A Win-Win Situation

"Noah!" Luca yelled out, and a red figure shot out of the hole Caliga made.

It was Noah, but he couldn't move his body more than that. After jumping, he just chose to land and fall down in front of Luca. The hunter caught Noah and then pushed out his hand, with the power ring forming a shield.

However, the white figure that followed swung—and stumbled her attack. Instead of hitting the shield with her scimitar, she reached out a hand and used the shield as a platform before doing a somersault overhead.

Her white hat fell off from her action, and her long blonde hair flayed in the air. Her green eyes widened as she stared into Luca's furious eyes.

Alessa then continued to backflip to gain distance from Luca's position and the encirclement of the hellhounds. She then got to her feet and watched Luca even use his body to shield Noah from her sight. The two other white-clad women dashed to her side and watched the same scene she was looking at.

Instead of a scream, Alessa cleared the confusion and horror that flashed across her eyes. "Luca, that's a witch."

"I am not blind." Luca dispersed the shield and placed Noah down for Caliga to heal as much as he could. He then got to his feet and glared at the three women. "What are you going to do about it, Sisters?"

"I didn't know SCC is hiring witches now. It seemed that our father's deductions are correct." Alessa only huffed, but she was sheathing her blades that decorated her coat like innocent belts.

"Only because we, the servants of light, don't even answer them." Luca frowned. "I think you know how important it is for SCC to avert all damages done in this country. Father is right to suspect, but who do you think is there to blame?"

Alessa glanced at the agents and then back at the handsome man. "Luca, you have a mission to accomplish, and that does not include feeding yourself to their flawed foresight and judgment. Moreover, you are not supposed to show mercy towards a witch."

She took one scimitar from underneath her coat. "Let me correct your mistake. The witch cannot live."

A spark of fear flashed across Luca's eyes and kept his heart pounding inside his chest. He was nothing compared to these three witches, but he didn't even hesitate to take out a gun and aim it straight at Alessa's face. Even if he was scared, he didn't want her to kill Noah outright.

"You have been tainted." Alessa frowned and was about to attack when she felt a surge of power explode from directly behind her. Even her two companions were alerted, but they were immediately sent to the ground like something swatted them down.

Luca watched his ever-formidable sister visibly tremble under the pressure that echoed all over the place. Even he was scared at the development, but something about it was making him not let his knees go jelly.

The aura was familiar.

Alessa's eyes shook in fear, and she didn't even dare turn to look. The mere push of a level ten demon was not something she could ignore.

Each level was a lot stronger than the other, and the difference in power was sometimes more than double than the lower one. A level seven was nothing to her, but she couldn't even deal with a level eight. Level ten was far too much of a stretch.

"Now, now, let's not make things unnecessarily bloody, shall we?" A voice of a young man echoed into Alessa's ears, but it seemed that no one else was reacting to his words.

The voice continued to sound out while the owner actually leaned against Alessa's back. "White magus, it's hard to keep this in mind, but I really think you're losing touch with reality.

"SCC is not an enemy and would not make an enemy out of the Order. Besides, you already saw how small a fry the witch is. No need to rush execution, right?"

The man with a horn looked over his shoulder and past the wings that unfolded themselves behind him. "Why don't we just sit down and have a peaceful talk?

"As much as I remember, the White Magi shouldn't bother with witches and should be more focused on killing level six demons and above. However, you cannot invoke such without hoping for a tribute."

The demon then chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to be thankful to SCC for risking one of theirs and baiting the small coven into having a tribute? Why don't you just let him go? He brought you the level seven, right?

"SCC gets their financial records, and you get to destroy a notorious demon's essence. Isn't that a win-win situation for everyone?"

He then got off of her and turned around to drape an arm around her shoulder, his dark eyes emanating a very dangerous glare. "What's not a win-win is… you killing the small witch, and his handler—oh, such a big boss handler—not being happy with it.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to piss off Belphegor the most."

