“Boy, what's your name?”

“I was named Nagisa.”

“Y-you were named?!”

Right after Hiroki decided to go along with this guy to find out more information, the archbishop finally broke the silence. Hiroki, of course, responded by giving hints of why he had a name like that, to which the archbishop responded with a surprised yet shocked expression.

“Yes, I was named.”

“.....”

Having confirmed that, the archbishop fell into his own thoughts once again, glaring and biting his own nails in secret before wryly smiling back at Nagisa.

“I deeply apologize if that's the case.”

“No, I don't mind.”

“As you might already be aware, I was never informed about the arrival of someone of your rank, so I hope you can understand me.”

Having said that, Hiroki gave a small smile of understanding.

“Not at all. I should have come in here without informing anyone. I must’ve caused some trouble for you as well.”

“.....”

The archbishop’s eyes widened in surprise at the way Nagisa spoke. 

If he truly was from a higher rank, he would expect them to act a bit more harshly or selfishly due to their position. But this boy, despite having been named, held his position without showing authority.

‘....this can only mean that he must be a lot stronger than he looks... and... he is concealing his true abilities to observe those beneath him’ The archbishop thought to himself.

"Can you tell me how far the plan has progressed so far?"

‘....here it is…. He is already asking for intel despite knowing the situation…’

“.......”

“Certainly. Everything has gone according to plan.”

After confirming his doubts in his mind, the archbishop then turned with a smile towards Nagisa and began explaining.

“We’ve already secured most of the strongest individuals thanks to the tournament. And we have successfully isolated the whole stadium from the rest of the town. Even if help comes, no one will be able to break the barrier unless our great Lord allows it.”

“What about the main target?”

“Unfortunately, my underlings still haven't managed to get a hold of the princess yet. But worry not, because it's only going to be a matter of time before every human is turned into living, eating monsters. Even if the strongest knight is there, he will eventually die as well.”

 “...hmm….”

After the archbishop gave a brief explanation of what was going on, Hiroki then fell into his own thoughts.

‘....so their main plan wasn't about taking over this town but the princess itself. But why would they aim for the princess? Do they plan on using her against the king?’

While Hiroki was thinking to himself without showing any sort of emotion, the archbishop was sweating nervously.

‘This is not good….’ The archbishop nervously thought to himself, ‘If I dont bring any good news, they might remove my blessing!’

“Um. You don't need to worry at all. By the time the day is over, I can reassure you that the princess will be in our hands!”

“Hm….”

After trying to reassure Nagisa with a wry smile, they continued walking down the hallway until they finally arrived at a certain door. While Nagisa remained calm, the archbishop was trying his hardest to maintain his composure.

“Right this way,” 

The archbishop said as he opened the door for Nagisa to enter inside. 

Hiroki didn't hesitate to enter since he did not sense any threats, but his eyes were still quickly analyzing everything in case something would happen.

“Hm? So you were the little troublemaker that sneaked inside our base?”

A voice echoed from within the room, immediately capturing Hiroki's attention. His gaze was fixed on the center of the room, where a woman stood, her hair flowing in pristine white strands and her eyes a striking red with vertical slits for pupils. Though her face exuded an aura of calmness, a malevolent yet alluring smile played upon her lips as her gaze locked onto Nagisa.

“Are you the one in charge here?”

“That should be obvious, is it not?”

As the woman stood with the same kind of expression, Hiroki finally decided to ask another question. The white-haired woman, of course, seemed to be aware of the situation as she responded with a question.

After sensing the rather tense mood in the room, the archbishop decided to explain what happened.

“I'm sorry, oh great lord. We found this blessed one who had entered our base, so I brought him in here.”

“Is that so?”

Having confirmed that Nagisa came here uninvited, the woman returned her gaze to the unusual individual claiming to be a blessed one.

“So may I know the reason why you might be here? I believe that it was clear that this territory is under my supervision.” The woman asked, as her malicious smile quickly turned into a murderous one, “Or is your master daring to challenge me for control of this town?”

