Episode14(S1-8)：CHARUEL

Alpina was in the lead, followed closely by Quon and Nana. This was the best way to move through the forest, where the landscape was similar to the one before and where Alpina was the only one who knew where they were.

Quon and the others also bounce along, so as not to be left behind by Alpina, who is flying alone over the unstable footholds. Aside from Alpina, who is The Devil and is not affected by the terrain because she is flying, and Nana, who has outstanding physical functions for The Human Child as The Dragonute, it was unique for Quon, who is only The Human, to be able to keep up with Alpina as well. He interpreted this as a result of the magical power that Alpina had poured into him, and put any deep doubts out of his mind.

“I'm surprised you signed a contract with her, by the way.”

“I'm trying to help my brother.”

“True, but how could you believe the word of someone who says she is The Devil?”

“Are there no The Devils in The Human society?”

With a scowling face, Nana tilts her head and looks at Quon. Quon takes one look at those pure eyes of hers and turns his head forward again to look at Alpina, who is flying leisurely.

“It appears as a mythical life, though. I'd say the number of people who think it's real is about 50-50 right now.”

“In our The Dragonute society, not only The Devil, but also The Angel and The God are believed to be real beings, just like The Dragon. The Devil's contract with us is also believed in the same way, so no one is particularly surprised by it.”

“Well, there's no such thing as The Dragonute unless The Dragon is real, and that's a fair statement when you think about it.”

In the first place, the existence of The Dragonute in The Human society is also a matter of some skepticism. The national policy is to accept their claims and recognize their existence, but leave it to each individual to decide whether or not to believe in them. Therefore, there are those who worship them as the descendants of The Dragon, those who refuse to meddle in other people's beliefs, and those who are exclusive, saying that their lives are being ruined by blind faith.

As for Quon, he has no fanaticism or hostility toward them, only a light feeling of hope that it is true.

“However, I am afraid that other The Dragons would not look at my behavior in a very good light. In The Dragonute mythology, The Devil is the Dragon's natural enemy.”

“I remember Alpina saying that The Angel is strong against The Devil, The Devil is strong against The Dragon, and The Dragon is strong against The Angel. Perhaps that's where it came from.”

“Thanks to that, I couldn't even get a hold of those Hexenbiests. ......”

Nana's face clouded over, but Quon corrected her words while raising a faint question.

“No, Alpina says those guys are not Hexenbiest, but Sacred Beast, creatures from The Heavenly Realm. Isn't that right, Alpina?”

Quon calls Alpina in a slightly loud voice. She responds by flying backward.

“Yes. But it's no wonder you can't win. You have little experience, and even though you are The Dragonute, your blood is as close to The Human as possible. How many generations you've advanced, I don't know.”

“The Dragonute's history is not as long as that of The Human. As I recall, the first The Dragonute was born about 1,000 years ago.”

“1,000 years? That's pretty new.”

If so, is it a coincidence that her soul resembles Zirnia's? In the first place, if The Dragon had descended to The Earthly Realm 1,000 years ago, someone The Human would have talked about it. Does that mean they miraculously didn't see it?

“By the way, who are these Sacred Beast? Is it different from Hexenbiests or The Angels who also live in The Heavenly Realm?”

“The Holy Beast is an failed of The Angel, the counterpart of the Monster, who is also an failed of The Devil. Their essence is identical to that of The Angels, but some of their powers are inferior to or lacking. For example, both are capable of possessing holy power and practicing holiness, but The Angels' ability to send the souls of the dead to The Divine Realm and lead them to Rebirth is don’t have The Holy Beasts.”

Quon is honestly impressed. He needs knowledge that he would never know or use if he lived as a normal, innocent person, and to know is something that genuinely piques his interest and concern.

“But why are all the Sacred Beasts in The Earthly Realm?”

“By nature, neither Sacred Beasts nor Monsters descend to The Earthly Realm. They do not have the right to freely enter and leave The Divine, Heavenly, and Magical Realms of their own free will. Besides, their intelligence is too low. We cannot handle them if they attack The Human Child without regard.”

