"Combining the two Concepts?"

Julien tilted his head. From his expression, one could see he was confused by the suggestion. "....Is that even possible?"

And rightfully so.

How could two Concepts be merged? While the thought did cross his mind before, it was only for a vague moment. He didn't really think it was possible.

And yet...

Here he was, sitting in front of one of the strongest humans in the world, asking him if he ever thought about merging the two.

Could it really be possible?

"I don't know."

Delilah shrugged her shoulder, dampening all of Julien's previous thoughts.

His face grew slack for a moment.

"Then why did you...?"

"I was curious."

Indeed, it was all curiosity on her part. She was curious.

Curious to see if it was possible to merge two Concepts. Was it possible? Delilah had no idea since there were no real precedents in the past. No one stated it was impossible, hence why she gave the suggestion.

Julien's 'Concepts' were already quite powerful.

She wanted to see what would happen if he tried to merge his two Concepts.

Just how powerful would he become?

"Hmm."

Julien's face tightened into a frown as he lowered his head, a faint ripple of energy stirring in the air. Delilah's fingers paused mid-movement.

Lifting her brow, she stared intently at Julien.

'He's trying.'

It was a pity that she couldn't see what was going on in his mind.

Delilah was quite curious to see the merging process.

She could only settle for the subtle changes that were currently happening around him. They weren't anything major, but Delilah knew that he was trying something.

And so...

She sat in silence while watching him.

From the subtle changes in his expressions to the faint pulses he would occasionally let out. Delilah imprinted all the changes in her mind.

At first, nothing changed.

It all seemed quiet.

Delilah's expression remained unchanged as she looked at him.

She was waiting.

Waiting for him to do something, and she didn't have to wait for long.

Swoosh-

A faint breeze drifted through the room, sending the curtains billowing gently. Julien's hair shifted slightly, and his clothes stirred in the soft gust.

The changes were subtle, but Delilah could pick them up.

A strange mana pulse traced the office room. One that faded rather quickly alongside the breeze.

11

......

The world grew eerily still shortly after that. Enough to make Delilah frown.

Is this it? Did he fail?

Yes, it would make sense if he fai-

Then, Julien's eyes opened.

The moment he did, Delilah stopped her breath.

His gaze.

There was something about that gaze... or lack thereof.

It was empty.

As if she was looking at an empty vessel.

It was so hollow that Delilah felt like she was staring at a mirror. The surroundings felt extremely suffocating, as if two large hands pressed down against her throat, squeezing tightly.

Of course, this was merely her imagination.

Julien was still too weak to do anything to her.

...But the sensation was there. And that was enough for Delilah.

'He's caught a glimpse of something.'

How much? She didn't know.

However, lowering her head to stare at the small hole that appeared as a result of her forceful tap, Delilah found herself pursing her lips.

'Not bad...'

Julien's face pale considerably a few seconds after opening his eyes. His gaze, which appeared empty a few moments ago, regained its usual spark and after a couple of deep breaths, he managed to collect himself.

Delilah felt the corner of her lips pull.

"So?"

She asked, her tone soft.

"What did you see?"

"....H-ha."

Julien didn't answer immediately.

Holding onto his chest, he licked his lips and shook his head.

"I don't know."

He answered honestly.

"...It was empty."

He couldn't find the right words to describe what he saw besides 'emptiness'. Right, because

that was all he felt and saw.

It was a suffocating emptiness that pulled him down.

One that...

"Okay, that's enough."

Delilah pressed her hand against the table, snapping Julien out of his thoughts. When Julien raised his head, he saw her standing up.

"Let's go."

"....Go?"

"Yes."

Julien cocked his head, evidently confused. Weren't they just...? However, before he even had time to understand, Delilah's body shrank by a few centimeters. She now looked to be about

his age.

What in the...?

Julien's confusion only grew when she opened the door of the office.

"Let's go."

"What, where?"

