I couldn't believe my eyes as I laid my eyes on a group of people who I never thought I would find together. Two of them were the big-nosed guy whom I had spared in the Expert Exams, and the Warrior of the same team who was almost as big as Bets. The big-nosed guy had the special ability to turn his boogers into iron balls, which was a pretty gross ability. The Warrior, on the other hand, had the ability to harden his Ord to become as strong as diamonds for as long as he was immobile and closed his eyes.

However, the last person was a geeky-looking girl with glasses that were too big for her face, an oversized shirt, and peach-colored hair. There was an air of nervousness about her, and she seemed like the kind of person who would be scared of even her own shadow. She was Wilhelimina, or Velma for short, but most others knew her by another title, Temperance, the 14th Special Exorcist. Her special ability, named Unimportant Background, could stop anyone from using their Ord as soon as she touches them. Of course, as an absolute condition, she wouldn't be able to use Ord herself while the ability was in effect.

While her power hypothetically worked even against ultimate class demons, it wasn’t so powerful in reality. Because if one couldn't use Ord, then it would turn into a physical strength contest against their opponent. Without even mentioning demons like Yamata No Orochi, who released deadly residual poison, even demons like Uwabami could decapitate her with a slap because of the differences in physical power. Moreover, due to her being a famous exorcist, most knew of her ability, making long-range her significant weakness.

Despite all these weaknesses, she was still indispensable for the plan the higher-ups had to deal with Shuten Doji. As long as she could touch him and disable his inner energy, there were other exorcists who could take care of him with dangerous one-target abilities.

"How did someone like her survive on her own?" asked Anika, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. She had every right to be suspicious, since it was hard to believe that she had survived Uwabami’s rampage without a combative special ability. Glancing at the two people accompanying Velma, Anika could no doubt sense that these two weren't strong enough to handle high-class demons roaming around these parts.

I decided to stay on the sidelines to observe Velma's reaction. She acted just as scared and nervous as she looked.

"Oh, it's you!" the big-nosed guy exclaimed, pointing at me. He nudged his friends. "Remember during the Expert Exams, on the train? He's the guy who spared us."

The other guy winced; it seemed that the train part of the exam wasn't a good memory. I approached them and apologized to the big guy. "Sorry for slashing you from hip to neck."

I could feel Sei's and Anika's gaze on my back, probably with judgmental looks on their faces.

"Nah, don't worry!" the big-nosed guy said. "You spared us when we were going for the kill, so no hard feelings. You even saved our lives in the end."

The diamond guy seemed uncomfortable, but he sighed and ended up nodding. "Yeah, he's right. We owe you one for showing mercy."

We exchanged some friendly greetings, but my attention was on Velma. She was like a mouse in the corner and didn't seem to want to speak to us. She even went as far as hiding behind the muscular diamond guy.

At least it seemed like I hadn't saved some assholes. While Velma was dangerous in her own right, based on her appearance, she seemed like a perfect victim for those with less-than-reputable mindsets, especially here where even if they did anything, no one would know.

But despite her appearance, she was dangerous. So I asked her new team, "Guys, you do know that she is a Special Rank Exorcist, right?"

"Huh?" the big-nosed guy looked at me confused, then turned back to the girl and his eyes widened. But they narrowed again, and he hummed before finally exclaiming. "Holy shit! I remember you from that magazine!"

Took him long enough. How was he an exorcist if he couldn’t recognize the Special Exorcists? It seemed like the Agon and Gem duo would become a trio soon.

Even the diamond guy was looking at his teammate weirdly. It seemed like he already knew who she was and had assumed his teammate did too.

One guy was missing from their team. "Where’s the yo-yo guy?"

At that, the big-nosed guy looked down and sighed. "Sadly, he passed away on one of the missions after the Expert Exams. He even reached a stage where he could create and control one yo-yo for each finger. But we met with a high-class demon, and he stayed behind to buy us time."

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Ah, shit, I ruined the mood. I'd better change the subject. "Anyway, how did you guys meet Temperance and end up here?"

***

Anika listened in on the conversation between two strangers discussing how they had met Temperance. She couldn't believe how the situation was playing out.

