When one thought of the higher-ups, most assumed that they were the ruling body of the exorcists. The clan heads, nobles, and the royal family worked together to rule over the peasants.
But that couldn't be further from the truth. Like every other organization where so many people were involved, everyone looked out for their own interests.
The royals wanted more authority, the old nobles wanted a longer life by using human experiments, and the clan heads wanted their families to grow more powerful. So each of them had their own goal.
That was why there were instances of people like The Sun Exorcist coming to hunt down a criminal.
But he wasn’t exactly a criminal. If the higher-ups communicated instead of bickering, they would know which one had sent the double agent over because the people who put Apollo up for this mission were just a handful of the higher-ups.
"Step aside," Apollo said to his fellow Special Rank Exorcist. He didn't want Emer to risk his life for nothing; unlike Ellen, he acted as a Special Exorcist.
However, another part of Apollo wanted to see this fight happen. 'The zombie injured the Demonic Exorcist? Emer might have a chance to take him down!'
Normally, he would be doubtful of this; if someone was not in their best shape, the last thing they would do was put themselves in a dangerous situation.
At least that was what someone with common sense would do.
But this wasn't just anyone they were talking about! The Demonic Exorcist was renowned for his recklessness!
"Whatever your plans in this pyramid are, I won't let you through!" Emer didn't budge, and the surrounding ground turned into a swamp of molten rock. He sank up to his knees into lava, but it didn’t seem to hurt him.
"Oh, we're here to unseal Tamae No Mae," the Demonic Exorcist spilled the beans without a care in the world.
Apollo felt a chill run down his spine. If the Demonic Exorcist let Emer escape, then the plan was out, and things would become even more dangerous!
"Then that is more of a reason for me to stop you. Even if I must give my life, I won't let you pass!"
"You're like a broken record. You just repeat the same words in a different order," this didn't entertain the Demonic Exorcist— a shadow cast over the battlefield.
Apollo looked up and saw the demon they had used to fly here. It was a giant crane with a long neck.
But Emer didn't care and lifted his finger. A volcanic blast of molten rock shot toward the sky, and the pillar of lava pierced a hole right through the crane demon. "Is that all you got? It seems like the rumors of the Demonic Exorcist are quite exaggerated."
Emer was within the Special Exorcist ranks because of his raw combat power. He was on a different level compared to Paris and Apollo!
"You can turn your Ord into lava and manipulate the molten rocks around you too. That’s a very dangerous ability," the Demonic Exorcist smiled.
Apollo agreed with the madman; Emer's ability was top-notch. It had no weakness in defense or attack, because this ability manifested because of a lot of training.
The Demonic Exorcist snapped his fingers, and the dead demon crane opened its mouth. A snake shot out of it and wrapped itself around Emer.
"Foolish," Emer snorted. The snake melted into a pool of gooey flesh and boiled into nothingness from the extreme heat. "Let me show you what an actual attack looks like!"
The molten rocks around Emer bubbled up and twisted into nine giant snakes of lava.
{Molten Hydra!}
They shot toward the Demonic Exorcist— the attack was slow, but it didn't need to be fast. The grass was scorched, and the vicinity around the attack melted.
"That's one destructive ability," the Demonic Exorcist whistled. "This will be difficult to deal with. If only that zombie hadn't destroyed my Book of Immobilization."
Apollo was surprised that the Demonic Exorcist so openly admitted to losing such a precious Magic Item. The Book of Immobilization was an ability that belonged to the previous 22nd Special Rank Exorcist that could stop any living being from moving.
'So that means that the Demonic Exorcism was at his weakest right now!' Apollo was tempted to stab the Demonic Exorcist in the back. He still had another dagger like the one he had used against Ellen.
But his heart shook, and he dismissed the idea as soon as it came.
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Ellen lived who knows where, she had no human contact and hadn’t battled properly in a long time. Her passive lifestyle dulled her instincts.
However, the Demonic Exorcist was the exact opposite, he fought so often that his instincts were almost a special ability themselves. After all, there were plenty of foolish and greedy exorcists trying to get his bounty.
The Demonic Exorcist crouched down as the attacks came closer. He punched at the ground, and his fist sunk into the stone floor.
Then he tugged, and the head of a giant pig came out. The creature opened its mouth and breathed in, creating a strong vortex that sucked the lava into him.
Emer wasn't finished and shot lava balls around the vortex and tried to kill this demon too. The Demonic Exorcist pushed the pig demon back underground before he could do that. "Sorry, but this is the one demon I can't have you kill. He has a lot of sentimental value to me."
