July 1991, Chelmsford, Branded Manor Basement.
"Nios! I'm back! I've 'canned' what you wanted for you!"
Azazel's characteristic, somewhat boastful yet tired shout came from the stairwell, accompanied by his heavy footsteps.
"Creak."
The old, weathered wooden door to the basement was pushed open.
Azazel walked in with his short legs, and the first thing he saw was Nios, lounging lazily in mid-air like a zero-gravity salted fish, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"You really are quite idle!"
Azazel placed his bulging backpack on the ground.
"I'm practically exhausted! Do you know how much trouble it was to steal... no, to 'can' these things?"
"You've worked hard~"
Nios's voice was unruffled, his body still floating motionless.
"Will it really succeed this time?"
Azazel grumbled as he pulled things out of his backpack, carefully arranging them on the ground.
"The stuff you refined before either tasted weird or had no taste at all!"
"Especially that little pink one; only its color was cute, but it tasted even less flavorful than purified water!"
little pink was a pink, jelly-like substance Nios inadvertently created.
"Absolutely no problem this time."
Nios finally floated down slowly, turned towards Azazel, and spread his hands.
"Last time I just forgot to account for the container, and also, little pink clearly has a chewy texture and melts in your mouth; it's your taste buds that are underdeveloped."
His tone was as flat as if stating an objective fact.
"The good thing about it is that it has absolutely no taste! What's the difference between eating it and drinking the northwest wind?!"
Azazel rolled his eyes, carefully placing the last few ingredients.
"Give me the alchemy array! If it fails again this time, I'm not going to 'can' anything anymore, it's too dangerous!"
"Here you go."
Nios seemed too lazy to bother with Azazel's chatter, pulling a neatly folded piece of thick black cloth from his translucent body and tossing it over.
Azazel fumbled to catch it, still mumbling.
"No demon has it as bad as me! Every day it's either cleaning or repairing your broken manor, and now I even have to run around among humans to be a thief for you!"
He complained while deftly unfolding the black cloth, spreading it flat in the center of the cleaned floor.
On the black cloth, a complex and bizarre alchemy array was outlined with faint phosphorescent white paint.
Twisted geometric lines, nested symbols, and numerous annotations written in an ancient language collectively formed an unsettling pattern.
Even with just a cursory glance, one could feel the forbidden knowledge contained within it, concerning human body construction, matter decomposition and recombination, and life refinement.
"Hurry and start!"
Azazel stepped back two paces, pointing at the alchemy array.
"Don't be lazy and make me operate the core circuit this time! Last time it almost exploded, thankfully it wasn't my fault, otherwise I can't even imagine how you'd torment me!"
He nervously touched his belly, still feeling the lingering fear.
Nios did not respond to Azazel's rambling.
His gaze swept over the materials piled on the ground, pausing imperceptibly.
"Ah!"
A sudden cry of pain erupted from Azazel's mouth!
He was instantly struck as if by an invisible whip, curling up and falling to the ground, writhing in agony. This was Nios using a spell from the demon book to punish demons.
"The materials... are they a bit scarce?"
Nios's cold voice rang out, looking down at the wriggling plush toy on the ground.
"Ha... ha... it's... it's those humans..."
Azazel gasped in pain, explaining with difficulty.
"The warehouse... the security has tightened... they've started to get suspicious... I could only get this much..."
"Don't harbor any improper thoughts."
Nios's voice carried an icy chill. With an invisible grab, Azazel was lifted by an unseen force, suspended in mid-air.
"Remember your place!"
Before he finished speaking, Azazel was violently flung away.
"Splat."
Azazel's entire face slammed squarely against the cold stone wall.
"Okay..."
A muffled, nasal voice came from the wall, followed by a small hand reaching out with difficulty from beside his face, giving Nios a defiant thumbs-up.
Nios no longer paid attention to the decoration on the wall.
He refocused on the pile of materials on the ground. An invisible force swept over each item, precisely evaluating their quality and quantity.
A few seconds later, an almost inaudible sigh dissipated into the silence.
"Sigh... it seems I can only make a child's body."
Nios's tone carried obvious disdain.
"Growing up slowly is too troublesome."
He added, as if complaining about a design flaw.
"Growing up slowly is normal, isn't it?!"
Azazel finally 'popped' himself off the wall, a clear red mark on his face and two comical wads of tissue stuffed in his nose to stop the bleeding.
"Who is born an adult?!"
"Athena..."
Nios turned his head, gazing at Azazel's comical dog face with its red mark and tissues.
"That's a myth!"
Azazel roared.
"Do you think you, a demon, are qualified to complain about the unreasonableness of myths...?"
Nios's tone was flat.
Azazel froze, then his face suddenly flushed crimson.
"Well... well, that's still more reliable than you! Do you think you, a ghost who signs demons through threats and frozen lamb legs, are qualified to say that?!"
"Don't waste time."
Nios crossed his arms, and the light ball seemed to flicker.
"Time to work."
Azazel was so choked up he almost couldn't breathe, but ultimately chose strategic silence, standing aside with his arms crossed in a huff.
"...Fine! Please, great Creator!"
Nios turned, facing the alchemy array and materials on the ground.
He raised one hand, and an invisible magic surged, slowly lifting the materials from the ground, suspending them steadily directly above the alchemy array.
Immediately after, a ghostly blue fire erupted from his right palm, precisely enveloping all the materials!
Hiss!
The various materials rapidly softened and deformed in the ghostly fire, eventually transforming into a shimmering, constantly swirling and shifting turbid liquid.
Nios immediately extinguished the ghostly fire.
He extended both hands, his fingers subtly moving, and the liquid instantly began to spin at high speed!
Different components were forcibly separated, collided, and then re-fused under the powerful magical control. The color gradually became uniform, translucent, emitting a strange energy fluctuation.
"Tsk, tsk, such amazing water control."
Azazel watched from the side, clicking his tongue in wonder, unable to resist saying something rude.
"It's a waste of talent not to work as a washing machine in a laundry room! It washes fast and clean, with no water stains!"
Nios's movements in controlling the liquid did not pause in the slightest, only his light-ball-shaped head turned very slowly in Azazel's direction.
"Hehe... You continue, you continue..."
Azazel shrank his neck, gave two awkward dry laughs, and made a 'please' gesture.
The spinning stopped.
Under Nios's precise shaping, the liquid slowly stretched and condensed, gradually outlining a vague, roughly eleven or twelve-year-old child-sized human silhouette. The rudimentary forms of limbs, torso, and head were clearly visible, emitting a warm, jade-like glow.
"Is it ready?"
Azazel leaned in a little, curiously examining the floating liquid human form.
"Mm..."
Nios replied indifferently.
"And then? It's time..."
Azazel's question was cut short as his pupils suddenly constricted!
"Holy crap! Could you tell me before you start?!"
Nios, without any warning, suddenly slammed his palms onto the alchemy array!
At the same time, his entire ghostly blue figure transformed into a streak of light, rushing fearlessly towards the humanoid liquid!
Boom!
The alchemy array, along with the floating humanoid liquid, suddenly erupted in blinding pure white light!
The light instantly engulfed the entire basement!
Azazel, who had been staring intently out of curiosity, was caught off guard and hit with a full flash. His vision instantly became a scorching blank, accompanied by an agonizing burning sensation in his eyeballs!
"My eyes!! Nios, you bastard—!!!"
Azazel's heart-wrenching scream was drowned in the pure sea of light.