In the Northern District where artists were the most gathered as shut-ins who didn't want to leave their homes, a particular building that seemed similar to a church's cathedral stood out amongst the dusty and unkept houses that regular citizens avoid.
"Failure, is unacceptable..." In a secret room of that building where tens of the Radiant Sword Mirror Cult's believers gathered, a 'Devil' sitting on what seemed to be a throne spoke in a soft voice.
However, although he didn't shout or curse, these words caused those who heard them to feel a tingling sensation of terror run up and down their spines, forcing them into submission. Those praying Cultists felt goosebumps as the terrifying man shifted his eyes to a white-clothed young girl before him with cold eyes expressing killing intent.
The demonic man looked to the ceiling, as if seeing something no one else could as he spoke words so unbelievably Machiavellian and full of vanity that one would see him as insane: "Above the boundless Earth, I alone am worthy of honour."
His words caused his believers to be startled as they felt like these words were significant to them.
They worshipped him for the exact reason that they believed that this 'Devil' was an enlightened man. Those who believed they could even compare to the man sitting before them would be considered heretics. Therefore, the man continued:
"Do you know fear?"
"Yes, My Lord." The masked girl that covered most her face shivered. From the very moment she had been taken in by the Cult, there was not once where she didn't feel fearful of her 'Lord'.
"They say fear can be harnessed into strength in order to survive. However, why is it you're unable to find a way to survive despite having strength? I remember already giving a chance by taking in a 'Failure' like you from that Prison Laboratory the Royal Family are so secretive of. Yet you still failed to live up to my expectations..." The demonic figure sitting comfortably on his throne didn't seem angry as he spoke of the young girl as a 'Failure'.
This, however, didn't make her feel any better...
"I sincerely apologise for-"
"Enough." The man didn't allow her speak any further as turned his head to look at a glass coffin beside him. A hint of gentleness appeared in his eyes as looked at the woman laying motionlessly within. These changes in attitude made them more fearful rather than happy. After all, they never knew when was the next time he could lash out.
Unlike humans, the woman within the coffin and purple skin as well as other small features different from regular people. Her innate beauty was so high that even her motionless body left one breathless.
Perhaps others would find it strange why the so-called 'Demon Lord' of their Cult kept a woman's corpse beside him. However, those high-ranking members here today were well-aware that the purple skinned woman was once the lover of their respected 'Demon Lord'. Her identity was veiled in mystery, as all they knew was her Mystic Race.
As those of her race hadn't been interacting with humanity for many centuries, even the most knowledgeable Scholar would be hard-pressed to answer any questions regarding her race.
As their Lord looked at the girl, his eyes reddened as his fingers accidentally dug into his palms.
'If only I was different...' The man kept his thoughts to himself as he regretted being unable to save her.
Yet still, he continued his path...
He looked like was waiting... and holding himself back so he could get what he was searching for.
The 'Demon Lord' of their Cult then turned his attention back to the girl kneeling before him.
"As the only Priestess of my Cult, your worth is far more than others. Therefore, I will give you chance... and as long as you form a 'Contract' with me. Once you make a certain promise that can never be broken even with your death, I'll allow you to gain the freedom you had always been dreaming of." The masked girl's shoulders stopped shaking after hearing her Lord's coldhearted words. Her eyes, which were staring at the floor, turned upwards to make eye-contact with him.
"What are the conditions?" The masked girl asked courageously towards the demonic figure who had controlled her life and destiny. A rate satisfied expression arose on his face, as he seemed to have already got her in the palm of his hand.
Little did the two know that at this moment, an armoured spearman was making his way to this secret area without alerting any of Cultists guarding the cathedral. The helmet wearing spearman speed was beyond anyone's comprehension as he made his way to the deeper levels of this heavily guarded base with clear anxiety in his eyes. The demonic figure slowly stood from his throne as the man was arriving.
"What I want you to promise is-" As their Lord was about to finish his sentence, a large explosion blew away the tightly locked doors of this highly secret room. The believers gathered in this place were astonished as the spearman sudden intrusion.
[Light Spell- Noontime Javelin!]
The helmeted spearman threw his weapon before grabbing hold of the young Priestess who was about to form a 'Contract' with the Demon Lord. A curious light appeared in the man's eyes as he watched everything play out with a surprised expression. Even as the magic infused spear arrived near his face with deadly accuracy, he only waved his hand before him and caused this ultimate strike to be slapped away.
