Rick carefully into his arms and carried him out of the alley, step by step, toward the dorms. Axel turned his head to look behind him. His eyes scanned the alleyway and Aurora asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Not really... I just get the weird feeling that someone is watching me."

******

Somewhere far from the Oval Academy, a long hallway stretched forward, its walls were carved with ancient designs that glowed in the dark.

There were symbols of war, beasts, burning skies and shattered worlds. Every step echoed as a lone woman walked forward with steady purpose.

She carried a sword in her right hand.

It wasn’t an ordinary weapon. The blade was jagged and dark, forged from the shard of a Sovereign Beast. Even at rest, it radiated pressure, as if the weapon itself was alive.

She reached a massive pair of doors and pushed them open.

Beyond them was a throne room.

The ceiling rose high above and supported by pillars shaped like twisted wings. At the far end sat a man upon a black throne.

The young woman walked forward and dropped to one knee.

"My lord," she said, lowering her head. "An Infernal Beacon has been activated."

"Where?" the man asked calmly.

"On a distant planet."

The man’s fingers tapped once against the arm of his throne.

"Do you know why we were assigned to slay Infernal Entities?"

The woman hesitated for a brief moment before answering.

"Because we are the ones that once fought the Infernal Entities," she said. "And because we possess the power to destroy them."

"Has it been confirmed?" the man asked.

"Yes, My Lord. A demon has manifested."

"Where?"

"Somewhere here on Earth."

"Here?" The man asked with an intrigued look. "Find out how a demon found its way here. Send a Level Three slayer to neutralize the threat. Immediately."

"It will be done, father."

***