Chapter 64
I opened my eyes wide.
"... What?"
Her words just now were utterly shocking.
And it was also information I had been waiting for all this time.
"You're saying... this Rage Mode can be permanently eliminated?"
The biggest shackle attached to my body.
This damn curse that torments me persistently every month. She's saying it can be removed.
I asked her:
"Just what... is the method?"
Urgency naturally seeped into my voice.
Thump thump, my heart pounds violently at just one sentence from her. Even trying to keep calm wasn't easy. That's how desperately I needed this information.
If she had said this just to mess with my mind, she had succeeded spectacularly.
Fortunately, being a fellow Manifestor, she seemed to understand my feelings and told me without beating around the bush.
"Well... the method itself isn't difficult. You just need to kill the demon that is the origin of your blood, and absorb part of its body. Though I've never seen it done myself, so I'm not sure exactly how the absorption works."
As she said, the method itself was simple.
But actually doing it? Absolutely not. If anything, it was impossibly difficult.
Kill the demon whose blood I have, when I don't even know whose it is? When it might not have even appeared in this world yet?
Even if it did appear, taking it down was another question entirely. Every demon I'd met so far had been incredibly powerful.
While confronting one might be possible, the confidence fades when thinking about actually catching and killing it.
And there were other questions too. About her words themselves. First, I looked at her and asked.
"... But, how can I trust this?"
"Huh."
Nicky lets out a scoff. As if finding it ridiculous that I would doubt after she went through the trouble of telling me.
"Believing it or not is up to you. I just passed on the information."
"...Hmm."
I nodded. Well, that's true.
Without any evidence, there's no way to verify if what she's saying is true.
Still, I had a few more questions.
"Where did you get this information?"
"I don't know the exact source either. But before, I overheard the General President and Branch Leader talking about it in secret."
I continued my questions.
"... Why tell me this?"
"Like I said earlier. I felt rebellious against those Lemegeton bastards."
Her lips curved up crookedly. That smile reminded me of a mischievous child playing pranks.
"We're fellow Manifestors, shouldn't we share at least this much? Those guys who just see us as tools would never tell us this anyway."
"......"
That was certainly true. Those demon-worshipping bastards would never reveal a method that required killing demons.
The more I thought about it, the less I understood. What was so great about those damn demons that made them want to worship them so much?
Looking at their abilities, they weren't even castoffs from somewhere else.
The high-ranking members there were at least A-Class Adventurers. People who could live proudly anywhere they went.
Yet why would such people give up money and fame to join such a group... I could only wonder.
'Did they do some drug-fueled sex preaching or something?'
Well, that would make joining somewhat understandable.
While having such frivolous thoughts, I expressed my gratitude to her.
"Well... thanks. For coming all this way to tell me this when you must be tired too."
Though we may be enemies, she had shared precious information that I couldn't have easily heard anywhere else.
If I hadn't heard it from her, I might never have known.
After all, ironically, Lemegeton knew the most about Manifestors.
And as she said, Lemegeton would hide information like this.
Though her reason for sharing was simply rebelliousness. Still, it was information I desperately needed.
Nicky smiled slightly at my words. Though her naturally fierce features made even that look somewhat like a sneer.
"Hehe, isn't that thank you a bit late?"
Of course, the truthfulness of the information wasn't certain.
Even if a demon appears, there's no guarantee I could deal with it. Nothing was certain.
But what did that matter? At least I had a lead. Though it seemed far off, I now had a goal to look towards.
Calming my excited heart, I asked her.
"... What will you do now? Planning to leave that group?"
"Haha, as if. Where could someone like me live if I left?"
"......"
Well, Manifestors like us have nowhere else we can settle down. I understood her position.
You can't just leave because you're a bit dissatisfied.
"Well, I'm going. Running all night has made me tired."
With those final words, she headed back the way she came.
Her trudging figure looked somewhat pitiful.
I felt a bit of sympathy, but... I had no intention of offering comfort. After all, all Manifestors have their own sorrows.
"......"
I watched her figure for a moment before returning to my cave.
After all, I was just as tired.
