The flames of war spread throughout Amidon affecting every class of the society.
With the weakening of central power, Mordek didn't suffer any difficulty in suppressing the opposing forces and conquered every obstacle that was laid in the way.
Angus was chained and was left in the prison to rot until Alex gave any order.
As the news of the collapse of the Capital reached everywhere, most of them gave up on resisting fearing their destruction so Mordek was able to make it quick and reach The Capital much earlier than expected.
On reaching the capital, he quickly started to work and the soldiers under him started to manage everything.
Catherine, who was forced to sleep by Alex, woke up quietly and took the reins in managing everything.
With Riya around here, any threat was cut apart before they could bear their fangs.
The tyranny of Angus came to an end and many people were severely executed. The common people that had been oppressed for centuries were finally able to take the air of relief under Catherine's rule.
Christina's wounds had been healed but they left behind a scar on her face and all over her body.
Though she didn't think much about it, Riya and Catherine were worried about her as which lady could bear such a thing.
And on top of that, they were really worried about Alex's condition. There was a minor healer in Amidon but he wasn't able to heal Alex nor he was able to identify what was wrong with him.
While everyone was running around here and there, on the eighth day of the war, Alex's eyelashes fluttered.
Alex tried to open his eyes but his eyelids didn't even bulge. His consciousness was still a flurry and he felt as if he was still in a dream but the dream was anything but sweet.
...
"Aghhhhh!" Alex sobbed painfully as his ears were being pulled from all front.
"Stinky boy, you dare to hide things from us." Goddess Of Lust muttered with an angered tone as he pulled Alex's ears.
"What do you mean by that? I didn't hide anything?" Alex shouted with a wronged expression.
'These old ladies are so unreasonable. When I need them and call for their help they won't even show their face but now since they appeared the first thing they did was pull my ears.'
"You dare to lie in front of us. It seems we need to teach some manners again." The Goddess of War spoke, raising his fist making Alex's whole body tremble in fright.
"Alex, you tricked us. What you did was totally wrong?" The Goddess Of Wisdom spoke with a pouty expression.
"Are you talking about using a forbidden black magic spell and raising my strengths using demonic energy?" Alex asked.
The Goddesses nodded.
"Haa...That was the need of the moment."
"Something like nature's call," Alex spoke with an embossed expression.
"Moreover, Catherine's life was on the line," Alex tried to explain.
"Still, did you forget that things like that disgust us? Even standing around here is utterly disgusting as there is still a trace of that spell lingering around." The Goddess Of Fortune spoke.
"Tell me, when did you get Devil's Eye and that man even taught you his swordsmanship?" The Goddess of War spoke, raising her brows.
"He taught me before I went to Hell."
"And he also taught me some spells and gave me the power to use Devil's Eye," Alex muttered.
Everyone gasped in surprise at hearing Alex's words. Knowing that man, they weren't able to accept that the man taught Alex many things without asking for anything.
Alex noticed their thoughts and explained"That was just a part of the agreement we had before. Also, he was feeling a little guilty for pushing me into the pit"
"Hmmm!"
Goddess Rebecca who was silent for the whole time looked at Alex with an inexplicable expression.
"Alex, when you used the demonic power, did you face any clash against the holy power? "
"In a normal situation, holy power can purify demonic power or if demonic power overwhelms Holy power, one may get cursed."
"So, how did you handle it?" Goddess Rebecca asked.
Alex looked at her and another gaze on him who looked at him with curiosity.
"When I activated Devil's Eye, I cut off the power bestowed upon me and got rid of the holy power. Though I wasn't able to close it properly, it was enough to allow me to use demonic power for a short while." Alex explained.
"Moreover, I guessed the function of the system which acts as a barrier and transfer chain between my power and my guesswork was correct as most of the things became inactive when I used the forbidden spell which didn't give me much pain."
"Even though you make it sound quite easy, forcefully raising power not only damages your body but also one's soul." Goddess Of Rebecca spoke with a solemn expression.
"The spell Devour which he used is not an ordinary spell. When you take one's life essence, it also devours a part of their soul."
"If the soul is not strong enough to endure the burden it may get tainted by other souls and your behaviour might be affected a bit."
"If the person had a strong obsession with something, it may subconsciously get imprinted in your soul and one may slowly start to have an obsession like the original owner."
"Taking too much can change your characteristics and you may slowly start to lose yourself."
Hearing Goddess Rebecca's words, Alex was startled for a moment and his back was already drenched in sweat.
"He didn't tell me this," Alex muttered with a frown.
"Humph!"
"Not everyone is a good teacher like me." Goddess Of War snorted.
Seeing Alex's worried look, the Goddess chuckled.
"You don't have to worry about that. Your soul strength is too much for others to affect you." Goddess Rebecca spoke.
Alex sighed in relief and thought that Devour is a frightening spell.
Maybe many lose themselves and become a maniac using forbidden spells because of this reason.
