I opened my eyes wide.
“… What?”
What she just said was incredibly shocking.
And it was also the information I had been waiting for.
“… You can get rid of this rampage forever?”
The biggest shackle attached to my body. This ghastly curse that torments me every month. She’s claiming she can remove it.
I asked her.
“What exactly is the method?”
My voice naturally carried a sense of urgency.
Thump, thump, just one word from her sent my heart racing. Even though I tried to calm myself, it wasn’t easy. It was that important to me.
If she was saying that just to mess with my mind, then she had succeeded brilliantly.
Fortunately, being of the same kind, she seemed to understand my feelings and didn’t hesitate to explain.
“Well… the method itself isn’t that difficult. You just need to kill the demon that is the source of your blood and absorb a part of its body. I’ve never seen it done, so I don’t know how to absorb it.”
According to her, the method itself was simple.
But if you asked whether carrying it out was easy, the answer was absolutely not. In fact, it was extremely difficult.
I don’t even know whose demon blood I have, and I’m supposed to kill that guy? He might not even have shown up in this world yet!
Even if he did show up, would I be able to kill him? The demons I’ve encountered so far have all been quite powerful.
Even if somehow I could confront him, the confidence to capture him was waning.
And there were more questions. Specifically, the very nature of her words. I looked at her and asked.
“… But how can I trust that?”
“Ha.”
Niki snorted with a chuckle. The look on her face seemed to say it was ridiculous for me to doubt after she had shared this information.
“Trusting or not is up to you. I’m just passing on the information.”
“… Hmm.”
I nodded. Well, that makes sense.
After all, there was no evidence, and I had no way of knowing the truth of her words.
Still, I had a few more questions.
“Where did you get that information?”
“I don’t know the exact source. But once, I overheard a conversation between the chairman and the branch leader.”
I continued my questioning.
“… Why are you telling me this?”
“I told you earlier. I’ve grown antagonistic towards those Lemegaton folks.”
Her lips twisted into a smirk. The way she smiled reminded me of a mischievous troublemaker.
“Besides, we’re the same kind. Shouldn’t we share this much? They’ll never tell us how to do it since they think of us as tools.”
“……..”
That much was definitely true. Those who worship demons wouldn’t tell us a method that could only be achieved by defeating demons.
The more I thought about it, the less I understood. What was so appealing about those damned demons that made them want to serve them so fervently?
Even looking at their abilities, they didn’t seem to be anything extraordinary.
The high-ranking individuals from that place were at least A-class adventurers. They were not the type who could live loudly wherever they went.
Yet, I found it astonishing that such beings would forsake money and honor to join that kind of group…
‘Did they perhaps do something like drug-fueled sex cult recruitment?’
With that in mind, I thanked her.
“Well… thank you. You must be tired too, but you came all this way to tell me.”
Even though she was technically an enemy, she had shared precious information that was hard to come by elsewhere.
If I hadn’t heard it from her, I might never have known.
After all, paradoxically, the ones who knew the most about the manifestations were the Lemegaton, and they would, as she said, hide such information.
Of course, her reason for sharing it was likely just simple rebellion. Nonetheless, it was a piece of information I desperately needed.
Niki smiled lightly at my words. However, her fierce expression made it look slightly mocking.
“Hehe, isn’t your gratitude a bit late?”
Of course, the truth of the information remained uncertain.
Just because a demon appeared didn’t mean I could deal with it. There was no certainty in any of it.
But so what? At least I had gained a clue. Even if it felt distant, having a target to aspire to was what mattered.
I settled my excited heart and asked her.
“… So what are you going to do now? Are you planning to leave that group?”
“Haha, no way. Where would I go if I left?”
“……..”
Well, I understood her position since people like us, who had manifested, had nowhere else to go.
It wasn’t something you could just leave behind because you didn’t like it.
“Well, I’m off. I’m tired after running all night.”
With those words, she turned back to where she came from.
The way she walked away looked quite pitiful.
I felt a slight pang of sympathy, but I had no intention of offering comfort. Manifestors typically carried their own burdens.
“……..”
I glanced at her for a moment before retreating into my cave.
I was just as tired.
And so, I spent the entire day sleeping.
Then, a week later, I received some bad news.
