Chapter 101

Mar sniffed the air, detecting no scent of rain despite the red downpour falling soundlessly around him. "Demons," he muttered to himself as he walked past the gates of the Rasanto estate. *I hope you're safe, Lia,* he thought, traversing the front garden with caution. A sense of unease settled over him before he glanced toward the left side of the mansion. *So, he came after all,* he mused, observing Jakel make a bridge of rock to scale the outer wall.

Suddenly, Mar felt a sharp spike of mana emanating from within the mansion—a clear sign of his big sister. *That's Lia,* he realized urgently. Jakel seemed to notice too, preparing to conjure a stone spike aimed at the source of the mana surge.

"A bit too tunnel-visioned, are you not?" Mar's eyes widened as he heard the voice from behind him. On instinct, he spun around, mace in hand, ready to strike, only to have his swing effortlessly blocked. "Come on, isn't that a little basic?" taunted the demon, using only his fingers to block Mar's attack.

Mar remained silent, his focus solely on the task at hand. He enhanced his left arm, the mana pulsating through his veins as he launched a powerful swing at the demon's grinning face. "Oh, we have ourselves an enhancer. How powerful," the demon remarked, seemingly unfazed.

As Mar's fist approached, the demon stepped smoothly into the punch, allowing it to sail past his head. In a swift motion, he released Mar's mace, instead gripping Mar's right hand and wrapping his arm around Mar's waist. With graceful agility, he spun Mar around as if they were engaged in a ballroom dance, before hurling him across the garden.

Mar crashed into the almost dried-up fountain in the center of the garden with a resounding thud. The impact sent fragments of stone flying in all directions as Mar's body skidded across the ground before coming to a halt amidst the shallow water. The fountain, cracked and weathered, offered little cushioning against the force of Mar's collision.

The demon chuckled at Mar's misfortune, his laughter echoing across the garden as he took a mocking bow. "Thank you for the dance," he taunted, his grin widening with satisfaction.

Jakel, hearing the crash, turned toward where Mar had landed. He was about to redirect his attack toward the demon with the stone spike, rather than hurling it toward where Mincs most likely was. However, he halted as he caught Mar's narrowed gaze upon him as the latter rose to his feet. Mar's silent message was clear: don't worry about him; focus on helping Mincs. With a nod of understanding, Jakel proceeded further inward, veering to the left side of the mansion where the mana surge emanated from, disappearing from view.

The demon waved casually at Jakel's departing figure. "Wow, eyes sure say a lot, don't they?" he remarked with a shrug, turning his attention back to Mar, who now stood at a safe distance, observing the demon's appearance.

The demon appeared humanoid, with no discernible abnormalities in terms of body structure. He was adorned in a colorful and meticulously arranged suit, reminiscent of a butler's attire. His face bore an almost otherworldly quality, with pointed, somewhat serrated ears that lent him a faint resemblance to an elf. However, the illusion was shattered by his purple-ish skin tone, black sclera, and unnaturally magenta eyes, unmistakably marking him as something other than an elf.

"I know you mortals are quite lustful creatures, but come on," the demon said with a smirk, leaning forward slightly. "Aren't you staring just a tiny bit too much at me?" he asked, but Mar remained stoic, unfazed by the demon's taunts. As he stretched and flexed his muscles, ensuring nothing was broken, the demon sighed disappointedly. "You're no fun," he remarked, checking his nails while Mar took a sprinting position, enhancing his legs, arms, and heart before bolting toward the demon.

With remarkable speed, Mar closed the distance, swinging his mace horizontally toward the demon's head. To his surprise, the blow landed, cracking the demon's skull wide open and killing him instantly. Mar stood over the demon's body, perplexed. "I won?" he muttered to himself, surprised at how easy it was to kill a demon.

"What are you looking at?" Mar heard the demon's voice ask from behind him. Confused, he turned around to see the demon he had just killed smiling at him. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," the demon said, his smile deepening. Mar, unable to comprehend what was happening, looked back to where the demon's body had been, only to find it gone. *Was that an illusion?* Mar pondered to himself before turning back to face the demon to resume the fight.

"What's your name, by the way?" The demon asked casually as Mar swung his mace once again, connecting and seemingly killing the demon. "My name's Bilmoth," the demon continued, his voice coming from behind Mar as he swung his mace backward, once more connecting with Bilmoth and dispatching him. "This is the part where you introduce yourself, by the way," Bilmoth remarked once again from behind Mar as he turned around and delivered a punch straight through Bilmoth's chest.

"Instead, you're just swinging your mace and arms around like you're fighting your inner demons, when there's an actual demon behind you," Bilmoth quipped, his voice now coming from a different direction as Mar elbowed him in the jaw, snapping his neck. "I'm just trying to make conversation here, and you're ignoring me," Bilmoth complained, crossing his arms.

Mar brought his mace down at Bilmoth's skull, crushing it completely. "You're going to tire yourself out doing that, you know?" Bilmoth asked casually as Mar turned to see him standing unbothered, with his hands on his hips.

"Your're a coward," Mar declared, tightening his grip on his mace. Bilmoth seemingly ignored Mar's comment and smiled happily, finally getting a response from Mar. "There you go, big guy! You can talk rather than just mutter 'I won?' Good job!" said Bilmoth, giving Mar two thumbs up.

"Are you going to fight or just waste my time?" Mar asked, growing annoyed. Bilmoth put his index finger to his lips as if in thought. "I don't know. If I fight you, you'll die, and to power the portal, we have to torture you. So, I guess yes, I am going to waste your time and then kill you slowly," Bilmoth said with a smile.

Mar snarled in disgust before they both heard something crash against the side of the mansion. "That must be the one I waved to. Can you tell me his name?" asked Bilmoth curiously. "You clearly know each other." Mar, ignoring Bilmoth, narrowed his eyes at the direction of the sound. *Be safe, the both of you,* he thought to himself before taking another swing at Bilmoth, who dodged this time, stepping backward.

"Come on, have some honor. Don't attack me when I'm asking for names," Bilmoth said, pouting, making Mar snarl in disgust once more. Suddenly, Bilmoth's eyes lit up, and he turned to the right side of the mansion, exclaiming, "Here comes another challenger!" like an announcer as Orian Lorenz stepped out from the right side of the mansion, momentarily confused before quickly assuming a combat stance. Bilmoth smiled and asked him, "Hey, what's your name?"