CELINEE—with both hands still covered in blood—stared in horror at the corpses of her two comrades.
She did not know what had happened or how it had happened. Suddenly, when she became aware of herself, her hands had already pierced their hearts. Celinee had killed her two comrades without even realizing it. It was frightening.
She had been standing still for over an hour, staring at their lifeless bodies while trying to recall what had truly happened. However, there was not a single clue that could help her explain what had occurred.
She remembered bidding farewell to Lukhiel to return to the Serenity headquarters. Her two comrades had come to pick her up, and they had left Birmithan together.
However, not long after they had stopped to rest and engaged in light conversation, Celinee suddenly found her hands had already pierced their hearts. She did not know how—it had just happened in an instant.
Celinee knew that no human, demon, or any other creature had manipulated her before the incident. She was certain because she had used all her abilities to search for any traces. Yet, she had found nothing—and she was a fucking ninja!
Her mind quickly assumed that she had been manipulated before leaving Birmithan. However, Celinee did not recall anything suspicious during her departure. Her memory was not faulty. She was a ninja; she had a technique to detect abnormalities. And everything had been perfectly fine.
For that reason, Celinee stood still with a horrified expression.
The fear that what she had done was purely her own dark desire kept her frozen. She had heard about cases of dissociative identity disorder. What if there was another personality within her—one that was cruel and ruthless? What if this was not the only senseless killing she had committed?
Celinee did not know what to do now.
The wild assumptions swirling in her mind made the ninja paranoid. She feared that returning to headquarters would make the others wary of her. Celinee also worried about Madam Rhemea's reaction. However, what weighed on her the most was the guilt.
Those two had been her responsibility, yet her own hands had taken their lives.
What… what should she do now?
-----⟨⟨ Birmithan ⟩⟩-----
It was almost midnight, and the city had grown quiet—quieter than usual.
From the window of the rented room, Lukhiel stood still, observing. He should have been moving by now, searching for the right point to infiltrate the mayor's building. However, he remained in place—he had not moved an inch.
Seeing the city unusually empty made Lukhiel question one thing.
Had Celinee really obtained that information? Or had the information been deliberately leaked to reach her ears? If so, did that mean the archaeologists' findings in the mayor's building were fake?
This could be a trap to capture him. The city's unusual silence was suspicious. True, Lukhiel did not sense anything strange. Perhaps there was truly nothing amiss, or perhaps an exceptionally powerful magic user had cast their ability over the city—one strong enough to prevent him from detecting the presence of powerful individuals.
As Lukhiel weighed his thoughts, his eyes widened instantly as his instincts screamed at him.
At that moment, he realized his worries were real. A powerful magic user had deceived his perception. This was all a trap. He was being hunted.
But they can't fool my instincts, Lukhiel thought as he dodged a blast of fire streaking in a straight line toward his back.
"As expected of the Primordial Demon, Lukhiel."
The voice belonged to a short-haired woman with ash-gray hair, gazing at him with a condescending look. Thick yellow flames covered both her hands.
Lukhiel regarded her with a blank stare. He could guess that she was not alone—there were likely others already poised to strike. He could call her bluff and shake her confidence, before killing her quickly and escaped.
Normally, that was what he would have done. However, spending time with Mariel had made him reconsider.
"You're quite bold, showing yourself before me alone," said Lukhiel. "It would be a shame to kill a young woman as brave as you. Why don't you turn around and leave? I'd rather not kill if I don't have to."
"Hahaha. Disgusting. That makes me want to vomit. Hearing you say that makes me want to tear your heart to pieces. Aren't you ashamed to say such things after slaughtering so many humans? It would be far more ironic if you died at the hands of your own kind, but it doesn't matter—because I want you dead right now."
Lukhiel inhaled his cigarette in response, and that alone was enough to infuriate the woman beyond reason. She lunged forward with a furious growl, the flames in her hands blazing violently. It was clear that she utterly despised the demon, but that was hardly surprising.
Lukhiel prepared to release a gust of wind to repel the woman. However, she suddenly vanished and reappeared right behind him. Caught off guard, Lukhiel was sent flying as a fire-coated punch struck his back.
Unfortunately for the woman, Lukhiel was no ordinary demon.
The flames that had started to burn his clothes were instantly extinguished by a burst of wind from his body. That same burst of wind sent the young woman hurtling out of the window, while Lukhiel managed to land after rolling once.