“Not at all. I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing.” Hiroki casually responded, “I’m here to check the situation over this town..”

“.....”

“After causing a commotion in one of the most renowned tournaments in the whole kingdom, you are aware that most humans won't let this slide by. And the demon's existence will be known to everyone.”

“...you….”

After hearing the reasons behind Nagisa’s presence, her smile was quick to wither away.

“Demons?! How dare you claim this is the work of demo— AGh!!”

The archbishop, whose eyes glared at Nagisa, threatened him the moment the word demon was mentioned. But before he could even finish talking, his eyes burst out, and blood came out of every single hole on his body.

“Seems like things just got a bit more interesting….” The white-haired woman spoke, her evil-looking smile slowly returning to her face.

Recognizing Nagisa's deeper involvement compared to those humans who believed they possessed blessings, the woman with white hair finally assumed a grave expression, fully realizing the gravity of the situation.

Even though Hiroki didn't have a lot of information about the demons, this was actually the first time that he had managed to encounter one. The first ever demon that worked in the shadows.

‘It's risky to try and check her status…. But if I manage to get her under my control, I might be able to figure out where the rest of the demons are hiding and what they are planning.’ Hiroki thought to himself.

“May I know your name?”

“My given name is Nagisa.”

“.....”

“This should be plenty of evidence, right?”

“......”

Having confirmed that Nagisa was actually a named human by a demon, the white-haired woman remained silent. 

‘Giving a name to a human is something that demons do in order to claim their own portable toy and loyal servant. Even though this human doesn't have a name that is likely given by a demon… it still doesn't change the fact that he knows a lot more than he should’ve…’ The white-haired woman thought to herself.

“Who is the one who sent you?”

“You don't need to know who my master is.”

The white-haired woman narrowed her eyes upon hearing the bold response from Nagisa.

“I'm here to help you out and prevent anyone from finding out about the demon's existence in the human towns.”

“.....I still can’t trust you.” 

The white haired woman still didn't seem convinced while looking at a human talking to a demon like that because...

‘The only humans who would speak like that…. are the ones who hold the highest privilege…’

“I don't care if you don’t trust me. What matters to me is that everything that happened today will remain hidden until the demon lord gives permission.”

‘The demon lord?!’ The woman’s eyes widened to their extent as she heard the claim that this boy just made.

“Are you… perhaps named by….”

“That is none of your business.”

“......”

After asserting where both Nagisa and this woman stood, they both remained silent before Hiroki decided to speak once again.

“Either way, now that I'm here, I’ll do my best to get this whole situation in order. But first, I need to know everything that has been planned so far and how you plan on resolving the situation.”

Frustrated and left with no alternative but to engage in conversation, the woman with white hair pondered for a moment before surrendering to the dilemma. The notion that this boy could have a significant connection to the demon lord not only instilled fear within her but also caused her thoughts to spiral, as she contemplated the reasons behind the demon king's decision to send someone to her.

“I’ve been in this town for several years without being found by anyone. I managed to infiltrate the main church and bring most of the believers under my control. As you already mentioned before, I used this tournament as a way to get most of the humans in this town under my control by spreading poisonous water through their water system.”

“So that's the reason a good number of humans were transformed into monsters.”

Hiroki gave a nod of confirmation after the white-haired woman explained what she had planned.

“Yes, that's why there is no need for our secret to go out. Even if there are humans unaffected by my poison, they will still assume that this was caused by some sort of disease.”

“Anyway, continue.”

“Yes. After I managed to completely conquer most of the humans under my control, I planned on kidnapping the princess and using her as a hostage against the king in the future. But of course, the main objective must also be accomplished, which is why I don't really plan on keeping the princess alive.”

“Not good.” 

Hiroki gave a final response as he fell on his thoughts, in which the white-haired woman gave a rather uncomfortable stare.

