I watched from the shadows as my dear customer's back shrunk and he proceeded further down the long hallway alongside 15 other people, including the supposed hero who will replace Promethius.
Promethius, a man of unknown origin who appeared one day and decimated the demon forces from the frontlines.
One swing from "Song and Light" killed thousands of demons and vaporized their bodies completely and its residue power cursed their very souls, preventing them from achieving peace in the River of Souls. The humans cheered even though they did not know this individual.
It was not even a day after the incident that the unknown man was gifted treasures, gold, villas and women by the emperor of that time. The humans had no suspicions about this mysterious man who could surpass the all-powerful demon lords in raw power.
In times of struggle, the weak naturally seek the embrace of the powerful, just like I mentioned to the beastkin earlier. This behavior did not surprise me as it should have. I have lived far passed what mortals should so I have studied all sorts of humans, even those I had close relationships with.
I needed to know, to understand what it felt like to be human again. What goes through their minds in times of struggle and trauma that they would willingly latch onto a stranger while pleading for help?
I searched far and wide for that answer.
Alas, the taste was on my tongue but it had no flavor.
My "eyes" were drawn to the bony fingers—my hands—which opened and closed upon my commands. I did not have any nerves or a brain so I was uncertain what allowed me to control this body.
Every day I lose my understanding of what being human truly meant.
Perhaps this is the correct punishment for those who forsake their own for their personal gain.
A mere "sorry" could not reverse genocide.
A mere "sorry" could not rebuild homes.
A mere "sorry" could not revive the innocent child who would've grown up to have a bright and successful future.
The weight of those words, so often thrown around in the aftermath of unspeakable horrors, was too light to carry the burden of their actions. Wallowing in self-pity and regret was meant for the living, not the cursed who will never be able to reverse their mistakes.
Human nature… is terrifying. If the reward is tantalizing enough, a human might even forsake the gods to partake in it, not to mention their own kin.
I have also witnessed the lengths to which humans will go, driven by greed, lust, and ambition. The atrocities committed in the name of power or pleasure are beyond redemption. And yet, those same creatures are capable of immense love, sacrifice, and creation. The dichotomy is both fascinating and horrifying when knowing I was one of them.
I am partially glad I was forcibly shed of my mortal form. I can see things clearer now, unclouded by the biases and desires that once ruled me. I am an observer, detached yet deeply curious about the beings I once called my own. Even if I could not understand human nature itself, I can recognize the patterns of their existence.
The fragile line between good and evil, sanity and madness, is often blurred by the choices they make. A single decision can set off a chain of events, leading to either salvation or destruction. In their fleeting lives, they grasp for meaning, often stumbling, sometimes soaring.
And in their struggles, I find a reflection of my own lost humanity. The yearning to connect, to feel, to matter. It is this quest for significance that drives them forward, even as they falter and fail or hated by their own kind for the actions they commit. It is this relentless pursuit that makes them both pitiable and admirable.
In my eternal state, I have the luxury of time, an endless expanse to ponder and reflect. To watch civilizations, rise and fall, to witness the ebb and flow of human endeavor. And perhaps, in this endless observation, I might one day grasp the essence of what it means to be human once more by observing those I find interesting.
Until then, I will continue satisfying the desires of others as a merchant, even if my methods are loathed by others, just as the actions of some humans even if they do what they did for the happiness and lives of others.
…
'Found the snooping little rat.'
I appeared behind a certain someone after a magic circle appeared behind said person.
'Hoh, a woman?' I noticed her hourglass figure that could be seen through her black tight-fitting uniform, 'My customer is truly popular with women, hm?'
I chanted silently: "Sixteenth-Rank - [Chaos Moon of Wrath's Coming]" as I held my hand out to the back of the unaware little mouse who had been spying on my dear customer for quite a while now.
Perhaps feeling the heat from the ball of destruction, the woman jumped to the side and threw several daggers at me, which I easily stopped with a gravity spell.
I wiggled my finger.
"WHA!" An invisible hand encircled around her upper body, deforming her bountiful chest. Hm, it seems she had been feeling too hot in that tight uniform of hers so she opened the chest area of her jackets, letting her cleavage free.
