"My lord, my role in this world is not yet finished, I am still able to serve you, My lord! Give me a chance! Please, I begg you!!!!" Ryoma's impassioned plea echoed through the room, his voice trembling with emotion.

Arthur's eyes narrowed in surprise, incredulous that Ryoma could hear his thoughts. For a few moments, Arthur stood frozen, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he struggled to find the right words.

He exhaled sharply, gathering his composure as he approached the bound demon.

'Ryoma, nod if you can hear me.' he spoke with his mind, intending for Ryoma to hear it.

The weeping Ryoma calmed down, his confusion palpable at the sudden unusual command of his lord, but he nodded dutifully nonetheless.

Even in the case where Ryoma somehow gained mind reading skill, Arthur knew that Ryoma couldn't read his mind without his consent, as his Mental and Astral shield was impervious to such intrusions.

This led to further experimentations on the demon. Later in the day, he discovered that the Ryoma could only hear his thoughts when he permitted it, obeying any command he gave.

This newfound ability was akin to Undead Manipulation, but even better. Did his skill Undead Manipulation, allow him to get hold of whatever Ryoma had mutated into?

Arthur laughed as he couldn't contain his excitement anymore. This new finding elated him to no bound!

Ryoma, his new creation...

All the demons...

Arthur's thoughts ran amok, his excitement showing no bounds. His mind raced with possibilities as he experimented and gathered as much information about this new discovery as he could, forgetting even to eat, not that he needed to anyways.

By the time sun finally drowned below the horizon, Arthur had somewhat concluded the extent of his authority on the Demon(?).

Arthur calls Ryoma an Infected-Demon. Since Ryoma is a demon infected by the undead virus...

Anyway, along with the total reverence of the infected-demon, Arthur seemed to have gained the ability to completely possess the demon.

It's a pretty strange ability and he's got no idea about how he gained such awesome power. But there are still many things unknown about it like whether this ability is exclusive to Ryoma's case or not, its complete range is still unknown but it's at least greater than the perimeter of the house.

Well, he couldn't go outside the house due to the sun, so well...

Also, there are no drawbacks like losing control of his own body when possessing Ryoma. It's like having two bodies at the same time, it was a really weird feeling but Arthur got used to it fairly easily. If it was because he created an extra brain, then he's glad he did so.

(A/n: No cloning in this novel! )

Skill -

Infected-Demon Manipulation: It allows him to control the infected demons. Forces the demons to obey Arthur. It instills an unshakeable sense of loyalty towards him in them. Allows Arthur to telepathically convey his orders and thoughts to the intended infected demon. Allows him to alter the body and mind of the infected demon.

Infected-Demon Possession: It allows him to completely possess Ryoma (Possibly other Infected-Demons too), without losing control of his own body. He can also simply share Ryoma's senses without taking control of his body.

Arthur sighed, cracking his neck, though not from tiredness but out of habit. Right now, he was typing out his observations on the tablet, he had a perfect memory, he didn't need to do this but again, he just liked doing so.

Coming to the infected demon, Ryoma, even after getting infected by the undead, his appearance didn't much except for that slight grey completion of his skin and visible nerves all over his body.

Okay, that's a lot of changes, but at least he wasn't decaying like ordinary undeads.

Also, there were no major changes in his personality as well or his way of thinking, just that he was now truly reverent to Arthur.

In the past, Ryoma would always curse Arthur in his mind but now he can't even think of doing such a sin.

Right now, Ryoma was cooking food for Arthur. His lord had shared the recipe for the food telepathically, it was instantaneous and extremely effective.

Ryoma was given all of Arthur's prawn-cooking experience when Arthur entered Ryoma's mind and give him his memories of making the dish.

Arthur had tried to give Ryoma all his cooking experience in order to make him as adept at cooking as him. He was also planning to grant Ryoma some of his martial art skills after he confirms whether granting just memories to the demon equals to gaining all the experience of his.

If it was possible then then in the future he could have an army of equally adept and competent subordinates. The versatility and applications of this skill were amazing.

.

.

.

.

The plate clattered on the table as Ryoma put it in front of Arthur. The infected demon after serving the dish to his lord took a few steps back as he observed his lord's face in anticipation to see his expression.

Arthur groaned internally seeing the excited demon, 'Ugh, would've been way better if it was a cute female demon showing such expressions...'

Shrugging, Arthur brought the spoon near his mouth... but then...

"Oh, you are eating right now?"

'Huh?'

His eyes widened as he sensed a new presence that just arrived, Arthur's teeth gritted themselves as his guard instinctively rose in defense.

He turned his head to look at the new presence with his crystal-like blue eyes and literal question mark embedded in his pupils.

'Akaza...'

Akaza, the upper moon three. As the name suggests, he was the third most powerful subordinate of Muzan. Arthur realized it was him from all the bluish-black vertical strips covering his face and the characteristic red hair.

As Akaza noticed Arthur's questioning gaze, his frown deepened, but he understood his confusion. "I am Akaza."

Leaving the bowl on the table, Arthur stood up. He didn't foresee this situation, why would an upper-rank demon come to meet him.

Upper moons rarely ever met each other. He knew that Akaza wasn't here for introductions or idle chatter. Demons did not concern themselves with each other's affairs. Did Muzan order him? But why would he do that?

Was he just overthinking it? Akaza wasn't releasing any malicious intents... maybe it really was for just basic introductions or he was just here to gauge Arthur's level? Well, Arthur was a rather special case among upper moons... Muzan himself was the one to recruit him after all. So it was plausible...

Arthur smiled, "I'm Heito. It's nice to meet you too, Akaza-don—"

"So," Akaza interrupted Arthur with a small but challenging smile on his face, "How were you able to release that demon from the great one's curse?"

"..."

An eerie silence descended upon the room, and the tension only increased as time passed. The clock ticked, and an intimidating, chilling aura oozed out from Akaza.

"Ho? Why are you silent?" Akaza asked, a hint of anger laced in his voice.

It was all over for Arthur now. Managing to find a way to release other demons from Muzan's curse meant immediate execution. His role as Muzan's newly appointed subordinate was done for now! All the privileges, all the inside information... he was fucking done.

Since Akaza was here, it was confirmed that Muzan knew about this information and had been the one to send him. Muzan must hate that a demon got out of his control, more so due to him, Heito!

Arthur just got a bounty on his head, didn't he?

But how? How did they know?

Fuck it!

Fuck it

More than that, though...

Fuck it!

Fuck it all!

All his carefully calculated plans had gone down the drain...

Arthur sighed, calming his heart and mind in an instant. "I didn't even know he broke the curse before this momen—"

BAAAaaaaaaaaaaanNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG

Akaza smiled as he just punched the shit out of the newbie demon, "You shouldn't lie, Traitor!" He muttered.

Arthur was hurled out of the house, the walls of the house broke due to the impact, crumbling like paper.

He collided with several trees and was dragged tens of meters along the ground, dirt exploding on impact as his insane momentum gradually ceased.

=========

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