The Author's POV

Ka Mankut.

Within the confines of Melandoir lies a city that resides next to the world tree. It was once a prosperous and magnificent city that belonged to the elves; some even contend that it was the most powerful planet within the Hoag Galaxy, located approximately 600 million light years from the Milky Way Galaxy.

The city was primarily known for being next to the world tree, a colossal tree that bore special fruits every year and granted the elves unrivalled sensitivity to the mana in the air.

[Astra year - 1T08]

On this date, the planet that was once hailed as the most powerful planet in Hoag's Galaxy was conquered, and the world tree became corrupted, bearing fruits of something known as the devil fruit, a fruit that granted demons the magical property of purifying their bloodlines and the ability to surpass their natural bloodline limit.

From then on, demons became an unstoppable force in the universe, and galaxies trembled at the mere mention of their names.

*

The journey toward Ka Mankut was fairly unobstructed, and rightfully so.

Aside from the fact that we were humans, there was nothing else that particularly stood out about us, with the possible exception of our ranks.

In spite of this, the fact that we were all now capable of absorbing demonic energy was sufficient to prevent the nearby forces from becoming interested in us.

Not that they would pay any attention to us, to begin with.

Given that we had a map that was only partially detailed, navigating around such locations proved to be as easy as breathing, and other than the fact that it increased the amount of time it took for us to reach Ka Mankut, there was absolutely nothing that could be faulted about the situation.

Two days after arriving on the planet.

"We're near."

After coming to a complete stop and clearing the area in front of me of any vegetation, I reached into my dimensional space and extracted a few black hoods, which I then passed out to the others.

"Wear this for now. Although it is highly likely that we're not the only humans on this planet―granted that there probably used to exist a planet similar to earth in this galaxy―It is still best if we wear this to hide our faces. You might never know what happens."

In this world, one could find more than just demons.

It was widely known that this planet was one of the most significant in the known Galaxy, and there are likely to be a great number of contractees living on the planet.

As a result, it wouldn't be all that surprising if the four of us were able to move freely about the city without being bothered by anyone.

However, I knew that it was best to remain on the side of caution.

I knew too little about this planet to take any risks.

"Make sure that your face is covered enough that people don't see it. We wouldn't want trouble coming our way the moment we step into the city."

"Alright, alright."

Melissa snatched the robe from my hands, annoyance evident on her face.

Sadly, it seemed as though the effect of the contract was taking place, and Melissa was returning to her old self.

say I was very

"..."

"Give it here."

and Amanda were also not excluded from the effects of the contract; Jin's words became

sigh, I also put

going to be longer than I

as I was certain that it covered every part of my face, I turned around to check on the others to

"Let's get going."

I pulled down the hood a little further and headed

reach our destination—about two kilometres—and by the time the thicket of trees began to thin out, we could already make out the silhouette of a sizable city in the

stop the moment that the city became visible for

not what I

sort of design is

we've

as I was able to make out the silhouette of the city in the distance, I had the unmistakable impression that we had travelled

city, one might say that it had more of a medieval feel to it, despite the fact that there were

"Are those carriages?"

"They are..."

that led toward the city, and I noticed that there

much scarier and larger than horses could ever be... but it was still strange to see carriages

I turned to look at

colours, and engravings adorned the walls, arches,

see from a distance that some of the doors' arches were carved with zigzags and adorned with

larger structures were constructed as cathedrals with steeply pitched

do we do? Should we go

"Yeah."

nodded my head at Amanda's words, snapping out of

will have all the time we want to admire the city. For now, let's go in

gain as much information as

Everything else came later.

"Let's go."

that my hoodie was lowered all the way, I headed for the main path that led to the city in the

others followed me

***

Alliance headquarters, Earth.

should we proceed

asked, standing in front of Kevin's desk with an expressionless look on his

was quietly sitting on his desk, pen in hand, and scribbling through

and at the exact moment that Octavious's brows started to furrow, Kevin set the

is our next course of

the papers across

the paper and slowly

document, his expression slid into a serious one, and he cast a sidelong glance in

is this

"Fairly accurate."

reassured, reclining on his chair,

the mana compressors are located. Please inform the members of the alliance