I had always assumed that after experiencing a lot of danger, I would eventually grow used to it. I had hoped there would come a day when my decisions and emotions wouldn't get influenced by fear.

Sadly, real life wasn't a movie. Fearing something didn't mean that the dread would magically disappear by getting used to it. That was part of human nature, to fear dangerous shit.

"Where are we going?" Ellen huffed as we ran through the hallways.

"To find Agon and the others."

"Agon? Who the hell is that?"

I had almost forgotten that she hadn't spoken a word to Agon and Sei in this life. "One of them is the Magician's son, while the other is the last survivor of the Seimei Clan."

"Oh…" she stared at me. "You really have a weird entourage. Next, are you going to say that you're betrothed to the princess and have to act as her bodyguard?"

She certainly had an active imagination…

Ellen held firmly onto her bandaged wound and winced every so often. She caught my glance and smiled; she had dark eyebags and was pale. "What? You finally were entranced by my beauty?"

"You look like an anorexic vampire," I was worried about her. Despite her dirty mind, I didn't hold it against her for how she acted. She had grown up in the mountains, with demons as her only company.

Actually, she was quite sane given her circumstances. I would probably have ended up as some kind of weird bandit if I were in her place. Maybe a panty thief? That would follow suit with my minor villain role.

I shook my head to dismiss the weird thoughts. Staying around people like Gem and Agon for too long seemed to have caused my more rational brain cells to commit seppuku.

"Fuck!" Ellen cursed and tightened the grip on her injury.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to force myself to heal like you do with your Perfect Me, but it isn't going that well," she complained.

It was amazing she could even somewhat heal herself like that. Unlike me, she couldn’t even sense the Ord moving around my body and how it felt doing that.

Ellen was talented, no doubt. But talent couldn't do the impossible.

"During times like these, I curse at my special ability. I can heal other people, but not myself," Ellen's golden hair was wet, and she breathed heavier.

I stopped and immediately went to her side. "Lean on me, and let's rest for a bit."

She was in no fighting shape. But if I told her that now, her stubbornness might lead her down a dangerous path.

Ellen sat down and leaned against the wall, she stared at the ceiling, but her eyes were unfocused. "Oda died for me, didn't he?"

"We don't know that yet," it took me a second to remember that Oda was the samurai zombie.

Yeah, he was probably dead. The Demonic Exorcist couldn’t tame undead demons, so the chances of Oda being alive were slim to none.

Tears welled in her eyes. "I met him when I was thirteen years old. That bastard always wanted to go out and look for a place to die. Fucking bastard! He raises me and then runs off to die! What the fuck am I supposed to do now?! Spend the rest of my life alone?"

I knew the rough gist of Ellen's backstory. But knowing about it and seeing how much of an effect it had on her, were two different things.

She wiped her tears using the bloody sleeve of her dress, which left her face red with dried blood. "The only reason I even am a Special Exorcist is because he helped me find and tame the strongest high-class demon he knew."

So Oda was like a father figure that had just died protecting her. Despite this being what he wanted his end to be like, emotions don’t always run on cold logic.

This was a fucked up scenario. Normally I would comfort someone like this whose father had just died. But we didn't have the time to wallow in misery.

Oda was my teacher too, though we spent little time on anything else other than learning about the sword. I barely knew anything about him.

But I was sure of one thing. This was how he would have wanted to go. Sacrificing his life in battle against an enemy he couldn't win just to buy time and save the people he cared about.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Days pass by so fast. It feels like I'm still that little girl left in the forest, only now I'm trapped in the body of a grown woman. Worst of all, I’ll probably die soon without ever knowing what it’s like to live a normal life." She trembled.

I understood where she was coming from. In my previous life, I spent most of my time at the office and the rest at home reading shounen manga.

It was all pointless. That was why I wasn't so attached to my last life. I would have probably ended up wasting it all doing nothing.

Maybe a big part of me was okay with dying like that. But in this world, I had learned what it meant to be worth something!

With a warm smile I extended my hand towards Ellen. "C'mon now. The Ellen I know wouldn't think crazy things like that. You’re stronger than that!"

