“I suppose it would be appropriate for me to ask, is this room secure? Is there a chance we will be overheard?” Runfar asked. He looked around to make sure none was trying to overhear them

“Words spoken here are for our ears only; I made sure of it” young boy answered. Unlike what his stature implied, he walked confidently, his voice seemingly without any hint of fear.

The child had told Lady Rainu Wesel that everything would be ok and to leave them alone in a room to speak. Rainu left with great hesitation and reluctance, it was obvious she was very much worried about this child.

Now that they were alone in the room, Morphus unfolded his pure white wings. They extended out of his back, seemingly glowing with pure shade of white.

“You don’t seem surprised to see them, sir. Auntie Rainu had quite a reaction.”

“Let’s just say you are not the first angel I have seen. To be precise you are the third angel I have encountered so far.” Runfar shrugged.

“Is that so? You must have some crazy kind of luck.”

“Anyways, it is pleasure to meet you, Morphus.”

“Actually, this is not the first time we have met.” Morphus chimed in, in his childish voice.

“Really? How so?” Runfar could not recall ever meeting Morphus before today.

“Well, this is the first time you are meeting me in a human body, but when I was occupying the body of an animal, I met you once.”

“Are you sure that was me?”

“I am quite certain, sir. Your outward appearance may have changed, but the state of your soul is still different from anyone else I have met, it is very easy to recognize.”

“I see; did I make a good first impression, then?”

“When I was occupying the body of a canine, you tried to cook me over the bonfire and eat me.” Morphus’s expression expressed pure terror; apparently he was still traumatized after that experience.

Canine…He means a dog….over a bonfire….Wait; does that mean he was that dog?!

Runfar’s mind placed the two and two together in realization.

“That white dog was you?!”

“Yes.” Morphus nodded. He looked like he was struggling not to panic.

“Well, this is awkward. I was hungry and desperate. Sorry.”

“No worries, from now on I will stay clear of dogs. Nay, I shall never occupy dog’s body ever again.” Apparently due to this experience, dogs had become a sensitive topic to Morphus.

“Occupy a body, huh? Don’t you have your own body? The other angels I have met did not seem to need to wear anyone as a meat suit.”

“It is probably because those angels are not free. When an angel in this world ends up subservient to a deity, they are given their own bodies, but in our natural state, at least within this world, we don’t have bodies. We are like ghosts in some sense, but slightly different.”

“I suppose you wish to hide that you are an angel?”

“Indeed, if the gods find out there is a free angel walking the earth they will do anything in their power to either enslave me or destroy me. Gods are some scary folks.”

“And you are telling me all of this, why? What makes you think that I will not give you up to the gods?”

“Because you have a deity’s curse cast upon your soul. I can see it rather clearly, I don’t know who the god who put it on you is, but I would imagine that you are not exactly someone who is well liked by gods. Last thing you would want it attract attention of gods.”

“So you can see the curse upon me as well, huh. However, I am curious. What exactly is a curse, if cast by a god?”

“Curse are not too different from blessings, power bestowed upon mortal, the function is practically the same, but unlike blessing over which the user has control over, the person affected by a curse has absolutely no control over it. Curses are designed to torment mortals till they break.”

“Very true. What else can your eyes see?” Runfar curiously asked.

“Well, for starters, you don’t have a complete soul, only one half of what one normally is supposed to have, and it is fused with thousands of dead souls, creating a one amalgam whole. How in the world did you damage your soul to this extent?”

Well, this angel kid is something; he is able to see through me to this extent, I might as well try to tell him the truth first hand, without hiding my identity as Dark Lord. I feel as though that would be the best approach.

If this approach fails to bring results, I will try again in the next loop.

“Beats me, as far I know, it has always been this way.”

“How curious. Your soul also seems to be stained by a powerful creature’s blood, a dragon, perhaps?”

“Yes.”

“You must have quite a life.” Young boy smiled meekly.

“Are the rumors true? Do you possess great healing power?”

“I can restore and fix things to a certain extent, but I cannot recreate something that is lost, that requires huge amount of mana to do so, and my vessel does not have that much mana.”

“Don’t you use the mana of the body you are occupying in order to heal?”

“Oh no, I am using my own energy, it is quite different from mana. However, using it too much places strain upon the vessel, if used too much the vessel will be destroyed, leaving me disembodied again.”

“Speaking of your vessel, who is it?”

“It is the first human body I managed to find after leaving the body of the dog. Apparently this boy was trying to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff, I found his body mangled and slowly dying. His willpower was waning, so I was able to possess him. But I ended up placing too much of a strain on his body on my way to this place, so the body gave out, when I came to I was inside this temple. To show my gratitude, I healed those with ailments or injuries.”

“I see.”

“But your case is curious, despite missing flesh over almost the entire right half of your body, your body does not seem injured. At first I wasn’t sure whether you have become an undead or something.”

