Demonization is a method of injecting Demonic Factors into a human or other creature, granting them demonic power.
Because of genetic rejection between different life-forms, the procedure carries considerable risk and the experimental mortality rate is extremely high.
So the new power this man claimed he'd gained was Demon Power!
Does that mean the force behind him is connected to demons?!!
In this world, ordinary demons are nothing special.
The only demonic faction that poses a mortal threat to humans and can still experiment on them—turning humans into demons—is one alone!
Tartaros!
"You're talking about Demonization?!"
"This is Demon Power?!"
Precht was startled by what Weston said.
In the Magic World—or rather, in common perception—demons are terrifyingly powerful, ruthless, cold-blooded killers who treat human life like dirt.
They are the enemies of all mankind.
Yet now these Dark Guild thugs, for the sake of power, choose to side with demons—an outright betrayal of humanity!
"You brat… you actually know about this power?!"
Hearing Weston identify the source of his power at a glance, Mark was shocked.
After entering his demon state, he'd lost every trace of a human appearance, and even his voice turned hoarse and deep, like a beast growling when he spoke.
"Rumors say your spell Super Ancient Document can search for all information in the world. I always thought that was mostly boasting—never expected it to be true."
"Since that's the case, you must know something about that organization, right?"
"Those… self-proclaimed 'Tartaros' guys!"
Tartaros… it really is them!!
The name was still unfamiliar to everyone present.
But to Weston it was quite familiar.
He didn't just know it—he could list every powerful demon inside it.
It was a guild made up entirely of Etherious from Zeref's Books.
The demons inside were created by Zeref in his early years to kill himself.
Later, Zeref realized these demons were too weak to accomplish that, so he abandoned the entire bookshelf.
Afterward, a relatively mighty demon—Mard Geer, the 'Underworld King'—took control of the survivors and has been hiding in the shadows of Ishgar, quietly pursuing his plan:
to lead the demons back to Zeref's side and fulfill the program implanted in their genetic code—
kill Zeref!
According to the timeline, a century later Tartaros would ally with Oración Seis and Grimoire Heart as the Balam Alliance, the three titanic Dark Guilds.
"Didn't expect those guys to be stirring even this early."
Startled by the name, Weston silently calculated the timeline.
In the original story, it was only mentioned that Tartaros was created by Zeref in his early years, but no specific date was given.
Yet the story did say Zeref headed to the Western Continent around this period to start his 'magical-empire wargame'."
And the reason he began that empire game was precisely because he found the Etherious lacking in power.
Put the two together and the conclusion was obvious—
the Etherious had just been abandoned by Zeref!
In other words, Tartaros had only recently been founded.
Maybe a few years, maybe decades—at most a century.
'Underworld King' Mard Geer's first step toward finding Zeref and boosting Tartaros's influence was to expand its forces.
Clearly, recruiting powerful Mages and implanting demon factors to demonize them is one of his methods.
And Mark, guild master of the Dark Night Poison Scorpions, is one of the chosen 'human test subjects'.
"What a pitiful guy."
"For power's sake you'd give up your very humanity?"
Weston's word 'pitiful' was naturally directed at Mark.
His gaze carried pity as he looked at the man.
But all he got in return was hopeless mockery.
"What could someone like you possibly understand?"
"Only with power can I gain more; as long as I'm strong enough, I can have everything in this world!"
"Then whether I'm human or demon—what difference does it make?!"
Mark lifted his right foot and stomped hard on the ground.
Boom—!!
The earth split beneath him; the ground shook for dozens of meters around.
He extended his right arm and smashed a nearby boulder.
Crash—!!
The rock shattered into dozens of pieces, fragments rolling to Weston's feet.
Then he looked at Weston triumphantly.
"See that?"
"After Demonization, a casual strike from me carries that much destructive force!"
"Such strength, such a fulfilling feeling—how could you ever understand it?"
"According to those guys, the technique was only recently developed and is still immature, with a success rate under 0.3 percent—far from widespread use."
"Me included, there've been fewer than ten successful cases so far, and I have the highest Demonization rate—fifty-five percent!"
"Do you know what that means?"
Weston: "..."
Mark threw his head back and laughed wildly.
"It means I'm a genius, chosen by heaven!!"
"You… Fairy Commander?"
"You may have been impressive in the past, a big shot now, but in the future weaklings like you are destined to become stepping-stones beneath my feet!!"
Weston's gaze turned ice-cold.
"Hmph… big words for someone trapped in a magic circle."
"Climb out first, then you can show off."
Mark merely laughed instead of fearing.
"If I'm not mistaken, that's Formula Magic, right?"
The rules of a Spell Formula are absolute: anyone who touches the barrier will be burned by fire!"
"But… will your rule still work against a 'demon' who touches the barrier?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Mark gathered all his strength and burst his magic power.
A dark, filthy, icy, stinking magic erupted from his body.
"Dark Torrent!!"
With a roar, the violent magic turned into a flood of dark energy that shot from his palm and slammed into the barrier.
The array's passive triggered at once.
Flames ignited, trying to climb up the dark energy and counter-flow toward Mark.
But the next instant the fire was devoured by the sinister aura within the darkness and vanished without a trace!
Bang—!!
Finally the dark energy shattered the array's shackles and surged straight for Weston!!