The Demon King's Cowardly Vessel

He then pinched himself on the arm before wincing from the pain. "Nope, still awake…"

As he watched the cars that they pa.s.sed by, Juin thought about his best friend… no, his brother, the one who was always with him but pa.s.sed away many years ago.

"You"re different, Juin… I can see that," a young boy with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes, eyes that were so light in blue that they were almost white, said as he held young Juin"s hand while they sat on the roof of their new home. "You"re strong… You just don"t see it yet."

Juin smirked wryly as he pushed that memory away. "Ashton, you said that I"m strong? I can"t even save you…" he mumbled to himself as a memory of a rainy day hit his mind. Of him being dangled over a branch by the side of a cliff as he looked at the raging torrents down below.

Juin closed his eyes, trying to will that memory away. There was no point remembering.

Unknown to him, from above the bus, Lucifer had overheard his mumble.

"Ashton?" Lucifer thought as he kept the name in his mind, in case he needed to use it as leverage in the future.

…

At school, Juin went to all his cla.s.ses as per usual, dealing with a few mockeries here and there, mostly about the field trip when he fainted… Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hey."

Juin was exchanging his books for the next cla.s.s at his locker when he heard that low, threatening voice. He immediately froze up for a second. Before he could even turn around, he was lifted and turned around forcibly. He was pushed against the lockers while his feet dangled a few centimetres off from the ground.

"Juin... Juinny…" Patrick grinned as he dropped Juin on the floor. He then patted Juin"s face as he said in a friendly tone, "I told you what would happen if you failed, right?"

"I tried!" Juin tried to defend himself. "I didn"t know what happened, but I did take some photos in the room! I swear!"

"Yea… and I just tried not to dunk your head in the toilet…" Patrick grinned before dragging Juin into the nearest toilet while John followed behind them to make sure that no authorities would see them. "Out!" he snapped at a young student who was was.h.i.+ng his hand. After the student ran out, Patrick dragged Juin into a toilet stall.

"Urgh…" Patrick frowned when he took a sniff.

He then made Juin be on his knees in front of the toilet. Grabbing the back of Juin"s head, he tried to dunk it into the toilet, but the smaller teen immediately grabbed the sides of the toilet.

"I"m sorry! I did do it! I did!" Juin yelled as he tried his best to stop his head from going into the toilet. He did not have the confidence that he would last long since he barely had any strength.

As his face was inches away from the water, Juin thought angrily, "I"ll kill you! I"ll kill all of you!"

Lucifer, who was floating with his back against the ceiling, felt something different about Juin. A change of sort.

Perhaps it was because they were connected to each other, but he felt the anger in Juin"s soul, and a slight elevation in strength as well. However, something was off. He closed his eyes and took a quick look in that world that Juin created in his mind, the world that Juin could only access in his dreams, and he saw Juin"s soul form in that white environment.

It might be because Juin could not consciously connect with his soul, but his soul was currently in an unconscious mode… and it appeared to Lucifer, from the way the soul was hanging in midair, that the soul was being shackled by invisible shackles.

"His strength is being kept locked?" Lucifer"s lips twitched as he stared at Juin"s unconscious soul form. "So he"s not a true weakling, but someone who has his strength locked away?"

He quickly got out of the world in Juin"s mind, and by now, Juin"s face was just an inch away from the putrid water in the toilet bowl. The boy was sweating profusely as he tried his best to stop what was about to happen.

Lucifer considered taking over Juin"s body by force, but in the end, he decided not to. It was not worth it.

He floated in front of the boys, just above Juin"s head, and he exerted his aura on the two teenage boys. Just a little, and his aura spread throughout the cities, causing the animals within 50 kilometers to cower in fear.

Some humans, who were more sensitive, s.h.i.+vered unknowingly. And certain humans, looked up in the skies, with conflicting expressions.

As supernaturals, the two teenage boys felt the strong killing aura upon them, and Patrick immediately released Juin, who then fell to the side of the toilet bowl and retched. The two boys then started to be on the defensive mode as they tried to sense if there were anyone else near them; someone who was strong enough to cause their hair to stand on its end.

��Who"s there?!" Patrick growled as he looked around. John went to the other stalls to check, but when he returned, he shook his head. Patrick looked at Juin. They had been picking on Juin for a few years now, and there was no sign that Juin was a supernatural being like them.

With a threatening gaze, Patrick growled as he took a step forward and tried to reach out to Juin. But before he could touch him, he felt a strong force falling down on him, and his knees buckled.

