4

At that point, Rex let out a threatening growl and pulled out his sword "Get out of here, you jackass! You want to get in my face? Huh?!"

The manager charged forward without giving any advance warning, swinging his staff at Rex. The blade cut cleanly through the air and severed a portion of his hair before sinking itself firmly into the ground next to where he was standing. However, before Rex could respond, the boss disarmed himself, drew his weapon, and viciously struck him across the jaw, knocking him out and rendering him unconscious. The boss started laughing hysterically after my friend fell to the floor motionless, which prompted the boss to continue laughing. He then turned to face Lina, who was watching with her mouth agape and her eyes widened, unable to comprehend what she was seeing unfold in front of her eyes. "Now, tell me once more who is to blame for raising such a worthless piece of shite," the person demanded.

"No..." Lina mumbled in a low voice while frantically shaking her head. "Please come to a stop... Please do not bother him in any way."

The manager snorted in a mocking manner. "Do you honestly believe that I will continue to listen to such nonsense? How dare you beg for forgiveness when your lover is lying on the floor unconscious! Have you completely forgotten about him already!"

At that point, Lina was unable to stop her uncontrollable sobbing "I am capable of explaining anything. Just stop hurting him already, thank you very much. His only desire is to be of service to Lord Nergal and to save humanity from the doom that is inevitably approaching. That sums it up nicely. Nothing more than that. He does not merit to be treated in such a cruel manner!"

Her superior sneered at her in disdain "Oh yeah? And how long have you been acquainted with this dummy of a boy? After devoting a significant portion of his life to Satan and working toward bringing about the end of the world, does he resemble the sort of person who would suddenly change their behavior? It's not likely in my opinion."

"How is it even possible for you to say that?" Lina wept enraged tears. "Look at him! The events that took place earlier have left him in utter disbelief. Isn't that sufficient evidence that he worries about us and wants the best for us?"

The manager merely gave a casual shrug "It's possible that he has deep feelings for both you and Rex. I can assure you, however, that has zero bearing on anything. He has most likely been subjected to some form of indoctrination that has led him to believe that you are unique in some way. In point of fact, however, he is nothing more than a pawn that is being manipulated by the leadership of the Red Order. If he does nothing else, he should express gratitude to them for rescuing him from an assured death. If things had gone differently, he would be wasting away in hell right this moment rather than leading a happy life among human beings. If his true nature were known to even a small number of demons, it is likely that they would have put an end to his life long ago."

His words cut me deeply, but I managed to keep my composure throughout it all. "You are fully aware of how ridiculous that statement is. Because we've spent so much time together, I feel as though I know him better than anyone else who works for this company. Sure, we share similar beliefs. But that doesn't exactly make us friends or even on the same level. In addition to that, I'm confident that the boss himself would concur with me on this particular point."

The manager displayed a chilly smirk "Actually? Then let me ask you a straightforward question: when it comes to loyalty, does Rex here side with you or the Red Order?"

Lina's quick and confident response left no room for doubt: "Both." She followed that up with a questioning "...right?"

"That's right," the manager nodded with self-assurance, "and for that reason, he ought to be allowed to live." Therefore, you do not need to be concerned about his well-being while he is under our supervision. In addition, I can assure you that he will not betray you under any circumstances. In contrast to the majority of the Order's other members, who have willingly betrayed their loyalty to the Order in order to serve Satan, Rex has not wavered in his allegiance to you. At least, that's how he has always been. Even when you were too busy to spend time with him because you were running errands for the Order, he never stopped being loyal to you."

When I heard those reassuring words, I immediately let out a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you." It was reassuring to have someone validate our suspicions that Rex was not a member of the Red Order after all. After all, he had placed his own life in jeopardy in order to free me from the grasp of the Black Order. Despite the fact that he was obligated to work with Lina and me, I was aware that he cared about us both. Nevertheless, I was unable to shake the feeling that I had misled him about my true intentions by lying to him. As far as he was aware, our plans included assisting the Red Order in carrying out their wicked deeds once the end of the world had arrived. However, things were not quite as black and white as they appeared. I had every intention of using them to further my own agenda, rather than joining forces with them to accomplish our shared objectives. To put it another way, I could not have survived without the support of those people. Unfortuitously, this meant that I would sooner or later have to come clean about being a demon. To my good fortune, I cherished the hope that Rex would not despise me for doing so. In spite of the fact that I am not who I claim to be, I have high hopes that he will continue to treat me the same.

The manager enquired with astonishment, "Well, then, what's stopping you?" "Are you not going to seize the chance that has been presented to you? Or are you too afraid to show the others your true colors for fear that they will find out the truth?"

I gave Lina a quick glance, and she was still looking mournfully down at her hands, which were tightly clasped together. Her sobs were so heavy that they ran freely down her cheeks as her shoulders shook violently. I knew I couldn't take the chance of revealing my true nature just yet, despite the fact that I wanted to console her with all of my being. Not unless Rex somehow managed to regain consciousness, which seemed highly improbable given how hard the boss had hit him. As a result, I came to the conclusion that the single most important thing was to convince the manager to let Rex live. After all, if we were to be successful in achieving our objective, it would be much simpler for us to slip away undetected afterward. After that, there is a possibility that we could come back at a later time to finish off any remaining cultists before making our escape. Obviously, the degree to which the boss was willing to collaborate determined everything in this regard. From the way he is acting right now, it would appear that he is intent on playing his part, regardless of the amount of trouble that this may cause.

I patiently explained to them that we were at a loss for further action until Rex regained consciousness. "Aside from that, I still have some inquiries concerning the plans of the Red Order. Could I please get a moment of your undivided attention?"