As Kevin walked home, relief surging through him, his mind drifted back towards a certain topic.

“That demon…” He said, in a tone filled with discomfort. He looked like he licked a lemon just reminiscing about her, but, although not fully, he learned to get over his fear of the pale women in the extra days they spent in the dungeon (Though to say he'd stay alone in a room with them was another matter entirely).

The fact that she was an honest-to-goodness demon left him just as shaken as his initial encounter with her. But considering the pale woman she encountered was accounted for maybe she wasn't that dangerous after all?

“I wonder if she killed her… I mean we didn't search the forest as much as we could but, darn I should have asked Elizabeth about that blood trail she found.”

The thought of her escaping and making her way into his house certainly wasn't a pleasant one.

(“I can only pray that she died in the forest… as much as that's kinda mean to say. No, I shouldn't let the fact she looked somewhat human affect my opinion. It'd probably be a good thing if that happened.”)

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Just over a week ago.

A woman with red skin lay at the edge of an absolutely massive set of stairs. They went as far as the eyes could see.

She was in a sorry state. Half of the skin on her face was torn off, showing off the dark muscles underneath. It looked as though someone painted half the face of an anatomical model black.

There were various other wounds across her body, but none carried the same humiliation and pain as the one on her face.

The only way one could tell she was still alive was due to her breathing. The raising and falling of her chest was the only way one would recognise her as a victim and not a corpse.

Standing behind her was the attacker. A pale woman. She had lost various parts of her skin but she had no damage that went any further than her skin, unlike the red demon on the floor.

She looked down at the demon and scoffed before walking over to a nearby corpse. It seemed a follower had tried to escape but he wasn't sneaky enough. He had a knife lodged in his head and based on his expression, he didn't even know his demise was coming.

She opened his mouth and drew inside it with her blood. She wrote something on his tongue and his body lost all colour before a slightly larger than average blue crystal formed on his tongue.

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The pale woman placed it in her mouth and the results were almost instant. Half the skin on her body healed back and the other minor wounds were gone. She touched the still exposed flesh of hers and walked away, hoping to find another corpse.

…

…

…

…

…

…

Fifteen minutes passed before the red woman still lying on the floor felt comfortable getting up.

“That thing… it's related to Lord Lucifer.” She said as she caught her breath.

She quickly healed her face and other major wounds across her body, leaving only the most minor wounds behind.

“That doesn't make sense… is Lord Lucifer still fighting against the church? Based on what I heard we lost… though I'm not sure how the archangels have gained power to be labelled as gods. Has the old man in the sky decided to let his angels run the world as he rests? Tch, there's no point in speculating... But it doesn't hurt to consider the possibilities.”

She got up and began walking up the stairs. She rested her hand against her chin as she considered the strange situation. In what world would the four archangels be ruling instead of their master?

“The most likely theory I can formulate based on the current information is that Lord Lucifer somehow dealt a blow to the man in the sky’s confidence in his ruling of humanity and he has decided to let the archangels rule in his place. But if such a woman (the pale woman) exists then what of demonkind? Ugh, I can imagine the casualties weren't pretty if our lord is resorting to whatever those are.”

She continued walking up the stairs and the light of day soon blinded her eyes.

“Finally. Now I can get some fresh air and stock up on my mana.”

She said with a smirk as she approached the outside. Maybe she might even teach that hodgepodge a lesson. After all, an elite demon like herself was likely worth far more to their lord than one of those things. She might even keep it as a plaything to experiment with. Maybe she might even be able to help her lor-

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After another minute or so, she reached the surface.

Her tail was flicking behind her rapidly but she was no dog and more importantly, this was no sign of happiness.

“N-n-n-no,” She stuttered as she looked to the outside world. It was a nice sunny day and the birds could be heard chirping. Based on the current temperature and their current location, she hazarded a guess it was the very beginning of autumn and the leaves had not yet lost their colour.

She looked as pale as a ghost and leaned against a nearby pillar for support.

“I can't believe it.” She muttered as she began walking.

(“Maybe the temple was interfering with my senses?”) She thought to herself. That was the only explanation that wouldn't leave her curled up on the floor in defeat.

She rushed out of the temple to a clear opening and… nothing changed. Nothing she felt was different.

“What… what happened to all the mana in the atmosphere!?” She shouted in disbelief. This wasn't real, it couldn't be real. How was all the mana in this area gone?