But Emer's attack didn't stop, and his lava balls changed their target and went for the Demonic Exorcist.
"Seems like I will have to fight this one alone," the Demonic Exorcist muttered.
"{Bloody Ghost of Domination}"
Minor cuts appeared on his skin, and blood spewed out, which formed into armor around him. It looked more like the work of a Creator than a Master.
"Many people assume Masters can't control Ord outside their body. But what does that mean? Is the body classified as just something surrounded by skin?" The Demonic Exorcism spoke, and he kicked off the ground, causing a small crack.
Instead of backing off, he charged straight at Emer.
"No," he answered his own question. "A Master's Ord doesn't have to just stay inside his body. A more correct statement was to say that the Ord sticks to the Master's cells like a needy girlfriend!"
Apollo didn't know why the Demonic Exorcist was explaining all this, though he had to admit that he had learned something new today. Because if a Master's Ord stuck to their cells only and could allow abilities like blood control to manifest, then it would revolutionize the Masters’ affinity.
'What a shame. If he wasn't a maniac, the Demonic Exorcist could have been someone whose name would have been in the annals of history for revolutionizing exorcism.’ Apollo sighed internally.
The Demonic Exorcist punched at Emer, but within an instant, his arm was melted by a tentacle of molten rock. He used his other hand to try and grab a ruby ring Emer had on his finger.
But as soon as he tried that, the lava around overreacted, and a tidal wave of liquid fire engulfed the Demonic Exorcist.
Despite that, the Demonic Exorcist stood his ground even as his skin turned ash and his flesh melted like butter. A third arm made of blood manifested on his shoulder blade and grabbed onto Emer’s hand.
Crack!... The sound of bones breaking rang out, and Emer’s hand was ripped out. As soon as that happened, he stared wide-eyed.
“Master and Blaster, as a hybrid affinity, allow you to control a certain element. But that doesn't make you resistant to said element. So your resistance to heat must be a Magic Item and something with such a marvelous ability had to be very flashy.” The Demonic Exorcist spoke in a raspy voice and jumped back.
“AGhhhhhhHHHH!” Emer screamed in pain as lava fell over his head and landed on his eye. In a split second, he had lost control of his ability, and all hell broke loose as his feet burned up, and he fell to his knees.
Instinctively he brought his hands forward, but his arms sunk into the lava all the way to his elbow. By then, all screaming had stopped, and he had passed out because of the extreme pain of being burned alive.
“He can control lava, but he can’t control the heat emitted by it,” the Demonic Exorcist snorted, and a tendril of blood crystalized and pulled the unconscious Emer from the molten rocks.
He had fallen face-first into the lava after passing out, so he wasn’t pleasant to look at. Apollo had experience with people being brutalized. Any exorcist who had been doing this job for long enough had seen their fair share of stomach-churning murders. But this took the prize as number one!
The Demonic Exorcist turned toward Emer and smirked. “Wanna see how my ability works?”
He dropped a bead of blood onto Emer, and the miracle of when he had regenerated the demon centipede played again. Within a few seconds, Emer was as good as new, and as he got up, he stared at the Demonic Exorcist and got on one knee. “We are at your service, master Cesar.”
Apollo felt a chill go down his heart and recalled that despite the Demonic Exorcist having an army of demons.
The Demonic Exorcist became notorious for his human-controlling ability!
***
I met the clan head’s gaze, and he shook his head. “With people like them around, we stand no chance. Since Delia is already healed, we will escape.”
His answer wasn’t shocking; it was a logical conclusion discerned from what he had seen.
“I can see it in your eyes. You have some grandiose idea of becoming a hero who saves the day,” the clan head looked me in the eye.
No, not really. I just knew how I would die in the long run if I let certain things happen. Especially whatever the Demonic Exorcist was up to, if that guy somehow became stronger, it would spell disaster for everyone.
Also, that damn bastard was aiming for me. He wasn’t the kind of guy to take no as an answer.
If I escaped now, there would only be more trouble in the future. “So, are you going to try and stop me?”
“No, not really,” the clan head said. He nudged his head at Delia. “You’re your own person and can do what you want. My brother wanted me to protect you, and I did. But we never were a clan that coddled their younger generation.”
What the hell did he mean by not coddling the younger generation? They definitely did that!
With that said, he and Delia walked off. My cousin waved at me and added. “A bit of suffering builds character. But make sure not to die too badly, okay?”
Was everyone a hypocrite? They say one thing and do another!
Ellen coughed, reminding me she was here. “At least you have a pretty woman like me around.”
Her power was quite useful, and she was pretty—the complete opposite of her personality. Now I had to work with her and try to race against time.