Ch. 15 - Uneasiness, Betrayal, and Battle (2)

"You're a half-demon," Mariel remarked after eliminating all three clones the ninja had created simultaneously with the wind swords in his hands. "Is that why you attacked me? I thought half-demons only despises demons and Doctor Lergen's faction?"

The ninja said nothing. As her skin darkened into a glossy black, resembling a black diamond, she swung her kunai to block Mariel's wind sword slash. Naturally, the ordinary steel kunai was sliced in half with ease. However, to Mariel's surprise, his wind slash couldn't even leave a scratch on the ninja's skin.

"Tell me, are you the one who manipulated my mind?" the ninja asked while attempting to slice Mariel's face with his sharp black claws.

Mariel dodged the attack by leaning slightly backward, then spun around and delivered a sweeping slash with his sword.

His wind blade struck the ninja's neck, but it failed to wound her as it had before. Instead, the ninja took advantage of the opening, grabbing Mariel's wind sword and thrusting her left hand forward in a stabbing motion—her target: Mariel's throat.

Of course, Mariel tried to block the attack, but his wind sword shattered upon impact with the ninja's hand. The demon's skin was incredibly tough. Mariel didn't know what kind of Devil Curse she possessed, but it clearly made her skin as hard as—or perhaps even harder than—diamond.

Unfortunately for the ninja, that wasn't enough to defeat Mariel – he had already leapt backward before her sharp hand could pierce his neck.

"Were you taught to attack first and ask questions later?" Mariel asked with a faint smile on his lips, but his eyes observed the ninja in detail.

Demons indeed could not use spirit power as humans could. However, in exchange, they possessed something called the Devil Curse. Every demon had a Devil Curse; some had the same type, while others had different ones. Half-demons had a demon heart within their bodies, and naturally, they could use that power.

Mariel didn't know if the ninja could also use spirit powers. If so, perhaps he would have to kill her quickly to avoid undesirable consequences. If not, he could capture her for interrogation. Lukhiel had a good relationship with the half-demons who were part of the Serenity Organization. He needed to know if the ninja was one of them or not.

"Just answer my question!" the ninja shouted while making hand seals with both hands. "Water Release: Multiple Water Bullets!"

---ooOoo---

Lukhiel had managed to escape from the pursuit of the arrogant woman. At least, that was what he had thought about a minute ago.

Now? He could only say that teleportation was quite annoying. Even more so because the woman was not a mage; her teleportation was a spirit power she possessed, which was why she could use it more flexibly and freely.

"You think I'll let you go?!"

Lukhiel could only sigh at the woman's stubbornness. He had deliberately tried to escape from her to avoid killing her, but she truly did not understand. At this point, he had no other choice. He had to kill her quickly.

"This is your final warning," Lukhiel said as he dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his foot. "Leave now before I really kill you."

"Hahahaha. How ridiculous."

I've already tried, Lukhiel thought as he dashed forward.

In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the woman.

However, before his wind-clad claws could tear her throat apart, she had already vanished from his sight. She reappeared a dozen meters behind the demon, her palms pressed together.

"This isn't a one-on-one fight."

Right after the woman said that, Lukhiel found himself surrounded by five other humans.

"This is six against one."

Each of them radiated immense killing intent. Their strength was also relatively equal. Ah, the woman wielding Caliburn was on a different level. The black-haired man was also stronger than the others.

"You planned this from the beginning," Lukhiel commented—his body released a wave of wind in all directions.

The six humans were hit by the wind wave, yet none of them were blown away. Of course, it wasn't because their footing was too strong, but because Lukhiel hadn't unleashed a powerful gust. He was merely testing their resolve, and he immediately understood that they were fully convinced they could take him down.

"Primordial Demon Lukhiel."

That name came from the mouth of the woman wielding Caliburn.

From what he could see, she was also their leader. She was the youngest, yet the strongest. And since Lukhiel had never heard anything about the stolen holy sword, that meant she was still a descendant of Arthur Pendragon.

"I have decided that today will be the day of your death. I will take your head to Pendragon as proof of my strength."

Lukhiel sighed once again. Just because he was considered the weakest of the Primordial Demons, did they really think they could act so arrogantly?

They truly needed to be taught a lesson; they needed to understand the difference between an Ultimate Demon and a Primordial Demon. If they thought ganging up on him would be enough to kill him, they were beyond saving.

"Come," Lukhiel said—the air around him began to heat up. "I don't want to kill you, but if you insist on seeking your own death—!"

His words were abruptly cut off by the sudden appearance of a magic circle beneath his feet.

Lukhiel wasn't the only one who was shocked by the magic circle's emergence—the six humans were shocked as well. That clearly showed this wasn't their doing. None of the six were mages.

In that case… was this Athrecia Le Fay's doing?

"Damn you, Lukhiel! What are you—"

Lukhiel didn't get to hear the rest of that shout. The magic circle activated first, teleporting him away.

"Nice to meet you, Primordial Demon Lukhiel."

Those welcoming words were what greeted his ears as Lukhiel found himself in a square arena with thirty-meter-long sides, surrounded by a golden, cube-shaped barrier. He stood near the edge of the arena, while a few meters in front of him stood two powerful humans.

"You may already know, I am Arthur IV Pendragon. The woman beside me is Athrecia Le Fay. But you don't need to worry—she won't interfere, aside from ensuring this barrier remains active. This will be a one-on-one fight. But before we begin, you don't mind talking first, do you?"

