While flying with Carpy, my mind wandered to various thoughts, particularly about my own strength and potential for growth. It was disheartening to admit, but unless I physically aged, there seemed to be limited room for advancement through training alone.

Perfect Me had pushed my training to its limits, and I had achieved more progress in a year than others might in several. As for Kon, he was undoubtedly talented, but ultimately just a second-rate bully character. His purpose wasn't to be strong.

I already possessed a cursed blade, and Carpy was on his way to becoming high class. I couldn't think of many ways to further enhance my strength.

There were those rare "enlightenment" moments where individuals experienced significant growth, but they were uncontrollable and typically triggered by purely selfish actions.

What selfish action did I want to take? I had no desire to engage in criminal activities like stealing; I had enough money already.

Perhaps confessing my feelings to a crush? I didn't have one in this life. However, I used to have a crush on Ellen when I was reading the Manga, but meeting her in real life was just… ugh.

Well, that was no longer an option, and honestly, she seemed rather dull compared to the women in this world.

Most of the goals I had in my previous life didn't align with this one. Climbing the corporate ladder or witnessing the ending of One Piece were no longer feasible.

The only remaining goal might be to attempt writing a book, though I was more of a reader myself. I wasn't sure how well my reading skills would translate into writing.

It was akin to assuming someone could be adept at adult activities simply by watching adult videos.

Okay, that was a horrible analogy.

I didn't have the time to write a book anyway. And what would I even write about? Perhaps I could plagiarize something from my previous world and incorporate elements from this one. Although, with monsters and Ord being commonplace here, I doubted a fantasy story would be well-received.

Maybe it was misguided to focus on doing something I enjoyed solely for the sake of gaining power. After all, something I loved could easily become a mere task I had to complete for more power. Which wouldn’t give me a boost.

I needed to sit down and genuinely pursue an activity for its own sake. Ord was a vexing power—it had its limits and imperfections, with plenty of loopholes that kids could exploit to create overpowered abilities. However, it was also flawless in its own way, devoid of any loopholes.

…

Returning to the camp proved to be a surprisingly safe journey. Unlike a certain someone, it seemed I didn't have to face an enemy at every turn.

However, my return was marred by an unpleasant encounter. Delia, wearing a sharp-toothed grin, greeted me. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite cousin?"

Considering I was her only cousin, that didn't hold much weight. "If you're here to discuss the offer again, I decline."

"No, no," she glanced at my missing eye. "First, you wear glasses, which I thought was just a teenage phase. Then you slick back your hair, ditch the glasses, and now you're missing an eye. It seems you go through quite a few phases, don't you? Is this your latest emo phase?"

Why was she here? I thought my family had already cut ties with me, treating me as if I were dead.

Usually, I would engage in banter with her, but I was exhausted—tired of it all. I was also annoyed that I couldn't simply abandon everything and pursue my own desires.

When I first arrived in this world, I longed to explore, experience new things, and savor exotic cuisine. There was still so much of this vast world left unexplored—barely 0.1% of it had been traversed.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Yet I had to resist such temptations, for indulging in them would mean forsaking humanity to face destruction, resulting in the very world I yearned to explore being annihilated.

Part of me was repulsed by the family I was born into. To the extent that I had considered severing ties with them and their morally corrupt business. However, I knew that even if I took that step, another clan would fill the void. The world was not lacking in such unscrupulous factions.

I had no inkling of my clan's current machinations. But given their actions and the fact that they continued to keep tabs on me despite their disavowals, it was evident that I held a significant role in their plans.

Well, if they intended to exploit me, I would exploit them in return. "Delia, could you arrange for someone from the clan to contact Ellen?"

"..." She stared at me, silent for a moment before finally sighing. "Listen, I understand you miss your lover, but now might not be the best time-"

"Tell her Kon said to go to the southern depths of her heart; there, she will find the demon that will vanquish her weakness."

By now, 'that' demon should have settled there. Either that or I had disrupted the timeline enough for even such events to become entangled. Hopefully, Ellen would be able to acquire that demon and attain the level of power required for the Ultimate Class. This would also enable The Lovers' demon to complete its final stages of evolution.

I wasn't sure if I could trust someone as emotionally volatile as Ellen. She seemed like a moody teen trapped in a sexy woman's body.

But among all the Special Exorcists, her demon's developing ability was the best counter I knew of against Shuten Doji. I needed her now that Shuten Doji wasn't attacking.

In the original timeline, he had attacked quite early on and essentially destroyed all human resistance in about two weeks. However, for some reason, he was being cautious this time. If he had attacked as he had originally, he would have probably succeeded just like before. But a bit later, when I had my hands on Sei and Temperance, Sei could use his teleportation ability to allow Temperance to touch Shuten Doji.

That had been my plan to deal with the mad demon in case he showed up.

Admittedly, it wasn't a foolproof plan and could have gone wrong in many ways. But it was the best I could come up with given the circumstances.

"My son! My beautiful son! What happened to your eye?!" A woman crashed into me like a rocket. With tears streaming down her face, my mother hugged me tightly and examined my missing eye.

People had already been stealing glances at me before my mother's arrival, but now they stared openly.

I smiled and waved at them, causing everyone to look away in fear. Then I hugged my mother and reassured her. "Don't worry, Mom. An eye can be fixed."

I didn't know much about her, but she was the kindest among the clan and genuinely cared for others. It was a miracle to find someone like her in a clan like ours.

However, my reassurances seemed to fall on deaf ears as she continued sobbing about my eye. I understood that discovering your child with a missing eye would be shocking and alarming. Yet, as an exorcist, one shouldn't panic over injuries like this.

Look at Delia, for instance. The first thing she did after seeing my missing eye was crack a joke. Truly cold and heartless, that bitch.

My mother cried until my shirt was soaked. How many tears could a human hold?

Before I turned into a wet dog, I intervened. "Mother, I can heal a missing eye, so don't worry too much about it."

It would be troublesome to find someone with the ability to heal eyes. Typically, individuals with such healing abilities have strict limitations, often specializing in specific areas. Fortunately, I knew of someone with precisely that ability in a small village that Sei and Agon hadn't visited yet. In the original story, Sei was destined to lose both eyes due to an Eye-Popping Demon, but this presented a perfect opportunity for a solution.

The storyline revolved around a tragic event, a massacre in a war that took place long ago, where an entire army suffered mutilation as their eyes were gouged out.

"Yeah, Auntie," Delia interjected, patting my mother on the back. "There's no need to worry. We can use your unique ability and find a skilled surgeon."

What?

My mother, being an exorcist, possessing a special ability seemed plausible. However, I never anticipated that someone within our clan would possess a healing ability. Nevertheless, it made sense since even cliché evil clans required someone to aid in their healing processes.

Suddenly, the air grew stagnant as a demon emerged from my mother's shadow, as if sensing her emotional distress. It resembled a giant grape, albeit with human heads instead of grape buds.

I looked at my mother and let out a sigh. It appeared that my belief in her being one of the few good people within the clan had been mistaken.

I knew this demon!