Corey's legs were uncontrollably shivering. Her mind was blank. She was unable to understand what just happened. Not a single sound could be heard at the moment except the music sounds coming from downstairs.
Her eyes watched him slowly stand up from the chair. She wanted to scream but not a single word came out of her mouth. Overwhelming sock had completely taken over her mind and body. His every step towards her made her heartbeat increase. With his fully Lucifer armor equipped, he almost looked 7ft tall. The completely Lucifer form freaked the hell out of Gibson.
Despite the chandelier light, his complete Lucifer form darkened the room. The darkness overshadowed the light. He came behind her. With a flick of his wrist, he retrieved a normal wooden chair from the space ring. He placed his hands on her shoulder as Corey felt a chill running through her spine.
He pushed her down to make her sit on the chair. Just like she did, he ran his fingers through her face. His sharp claw-like gloves slightly hurt her skin but she didn't utter a word.
"You have two choices darling. You can choose to scream and hope your guards arrive before you turn into our friend Sheyan there" he cupped her face before turning her neck in the direction where Sheyan was. The ground was painted with his blood, not even bits of bones remained on the ground. Sheyan was completely turned into a bloody pulpy mess by Ignitia.
"Or you can agree to my offer and taste the power of real magic" In one hand, a golden bolt of lightning, in the other, crimson red flame danced around. Corey could feel the electricity from the lightning bolts and the heat from the crimson red flame on her skin.
He bent down, kissing the top of her head, just like how she did to the bald man. Corey's entire body shivered because of the fear toxin Michael released into the air. Not only Corey but also Maxine and Gibson shivered in fear.
The fire and lightning bolts above his palms soon faded away. A pendant appeared in his hand. He placed the pendant around her neck.
"Remove it and you will know there are things worse than death" Corey touched the tiny pendant on her neck. She felt the chill on her neck.
He took a few steps to stand in front of her. His hands ran through her shoulder, arms then he clutched the arms of the chair. Corey's teeth chattered. She slowly tilted her head up to see him bend his back to look directly into her eyes.
"Here's my offer darling" He willed the system to stop radiating fear toxin from his suit. Instead, he ordered the system to release the antidote so Corey's mind would become normal. Scam or not, she used her brain to build an empire from scratch. As far as he was concerned, a brain like that was more valuable than any superweapon.
Every time he willed the system to radiate fear toxin from his suit, he had to pay 2000 badass points. It seemed like a waste to him. However, he had no other way because his inventor skill level was too low to build a device into his suit of armor which would control potion releases instead of the system. It changed after he upgraded the Inventor skill. He could now build various devices to replace the system. Ever since the system went offline, he started to plan for the future without the system. He realized long ago that he shouldn't completely rely on the system.
Since Corey was just a mortal with no cultivation base, the antidote quickly dispelled the fear toxin from her bloodstream. Her pupils retracted as she stared into the crimson red eyes of Lucifer.
"You now serve me. You can carry on your pirate lord's work as usual except sometimes. You answer to me or Maxine. Fail to carry your orders, and you will be replaced. That's the stick" Michael turned his gaze on the robes on the ground,
He just flicked his wrist as the cloth floated into his hands. Maxine and Gibson saw Lucifer covering Corey with her clothes,
"If you serve me well, you will get rich, powerful and a shot at immortality. That's the carrot"
Corey couldn't believe for a second what she just heard. She had heard of immortals in cultivation continents. Unfortunately, she was born in the Southern continent, which made her unable to cultivate to reach higher stages.
"System, imprint a simple fire conjuring spell into her brain"
Back on cultivation continents, even a commoner could conjure sparks or a tiny ball of fire using arch energy. In addition to conjuring fireballs, they were also able to do simple things such as makinge small objects levitate.
Simple tasks such as these did not even require the user to cast spells. They could just manipulate the arch energy with their mind and accomplish that. For cultivators and even for commoners, these tasks were as simple as breathing and use a negligible amount of Arch energy. Hence, Michael decided to give Corey a little taste of magic.
