“Demonic Aura?”

Someone muttered.

It took them no time to recognize the aura since they, the Holy Land, were among the most sensitive group of people along with the Heretic Inquisition when it came to anything related to Devils.

“...Get everyone ready.”

After those words fell, the group of men took out their catalyst out of their embrace one by one.

Those were armors made of a mixture of Holy Water, Holy Relics, and the Legacies of Saints.

‘...The Seraphim’s Seal.’

Upon seeing the seal that imprinted upon those catalysts’ surface, Iliya gritted her teeth.

Then again, considering that the person they were up against was able to handle the Devil’s Aura, it was understandable.

These were regarded as one of the most precious armors in the Holy Land and were believed to be useful as a one-time consumable against the Devils, though only for a very limited time.

Against an aura that was far more flimsy than the Devils’, it was akin to a miracle cure to them.

“...You all don’t seem to be Seras’ subordinates.”

After scanning the sight in front of him, Dowd muttered as such.

“So that means you guys are just hired hands who received equipment from the Holy Land. Am I right?”

“...”

No one in their right mind would verbally confirm his assumption.

Dowd, who brought it up first, only silently nodded instead of dwelling on the topic.

“You guys aren’t part of the Oath of the Crescent Moon. Seeing the level of your skills… The Apostle of the Sun, maybe?”

“According to the information, the opponent can’t use the Devil’s Authority, but he can mimic it. Be extra careful.”

 

“Did Archbishop Luminol send you?”

“Everyone, get ready to attack. We’re going in one go upon signal.”

“...C’mon, listen to me.”

Dowd said, seemingly desperate, but the people in the surroundings didn’t even blink an eye to him.

Then, their leader let out a sigh before answering him.

“...Do you think we wouldn’t notice that you’re trying to kill time? Such a pathetic trick.”

“...”

 

The person’s speech sounded rather aggressive, but it was obvious that he did that to ease Dowd’s embarrassment.

His empathy was unnecessarily high for an assassin.

He was probably a nice person at heart…

“If you knew, you should’ve played along. That’s just too much.”

“...”

In contrast, this one over here was someone who didn’t even blink an eye while saying that even after receiving such thoughtfulness from his enemy.

Iliya thought so while looking at Dowd with narrowed eyes.

“You see, if you don’t give me enough time, I don’t have the confidence to control myself.”

“...What?”

“This is my first time using it and all.”

Dowd put his hand on his chest with a sigh.

“Well, I guess it won’t be my fault if you die if that’s the case.”

And said such a shameless thing.

The grey and white aura engulfed the surrounding area in an instant.

“...!”

 

The moment the group of people saw that, they simultaneously raised their armors.

However, right after that…

-!

Their Catalyst was instantly ‘crushed’ as the grey aura stuck onto them.

Unceremoniously so.

Just like an eroded rock shattering upon facing the smallest impact.

“What—!”

Before their shock even ended, the White Devil’s Aura penetrated through the gap formed in the catalyst.

And then…

-!

A white flash covered the entire area.

“...Teach.”

“Hm?”

“What was that?”

Iliya asked, letting out a groan as she looked at the human bodies sprawled around them.

“...I was lucky.”

“...”

Hearing his answer, Iliya went silent.

If the Holy Land knew about this, the whole country would definitely go ballistic.

No, scratch that, the whole continent would.

Although they were less powerful than the original, what this group of people had taken out were something that were made based on the Seraphim’s barrier that had been containing the Devils in the void zone.

The fact that he managed to shatter them all in an instant was unbelievable.

It was widely believed that just by successfully imitating any Seraphim-related powers meant that they’d possess an absolute protection from the Devils.

But…

The fact that Dowd could break through such protective measures—even though they were far cut from the original—suggested a lot of things.

It meant that he was someone who could handle the Devil’s Aura in a more unconventional way.

One could also take it as if he was of a higher status than those beings in question.

“...”