What surprised her most, despite everything else, was how Kon had managed to make friends in the Expert Exam, where generations-long grudges were often created. Participants would kill each other's teammates, and some would even stand behind to buy time for their friends. Yet, somehow, Kon had gone in there and made friends with the people who had tried to kill him.

She stood by the sidelines and observed as the two people Kon had apparently fought to the death with became quick friends. The big-nosed guy even demonstrated his ability to turn his buggers into iron balls, which was gross!

Feeling out of place, Anika searched for the only other person who seemed like her and found the meek girl also standing at the back of the room, staring at the group. Feeling like she had found a comrade, Anika approached her and offered her hand. "Hello there, I am Anika of the Raion Clan."

The girl jumped as if surprised and meekly looked at Anika. "H-Hi…"

Temperance got up and extended her hand towards Anika's. But before they could shake hands, the girl stumbled and face-planted onto the floor.

Anika stood frozen, unable to believe her eyes. 'Did she just trip on air?'

How could someone be so clumsy? How was someone like this a Special Exorcist?!

Anika had a certain view of Special Exorcists. They were rare exorcists who were considered badass, fearless, and had powerful special abilities. But the girl in front of her was nothing like that!

Temperance got up and stumbled around as she tried to find her glasses that had rolled away.

"Ah, no, I can't see!" She was touching the ground, trying to find the glasses that were just beside her knee. Anika felt a shock of excitement pass through her body when she saw this. Instincts she had thought long forgotten had woken up again.

An urge to bully this girl washed over her, but Anika shook her head and dismissed such strange thoughts. Instead, she approached the girl and offered her glasses. "Here-"

Fwish! The sound of a sword cutting through the air rang out, and Anika saw a reflection of herself on the sword before she could even react. The blade was going for her neck. "Huh?"

Within an instant she understood that even summoning her Ord, she would be too slow. Was this it? Was this how she was going to die?

Her breath quickened and she felt panic and fear rumbling through her body. All of this happened in a split second. But before she could be decapitated, Anika felt someone grab her from her neck and pull her back, missing the sword by a hair.

"Oy, don't tell me you were careless around a Special Rank Exorcist?" Kon's disappointed voice was the only thing Anika heard that told her that she was still alive.

Anika rubbed her own neck, and felt a small scratch there as warm blood spilled through. She didn't feel like she was dying, but it had been infinitely close!

"Ugh, can't believe I got so slow!" Temperance, the once timid girl stood up, there was a confident air about her and she seemed like a completely different person. "Does this bitch ever train? What a lazy cow!"

Kon sighed, and looked at Anika with disappointment in his eyes. "Be careful next time, after a certain ranking, Special Exorcists are complete weirdos. You usually need to be fucked up in the head somehow to have your Ord reach that level."

The Temperance Exorcist stood up, and straightened her back. "My back hurts too, this girl always has horrible posture."

"Can you put on your glasses and return to your normal self?" Kon asked.

When she heard that, the Temperance Exorcist glanced at him and narrowed her eyes. "Who the heck are you?"

Anika was very confused by this. But Kon seemed to know something as he smiled and said. "Nice to meet you, Number 7, the Chariot Exorcist."

When she heard that, Anika's heart almost stopped. A Special Rank Exorcist was already rare enough, as shown how her clan despite being one of the major clans didn't have someone with that rank.

Yet even amongst them, those of the Top 10 were a different breed of monsters. It wouldn't necessarily be wrong to say that they were people who had surpassed what should be normally possible for a human. Each of them was a freak in their own way.

Kon glanced around, and Anika followed his gaze. Everyone had tensed up and their Ord simmered; they were ready for a fight. But they still had looks in their eyes that said they had no idea what was happening. Yet, everyone could feel the danger in the air.

As Kon started to explain, Anika listened intently. "Temperance is the 14th ranked Special Exorcist," he began, "but when she takes off her glasses, another personality takes over, and she becomes Chariot, the 7th ranked Special Exorcist."

Just as Kon was about to continue, Carpy approached and interrupted them.

"A demon is approaching," Carpy said nervously, his usually confident demeanor replaced with fear. Anika couldn't help but dismiss Carpy's fear as a result of his middle-class status. He must have been intimidated by a more powerful demon.

However, when she turned to look at Kon, he had turned pale and a bead of sweat had formed on his cheek.