Chapter 4: Losing Everything, a monster awakens [Part 3]

Cindy watched as Damien writhed in pain, the fact that he wasn’t even able to speak and was instead howling like an animal was proof of how strong his bond with the deity was.

’That’s not a simple pact, the deity is obviously merging with Damien...’

She didn’t turn her eyes away and instead watched as Damien’s body transformed-

"That-"

Then, she noticed it, above Damien were two symbols

ꋪ҉ꍏ҉ꀤ҉ꀸ҉ꍟ҉ꈤ҉ ҉ꋪ҉ꀎ҉ꀸ҉ꋪ҉ꍏ҉

The symbols were familiar to her, it was based on the texts that her grandmother taught her but it was near impossible to memorize.

Not because she was dumb, far from it, Cindy was smart, smarter than her peers but the text was of a language that was connected to supernatural powers.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t memorize them, Cindy was not allowed to even remember them.

In fact, just being able to recall one of the letters allowed her to gain unfathomable power as a witch. Fortunately, she was able to make two letters-

"RR?"

The text was composed of two words, both of which started with R. Cindy thought about the significance of the text and-

"No way..."

She recalled a myth, it was said that Merlin was the son of a succubus, this made him an incubus by nature. As such, Merlin could be considered as "half-demon", a naturally magical being which laid credence to his magical ability.

Though, while modern depictions of such demons, succubi and incubi are that of weak creatures that only suck humans, figuratively and literally, the reality of their existence was far from that.

Fiction painted succubi and incubi was "bottom of the barrel" demons, members of the magical races that belonged to the lowest class of beings but that was far from it.

Unlike depictions of magic and mystical powers in fiction that revolve around "energy manipulation", the true essence of magic was "rule" and "control".

The magical races used various methods to manipulate the world, to bend reality to their will.

But the most powerful method of manipulation was not based on control, it was based on charm.

The Fae were depicted as naturally attractive, not because they had gorgeous appearances, no, it was because the world bent to their wills.

Human researchers focused on science claim that legends of "Fairy Paths" were simply folk tales teaching future generations to walk on the path carved out by living beings.

It’s called animal trails or roads made from the constant use of such paths. A naturally occurring mark on the land forged by traversal of countless creatures over and over again.

Though the real source of such legend was the act of Fae moving unimpeded through terrain. They made forest split, mountains to rise and even bodies of water to "give way".

It wasn’t that the Fae used their natural energy to manipulate nature- nature simply followed the wishes of the Fae.

"I thought I’ll see someone awaken powers beyond understanding, this is way beyond even that!"

Cindy complained as she watched the crimson text that formed above Damien to merge onto the young man’s body.

This immediately caused a physical change, Damien’s body morphed, transforming itself.

Before his appearance was "normal" it was a face that could be spotted anywhere. An appearance that blended into the crowd as some may say.

But now?

The moment the crimson text merged into his body, Damien’s image had transformed into a "perfect image".

Even among the most handsome men, there would be slight imperfections on their countenance. Minor deviances to their image that would not match the preferred appearance that others would be attracted to.

"Is this charm?"

Cindy wondered aloud as she stared at Damien’s increasingly handsome countenance.

While his appearance did change, there was only a slight shift in his appearance. In fact, the change didn’t even look like Damien had plastic surgery.

Instead, his form remained largely the same as before but a different air about him gave his appearance more... refined- no, perfect image.

Fortunately for Cindy, she was a witch who had a bit of resistance due to her own charm but now that she thought about it-

"He didn’t get attracted to me?"

She hid herself not because she had to or was worried about shocking him.

In fact, the gun Damien had posed no threat to her. It was loaded with bullets meant to kill humans, not witches.

But even for weapons specifically designed to murder witches, few could even hope to graze Cindy.

After all, witches borrowed powers from supernatural beings. This meant that their magic would be largely tied to the being they contracted with.

Cindy obviously contracted with the Deity that had merged with Damien, that deity’s ability was similar to that of Fae.

This gave Cindy a power of attraction that would make any celebrity jealous.

It was a natural charm which he hid through layers of make up concocted through alchemy and filled with curses.

The disguises she wore bore no effect on nature but it had a huge effect on humans.

Yet, that still did not stop people from getting attracted to her.

What’s worse is that the recent rise in "goth beauties" came from witches who tried to skirt the magical laws by lightening their disguises but not completely removing it. This created a wave of idiots who fell for the weak charm that many witches gave off.

Cindy? Her power was so great that she had to use actual magic to mask her presence.

She couldn’t even peacefully live her life without using magic to prevent people from taking notice of her.

But Damien had a clear look at her, moreover, she was at home so she wasn’t wearing any pants-

She was wearing dolphin shorts but... her oversized hoodie made it look like she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

Despite her alluring look, Damien remained unaffected-

"Having a stronger charm really does prevent you from getting affected by others..."

Although it was not true for all systems, at least, in the system of Fae and many other spirits, having a greater level of charm would allow one to overpower others with weaker charm.

That is the reason why the real nature of succubi and incubi are not low level demons but something closer to what modern day people would call "demon lords".

Their control over the rules were so great that they could do whatever they wanted.

Such is why many stories of rulers’ downfalls start with lovers.

Manipulation of people in power was a game to beings who can’t be affected by anything.

So long as they don’t face beings using a different system of magic, succubi and incubi are basically immortal.

Unfortunately, the rise of faith as a medium for magic had shifted the playing field. Belief was a power that allowed the thoughts of many to fall upon the shoulders of one man.

The reason why monarchies "ordained by God" lasted longer and were felled by war and internal strife rather than a lover was due to their inherent power.

When millions believe that their ruler carries the name of God, their reverence becomes the fuel to the ruler’s strength.

But as plague and famine spread, people start to believe that the Ruler has gone astray, away from God and so the punishment befell them.

While modern researchers believe that the fall of nations ruled by divine will were borne from mismanagement that led to revolution. They fail to ask- "why did the revolution succeed?".

It was easy to imagine loyal soldiers turning their back on their leaders, but reality made it hard to believe that such events came so easily.

Those in power could pay off the commanders who would then bribe the soldiers. Peasants who were sick and starving could not fight against the ruling class and would have likely become slaves.

Yet- revolutions came with natural disasters, famine and plague would more strongly affect the fallen ruler.

The power of belief that served as fuel to ensure the power and strength of rulers, once flipped, it would become a curse. An unintentional curse powered by the anger and hate of the suffering subjects.

Which is why many of the modern religions follow deities and supernatural beings who "could do no wrong".

Success is a blessing while suffering is a punishment.

If you are successful then the God you believe in is rewarding you.

If you are suffering, then God is punishing you for a sin you may not know you committed.

By directing the power of belief towards an idea, those that know how to properly invoke the being made of belief could use the power accumulated through the belief of billions of people throughout countless years.

On the other hand, the system that used natural charm was a special system that could not be used by just anyone. It was a system that focused completely on individual talent which is what made populations of non clergy magic users to always be low.

"This is annoying"

Cindy muttered as she found herself cradling Damien’s head on her lap. It was an instinctive action, one that her body moved to do as she thought over the knowledge and information she had gained throughout the years.

While Cindy was doing her darndest to control her own instincts, Damien was inside a vast empty space facing what looked to be a Goddess.

"Honestly... I pictured a male God"

[Are you gay?]

"What kind of deity responds with THAT"

[A deity who doesn’t understand how you could come up with such thoughts]

"Huh? Can’t you read my thoughts?"

[You’ve already awakened, reading your thoughts would put me in an unfavorable situation]

"How?"

[...]