"Where did you guys go?" Agnez asked as she cleaned up her sword. She then looked at Edith, and she was suspicious of the expression that Edith made. "Did something happen?" Agnez asked again with her eyebrows raised.
"Nothing. Did you guys kill all of them?" Mykel asked back.
"We did not. They fled once they realized how strong we are, and Rozan believe these creatures or demons are intelligent. They could think, and we manage to capture one alive," Agnez said as she walked toward Lillith.
Agnez put her right hand on Lillith's shoulder, and then she tilted her head a bit toward Edith. Lillith understood and decided to read Edith's mind, but she was surprised when she was unable to read her mind. She then tried to use [Sentient Control], but suddenly Mykel blocked her vision by standing in front of Edith and staring her in the eye.
Lillith was surprised when Mykel stared at her, and then she raised her hands as she backed away. Agnez who saw it started to get more curious and suspicious about what those two were doing back there.
Mykel already modified Edith's [Mind-Stability] into [Mind Control] and leveled it to 10. He had prepared it so that Lillith wouldn't know what kind of vision Edith had. He wanted the vision to be secret from others.
Nexus and Lexus approached Mykel and they both were still nervous from the battle.
"God Mykel, there are few casualties from this, what should we do with them?" Lexus asked as he pointed at the four dead bodies that had been secured.
Mykel looked at the dead bodies as he sighed. "If they die, they die. I don't need weak people, and this is just a natural selection for them," Mykel answered.
"I see, then the next time we get back here, we will bring more competent Aces for you," Nexus answered.
Mykel nodded and then walked to the front where Jeanne and the others were. He saw them having conversations with Joshua and the others. They wanted to know them better.
"How was your first battle against demons?" Mykel asked them.
"It's obviously different from fighting people, and I don't think guns are useful against them. We don't have proper weapons with us, and because of that, we lost four people already," Joshua answered as he looked at the pistol in his hand.
"Lend them your weapons," Mykel looked at Jeanne and the others. "You can give them both of your swords, Agnez," Mykel pointed at the swords hanging on Agnez's waist.
"And what am I going to use then?" Agnez asked.
Mykel warped away, and came back in less than a second. He brought Dainsleif with him, and then tossed it to Agnez. She looked happy when he lent her the Dainsleif sword again since it felt like the sword was meant to be wielded by her.
"Now we are talking," Agnez said as she unsheathed the Dainsleif sword and swung it around. She then walked away on her own to the other side of the tunnel.
"Wait, where's she going?" Gladis asked.
"Don't bother asking that question. She's the last person you want to be worried about. She's built differently," Rozan answered as he observed the creature he captured.
The creature was glaring at Rozan and the others as if it was trying to remember their faces. It didn't screech or scream to resist or ask for help. It was as Agnez said, the creature was intelligent.
"Lilly, I know this is going to sound crazy to you, but I think these creatures are humans. If I'm right, I think you can read their minds," Rozan looked at Lillith as he pointed at the creature in front of him.
Everyone was surprised when they heard what Rozan said. Lillith then walked toward the creature that was bound by ice.
"Nope, nothing. This is definitely a demon," Lillith said as she shook her head.
"Are you sure? You can tell by its body though that those are not skin, but rather an armor," Rozan said as he walked closer to the creature. The creature tried to bite his head, but Rozan pushed the head back onto the wall and wrapped it into the wall. "See? This is definitely armor," Rozan knocked on the creature's chest and made a clanking sound.
"Then there's one way to find out," Lillith said as she grabbed her dagger, and then cut the creature's chest open. Everyone watched as she mercilessly butchered the body and the bones inside the creature's body. They could see the ribcage, the lungs, and the beating heart inside.
"This is an anatomy of a human," Nagy said as she walked closer.
"See? I'm not wrong because I can tell by the way that things looked at us and how intelligent they are," Rozan responded as he looked at Lillith. "Now let's think about it first before we go any further because I think I understand what's going on here," Rozan said as he rubbed his chin.
Everyone was staring at Rozan and waiting for him.
"This Demon King Mammon, he's an alchemist, right? That gauntlet that Gunnar is wearing right now is the result of his creation. I'm thinking, what if these creatures are the result of his experiment as well? He's an alchemist after all. Alchemists can create lives from any living organism, and turn them into something new," Rozan explained as he stared at the creature's beating heart.
"Like how they turned the Railus World into gold?" Nexus asked.
"Yes, and this time he was playing with living creatures rather than objects," Rozan replied as he nodded his head.
"If that's the case, then how I can't read his mind?" Lillith asked as she looked at Rozan over her shoulder.
"Maybe he tried to combine a demon with a human. The mind is a demon, but the body is human, and based on the modification he did, this is the result of it. I think these people were trying to fight the demons, but they lost. So maybe Mammon captured them all alive to be used as an experiment," Rozan answered.
"But why?" Lexus asked with his eyebrows raised.
"Who knows, but we will find out," Rozan answered. "Anyway, you guys still want to admire Mammon's creation?" Rozan asked as he pointed at the creature.
All of them shook their heads, and then Rozan used earth spikes from the walls and ground to kill the creatures. He skewered the creatures and kept it that way as he walked away and didn't bother to check it.
Rozan saw Agnez walking from the other side of the tunnel, and she was covered in blood.
"Agnez? What the hell happened to you?" Rozan asked, and everyone immediately looked at Agnez.
"Just hunting demons. Anyway, I found something interesting, and I think you might know the answer, Rozan," Agnez said as she wiped the blood off her sleeves.
"Oh yeah? We also found something valuable. I will tell you while we go there," Rozan answered as he wiped the blood off of Agnez's body with water magic and dried it off with wind magic.
They all went to the other side of the tunnel, and they found dozens of dead bodies of the creatures scattered around the road. Lexus and the others looked at each other, and then looked at Agnez. They were amazed by how strong and fearless she was.
Agnez brought them into one of the giant buildings like a stadium or a laboratory. They saw blood trails on the floor, and it guided them into the building. It was in fact a laboratory, and it was massive, but they didn't have time to admire it, rather, they felt eerie since it was so quiet.
"Right through this door," Agnez said as she pointed at the blood door in front of her.
Agnez opened the door wide open and let everyone in first. They were petrified when they found hundreds of creatures laying on the ground dead. They saw something else in the middle of the room that was as big as a football field.
"You did all this?" Jeanne asked.
"No, I only killed one that tried to run away here. The rest, it's already like this when I entered the room," Agnez answered. "That's not why I'm bringing you here, that's why I'm bringing you here," Agnez pointed at the giant pillar made of dozens or even hundreds of the creatures.
"What the fuck is that?" Sven asked with disgust.
"A monument? An offering? Who knows," Rozan replied as he looked up to look at the pillar that seemed endless.
