“Now what?”

  Amber wasn’t entirely sure what to do now. Of course, she did have goals, but Frei had left to check on her village, and Mercoth was… well he was somewhere?, probably alive. Aveline was back at the fortress, although at this point perhaps it wasn’t a good idea for the exiled noble to keep on following them.

  As for her pending tasks… she did owe that Explosion Mage help considering she had gotten the Curse of Eternal Flames for her, and she was also supposed to get a divine potion from her.

  “So, I guess I should head back to the fortress, huh?”

  Amber took a step forward and paused, sensing something. Off in the distance, there was a presence that wasn’t moving, it was laying there with it’s eyes closed… smoking something, and it was quite an aged man who was slightly trembling?—

  It was Mercoth.

  Amber quickly connected the dots, and made use of the 6th Rank of Quick Dash, teleporting quite the great distance. In just a mere moment, she disappeared from her spot and reappeared before the member of the Arcane Council, who almost jumped from the sight.

  “W-What? Where did you come from?” He looked at her questioningly. “My detection range is quite large, you know.”

  “I suppose mine might be larger.” Amber shrugged in response, before glancing over at the man.

  He seemed to be smoking some kind of hand-made cigarette, which was a first for her. After all, she didn’t know that tobacco addiction had made its way into Vir too, but maybe it wasn’t that outlandish of an idea.

  “You smoke?” She raised her brow.

  “So you know what this is?” He played with the cigarette in his hands, before taking a poof. “It helps me relax, so yeah.”

  “Isn’t it bad for you?”

  He paused and gave her a confused glance. “If I were low level, I suppose it would be in the long term.”

  “Ah, right.”

  For a moment she had forgotten something as crucial as that. Which was odd, because she drank a bunch of alcohol back at Froststone while knowing she wouldn’t get drunk. Well, maybe the Demon of Chaos had rattled her brain quite bad with his hits.

  “So, in the end you had to run?” Mercoth looked at her. “Is the demon nearby? If so we should get going.”

  With those words, he stood up and summoned a scroll out of nowhere.

  “I have a teleportation scroll to get us out.”

  Amber shook her head. “No need, the battle is over.”

  He frowned. “Child, now isn’t time for jokes.”

  “What jokes?” Amber scowled. “Look, he’s right here.”

  With those words, she summoned the Demon of Chaos; maybe it was slightly impulsive but it served to test if other people could perceive him.

  The towering demon manifested not too far, as he glanced at her with annoyance. “Am I some kind of joke to you, Amber insect?”

  And Mercoth, stumbled back, almost falling. His eyes widened in shock for a moment, before taking a better look with confusion.

  “That’s no illusion spell, then what is it?”

  “Dunno.” Amber shrugged.

  “It’s a projection, you stupid human,” the Demon of Chaos answered clearly bothered.

  “A projection?” Mercoth frowned. “What even is that?”

  The demon did not respond, but instead rolled his eyes and turned to look at Amber.

  “What do you want?”

  “I just wanted to show you off,” she said indifferently. “Since he didn’t believe I beat you in battle.”

  “You wouldn’t have if not for your petty tricks, but I have to admit you earned it. I don’t remember the last time I met a human as insane as you.” He nodded.

  “Thank you.”

  It was actually surprising for the Demon of Chaos to… well acknowledge her in words, after all this demon had hated her enough to chase her all the way to Vir with his main body before. And while he claimed he had let go of his hatred, he still held some contempt for her; or maybe he was just prideful.

  Hearing that, Mercoth let out a deep breath.

  “The Arcane Council is truly underestimating you.”

  “Well, isn’t it a good thing?” Amber blinked. “I’m severely lacking in levels right now.”

  The old man paused. “I… suppose so, it does feel weird to know my colleagues are going to run to their death.” Then he shook his head. “Well, not like we care about each other.”

  “Weren’t you supposed to be a loyal member of the Arcane Council?” Amber looked at him questioningly.

  “Loyal worker,” he corrected. “I’m only there to get good money and hopefully live a good life, though you have me regretting my career path.”