‘This man might become a bigger monster than I thought…’

Iliya thought as she looked at Dowd.

The man in question himself was whispering something to the assassins who were standing around expressionlessly.

He kept repeating the same words over and over, as if he was trying to indoctrinate them.

“...What have you been doing?”

“Brainwashing.”

“Sorry?”

“Let’s say that I’m laying down the stage for later. These people are still useful.”

He serenely explained that he was using the White Devil’s Authority, ‘Enthrallment’.

His demeanor was calm and cold.

It was as if he had already predicted that they would be attacked by these people.

“...”

Then again, she had always felt like this man was on the level she couldn’t even dream to catch up with.

She assumed that she’d be able to catch up to him a little after being trained by the Fist Saint and awakened the Eye of Truth, but before she knew it, this man had already acquired this kind of skill from somewhere, widening the gap between them once again.

“...Anyway, you’re pissing me off, do you know that, Teach? Like, you could always finish everything that I found hard to do without breaking a sweat.”

Placing her hands on her hips, she scolded him teasingly.

“I was just lucky. If I made just a single mistake, I swear it would’ve been disastrous.”

“...”

Upon hearing his calm answer, Iliya narrowed her eyes.

‘Uh?’

‘I don’t know what it is, but it feels like he has changed somehow.’

‘...Like, he used to be annoying sometimes.

She thought while tilting her head.

At this point, she knew that he was handling things in such a way that it felt like he had already known everything in advance.

But, even though he was acting the same way as usual, she felt less uncomfortable.

It didn’t feel like he was being humble either.

To put it in other words, his answer felt dry.

As if he didn’t feel anything from it.

It felt like his emotions had become more faint than before.

 

“...Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, normally you’d get all frustrated and go ‘Of course I should do this much…’ all while doing things that normal people found impossible to—”

“...What on earth do you think I am?”

He answered, as if he was dumbfounded, as Iliya kept her eyes narrowed when she looked at him.

She was wearing an even more serious expression than before, to the point Dowd became taken aback by her.

“Teach.”

“Hm?”

“...Don’t change too much, okay?”

She didn’t know why she said that.

But, she had a vague feeling that parts of him were drifting away from being a ‘human’ lately.

-If it ever seems like I’m about to do something strange again, make sure I don’t cross that line.

Knowing that he had said such words a while ago, he seemed to be aware of that fact.

This uncertain anxiety over the thought that this might keep on going until he completely changed into a different being overwhelmed her.

“...”

Dowd, who had only been silently staring at her, suddenly burst out laughing.

“...Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine.”

“...”

“From now on, I’ll live as cautiously as possible so that won’t happen.”

 

At his response, Iliya’s lips twitched in dissatisfaction.

She had heard such an answer before.

But, it was still hard for her to understand or feel at ease.

“...I can’t. As expected, I’d need to put reins on you in advance so that you’d listen to me…”

“Hm?”

Hearing her mutter, Dowd stared at her in confusion, but she didn’t elaborate further and got up from her seat instead.

“...For now, let’s move away first.”

From her expression, it seemed like she had made up her mind.

“I had a place in mind to set up our camp.”

System Message

[ You attempted to synthesize the Demonic Aura of the ‘Grey Devil’ and the Demonic Aura of the ‘White Devil’. ]

[ Synthesization results in a ‘huge failure’! ]

[ The effect ends with the Aura of the ‘Grey Devil’ and the Aura of the ‘White Devil’ getting stronger in general! ]

[ The Demonic Auras of the ‘Grey Devil’ and ‘White Devil’ can’t be used until refilled. ]

“...Hm.”

As I scanned the message window, I narrowed my eyes.

When I told Iliya that ‘I was lucky’ earlier, I really meant it.

While on the surface it seemed as if I beat them easily, it was actually a really close call.

If those Catalysts were a little more powerful, there was no way I could destroy them like that.

‘...But, why the fuck does the skill have a probability rate on it?’