“Do your eyes see everything?”

“Not everything, but looking through clothing and seeing people’ souls is an easy matter for angels.”

Just as I thought, there is no hiding anything from this angel…

“So if you were to look at a sister in a temple, would you be able to tell whether she is wearing underwear?”

“That would be simple, but why?” as smart as he was, Morphus seemed to only have the maturity of a child.

“Never mind. I suppose the main reason I wanted to talk to you was to ask you, would you like to work for me? I understand that you might think of this temple as your home, but I believe there are far more things someone with your talents can accomplish. Of course, I will keep you being an angel secret and you will be safe in my territory. So what do you say?”

Runfar made a straight forward move with this proposal. If this angel can see through him to such an extent, he might as well cut to the chase.

His type of power was too much of a waste to not to harness for his organization, Shadow Lords. If he refuses, then Dark Lord will end his life, he knew too much to be left off the hook.

“I accept.”

“That was fast! Don’t you have any conditions or hesitation?” Runfar was genuinely surprised at how fast Morphus agreed to be his subordinate.

“Well, if I work for you, you are far less likely to out me as angel than anyone in the temple. They keep attracting more and more people by telling everyone of me as some kind of a miracle child. Eventually, someone will arrive who will recognize me for what I am and then I will be saying good bye to my life. I would rather serve someone who has similar interest as me in terms of staying out of sight of the deities.”

Before Runfar could extend his hand to shake Morphus’s hand, Morphus muttered.

“However, I regret to inform you that I cannot make a contract with you, for I do not possess a soul to make contract with. So, you will have to take my word for it. Sorry.”

“That is fine.” Runfar shrugged.

“There is also another matter, this vessel I am occupying cannot contain me for much longer, if I exit it for a long time, the gods will sense my presence and will find me for sure. I need another body to occupy while this body recuperates after the pressure of housing me for so long. If I stay any longer in this body, then I fear the body will melt away, and I will be exposed.”

“Will a corpse do for a body?”

“Afraid not, the vessel has to be alive, even if barely. This vessel, without my presence within it, will be in a comatose state, but still alive. In order for me to occupy someone’s body either the will of the vessel has to be weak enough for me to take over or the vessel must allow me to enter, otherwise, someone with strong will can easily expel me out of the body.”

“I see; when you occupy someone’s body, do you take over their thoughts or can you let the vessel keep in control?”

“I can stay dormant within the vessel, if that is what you mean. The vessel I would be wearing wouldn’t even notice I was there if I stay dormant within the body.”

“Sounds convenient. In that case, how about this, I will officially hire you as my page, and when you shall arrive at my territory, you can leave your body and occupy me until your vessel becomes usable again. So how about it?”

“Sounds like a fair proposal. Thank you for your consideration. I accept. However, are you sure you are ok with me occupying your body? It is not easy to house an angel within your body; in fact it puts a lot of pressure on the vessel, are you really fine with that? I can occupy body of anyone else if they are weak enough of will, you know?”

“No, I would rather have you use my body as a substitute vessel, that way I have far less things to worry about.”

“Although I already promised to serve you, sire, would you please tell me, what is your goal?”

I will have to tell him sooner or later, I would much rather it be sooner…

“I wish to destroy this entire kingdom.”

“My, my, such an ambition! But what of humanity and gods?” Morphus hesitantly asked.

“If they come in my way, I will deal with them. And if opportunity presents itself, I will kill them.”

“I don’t mean to insult you, but to anyone else, this would sound like madness, but if that is your goal, then I shall oblige accordingly, it is the least I can do for someone who can give me safe haven from gods.”

“I am glad you understand.”

“But please know, I have my own goal as well: Finding an entrance to Purgatory in order to retrieve a certain someone. Until I find it, I shall be in your care.”

Morphus made a slight bow, but due to his little body, it looked a little funny.

“Be warned, there will be a lot of bloodshed ahead.”

“Human realm is full of such things, it is not surprising.”

“Good.”

Morphus was practically beaming with a smile, so was Dark Lord. It seems like Dark Lord finally found a subordinate who thought on the same frequency as he did.

“But sire, you have yet to tell me your name, please do tell it to your humble aid?”

“It is Runfar Sevilles, at least for now. But among my trusted subordinates, I am known as the Dark Lord.”

“Dark Lord…What a strange name, sire, how can you trust me after meeting me only once, though, to reveal something that could only be your secret identity? Are you perhaps too trusting of a person, perhaps?”

“I would say quite the opposite. While I am generous in my offers, I do not tolerate betrayal. If you betray me, even gods will not save you, do you understand?”

“Of course, sire, I will be looking forward to working with you!”

“And stop calling me sire, it is very irritating! Just master is fine.”

“As you wish, master.”

Just like that, another member joined the Shadow Lords.