"The last time I fought a teleportation user is about six hundreds years ago," Lukhiel muttered as he sprinted in the opposite direction of the window.
Lukhiel didn't bother opening the door. He crashed through it, shattering it completely, then did the same to the wall beyond. With twin wind blades in both hands, he surged forward, tearing through the inn before dashing eastward.
"Don't run, bastard!"
Lukhiel glanced back. Beside the furious woman shouting at him, he saw soldiers closing in from different directions. He also spotted two Level 1 Sterminatore members stationed at the laboratory entrance, now positioned atop the inn he had just escaped from.
Who is behind this plan? Lukhiel wondered as he picked up speed. Is Arthur IV involved?
The only sorcerer in all of Camelot who could possibly surpass his perception was Athrecia Le Fay. But as far as Lukhiel knew, that woman had never left Avalon Island.
Compared to Athrecia, the Camelot Sorcerers Association was nothing more than a group of children playing with magic. Even the most renowned sorcerers of the Southern Continent were inferior to Morgan Le Fay's daughter.
But if Le Fay was involved, what had drawn her out of her domain?
I have a bad feeling about this.
Once his instincts kicked in, Lukhiel needed no further reason. It would have been better if the premonition had come sooner, but there was no use complaining now. As soon as he landed after leaping off the eastern city wall, he pushed himself to move even faster.
"Don't run like a coward, Lukhiel! Face me if you dare!"
Humans were naturally arrogant. It was no surprise that demons were even more so. As former humans, demons truly reflected the traits of their original race. The woman chasing him wasn't particularly strong—her teleportation was just troublesome. But her arrogance was enough to challenge the heavens.
Had she learned nothing from what happened to that reckless Round Table Knight who tried to chase him alone?
Lukhiel couldn't understand, nor did he care to. Right now, he needed to shake off his pursuer and return to Londinia. Perhaps it was time for him and Mariel to leave Camelot.
He also needed to pass on the "Sword of Salvation" to that kid—it was about time the sword at his waist found a new owner.
---ooOoo---
Mariel knew he had to reach Birmithan quickly. He needed to get there and help his master. However, his feet suddenly stopped when his eyes accidentally caught sight of a woman standing before two bloodied corpses. At that moment, the woman also turned her gaze toward him.
A furious expression immediately painted the woman's face. Before Mariel could even think about what had angered her, the woman had already dashed toward him, gripping a kunai in each hand. With swift precision, she hurled one of them, sending it speeding through the air faster than the speed of sound.
Mariel tilted his head to dodge the incoming kunai, but the moment he did, he was forced to duck again to avoid the slash of the ninja's other kunai. Striking a woman wasn't nice, but in a battle, the rules were different. Without hesitation, Mariel punched the woman in the stomach as he ducked beneath the kunai slash.
To his surprise, the woman instantly transformed into a piece of wood.
A puff of white smoke appeared out of nowhere, even though the wood itself wasn't burning. But since he was fighting a ninja, this shouldn't have shocked Mariel. What was even more surprising, though, was the presence of a ninja in the Western Continent. Weren't they known for never leaving the Eastern Continent?
Mariel didn't have time to dwell on the question. The ninja reappeared behind him the moment the body he had struck turned into a log. Startled, Mariel immediately unleashed a gust of wind in all directions.
"Water Release: Water Cannon!"
Despite being pushed back by Mariel's wind blast, the ninja formed a hand seal with her left hand and spewed a high-pressure jet of water from her mouth.
Unfortunately for the woman, Mariel had already moved from his position before the water could reach him. Just like his opponent, he too exhaled an elemental attack. However, unlike the ninja, he didn't need to form a hand seal. And unlike the concentrated water jet, Mariel unleashed a compressed sphere of wind.
The wind sphere struck the woman, but Mariel couldn't diminish the distance immediately due to three shuriken flying toward him. Their fast speed forced him to dodge left, and that brief moment was enough for the ninja to recover from the impact of the wind sphere.
Mariel instantly launched himself forward again.
He ignored the clones the ninja had created.
He had read and heard that ninja clones came in two types: illusions and solid duplicates. Illusory clones couldn't cause real harm, while solid ones could inflict injuries but would disappear after taking one or two hits.
What Mariel couldn't ignore, however, was the change in the ninja's eyes.