“It’s, it’s okay.”

She stood upright, using his arm as support. The pain constricting her heart disappeared as if it were a lie. It seemed to have been just a passing pain.

“What do you mean it’s okay? Stand here. Where does it hurt?”

“It’s nothing. I just suddenly felt a bit short of breath.”

“Ahh!”

Leonard’s interrogation couldn’t continue for long. A woman, soaked in blood, crawled towards Cordelia’s feet.

“Save me, please save me. I beg you, please save me…”

Upon closer inspection, the woman’s abdomen had a straight cut as if slashed by a sharp blade. An enormous amount of blood was pouring out from it. Her mouth was covered in bloody foam. Cordelia, too shocked, knelt in front of her.

“Oh my, just a moment!”

Cordelia hurriedly tore her skirt to try and stop the bleeding. He alternately extended his hand to two men.

“Master, Baron. Please lend me a knife.”

“…Lady Cordelia.”

The Baron bent down and placed his hand on the woman’s neck. He slowly shook his head.

“She’s already dead.”

“What? But she was just… just talking to me.”

“It must have been her last ounce of strength.”

The Baron closed the woman’s unseeing eyes and covered her with his own coat.

Too many things happened in an instant. As Cordelia, frozen by the death she had witnessed, couldn’t get up from her spot, Leonard wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s go for now.”

“Who on earth would do such a thing…”

“It seems odd for a magician to have done this. It looks more like a sword cut.”

“You’re right. It’s strange.”

Cordelia walked forward, almost buried in Leonard’s chest. After taking a few steps, the pain she thought had disappeared suddenly returned.

“Ugh.”

“Cordelia!”

This feeling was a first, and she didn’t know how to express it. It was much stronger than what she had felt earlier. It felt as if someone was squeezing her heart with their hand. Her heart was beating abnormally fast.

Leonard hurriedly sprinkled healing magic on her body, but it was of no use.

“Baron! Find a doctor nearby immediately. Hurry!”

“Yes, understood.”

“Cordelia, look at me. Where does it hurt? Hm? Why are you suddenly like this?”

The Baron, recognizing the severity of the situation, rushed out. Now Cordelia was so weak that she couldn’t even stand on her own two legs.

Leonard moved her to a bench and laid her down neatly. He was so surprised by her sudden change that he didn’t know what to do.

At that moment, Roti, who had been trudging along behind the group, stood up on all fours and stared somewhere.

[It’s coming.]

Cordelia heard that short sentence as loud as thunder. She painfully turned her head to look at Roti.

Roti’s blue pupils narrowed vertically, like those of a snake.

Gradually, the pressure crushing her heart grew stronger. Cordelia flailed about, clutching her left chest as if squeezing it.

“Ah, ugh, kuk.”

“Cordelia, Cordelia.”

Leonard’s face turned pale. He held her hand tightly and tried everything to alleviate her pain, but there was nothing he could do.

A chilly wind blows. The cold air was so overwhelming it sent shivers down the spine. Leonard jerked his head up and looked around. At some point, even the birds had stopped chirping.

Breaking that terrible silence, someone’s footsteps were heard. Leonard tensed up and blocked Cordelia. Roti took a couple of steps forward.

However, breaking their expectations, an unexpected figure appeared before them.

“Lydia?”

“Hello, Leo.”

She greeted lightly. She had an inappropriate cheerfulness for the situation.

Lydia wore a white hat decorated with fresh flowers and a yellow dress, but more than half of the dress was soaked in blood. The sight was so bizarre that anyone would feel something was off.

“Could you move aside? I have something to say to Cordelia.”

“What do you have to say? Cordelia is sick right now, so do it later.”

“Sick? Why? Ah. It’s because of me.”

“Because of you?”

Lydia smiled brightly. The afternoon sunlight poured over her head. For some reason, that sight sent a chill. Leonard knew that Lydia was very strange right now, but he didn’t know why.

“Sometimes, those sensitive to demonic energy can fall ill like that.”

“Lydia, what have you done?”

“This child has done something.”

“This child?”

It’s an unfamiliar term, as if referring to someone else. Lydia stretched both hands to her sides. An arrow was created, too quickly and concisely. She pretended to aim it at Leonard and made a “pah-ahk” sound with her mouth.

“Kueok!”

The magical arrow flew over Leonard’s head. It hit the back of a man who was running away in fear, and only then did it disappear with a swish.

Lydia laughed gleefully.

“Ah, this is indeed exciting! I don’t know how long it’s been since I came to the human world. And so perfectly at that.”

“…What are you?”

“You’re asking that now?”