  Of course he regrets his career path from me and not from whatever awful actions the council made him commit. Amber almost rolled her eyes at that. Even though Mercoth was the most reasonable Arcane Council member, she had met, he was still well… an Arcane Council member.

  The Demon of Chaos snorted. “What’s there to praise about such a weak organization? I killed so many of your members on my path to revenge.”

  “I heard.” Mercoth nodded before his shoulders drooped. “Maybe I should just retire.”

  Amber said nothing and instead, unsummoned the Demon of Chaos with a simple nod at him before walking forward.

  “Let’s get back to the fortress.”

  * * *

  Alyssa had been surprised to learn that Amber was truly not a member of the Arcane Council, but she didn’t think it was that huge of a deal. After all, Amber had decided to help her with her plight at a rather cheap cost, and not only that but her power was truly real.

  Of course, just because she wasn’t a member of the Arcane Council didn’t mean she was any less terrifying. No sane person would talk about engraving their bones like that after all, or even undertake the curse she hosted within her body. But still, this terrifying and powerful person had decided to help her, so it was natural she’d pay most attention to her.

  So, when Amber left the fortress in the middle of the night, it hadn’t escaped her attention, but she didn’t think much of it.

  At least not until the bells of the fortress tolled late at night, signalling to her that something was happening.

  As a guard of the fortress, she was always ready in some regard, so in the span of a minute or two she was already standing over the battlements. She, like many others, expected to see demons coming to attack the fortress, or maybe even mysterious robbed figures reminiscent of Arcane Council members, but instead, they saw something else.

  Explosions.

  Purple explosions in the horizon repeatedly, and each and every single one of them made the battlements shake slightly. Considering the distance, they were of tremendous power, and Alyssa wasn’t the only one that understood that, because the other guards were shaking in fear too. But she did know something they didn’t; and that was Amber’s departure.

  “Is this… her true power?” She frowned.

  It didn’t quite make sense. If there was a huge threat for the fortress why wouldn’t she inform anyone? Could it be she was just testing something? No, that also didn’t make sense.

  And then, she remembered some gossip from just after the siege.

  Alyssa was resting in the guard’s quarters, as she heard two people walking forward. A young guard and a woman.

  “Did you hear? Apparently that Amber girl has been marked by some kind of demon.”

  The woman laughed in response, “Doesn’t that mean that demon is going to regret living? Didn’t you see what she did during the siege?”

  “Hahaha, you’re right.”

  Remembering that conversation, suddenly the situation made sense. But, it also scared her to some extent, because if Amber was fighting a demon, and the scale of the battle was that big, then… just how strong was this demon?

  And if Amber failed then…

  Alyssa shook her head, she didn’t want to think about those things. No, what mattered was seeking a more experienced opinion than hers, and there was no better person than the leader of the Grand Fortress, Egril.

  With that in mind, she moved to find him, which didn’t take long. He was watching the battle through his hand-held telescope over at one of the spires, most of his attention on it. Alyssa took a moment to observe his tense body before opening her mouth.

  “Is it bad?”

  “I can’t tell,” he answered simply. “Their movements are hard to see.”

  “Doesn’t that mean that at least, Amber won’t lose any time soon?” Alyssa raised her head.

  “Probably.”

  It was clear that most of his attention was on this, and not on her, but it didn’t matter. Instead, she simply waited as she too looked into the distance until?—

  She saw a mass of darkness in the horizon, it was hard to see like a small dot, but Egril on the other hand wretched, his entire demeanor shifting. He almost fell right then and there, as Alyssa had to rush to hold him. The sight filled her with worry.

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  He was panting, trembling and murmuring, as if he had seen unimaginable terrors. It took him a moment, but eventually after gagging, he stood back up trembling.

  “W-We should evacuate everyone.”

  Alyssa shuddered. “W-What happened?”

  “T-There’s no way Amber can survive that,” Egril said simply. “No human c-can…”

  He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists before rising to stand tall.