Her sweat glistened in the light of the Chaos Moon.
After my magic hand locked itself firmly around the woman, I pulled her towards me, the sphere of destruction in my hand inches away from her chest.
Hm, looking at her chest this close is a little… Well, I am just glad I do not feel lust anymore. The man I once was would've taken this woman against her will and she would not have had the power to stop me.
"You have exactly ten seconds to tell me who you are," the heat of the chaos moon intensified, "This right here is a spell that can destroy an entire city. What kind of city? Well, I'll leave it up to your imagination. Yes, it is quite over the top but I cannot take chances when not knowing if there are other assassins like you in the area."
"W-Wait, I'm not an assassin!" she replied, out of breath as if she hadn't rested for days.
"I will not let my guard down just because you said that. I do not take kindly to assassins who want to harm my customers. Even bounty hunter guilds were forced to renounce their bounties when I became involved. The bounty hunter guilds have hunters that are even tasked with killing demigods. I'm sure that is enough to tell you that you are no threat to me even if you try your hardest."
I could feel her body tremble through my invisible magic hand.
"…I am telling the truth…"
'Hoh, her trembling stopped. She must've been trained extremely well to compose herself in times of danger.'
This means that she is from some kind of organization that specializes in either assassination or intelligence gathering. Upon being captured, their agents need to be able to control their emotions and speech to avoid setting off lie detector magic items.
"I will be the judge of that. Tenth-Rank – [Mind Delve]" my mana invaded her head and sought out the memory capsules that all humans possess in their brains. This allows me to enter their tiny organisms using my mana to investigate them.
She didn't struggle but there was a grimace on her face and she kept whimpering. This process is painful indeed but I have no feelings of sympathy for a spy.
I let out a sigh even though I did not have lungs, and let the woman go.
"Agent 1B, a close subordinate of a cadre from… Serz."
Hmm, I did not expect to hear that name ever again.
My eyes scanned her uniform, noticing that she didn't have any weapons on her which means that she's a magician of sorts.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she gulped and spoke with a trembling voice.
"How did you… No, who are you… To wield such powerful magic that only the Archmage should be capable of…"
"I have no obligation to tell you anything. I am the one asking questions here."
"…."
"You've been stalking him for two days now," I recalled what one of her memory capsules showed me, "I don't have my detection magic active unless I know there is danger but I've known about you for a while. Only this time you were much closer than before. Were you that confident in your stealth skills?"
My use of detection magic today was to keep a watchful eye over my customer. The air surrounding the rescue party and the students changed recently so I cast a powerful spell that could allow me to instantly teleport to his side if danger befalls him.
Why did I not just go in there with him? Well, I am a skeleton-type monster so I am naturally not allowed anywhere near divine beings. But if I have to force my way in there then I will even if the gods will loathe me and smite me.
Hmph, they can try.
'Hm?'
I suddenly felt my detection magic being forcibly pushed out of the dungeon by another overwhelming power.
'That must be a sign of the holy sword's activation. So, the next Hero has been chosen.'
I turned back to the woman in front of me after confirming that my dear customer wasn't in any danger. I could tell that his vitals were still normal even if my detection spell was being pushed out. My spell will expand its range on its own once the holy sword stops interfering with it.
"Now answer me: why were you sent here?"
"…Did your spell not tell you everything?"
"If I had stayed inside your head any longer than I should have to gain necessary information then I would've fried your brain and turned you into a vegetable. Do you want that, human?"
Even high-tier spells have their weaknesses and side effects.
"No…"
"Then speak."
She sighed softly for a moment before lowering her mask, showing her delicate facial features that resembled that of an early thirties' woman.
She began speaking, "I was ordered to keep an eye on Lord Arnold and rescue him if he's in trouble. I searched for him far and wide without luck for an entire month in this dungeon. I only found him less than a week ago after his battle with a demigod was almost over. I wanted to save him but a dungeon storm dragged him off somewhere. It took a while for me to pick up on his trail again. As a result of my carelessness and incompetency, I expect to be punished for letting him get hurt."