I spent that entire day sleeping.
And two weeks later, bad news arrived.
News I was starting to get used to by now.
News that another demon had descended.
*
Humans are creatures of forgetfulness.
Sometimes they forget even lessons written in blood.
Especially after hundreds of years pass, such things become just musty tales in history books.
Things weren't much different now.
Starting with Andromalius, then Seere, Amducias. And though not summoned, Kimaris too.
In just slightly over a year, humanity had already encountered news of four demons.
And though there was some damage, they had managed to handle all four cases relatively smoothly.
Most were dealt with quickly once a raiding party was organized.
So people couldn't help but think.
Maybe these demon creatures aren't really that tough after all?
Though people in the past had made the same careless assumption, it couldn't be helped. Today's people didn't know the past well.
This carelessness was especially severe among Otherworlders.
While Gaians had their lives at stake, Otherworlders would revive even if they died.
Moreover, Otherworlders' abilities had noticeably improved over the past few months.
You could even find them scattered among A-Class Adventurers now.
Their confidence was through the roof.
+
[fr these demon bastards are all just trash lol]
Honestly the ones that showed up so far haven't shown much
Andromalius got rekt, Seere got his wrist cut by some unknown NPC
Amducias was just a joke, aren't they just putting on airs?
+
[fr lol]
[We miss you Lord Seere...]
[This'll probably end quick with all the fuss lol]
Such carelessness continued right up until they gathered members for the demon subjugation.
Time passed and finally the day of the demon's descent arrived.
Like the first subjugation battle with Andromalius, they even knew which region the opponent would be summoned to.
Thanks to that, countless people had already gathered at the demon's summoning location, creating a sea of humanity.
Numerous knights and mages, along with Otherworlders, prepare for the subjugation.
The demon descended in this situation.
Its first appearance was utterly pathetic. A humanoid figure began walking from the far end of the subjugation force's formation.
At first glance it appeared to be a man with a diminutive build. Slightly hunched back, with an emaciated body. A figure that looked like it would collapse helplessly from just a kick.
However, its face was clearly grotesque, as it kept changing with each passing moment.
Sometimes an old woman's face, sometimes a beautiful lady's, and other times an ugly man's face.
Squirm squirm...
Moreover, when the face changed, you could clearly see the facial muscles moving. The scene of features disappearing and recombining was incomparably bizarre.
Finally, upon noticing the subjugation force, it smiled politely and opened its mouth.
"Ah, so everyone was gathered here?"
No need to think long about it. This was the demon species they had been waiting for.
"Take this, monster!"
The first to charge was one of the Otherworlders. An A-Class Adventurer who had reached a high level even among Otherworlders.
Perhaps seeing the opponent's diminutive appearance made them careless enough to charge in. Or maybe they wanted to score points before others.
But that Otherworlder's charge was stopped by a single word from the demon.
"My, we haven't even done introductions yet. Stop."
Freeze.
At those words, the Otherworlder freezes mid-charge. Indeed, a demon's "Stop!" was effective.
While frozen in that state, the demon continued speaking.
"Very well. Now die in that position."
However, this time nothing happened.
As if that much wasn't possible, no changes occurred to the Otherworlder's body.
Seeing this, the demon muttered as if troubled.
"Oh my... following Lord Paimon's example isn't easy after all. Well, I'll just do what I can."
The demon wiggled its fingers.
A movement that seemed meaningless at first glance.
But mages would have sensed the massive amount of mana consumed by that simple action.
In other words, it was magic. The opponent had just cast magic without any incantation.
Shunk-!
And the results appeared quickly. Suddenly, a spike shot up from the ground and pierced straight through the Otherworlder's chest.
"Kuhek...!"
The Otherworlder could only die with their throat pierced, still frozen in place.
Shock briefly filled people's eyes.
Though they had charged in recklessly, they were still an A-Class Adventurer. That meant they were at least level 110. Yet such a person died without any resistance.
Swoosh.
Beyond the corpse turning into particles of light, the demon bowed and introduced itself.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Dantalian, ranked 71st."
Still wearing that relaxed and polite smile.