Carpy used water blades to cut up all the undead demons grabbing onto me. He had a special talent for this kind of thing. Was I worried that he had become too skilled at cutting things up? Yeah, a bit.

When I first picked Carpy, he was just a tool, maybe a pet at best. But after being together for quite a while and saving each other countless times, a part of me wished he could somehow end up living a happy life. Although I knew that was a foolish and selfish wish on my part.

I didn't mind risking my life if there were enough rewards in it, but when it came to the lives of those close to me, especially Carpy, who had the mental age of a kid, it was a different matter. However, he was indispensable and a large part of my strength.

As the cursed sword I had thrown pierced the math demon, it stumbled and fell to the ground, and the weapon moved by itself to rip the demon apart. But after that, the demons were no longer afraid of friendly fire and charged me head-on.

“Carpy, this time we will do it without the help of my special ability,” I said.

Carpy nodded, and I sensed his anxiety. I was feeling the same way, even though I knew everything should be okay.

{Metamorphosis}

When I wasn't using Perfect Me, the fusion between a human and their demon was rough. Even as I tried to copy what I had felt, it was an audacious process that hurt as our flesh melded together.

Shit! This was too hard to hold on to! Every second took too much concentration to keep us from separating!

Despite the daunting task, as the demons approached, I shot out water blades. Some of the demons dodged them, while others fell. I tried to pull the water onward and drown everyone in a water sphere. However, despite my efforts, the water barely moved when I tried to control it in such quantities. This was another stark realization; water control was just an ability that I was borrowing. While Perfect Me used water control better than even Carpy, it wasn't something I was familiar with using.

So I returned to what I was familiar with and shot water blades in droves, attacking at such a wide range that it would be impossible for the average demon to dodge. My control slipped away bit by bit, and I used the water blade attacks as a cover screen while I backed off. The other exorcists came to my side and covered for me. Finally, Carpy and I separated, and I immediately fell to my knees as almost all my Ord was drained. Dark clouds appeared in front of my eyes, and I felt light-headed.

This wasn't a good time to pass out.

I bit my tongue, and the pain kept me awake.

"The fusion barely lasted ten seconds. Not bad for a first time," I muttered under my breath so Carpy could hear me. He had the bad habit of getting depressed about the smallest things, so I wanted to encourage him without directly telling him that it was okay.

This experience had opened my eyes to what a ridiculous level Perfect Me pushed things. It would take years, and maybe even decades of training to reach that level naturally.

Fwish! Suddenly, Carpy raised a water barrier, but the attack was an invisible wind blade that cut through the barrier and hit me in the chest. I looked toward the attacker and saw a floating demon with humanoid appearance, red skin, and two small horns.

Carpy immediately shot water blades at the demon, but they were useless. The demon had his eyes set on me, and his gaze was filled with unbridled hatred.

Oh? Had I killed someone dear to him? Yeah, demons might be monsters, but it didn't mean they couldn't form bonds.

But none of that mattered as Chariot suddenly jumped at the flying demon, and they clashed mid-air. In a couple of seconds, the demon was cut in half from the top of his head to the groin.

Chariot showed her power as a Special Exorcist, ranked as the 7th strongest. She killed high-class demons like they were nothing.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

...

A couple of hours later, the battle ended in humanity's overwhelming victory. The Moon Exorcist had trapped all the demons with a large barrier, and none could escape as Chariot slaughtered them.

I watched from the sidelines, too fatigued to participate in the massacre. But I couldn't help but laugh. "Hahahahaha!"

Some people looked at me weirdly and whispered amongst themselves. They may have thought that I was weird for laughing at demons getting helplessly slaughtered, but I didn't care! Despite my injuries, I was still in a jovial mood!

Humanity won a battle! Something that had never happened originally!

I took one of the healing potions I had stolen and drank it, healing my wound somewhat. Even the stinging pain in my chest or the sensation of worms crawling under my skin as the healing potion took effect couldn't ruin my mood!

"Do you think he went crazy?" Gem whispered to Bets as they approached. I knew the asshole knew that I could hear him. It was easy to tell by the annoying smirk on Gem's face.

But I was in too much of a good mood to care and went to hug my teammates. "I'm glad you guys came out of this okay."

Later on, a funeral was held for the fallen. As an Elite Exorcist, I attended to my comrades who had lost their lives in battle. The bodies of Junior and Senior Exorcists were thrown into carriages and carried away, while Expert Exorcists were put into body bags at least. For the few Elite Exorcists who had fallen, they were already put into coffins with their names engraved on them.

It was clear how little attention was put into the corpses of the lower-ranked exorcists. But as the carriages rode away, some were buried with a funeral. Whether it was low or high rank, I bowed toward the graves and thanked them all from the bottom of my heart.

Even if many might look at their deaths as useless fodder. Their lives had given me hope for the future, I could make a difference!

***

Unlike those who celebrated after the battle, Sei was on the furthest outskirts of the camp, alone. He manifested a small mirror and attempted to move his hand through it.

Ever since his fight with the four-armed demon, Sei had realized there was much he didn't know about his special ability. A part of him feared that it wasn't solely a product of his special ability but also influenced by the inhuman side of his family. The thought of demonic blood running through his veins and contaminating his ability made him feel nauseous.

"No, that can't be!" Sei clenched his fists and dispelled the mirror after withdrawing his hand.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the party pooper," Chariot emerged from behind a tree, smiling mischievously as she licked her lips while observing Sei's discomfort.

"What do you want?" Sei asked cautiously. He didn't want to provoke a mentally unstable Special Exorcist. From what he had seen of their kind so far, it was harder to find a sane Special Exorcist than an insane one.

"That's not how you talk to a lady," Chariot chided as she whispered in his ear, "Your special ability - inside the mirror world - does time move differently?"

A chill ran through Sei's heart, and he felt uneasy. "I don't know," he responded truthfully. All his tests had shown that to be the case, but he still wasn't entirely sure.

Although he was impressed that Chariot had deduced this about his ability after such a brief exposure, he knew that every Special Exorcist was a monster in their own right.

"Hmmm... Your wording is evasive, like you're trying to deceive any special ability or magical item that can detect lies," Chariot observed, with a nonchalant smile. However, Sei wasn't sure how much of her nonchalance was a façade. "But I rely on my instincts to determine if someone is lying."

'That's not very reliable,' Sei wanted to refute, but he kept silent.

"Do you know what my instincts are telling me right now?" Chariot whispered in his ear. "That you're lying~"

Sei swallowed nervously, and then confessed, "Inside the mirror, time doesn't move slower or faster. But from what I have seen so far, it moves at random intervals, or at least I haven't been able to find a pattern yet."

Chariot frowned, and Sei's heart sank. A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek.

The truth seemed to have soured her mood!

"Learn to control your special ability," Chariot complained, then let go of him.

As she began to walk away, Sei couldn't resist asking, "Wait, why did you want to know about my special ability?"

Chariot turned around, her smile blooming brightly, which looked odd on her. "I'm trying to get back into top shape quickly. The time has come for humans to kill ultimate-class demons; they're no longer invincible monsters. To accomplish this, I need to hunt one of those creatures on my own, which means I must return to my peak condition... and perhaps go even further."