“I-is something wrong?”

“Yes, there is.”

The white haired woman looked at Nagisa with nervousness as she heard the unsatisfying reaction from this boy.

“Let's just say that you managed to kidnap the princess from one of the strongest knights in the kingdom. Then how are you going to proceed from that point on? Even if the whole stadium is surrounded by your unbreakable barrier, it still won't change the outcome of the suspicion of the remaining adventurers coming to this town. In the end, the outcome of the whole kingdom going against this town won't change.”

“I a-already anticipated that as well, which was one of the reasons we targeted the princess!”

“Hm? Then how are you going to negotiate with the king? Perhaps it won't be through the church’s hypnotized members? Even if they come up with some sort of excuse, it won't change the fact that it will be suspicious of them acting this way.”

“Urgh…. N-no, i-its.”

The white haired woman choked on her own words as she heard the intimidating summation of her whole plan being said mockingly by this boy. Even if her plan was quite clear and successful so far, she couldn't help but sutter while looking at the intimidating questions that Nagisa brought.

“No? It's what? You are aware that some of the strongest guilds are already under suspicion and investigation about the demon’s matter. Just recently, I was also informed that a demonized Earth Dragon had been hunted down. I suppose that wasn't your doing, r-right?”

“?!....”

As Hiroki continued playing with the information he had in his hands, his eyes stared back at the demon’s eyes with intimidating intent. 

The white-haired woman, seeing how many holes her plan had and the way her plan was being scrapped away in a matter of seconds, could only sweat nervously.

As the white-haired woman was thinking in panic, the whole underground facility shook a bit as if something had exploded.

“Huh? What happened?” 

As she muttered those words under her breath, several knights suddenly entered the room and began informing the woman without catching a breath.

“Oh, great lord. We’re sorry for the disturbance, but our base has been found! We have to evacuate immediately!”

“What?! How did they breach here?!” The red-eyed woman glared back in shock at what the knights were saying.

“It's The Sun Knight!! He has found the summoning circle, and he is taking out everything from the top floors!”

Having said that, Nagisa, with a swing of his hand, created a long thread that sent the knight unconscious. Watching this whole thing unfold within a second, the white-haired demon stared at Nagisa with mixed emotions that included confusion, fear, and rage.

“What are you going to do now? Now that the strongest knight in the kingdom is coming here, you won't be able to defeat him.”

“Tch! Shut up for a moment! I’m trying to think!!!”

Having realized the position that she was put in, she couldn't help but glare in wonder at her next move. Her whole plan, which was perfectly made from scratch, was being ripped apart right in front of her eyes.

Even if she were to escape at this very moment, she understood that the other demons wouldn't allow it to go unnoticed. This incident alone would expose their existence to the entire town. Everything was crumbling around her, and the price would ultimately be her own life.

After some moments of trying to think of a way out of this alive, Nagisa finally spoke in a serious, deep voice, earning the attention of the woman in white hair.

“If you want to get out of this situation unscratched….. then how about you form a contract with me?”

* * *

“Don't let him get through!”

“Take him down now!!”

“AGHhh!”

“N-no—Agh!”

Several floors above where Hiroki was talking with the demon, several knights trying to block the way were getting knocked out one by one by Ryosaki, the strongest knight of this kingdom.

“I don't get it…” Ryosaki said, his eyes trembling in rage and confusion, “Why are so many knights doing this?”

“There could be many reasons behind such betrayal of our kingdom's warrior, which is why it saddens me to see such a sight…”

Turning behind to see the voice that expressed this, a small glare of frustration creeped into Ryosaki’s face. That sort of reaction wasn't simply because of the knight’s behavior, but because the princess had to witness such a thing to even come close to finding out why the knights were betraying their main duty.

Which was to protect this country and its citizens.

“Leaving that aside, do you really believe it was a good idea to bring the princess to these wretched hideouts?” 