"When were you planning on showing yourself to him?"
"Only if there is danger."
"What is the name of that blonde-haired woman you work for?"
"…She is the heiress of a marquis noble household in the empire and a Cadre of Serz, Celeste von Penston."
"She looks rather young to have such a high position in that organization."
"You speak about the organization as if you know about it…" she muttered something to herself before she continued, "I am uncertain how she obtained that position so I cannot help you in that regard."
"Hm, it's fine. I am not that interested in her per se. I am just curious why she would go as far as sending a direct subordinate into a place like this. You called him Lord Arnold so she must have some kind of relationship with him, no?"
Unless he's just a client of the organization itself and needs to be protected. If that was the case then there would've been more people hired to follow him. My understanding from this is that the Celeste woman gave the woman in front of me an unofficial order that the organization itself is unaware of.
"She… She says that Lord Arnold is her beloved…"
I chuckled, "Is that truly all there is to it?"
"Yes…"
"But to think she'd send a direct subordinate… The power struggles in organizations as large as Serz shouldn't give her this much leeway."
Direct subordinates are different from ordinary subordinates working under a Cadre. They're like the captains of a general or commander who handle their own teams. This position naturally requires that they are extremely powerful individuals or have talents in certain fields that are rare to come by.
"I believe that 1A will be enough to lead the whole team while I am here on my orders."
"You don't seem too eager to obey your master's orders. What, did she threaten you?"
"…."
"Hm, it matters not I suppose. Your personal life has nothing to do with me. In any case, I will leave you alone since I know that your mission is of utmost importance. Both to me and that Celeste woman."
She looked at me in confusion but I didn't elaborate.
I looked toward the cave entrance, "You should show yourself to him and explain why you're here."
"I cannot do that…"
"His journey is only going to get harder from here on out. He needs companions."
"Aren't you one of his companions?"
"I have many other customers in need of my services so I cannot make time for him. You mentioned that you saw him before he got whisked away in a dungeon storm. There was an Elf with him. Did she perish in the dungeon storm?"
"No, I think she's still alive. A portal appeared shortly after the dungeon storm began and a blue-skinned woman stepped through it. After some back and forth arguing, the two left through the portal. That was the last I saw of her."
"Blue-skinned woman, you say… Did she look human?"
"Yes."
I only know about one race of blue-skinned people that closely resemble humans. I've personally met one of them in the past. Of course, we weren't exactly allies.
"He will be happy to hear that she's alive. The two couldn't keep their hands off each other when they traveled together, kakaka."
"Wait, how do you know that—"
"Well, I must be on my way now. You can choose to stay in the shadows. I will not tell him that you're spying on him. Though I suspect he has been feeling someone's eyes on him lately." I stepped out of the bushes.
A strange fluctuation suddenly reverberated throughout the area which I could feel through my detection radar. It felt like one of the many signatures it was keeping an eye on had mysteriously undergone some strange phenomenon that caused the fluctuation.
Naturally I cast my teleportation magic at that moment to go into the dungeon, however, nothing happened. It felt like the dungeon had locked its doors for me.
I cast another spell to detect what was causing the interference. At that moment, the same golden wall that impeded the hero before appeared before my eyes.
I stood there a while in silence, perhaps a few minutes, as I sensed the signature shrink to the magnitude of a kindling fire… then vanish.
"Sir Mage?"
Could I have forcibly blown the barrier away? Indeed, I could destroy the entire dungeon if I chose the right spells, however, a spell powerful enough to blow it away would harm the humans inside, as well as Oriel's host. While I care little for the lives of deities, I could not bring myself to proceed with destroying the dungeon at the risk of even more innocent lives.
"Sir Mage…" I ignored the woman and looked towards the entrance of the dungeon when I felt movement through my detection spell.
The group, accompanied by the divine titans for some reason, stepped out of the dungeon. In the lead was a young man glowing with an overwhelming golden essence, the light of his eyes shining brighter than the sun.
