BOOM

Verity threw an explosive rune at the talking, severed head.

The students looked at him with a bewildered expression, but he looked back with a confident, somewhat smug gaze.

"First rule of demon hunting." he said, raising his index finger. "Never allow them to speak to you. It doesn't usually end well."

"How rude. I almost feel hurt."

Now, the voice came from slightly further out. One of the mangled Inhuman bodies was moving, rebuilding itself slowly.

"I think it'd be in your best inter–"

BOOM

Verity threw another explosive rune, this time destroying the Inhuman's body beyond the possibility of reconstruction. "Trust me students, there's nothing but nonsense that ever comes out a demon's mouth."

Another body began rising, which Verity destroyed, and then another, and another, until Verity had completely obliterated all the Inhuman bodies he'd left for dead.

Well, almost.

"Truly, what an interesting fellow you are… I don't usually go out of my way to do things like this…."

Verity wasn't listening to the words themselves, but still focused on the voice. 'Hm… I can't tell where it's coming from this time…'

He placed his spear on his back. "Oh well." and then began walking, glancing at the students. "Let's go, we're done here."

Fabio scratched his head. "We're leaving just like that?" He turned around. "It's still talking though…?"

"I see you've made up your mind…"

Verity pulled Fabio by the collar. "Didn't I already tell you not to listen?"

"Then how about this show of good faith…"

"Let's run." Verity said, as Aura began to flow to his legs. Arthur grabbed Igor, who had no movement skill, while Apatia held onto Mavis, who wouldn't be able to travel as fast as the rest of them.

But before they could sprint ahead.

An image appeared in front of Verity, or rather an image appeared in his mind. A man wearing a flowery mask with an enticing smile.

Unable to stop himself, Verity actually took time to consider what he was seeing.

There was no golden pattern on the man's forehead, and for a moment, Verity thought he'd seen him before.

Apatia placed her hand on her head, holding it tight. "What… is this??"

The man's lips parted. "The Passage to Heaven will soon open… and with it, we will draw closer to the Only Truth."

Verity held onto those thrown into confusion by the words and sped ahead, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

Where he had stood, something, or someone , forced themselves into existence. An extravagant man with an exquisitely intricate mask.

"Oh. It seems I've made her angry."

He chuckled, then vanished.

—

Now out of the forest, Verity dropped the students he'd been carrying, and although he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but ponder what he'd just heard.

"The Passage to Heaven… huh."

There was only one thing this could refer to.

It was the name the public had given to the Class IV Gate located high above the Atlantic Ocean.

'He's saying it'll open…?'

Arthur stroked his chin. "Why would a demon warn us of something like that…?"

Igor seemed to wonder as well. "Maybe it wasn't a demon at all… I don't know about you guys, but I couldn't feel any demonic energy from whatever that voice was."

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Apatia recalled the image that had appeared in her mind. "...Me neither. It didn't feel… evil.'"

Mavis clutched her chest, as though in pain. She did not say anything, but there was clearly something wrong with her, though she did a good job of hiding it.

"So that's why you shouldn't listen to what a demon has to say. I feel terrible… haha." Fabio said.

Verity shook his head. "Forget what you heard today, and absolutely do not speak of it to anyone. Consider what that thing said as nothing more than meaningless blabber."

The students nodded hesitantly.

That night, the six of them sat around a campfire. Perhaps if this had been a normal excursion, the trip would have been brought to an impromptu end, but it wasn't. Encountering strange situations when chasing demons was commonplace.

One couldn't turn tail every time something didn't go according to plan. After leaving the swamp, the group had gone around subjugating monsters, but they hadn't ran into a singe demon. Because of this, Verity had allowed the students to fight their own battles, simply watching from the sidelines.

Most of them were now exhausted, of course, and rather hungry,

Verity had led them to one of three natural water sources that weren't overly contaminated within the Dead Zone.

In part for the view, but also to give them the chance to relax. They'd been on edge the entire day, especially because of that encounter, after all.

Apatia and Mavis were bathing in a spring, a spring that Apatia had bathed in many times in the past.

Apatia laid her head back. "With the invention of hygiene pills, bathing isn't necessary anymore… but ah does it feel nice ~"

Mavis rested not too far from her. Besides spell casting, she hadn't spoken a word since the encounter with the mysterious being.

Had she been that shaken by it?

Apatia did not know.

And to be completely honest, she had too much on her plate to care.

After all, the entity had spoken to her more than she had let on. As everyone had, she'd heard about the Passage to Heaven, but before leaving, the entity had said something else.

Your role will have meaning, but it will be brief. Seek power, strive for it, burn bright, but fade as quickly as you flare.

Apatia sighed. 'Just the words of a demon… nothing there…'

But why did it bother her so much?