While keeping her sword in her hand, the other individual who was near the princess let out her annoyed thoughts. That person was none other than the holy knight, who was with the princess most of the time.

“Sofia….”

“Don't call me with that disgusting mouth of yours.” The black haired holy knight glared at Ryosaki, “The princess's life is at stake right now. Do you really think this is the right moment to think of why these twisted bastards betrayed us?”

“You’re right….. I’m sorry….”

“…Tch!”

Looking at the sorrowful expression that the strongest knight gave as he apologized, Sofia clicked her tongue as she avoided looking at his face in annoyance.

“I know that it's not my position to barge in, but there is something coming towards us.”

Observing from the back in silence was Aya, who suddenly tried to get the attention of the group in front of her. And upon hearing that, both Ryosaki and Sofia went back to their own guard in order to knock out the knights and proceed to find the source of why all participants were turned into monsters. 

They all proceeded together until they finally came to a stop, where they found a rather suspicious room with a strange smell coming from it. 

Everyone thought that something felt strange about whatever was behind that door, which is why Ryosaki took the initiative to check what was behind the door first in case there would be a trap.

However, the moment the strongest knight opened the door and saw what was inside, his face almost went completely pale before his eyes showed disgust and rage within him.

“Is there something inside that room?” The princess asked after seeing the silent reaction after the knight opened the door.

“Ugh…. I'm sorry, princess. I think it would be best if you didn't see what's inside this room.”

Ryosaki tried to warn the princess as he was gripping his own fist in rage. However, in her view, it was her responsibility to uncover the hidden truths lurking within the kingdom. She understood that, without her best efforts, the kingdom would never progress.

With that in mind, the princess narrowed her eyes before walking towards the door where Ryosaki was.

“It's my duty to find out what is going on with the citizens of our kingdom. If I don't take this step, then I can't take pride in being a royal of the Redo Kingdom. That's why please don't try and stop….. me….”

As the princess tried to persuade the knight to let her see everything, she walked past the door and into the dark room. However, as soon as she saw what was inside, her mouth froze for a second while her eyes watched in horror.

“....ugh….” “....Agh….” “.....K-kill me…” “.....I want to die….” “.....it hurts…”“.....I'm scared….” “....I can't feel my body…” “....Kill me…” “.....Someone please help me….”

Upon entering the room, the princess was immediately flooded with countless voices of corpses that seemed to have been cut to pieces and thrown all over the place. And despite their horrible gore and mutilated bodies, some were still alive but in horrible pain as well.

“Princess, please close your eyes!”

“....Ah…… Ueeeghhhh!!! Couch…….. Ueeeeghh!!!!”

Sofia, after understanding the horrible sight before her, tried to get the princess out of that room. However, before she could prevent seeing more of this horrible sight, the princess momentarily froze. Horror etched across her face as the putrid stench reached her nose, culminating in a visceral disgust that compelled her to retch in revulsion.

Even though she held a lot of pride in her mental state as a princess, she still found herself weak against this horrible sight. 

“I'm sorry you had to see such a thing… princess. It’s my fault for letting that fool let you enter inside.”

“Ueeeeghh!! ...Cough!..Cough!.. How could someone…. do something so horrible?”

As Sofia was patting the princess’s back as a way to comfort her, the princess wiped her mouth before asking, tears filling her eyes.

“.....I have seen many horrible things in my life as a holy knight….. But princess…. this is something that I have never seen before.” Sofia lowered her head in shame and anger as she tried to comfort the princess. “....We are living in dark times at the moment, princess… That's why, no matter how horrible things get, please don't let this sight change your opinion of the citizens of this kingdom..”

“.....I already know that…..” The princess gripped her own fists as she uttered under her breath.

After a couple of more seconds of silence, Sofia turned to Ryosaki once again and asked.

“So what should we do about those…things?”

“....If possible, I want to help them revert back….”

“Are you serious? Even if you happen to be blessed by the sun, helping them in this sort of state is almost impossible, even for you.”