---ooOoo---

Dozens of water bullets shot toward Mariel, all traveling at hypersonic speed—five times faster than sound in the air.

Dodging dozens of hypersonic water bullets at close range was nearly impossible for anyone. Avoiding one, two, or three was still very possible. But dozens? That could only be done by those above the average. And as it happened, Mariel was one of them.

However, Mariel didn't evade them in a normal way. Even for him, it was difficult. He used wind walls to slow down the water bullets before dodging each one. He did it so skillfully that the bullets seemed to slow down without any apparent reason.

But Mariel's movement wasn't entirely smooth.

"Water Release: Colossal Wave!" shouted the ninja, who was already crouching with both hands pressed against the grassy ground.

A massive wave of water instantly formed and surged toward Mariel at high speed. It was over twenty meters long and just as tall.

Mariel didn't bother dodging. Instead, he remained in place, extending his right hand forward. His index and middle fingers were straight and pressed together, while the other three fingers were curled. Meanwhile, his left hand firmly gripped his upper right arm.

"Extending Blade."

A wind blade formed at Mariel's fingertips and shot forward at nearly twice the speed of lightning descending from the sky.

The extension of the wind blade pierced through the massive wave and struck its target before the water could reach Mariel. This gave him the chance to split the wave into two with a sharp wind wall in front of him.

As the wave passed by both sides of Mariel, it became clear that the high-density extension of the wind blade had successfully pierced the ninja's left shoulder. No matter how hard—or even harder than—diamond his skin was, the Extending Blade could penetrate it. It was Mariel's fastest and deadliest attack. Dodging it was impossible without detecting the formation of the wind blade.

"The answer to your question earlier," Mariel said as he dispelled his wind barrier and wind sword, "I don't know anything. I don't even know what you are doing there. More importantly, tell me—are you part of Serenity?"

The ninja didn't answer Mariel's question. Instead, she turned into a smoking piece of wood. Mariel, however, showed no sign of surprise. He calmly dodged a barrage of shuriken from behind, then ducked to evade two kunai aimed at his head.

"I heard that ninjas can—!"

Mariel reflexively shut his mouth and turned around as one of the kunai transformed into the ninja. Not only that, but both of her arms had elongated slightly and shifted into the shape of spears.

"Die!"

At that moment, Mariel instinctively activated his spirit power. In an instant, the ninja's hands returned to normal, and she reverted from her demon form.

The sudden change in her body left the ninja stunned. Mariel seized the opportunity and grabbed her by the neck—loosening his grip just enough so as not to crush her throat.

"What are you do—arghhh!"

Mariel reflexively released her when she suddenly screamed in pain, clutching her head.

As the agony overwhelmed her, memories she never knew she had flooded Celinee's mind. They mixed together chaotically. Things she had never done, she had done. But nothing shocked her more than the memory of meeting Madam Rhemea and the mage Athrecia Le Fay.

The pain vanished once the torrent of memories ceased. However, Celinee felt no relief—only an indescribable shock. If there was a word stronger than "shock" in a negative sense, that was the word that best described what she was experiencing.

In this world, there was no one Celinee trusted more than Rhemea. She was the one who had saved her from the cruelty of Doctor Lergen and his cohorts. That middle-aged woman had given her a home, a purpose in life. The founder of the Serenity Organization had provided her with friends and family. Celinee would never hesitate to follow any order from Rhemea.

That was why realizing she had been betrayed by the person she trusted most devastated her.

Serenity had been instilled in her as an organization dedicated to protecting every half-demon created from Doctor Lergen's experiments. It was a sanctuary for them. It was also a force meant to put an end to the doctor's twisted experiments. Serenity was supposed to be a noble organization—a solace for those who had suffered at the hands of Doctor Lergen.

But all of it was a lie.

Celinee growled in anger, her fists clenched tightly as she replayed Rhemea's words in her mind.

"I founded Serenity as a shelter for the failed experiments that Lergen can't control. The goal is to ensure there would be no unwanted rebellions or resistance. Rather than having an enemy with a mind of their own, it's better to create an enemy that can be controlled. Haven't you ever wondered why Serenity has never been able to locate Lergen's main base, despite operating for so long? Besides, my dear student Celinee, Lergen is my cousin. I am the first half-demon that Lergen successfully created. He and I have never lost contact."

"But don't worry. Athrecia will manipulate your mind perfectly. Once your role is complete, you won't even remember having this conversation. You can go back to being my pawn like the others. No—scratch that—you must go back to being my pawn. You have the potential to surpass your three seniors after awakening your spirit power. It would be a waste if I had to dispose of you. Athrecia, I leave the rest to you—make sure to keep our relationship a secret from Arthur."

Celinee replayed those words over and over again. And each time, her fists tightened until blood dripped from her palms. She was so enraged by what had happened that she completely ignored the fact that she had just been in a battle. Only when a sharp slap landed on her left cheek did she snap out of her thoughts.

"You haven't responded to me at all. Are you okay?"

This boy...

Was it his actions earlier that erased the mind manipulation magic implanted in her? Did he possess a high-level King Spirit strong enough to remove the magic of a mage respected by Rhemea?

"...Why haven't you killed me? I'm a half-demon."

Now that she thought about it, the strangeness of the situation became undeniable.

The boy was a human. Humans were indoctrinated to hate half-demons like her. He should have killed her. Celinee should no longer be breathing. She should have vanished from the surface of this world. Yet, she was still alive. Not only that, but he even asked if she was okay.

Did he have some kind of ulterior motive?