She wasn't sure.

–

At the campfire, where the boys were waiting for their turn, a heated discussion was taking place.

"So you're telling me you have a skill that lets you spy on anyone in a two kilometer radius and you've never used it… inappropriately?"

Igor recoiled in disgust. "You are gross."

"I concur." Arthur added.

Fabio raised his hands. "I'm not saying I would do it!! I'm just wondering! I mean, he has a skill called [Bird's Eye View]. He can look anywhere, unnoticed! It begs the question, doesn't it?"

Arthur sighed. "Yes, but only for a degenerate like you."

"Degenerate!??"

Igor had to agree with Arthur on this one. "Even that might be putting it lightly."

Fabio leaned in, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Come on… Your treasured Apatia is taking a bath right now, only a few hundred meters out, and you're telling me you're not even a little tempted?"

Igor's cheeks flushed. "W-what are you talking about??? Of course not!!"

Arthur clicked his tongue. "Stop it… for all we know, Mavis could be listening with magic..." Then he turned slightly toward Igor, his face still impassive, but an amused tone in his voice. "Though it seems Igor didn't decline the treasured part…"

Igor shot up from his seat. "You too!??"

Arthur shrugged.

Fabio placed a hand over his mouth as he chuckled.

Verity, listening from not too far away, placed his hands on his hips as he looked into the distance. 'Ah… youth.'

He sighed.

He too, was a young man. So focused on demons for the past four years, he'd hardly had any time for romance and the like.

He wasn't particularly in need of it. He'd never had much experience, and had no strong desire to seek it out, but still, even he found himself wondering what it'd be like from time to time.

Well…

There was someone, at one point, though that had ended terribly. Verity preferred not to reminisce.

"Do you have a girlfriend, sir? Or a wife, maybe…?" asked Fabio, staring straight at Verity.

Verity shook his head and replied immediately. "No."

"He's not like us." Arthur interjected. "He has more important things to do, as in protecting humanity from the demon invasion, for one."

Fabio shrugged. "Right~ Right~ Sorry for the rude question." His voice then seemed to settle. "All that demon hunting must have made you incredibly strong..."

A moment passed,

Then another,

Until a long silence had settled.

Verity sighed. He could feel their gaze as though they pierced through him.

'At least try to hide it…'

"I'll play with you for a bit if you're that eager. Take your stance."

The three boys smiled, and they obliged.

—

The next morning, all three of them were covered in bruises, or rather, only the pain remained since they had all consumed a healing potion.

Arthur stroked his chin as he pondered. "So much to consider… his fighting style is unlike anything I've seen before…"

Fabio sighed dejectedly. "It's like he's got a sixth sense or something! I couldn't hit him at all!"

Igor stayed silent, replaying the events in his head.

Apatia could only throw a snarky glance in their direction. "So you three got beat up while we were away, huh." She patted both Igor and Fabio's back. "Don't worry too much about it, failure is the first step to growth!!" she said, the smile on her face perhaps too wide as she watched Arthur who was still clearly in pain.

The rest of the excursion occurred without a hitch, which was a given, considering what a 'hitch' was in the Dead Zone.

After all, they had run into a second-rank demon.

'No, not quite. She has two cores, but she hasn't yet grasped the power that comes with the second-rank.' Verity had thought.

Feeling the need for them to get at least some practical experience before leaving, Verity had allowed the students an attempt at subjugating it. However, although they'd performed better than he had expected, even destroying one of its two cores, their defeat had been assured.

Or it would have been, if Mavis hadn't somehow managed to use Disrupt on a second-rank demon for the totality of five whole seconds, two more than Hoshino had initially managed against Bel.

Without the demon's cumbersome regeneration, Apatia, Arthur, and Fabio were able to rip through the demon with their strongest attacks and lay it to rest.

Bruised, beaten, battered, and exhausted, and yet still, together they'd defeated a quasi second-rank demon.

Back at the border of the human territory, Verity had no choice but to praise them.

"Good job, all of you, seriously." He turned to Mavis. "Especially you. Looks like your talent for magic is even higher than I initially thought."

Mavis nodded, then she stumbled, blood flowing from her nose. Ever since using Disrupt, she'd had a hard time using magic. The strain must have been immense.

Verity advised her to rest, and to consume a stabilizer if needed, a newly invented drug meant to strengthen the brain in case of Magic induced Neural Damage or M.I.N.D, or even Mindburn as the commonfolk liked to call it.

"I guess I'll see you all next month." Verity said, before turning his back and disappearing, whisked away by his runes.

Arthur nodded, arms crossed. "And a magnificent exit to seal the deal, truly amazing…"

"Pff." Apatia couldn't hold in her laugh.

Arthur glared at her.

She glared back.

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