It was now morning.
I was tired out of my mind, but I was also very successful in finding the demons.
So much so that I went ahead and interrogated all of them.
Most lied to about the location of the core of the ritual, but there were a decent few who had said the sa thing.
In the end, I had a rough location of where the ritual’s core could be.
The sea.
It was not ideal at all.
Anywhere else would’ve been fine, but this just lowered our odds of victory by a lot.
But I didn’t let that discourage too much.
Instead, I floated around the city for a little while longer, and eventually, I saw Isabelle in the city’s center, helping out a few of the civilians.
Kevin was training his swordsmanship, and lina was inside an inn, drinking beer.
Long story short, I went down to each one of them and told them to gather just outside of the city.
Isabelle and Kevin read my tone and agreed right away.
As for lina, she was a bit more difficult to convince.
Not only because she was drunk, but also since she really didn’t seem to like all that much.
But in the end, after convincing her and buying her an expensive bottle of wine, I managed to gather all three of them outside of the city.
And as I stared at the three of them, I began to give an explanation.
"This whole mission is a trap. The demons are setting up a ritual, and they’re going to trigger it soon. I spent the whole night hunting down the demons and I know where the ritual’s core is... But I need you three to help out."
Seeing their expressions, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
None of them believed a word that ca out of my mouth.
Everyone except for Kevin.
"I thought sothing was a little off too. My grandfather had told about human sacrifice rituals too, so that was the first thing I thought about when the headmaster told us about the mission."
I nodded at him.
"It’s a human sacrifice ritual, but it’s not ant to summon anyone. Instead, the main purpose is to turn soone berserk."
"You seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff," lina said. "You can probably see where I’m going with this though, can’t you?"
"No, I’m not with the demons." I rolled my eyes. "If I was, I wouldn’t have gathered you three here and told you about the ritual."
"Is that so..."
lina twirled her hair slightly, then t my gaze.
"Could you assure us then that you don’t have any connection to the demons?"
Her eyes glowed for a mont.
It seed like she activated her Gift.
Rather, her Gift was very versatile and overpowered, especially in the late ga.
She could give orders, and the world would react to those orders.
If she told soone to die, and that certain soone was weaker than her, they’d die.
If she were to tell soone to grovel at her feet, they’d most likely do it.
And when she asks a question, she can detect lies.
But sadly for her, I was stronger than her.
Much, much stronger.
So I didn’t have to worry about these orders, at least not until she fully awakens her Gift.
Therefore...
"As I already said, I have no connection to the demons."
She stared at for a mont, then shrugged.
"In that case, I’m on board. Tell your plan."
I smiled inwardly, and then glanced at Kevin who nodded back at .
Lastly, I glanced at Isabelle.
Out of the three, I expected her to be the most curious.
Yet ever since I brought her here, she hadn’t asked a single question.
It was too uncharacteristic of her.
But I took her silence as agreent.
And so I began telling them my plan.
"To disrupt the ritual once and for all, we need to break the ritual’s core the mont the ritual starts. If we don’t get the timing right, the ritual might extend past the Mudflats..."
One would think that destroying the core before the ritual started would do the trick.
I was one of those people.
Sadly for , the mont I destroyed the core, the ritual triggered and it didn’t stop until it swept at least ten cities off the map.
Shaking my head, I continued:
"Now since the core is in the ocean, I want you three to do a few tasks for ."
Starting with Kevin...
"Kevin, when the ritual starts, every single one of the red trees with corpses inside them are going to awaken. The corpses will turn into demons, and I want you to kill all of them before they can reach the city."
His eyes widened.
"But aren’t there thousands of trees?"
"Yep. But your swordsmanship relies on speed, and since the demons aren’t that strong, you’re perfect for the job."
He lowered his gaze.
"Shouldn’t we tell the others about it? Why did you only call out us three?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Reinhardt is with the demons. Natasha isn’t a powerful fighter, but she’ll be good when it cos to saving people."
Then there was one more Top Priority cadet.
Draven.
He was the cadet in 10th place.
And just like Natasha, he wasn’t a fighter.
He was a healer.
A really damn good healer.
And that’s why he’s going to stick to being a support alongside Natasha.
I said those sa words to the three, and they seed to understand.
But obviously...
"So you know Reinhardt is with the demons and you haven’t done anything to him?" lina asked. "Are you trying to use him as bait?"
"Exactly," I replied. "If he’s the only person who can activate the ritual, then he’s perfect."
She was clearly satisfied by my answer.
"And afterwards we kill him?"
"Obviously. When he activates the ritual, he won’t be useful anymore."
Honestly...
Despite what I thought at first, it looked like lina and I were getting along just fine.
Kevin didn’t seem too keen on my idea since he was the overly heroic type, but he was too weak to really call the shots here.
So after agreeing to his role, I moved onto the others.
"lina, I want you to order the fish to destroy the ritual’s core when it’s ti."
"Sounds easy enough," she said. "Is that it?"
She had arguably the hardest job here, but since I knew how strong she really was, I could leave it in her hands.
