Most of the approaching presences ca from outside the mansion, with only a few erging from within, and noticing this, Evan cleared his throat loudly and then infused magic power into his voice as he spoke.
[Hello there, my dear enemies in the Demonic Hand! I am Evan, Second of Aidos' Seven Heroes, and I'd like to speak with your leader, Mr Seith Beddoe.
Would you be so kind as to entertain a little conversation?]
Imdiately, more of the mansion's windows lit up and several opened, from which figures wielding weapons leapt out, rushing toward Evan at sonic speed and attacking without hesitation.
Evan, however, simply activated Elental Shield, a sphere of magic power manifesting just in ti to not only completely block every single attack, but also rebound them.
In seconds, the beautiful courtyard garden was obliterated, a giant smoking crater appeared in the centre, yet the area containing Evan and his companions, protected by the Elental Shield, remained completely unscathed.
The knocked-back demonic humans frowned as they saw the unscathed Evan erge from the dust, and right then, hundreds of Demonic Hand Senior mbers rushed into the courtyard, weapons drawn, skills active, magic staves raised, and spell circles glowing as they prepared to launch a concentrated attack on the intruders.
Before they could move, however, a loud voice bood across the area.
"HALT!!!"
Imdiately, the demonic humans froze, so turning their gazes toward the main doors of the mansion that had just slamd open, while others, unwilling to take their eyes off Evan and his companions, who also looked ready for battle, tightened their grips on their weapons.
Evan waved his hand, summoning a gust of wind that blew away the lingering dust, and looked directly at the man leading the Level 700s who had erged from the building.
He was a brown-haired man with slit pupils, a slightly pointed nose and an oval face, a small beard on his chin, and he radiated imnse demonic energy that rivalled even that of the real demons hanging from the mansion's windows.
Seeing him, Evan feigned surprise and spoke.
"You've regained the power you lost after your last death?"
"…"
Seith didn't respond to Evan, his eyes cautiously scanning the boy before shifting to those behind him, frowning deeply when he caught sight of Bianca's Mystic Eyes.
'So Lord Ferrid's suspicion was right…'
He was once again impressed by the First Finger's foresight, but he pushed that thought aside when he noticed that his link to the man in question was faint, as though there was so sort of interference.
Seith didn't need to be a genius to realise this was Evan's doing, and after sending a glance toward one of the demonic humans on his right and seeing them shake their head, he confird that no ans of communication with the outside were functioning.
'Did he co with the Tarse Army? Or is it the GWE? The Legends he's been in contact with?'
Seith couldn't bring himself to believe that the group standing before him was all that had co here with Evan.
The idea was too absurd to even consider, and honestly, he couldn't be blad for assuming Evan had brought an army.
Still, if Evan knew their location and had an army with him, why reveal himself so openly?
That was the sa question running through the minds of not just Seith, but the dozens of Level 700 Sixth Division Senior mbers, their contracted demons, and the Wildcard Protocol High-Rank demons present, who had all been briefed on the situation of Aidos, and naturally, on Evan's existence.
'This little group alone can't be the entire threat. Communications outside are blocked, so take several units and sweep the area to locate his conspirators.
We need to determine the scale of this attack, the source of the communication interference, and the location of their main forces.'
Once Seith sent that ssage to his contracted demon, the woman, blending in with the hundreds of Senior mbers surrounding Evan's group, nodded silently before replying.
[That can be done, but it'll take so ti. We also need to locate the source of whatever's jamming our communications—if it's a device that can be destroyed.]
'I'll buy you ti…' Seith responded, looking at Evan, who had brought out a chair from his inventory and sat down, crossing his legs as he spoke.
"Are you done sending out subordinates for recon?" Evan asked with a knowing smile. Then, with a light shrug, he added, "You won't find anyone, though. We're all that's here."
Seith didn't believe him for even a microsecond.
He took slow steps down the entrance's short stairs, stopping in front of the crater that had been created during the earlier attack, and seeing this, Evan raised his brows.
"Ah, right," he muttered, then turned to Laurene. "Can you help us with so earth magic to cover the ground up?"
Laurene was silent for a mont before summoning Venus and using earth magic to generate sand that filled the crater, then solidified it so that it could be walked on without sinking.
Evan then brought out a folding chair from his inventory and tossed it over.
"You can sit. This might take a while," he said.
His casual attitude was a psychological irritant that had so of the Sixth Division Senior mbers' brows twitching, though the High-Rank Demons from other worlds were more intrigued than annoyed.
They'd heard about this Hero nad Evan, who had caused so much trouble for the Demonic Hand's plans, and now, seeing him in person, acting just as unconventional as the rumours described, they found themselves curious.
