Marcel, age 20, stands in a room inside their shared house, full of friends with worries plastered upon their faces. 

Their friend, Evan, lays in a bed with his two brothers sitting beside him while the two maidens: the Fox Priestess and the White Tiger Priestess, stand behind them, looking just as concerned at the increasingly dangerous worsening of Evan’s condition. 

Evan, their assassin, whom they looked at, laid on the bed with a pained expression as he stayed wide awake to control his condition somewhat. On his body surged purple veins which spread at an alarming rate, bringing him more pain as it threatened to destroy his body.  

Right under the purple veins were green veins which spread across his body at a much slower rate. One would think this was good news, but it was even worse than the purple veins. In these differently colored veins were different fire poisons funneled from hellfire, carrying with them different effects. 

The purple veins rapidly spreading across his body threatened to break apart his body. This problem could have been easily solved if he rested in his true form for a while, but then, he just had to be hit with the green poison as well. 

The green veins spreading across his body, damaged his spiritual body and soul, threatening to take his life as a thunderbeast entirely.  

His other two friends, Shalia and Allan, worked quickly to remedy the situation. They worked under immense pressure, unsure if this recipe was even going to help. The recipe was entirely improvised from a list of ingredients they thought would work and one special ingredient. Their recipe, if it worked, would be adept at dealing with fire poisons of any sort, but the potency of the recipe all depended on the power of their catalyst for purification, their other friend: Marcel the ‘virgin’. 

So, how did it come to this? Why was Evan dying and Marcel his only hope at surviving this? Also, don’t the effects of the fire poisons sound familiar? What exactly happened? 

Well, it all started, as usual, with someone deciding to visit the dreaded place that is the dungeon. This time... the culprit isn’t Marcel, Shalia, Allan, or even Valeria, the four usual culprits. It’s the very innocent, responsible big brother of the group who has never done anything wrong and his second brother: Nigel and Daniel. 

 

[Flashback] 

A week ago, the two heard news of the elusive ‘Dungeon of Fire Poisons’ location in the Dimension of Dungeons. Entering with the hope of finally battling new species of poisonous fire creatures to strengthen their powers and finally enter the B-class, they banded together and forced the others to come along, luring them in with the possibility of finally becoming B-class adventurers. 

They were skeptical at first; with the dungeon’s famous fire poisons being a major cause of concern. 

Fire Poisons are most dangerous than normal poisons because of their illustrious origins: the Underworld. Used by evolved poisonous dungeon beasts who managed to survive the hellfire flames which brought about pain, suffering, and death, they have proven capable of bringing many spiritual and physical lifeforms to death’s door. 

Roden also warned against it, with the place being where it originated. Although, one of a kind, there were other more powerful toxic beasts like the Soul Reaping Scorpion, A- ranked semi-spiritual dungeon beasts with green hellflames which burned the soul, particularly fatal for spiritual lifeforms, and the Life-Eating Purple Flame Silkworms, A-class dungeon beasts which infected their enemies with fire poisons and damaged their bodies to be later fed on when they lost their lives. 

With threats like these, not many below the B-ranked changed their ways into that deathtrap, even when prepared to the utmost. This place held an even more dangerous threat: seemingly harmless pools of flames which sometimes appeared out of nowhere, and... the cause of Evan’s pain. 

After they entered the place, everything went okay, despite how ominous and death-reeking the place was. They fought some beasts and loosened up after a long while of fighting small-fry B-ranked enemies in this dungeon. 

Things were going well until... everything turned around. First, there was the Soul-Chilling Snake, an A-ranked fire poison beast that directly damaged one’s spiritual body with Hell’s Bone-Chilling flames, a rare kind of underworld flame that tortured and damaged one like Allan’s family’s ‘Soul Freeze’. It was very dangerous to fight, so they ran. 

Right after that threat of a snake, was the Headless Golem Flame Lion, another A-ranked monster with fire poison tailored for the body, then the Green Flame Owl of the same rank suitable for destroying the soul. It was like the entire world was against them and to make matters worse, when they were escaping, the biggest threat of them all, appeared under their feet: a Three Hellfire Flame Pool. 