"What… Where is Lord Arnold? He isn't among them and his signature hasn't entered a range where I can sense him." I could see visible sweat run down the woman's cheek, "I have to get closer."
She was about to jump down but I pulled her back with an invisible magic hand.
"Wait until they're gone. If we confront them now then we'll end up fighting the boy in the lead of that group. I have no doubt that your master told you to kill whoever harms her beloved, yes? Well, that is not someone you can easily kill."
"…." She clenched her fists but nodded obediently.
I looked down at them as they walked past, my eyes meeting the young man with [Song and Light] at his waist. I could see a red gradient about halfway up the sword's blade. The holy sword is said to absorb its victims' blood and turn it into divine energy that it can absorb to grow strong. This means that even if the hero is out of divine aura, the sword itself will still be able to supply enough strength to fell his foes.
Judging by the blood dripping down the sword, it was obvious what happened. Alas, I did not confront its wielder. Doing so would be suicide.
Humph, your eyes are brimming with confidence—no, arrogance.
But it will be your undoing.
Remember this, not even Promethius would've been able to defeat prime Oriel, who even the Demon King could not kill.
Bathe in your arrogance for a little while longer. Hero.
◊◊
The golden light intensified, casting long, menacing shadows along the walls. The air crackled with energy, every hair on Arnold's body standing on end. Fear surged through him, an icy chill spreading from his core.
Suddenly, a searing pain erupted in his chest at Sabrina's desperate shout. Time seemed to slow down as he looked down, eyes widening in shock. A golden sword had pierced straight through his chest, its radiant blade glowing with an otherworldly light. He gasped as the blood spilled from his mouth.
A flood of notifications clouded his vision, all with the same "WARNING, WARNING" message. Each alert felt like a hammer blow to his skull.
He staggered, his vision blurring. The world around him faded into a haze of light and darkness. Sabrina's screams seemed distant, her voice echoing as if from another world. Arnold's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, the golden sword still embedded in his back. His cheek touched the cold marble floor, a stark contrast to the fiery pain consuming him.
Through the shrinking darkness of his vision, he saw Sabrina trying to reach out to him. Her face was a mask of anguish, tears streaming down her cheeks. Anais and the other girls pulled her back, each sharing the same pained expression. They were clearly not mourning for Arnold but for having to hear Sabrina's heart-wrenching screams. Even Castacia stood apart, her face etched with sorrow.
Of course, Anais seemed like she was on the verge of tears as she looked at the wheezing Arnold so he could tell she was also saddened by what had transpired. Despite this, she did not stop her brother.
Sabrina's cries grew fainter, as if Arnold's head was submerged underwater, the hands of fate holding him in place. A shadow loomed over him, and the searing pain intensified when the sword was pulled out, yet he couldn't scream. He couldn't even taste the blood in his mouth.
Were his senses abandoning him?
The looming shadow became clearer, revealing Arthur standing with [Song and Light] in hand.
His face—which had remained expressionless until now—was filled with a blazing fury.
Ah, so the sword chose him, after all. And his first target was me.
A bitter laugh bubbled up inside Arnold.
Hahaha…
Hahahahaha…
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
He couldn't tell if he was actually laughing or if it was only inside his mind.
Arthur was saying something, but time suddenly froze.
A glitching blue screen appeared within Arnold's vision.
It read:
· System updated!
· Patch notes: Your body is currently breaking down after being blasted with several of [Song and Light]'s S-tier skills. One of the skills has latched itself onto your soul, which will prolong your suffering in the afterlife after you die. You will experience every pain you've ever felt throughout your life, as if you are a human again. If you somehow survive, you will never be able to use aura again due to the demon soul within your body.
· The skill [Judgment] is responsible for sealing your aura, which resulted from its powers sealing the demon soul. The skill cannot be broken by ordinary means and needs a powerful artifact that can forcibly remove skills .
· Attempting to search for such an artifact's location.
· Error: no results.
· Chances of survival: 0.1%
'What is this bullshit…' That was his final thought before his vision darkened entirely.
In the depths of the darkness, he heard a voice, eerily similar to Alecs:
· Happy birthday, Player Arnold.