She looked up at me and seemed to be about to refute my words. But I didn't let her and continued. "You're supposed to be the annoyingly pretty girl. The one who might’ve been relationship material if not for her shitty personality."

Ellen smiled. "My looks make up for my personality, idiot."

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that," I pulled her up, trying not to agitate her wound.

"Bring me any girl you want, she could never prove to be my equal," she put an arm around my neck and leaned on me. "And anyway, what’s the point of a personality when you have such magnificent D-cups as mine? I’m a 10 out of 10 and you know it."

"10 out of 10 as a fraction equals 1. Do you even know basic math? You just called yourself a 1."

"Says the guy who never even kissed a girl."

"..."

Did she forget she had used her Special Ability on me? The blood loss might be draining her IQ.

Or maybe she didn’t consider that kissing since it was just to use her ability?

...

We arrived at the stadium, and the whole place was crawling with demons, exorcists, and screaming civilians.

Almost every other participant in the Expert Exams was defending the common people. But amongst all the skirmishes, one fight still caught my eye.

Agon was fighting against Mino. The latter opened his coffin, and the mummified corpse came out.

Since the demons had come all the way here, I doubted the rest of the city was doing any better.

Mino would stand no chance in a fair fight against Agon. After all, even if Agon's talent as a warrior was low, the difference in physical power was still huge.

"Attack him!" Mino ordered his corpse servant and pointed at Agon.

"Shit! We're going to have to save your friend!" Ellen yelled out, but I stopped her and touched her shoulder.

"Don't rush in and underestimate the power of Mino just because he is younger," I warned her before she did anything reckless.

The possessed corpse moved immediately, and with an intense speed that even Agon couldn't react to, the monster blitzed in front of him.

Agon put his hands up and winced. But the hit he was expecting never came. The corpse only had his fist ready to throw a punch, yet he didn’t go through with it.

"Huh?" Mino's eyes widened. "Attack him!"

Despite yelling our orders and infusing his words with Ord, nothing worked. But Mino wasn't close-minded and immediately adapted to the circumstances. "Throw a fireball talisman toward the other Exorcists!"

The copse did just that by ripping one of the sealing talismans and throwing it at a group of Exorcists. Amongst them was Anika.

I was too far to do anything. Ellen clapped her hands and her Ord seeped out and fused with a strange demonic energy oozing off the ground.

“{Aphrodite's Harmless Zone!}”

An invisible barrier spread out, and the fireball dissipated into nothingness.

The ground cracked next to Ellen, and a demon poked its head (heads?) out. It looked like two human heads, one male and one female: their necks and heads were twisted together into a rope-like demon.

The Lovers, it was Ellen’s tamed demon.

I could only imagine what horror must have created something like this.

"From now on, your attacks and your hatred are forbidden!" Ellen announced as blood dribbled from the corner of her lip.

Not even a second after she said that, demons halted and fell to the ground like dead flies. Unlike humans, demons harbored a different brand of extreme emotions, especially the ones created by extreme hatred of many humans pooled together and Ellen's ability was like poison to them.

Many of the exorcists in the stadium looked at her with wide eyes, and others smiled.

"Yes! A high-ranking Special Exorcist is here!"

"We are saved!"

"Thank God!"

I didn't know she could use her ability like this. But this was a welcome surprise since demons could be taken out instantly. Sadly, her barrier couldn't extend further than the stadium.

“Corpse! Grab me and run off!” Mino yelled, seeing that the situation was lost. Unlike his other demons, it did not purge his undead servant since it wasn’t the product of a demon but messed up human experimentation and strange techniques.

But the corpse didn’t move, and Mino called out to it. “Hey!-”

Whatever he was about to say next, he stopped as the corpse suddenly punched him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

Then the corpse turned toward Ellen, and within an instant, before she could even react, the corpse was in front of her.

Just by the look in the mummified man’s eyes, I knew it was no longer just a mindless undead.

The man glanced at Agon, and then his gaze returned to Ellen.

“You…” his voice was raspy as if he had drunk nothing for decades. “I know you…”