"Yep. Lastly... Isabelle. When the ritual’s core is destroyed, a massive tsunami is going to hit the Mudflats. I want you to freeze it."
"..."
"You want to do what?"
Was it that absurd?
"Yeah. You just have to freeze the tsunami, and I’ll take care of the rest."
Honestly, if all three of them can handle their roles perfectly, our odds of surviving this go from 50% to 80%.
I wouldn’t have to waste all of my energy doing their tasks.
I would only need to focus on fighting.
Could Isabelle not do this?
I swear... at this point in ti, she definitely had enough energy to stop a tsunami.
Was I wrong?
"I can do it."
Isabelle assured .
"I just... how long do I have to keep it frozen?"
"Gosh, this is why I hate you imperials," lina said. "Always whining about sothing. If you can’t do it, then let do it instead. I can just order the water to freeze instead. That should be the sa, right?"
I glanced at lina and then back at Isabelle.
Her idea didn’t sound half bad.
In which case...
"Sure. If you see Isabelle struggling, then step in and help her."
Isabelle flashed a slightly angered look.
As for lina, she let out a victorious chuckle and waved at .
"If that’s all, I’ll get back to drinking. Let know when all this bullshit starts, yeah?"
With those words, she made her way back to the city.
She really was a wild card.
But as one of the heroines with an overpowered Gift, I needed to keep her alive until the end.
Smiling to myself, I turned back to Kevin and Isabelle.
"You two can go as well."
Just as I was about to leave, Kevin spoke up.
"Amon, can we spar?"
"...Why would I want to spar with you?"
"The swordsmanship you showed the day we t... I can’t forget about it. I want to experience it one more ti... two more tis."
Oh god.
The battle-crazed junkie is here.
Now, unless I agree, he’s going to keep pestering .
But then again, I didn’t have anything to do but monitor Reinhardt every now and again.
I could spar with Kevin.
So I agreed.
"Fine."
I pulled out a wooden sword from my dinsional ring and aid it at him.
He did the sa.
But...
Was Isabelle going to spectate the match?
She moved aside and sat down on a log.
Both Kevin and I were a little puzzled, but it seed like she had nothing better to do just like the two of us.
So, while she spectated us, we began our spar.
***
I rolled my sleeves back down and stashed away the wooden sword.
Glancing down at Kevin, who was battered and bruised on the ground, I couldn’t help but sigh.
Out of the 50 tis we fought each other, he didn’t manage to get a single hit on .
However, with every attempt, I saw him start to copy my swordsmanship.
It was a bit annoying.
Almost like a complete genius stealing your life’s work.
But since he was the main character and soone who had a knack for swordsmanship, I didn’t let it bother too much.
So after the spars were over, I went back into the city.
Isabelle watched the entire sparring session, and now she once again followed after .
I ignored it all the previous tis, but now... I just didn’t understand her.
So after making a few turns into an alleyway, I stopped and turned around, eting her neutral gaze.
"Isabelle."
She tilted her head.
"Why are you following ?" I asked.
On the off chance she was into , I didn’t know how to respond.
Would I be interested in a relationship with her?
Did I even have the luxury of wanting sothing like that when I knew how shitty this world really was?
I wasn’t sure.
"Do I need a reason to follow you?"
What kind of answer was that?
"Well... You do seem kind of like a stalker right now, you know?"
"I’m not a stalker. I’m the imperial princess," she replied.
Only in tis like these would she really use her title.
But oh well, if she wanted to play gas, then I’ll join her.
"And I’m the demon child. The closer you are to , the worse your luck will be. Do you want to be unlucky?" I asked. "Because if not, I suggest you stay away from ."
It was a children’s tale that the nobles spread about .
Or rather, about Amon.
A child who failed to beco an offering to the demons.
A child who was rejected by the demons.
A cursed child.
And yet, even after knowing all these things, Isabelle didn’t seem to want to back away.
Not only that, she wasn’t as naive as I thought.
"Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just interested in how you fight. I feel like if I copy the way you fight and implent that style when I use my Gift, I’ll be able to reach new heights."
That’s...
How do Telekinesis and Frost seem even remotely close?
"So you’ve been following like a stalker just because you want to copy my style and how I use Telekinesis...?"
She nodded at .
"..."
At tis like these, I felt like I didn’t know nearly as much about the characters as I had hoped.
I thought I knew everything about her.
But not once did I see her as soone who would go out of her way and do sothing so childish.
Maybe I should stop treating these people like ga characters.
After all, they seem pretty damn alive to .
And if she’s so alive and so determined... why don’t I just make her abnormally strong?
"You can follow ," I replied. "However, whatever you see when we’re together, I expect you to keep it to yourself."
Before she could say a word, I added, "And I an you keep everything to yourself. Who I kill, who I save. What abilities I use, and even the kind of information I give you. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
I made sure that she wasn’t lying with Blood Sight.
And since that was now clear, I suppose I should help her out a little.
After all... I knew just how powerful her gift can beco.
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