  “We have to save our people.”

  Alyssa stared at him with shock before trembling. “I-If it’s that strong, then doesn’t that mean we don’t get to run?”

  Hearing that, Egril basically froze on his spot, biting his lip. Finally, after a bit of silence he shook his head. “We should still try.”

  With that, he went down the stairs of the tower, Alyssa following after him. All this time, her heart was rushing. If the demon was powerful enough to kill Amber, then… what kind of fate awaited her? What kind of fate awaited them? Demons were evil, they were the reason the Republic of Mercenaries was in such a position.

  She bit her lip as they reached the battlements once more, and that’s when she glanced to the distance and… paused.

  “The darkness, is gone.”

  Egril paused and spun in that direction, pulling out his telescope and peering through it. He frowned for a moment, before putting it away and standing tall.

  “It’s over. We need to leave. Now.”

  Alyssa couldn’t help but pause and nod.

  Truthfully, she wanted to hope Amber was alive. After all, she was the strongest person she had ever met, but if the fight had ended, and the leader of the fortress felt that was the outcome then all she could really do was go along with orders and assume the worst.

  Biting her lip, she watched as more bells began to resound, it was an unfamiliar toll, but almost everyone knew what it meant.

  Evacuation.

  Alyssa didn’t know how long Egril spent losing his mind, but maybe it could be the decider of their fate. She let out a long breath as she heard the city stir alive.

  In just the span of mere minutes, most people were already forming a line at the fortress gates.

  She stared at the sight with a small frown, and just as she was getting ready to go down. She heard a gust of wind sweep behind her.

  Alyssa turned in a hurry, only to see a familiar person standing there along with a less familiar one.

  “A-Amber?!”

  The Arcane Council member that had been captured was also there, but she paid it no mind as she looked in shock at the woman who had burned herself alive.

  Amber looked at her before, glancing down the battlements and into the city, with confusion.

  “What are you people doing?”

  Alyssa opened her mouth, before she realized the problem.

  * * *

  They thought I lost against the demon…

  Truthfully, Amber didn’t find the idea upsetting, but it also felt odd that that impression had caused a whole city-wide evacuation. While they hadn’t left, most people had already vacated their homes, which was apparently a whole mess that the leader of the Grand Fortress had to deal with. But she was unapologetic about it, even if she had been told she should’ve at least given a heads up.

  After all, this was her fight, and while she was prepared to possibly die, it just didn’t make a difference.

  Whether she said anything or not, the Demon of Chaos ?— if he wanted ?— would’ve still killed everyone. The damn demon went out of his way to cross between worlds to come after her, believing he wouldn’t travel an extra minute or two to hunt the inhabitants of the city was delusional.

  Well, maybe I should feel a bit bad, Amber corrected herself inwardly.

  After all, at least by giving a heads up it could be argued that she tried to save the inhabitants, compared to just not giving a fuck. She inwardly chastised herself before her shoulders drooped.

  “Man, I feel bad now.”

  “Don’t feel bad, you can’t control the fate of other people,” Mercoth said, smoking with complete indifference.

  She frowned at him. “I don’t want to hear that from someone that works for the Arcane Council.”

  He shrugged.

  Amber shook her heard, and a set of footfalls entered her ears. She turned, only to see Alyssa the Explosion Mage walking towards her, with Aveline in tow. Right now, they were still on the battlements of the Grand Fortress, mainly because they were waiting for the two of them but also because Frei was nowhere to be seen.

  “I brought her,” Alyssa gestured.

  Aveline shifted awkwardly. “I’m not like some lost cat or anything.”

  “That’s true, if you didn’t want to be found then most likely nobody here could find you,” Amber said with a shrug before meeting her gaze with more seriousness. “There’s something I want to talk about with you later.”

  “Oh…” Aveline blinked before nodding slowly. “Alright…”

  “And as for you,” Amber continued turning to Alyssa. “I can finally complete my end of the deal.”

  “Your end of the deal?” She blinked confused.

