Despite being surrounded by enemies, Mera's presence was too miniscule to be noticed. As for me, I was basically non-existence due to my special trait. Whenever I used abilities, I took extreme caution to erase any energy signatures that might leak from me.

During the hours she was asleep, I meditated for a bit to speed up the healing process for my soul even if just by a tiny amount. As for the remaining time until she woke up, I sorted through as much memories of these four demons as I could.

There wasn't a way to tell when the sun was up. For someone like me, I had no internal clock. Also, as for how many hours had passed, I didn't keep track of it. Nevertheless, I had a general idea on the passage of time.

When I noticed a shift in her consciousness, I greeted her with, "Good morning."

"Morning."

"Shall we continue where we left off?"

"No. This area no longer have the one I'm looking for, right? So I'm thinking we should go back and look for a map."

"About that... I feel bad about it but I managed to obtain a map of the routes some demons used. These are just low level demons so their knowledge of this place is limited."

"What!? We had something that valuable? Project it, quick!"

Without wasting another second, I projected several routes onto one of the maps she had drawn.

"Hmm... Looks like these doors connect to different parts of the maze. They're shortcuts. If we could make use of them, we should be able to find their boss."

"Yeah, the problem is... It's been a while since those demons were supposed to report back. I'm not sure if they know I can read memories but it's likely that plan of your is a bust. I mean, the admin here could easily swap the doors and throw us into a trap."

"I understand where you're coming from but look... I can't keep this up forever. I want to end this as soon as possible, okay? I want my regular life back. I've been on the run, got caught, and tormented for months! Now that normal life is finally within my grasp, you're telling me to play the patience game!?" She raised her voice midway into a shout.

Then after taking a short breath and calming down, she continued, "Listen, I've had enough of this, there's more than enough soul energy for this contract. The risk is solely mine."

I mean, you could just live normally in Ataraxia. No one can pursue you there. I wanted to say that but it wasn't like she'd listen to me.

"Mm... That's not really for me to decide I suppose. I am your contracted hero. I'll be around as long as you have the soul energy to fuel the contract or I deem the contract no longer necessary. Defeating demons won't exhaust your soul energy but it's their minions that will. So, please, try to defeat them on your own whenever possible."

"Can you create a short sword for me?"

"Aren't you a mage? Wouldn't a staff be better?"

"My mana won't last if it's going to feed into the contract first. I want a durable weapon that won't betray me."

"Fair enough."

I created a reinforced steel sword befitting her short stature. As a bonus, I complimented it with a plain sheathe. Since she wasn't a hero, this was just a regular weapon with no enhancements or traits.

"Anything else?"

Looking at her, she was wearing the outfit she had requested from me before she set off to her homeland. It was nothing like what the elves I'd seen wearing. For her top, she had a black skin tight assassin outfit with leather protectors that covered down to her upper thighs like a miniskirt. As for her pants, they weren't pants. They were just boots and black leggings.

That outfit just seemed bizarre on an elf her size. Not to mention, the style was an ill match for her but I decided to hold that opinion back.

Since she was covering herself with a brownish green overcoat or cloak with pockets, others usually wouldn't be able to see what she wore underneath. But still, it made me wonder where she got those ideas from, really.

"I heard you're a poison specialist. I want some lethal poisons please."

Ahh... I bet it's from Smoothie! It has to be! I've found the culprit.

"It was Smoothie, wasn't it..."

"She's taught me some useful things."

"Tsk, that brat. So that's why you asked me for such a strange outfit."

"What are you talking about? It's perfect for night operations!"

"Eh... Whatever floats your boat."

She glared at me with indignation, "Heyyy! Never mind that! Are you going to give me the poisons or not?!"

"Okay, which type? You're not planning to kill yourself, are you?"

"If I get captured again, yes. Now's not the time for that! I'm not a devil specialist, just give me the type that works on them. You want me to handle them myself, right? That's what I'm doing."

"I see... Then I can provide poisons. Whether they'll work on fey beings and devils, I wouldn't know. Assuming they originated from animal types then these should work."

I included several of my specialties including the deadly strawberry grenades. These ones had to be modified for her to use. Likewise, since she was going to need more containers to hold new weapons, I gifted her a pocket belt.

"Mhmm. Deadly smoke grenades, check! Deadly strawberry grenades, check! Poisonous needles and darts, check! Cyanide pills, check!" And so on until she was ready to move out.

The old strawberry me would be so proud!

"Say, Mera, wouldn't it better if Vintelo or Mufy came with us? I'm sure they can handle a few minions by themselves."

"We've already gone this far. There's no turning back and requesting aid! Plus, they'd only drag me down."

Wow, such low opinion on those two.

"Alrighty, I'm ready whenever you are. If we get separate, just summon me and I'll try to answer it as soon as possible."

"I'll do that."

There was no point looking into the teleport gates too much. I had checked their destination coordinates whenever possible and they all lead to either this subspace or somewhere in this world. Perhaps some lead to other subspaces but I had yet to encounter one such gate. Anyway, in the event the enemy tried to seal our escape routes, those teleport gates would mean nothing.

We returned to a location near where we started. From there, we began the operation by systematically targeting isolated minions while avoiding their gatherings whenever possible. It was by far the best plan I could come up with without immediately alerting them of our intrusion. Because, if I immediately targeted demons, other demons might notice and join in. 

With my skill set, guerilla warfare became my specialty. It was the same with Mera who could easily silence a group of minions by herself without causing a ruckus.

By the way, minions weren't divided by race. They came from all over the world, elves, humans, reptilians, and various beastfolks. Oh right, there were also various types of merfolks but they weren't on our hit list because of their habitat. We simply had no reason to go into rooms and corridors filled with water. In fact, there was a whole region of subspace perpetually submerged under water.

"Heh, they don't even know what hit them!" I smirked and exclaimed after her three decisive victories in a row. Though, those were low level minions who didn't know any better.

Now, because she had neither issued another command nor did she require protection, I was basically assisting her for free. Personally, I didn't mind since this place piqued my interest a bit.

"These poisons are more potent than I expected."

"By the way, Mera, if you see any devils or minions that look like Kanoko, please use paralysis poison, okay?"

"Sure."

We proceeded on quietly, picking off stragglers here and there while I monitored for any signs of countermoves.

From what I could tell, this wasn't the first time Mera had killed people. She was a veteran, killing without batting an eye.

Out of curiosity, I asked, "When was the last time you killed someone?"

"I know. I seem cruel and merciless, don't I. I don't really want to talk about it... But... Since it's you, I don't mind telling you about it. It's really not that interesting."

Hence, on our next short break, she recounted her past to me.

blanksphere

Prob no one like Mera, but a backstory is important, I guess? It's strange how I have the epilogue written from ages ago but I can't put it to use. Since in my mind, the story goes by in a flash. It's hard to gauge a proper timeline in terms of chapters. Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up to reach the end that soon... Not many events left to go though.