Julien stood up and Delilah paused, turning her head back to look at him. With a serious

expression, she answered,

"....Collect what you stole from me."

"????"

***

"Hahaha. I knew you'd understand me, Leon."

Aoife cheerfully said as she smacked her bottle against Leon's.

"I thought you didn't like drinking. What prompted the sudden change?"

"Well, you know... With how things are looking up right now, I thought we could celebrate a

bit."

"Weird, but okay."

With unfocused eyes, Aoife smacked her bottle against the couch. A bit of the liquid spilled

out from the can, splashing against the surface of the couch.

"Haaaa! I needed this!"

"..."

Unbeknownst to her, peeking through the narrow gap in the door that separated the kitchen

from the living room was a lonesome figure. Watching everything with a cold gaze. Go on. Drink. More. Fall. Theresa had lost count of the many times she had cursed her.

She didn't have to curse for very long. Within a couple of minutes, Aoife's demeanor started

to change.

"L,Leon?"

"Yes...?"

"Why are there two of... Hic! Y,you?"

Smack-!

Aoife pushed her hand forward, accidentally slapping Leon's face in the process.

"Uah!? What was that for?"

"Oh? Ah!? Hihihihihihihi."

Smack-!

She smacked him again.

"That's enough!"

"Hihihihihihihi."

"Damn it... I'm starting to regret this."

"Ah? Why?"

"Just take a look at yourself."

It's time.

Theresa took a deep breath. Her heart was thumping madly, but she knew it wasn't time for

her to be nervous. She then fixed her clothes and took her first step.

"Hihihih. L,Leon, why are there three of you?"

"Eh... no? Get away from me!" "Hmm? Theresa? What are you doing h,here?"

Theresa took another deep breath. Debuff or not, the third Demon King was as terrifying as

they come. Just a glimpse of her gaze made her legs feel like jello... the beautiful, squishy, and

bouncy jello...

"Slurp."

Theresa wiped away the saliva that dripped from the corner of her lips. Her mind had

wandered away for a moment.

She glared at the Demon King.

What powerful bewitchment.

"Theresa...?"

Unfolding the paper in her pocket, she handed it to Aoife.

"Sign."

"What's... Hic! this?"

"Sign. Make me happy."

"Oh?"

Aoife cocked her head as she carefully studied the paper in her hand. Flipping it sideways, she

cocked her head once more.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

Theresa could feel her own heart beating unsteadily as she rigidly stood on her spot. Would

this method work? Would she sign it? Will she finally get her freedom back...? All sorts of

thoughts ran through the child's mind at that moment.

And...

"Ha. Sure. Sign. Why not?"

Aoife looked around.

"Pen... where can I get a p-"

"Here."

Theresa beat her to it as she swiftly handed her a pen with trembling fingers. She then pointed

at the exact area she wanted her to sign.

"Sign."

Could this finally be...?

"Oh... Hic."

The pen pressed against the paper.

Theresa licked her lips which had gone dry. She stared as the pen left a small mark on the

paper. Her toes curled inward at the sight.

Go on.

Just a little more.

Just a little...

"Bleergh!"

"...Uh, ah?"

Time seemed to have stopped at that moment.

It all happened so suddenly and so unexpectedly that Thersa barely had any time to process

what had happened.

No.

Even if she had the time, she probably wouldn't have been able to.

"Bleergh!"

Blink. Blink.

Her little mind seemed to have gone in overdrive as Aoife hunched over and...

"Bleeergh!"

Puked all over the sacred quest paper.

"Ah, I'm suddenly regretting doing this. Aoife, puke over here."

Leon rushed over with a small bucket which Aoife quickly took before puking her heart out.

"Bleeeeeeargh!"

The world looked bleak at that moment. Lowering her head and staring at her paper which

was covered in vomit, Theresa opened her mouth.

But no words came out.

Life had finally hit the young girl's heart.

"Come here. Let me bring you to your room. Ugh. Off we go."

It wasn't long before she was standing in the common room by herself.