  Amber said nothing and simply held the mage’s hand for a moment, and making use of the 6th Rank of Inexorable Manipulation ?— allowing her to completely submit curses born of Primordial Power ?— she simply suppressed the curse within her.

  The Explosion Mage looked confused for a moment, before her eyes widened in surprise. “This is…”

  “It’s done.” Amber smiled.

  She opened her mouth and then closed it, seemingly at a loss for words before closing her eyes with seeming relief.

  “Thank you so much.”

  Alyssa took a moment before taking out the familiar potion she had offered as a reward, and just like before Amber couldn’t really see its effects.

  [??? Grade ?— ??? ?— ??? Quality

  ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.]

  So, from the looks of it she’d need to give it to the Servant of Chaos for analysis just to confirm.

  Now that this was done, all that was left was talking with Aveline and waiting for Frei.

  * * *

  Now back in the rented room, with Mercoth present since she wanted to talk with him afterwards, Amber turned to Aveline.

  “So, I’m sure you’re aware because of the evacuation, but I just had a very big fight.”

  Aveline nodded looking at Amber. “Your armor looks… really filthy.”

  Hearing that she paused and glanced down at herself with some surprise, and it was as she said; it was stained with mud, purple blood, and dried golden liquid that was her own blood. Sadly, the armor she had just meticulously cleaned not too long ago had turned like this.

  Amber frowned for a moment, before using the Curse of Eternal Flames all over her body and armor. Almost instantly, the filth began to disintegrate from the heat, much to Aveline’s surprise. It was something she came up with on the spur of the moment, but from the looks of it, it was quite effective.

  She took a moment, before flipping her hair and looking over at Aveline in a more serious manner.

  “Now, I’m not sure if you know this, but the demon I fought was over Level 400.”

  Hearing Amber, Aveline’s eyes widened. “B-But you aren’t?—”

  “I know. All I’m trying to say is that it was a hard fight.” Amber sighed. “And that’s why I wanted to talk to you, because while I know you just wanted to come along to figure out what you want, things may be very dangerous from now on.”

  Aveline opened her mouth, evidently shocked, but no words came out. It took her a moment, her lips trembling slightly before she finally spoke again.

  “E-Even then!”

  “Lass, listen to your leader,” Mercoth interrupted, looking serious. “You shouldn’t throw your life away just to follow her.”

  “Right…”

  Aveline deflated. From the looks of it she hadn’t expected such a situation, which perhaps shouldn’t have been that surprising. After all, Amber had allowed her presence all this time and even forgiven her for her actions back in Cytel, but this wasn’t about forgiveness, nor about hating her; this was about survival. And Amber, didn’t want her to meaninglessly die just because she was following her.

  “Maybe you can return to Remmel,” she offered, trying to say empathetic.

  Aveline shook her head. “I don’t want to, it is true that he saved me, but… I don’t want to serve under such a man. What I want is…”

  She swallowed before meeting Amber’s gaze.

  “I want to follow you and see what you do. Of course, I know it is burdensome, but I don’t plan on fighting or having any major roles, and with my class I shouldn’t have that much problem staying alive if I keep my distance. So…”

  Her uncertainty turned into certainty as she finished:

  “Please let me follow you.”

  Mercoth massaged the bridge of his nose, as if what she was saying was troublesome, but Amber simply met Aveline’s resolute gaze for a few seconds. And when it didn’t change, she asked the obligatory question.

  “Are you sure? I may also die at the hands of the Demon of Genesis, or elsewhere. What will you do then?”

  “I will use this scroll to escape.” She summoned a weathered scroll that Amber noted to have magic within it. “It’s a fixed-teleport scroll so I should be fine.”

  Amber looked at it with a dubious look but ultimately shook her head. “I can’t be responsible for your life, know that. Most I can do is help you level up.”

  “R-Right.” Aveline meekly nodded before bowing deeply. “Thank you so much!”

  After Aveline’s words, a light cough interrupted everyone drawing their attention to the window, where a figure was now present. It was none other than Frei, the peach-fuzz hair colored elf, and member of the Arcane Council. She had a bit of an awkward smile as she waved.

