"WHATT!!!"
My eyes opened, and I found myself in bed once again.
"Uggh!!"
I covered my mouth as an immense amount of disgust flooded me.
"H-ha-ha..."
Stopping myself from puking all over the sheets, I slowly composed myself.
'That bastard!'
The entire scene disgusted me, the townspeople dancing, the demon's attitude, and most of all how he made me kill my- No, how he killed me.
Alongside disgust, anger was boiling within as I clenched my teeth.
'I'll fucking kill him!' My sight began turning red.
"You are telling me I can't have this room?!!"
The familiar scream cut through my thoughts.
My sight began returning to normal. Her voice was strangely... comforting.
A lip curled up slowly into a faint smile. "Elara."
My face turned serious as I got up, forming a fake core and putting on the hood.
Stepping out of the room, I saw Elara's face.
"We apologize for the commotion, sir." The worker spoke.
"So you're the one who stole my room." Her voice reached my ears once again.
"..." I didn't reply.
Before Elara could react, I summoned Fractus and immediately struck the worker, piercing where his heart should be.
The worker's figure dispersed in an instant, almost as if it were smoke.
"As I thought."
The worker was an illusion. I already had my suspicions about all the hotel's workers. At first, I thought they were being controlled, but something felt off, and this proved my theory.
Sure, I knew I might have been wrong, but at this point, I didn't care...
That demon needed to die.
Looking at Elara, I could see her surprised expression.
She composed herself quickly. Her spear immediately appeared in her hand as she pointed it at me.
"Explain." Her tone was cold and cautious.
Looking at her, a small smile appeared on my face.
"Greetings, your highness." I bowed slightly.
"...Did Max send you?" She lowered her spear, likely assuming I worked for her family.
"No, my lady, I do not belong to the dukedom."
"...Then who are you?"
"I'm here hunting a demon." I smiled.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"But it should be enough."
"..."
"Now, my lady, we need to move."
"Wha-"
-BOOOMMM
The first explosion cut Elara off. She rushed to the balcony and saw the sight I had seen before... the town on fire.
"What the."
Turning around, she spotted me standing by the door calmly as if I expected this. Which I did.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing yet, my lady, but for now we need to move."
"Where?"
"Just follow."
"..."
I sprinted down the hall, Elara, following closely behind until we reached a staircase, and we rushed down.
"There's a bomb at the bottom of this hotel."
"Wha-!!"
-BOOOMMM
An explosion interrupted her again. It was getting a bit comedic, honestly. But there was no time to be amused.
We rushed down until we reached the ground floor. I was getting really anxious at this point.
10 seconds
I reached a familiar inn-like area where I had my iced latte.
9 seconds
My eyes darted across the area. 'Nothing, fuck!!'
8 seconds
I was getting desperate and focused mana to both my ears and eyes, pushing myself. I was now suddenly able to see the mana in the atmosphere
7 seconds
6 seconds
My mental clock was ticking down fast as I scanned for anything in the area, sweat pouring from my entire body
5 seconds
My eyes noticed something shift in the air as mana began to move in the direction of the counter
4 seconds
I didn't think and rushed, leaping over the counter.
3 seconds
There, I noticed where the mana was gathering, a large mana circle.
2 seconds
There was no time. I immediately summoned Fractus, channeling all the mana I could to it, and struck the circle with full force.
1 second
"..."
'0'
Nothing.
'It worked.' A smile appeared on my face as I felt my consciousness begin to slip.
'Ah-'
I fainted.
-----
Slowly opening my eyes, I tried to move but found myself unable to.
'huh?'
Looking down, I realised I was tied up in a chair.
"Looks like you've woken up." A voice spoke from ahead.
Raising my head, I saw Elara sitting in front of me, drinking what looked like a strawberry milkshake.
I smiled. 'Isn't this ironic?'
"Is this how you treat your savior?" I spoke.
"I don't trust demons."
I quickly realised my hood was down, and I stopped forming a fake mana core, well, obviously, due to exhausting myself earlier.
"Haa... firstly, I'm a half-blood."
'You expect me to believe that.'
"You expect me to believe that."
"Pfft"
"...You're laughing?" Her expression turned dangerous.
"Ahem... I'm sorry, it's just you're kinda predictable, you know."
"..."
"Okay... let's discuss some details. You don't mind that, right?"
"...Okay."
"Firstly, it's true I'm hunting a demon, and they are currently holed up in the mayor's mansion."
"I guessed that much." She spoke.
"Also, if you didn't realise they're an illusionist class, and they're estimated to be on around 4-star level, maybe higher."
Her eyes widened. "4-star?!"
"Yes, so you can't face them alone." I gazed at the rope around me and back at her.
"..." She ignored me and seemed to be lost in thought.
"...Okay." She reluctantly untied me.
Getting up from the chair, I stretched out my arms.
"The dukedom will likely send reinforcements soon." She spoke. "So it's best to remain here."
"Sorry, your highness, but I need to make sure that demon dies."
"Why?" She looked at me curiously.
"Let's just say I'm a demon hunter." I smiled.
"A hunter?" She scoffed.
My smile faltered. "What, it's a cool name."
"There's no such thing as a demon hunter... we're the ones being hunted." Her expression turned solemn.
"...My lady, you've gotta stop brooding, you're not Batman."
"Excuse me." She glared at me.
"I'm just kidding."
"..."
She looked like she was holding herself back from attacking me right there.
"Ahem... Anyway, my lady, if you wouldn't mind, could you give an estimate for how long it will take for the duchy's forces to arrive?"
She took a moment to think, but eventually... "About thirty minutes to an hour, maybe longer."
"Hmm..."
Although I really wanted to kill the demon myself, I wasn't stupid. I knew the demon's power was far beyond my current abilities, and going alone would guarantee another failure.
But I did know one thing. The demon's artifact was sensitive to noise, and what's the best way to make noise?
An explosion.
I moved toward the counter and spotted the mana circle. There was a deep hole embedded in the middle, caused by me. I felt very satisfied looking at it.
"Elara, come here," I called Elara over.
"Who said you could drop the formalities?"
"Haa... My name's Leon, okay, or do you like being referred to as my lady?"
"Okay... Leon."
"Look at this mana circle, do you think you can replicate it?"
She stared at the mana circle for a few minutes.
I didn't interrupt her and let her analyse it.
"I can copy it, but I can't activate it."
"Why?"
"It's a demon's mana circle. It needs a demon to activate." She looked at me like I was stupid.
'A demon, huh?' I ignored her look.
"Do you think I can activate it? I am half demon." I asked.
"You?" She paused for a moment. "...I don't know."
"There's no reason not to try." I smiled.
"Haa..." She sighed as if she were dealing with a child.
"Let's go." She got up and walked right past me.
I stared at her back for a moment.
'It's funny.'
I followed.