It was almost comical how weak the light speed attack looked as the Demon Lord's actions made it seem like this extremely dangerous spear of light was merely made of straw. The way it was slapped away would make one think that there really wasn't any power behind the 'Javelin' at all...! Not that it mattered to the intruder who grabbed the girl.
As the javelin hit the ground and caused an explosion of light that lit up the room, he spoke:
"I suggest you let go of her. You wouldn't even be able to escape from here with teleportation, and the girl you're holding isn't much of a hostage in my eyes if you want to make demands." The demonic figure threatened with hidden emotions.
Despite having such power, this small distraction when the demonic figure was indecisive gave the spearman before him enough time to grab his Cult's only Priestess by the throat.
He didn't know what the spearman wanted but was sure the young-looking man in a helmet wouldn't be able to escape from his grasp. Even the Grand Hero would have to watch out if he's in the same room as the man who controlled an entire Cult.
In the Demon Lord's life, he had battled many foes and achieved a speed fast enough to take advantage of the small momentary time gap before a teleportation could activate. As the man who had created the 'Vanity State' of the Evil Attribute, it wasn't hard for one to understand that he had already reached a realm of strength that would be unfathomable to those 'Noble Rankers' of Lancia.
Unfortunately, his attitude didn't seem to move the young man in any meaningful way as a strong turbulence of energy covered their body. The masked young Priestess didn't even have time to resist as they were disintegrated by chaotic energy released from him. Not teleported, but truly killed in body and soul...! The demonic figure was silent.
He repeated what happened in his head...
A small scream left the masked girl's mouth as they both were disintegrated thoroughly without leaving anything behind. The demonic figure was stunned as everything that had happened before him way too fast! His body awkwardly stood there as he wondered what sort of grudge the suicidal spearman had towards the young Priestess.
He didn't understand what just happened...
"Umm... My Lord?"
"Speak..." He unconsciously glared at the man.
The Demon Lord looked like this: (﹁﹁)~→
His squinting eyes held a lot of annoyance and animosity towards what had just transpired.
"...What happened just now? 'We' ask for your guidance." The believer asked in reliance.
"Hah... Just forget this happened."
"Err... What?"
"You heard me right." The demonic figure decided that he might as well sweep this under the rug and act like nothing happened. He would really feel uncomfortable if others found out he actually let their Cult's Priestess die in vain out of nowhere.
Without giving everyone time to react, he looked around at the believers and strongly to pressure them all into siding with him. His pride wouldn't let him allow anyone criticise him even in their heads.
Although the masked girl was a great chess piece to him, he wasn't worried about his future plans.
As long as he existed, everything will go well.
Well, you can also call this baseless confidence...
But who the hell cared?
"You all didn't see anything, right?" The demonic figure smiled towards his believers 'kindly'.
"We-"
"You all didn't see anything, riiiiight?" He lifted his brow as if to say "Play along!" to the lot of them.
"Nothing, we saw nothing happen."
"My Lord, I think I have amnesia."
"I was asleep with my eyes open the whole time."
"I was too busy looking at the floor to see anything."
The believers forcefully laughed and made a bunch of excuses in order to pretend nothing happened.
They were well aware that their Lord had his pride hurt today, that's why they decided play along.
And while they were busy acting like nothing happened, two people suddenly appeared far away from the cathedral in the Northern District. When the masked Priestess, who seemed to be fine despite having disintegrated earlier, looked around, she realised they were in the Southern District where Nobles and regular citizens resided.
Hmmm, was this the Swampman Principle...?
"Why did you bring me here?" She asked the helmeted spearman who still clutching her throat in a dark alleyway where people couldn't see. Even though she was normally physically stronger than your average person and had many special hidden abilities just waiting to be unleashed, she felt powerless while in the hands of the spearman.
She didn't ask for his identity since she could tell the helmet he wore was probably a disguise so he wouldn't be recognised. The thought of struggling didn't arise in her mind since she could feel the sharpness of the fingers clutching on her throat.
She felt completely powerless...
For the first time in her life she found that there exists someone who was both stronger and faster than her to point of easily capturing her. Not only that but it was a young spearman of the opposite gender, one of those beings she had the least contact with due to role as a Priestess. She had only heard about 'boys' through other female Cultists that would care for her at the cathedral...
"Men are disgusting perverts."