Alessa trembled. "His handler is a…" She then glanced at the bloodied Noah on the ground. "Who is he? He has hellhounds and a demon p—?!"

Mephisto then placed a finger on her lips. "Shhh, let's just keep this to ourselves. Your choice, Alessa Allsworth…"

The demon then glanced at Luca and Noah before disappearing into the void.

Bang! Alessa fell on her knees and then on her behind. She held onto her mouth as she contained her scream.

She had never encountered a level ten before, and even if Mephistopheles was notorious for making contact with anyone, he had never shown a fraction of his power to any of the Order members that he had met before.

However, just now… just because she targeted this witch, Mephisto showed up and flicked the White Magi like flies!

Her eyes that watered looked up at Luca again as she slowly got to her feet. Along with her rose her companions who seemed to be injured by the push Mephisto gave them.

Alessa then opened her mouth to speak. "Little brother, are you staying here longer? Father and I will be here for a series of hunts. We will make contact if you're willing to see us."

"I still have a lot of things to do. My mission isn't done yet." Luca shook his head.

He wasn't ready to receive their father's blunt scolding when he finds out that Luca showed mercy to a witch and that he didn't try killing hellhounds especially when one almost ate him a year ago.

"Maybe when it's over, I'll see if you are still here."

Alessa only nodded and ran off from the scene. Even if White Magi had their own pride, they had to shamefully retreat. Even if it was not necessarily the case, the 'enemy' had a level ten demon—the highest category of strength, just under the demon princes—favoring him.

After they left, Luca dropped his gun and didn't know why he actually chose Luca over his sister. He only looked after Noah, who was… again… in a dying state.

Noah was just lucky that Mephisto chose to intervene and send energy to Caliga along with his aura. Even if the energy from the eaten souls were depleted, Caliga could still keep Noah alive.

"Noah?" Luca wanted to pick him up, but a blanket was immediately placed on top of the witch. When Luca looked up, it was Rebecca who started to tuck Noah into a warm blanket so his body wouldn't go to shock.

Right, healing him was the most important thing to do now.

…

"Do you love the pain?"

A female voice snapped Noah's consciousness back like he just popped a bubble to wake up from slumber. However, when Noah came to, he was seated on a luxurious red chair in a red room.

In front of him was a woman whose skin was pitch-black and whose eyes were like sapphires reflecting light. He couldn't recognize her, but he knew that she wasn't human at all.

"P-Pain?" Noah repeated the last word he heard from her.

"Yes, how could you be so reckless? Did Belphegor tell you that you can take on everything? You can't even properly pit yourself against someone of your own size." Her eyes flicked at him, making him feel the same electricity his heart would thump to every time Belphegor glared at him.

"Are you… Lady Dione?" Noah tested his memory. The only demon woman who would visit him was Belphegor or Lady Dione. Since Belphegor wouldn't change his appearance all of a sudden and that his name was already mentioned, he only had Lady Dione as a candidate.

The woman only hummed as she continued to stir her blood-red tea in her cup. "Now that you know who I am, do you now realize how much of a danger you brought to my children?"

Noah then remembered that Lady Dione was Caliga's—and everyone else's—mother. To think that Caliga's mother had a human form, could it be possible for the young pup to have one in the future? He could actually talk now apparently.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fight something like that. I just needed Luca to escape." Noah didn't dare lie or bluff the woman.

"Hmph, my Caliga and my other children might be with you because they needed to train, but that doesn't mean they had to die." Dione only sighed as she sipped on the blood-red tea. As if making sure that it was perfect, Dione offered the cup to Noah. "Drink."

Noah stared at the tea and seemed to see a lot of despairing faces in it. He then took the cup and drank it slowly. It was very warm and tasted rather very tangy; he even wanted to throw it up. It's just that…

"What an idiot. If I offered you poison, you could have been killed." Dione sighed as Noah started to violently shake in front of her, the liquid spraying out of his mouth. She only took out a handkerchief and cleaned her table from the bile and saliva that got on it.

"Learn to question me from time to time. Now, try not to die."