"Something else? Like what?"

The infant responded in his ear and he promptly engaged with the girl.

"Who is your master? Do you know their name?"

Something felt strange about her as if she wasn't the same as the others and Eurig couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling. She had just made a pact with a demon or perhaps even a devil and there was no way it wouldn't change her appearance to something that strikes terror in the hearts of all those who see her.

Yet here she stood, not only appearing human but with the visuals that could leave any man a drooling mess, perhaps even other women.

The girl seemed lost in her own thoughts and didn't even register Eurig's presence, or any of the others for that matter.

Enraged by her belittling behavior, "ANSWER ME!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

He even lost control of his own powers for a moment and momentarily revealed his true form which was akin to a hideous snake-like creature.

All the others were also affected by this impulsive show of power which only agitated them more, making them more aggressive towards the girl. And it was only then that she came back to her senses and slowly surveyed the room. Her light blue eyes seemed to shine by themselves, as if there was something else hidden just underneath.

The corner of her lips arched into a derogatory smile.

"How pitifully childish. Resorting to such mundane threats the moment something unexpected happens. Just because you do not understand something does not mean you have to kill it. Wretched buffoons."

She lightly tapped the bone scepter onto the ground once she was done talking and a black flame ignited around her entire body. It surrounded her in an instant but disappeared just as abruptly as it had arrived a second later.

Her previously naked form was covered by a beautiful black robe that was tightly wrapped around her hourglass figure. It was cut open from the sides, connected only at the hip before opening again all the way down. (Reference image in Author Notes and Discord)

She extended her left arm and with a poof an old book popped up in the palm of her hand.

It was encased in a dark brown leather cover with some strange indentations on both sides that looked like a human face altough some parts were missing. The book opened by itself and the bone scepter that she had crafted out of her own ribs floated into the air and disappeared within its pages.

The book closed and shrunk out of existence the very next moment, leaving all the demon kin baffled.

When she was well and ready she turned towards Eurig to meet his questioning gaze.

"From today onwards my name is Claudia. You will refer to me as such or simply by 'Mistress' if that is too difficult for your simple minds to understand."

Eurig ignored her obvious dig and repeated his question.

"Who is your patron, your master? What is the name of the one that lends you their power?"

Claudia chuckled, "I have no master, unlike you fools. The one who grants me my power only asks for my love in return."

"NAME!"

The infant monster hissed at her from Eurig's shoulder in open hostility. Claudia gently shook her head as if she was looking at wild animals.

"You wouldn't know the name even if I told you. What difference does it make?"

"I don't have to know the name. As long as it's one of the true names of your patron even the winds will know them. The world will react to it and we will know that it is real."

Claudia fell into a bout of silence. She looked at the deformed faces of her old friends and remembered her own horrid appearance and what it looked like now.

She was grateful, truly, but she had never trusted anyone completely in all her life, and yet, that's exactly what was asked of her in this moment. She could come clean and tell Eurig the truth, or say the name that was given to her which might or might not be real.

But all her doubts were washed away just from one look at her old friends. She could barely feel any presence of mind within them. They were nothing more than beings of instinct built to slaughter.

'That's not what I want. I have to trust that following her will lead me to a better place. Yes, as long as I do what is asked of me.'

She prepared herself mentally for the worst-case scenario and answered in a slow but confident tone of voice.

"Fine, so be it. The name I was 'given' is...Aldinarch."

And just like Eurig said, the effects of uttering a name of such a vile creature were shown within the world.

The lights flickered and dimmed while their shadows moved by themselves, either burying their heads within their arms or going straight mad.

Eurig's eyes opened wide as he stepped back in shock before slowly looking towards the infant monster for verification as if any more proof was needed.

***

Authors Notes:

All images are posted in the Official Discord.

Link: https://discord.gg/AHdSBFQ

___

Reference Image Link: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/6c/7a/ff/6c7aff1fedf9636331498191926500a6.jpg

Shortened Image Link (case sensitive) : https://urlzs.com/yP7mB

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