"A broken soul…"
Alastair frowned.
Mine is not broken.
Then why did I become a demon?
Simone watched him.
"That look tells me your soul isn't completely broken," she said.
She paused.
"What I told you… is only what I've heard. No one truly knows."
Alastair held her gaze.
"You still haven't answered my question," Alastair said.
"Can I return to being human?"
Simone was silent.
Then she shook her head.
"Not once," she said.
"Not in all my years have I seen a demon return to being human."
Alastair fell silent.
"Hey," Simone said. "Don't look so grim."
"Being a demon isn't all bad. Eternal youth, no illness, no aging. Well—if you get killed, you still die. But your power's probably higher than when you were human, right?"
Alastair closed his eyes and examined his own power.
After a moment, he nodded.
"How much stronger?" she asked.
"About twenty percent."
"What? Only twenty?" Simone laughed.
"Damn, you must have been insanely strong already."
Alastair remained silent.
"You know," she said,
"this world isn't so terrible. You could just choose a demon hunter to partner with and live normally. If Vera doesn't suit you, Carla could find someone else. No need to rush back to your original world."
Alastair didn't respond.
"Right. You're out of conversation quota for the day," Simone said, waving a hand.
"I'll leave you alone."
She walked away, leaving him with his thoughts.
If Grace is revived… should I force Hyde to open a gate back to our world?
But if she returns and finds her parents and friends gone for over a thousand years… she would grieve.
The one thing Alastair could not bear to see was pain on Grace's face.
I should ask her what she wants first.
Wherever she wishes to live—I can live there too.
In his calculations, Vera and Hyde were tools to be carried along.
…Hm?
His thoughts halted as he noticed a jet closing in fast outside the window.
Instinct sharpened by countless near-death experiences, Alastair glanced at Carla, searching for any sign of deceit.
Her expression was unchanged.
"Damn—it's a fighter jet," Simone said from her seat.
"What's it doing here? Don't tell me—"
"Carla!" she shouted.
"Is headquarters trying to eliminate us along with him?!"
"What?" Carla's eyes widened.
"That—"
"What?!" others cried out.
"They're going to kill S-rank hunter too?" Vera demanded.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The jet roared closer and opened fire without hesitation.
The cabin shook violently as bullets tore through the fuselage.
Windows shattered.
Screams echoed.
Alastair had already deployed a barrier—but only around the passenger cabin.
The pilot and co-pilot were dead.
The aircraft began to fall.
WHOOOSH!
The fighter jet veered away.
Carla shouted orders for everyone to put on life vests and prepare to breach the cabin—
—but before anyone could move, the side of the aircraft split open.
Alastair seized them all with his power and dragged them into the air.
They landed aboard a massive airship that materialized beside them.
"Whoa! Where did that thing come from?!" King yelled.
"You stored a whole airship in that ring?!" Vera gaped.
"That's insane—like an inventory item in a game!"
Both kids rushed over, poking at the ring on Alastair's hand.
"Hmph." He flicked them away with a dismissive gesture.
"So stingy," they grumbled.
"Thank you for saving us," Carla said.
Henry and Simone echoed her words.
"Can anyone pilot this airship?" Alastair asked.
He could fly it himself, but disliked constant manual control.
"Me! I've played flight sims!" King raised his hand.
"I have too!" Vera chimed in.
They glared at each other.
"Move aside, you rankless runt," King scoffed.
"Shut up," Vera snapped.
"If I can summon an SS-class demon, that means I'm SS-rank too! And I'm taller than you!"
"That's just dumb luck! Let's settle this right now!" King growled.
"Enough!" Carla stepped between them.
"You'll take turns—one hour each. And are you sure you can fly?"
"Sure!" both said in unison.
Carla sighed.
"If that jet comes back, what's the plan?"
"Let it come," Alastair said.
"I'll destroy it."
King leaned forward.
"Your ship's armed?"
"This one isn't."
Alastair thought of his fully armed flagship—the one he had left with Hugo by mistake.
But it didn't matter.
He had many ways to destroy a fighter jet without weapons.
"So you have more than one?" King asked, eyes shining.
Vera stared too.
Alastair offered no answer and showed them the controls while Carla guided them toward Thaubia.
"An unidentified airship like this would normally be shot down entering national airspace," Carla said.
"I'll find a blind zone—airspace not claimed by any country."
At that, Alastair activated the cloaking system.
The airship vanished from detection.
"Whoa! Cloaking? That's insane!" King laughed.
"I want one so bad!"
Henry gave a thumbs-up.
"So the world you came from has technology like this?"
"This airship isn't from the world I just left," Alastair replied.
"It's from my original home."
"…What?" Henry blinked.
"How many worlds have you lived in?" Simone asked.
"Three."
Simone let out a low whistle.
"Three worlds, huh? So what—are you the strongest in all of them?"
"… "
Simone laughed.
"There he goes again. Henry, he's switched to silent mode."
She clapped Henry on the shoulder.
"Come on. Let's grab a drink."
She glanced back at Alastair with a grin.
"Mind if we help ourselves, Captain?"
She slung an arm around Henry and dragged him off.
She is beautiful, Alastair thought.
Yet she feels more like a man than a woman.
He shook his head.
In his worlds—and in Sybil's—women kept their distance from men.
They did not drink together or walk arm in arm.
Are demons simply different?
Or do demon women not think the same way as human women?
The airship sailed on—silent, invisible, and carrying far more than any world was ready to face.