"I can’t see it..."

I hadn't withdrawn my demon sight for a single moment since we left the room.

It wasn’t just basic camouflage, but perfect mana assimilation. It was practically a form of magic. If Mea's invisibility spell made us unnoticed by others, the Chromatic Fiend had become part of the background itself. Even a senior-level expert would struggle to detect it unless they focused intensely.

‘So it can hide its mana too.’

This was indeed the top predator of the first layer.

But if it’s going to play like that, I have ways to deal with it.

Bang!

‘One shot first.’

I shot towards where it had been, but the bullet missed and hit the wall.

Of course, it had moved.

‘Right? Left?’

I couldn’t tell.

Then...

‘I’ll shoot both.’

I raised both hands, channeling my mana.

Before, when I only had a contract with Seir, I couldn’t control two streams of mana simultaneously. But since engraving another contract mark, my mana pathways had expanded.

With both hands, I fired a barrage of mana bullets, blasting all around me.

‘One of them has to hit.’

This brute force approach was only possible because I had no mana restrictions.

Even if the Chromatic Fiend could perfectly hide its presence, it couldn’t erase its physical body. It wasn’t a ghost-type monster.

Still, this tactic had its flaws.

In the end, I could only shoot two bullets at a time. As long as it dodged well, it could evade all of them.

‘I can’t sense mana yet.’

Expanding my mana outward to create a detection field was still beyond me. That was one of the weaknesses of a warlock. After all, the mana I use is borrowed, not my own. As a result, it’s harder to expand my sensory abilities. Experienced warlocks could overcome that, but I wasn’t there yet.

“It’s fine.”

“Theresia?”

“Keep shooting. I’ll tell you where it is.”

With that, Theresia took a knife and slashed her palm.

The cut was deep. Blood gushed out immediately.

But Theresia didn’t seem to care about the pain, swinging her arm wide.

Blood droplets sprayed everywhere.

“Even if you get blood on it, it’ll just change color.”

“I know.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to use mana detection instead…”

Ignoring my words, Theresia softly began chanting.

“Blossom, my blood.”

At her command, the scattered drops of blood began to move.

The liquid shifted freely, taking on new forms as it pulsed with life. Like plants rooting themselves in the ground, tendrils of blood spread out, gripping the earth firmly. And just as plants bloom in the height of their life cycle, the droplets of blood bloomed into crimson flowers.

Lycoris radiata, the red spider lily, known also as the flower of the underworld.

Was this magic too? A combination of magic and her natural power.

Just as Ray’s beastfolk instincts give her enhanced senses, Theresia, as a half-vampire Dhampir, has control over blood.

The moment her blood touches the Chromatic Fiend, it relays its location to her.

“Left. From the stairs, it’s at 12 o’clock, then 3 o’clock.”

“Got it.”

Bang!

I charged the mana bullet with Lerazie’s power. Demon mana is inherently a curse. And Lerazie’s mana, in particular, is exceptional.

“It moved. 4 o’clock. Come this way.”

“Straight ahead at 4 o’clock, got it.”

I couldn’t miss now.

The fully charged mana bullet was ready. I pulled the mental trigger.

Vwoom!

The mana bullet, heavier and more forceful than before, shot forward in a straight line toward the invisible target.

Bang!

Impact.

For a brief moment, the Chromatic Fiend’s camouflage faltered, revealing part of its form.

“Roman, it doesn’t look like it took any damage.”

Startled by the attack, the Chromatic Fiend halted its charge and retreated again. But its body showed no signs of damage from my mana bullet.

The creature, now aware that my bullet hadn’t pierced its tough hide, let out a low, grotesque growl, vibrating with anger.

Then it disappeared again, blending into the surroundings.

“Don’t you have a stronger attack?”

“That was my strongest.”

“...That’s troubling.”

“No, it’s fine. The next shot will be stronger.”

Theresia gave me a skeptical look, narrowing her eyes. She was silently asking how my next attack could be stronger when I just said that was my maximum power.

It might sound contradictory, but it’s true.

“My spell has already been cast, Theresia.”

“What? Your spell...oh, you wouldn’t have just one trick. Alright, I’ll trust you.”

“Where is it now?”

“It’s circling around. 6 o’clock.”

Bang!

Another mana bullet fired.

But the Chromatic Fiend wasn’t slowing down.

It charged forward, no longer bothering to hide its colors.

Having concluded that my bullets couldn’t harm it, it now attacked fearlessly, without any hesitation.

Thwack! Thwack!

Two more impacts landed.

But the creature wasn’t pushed back.

Just before the collision—

Theresia grabbed me and leaped to the side.