Lydia, or rather the demon inside Lydia, smiled brightly. She lightly waved her hand forward. That was all, but Leonard couldn’t even stand properly under the pressure pressing down on his entire body.

“Kuk!”

“Hmm. The sunlight is so nice. It’s indeed better to have the sun during the day.”

Lydia spun around once in an exaggerated manner, as if she were a theater actress, and then slowly approached Leonard, or more precisely, Cordelia. Until then, Cordelia was still lying on the bench, panting, unable to breathe properly.

Leonard quickly blocked Lydia, but when Lydia’s finger tapped Leonard’s shoulder, he staggered as if hit by a hammer.

“Don’t worry, Leo. I’ll kill you too. First, I’ll kill this woman.”

“Who says so?”

He gritted his teeth and shot a sharp ice spear towards Lydia. Lydia quickly dodged it. She looked at Leonard intently, her lips forming a small circle as if slightly surprised.

“You’re quite something for a human.”

“There’s no way a contract would allow stealing a human body. Is this a descent? Which demon are you?”

[Nazabut. The ninety-ninth demon.]

Roti interjected. Unfortunately, only Nazabut and Cordelia could hear those words.

Nazabut bent her knees to face Roti at that voice.

“Who are you to know my name?”

[Did you think we wouldn’t know after causing such a big collapse? Descent into the human world is strictly forbidden.]

“How should I know? This woman called me, right? That’s why my name.”

Nazabut stretched her clenched fist towards Roti. Even though the flesh didn’t touch, Roti was pushed back.

“I’m asking how you knew.”

[Go back! This is not a place for you to be!]

Roti scolded sternly. As soon as Roti’s words ended, dozens of fireballs created by Leonard flew towards Nazabut. Nazabut blocked them all with a bored expression.

Leonard glared at Nazabut while standing in front of Cordelia.

“You can’t lay a finger on this woman.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Nazabut smiled like a young girl and created a huge fireball behind her back. It looked just like a rock flung from hell’s active volcano. The blazing flames were so strong that the surrounding vegetation began to wither.

In response, Leonard created a snake-shaped water column. Without warning, the two clashed. There was tremendous steam along with acrid smoke.

By then, Cordelia was barely able to come to her senses. The pressure crushing her heart was still there, but the intensity of the pain had lessened enough for her to sit up.

Roti approached her side.

[Are you conscious?]

“Ro, Roti… A demon has descended into Lydia’s body, right?”

She looked at Leonard and Nazabut fighting fiercely, panting. Sparks flew, ice darts darted around, and strong winds blew as if they would break the trees. Roti nodded lightly.

[That’s right. I don’t know how she managed to summon a demon of that level.]

“Then Lydia is no longer Lydia now?”

[Well… There might be a bit of her consciousness left at the bottom, but…]

Roti’s negative tone rather gave reassurance. Cordelia felt devastated as her prediction turned out to be correct.

She had known that Lydia’s attitude towards her was hostile since they met again at the Magic Cooperation. But she covered her eyes and pretended not to know. She struggled with the illusion that if she did better, if she acted more kindly, Lydia might smile at her again.

It was exactly the same as what she had experienced with her father.

When her father first started hitting her, Cordelia looked for the cause of the problem in herself. She thought it was because she was inadequate that her father raised his hand.

But now she knows. That it wasn’t Cordelia’s fault. The clumsy sympathy and pity towards Lydia, or the desire to be recognized as a friend, completely faded away.

Cordelia barely stood up, placing her trembling legs on the ground. Her face was firmer than ever before.

“Roti. Can’t you help my master?”

[In principle, I can’t interfere. Instead, I’ll help you so that you can help him directly.]

“What do you mean?”

[Descent is a very tricky process. So Nazabut probably hasn’t fully settled in yet. Moreover, the human body easily crumbles even with small shocks.]

Roti looked at Nazabut, who was throwing fireballs recklessly, and then looked up at Cordelia.

[Tsk. Perhaps that person taught this in preparation for times like this.]

“Huh?”

[Never mind. Design the magic as I tell you. There’s a magic that separates the host and the demon. We might not be able to completely detach it, but we can deal a blow.]

Roti’s incomprehensible muttering soon disappeared from Cordelia’s mind. Instead, she focused all her attention on realizing the complex magic that Roti was teaching her.

That magic was the most difficult and complex Cordelia had ever attempted. Sweat was pouring down her back even though she was standing still.

One by one, her senses faded away. The sound of wind cutting through the air disappeared, and the acrid smell of burning trees left Cordelia. She concentrated all her nerves on handling the enormous flow of magic visible before her eyes.