Crack!

The tiles on the floor broke as Patrick"s knees fell on them.

Even so, the force did not ease.

Lucifer grinned as he sat in midair with his legs crossed. He pointed a finger at John next, who then fell onto the ground in the same manner as Patrick.

"Oh?" Lucifer narrowed his eyes when he saw that Patrick and John"s pupils changing slightly. And they were glowing softly. "They are the same as my stupid vessel?"

He exerted more force upon them, to the point that both boys were sweating heavily as they tried to stop their faces from hitting the ground.

"Hmm…" Lucifer thought. "They aren"t vessels… So… Descendents of beings like me? Interesting."

If they were vessels, they would have retaliated by now. Demons wouldn"t take it well when they were suppressed by other demons of unknown origins.

Lucifer then extended a finger and made a downward motion, at which point, both boys" heads immediately hit the ground.

They made such loud noise that Juin was scared that they might have accidentally killed themselves. "Wh-What"s happening?" Juin mumbled as he looked at his bullies, who had suddenly decided to kowtow him.

"Y-you…" Patrick stuttered with force as he glanced at Juin. Someone, or something, was exerting an extremely strong aura upon them. "F-f.u.c.k…" Even speaking was extremely taxing at the moment. He felt as if there were a 100-ton brick on top of him.

"Yo, idiot…"

When Juin heard that arrogant tone, he knew that it was Lucifer, and he glanced around.

"Listen to what I"m going to say to you. Nod if you understand."

Juin nodded quickly.

"Make a soul pact with me. I"ll make sure that you won"t die when the other supernatural beings come for you."

"What?"

"Look at those two…"

Juin looked at Patrick and John, and when he saw their eyes glowing, he immediately yelped and climbed up onto the toilet, nearly falling into the dirty toilet bowl in the process. Looking at him, Lucifer could not help but facepalm.

"W-what the f*ck are they?" Juin stuttered as he stared at those two that were prostrating before him.

"No idea…" Lucifer shrugged and said, "Dogs, maybe, based on their eyes… Could be weaker demons. Meh."

He then waved his hand nonchalantly. "Anyway, make a pact with me."

"Erm…" Juin slowly stepped down from the toilet bowl. "What do I get out of it?"

"Well, for one, I wouldn"t kill you."

"So, it"s either you or them?"

���Pretty much," Lucifer lied. Of course he wouldn"t kill him. He needed him to survive in this new world until it was safe for him to return to Alercane. But there was no point in letting Juin know that. "Didn"t you want strength? Right now, I can only protect you against small fry like them. But once you make a soul pact with me, you can use my strength as yours."

"But… How strong are you?"

He was asking Lucifer, but Patrick and John thought that he was talking to them.

"N-no... S-sorry," John stuttered in difficulty. He tried to look up, but he did not even have the energy to lift his head at the moment. Blood was already slowly trickling down from his ears and nose from the immense pressure. "P-please…"

Juin looked at him with a shocked expression. "Release…?"

Lucifer rolled his eyes, but he followed Juin"s request. He had to make sure that those two thought that Juin was the one with the power. Besides… Lucifer looked at his hands, which were a bit transparent compared to earlier.

"My soul weakens when I use my power in this form?" he thought to himself with a sigh. Unfortunately, even though he was a demon king, he was still a young one. A baby, in fact, according to the old farts in his council. This was the first time he crossed over to another dimension, and there were many things that he knew nothing about.

"Ah, Izzy… I should have paid more attention during your lectures," he thought regrettably. But he was soon back to his normal self as he looked at Juin and said, "Send them off. I need to talk to you. And don"t you f*cking use please. They are your b*tches now!"

Juin frowned as he thought, "This guy needs a lesson on etiquette."

But even so, Juin still cleared his throat and said in a threatening manner, "Mess with me again and I"ll make sure that I kill you next time."

He tried to be as menacing as possible, but his babyface made it hard. It only made him look somewhat adorable; like a toddler who was throwing a tantrum.

When the aura was revoked, the two boys were too weak to even stand. Their school s.h.i.+rts were covered in sweat and drops of blood, and they were still bleeding from their noses and ears.

"Get out now!" Juin snapped.

Patrick and John immediately scrambled out of the bathroom, covering half the distance by crawling and half by walking.

And seeing that, Juin could not help but smile. He had never had such a feeling before… such…

"Power over others?" Lucifer asked with a smirk.

Juin nodded as he looked at his clenched fists. "I want more strength."