15 MINUTES EARLIER
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LIGHT'S POV:-
It will be sunset in 3 hours. The wind is blowing swiftly and the sound of birds could be heard.
'Such a beautiful afternoon, I wish I could get some black tea after it's all over.'
We move towards the cave, reach the guards, the guards are wearing silver armour and each has a lance.
"Halt! State your business here," one of the guards shouts at us. From their looks, they are roughly around platinum rank.
"We need a place to stop by," Kaneto speaks as I instruct him to say. I just want to solve this as peacefully as I can.
"This place is under the observation of adventurers guild. Choose some other place," he speaks in a fierce tone. They are observing us with caution and look a bit nervous too.
'But it doesn't look like it's going to be peaceful.'
I sigh thinking that. Why can't things go smoothly for once?
I signal Kaneto to move.
Kaneto then starts moving towards them, making them point their weapons at him. But they are hesitating. For a few moments the area turns silent and only the rustling sound of winds against leaves could be heard.
"[Air stance: Horizontal Slash]" Kaneto slashes the air horizontally in a blink of an eye, creating an air slash that pushes them away and knocks them unconscious. We then reach inside the cave only to see a dead end.
"What next?" Ilia who was silent for most of the journey speaks in a nervous tone.
I look around the cave and search for the hidden button. After finding it and opening the gate we reach the town.
At this point, the Pixies and Kaneto are greatly surprised by the town. Then Ilia starts shivering. When asked why? She said that such things were lurking in their forest and they didn't even know.
Honestly, it would really send chills down the spine of anyone, if they found a town of devils just below their backyard.
The devils are shocked at our entrance and start attacking us.
"Such warm welcome," Leraye says in a sarcastic tone then moves towards the devils.
Mid and high devils are attacking him left and right but he deflects them easily with his scythe.
Then he starts attacking their legs and hands cutting them into pieces which stops the frequency of attacks considerably.
It is at this point that the Supreme devils also join the battle.
Before they could get closer to Leraye.
"[Water stance: Rising gale]" Kaneto hits the Supreme Devil that approaches Leraye.
A water slash pushes him away.
After a few more exchanges
-BOOM
Kaneto unleashes a powerful move,
"[Death Reapers's First Slash: Birth]," that hits one of the buildings and obliterates it which causes a loud explosion.
'I told him not to overdo it, we are trying to keep the minimal approach here,' I mumble in a dejected voice.
Soon, the devils start hesitating to approach us.
Observing the area around me, half of them are unconscious and the rest are mostly injured.
'Looks like this is it,' I think but...
Then I see a Purple devil coming towards us.
I analyse her carefully and conclude,
'She is strong.'
She observed us and when she sees Leraye, she is shocked.
'Do they know each other,'
Glancing at Leraye he doesn't look like he is paying any attention to her.
She then looks back at Kaneto and starts chanting, then suddenly vanishes.
Everything turns black...
'Sigh...[Mana chain circuit: The One]'
-Time stops-
I look around and search for the anomaly which triggered my 'subconscious alarm'...
But I can't seem to find any anomaly.
'Wait! Where is that devil?'
I can't see her at all but... Observing carefully, a gap between the air is present in front of Kaneto.
'There she is.'
I analyse her position carefully and see that she is pointing her finger at Kaneto.
'Hmmm..what should I do now?'
After thinking a bit, I cut her finger and let my dagger absorb the energy in it.
Trusting my instincts, I would rather take a chance to see if I am correct. Even if I am wrong, my 'subconscious' will again stop time so it's fine.
Then I move behind her back to see how would she react now.
-Time starts-
Nothing happens.
'So this is how it was, huh. In any case, looks like my dagger is recharged now.'
"This should be enough to recharge my dagger," I speak to her unamusingly. She then turns towards me and start observing me...then her face changed expressions from Suspicious->Shock-> Hope-> Doubt-> Confusion -> Irritation.
