Xain couldn't believe his eyes. He hadn't known what exactly to expect, but he knew Verandez wouldn't look like the stereotypical villain from his books. Yet, he hadn't expected him to appear so... normal. Average. The kind of person you'd pass on the street without a second glance. But that didn't matter now.
Xain clenched his one working fist. This was the man planning to massacre an entire village, the one who had unleashed a demonic invasion. But instead of charging at Verandez or trying to beat him down, Xain hesitated. His gaze flicked between Verandez, Grace, and the young maid, her body bloodied and barely able to move.
"What's going on?" he asked, looking at Grace before his eyes returned to the maid. "Why are you—" He paused, searching for the right word. This wasn't a fight; it was more like bullying. "—beating her?" He then turned to Verandez, his confusion growing. "And why aren't you stopping him?" he asked, pointing at Verandez.
Grace turned her gaze to Xain, seeing the turmoil in his expression. His thoughts were all over the place—angry, tired, and confused. "He isn't the on—" she began, but Verandez cut her off.
"Levarick! Is that you?" Verandez exclaimed, running towards the demon. The demon stared back at him with a blank expression.
"It's you, right? You're okay, right? You're—" The demon interrupted him.
"I can see it in your eyes that you are trying to deceive yourself into believing that I am Levarick." Verandez froze at the demon's words, while everyone else, except Grace, stared in confusion. Dash, who never had a clue about anything anyway, looked equally puzzled.
"He is dead. Move on. There is no point in delusions that mock his passing," the demon advised. Verandez's shoulders slumped, his gaze dropping to the ground.
"He's really gone," he muttered, clutching his head. "And I—I!" He suddenly turned to the young maid on the ground. "You will die for your sins!" he yelled while Eriza barely managed to sit up, coughing up blood.
"Um, could you explain?" Zee asked, turning to Grace. Elanor leaned close to Dash and whispered into his ear.
"Can you please hold off the demons? This is really important."
Dash gave him an excited thumbs-up. "Okay!" he said cheerfully before turning back to face the waves of demons, rushing off to fight them by practically himself. Meanwhile, everyone else, besides Mar, Even, Mincs, and The Fiend tried to piece together what was happening.
Grace spoke up, "Verandez isn't the one who caused everything," she began, a contemplative look crossing her face. "Well, I guess he did, physically speaking, but in terms of actual motivation and control, it was..." She pointed at Eriza. "That woman right there." A thin smile curled her lips.
Everyone looked shocked, even the demon appeared somewhat confused. "What!?" exclaimed Xain, Zee, and Elanor in unison as they turned to face Eriza.
"Then who is she? And how did she do it? And why?" Xain asked, sounding severely confused.
Grace crossed her arms. "Well, that woman is a demon called a Zythoraiel, a species of demons who have the ability to control minds and manipulate memories to a small degree," she explained, looking down at Eriza. "A pathetically weak demon who can't do anything by themselves, isn't that right, weakling?"
Eriza spat out blood, her glare sharp and venomous. "Don't look down at me, human. Once my lord finishes dealing with that interloper, he'll come save me and kill you all!"
Zee didn't understand what she was talking about, while Elanor knew of the demon lord but not of Ercale. The demon and Xain, however, were fully aware. The demon's expression remained unreadable, but Xain felt a pang of pity. *Boy, if only she knew who they are dealing with,* Xain thought, imagining that the invading Demon Lord wasn't having the best of times currently.
"Hold on, so Verandez is innocent?" asked Zee.
Grace nodded. "Yeah, that's what I just said, you airhead. This woman manipulated him into doing everything he did."
Zee looked annoyed but held her tongue. Elanor looked between all of them and shook his head. "None of that matters right now! How is this—" he waved his arms around "—going to stop?"
"If she dies, I'm sure it will stop. She's the one who made me do it, so—" Verandez began, but Eriza interrupted with a cruel, pained laugh.
"You think if I die this stops? No, it doesn't. I'm just a part of the puzzle. For the invasion to truly stop," she pointed a finger at Verandez, "he has to die as well!"
Everyone, besides Grace and the demon, went wide-eyed, including Verandez himself. His mouth hung open, his throat dry, making it hard to breathe. The demon stared at him with a hint of possible pity in its crimson eyes, while Xain and Zee struggled with their thoughts. All this time, they believed Verandez was the villain—the one who wanted to massacre Wolfdale and initiate a demonic invasion. Now, they faced the truth: Verandez had done those things, but not of his own volition. If they killed him, they would be killing an innocent man.
Eriza, seeing their reactions, laughed to herself once more. "You really thought it would be easy, didn't you? Kill the big bad demon and win? Ha ha ha, you humans and your naivety never cease to make me laugh!" She sneered, her laughter echoing through the tense silence.
"Why are you laughing?" Grace asked, her gray eyes boring into Eriza, who suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine. Grace's expression was cold and unyielding. "This changes nothing. I'll just kill both of you. Simple as that."
Xain turned to her in surprise. "Wha-what are you talking about, Grace? We can't ki-kill him! He's innocent!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion.
Grace turned to him, her gaze unwavering. "Then what do we do, Xain?" she asked, making him freeze. "Do we let this invasion keep going to save the life of a single man while risking the lives of millions?"
Xain closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Bu-but he's still innocent. He didn't do anything wrong. He wasn't in control! We can't just—"
"Do it," Verandez said, cutting Xain off mid-sentence. Xain looked at him, horrified.
"Do-don't say that. Don't just let yourself die. I'm sure there's some way to rewrite this contract thing and—"
Zee gently grabbed his shoulder, shaking her head. "Xain, contracts can't be rewritten without consent from both parties, and a demon would never consent," she explained.
Xain clenched his fists, even with his broken hand. "There has to be some way, just any way to change it!" he pleaded.
The demon shook its head. "Xain, I do not support this decision either, but what Grace said is right. Letting Verandez live means the death of possibly millions."
Xain looked defeated, his spirit crushed. Suddenly, Eriza spoke up. "That won't work! I made sure that the contract isn't tied to my physical body but my soul! Killing me won't change anything. As long as my soul exists, this won't end!" she exclaimed triumphantly.
All of a sudden. Lightning struck directly behind Eriza, and a voice, as cold as the storm, spoke. "Is that so?" Eriza's eyes went wide with fear.
*No way,* she thought to herself as she felt a hand atop her head.
"Good thing I know how to obliterate souls, right?" Ercale asked mockingly, a sadistic smile on his face.