The Author's POV

"Tell me why... you have a demon on your finger."

As soon as Douglas's words faded, the atmosphere instantly froze. The echo of his words chilled the very air, creating a palpable tension.

"What's going on?"

Feeling that something was gravely wrong, Waylan looked at Douglas.

Staring at the two for a while, I tapped the ring on my finger after letting out a long sigh.

'This isn't going to be easy.'

"Looks like I can no longer hide it. Come out, Angelica."

SHUU—

At my call, black steam rose from my hand, much to Waylan's surprise. A stunning woman materialized next to me.

Having just canceled her taxing transformation, Angelica's face was extremely pale, and she barely had any strength to defend herself.

"Need a hand?"

Seeing how weak she was, I offered to lend her a hand, but she swiftly refused it.

"——!"

The moment she appeared, Waylan, who was next to Douglas, finally realized what was going on.

He suddenly became wary.

"A demon…"

A threatening aura suddenly sprang out of his body, aiming towards the currently weakened Angelica.

However, just as the pressure was about to crash against Angelica, Douglas waved his hand. The pressure instantly disappeared.

"Stop."

"Douglas?!"

Waylan cried out in surprise, evidently confused by Douglas's actions. Raising his hand, Douglas calmly looked at Waylan.

"Wait."

Turning his head, Douglas scanned Angelica up and down. A frown emerged on his usually calm face.

Opening his mouth, he asked,

"Have the demons advanced so much that their stealth abilities have become nigh undetectable?"

"It's her skill,"

I replied in Angelica's stead.

"She has a special skill that allows her to turn into any object she wants. The downside, as you can see, is her current, weakened state, where for a while she has no demonic energy in her body. However, because of this skill, it becomes extremely easy for her to infiltrate most areas."

"Oh?"

Humming in thought, Douglas took a step forward, walking towards Angelica who fearlessly stared at him from where she stood.

She seemed unafraid and proud while she matched eyes with a seemingly overwhelming opponent. She looked dauntless.

Halting a few meters away from Angelica, Douglas continued to stare at her. She coldly looked back at him, not letting her gaze falter for a moment.

"..."

"..."

Their staredown continued for what felt like forever, till finally, turning his head to face me, Douglas pointed towards the seats.

"I think we still have a bit to talk about."

Slowly closing my eyes, I looked at Angelica before nodding my head and heading back to the seats.

"I understand."

***

At the same time.

[Lock, Leviathan building.]

Flip—! Flip—!

The sound of pages being flipped echoed inside of a room.

Sitting behind a large wooden desk, dimly lit by a small lamp, Kevin's eyes darted between each page of the novel. He carefully read each line twice to make sure he didn't miss a single detail.

Before long, his finger paused in front of a certain page.

Leaning forward to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, Kevin's face changed from one filled with seriousness to one filled with absolute shock.

"…N-no way."

of the book trembled as Kevin had trouble

demon, three translucent yellow

Bang—!

and tried to force his body to a halt. However,

he had

a disc appeared towards his left. What followed the first

***** softly landed on the left ring before he propelled himself towards the

could react, ***** was already upon it.

a powerful wave of

"Huuup!"

use of the [Keiki style], ***** opted to apply

sword, he

the attack, using the last ring, ***** used the gravitational effect and changed the course of the sword, once again catching the demon

"Puchi!"

from above, creating a misty rain of

not

A look of complete denial

he still be alive? I-I

the

possible? How

believe it. No, he didn't want to believe it. How could he? How could he suddenly accept the fact that his friend, who he thought to be dead,

he accept

understand who the person in the book

else could it be but

that he thought he had lost more than

Kevin tried to calm himself

"Haa...haa... Let's calm down."

just wasn't possible for him to remain

perhaps, be a recount

Perhaps what he was seeing was what had

demon was about to

"Haa…"

it was impossible. He

knew that it was impossible for the previous Ren to kill

"Ugh..."

Kevin's head

out a groan, Kevin's knees buckled

supported his body by

stinging sensation, the book started to

"Argh..."

in his head intensified as

his eyes with his hand, it wasn't long

"… What just happened?"

a couple of times, Kevin's eyes flashed with

stared at the book with

his eyes landed on the book, Kevin's eyes opened widely. That was because the black mist covering the name

side of his mouth, a subtle green glow

after, his body explosively shot towards the demon, like a sharp

"This…"

weakly slumped back on his chair

shoes… It really is

was a mess. He couldn't make heads or tails of the

that his best friend was alive, there was something else

had happened to him, and why did he fake his death? How did he even

questions flooded

while, Kevin's eyes

knew that the answer lay

Flip—! Flip—!

part, without missing a single detail. Now that he knew that Ren was the person in the book, he wanted to know more about what

"Hehe…"

pages, Kevin's face would change from

frown, oftentimes be taken aback,

he was in the middle

and was getting

"Hah?"

paused on a certain page. Frowning, Kevin leaned back slightly. The more he read,

his face

he tried his best to suppress his uneven

the smile on the headmaster's face slowly started

of the bounty,

the headmaster's eyes ripples slightly.

Bang—!

"What?!"

pounded the

his fists clenching tightly resounded in

"Union!"

turned hoarse as he glared at the book. For them to do what they did to Ren... The veins on

could you sell out the one guy that saved

he had helped them, those bastards. Kevin's rage was reaching a

"Haa...haaa..."

him, Kevin tried his best to

Ren's plans regarding