"Hick... Hick..."

She made noises but no tears came out of her eyes. Aoife's previous words had traumatized

the young girl's heart.

And then...

Click.

The door opened.

When she raised her head, Theresa found a familiar figure entering the apartment.

"What's going on here... what the..."

It was fake daddy. The man corrupted by evil. He looked around in utter bewilderment.

Beside him was a tall young girl with long black hair. The sight of her caused the Henchman's expression to grow stiff.

"What's with all the mess here, and why are you here by yourself?"

Walking toward Theresa, Julien bent down on one knee, meeting her gaze. Theresa's nose

scrunched up as she pointed at her paper.

"...That..."

"Hm?"

Julien casually looked in the direction where she pointed before finding the paper.

"Is that...?"

"...Um."

"Why is it like that?"

With a pair of hollow eyes, Theresa lowered her head. What she didn't notice was the abrupt

shift in Delilah's expression as she looked at Julien. "Did you teach her?"

"What? Ah, no. That's..."

He scratched his head. 'How am I going to explain this?' he muttered silently to himself.

"I've only just learned it myself. How can I teach it to her?"

"...Really?"

"Why is this even a question?"

"She looked just like you..."

"Haa. I think I know what's going on. Let me see. Oh?"

Julien blinked, his eyes hovering above the paper which was covered in vomit.

"You've managed to get everyone to sign?"

"...Un."

Theresa lifelessly nodded her head. Holding her back as if she were an old man, she sat down

on the floor, reminiscing about the past when she was oh so close to defeating the three

Demon Kings.

"...the good old days..."

Julien and Delilah exchanged glances. She whispered to him,

'You really didn't teach her?'

'I don't think so...'

Even he was starting to doubt it.

"Well..."

Riiip-!

"?"

"Let's change the rules of the game. How about this."

Julien turned his head and pointed his thumb at Delilah.

"If you can get her to sign, you're good to go. How about it?"

Theresa accepted the piece of paper with a vacant look. Her mind seemed to race through all

sorts of thoughts before her face bloomed into a large smile.

Seeing her reaction, Julien turned to face Delilah and was prepared to fill her up on the

situation when...

"She spends a lot of time watching the-"

"I accept.

"1

He barely got a word out before he caught sight of Theresa handing Delilah a bar of chocolate,

the exchange suspiciously resembling a drug deal. One that was exchanged for a signature.

"Done."

Theresa stared at the paper with shining eyes. After staring at Theresa for a couple of seconds,

Julien raised his head to look at Delilah.

"You, this isn't the first time you've met her is it?"

"...Um?"

Delilah cocked her head, opening the bar and taking a bite. Blinking her large eyes she shook

her head.

"No."

"What? When did you...?"

"Aoife came to me."

"She did?"

"Yes."

"Ah." It all made sense.

No wait.

"Then why didn't you tell them she was not human?"

"I thought they knew."

"Ehh..."

'She has a point', Julien mumbled to himself.

"...Couldn't you have at least struggled a little?" "Hm? Why?"

"No, never mind."

"Here."

With the shine remaining in her eyes, Theresa tapped on the fake daddy's leg.

"Mission complete."

And held onto the paper up high. As if to show off her achievement.

"Yes. I saw."

"...So?"

"Well, it's late now."

"But..."

"Go to sleep for now. Starting tomorrow, you'll be allowed to watch Justice Man again, is that

okay?"

Pinching her chin with her hand, Theresa relented.

"Well, fine."

She rolled the paper and gently caressed it. She could concede this much. After all, she was

indeed feeling a little tired.

"Alright, go to bed."

"Um."

Trotting back to her room, Theresa suddenly paused. Thinking for a moment, her little legs

trotted back to where the fake daddy was, and she nudged at his clothes.

"Yes?"

"Thank, you."

Theresa bowed her head.

"Hmm."

Then, as if that wasn't enough, Theresa recalled something and bowed even more.

"Thank you... fucker."