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."

onto the page of the book trembled as Kevin had

three translucent yellow rings appeared, revolving

Bang—!

the ground and

had expected

left. What followed the first disc was a

before he propelled himself towards the

it. The demon's face finally changed,

powerful wave

"Huuup!"

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

his sword,

about to block the attack, using the

"Puchi!"

from above, creating a

not

book, Kevin moved back. A look of complete denial appeared on his

not possible. How can he still be alive? I-I watched him

the mourning, the

How could he

believe it. How could he? How could he suddenly accept the

accept

didn't understand

could it be but

he had

trembling lips, Kevin tried to calm

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

down were in vain. It just wasn't possible for him to remain cool-headed. The news was too shocking

this, perhaps, be a recount of

what he was seeing was what had happened to Ren in

moment the Baron ranked demon

"Haa…"

knew that it was impossible. He knew

for the previous

"Ugh..."

head started to sting

out a groan, Kevin's knees

his head, Kevin supported his body by

sensation, the book started

"Argh..."

pain in his head intensified as the book

his hand, it wasn't long before the

"… What just happened?"

of times, Kevin's eyes flashed

Kevin stared at

was because the black mist covering the name of

side of his mouth, a subtle green glow enveloped

explosively shot towards the demon, like a sharp

"This…"

slumped back on his chair as he

It really

was a

relief of finding out that his best friend was alive, there was something else that

world had happened to him, and why did he

and more questions flooded Kevin's

Kevin's eyes landed on

knew that the

Flip—! Flip—!

of the book, Kevin quickly read through every 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 happened to him and how he

"Hehe…"

the pages, Kevin's face would change

sometimes frown, oftentimes be taken aback,

worries for his friend became. Though he was in the middle of a war, he seemed to be fine.

had killed multiple Baron-ranked demons and was getting along with the

"Hah?"

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

face turned

tried his best to suppress his

the headmaster's face slowly started

with the Monolith and put a bounty on me. Because of the bounty, I was forced to leave the human domain. It is also the

the headmaster's eyes ripples slightly. For a while, he didn't say

Bang—!

"What?!"

the

of his fists clenching tightly resounded

"Union!"

as he glared at the book. For them to do what

bastards! How could you sell out the one

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

"Haa...haaa..."

up a piece of paper beside him, Kevin tried his

Ren's plans regarding the Union did Kevin finally