Acting quickly, the others managed to evade it through different means like flight: Allan, Shalia, Silva, and Marcel; borrowing the power of the wind element: Nigel and Valeria, and lastly, using a partial transformation to turn into lightning and escaping: Daniel. 

Unfortunately, Evan wasn’t fast enough and fell right into the flame pool when it appeared. He was rescued right after, but strangely enough, he hadn’t incurred any damage after that flame bath. 

With how bad their luck was on this day, they left right after for home, and almost a week after their return, they finally saw the effects of their assassin falling into hellfire flames. 

He’d been fatally poisoned with a large dose of purple flames invading his physical and spiritual body and green flames pervading through the cracks into his soul. Right after, his body started showing symptoms, which brings us to this moment. 

[End of Flashback] 

 

“I’m sorry, Evan!” Nigel began crying. His brother was going to die all because he couldn't wait a bit longer to become a fully spiritual lifeform. The closer their race got to the A-rank, the more they become like spiritual lifeforms, much closer to their ultimate forms. 

“Cough... It’s fine, brother... Cough! Cough! We’ve all been stupid before. We decided to go there, didn’t we? Cough!” The sound of his coughs resonated through the entire room. With each cough, the atmosphere in the entire room grew tenser, with everyone pinning their hopes on a solution from the two witches working arduously on a cure. 

At first, they tried many remedies for normal fire poisons. Those things are very dangerous, so over the years, a lot of remedies were developed to combat their effects. Unfortunately, none proved useful, instead, further progressing the effects of the already potent fire poisons inside Evan. 

With nothing they tried having no positive effects, they leaned towards improvisation. Today... was also the day, they’d learn another big secret. 

In this tense room, Shalia and Allan worked at a table parallel to the foot of the bed. Evan watched in his suffering state from the bed as they worked while his big brother continued to cry, and Daniel held a guilty expression on his face. 

Shalia ground the herbs while Allan cooked them in the cauldron and extracted their essences. They worked in harmony while they discussed what random ingredients to add for an extra boost to the potion, and soon, they were finished, except, they lacked one ingredient; one normally used ingredient. 

Normally, when creating remedies like this, almost at the end of its creation, one would add some powerful purifying agent to draw in the poison and exterminate it. Magic is always good, but still, it’s rare to find purifying agents that fit the criteria. 

It was bizarre, but normally, the power of someone of the same sex as the victim, untouched by another in a very ‘intimate’ way, would be used in the remedy. The 'untouched' is the best choice because their essences have not been stained by others. 

For extracting the power, one usually took the body fluids of this 'untouched' someone and added it directly to the remedy being made. It usually came in the form of their blood. Yes, for this remedy, they needed the blood of a virgin and there was only one candidate for the job. 

Currently, in that room, there were only two people who fulfilled the criteria required: Allan and Marcel, or at least they thought so. Since Allan was also the one supplementing the energy to be used to make the potion, he can’t also be the donator of the blood, so they prepared themselves to use Marcel’s blood instead. He was the best choice, and nobody thought otherwise. 

 

Marcel, sitting on a chair right in front of the exit of the room, when they mentioned ‘virgin’, started sweating profusely. At first, he didn’t know if he should shut up, but since Evan’s life was in danger, he resolved himself to tell them. 

“Guys...” He tried to tell them that he wasn’t a virgin like they thought, his face flushed beet red, very embarrassed. 

Everyone, however, was too busy doing something else to save the assassin’s life to care about anything he was saying. Allan and Shalia were making the potion while Silva, with her powers, looked to see if Evan would survive. Valeria was busy being useless while the two thunderbeast brothers were busy crying and feeling guilty.  

Yes, everyone was clearly busy to be listening to the friend whose purity they would never question in any way. Just thinking that Marcel wasn’t a virgin was an act of defilement to them. They were all in their own small worlds to bother with him. 

Allan right after, took a needle to draw Marcel’s blood, and Marcel knew he had to tell them before it was too late. He didn’t want his unwillingness to publicize that he had been defiled by a certain someone, although his aura said he wasn’t, to be the death of his friend. 