“What are you doing, Roman? You should have dodged. Why didn’t you use spatial magic?”

“I’m already casting another spell. It’s still difficult for me to cast two spells at once.”

Besides, I wasn’t just standing there without a plan.

“I had enough time to dodge. Think again.”

At my words, Theresia realized the difference she hadn’t noticed due to her previous experience with the Chromatic Fiend.

“Now that you mention it...it was slower.”

“Exactly.”

The creature's initial charge had been much faster. The Chromatic Fiend had slowed down with every hit from my bullets.

It was Lerazie’s contract magic.

My second spell—Exhaustion.

[It’s not ‘Exhaustion,’ it’s ‘Die Gezeichneten!’ I prefer ‘The Marked Ones’—it sounds cooler!] [Why? ‘Exhaustion’ is straightforward and effective.] We’re voting 2 to 1 here, Seir.

You should accept my naming. It’s the trend of the times, after all.

Anyway, Exhaustion was just as the name implied.

Derived from Lerazie’s power to slow down prey, the magic causes progressive fatigue. It has its limitations, just like how teleportation is restricted by line of sight. Similarly, Exhaustion requires direct mana contact to take effect.

‘But it stacks.’

In that sense, the Chromatic Fiend’s reckless charge was its worst mistake.

As the top predator of the first layer, it had probably never encountered a real threat before.

Its initial caution was surprising.

But it quickly decided it had already understood its enemy.

Such arrogance suited a lowly creature.

‘And Lerazie’s mana carries a passive poison.’

How many more hits would it take?

Ten? Twenty?

I’d happily land them.

Once it could no longer move at all...

“Theresia.”

“Yeah?”

“If we skin it alive, the hide will be of the highest quality, right?”

Theresia’s lips stretched into a long, wicked grin.

Baring her fangs, she answered with anticipation.

“Of course.”

§

I sat on the stairs, watching as Theresia skinned the still-living Chromatic Fiend.

It held out for quite a while.

It took 17 shots before its movements finally stopped.

Still, just in case, I made contact with its body and poured Lerazie’s mana into it. I could adjust the toxicity of Lerazie’s venom, which was quite convenient. Though the maximum potency had its limits, I could control it within that range. If I wanted to strengthen it further, I’d have to borrow more of Lerazie’s power to craft a specific spell.

But even with its current paralyzing poison, it was enough to strip away the Chromatic Fiend’s physical freedom. Combined with the Exhaustion spell, it was more than effective.

Theresia trusted me, focusing entirely on her butchering work.

“By the way, Theresia, is it okay to leave Priscilla like this?”

“...She’ll be fine.”

Slick—thwack.

Without even turning around, Theresia continued skinning the creature as she replied.

“The Chromatic Fiend’s color change isn’t just camouflage.”

“Oh, you mean that blinding color shift we saw earlier?”

The creature’s last desperate move was to shift through a rapid series of colors, like a visual assault that reminded me of something akin to a polygon shock.

At first, I thought it was trying to blind us.

“That’s part of it, but it also causes mental confusion. Priscilla likely saw it while escaping, thinking she had to protect her comrades. She was a responsible leader.”

So, she was one of those people with a strong sense of duty to protect her subordinates. No wonder, given that Theresia is friends with Fiona, and they’re both top prospects of the Blostrima School.

“I don’t think it’ll be permanent. Her mind was completely unprotected when her mana was drained, but once her mana recovers, she should gradually return to normal.”

“Is that so?”

I turned to look at Priscilla, whom Mea was guarding.

For a brief moment, our eyes met.

It was so brief that I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she was regaining focus.

‘She’ll be fine. Theresia said so.’

I decided to stop worrying about Priscilla.

§

Theresia had been right.

Priscilla’s mental breakdown wasn’t simply due to her being weak-willed; it was a combination of several factors. Her mana had been depleted, her protective spells dismantled, and she had witnessed her comrades dying in front of her—the very comrades she felt responsible for protecting.

In such a dire situation, she had been forced to flee with the help of her juniors.

Her mind, already pushed to its limits, was helpless against the disorienting light emitted by the Chromatic Fiend.

Theresia’s analysis was correct, but she hadn’t noticed one detail.

Priscilla’s mental recovery wasn’t an instant snap-back to normal, like a spell being lifted. Instead, it would take time for her to regain herself.

And in that state of broken consciousness, her desperate mind sought a protector.

Even in her dazed condition, she had been observing everything around her clearly.

Priscilla saw it.

She remembered.

Etched into the gaps of her fragmented mind was the image of a warlock wielding near-limitless mana.

And so, Priscilla silently watched Roman, her gaze unbroken, unwavering.