  “Hey, I’m back…” Amber nodded, and the elf continued: “I’m so glad I rushed back to help ya with that whole demon fight, I was real worried something would happen if I wasn’t there.”

  She scratched the back of her head, causing Amber to pause.

  “Wait, when did you learn about that?”

  “When I visited Thorn, he told me about your impending fate, but from the looks of it I was a bit too late,” she said, evidently deflated.

  “It’s okay, honestly maybe it was for the best you didn’t interfere.” Amber pondered for a moment about her words before speaking. “I do feel like you had a good chance to die if you did.”

  Frei blinked, but Mercoth on the other hand nodded.

  “Listen to her, if I had interfered I’d also have died.”

  But the elf ignored his comment and instead looked at Amber in shock. “Really?”

  “Really, I don’t really know what would happen if you didn’t have my powers,” Amber said, almost lamenting things. “And I worry that it may be the same story with the Demon of Genesis.”

  Hearing her, Frei just nodded quietly. Amber mulled over her words for a moment, before finally speaking.

  “There’s also someone I’d like to make you acquainted with, Frei. And maybe you too Aveline.” Amber nodded.

  “Someone?” Frei blinked, looking around.

  Aveline tilted her head. “I don’t sense anyone.”

  Hearing them, Amber couldn’t help but smile, almost like a mischievous child that was about to pull a massive prank. But in reality, there was no prank to pull, she was simply looking forward to the reactions she would get.

  “I’d like both of you to meet, the Demon of Chaos.”

  Following her words, the demon was summoned, manifesting from thin-air into the room almost going past the ceiling. He stood tall, and intimidating looking at the two women as they tensed up, before finally looking back at Amber with displeasure.

  “You summoned me to meet these insects?”

  “They are not insects.” She frowned before shaking her head and continuing. “I also need you around, since we’ll discuss the Demon of Genesis shortly.”

  “What’s there to discuss about that boot-licker?” he growled. “That’s all he is, a mere pawn with no will.”

  Amber nearly rolled her eyes hearing him, but rather than linger on that she turned to Frei and Aveline. Aveline had her mouth wide open, evidently in shock, meanwhile Frei was just looking at things in a more composed manner.

  “So you made a contract?” She finally said.

  “Yep, with the same demon that had just tried to kill me,” Amber said.

  She stared for a moment before massaging her forehead for a moment, and nodding. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised.”

  “Right, she did want to contract a demon before,” Aveline agreed, still looking in disbelief. “So, maybe contracting a demon that’s over level 400, shouldn’t be surprising…”

  The Demon of Chaos simply harrumphed hearing that, it was obvious that it didn’t want to talk about those things.

  “Anyway, do you know what the council intends to do with their help to the Demon of Genesis? I think that’s the most pressing matter.”

  Mercoth frowned, before shaking his head. “Of course, I wouldn’t. That’s only something the executives know. I, like many others, simply received orders.”

  And that’s when the Demon of Chaos growled. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  Amber frowned, and looked at the Demon of Chaos questioningly, this time slightly annoyed. “And how would you know that, oh, gracious member of the Arcane Council?”

  “I don’t need to be a member to know what that damned pawn intends to do,” he growled. “And it’s not that hard to figure out what kind of help the Arcane Council is bringing.”

  Frei frowned, seemingly thinking but after her mouth twisted in displeasure she seemed to come up empty. Meanwhile, the others didn’t seem to catch on as the Demon of Chaos mockingly chuckled.

  “No wonder Vir is doomed.”

  He crossed his arms in annoyance looking at everyone present in the room with his deathly glare.

  “I’ll only say it once: the council is bringing sacrifice material to the Demon of Genesis.”

  Aveline opened her mouth: “But why?”

  And in response, the Demon of Chaos smirked.

  “That’s the obvious part. The pawn wants to summon his Demon God to this world.”

  Hearing that, everyone froze.

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