“Guys! I have something to say.”  

Finally, he drew everyone’s attention. Allan, however, had already stuck in the needle in his arm and was drawing blood from him. 

“I am not a virgin!” He said in a low voice, his face so red and he, so embarrassed that he didn’t know how he was going to live tomorrow. 

Allan almost dropped the needle he was using. He heard it. He was shocked. The others, however, were very different. 

Unison: “Huh? What did you say?” They thought they heard Marcel say something unexpected. He didn’t possibly say anything about not being a virgin, did he? 

“I am not a virgin!” He repeated himself. 

Everyone’s reaction told him what they thought. 

Shalia, who was grinding the herbs, suddenly stopped and, out of nowhere, started crying. How could this be? 

Evan fainted on the spot. This was just not possible! 

The two thunderbeasts didn’t look in any way sad at this moment. They looked at Marcel with a sly grin. 'Hoo~, you little liar!' They thought as they grinned slyly. 

Silva and Valeria seemed shocked by Marcel’s revelation. How could they allow themselves to be deceived like this? How did he do that? 

Marcel stood there, embarrassed and red in the face as he tried to avoid the judgmental gazes of his friends who were both shocked and surprised. 

An awkward minute-long silence spread through the room. Nobody talked or even grinned anymore. They just contemplated how they’d been terribly wrong about Marcel, in complete suspenseful silence... 

… And then Silva finally broke the silence. 

“How could you? How could you do this to his majesty? I never knew that you were such scum.” She spoke. Did the Demon Lord even know what this little liar has done? She thought. 

“Yes, Marcel. How could you do this to me? Sob... You-You told me to take care of my body, then you go on ahead and taint yours?! Unforgivable!” Shalia said with tears under her eyes, looking at Marcel like he’d just committed the gravest, most atrocious sin in the world. 

“Guys, maybe there’s a reason behind why he isn’t as holy as we thought he was. My intuition tells me so...” Valeria tried to reason with the others who looked very disappointed, although she was just as shocked as they were. 

“Yes, maybe. But still... unforgivable. How could he do this to the Demon Lord?! He’s such scum!! Couldn’t he have waited a few more years and then done it with his husband?!! What scum!” Silva continued her ridiculing of Marcel, raising her voice after every comment. Every word she said hurt like a nail pushed right through to his heart. 

“But... but---” Marcel tried to say something again, but they just wouldn’t hear him out.  

He was so embarrassed and ashamed, not because he was being ridiculed by his friends or the fact that this was just one out of many occasions involving the Demon Lord that he had no control over but because it happens to be the first-ever occasion. Looks like past events just won’t stop haunting you no matter how much you try to bury it deep inside the abyss. Also, should he have publicized that he had experienced the pleasures of the flesh to everyone? 

“He could have also given it to me instead of some person I don’t know. Despicable!” Shalia said, pouting. After all, she hadn’t given up on trying to climb Marcel’s bed. 

“Yes, ye- Hey! I see what you did there Shalia.” Silva said, glaring daggers aimed at Shalia and Marcel. 

“But...” Marcel tried to explain the situation regarding what Shalia just said, but everyone was just interrupting him. 

“But how’s that possible? His magic and aura are still pure and untainted, like a virgin’s. How did he manage to achieve that? I’m very interested.” Allan spoke. 

“Yes, it does indeed. Even now, the magic aura covering him is still as unblemished as a newborn baby. It’s very interesting.” Nigel said, still smirking at Marcel. He’d suddenly forgotten that his brother dying right in front of him. 

“Yes, brother! The girls all have the same kind of magic aura as Marcel. There’s almost next to nothing that distinguishes Marcel’s magic and theirs apart from the fact that his is that of a guy, a purer and much more powerful than theirs.” Sword Thunderbeast, Daniel, said. His brother laughed at him since he named all of what distinguished Marcel’s magic from theirs even though he said that there’s almost nothing. 

“But... tricking people into believing you’re a virgin is just unforgivable. My mother said that there’s a special place in hell for people like that. I’m sure he even tricked the Demon Lord into believing it. So unforgivable!” Silva once again criticized Marcel and this time, he’s about had enough of his friends ignoring him.  