It was news that had now become somewhat familiar.
A new demon had descended.
*
Humans are creatures of forgetfulness.
Sometimes, they forget even lessons etched in blood.
Especially if several centuries have passed, it becomes something that would only appear in musty history books.
It was no different now.
Starting with Andromalius, then Seere, Amducias, and though he hadn’t been summoned yet, Kimaris as well.
In just a little over a year, humanity had already encountered four demons.
And while there was some damage, they had managed to fend off all four fairly smoothly.
Most of the time, just organizing a hunt party would result in quick victories.
Thus, they couldn’t help but think this.
Aren’t demons actually somewhat manageable?
The carelessness of people in the past was inescapable, but it was to be expected. Today’s people didn’t know the past very well.
Especially carelessness was even stronger among otherworlders.
The Gaia folks were at least risking their lives, but otherworlders would just come back to life when they died.
Not to mention, the power of the otherworlders had noticeably risen in the past few months.
Every now and then you would find an otherworlder among A-class adventurers.
Their confidence must be sky-high.
+
[Aren’t these demon guys really just weak? LOL]
Honestly, the ones that have shown up so far haven’t shown anything remarkable.
And Andromalius? He got slaughtered, Seere had his wrist chopped off by an NPC, and Amducias was just a comedian. Aren’t they just posturing?
+
[For real, LOL]
[Seere, we miss you today…]
[This time it seems like they’ll make a fuss and it will end quickly again, LOL]
Such carelessness continued until they began to recruit a demon hunting party.
As time passed, the day of the demon’s descent finally arrived.
Just like the first battle against Andromalius, this time the confrontation took place in the very area where the demon was to be summoned.
Because of this, at the place where the demon was summoned, countless people had gathered in overwhelming numbers.
Many knights, mages, and otherworlders gathered to prepare for the hunt.
In that situation, the demon descended.
The first appearance was utterly humble. From the far end of the hunting party’s formation, a single figure started walking forward.
At first glance, he appeared to be a frail man. Stooped slightly, with a thin body that seemed like it would fall over with just a kick.
However, his face was unmistakably grotesque, for it changed shape every second.
Sometimes it looked like an old woman, other times a beautiful lady, and suddenly an ugly man.
Squirming…
Every time his face changed, the muscles of his face moved in a very conspicuous manner. The sight of features disappearing and then reassembling again was bizarre beyond belief.
Before long, upon noticing the hunting party, the demon smiled politely and spoke.
“Oh, so you all are gathered here?”
There was no need to think long about it. This was the demon they had been waiting for.
“Take this, monster!”
The first to charge was an otherworlder. A player acknowledged as a high-level A-class adventurer among otherworlders.
Perhaps he was caught off guard by the demon’s diminutive figure, or perhaps he was eager to score first.
But that otherworlder’s charge was halted by a single word from the demon.
“Oops, I haven’t introduced myself yet. Please stop.”
Halt.
At those words, the otherworlder froze mid-run. The demon’s command of “stop!” was indeed effective.
Stuck in place, the demon continued.
“Alright, now please die.”
But this time, nothing happened.
As if that was too much to ask, nothing unusual occurred to the otherworlder’s body.
Seeing this, the demon mumbled with a hint of embarrassment.
“Ah… it’s not easy to imitate Lord Paimon, after all. Well, that’s fine. I can just do what I know.”
The demon flicked his fingers.
It looked like a seemingly meaningless movement.
However, the mage would have certainly felt the immense mana consumed in that simple gesture.
In other words, it was magic. The opponent had cast their spell without any incantation.
Pshh-!
And the result appeared immediately. Suddenly, a spike erupted from the ground, piercing through the otherworlder’s chest.
“Gah…!”
The otherworlder, frozen in place, could do nothing as his throat was pierced, and he died.
A moment of astonishment washed over the crowd.
No matter how recklessly he charged in, he was still an A-class adventurer. That meant he was at least level 110. And yet, such a person died without even putting up a fight.
Swoosh.
As the body turned into particles of light and disappeared, the demon bowed slightly, introducing itself.
“Nice to meet you. I am Dantalion, ranked 71st.”
The demon continued to wear a relaxed and polite smile.