[They system can imprint the ability to conjure fire into her brain for just 4000 badass points]
[The system can transfer a tiny amount of Arch energy from the host's body to Corey]
"Do it" As he ordered the system in his mind, he placed his hand on Corey's head.
"Ahh" for the first time since Michael revealed himself as Lucifer, Corey opened her mouth. Seeing her cry, Gibson thought Lucifer was hurting Corey.
Corey felt like a bullet ant drilling through her brain. The pain gradually lessened as Corey sensed something different. She couldn't explain the feeling but she felt a new sensation. It was natural and easy as breathing.
"What you feeling is a little taste of the power you can wield in the future…" he took a several steps back from Corey,
"If you serve me well" Michael said as Corey lifted her hands, feeling the hot sensation building inside her palm. The very next moment, she snapped her finger like a tiny orb of fire lit up above her palm. The fire danced around her palm as Gibson and Maxine stared at Corey with their eyes wide open.
"How…how did…you? Shit…I'm using magic" Corey stuttered. Her eyes were filled with joy and shock. She soon conjured a fireball in each hand.
She laughed so wide as though she was a child playing with her favorite toy. A few moments later playing with the fire, she looked up at Lucifer,
"Who are you?" she asked shockingly,
"I am Lucifer. People call me, ``The Dark Lord" the moment the words escaped his mouth, a stream of crimson red fire and golden streaks of lightning crisscrossed around him. Coupled with the dark cloud, the fire and lightning scared the shit out of Corey.
"What's it gonna be Pirate Lord Corey? Stick or carrot, your choice" As he spoke, Maxine made her way to stand behind Michael. Gibson too soon followed Maxine's footsteps to stand behind him.
Corey was not dumb to refuse the offer. It was a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Besides, he didn't give her much of a choice. She could either agree to serve him or disagree and probably die like Sheyan. She didn't build an empire by making wrong choices and letting go of opportunities such as this.
Hence, naturally she wanted to agree.
"I agree…Mister.."
"You will address him as my lord" Maxine interrupted Corey.
"I agree, my lord. My fleet is yours to command" Corey knelt down on one knee. She was an opportunist, not a woman who clung onto pointless pride.
"You are going to take back the bounty you put on Maxine"
His first order to her was regarding the bounty on Maxine's head. He would have loved to have some sea battles if old bertha had some fire power and was in a fighting condition. If he had Silent Reaper, the mere sight of that beat would have scared the shit out of the pirates.
"Yes my lord" Corey immediately agreed with him. She was glad he didn't take her life for putting Maxine's life in danger. As far as Corey could guess, Maxine seemed like the right hand of Lucifer which kinda made Maxine her superior.
"Then I'm pretty sure you can spin some story to explain what happened to Sheyan. My existence must be kept as a secret until I tell you otherwise"
Michael did not waste his time and brain thinking about a way to explain Sheyan's death. A woman who managed to scam the pirates for decades would be able to spin some bullshit story to cover up Sheyan's death.
"Until I deal with the other pirate lords, don't engage in combat with the Thusians" Maxine was slightly surprised to hear his order. She thought he would send Corey's entire fleet to chase away the Thusians after subduing her. Instead, he did the exact opposite.
"My lord, can I ask you something?"
"Yes. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. Your mind is a precious one, it should be used to its full potential. Only then, we can rule this entire world"
Obviously his words stunned Corey. Hence, her eyes opened as wide as they could.
"Stand up and speak your mind" Michael said, willing the system to unequip the Lucifer armor. In a blink of an eye, he transformed into his previous human form.
Corey heaved a sigh of relief inside. The normal human form was easy to talk to compared to his freakish Dark Lord form.
"Can I really achieve immortality?"
Michael smiled hearing her question. He could see the thirst for power and immortality in her eyes. People like her would be easier to control than people with high morals and righteousness.
"As I said before, serve me well and you will rule a part of this world forever"