Fleshcrafter Chapter 38 (Patreon)

Walking into the side room with the rest of the Gremory family plus Grayfia and Rias's little nephew Millicas within it. I was welcomed by all the ladies and the younger boys gaze locking onto myself.

"Jake what happened out there?" Rias asked me and I bit my lip as I considered if I should even speak with her nephew being in the room.

So, I decided to just lay it out for Grayfia to decide as his mother. "Grayfia, there has been a bit of an incident or health complications with Lord Gremory, may I speak, or would you prefer your son not hear of it?" I asked as I didn't want to unduly stress the kid if he wasn't ready for such a thing.

Grayfia looked at her son for a moment and Millicas met her stare with a silent plea to not be dismissed or something and Grayfia took a deep breath. "Perhaps my son has grown up a bit and deserves to hear some more adult matters. Speak freely Jake, my son is strong." With her blessing I sat down between Rias and Akeno as I began to explain Zeoticus's health concerns as the man himself walked into the room silently and stood beside his wife who took his hand while I spoke.

" Zeoticus Gremory's health issues stems from two conflictions. The devils sleeping sickness which is actually a soul-based sickness so I cannot so easily interact with it. And I can interact and see within all matters to do with the flesh and can effortlessly even give people and even basic animals magical bloodlines." I said helplessly to the devil sickness part.

"The other issue was that someone or some other force has found out about his coming sleeping sickness before you guys even did, and had moved to somehow poison Zeoticus with a very slow acting toxin that I am unaware of what the toxin is or how it got there other than in his food."

Grayfia frowned and her words came out as a drawl as she almost seemed to chew on the words. "You are saying he orally ingested the toxic tablets? Then that means one of the maids here or even one of Zeoticus's harem members were likely the one to poison him."

At Grayfia's words Venelana's eyes sharpened and knowing how she ruled over Zeoticus's harem with an iron fist I felt a bit bad for however she was going to be 'clearing' such harem members of wrong doings.

"Yes, from what I gathered the toxic tablets were somewhat of a kind of a tiny, dehydrated tablet that would expand when given access to Zeoticus's stomach acid which began the very process for the toxins to spread throughout him. Which could be why any magical spells didn't so easily pick up the toxic tablets within him. Either way would you all be comfortable if I check you all for similar issues?" I asked bluntly and they all looked at one another as Akeno and Rias each silently took my hand into theirs, making me glance at them only to earn a weak smile from the girls.

"Uhm if it's the Jake I don't mind trusting him. He helped saved Rias after all." Milicas spoke up for me earning a smile from me as he walked over from Grayfia's side and held out an arm to me. "Just you know. Don't make me any shorter Hehe." The kid joked.

"Haha, don't worry kid. You got plenty of growing to do and-" I stilled as scanned what I already considered my little brother as Rias was all but my waifu at this point and just like Zeoticus he had the same toxic tablets lining his stomach lining.

Wordlessly I stared up at Zeoticus and his eyes closed, with his hands tightening up into a balled fist as he nodded.

Then I looked to Grayfia and her face went stone cold as I nodded to her and sent a silent message for her not to do anything.

"Hey, want to see a cool magic trick?" I asked Milicas and the kid nodded obviously expecting me to give him dragon hands or something but all he did was totter in place as I lulled him into sleep and allowed him to fall into my arms. Then I put the young boy into Rias's lap as brushed my hands over my face and looked up to the stony looking silent adults sitting across from me.

"I knocked him unconscious. I considered it for the best he didn't know he had more toxins in him than even Zeoticus." I said as I pulled up the kids' shirt as I held his wrist that way the fleshly skin covered marbles containing the toxins could fall out of his chest and into a tea set platter thing.

Whereas Zeoticus had like half a dozen of the tablets within him, Millicas had exactly fifteen within him making me wonder if he just pigged out on the poisoned meal in question.

"Other than the toxins he has no other issues or abnormalities other than having a slightly higher fertility rate than the average devils I have scanned but it's nothing special being only like a point five percent increase to the average devil's abysmal fertility rate." I said making the adults nod, but it was obvious they were thinking about who could have poisoned them.

"So where is my husband now." Grayfia spoke and Zeoticus took over explaining how I came to the conclusion that with the devil sleeping sickness being a soul issue and that with the knowledge of where the Sephiroth Grall was, Sirzechs went to go it... By hook or by crook.

"Then my son will get it. When Sirzechs sets his mind to something not even gods can stand in his way... Its just hard to get his mind set on something Haha." Venelana spoke and I took Millicas from Rias and walked over to the other couch with the adults on it to give the younger boy back to Grayfia.