Gripping his own fists in frustration, Ryosaki sternly looked at the corpses, who were letting out groans of pain. 

He was the strongest knight in the kingdom. He was blessed with the best skills a knight could ask for. And yet, he had failed to prevent such a tragedy from happening.

‘....Yet again…’ He repeated in his mind, blood almost dripping from his clenched fists.

“.......”

“......”

As frustration consumed everyone's thoughts, Aya suddenly entered the room, her face devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

Ryosaki and Sofia exchanged puzzled glances, but as they realized Aya's intentions, their eyes widened with a mix of shock and disturbance.

“....K-kill m-me….”

Aya looked at the decapitated corpse in front of her before pulling out her dagger, infused with her skill, and finishing off the groaning corpse in an instant.

“A-aya?” Ryosaki called out to her in worry.

Without looking up at the worried gazes of the knights, Aya then responded with a grim tone in her voice as she headed for the next groaning, talking corpse.

“The state that they are in is irreversible… Even if they are alive, being in this sort of form is nothing more than torture.”

“But still!....”

“Finishing them off is what they want. Isn't that the least we can do for them?”

As both the knights gave worried glimpses at the situation unfolding in front of them, Aya looked straight back at the knights with a sad yet pained smile on her face.

‘Aya…..’

‘This girl….’

After clearing everything inside the room, Aya cleaned her dagger before everyone continued heading deeper in this long hallway that seemed like a prison.

As they kept heading deeper into this place, more knights, priests, and believers of the church continued using their skills to attack and capture their targets.

But their powers were nothing compared to Ryosaki, who didn't hold back when knocking them all out in a split second.

Perhaps this was because of their actions, but Ryosaki seemed much more silent and stern than usual.

No one judged or inquired about him. That was until everyone came to a stop at a certain part of this hallway, where someone stood in front of them.

“Are you the one behind this?” 

Ryosaki asked as he was grabbing his own sword, ready to take down the menacing figure hiding in the shadows.

“A-are you n-normal guards? Are you here to save me?”

But what came as a response from that person was a woman who seemed to be calling out for help. 

“Who are you, and why are you here?”

“They kidnapped me as a sacrifice for their experiments that were being held here. I was so scared that I didn't know what to do. So I escaped after everyone just seemed in a rush.”

After Ryosaki asked in suspicion, the woman responded back in a worried tone.

“Ho? So not only did you seem unscratched from the experiment, but you also happened to escape from the grasps of the abnormal knights?”

Having noticed some flaws in her explanation, Sofia raised a question while staring at the woman in the dark.

“I was just lucky to have escaped. Apparently, I was the last experiment that they were going to do. So please, help me get out of here.”

As the woman pleaded for help, she took a few hesitant steps forward. Her eyes glistened with innocent tears, and she tightly clasped her hands together, squeezing them as if they were stress balls.

“I believe you.”

Ryosaki said as he lowered his head with a stern expression, while the woman, who was apparently wearing a hoodie, smiled in relief.

"....Or so I would have said, had I not been bestowed with the blessing of the sun," Ryosaki continued, his gaze transforming from stern to piercing one. "Everything you've uttered thus far has been nothing but a bunch of lies."

“.......”

The woman, who had her head lowered in silence, crept a smile into her face before looking back at the group in front of her.

Hm, it looks like I've been found," the woman remarked, her voice filled with a tinge of amusement.

Then, with a swift motion, she lowered her cloak, revealing her striking pale white hair and mesmerizing red eyes with distinctive vertical slits.

“?!....”

Ryosaki and Sofia exchanged glances, their faces reflecting a mix of surprise and shock as they observed the uncanny resemblance this woman bore. 

While encounters with individuals sporting white hair have become increasingly common among humans, this woman's presence sent shivers down their spines. 

It wasn't mere curiosity that stirred within them; rather, an unsettling sense of unease and an unsettling touch of creepiness permeated the air.