'I should intimidate her before knocking her unconscious.'
I move towards her...
Then she speaks, "Wait! Don't kill me! I have something to ask you! Everyone stop attacking them!"
Then everyone stops, the pixies are shocked, Kaneto has a doubting expression, Leraye is just blinking without any expression.
I observe her
'Well, she is speaking the truth all right.'
I look at her, then...
"Hmmm? What do you mean by...don't kill you?
We are here just to get back the Pixie Queen. Why would we kill devils? Do we look like murderers to you?" I ask her 'sincerely' as I look at her.
'Well, it is the truth, all right.'
She then gets confused and soon turns around only to be shocked.
Doesn't look like she paid much attention to her own comrades or maybe she just accepted their deaths?
"And what do you want to ask from me?" I ask with a bit of curiosity.
Did I get handsome? I don't think so.
Maybe it's something related to her power or is there anything I missed?
I start pondering over it.
She gets flustered all of a sudden, then her face looks helpless; struggling.
I chuckle silently then,
"You are making an interesting expression there," I tell her.
Then she gets flustered and soon turns determined.
'Just how many expressions is she going to make today.' I am really amused by her behaviour.
"I will take you to the Pixie Queen, just spare all of us," She says with a determined face but then starts doubting herself...
'Ah! That makes things so much easy, thank you so much, young devil lady. This is how I want things to develope, smoothly.'
A smile appears on my face then,
"Hmmm... Okay, let's go." I say gazing at her face.
" I know you don't trust me but I am not lying. I have...what?!?! You believe me!?" She gets flustered-> Ecstatic.
'Haha..that was really amusing...I would have loved to record that...let's play with her for a bit more.'
"Ummm...I shouldn't trust you?" I ask her gazing into her eyes.
"No! I mean yes! I mean no! Aaah...I mean trust me, yes trust me...I am not lying." She starts stuttering.
Then buried her head in her hands with embarrassment.
The other devils are looking at her with a shock on their faces, even Kaneto and Pixies are amused by her behaviour. Surprisingly though, Leraye isn't showing any interest in her.
Well, not that I don't understand her, if it had been anyone else, they would have probably doubted her words or even outright not believe her at all.
'In any case, this should be enough. Let's not make her any more embarrassed.'
"We don't have all day, let's go. Also, I have a way to verify the truth so you need not worry about, whether I trust you or not." I speak in an understanding tone. But maybe because the amusement on my face still lingered, she glares at me then her eyes suddenly start glistening.
'Seriously, how many emotions is she gonna show today?'
She immediately starts moving in a certain direction with a smile on her face.
I look at her for a few seconds then start following her.
We soon reach an underground cell covered with roots and vines...
A big magic circle is present on the floor.
On observing closely, it looks like a teleportation circle.
'But it's still incomplete...looks like this here is their escape plan.'
We soon reach a certain cell and
"Aria, please give him your blessing," she speaks something incomprehensible.
The pixies and others are looking at her like she has gone mad. Even the devils are showing signs of doubt at their leader.
'Oi oi what are you talking about?'
Then looking closely inside the cell full of flowers and leaves. A Pixie is meditating with her eyes closed.
She then opens her eyes and vibrant blue coloured eyes can be seen.
She then observes the devil, then looks at me.
Then her face turns Curious->Confuse-> Curious -> Shock -> Sad.
'Just what's up with these two and their emotions?'
"Who is he, Aria?" The Pixie Queen asks turning expressionless.
"He is going to be our saviour," Aria(Devil) speaks in an excited voice.
All the devils are shocked and confused at her sentence.
They are clearly dying to know, how and why.
Even the pixies are confused a bit. They are looking at me with a complicated expression.
Leraye is looking at me with a complex expression and Kaneto has stopped thinking about it.
'They both have the same name? Is this why their expression changes multiple times in a single conversation?' I start thinking about it.
"No" The Pixie Queen rejects her request without any hesitation.
................