“Guys!!! I didn’t lose it to some random person and besides, I’m the victim here. I lost it on the day I met my husband. Get what I mean now?! It was all an accident!” Marcel tried explaining what had happened, beet red in the face upon remembering how it happened. He didn’t realize that he called the Demon Lord his ‘husband’. 

After they finally decided to listen to him, he explained the event as it happened in more detail, obviously skipping the risqué and raunchy parts of it until they fully understood. 

They all took back the bad words, they’d said about him, well, except for Shalia, who was feeling that one of her idols had stolen what may or may not have been rightfully hers. 

“We’re very sorry, Marcel. Much so I, but I’ll just ask. How did you make your magic hide the fact that you’re a virgin? From reading your magic, aura, and everyone else, we all know who is and isn’t a virgin. Tell me, how did you conceal it? Do you have some magic spell that does that or something?” Silva asked.  

The psychological impact of breaking the boundaries between the ‘ignorant’ and the ‘knowers’ of that pleasure, was so great that it manifested itself as aura for aura-readers, also known as everyone in the demon realms and some humans, to read. It could even tell you who they did it with if you study it carefully as one can sometimes find traces of the other’s aura on them. They all thought that nobody could hide it, until today, that is. 

“Huh? I haven’t done anything. My magic has always been like this, or maybe it did change when everything else got changed in the spell from very long ago. I didn’t even know that you could know if someone was a virgin or not based on their magic power and aura.”  

Marcel’s answer once again shocked them. They’d never heard of anyone who’d done it and could still be classified as a virgin in many people’s books. If he hadn’t mentioned it because of their current situation, then they would have continued to be clueless until the day they stopped thinking it. What an excellent natural ability Marcel has managed to be born with. The ‘being blind to aura’ thing makes it even worse as he stays ignorant to other’s moods and feelings about certain stuff. He’s always getting the better end of the stick, that guy! 

“So, now that we know that Marcel isn’t a virgin, what should we do about Evan? I’m thinking that we should still use Marcel’s blood since his magic power is still the purest. Spells that involve virgin blood always emphasize the purity of magic power anyway, so I think it’s fine.” Allan said and then he went back to extracting essences for the potion. 

“Yes, I think so too. Grandma always used to say that magic of the best purity is the best ingredient for spells, potions, and refining magic artifacts. I think it’s fine as well.” Shalia also agreed and went back to helping Allan.  

They finished the potion an hour after that, then fed it to Evan, and... it worked? The potion came with a side effect they hadn’t expected. He developed a terrible fever a few days afterward and when he recovered again, guess what?  

He had undergone the same transformation Allan did after meeting Marcel. His hair growing out, however useless that is to him as well as a glow-up, his overall magical power increased, and the paired wing insignia on the back like Allan's, coupled with the mysterious explosion of shirt when Marcel first touched him afterward. Yes, Evan became Marcel’s ‘servant’, his Chosen. 

Shalia didn’t waste any time at all to drain Marcel’s blood and make beautification potions to use, seeing if the same thing would happen to her.  

A week later after making and using the potions on herself, and she developed the same terrible fever Allan and Evan had both experienced before becoming Marcel’s Chosens.  

After waking up, she noticed a beautiful tattoo made of wings had appeared on her left shoulder, with the same vine green on its primary sections whilst the other parts remained grayed out like that of the others. She had also undergone further beautification and Silva and Valeria became so jealous that they had Allan prepare more beautification potions with Marcel’s blood as secret ingredients.  

Nobody wanted to miss such an opportunity and so, except Allan and the rest who’d already changed to becoming Marcel’s servants without realizing, they too thoughtlessly took one step into becoming better people, at least in looks anyway. The little guy, Marcel, suffered as their blood bank for their beautification endeavors. Their magic power also increased at a rapid pace. Also, they all noticed that they had awakened new abilities or had a previous ability of theirs enhanced. 

From this transformation, Shalia gained the power to more clearly hear the voices of the spirits, Valeria and Silva didn't reveal what theirs were, despite their secret long exposed to their friends, Nigel, well... He could summon more power when he borrowed magic as a Shielder, up to almost twice as much as before his transformation.

