38 Adapt, Improvise, Overcome – One Man Down

*Kwaangg~!*

As the cabin doors creaked open little by little, a yellowish-red light began seeping in through the gap. 

A lone figure holding a burning torch in his hand soon stepped inside, illuminating the dark interior of the cabin with its dim light.

A slightly cold wind blew from the outside, causing the fire burning within the torch to waver for a moment. Trembling shadows slithered across the cabin walls, and the figure expressionlessly swept his gaze over the two demons sprawled on the cabin floor, appearing as if they were unconscious.

"Hmm…"

Seeing the demons like this, the shadowy figure's brows furrowed a little, before he made a vague gesture with his chin. 

Immediately, another person appeared from outside the door, taking hold of the burning torch from his hand.

"So even these two couldn't handle the journey, huh?"

The second figure suddenly spoke, as the first one stepped closer to the unconscious pair of demons.

The first one looked over his shoulder with a slight frown, giving his younger partner a look meant for stupid people.

"Their mana is frozen now. It would be more unnatural if they weren't affected in any way after we passed through that rocky warzone."

The second figure slightly twisted his lips in disappointment.

"No, even then… Wasn't that Lycanthrope girl supposed to be, like super-strong and wild? I honestly expected her to be a little bit more scary…"

The first figure was leaning over the unconscious demons, trying to check what was wrong with them, when he shook his head and calmly answered his younger partner.

"...Demons aren't all like that. If she was, even those Ogres wouldn't be able to capture her. Use your common sense a little. Don't trust that Church's words so blindly."

Finishing with his short examination, the first figure then violently shook the two demons, trying to forcefully wake them up.

However, when the two didn't seem to respond to his shaking after a few moments, his expression slowly started to warp.

"What happened? Did we somehow kill them on the way?"

Seeing his slightly warped expression, the second one asked in a worried voice.

"No, they're still alive. And quite healthy too."

"Huh? Then…these two are pretending?"

The first one rolled up his brown tunic sleeves and started cracking his knuckles, showing a grim smile on his face.

"...I guess we will find out pretty soon."

Suddenly, heavy-handed slaps started to rain down on both demon's faces. And on her fifth hit, Yera was already unable to hold it in. Opening her eyes wide with a pained expression, she immediately shot a venomous look at the smirking perpetrator.

"Hahaha. No use giving me that look. Our current boss wants to see you for some 'reasons', so it would be better if you follow along silently without resisting too mu—"

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, his partner cried out in alarm.

"Hah!"

Before he could finish speaking, the Lycan had already sprung up from the ground, her body twisting unnaturally as she lashed out at him with her sharp claws. Showing that even with her hands tightly bound behind her back, it wasn't enough to stop her!

Unfortunately, her awkward posture, combined with the stiff chains caused her claws to miss the man's face by a few inches, as he narrowly managed to pull himself back in time. 

"Ugh!"

Yera fell flat on the ground, face first.

In the end, that sneak attack wasn't able to do any damage to the man, but the amused smirk he previously had on his face was now cleanly wiped off, leaving him with rapid, shallow breaths.

"Heh. Not so brave now, are we?"

Turning around to face him, the Lycan then showed off her glistening fangs with a victorious smirk, seemingly undeterred by her failure.

The man gritted his teeth. Not only did the Lycan girl sneak attack him, but she even dared to humiliate him in front of his newbie partner like that!

"—No, I take back my words. You better resist as much as you can, so that I can hear your cries throughout the entire night from now on…[Body Reinforcement]!"

As soon as he uttered the last words, a small, glowing magic circle spun into being over his right forearm, before swiftly dropping down and merging with his flesh.

*BAM–!*

"Gahk!!"

With his arm now glowing, the man suddenly pulled back, and delivered a heavy punch to the Lycan's gut, causing her to immediately curl up in pain.

"Heh. Not so feisty now, are we?"

…*cough*...*cough*...

Seemingly calming his rage with that punch, the man took hold of her chain and started to drag her outside, but not before looking at his partner and pointing his chin at the still unconscious demon boy.

"...I'm taking her to the boss. You take care of that one."

With his lips pressed together, the other man nodded his head.

"*cough*...*cough*... Don't…don't take too long…"

The coughing Lycan's pained voice echoed from the outside, eliciting a sadistic snicker from the first figure.

"Oh, you have no idea how long it's going to take. Just you wait…"

…

…

"Uh-oh. He's really pissed, isn't he?"

Left alone in the cabin, the second figure mumbled under his breath. 

Turning around, he then faced the unconscious demon boy, letting out a small sigh.

