Bul-Kathos hammered away at Baal's head in his blacksmith shop.
Infused with Souls of Oblivion and Breaths of Death, the skull was steadily transforming into a metallic artifact.
Each strike of his hammer drew a rhythmic cry from the head.
"Damn, damn, damn! It hurts, hurts, hurts!"
Baal's pained shouts echoed with every blow, his skull hardening under the relentless forging.
Bang!
With a heavier strike, Bul-Kathos paused the process.
The forging wasn't complete, but the demon's head was ready for the next step.
Shrunk to the size of a pendant, it still retained Baal's consciousness—though how much remained after the agonizing ordeal depended on his luck.
"Aaah~"
Baal let out a long, pitiful wail, like a marmot with its tail stepped on.
"Shut up! Or I'll quench you in a toilet!"
Bul-Kathos snapped, finally free from his focused forging. Baal's cries were getting on his nerves.
He didn't notice his own roar was louder than Baal's screams. Outside, Coulson, listening to the commotion, flinched at the barbarian's bellow.
When Bul-Kathos began forging, the agents cleaning the scene had reported the relentless hammering and cries to their superiors.
The news reached Coulson, who drove to the shop and now stood outside, hearing the chaos within.
"Mr. Bul-Kathos, may I come in?"
Coulson knocked, his voice tinged with unease.
Baal had been screaming for hours, making Coulson wonder if Bul-Kathos was subjecting the demon to some cruel torture.
"Coulson, aren't you busy? What brings you here?"
Bul-Kathos opened the door, holding the pendant-sized Baal's head, still radiating heat.
"I heard you were forging a demon, so I came to see for myself."
Coulson eyed the glowing pendant, his expression awkward.
When his subordinates reported Bul-Kathos was forging a living demon, he could hardly believe it.
"Perfect timing. I've got a gift for you."
Bul-Kathos tossed the pendant into a water basin, where it sizzled loudly.
He pulled a necklace from his pocket and handed it to Coulson.
The Amulet of the Great Bear's Wound.
Not a mere trinket, but genuine equipment.
It boosted the wearer's damage by thirty percent and enhanced their constitution.
While it only made Coulson tougher, it was still a form of protection.
At the least, he wouldn't bleed out from injuries.
"A necklace?"
Coulson took the amulet, his eyes still fixed on the bubbling pendant in the basin.
He could hear the head gurgling underwater.
"A gift for your help lately."
Bul-Kathos returned to the room, sitting at the table across from Coulson.
He rummaged in his pack for a drink but found none.
Instead, he sliced his arm with a fingernail, pouring a blood potion into his mouth.
Coulson watched, stunned, as the wound vanished in a blink.
"With that kind of healing, how do you still have scars?"
Coulson thought he'd found a barbarian weakness. If potions erased even scars, how did Bul-Kathos' body bear such marks?
"Wounds from rule-bound forces leave traces. That's all."
Bul-Kathos shrugged.
Most of his scars came from named demons—Throat-Chokers, Plague Kings, Ereson, and the like.
Coulson didn't grasp what "rule-bound forces" meant but tried to understand.
His real goal was the demon forging.
"I heard you're forging a demon?"
Coulson gestured behind him, signaling his team to act—hopefully, they'd catch his hint to buy some liquor.
"That's the one I tossed in the water."
Bul-Kathos pointed to the basin.
"Honestly, I'm curious what it's for."
Coulson slipped the amulet around his neck, feeling his fatigue from endless work melt away.
The boost to constitution was subtle but clear to an exhausted man like him.
Wearing a gift in the giver's presence was local custom.
You opened it in front of them, even wore it, showing deep appreciation to honor the giver.
Coulson, a master of interpersonal finesse, did so effortlessly, but the amulet's power surprised him.
"Just a portable toolbook. One of my juniors wants to learn about demons. I can't exactly discourage his ambition."
Bul-Kathos spoke candidly, treating it as no big deal.
"I can give him fire resistance and better control over flames!"
Baal, gurgling in the water, shouted to prove his worth, his mind muddled from the hammering.
He'd lost all sense of his dire situation, no longer a free, malevolent soul.
"As it said, it's got some use."
Bul-Kathos remarked to Coulson, walking to the basin and lifting Baal's head by its shrunken crown.
"Did you forget what I said about shutting up?"
He held the pendant before his eyes, his voice booming.
He despised anything tied to demons. If not for encouraging Luke's drive, he'd have smashed Baal's consciousness with one swing.
A touch of fire power was enough to make Luke slightly stronger.
The toolbook was just a bonus.
(Chapter End)
-----------------------------------
Want to know what happens next?
Why wait when you can find out before everyone else!
All the latest advanced chapters are waiting for you on Patreon.
Exclusive content, early access and direct support for your favorite series!
Join now and be one of the first to discover what happens next:
👉 pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ
Your support helps me a lot!!