Evan, unexpectedly experienced the second biggest change as he gained access to the realm of shadows, a secret dimension very few shadow users can enter, although that seems to be only when he's close to Marcel. It's like his wish to someday perfectly disappear was answered. About 500 meters away from him is when this access is barred from him, for now, at least...

Daniel gained the power of aura and elemental unity, further enhancing his connection to his sword and also, allowing him to unify two different forces in his way of the sword. Now his water and light elements can be added to his thunder and lightning-based attacks to create different effects. Compared to the gains of his two brothers, his seems the most unremarkable.

It was a real shame for Kensuke who’d returned home for another festival, which is why he wasn’t there to experience suffering with them in the Dungeon of Three Poisons. 

“It’s a shame!” They said, while secretly thinking that it was good, he wasn’t there with them. After all, they were the ones who had to suffer in a dungeon and almost killed their friend to discover the secret to becoming an ‘unknown creature’s servant. 

Little did they know that Allan had already saved something up for Kenny as well and that he would be the one to undergo the greatest transformation out of them all. 

Kensuke, when he returned, was depressed, feeling left out and so utterly unwanted in the group, that Allan gave him his share. Like I said, he underwent the greatest transformation out of them all, because he needed it the most. 

Marcel’s blood triggered a change he’d been desperately waiting on for the past 400 years. For the last time since he entered the later stages of the Oni evolution, he finally took a step closer to becoming a High-Oni. 

In appearance, he changed the most drastically. His former wild appearance, full of ferocity and fear-inducing chills and nightmares like some bloodthirsty monster became tamer. His menacing facial features decreased in intensity, becoming more human-like, however, his horns remained the same size and length, like two fierce blades. 

His skin, formerly dark purple in hue, lightened, turning a nice shade of lavender, complementing his master’s almost fuchsia-colored eye. His ginormous body increased a little in size, although, he felt like he could change it back to normal if he tried. This was his first evolution after he turned adult from his young-Oni form, and it felt like it was just meant to be.  

He experienced internal changes too. His body that had become a burden to him since he turned 600 also changed. The rampant power that had nowhere to go for the past 400 years, built up inside his body, turning him into an uncontrollable ticking bomb and sending out immensely strong waves of dark aura when angered or berserk, all stabilized. His magic was safely contained after his magic capacity increased, making him the fifth-highest in the group in terms of magic power capacity. 

For the overall difference between them all after their transformations, first was Allan who, even though he didn’t take any of the things he made, experienced an increase in power too as if asserting his dominance as the first servant. His overall magic power capacity climbed from 78 000 units to 83 000 units Silva’s climbed from 69 000 units to 72 000, coming in at second place, followed by Shalia at 68 000 units from her earlier 62 000, then Nigel at 65 000 units from 60 000. 

Kenny, experiencing the greatest increase in power, climbing from 12 000 units to 49 000 units. Having increased his magic power capacity fourfold, he was officially stabilized. His parents would be happy when they received the news from him.  

Following Kenny was Daniel at 44 000 units from his earlier 39 000, Valeria at 42 000 units from 38 000, and Evan, being the weakest at 40 000 units from 35 000, although he was the first to evolve and his other gains. Now he knows why he, sort of, got access to the shadow realm. So damn weak! 

They were all powerhouses who could be hailed as God-class in the human world but sadly, demonic standards didn’t allow it.   

As Supreme Administrator had willed it, the first four (Allan, Silva, Shalia, Nigel), with power between 65 000 and 85 000 units, had their entries into B-class acknowledged. 

The last five C-class adventurers (Kenny, Daniel, Valeria, Evan, Marcel) were put under consideration for B-class rankings when their overall power increased a little further. Strangely enough, except for Marcel, wishing for it made their power increase slowly over the next 5 years without much work, finally becoming B-class. 

And this here, marks the first signs of the divergence between their power levels, with some growing faster than others, leading to some strength imbalances in their group. With 100 000 units being the minimum required units of magic power capacity needed to become an A-ranked individual, those with more power and growth speed will, almost certainly, get there faster. 