“What about that mechanical horse?”

“That's because I called it. They are given temporary authority to move between Realmss when requested by a higher authority.”

Well," says Alpina, stepping down to the ground. The wind rises and the hem of her coat and skirt flutters.

A little further ahead of her, a boy who looks a lot like Nana is sitting on a rocky beach.

“Ah, big brother!”

Nana rushes to the boy at once when she sees him. She breaks into a phase, and there are faint tears in her eyes. The two of them were filled with a sense of relief that the peace they had been deprived of had come, a result of the highest order for Quon.

But emotional reunions do not come so easily. It is a given that such a scene is bound to be interrupted.

Suddenly, the sun ring at the zenith is shaded. But it was not a cloud. The Angel, bearing two pairs of four wings, descended and separated the siblings. His appearance was so divine and holy that no The Angel or holy beast that Quon had ever met could compare to him, and he was so unapproachable that The Human Child could not easily approach him.

The Angel lands on the ground and silently seizes the Lace. Then it flies again and tries to leave the place.

“Hold it!”

Quon forcefully pulls out The Relic Sword that Alpina had stored in another dimension and kicks the ground. Seeing this, Alpina is honestly impressed.

You were able to interfere with the different storage. I'm not sure if I should say "as expected" or "as good as it gets,......," but I'm impressed with his growth.

Quon slashes at The Angel to get the Lace back. The Angel, however, is different from the one he fought not long ago. The Angel, showing neither impatience nor alarm at all at Quon's attack, strikes back at Quon as if he were dust. Quon ducked and ducked and went down to the ground. The Angel stops in mid-air and looks intently at the three men standing below.

“What, it was true that you came back, Alpina? Did you find what you were looking for?”

“It's been a long time, Charuel. You've grown quite arrogant in the time I've been away.”

“I've always been like this, remember? But you've grown so gentle that you'd give your life to The Human Child.”

Charuel glares at Quon and Nana with a fearless smile. Even Quon, who knows Alpina's eyes, can sense The Angel's unique ghastliness, which makes him fearful.

“Nothing has changed for me. Paradoxically, you The Angels have just fallen from grace, haven't you?　I've seen some of The Angels and Sacred Beasts before I met you, and you were more charming when you were still newborn.”

“It's none of your business.”

By the way," Alpina puts her hands on her waist. Her sapphire-blue colored eyes, as big as a cat's, turn golden, and she looks up at me with a serpentine gaze.

“What are you going to do with him? He's "just another The Human Child" as you call him.”

“Success lurks behind every failure.”

Fluttering his wings, Charuel smiles broadly and turns to leave. Glaring silently at his back, Alpina pulls her right hand out of her coat pocket and aims it at him with her fingers in the shape of a gun.

〈MAGIC BULLETS〉

Her magical power is concentrated in Alpina's fingertips. Lightning gushes out in a magical bullet composed of murderous intent and cruelty, and heat overflows, literally consuming the target.

It then shoots out from her fingertip and advances in a straight line to catch him. It followed him as if it were a life form with a will, burning up the air around him as it shimmered. Quon, standing nearby, moves his body to protect Nana and adjusts his defensive posture.

However, Charuel plays off such a blow with a cool face. The magical bullet that was sent flying landed on a distant mountain and caused a violent explosion. The sound and shockwave that arrives late is so violent that it could blow away Quon and Nana, and Alpina's half-body glows viciously in the light of the explosion. Alpina's hair and clothes are violently swept away and then subside.

The impact eventually ceased, and Quon, who had just woken up, looked at the explosion site and gasped in disbelief.

“No way. ......”

The mountains that should have been there disappeared without a trace, and the scorched earth was enveloped in a smoke of fire. It was a natural disaster of such a magnitude that it overturned The Human's common sense from the very foundation.

Tsk, I think I've curbed the power too much. ......

“What's the matter, bonded to The Earthly Realm? Or have you lost your touch?”

Charuel flew off into the deep sky of the forest, taking Lace. Only Quon, Nana, and Alpina were left in their place.