Chapter 548: Demon Banquet

Standing before the mirror, Luke removed the eyepatch and studied Sariel’s Eye. Just keeping it open was exhausting, not magically, but mentally. It made him appreciate Willpower in a whole new way.

Before inheriting the eye, he’d only known two things about it: the natural skills [Sariel’s Identify] and [Rank Skill Devourer], the latter allowing him to steal a rank skill from someone in the moment of death. But there was something he hadn’t expected. If he used the eye’s Identify on himself through a reflection, things became… more interesting.

[Eye of Sariel (Unique)]

Description: They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. This one is a shattered fragment of it. The Eye of Sariel carries the wounded remnant of a being that was once an archangel of immense power. Over time, its greatness crumbled, reducing it to a thief of bodies, desperate to continue existing yet incapable of understanding its own purpose.

Instead of guiding the lesser beings back to their home, Sariel chose to walk among them, taking what was never his. What he failed to foresee was that among those lesser beings existed something cunning, patient, and malevolent.

A demon.

This eye is all that remains. Not redemption, only echoes.

Enchantments:

[Sariel’s Identify (Unique)]: Sariel possessed an absolute gift of analysis, capable of seeing souls, systems, and hidden truths. The fragment preserved within this eye, though weakened, allows the user to analyze items and reveal deep information. However, the quality and depth of the analysis vary according to the complexity of the target, reflecting what remains of Sariel’s true power.

[Rank Skill Devourer (Unique)]: Even reduced to a fragment, the eye retains a trace of Sariel’s ancient hunger for knowledge and power. It can devour a Rank skill, absorbing its essence and claiming that power as its own.

Rank Skill Slot: [Echoes of Death (Rank F)], [Rank Slot Locked]

Requirement: SoulBound.

Secondary Skills: [Sensitivity to Mana], [Accelerated Regeneration], [Mana Recovery], [360-Degree Vision], [Long-Distance Sight], [Mythic Immunity: Blindness], [Mythic Immunity: Charm], [Mythic Immunity: Hypnosis], [Mythic Immunity: Intimidation], [Mythic Immunity: Panic], [Temporal Resistance], [Archangel’s Eye]

The sheer number of passive secondary skills explained why Luke’s mind felt wrung out whenever he wasn’t wearing the eyepatch. At least he’d learned how to disable most of them, easing the pressure the eye dumped directly into his brain. But the second Rank Skill slot was still there. Waiting.

The skill allowed him to take a second Rank Skill, but it was still locked. His best guess was that it would unlock when he advanced to the next rank… whichever rank that happened to be. That was a problem for future Luke.

The secondary skill didn’t display rarity markers. He suspected they simply matched his own rank.

“I think it’s time.”

He stepped out of the bathroom and headed toward Angie and Charlie.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone in Azazel’s realm, and my body will remain here.”

“We’ll watch over it,” Angie said.

“Yes,” Charlie added quickly.

“Girls, since he won’t be conscious… this is the perfect chance to do questionable things to him,” Artemis chimed in.

“Stop talking nonsense,” Luke said.

He lay down on the bed. Charlie’s face was bright red.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you, Master Luke,” she whispered.

“I’ll see you both soon.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Angie told him.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Luke poured mana into the invitation. It darkened, shimmered, and vanished. A wave of exhaustion hit him immediately. One blink later he was still sitting, then his body slumped back onto the bed.

This is weird.

He was in some kind of astral projection. His physical form began fading as he was transported.

I hope I finally learn what Event 51 is.

He was pulled upward, passing through the ceiling, shooting into the sky. Then the stratosphere. Then space. His speed climbed so sharply that the world blurred into darkness. Moments later he was streaking through a tunnel of swirling colors, like a rainbow made of starlight.

When he stopped, the sensation was like slamming on the brakes of a speeding car. He stumbled and hit the floor.

That was intense.

He touched his clothes, his arms, his chest. Everything felt solid. Physical. Or something very close to it. He stood inside a dimly lit room.

“You’re late,” a voice said behind him.

“Samael?” he asked.

The voice was the same, but the appearance wasn’t. A red-skinned figure with horns and a tail stood there, wearing an ornate robe.

“Oh, right. That’s not how you first met me.”

His form rippled, shifting into the sharply dressed man Luke remembered, horns still visible.

“There. Now I’m familiar.”