"You give her to me and I’ll...

I’ll let you all leave alive.

How about it? I think the price is much more than what your lives are actually worth, don’t you think?"

The man grinned.

The party looked at him with solemn looks on their faces. The calm on his face, the level of control he had over the situation, that alone was more than enough to tell them what they needed to know about the being in front of them.

He was strong.

He was very, very strong.

"Who are you?"

Darius questioned with a solemn look on his face. That made Silas pause for a moment, then, he blinked, almost as if he had forgotten something important—

"Have I not introduced myself?

I apologise for the rudeness."

Then, he stepped forward and the air around him grew heavier.

Strange purple energy began moving around him in a slow, smooth motion, his eyes turned purple, then, thin black-purple veins appeared near the corners of his eyes, crawling across his skin, spreading down his neck and disappearing under his collar.

*Picture*

His smile widened, then he placed one hand over his chest and gave a small, elegant bow.

"I am Silas Morcant."

He introduced himself.

"Owner of The Velvet House.

And Fifth Veil Host of Vaelrith, Greater Incubus of the Court of Desire."

The instant those words were said, the entire corridor went deathly silent. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Darius’s eyes widened in absolute horror.

Tomas took half a step back.

"A Host...

A Fifth Veil Host..."

He spoke in a weak voice.

Mara’s face had gone pale as well.

"And a Host of a Greater Demon..."

She whispered.

Ilyra did not speak at all.

Lucian could see it in her eyes.

Fear.

Fear so strong that it made her body freeze.

Fear so strong that everything felt... hopeless.

And it wasn’t just her, Darius, Mara, Tomas, all of them were the same. They all looked like the battle was already over, that there was no hope for them, that...

That no matter what they did, they couldn’t win.

And that made Lucian frown.

He looked at Silas, his smile had widened, like him, he too, could read their faces, he could see their fear and he enjoyed it.

"Should I... know what what he said means?"

Lucian asked.

He was very confused.

Tomas blinked at his words, then he turned to him as if he had lost his mind.

"You... don’t?"

"No?"

"You really don’t know what a Fifth Veil Host is?"

"I was taught how to win, not read demon resumes."

Lucian shrugged.

And those words only made Silas’s grin widen.

"You were taught how to win, eh?"

He snickered, his disdain for those words couldn’t be more obvious, but he didn’t end it, instead, he looked at Tomas and—

"Please, explain it to him."

He requested politely and Tomas... he froze, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

But then, the smile on Silas’s face disappeared and he looked at Tomas with cold eyes.

"I insist."

Tomas’s body flinched and he began explaining.

"H-Hosts are classified by Veils. The higher the Veil, the thinner the separation between the human and the demon behind them."

"Umm... what are Hosts...?"

Lucian questioned and this time, it wasn’t just Tomas, even Silas blinked, but then he grinned again—

"You don’t know anything, do you?"

"Well, I didn’t even know demons existed until a month ago so..."

"So you are one of the unfortunates."

Silas grinned and Lucian—

"Yes."

He nodded.

He didn’t know in what context Silas was calling him unfortunate but when he thought about it, he was indeed unfortunate.

Silas looked back at Tomas, he flinched and began explaining again—

"Hosts are humans who come in contact with demons from the demonic realm."

Lucian listened, absorbing every piece of information greedily.

Tomas continued.

"First and Second Veil Hosts are manageable, they are only influenced by demons, some have minor gifts like stronger charm, better instincts, nothing substantial.

Third and Fourth Veil are real threats, they can use demonic power directly and depending on the rank of the demon they are in contact with, their strength, pressure, charm, regeneration, everything’s much stronger than a normal human."

Tomas then swallowed as he looked at Silas.

"Fifth Veil is... different."

He spoke and Silas’s grin widened even further, he was enjoying this.

The fear.

The attention.

The way these people were measuring him, thinking of ways to win or even escape but their thoughts were failing them again and again.

He was enjoying this a lot.

"At Fifth Veil, the demon is rooted inside the Host. It is not just lending power now, it can protect him, strengthen him, speak through him, and push its will into the world through his body.

And considering the demon behind him is a Greater Demon...

Unless Lady Vivienne comes here herself, we cannot win."

And the moment those words were said, Lucian’s expression changed.

Vivienne...?

What...?

This thing was... as strong as her...?

Lucian had trained with that woman for a month, he knew what sort of monster she was and when he looked at him and compared him with her, he...

"Dude, don’t ever let her hear you compare him to her.

She will first kill him, then she’ll kill you."

Lucian shrugged, dismissing those words in an instant.

"What...?"

Silas’s expression changed.

And Lucian shrugged—

"Dude, you are hiding under a spa, I highly doubt you are someone that important."

Silence.

Absolute silence fell over the place.

Tomas, Ilyra and Mara looked at Lucian with horrified eyes, even Darius seemed on edge.

Silas stared at him, for a moment, he didn’t know how he was supposed to react but then—

He laughed, this time however, there was no real amusement in his eyes.

"You are either very brave... or painfully ignorant."

"Probably the second one.

But you still don’t look that strong to me, you just don’t have the vibe, you understand what I am saying?

The vibe’s missing."