Because they’re all from different races with different growth rates and powers, this displacement becomes more obvious, with some becoming more spirit-like whilst some remain bound to their physical bodies and others follow their race's path to divinity. It’s inevitable and very soon, they’ll have to decide whether to stay together or separate, going on separate adventures very soon in the future. 

Anyways, Kenny was the happiest after he finally broke a barrier, he thought he’d never cross in his life, finally returning to walk the path of the Oni Spirit evolution as he'd always wanted. He laughed and cried about it, shocking the others. It was too unusual of an array of expressions from the normal two: blank, scary face and mean face, that he usually showed. He grew the quickest, with all his missed opportunities coming together to push him closer to the middle of his current goal of High-Oni.  

Estimated to reach A-class and get there in the few thousand years to come, his parents, siblings, and himself celebrated in the days that followed when they received the news, though they wondered what this ‘servant’ business was. How come the little guy made his fiancé his servant too? They needed answers, so... as usual...

...A kidnapping of the culprit followed right after. We’ll handle this topic of 'servants' some other time in more detail.  

Now, back to more relevant matters. 

On the day they learned about Marcel’s ‘Virgin Unvirgin’ situation, the only thing that stopped them from broadcasting it to everyone they knew was the fact that their friend was in danger because of one of his identities.  

Following what happened after Evan drank the potion, letting the world know that their friend’s blood has the power to soften one’s limit caps and aid in evolving faster by making the one who partook in the delight that is his blood like some vampire into his servant, was another piece of huge information. It would create quite the stir, although they didn’t know to what extent this ability was limited.  

Another reason there was no broadcasting was that it was going to be very fun watching people think that they know the truth from seeing Marcel’s aura when, in fact, it’s a lie.  

They sneered condescendingly as they watched people, not them, get deceived by the embodiment of purity that is their friend over the years that followed. Who knows how many times they thought, 'Oh, you poor fool...' whenever a victim was hooked to the wrong idea.

It’s just the kind of deception drama they wanted in their lives, well... except Shalia who despised the Demon Lord for a period after she learned the news. He had supposedly taken something that should have been hers. That day... was not only the day she became Marcel’s Chosen but a forever reminder about that one time she really wanted ‘the item’, carrying high hopes for it, but then she lost the bid before even entering the auction hall. 

On that day, the only one who really lost, except Shalia, of course... was Marcel. He had anemia after suffering huge blood loss, then right after recovering, he had to wake up in OniMachi once again. Doesn’t anyone around get the concept of sending a normal invitation?! Hah, oh well~ 

There, he learned the full details behind why Kenny couldn’t evolve, etc.

Around a thousand years ago, there was this big battle in the world of the Oni which threatened the existence of not only the Oni World but also the entirety of the Oni Leader's family. It was the kind of family internal struggle which almost resulted in a war between the Oni Leader and his brother's faction. Why? His brother was very, very... bored!

In this battle which was honestly, very stupid, the unborn Kenny and his mother were cursed and they both almost died, well, mostly one of them.

To remedy the situation, his mother, then a High-Oni on the verge of evolving into an Oni Spirit, gave birth to the quarter-dead baby, then evolved. Unfortunately, the child's first breath turned out to also be its last.

Calling forth the power of curses and everything around him right after, his mother gave life back to his child at the cost of losing the ability to birth new life, as in, have another child, for almost a hundred thousand years. Who knew that even though the resurrection was complete, it robbed something from their precious baby in the process?  

What this 'thing' was, is unknown, but there are guesses as to what this child of a direct bloodline to the first Oni lost when he was brought back to life, some of which include his ability to grow, his full potential like Shalia's snipped in the bud, a part of his soul and many other interesting ideas.

Anyway, whatever was taken from him, has been returned, leading to his potential correcting itself and his further evolution for Marcel's sake. 

Kenny's parents thanked Marcel for whatever it is he did, and all was good, until the next time he woke up in their home without any notice beforehand, which repeated the endless cycle of distress, hopelessness, and his eventual growth into feeling comfy in that one bed he always woke up in.