'Just what was he up to?'
Even those who weren't fond of cooperating with the Demonic Hand and were only present because Vaeri, a Peak Rank Demon from a Zeroth Rank Noble Family, had commanded them, turned curious gazes toward the scene.
As for Evan, he didn't care about the gazes of the demons trying to appraise him, continuing his words with the sa casual tone.
"Now then, Seith. I'm sure you don't rember dear old Yetu here, and you probably don't rember killing him either."
"…what?" Seith finally responded, blinking in confusion as he turned to Yetu, whom Evan was gesturing toward.
"Well, several years ago, you killed a Troll at the bottom of the Graveyard of the Arrogant when you were trying to get to the sealed Roselia," Evan said, raising a hand over his mouth right after, as he corrected himself.
"Sorry, I ant 'Pride'. The Deadly Sin you guys tried and failed to get. Yeah, Yetu here was the one guarding the door to it."
The expressions of the foreign demons all changed slightly at the ntion of a Deadly Sin, demons whose tales were still told even though they had been active for only three centuries and had been inactive for a thousand years.
Seith, who certainly rembered failing to reach the Deadly Sin Demon in rdin, frowned, and Evan smiled at that.
"Ah, that look. You definitely rember. Anyway, Yetu over here, whom you killed, is back for a rematch."
At that, Yetu looked like he wanted to speak, but Evan held up a finger to silence him before continuing.
"The problem now is that the current you is far stronger than he is, so it'd just end in his imdiate loss, which defeats the purpose.
So, here's my request: Would you mind taking on a debuff and rematching him?"
"…"
The entire courtyard went silent, so much so that one could actually hear a pin drop, and Evan even dropped one from his inventory to test it.
That was how stunned everyone was at Evan's request to Seith.
The situation was already confusing enough, but Evan's words completely floored them, and even the irritated Senior mbers dropped their hostility, whispering among themselves, wondering if Evan had escaped from a ntal ward or sothing.
As for the Wildcard Protocol Demons, so of them burst out laughing, finding the entire exchange entertaining.
Their laughter seed to snap Seith back to his senses as he demanded, "What nonsense is this?"
"Nonsense? I ca with a genuine request, and you call it nonsense," Evan replied, feigning shock, and right then, soone leapt down from the mansion's roof, landing beside Evan and staring down at him.
Evan turned a side glance toward the hulking demon who was studying him closely, and after several tense seconds, the demon finally spoke.
"Oy. Seith, or whatever your na is. This kid's stronger than you said he was."
"Yeah, I noticed that too," a demoness hanging from a window added. "There are barely perceptible fluctuations in his magic power output. He's suppressing a large portion of his power."
At this, Evan snapped his gaze toward the demoness who had spoken, eyes wide as he exclaid, "You noticed the fluctuations in my magic power? Damn, you're sharp. I almost want to recruit you."
Eliza silently facepald at this, already knowing exactly what would follow.
And Evan didn't disappoint as he extended a hand toward the demoness in question and said, "Why don't you co over to my side? You'll die if you stay on that side of the coming war."
"…what?"
The demoness frowned at his words, and Evan tilted his head slightly.
"What? You don't like my offer? For the record, I know you're a High-Rank Demon from another Gozonian Battlefront World, summoned here by the Wildcard Protocol.
I've been to a battlefront world myself and t demons like you in the pa—"
*SWOOSH!!
A blade suddenly cut through the space where Evan had been sitting, but it only sliced through his empty chair, as the boy appeared behind the attacker, spinning and delivering a high kick to their head that sent them flying over the fountain behind the chair.
A sonic boom echoed from the force of his kick, the impact knocking the muscular demon who had descended earlier, and silence filled the courtyard as the High-Rank demon crashed onto the ground after tracing a clean parabolic arc through the air.
"This is the second ti I've been attacked while speaking," Evan said, his expression darkening. "It's very… vexing."
Imdiately, the expressions of the Wildcard Protocol demons changed from amusent and curiosity to wariness and outright hostility.
Even the one who had approached earlier backed even further away, demonic energy rousing as he and every other Level 700 instantly realised sothing.
'That kid just knocked out a High-Rank with a single kick!'
Evan released his magic power, gradually increasing the output as he cracked his knuckles and said, "Your impatience irritates , so I'll cut the bullshit."
Magic power and law energy flowed into Evan's tongue as he looked directly at Seith, and in a Faux True Voice, he declared,
|¬I shall offer you this chance only once.
Get out of this Continent with all your forces. Foreign Demons, get off this planet.
Do that, and there shall be no deaths here today. Refuse my offer, and your lives are forfeit.¬|
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