"Guys always have ulterior motives."
"Never trust your boyfriend if he has an ex!"
"Husbands are cheating sons of-"
There was a lot of broken-hearted maidens who she'd sometimes have to console when they entered the Cult for such reasons. You could even say that they became the reason she was guarded towards guys... A sexist paranoia indeed.
But getting back to the main point: Right now there was a extremely powerful guy who had one of his arms wrapped around her chest while the other clutching on her throat. The soft 'buns' she had under her clothes weren't being groped, but they were certainly being 'pressured'. She was on the verge of fighting back regardless of the results.
"But... before answering that. Ahem, could you let me go?" The Priestess asked weakly under her mask which hid her embarrassment. Her voice was very clear and girly despite her getup that covered most the skin of her body, even up to her ears!
"You're name is 'Fear', right?" The helmeted spearman ignored how innocent she was acting and asked with a interrogating voice. She was unsure of what he would do to her if she didn't answer so she meekly nodded her head. Her voice was unable to come out of her mouth as she thought of scenarios she heard such a situation would lead to. Her face underneath her mask was pale as she decided to be honest with him.
"Hide you're identity and never come into contact with those Cultists ever again. You always wanted freedom to do whatever you want, right? Consider this an opportunity to do just that." The spearman didn't seem to notice her plight as he impolitely dragged her deeper into the alleyway so nobody would see their... 'intimate' interactions.
The Priestess was surprised by how the man knew so much about her but suddenly remembered a single tragic event that happened to one of the female Cultists that took care of her. Her heart shuddered in realisation of what was happening!
'Is he a 'Stalker'?' She once heard such a person was the kind to follow her wherever she went and try to uncover her secrets. Tears almost started leaking from her eyes as she realised she must have been 'stalked' for a long time for him to figure that out. She even felt like praying to the Holy God to bless him despite being a Priestess of a Cult~
The Priestess looked like this inwardly: (人◕ω◕)
She was hoping that the Demon Lord wouldn't hold it against her about using this chance to escape.
However, her thoughts then took a turn. She remembered that this is a bad thing. Although she got out of the Demon Lord's clutches, was there any reason why she should be celebrating?
'I'm done for...! I don't want to be captured by a stalker-pervert-hybrid!' Her misinterpretation of the situation went unnoticed though as the man suddenly let go of her. The masked former young Priestess called Fear reflexively put her arms over her chest and glared angrily at him after he did as a way to scare him off. Her mask was a scary one!
Fear widened her eyes like this: (●﹏●)
There seemed to be a black hole of animosity in those eyes under her now intimidating mask.
She was too scared to use any of her Spells against a guy who could instantly bring her to the Southern District from right before the invincible Lord she had served. In fact, she believed this young man to have a similar level of strength to her great Lord!
"What do you want from me?" She shivered like a deer in Antarctica while asking as calm as she could. Not even Classless Beasts or creatures from other Mystic Races were as scary as this person!
"Nothing. Just go live well, okay...? Oh, you don't have a home, right... so, here is a place you can stay at. Knock on this door of this address and explain your circumstances to the scholarly guy who'll come to the door. He'll take you in and treat you well if you're polite to him." The man confused her by speaking softly to her like an old friend. This was different from how the Demon Lord spoke, it wasn't a calm voice hiding dark secrets but a gentle voice filled with indescribable warmth...
After she instinctively accepted the paper with an address written on it, her eyes suddenly blinked as she was about to thoughtlessly ask why he was treating her this way. However, before she could even speak, the young man disappeared before her eyes as if he was only an illusion in her head. The only evidence to his existence was piece of paper in her hands, making her want to trust the man.
She didn't know why, but her heart skipped a beat as she held the address close to her heart. A naive little maiden like her who never knew 'romance' felt like everything that happened to her was too surreal to be true. However, there was no doubt a gallant 'white knight' had saved her from becoming a slave to the Radiant Sword Mirror Cult...
She wanted to thank her friendly white knight for everything he did, but couldn't find him...!
'You know, you may be a pervert-stalker-knight-hybrid, but I don't really mind, I think?" If her thoughts were to be known by the 'white knight' in question, he might've immediately spit out blood...!
A cute humming sound came from her mouth as she decided to put some trust in her saviour and headed for the address on the paper. She of course changed her appearance first before that.
There was one name on the piece of paper that stood out amongst the text: {Alex Stuman}