"Now then, let's see if you're pretending too…"

Careful not to drop the burning torch, he lowered himself beside the demon, staring at his picturesque face for a few moments.

"Weird…"

Despite having his face heavily beaten by the first figure, there were no bruises to be seen on the demon boy's face, only leaving a few reddish handprints etched onto his face.

Unfortunately, even those big handprints didn't diminish his handsomeness by any margin. 

The young dark mage apprentice suddenly felt a bitter taste welling up in his mouth.

"Tsk. Why does a demon have a better-looking face than me?"

Holding the demon by his hair, he got ready to smash that handsome face until he either woke up or his face became an unrecognizable mess. His seniors could later heal this demon back to shape anyway.

It was far more important that he didn't leave the boss waiting for too long now.

However, the moment he lifted the demon's head in the air, the boy's eyes suddenly snapped open, his blood-red pair of eyes now staring into his own.

"So you were pretending too, huh. Unlucky for you, pulling that kind of trick doesn't work with us."

A distorted smile appeared on the young apprentice's face, seeing the demon give him that expressionless stare.

He was half-tempted to bash in the demon's face a few times anyway, but in the end, decided to hold back. He definitely didn't want to get into trouble for some temporary satisfaction.

"Let's go. If I'm right, there's something even better waiting for you outside…"

But the moment he was about to drag him outside like the Lycanthrope girl, the demon boy suddenly started to speak.

"Hey, when you saw all those humans walking to their deaths earlier, did you never think what you're doing is wrong...?"

The young apprentice stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows furrowing a little.

"What…? Now a demon is going to give me lessons on my morality?"

Saying that, he scoffed, twisting his lips in displeasure, before continuing in a mocking tone.

"Well, unfortunately for you, I don't feel bad at all! Don't tell me you were expecting things to be different on this side? A bit more flowery, perhaps?"

The young man didn't expect to hear a reply. But it was surely amusing for him to hear a demon trying to preach morality to him. 

"No, I didn't. I was just confirming something. In fact, I think it's even better like this…"

The demon boy just showed an innocent smile.

Seeing that smile, deep creases began to appear on the young man's forehead. What the hell was this lunatic demon smiling for?

"Now, tell me. How much 'evil' do you have buried within your heart?"

Seeing his confused expression, the demon boy's smile widened a bit more, causing a cold chill to suddenly course through the man's spine.

"What are you…?"

But, by the time the young dark mage apprentice noticed the subtle crimson glow radiating from the demon's eyes, it was already too late…

"[Aura Of Evil]"

"Grrgh…!!"

A devastating pressure suddenly enveloped his entire being, immediately bringing the young man to his knees!

*crackle~* *crack–!*

The demon boy slowly rose to his feet, his various body parts suddenly beginning to bend and twist unnaturally, before the chains tightly binding his limbs began falling off one by one.

"Finally. I've been waiting for this too long…"

Soon, the demon was completely free from any restrictions, stretching his body with a euphoric expression on his face.

The young dark mage apprentice could only look up in horror as the demon slowly stepped closer to him with a face-splitting grin.

'Wha…what the hell is this? W-Why can't I move…? Move, I have to move my body!!!!'

"Grrrh…argh…!"

An unprecedented level of dread took root in his heart.

He wanted to flee, he wanted to scream, he wanted to loudly curse out everyone outside, questioning what kind of abomination they had brought along with them!

Unfortunately, the pressure sealed him in place. The only thing he could do now was shake and groan, unable to muster up the mana necessary to cast even the most basic defensive spells.

"Farewell, my friend. Your contribution in bringing down this group of evildoers will certainly be remembered…"

The demon gently patted him on the back, causing goosebumps to rise throughout his immobile body. Before…

*Squelch–!!*

…all of a sudden, he saw a vicious claw jutting out of his throat, piercing him straight through the back of his neck.

"Ack–! Khhh…!!"

As a steady stream of blood gurgled out of his mouth, the indignant light within his eyes slowly dimmed, and then completely faded away…

"...after all, the one remembering it all will be me."

With rapt attention, the glowing pair of crimson eyes took in every detail of the deceased corpse's body, as well as the moment of his death.

*creak~* *creak~!* *crackle–!!*

"Ugh…!!"

Next, starting from his now-bloody hand, the demon's body structure began to painfully crack, twist, and reform into a completely different person.

"Huff…huff…"

Soon, huffing and panting, the 'young man' looked at the slightly ajar cabin door with a small grin on his face.

"...Now, let the hunt begin!"