 

‘Seriously, that’s just dumb.’

If I knew such a thing existed, I wouldn't have used it so readily in the first place.

If there was also a penalty that made it completely unusable until somehow refilling the energy of the white and gray demons, it was all the more so.

I didn't even know how to refill it.

“...Sigh.”

I closed the window while letting out a sigh.

Well, it wasn’t all bad, though.

Like, the Authority was crazy enough to the point that I could neutralize those guys' secret measures even when the skill failed.

Which meant…

‘...If I succeeded…’

The result might be beyond anything I could imagine.

It would be better if I were to think of it like this; I couldn’t use this skill in every situation, but it was a good skill to gamble on as a last resort.

And I guess I could just consider now as a form of trial and error in figuring that out.

I threw another armful of dried firewood into the burning bonfire.

Normally, doing this here, in this ‘Forest of Dreams and Illusions’ where the Second Ordeal was taking place, would be considered suicide, but there were a few safe spots where you could do this.

With a bunch of Trees of Illusion growing nearby, this place could weaken your perception of the surroundings. It would be hard for Demonic Creatures of even the Hero Candidates to get here.

That was why I could leisurely start a fire even though there were dangerous creatures prowling in the area.

Still, it was this punk who managed to find this place. I wonder why she took the lead and brought me here to stay for the night?

“...”

 

Anyway, there was something else I was wondering about.

‘...It’s been a while since we saw each other, why aren’t you saying hello to me?’

I looked down at Soul Linker.

Usually, whenever I regained my consciousness, this man just wouldn’t stop talking, but now he was all quiet for some reason.

‘Caliban?’

[Be quiet.]

‘...’

Hearing his gloomy voice, I promptly shut my mouth up.

For some reason, I could sense a strong rage toward me in his voice.

If I were to guess the reason…

 

‘…What happened while I was away?’

 

When I asked him that, he sighed before answering with the same gloomy voice.

[Shut up.]

“...”

Uh, hello?

You’re making me anxious, you know?!

“...Can you tell me the reason why at least…?”

[...I have a lot of things to say.]

He continued with a somber voice.

[The situation tonight just feels like it'll be hell.]

“Sorry?”

[I’ve been witnessing my sister behave nastily in all sorts of ways in the past few days. And I have a feeling that she’ll reach her peak today.]

“...?”

 

Why?

We were only staying for one night here.

‘...Wait?’

Come to think of it, he could be right.

Like, we would be sleeping together…

Just the two of us…

Just me and her…

“...”

 

I’ve gotten involved with all kinds of women so far, but have I ever been in a situation where I needed to spend a long time together with one of them?

Just the two of us like this…?

As I was pondering over such thoughts…

“...Excuse me, Teach.”

I could hear a voice that sent shivers down my spine.

It was Iliya’s, who had been away for a moment to get us more firewood.

“...”

 

But…

If she brought more firewood, that meant she must have worked quite a bit, no…?

Since that was the case, why did she not reek of sweat, but instead smelled nice?

Did she take a shower somewhere?

Her hair seemed refreshingly sleek, as if she was getting herself ready for something.

“...Yeah?”

“You know, right now, it’s just the two of us…”

She looked strangely flushed when she said that.

“...Um?”

“What I’m trying to say is! Thanks to the Trees of Illusion, no one will come here and we'll get to spend the night just by the two of us until tomorrow.”

“...A-And?”

She let out a broad smile.

At this point, the cold sweat had started appearing on my face.

“Teach.”

“...”

And that was when I realized.

The reason why Caliban had been so quiet.

“I hope that nothing happens. You too, right?”

“...”

You…

Why…

Are you speaking in that tone, as if something would actually happen, huh?

[Hey.]

Caliban called out to me, it sounded like he was sniffling.

[This is my only request. Please just do it somewhere I can’t see. I’m begging you.]

“...”

It had been quite some time since I last said this.

Shut the fuck up.

For the love of all that’s good. Please.