"So should I give you and Grayfia a checkup?" I asked the two ladies I hadn't checked yet and they nodded.

"Huh nothing at all wrong with you? Well other than a cramp in your spine from being at an odd angle for a couple hours or something?" I said as I fixed the compressed spinal issue and Venelana hummed in comfort and I heard Zeoticus awkwardly laugh, and I closed my eyes as I realized what the spinal issue was...

"Anyhow, Grayfia your turn." I said offering a hand to her which she freely offered, and I was assailed with her body template, and I realized that her body was... Just kind of built differently from the other devils I had scanned. Which made sense with how the Lucifuge devil clan was created to directly server the Lucifer bloodline.

So even as I copied the template and applied it to myself to fill out any inadequacies in my devil bloodline I scanned through her body for any issues, and I couldn't see any real issues other than her needing some more deep sleep.

"Well, you have a clean bill of health except for some sleep deprivation. Even devils need more than a four-hour sleep every night. I would suggest doubling the amount you are sleeping at least for a couple days, and you will find yourself quite a bit more awake and having less issues focusing." I spoke clinically but Grafiya only rolled her eyes.

"If I sleep so long, nothing will get done, and Master Sirzechs will not get anything done either." She said bluntly and I was reminded how the woman saw herself to Sirzechs at times and I wondered how he dealt with that. She saw herself as first and most importantly as his Queen piece, his maid, and then finally his wife.

I just held up my hands as I retreated back to Rias and Akeno with them both pulling me onto the couch as they each took a hand again making Venalana giggle at the sight.

Thus, we all sat in a mostly companionable. silence with occasionally Venelana bringing me and the girls into conversation as I integrated into the Gremory family until Sirzechs came into the room with an unconscious blond woman in his arms.

"That's Valerie?" I asked walking over to Sirzechs as she placed the young woman that only had a sheet covering her onto a couch.

As I looked at Valerie, I could see just with my own bare eyes that she was a mess. Malnutrition in the human sense as well as probably the vampire one. Her skin was sallow and sunken in with her body having little muscular or fat reservoirs.

"Let me see what we can do." I muttered as Sirzechs moved aside from me silently as he quickly walked over to his son seeing him unconscious and another tray filled the flesh pellets which meant other members of his family were harmed.

I held a hand to Valerie's cheek as I looked into her dull eyes, and I froze as I found something I had never seen before internally. Whereas the people I had scanned with Sacred Gears had them within their bodies attached to their souls but Valerie? She literally didn't have a soul. She didn't have that void of metaphysical space within the body that I couldn't interact with. It was just the weird stack of three Holy Grails within her that was floating in her still living meat suit.

Valerie was gone in every shape of the word. Hell in reality if my theory that she was forced to overuse the Grall were correct then her soul was probably burnt away or merged into the Grail itself similar to how Divine Dividing and the Boosted Gear had the souls of their past users within the Gear.

So, I had no way of 'fixing' her as she was a vegetable with her brain working at such a low speed and frequency that I had no doubt that she was only a couple steps away from being declared medically braindead. It seemed like Marius or whoever did this to her had burnt away her will and only allowed what remained of her mind to register what seemed like premade statements and orders for her to follow.

"Well, this suck's... I can salvage the grail, but Valerie has already passed on to Heaven via the connection with the grail. Her soul has left the body and only the living body is hosting the grail at this time." I partially lied for Rias and Akeno's sake as I knew Gasper was going to take the news with some heartache or maybe he already thought she died during their escape, who knows.

"Do what you need to Jake. So long as the Grail can be used to cure my father of the Sleeping Sickness no one will complain about the steps." Sirzechs bluntly spoke and I sighed as I looked at Valerie as I considered whether to allow her to keep the sacred gear before I had remembered an idea, I had knowing one of the psychotic people to come in the future.

"Ddraig." I spoke as I pushed my mana into the sleeping dragon to wake his ass up as all ever seemed to do was sleep.

"What... Oh a user of the Sephiroth Grall? What did you awaken me for Jake Bariss." Ddraig growled as I manifested the Boosted Gear onto my arm.

"I know of how the Boosted Gear and other sacred gears in general can absorb weapons and other things to strengthen themselves at the will of the user. This Sephiroth Grall is a subspecies with it being split into three Grails, I want to absorb one of the grails so that way I can interact with souls, can that be done?" I asked and the room went dead silent at my bullshit thought.