IDMWE 13

Chapter 13

Several seconds passed, but Leona’s presence still wasn’t felt. Rigan felt an inexplicable anxiety grip his heart and shook his head slightly.

‘It’s just because it’s our first mission… our first battle, and I’m excited. That’s all.’

As he regained his composure, he finally thought of a way to secure his vision.

As he quickly summoned wind with magic, the dust settled in no time.

*Cough, cough*—.

It was at that moment that Leona, covered in stone debris, coughed and revealed herself.

“Leona, are you okay?!”

The angel flapped its wings and quickly flew to Leona.

“Ah, I’m fine. That bastard seemed to have deliberately tried to obscure my vision.”

“…Did you lose the enemy?”

**[Female Character Chaser]: Wow, the class of not even asking if she’s okay and looking for the enemy first…**

**[Corrupted Power Warrior]: Are those two really fated to give birth to a hero? Wait, is this dimension actually okay?**

Rigan frowned at the constellations’ sudden chatter.

Thanks to that, no one, not even Rigan himself, noticed the relieved expression he had worn the moment he confirmed Leona was safe.

Whether Rigan was grumbling or not, Leona was entirely focused on the sudden battle.

She quickly opened her mouth.

“I saw it run deeper into the mine.”

“Then why aren’t you chasing it? Did the explosion scare you so much you got cold feet?”

At Rigan’s words, Leona raised her voice.

“It’s not that! Something feels off!”

Leona was frustrated, unable to explain the unpleasant feeling she kept getting at the back of her head.

‘If I say it’s a ‘hunch,’ that bastard Rigan will definitely mock me.’

She would stake her beloved sword on the fact that he would sneer with that annoying face of his, saying something like, “Ha, did you switch careers from knight to fortune-teller?”

‘But something keeps feeling wrong.’

Leona quickly replayed her confrontation with Todd in her mind.

With the loud *bang* of an explosion, she was pushed back by what felt like a blast of air.

In that moment, as she closed her eyes briefly due to the flying stone dust and opened them again, Leona had made eye contact with Todd.

It was no longer Todd. She didn’t know much about it, but Leona could tell it was something else wearing Todd’s body.

‘That thing’ was clearly watching her.

Then, as if showing off upon being discovered by Leona, it ran deeper into the cave.

“The direction of its escape is strange.”

“What?”

“The path back to the mine entrance was clear. Yet it deliberately chose the path leading deeper into the mine.”

If it went inside, there would be nothing but a dead end, and it would be cornered by Rigan and Leona.

No matter how she thought about it, it was illogical.

“Unless it’s an idiot, it would naturally head outside where there are more escape routes, right?”

“Among humans, there are idiots everywhere, so why would magical beasts be any different?”

Rigan said mockingly.

Somehow, it felt like he was talking about her, and Leona’s temper flared.

“Are you saying you don’t trust me? I told you something feels off!”

Just as Leona was about to die of frustration, Rigan said something completely unexpected.

“Of course, on the flip side, there are also exceptionally smart people everywhere.”

“……?”

“Smart enough to see through the tricks of these vermin!”

*Whoosh*—.

With a single gesture from Rigan, an ice spear was launched in an instant.

The tip of the spear was aimed at the blood-soaked man who had been lying next to Todd earlier.

The man named Jake, who was said to have bullied Todd.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

Leona shouted in surprise at the offensive magic being shot at an unarmed civilian.

But before she could even move, a shocking scene unfolded before her eyes.

The man, who had been lying as if dead, covered in blood, suddenly rose with unbelievable reflexes and dodged Rigan’s magic.

“What is this?”

“It’s a diversion. You haven’t forgotten that the guys we met at the Vatican checkpoint yesterday did the exact same thing, have you?”

“Ah.”

Only then did Leona understand the whole situation.

It was clear that Todd was the bait, and the real one was this Jake.

Jake dodged Rigan’s magic, which was fired several more times in the meantime, with agile movements.

Then he quickly escaped the cavern and started running toward the mine entrance.

“We can’t let this one go! Rigan, handle the people and follow right away! I’m going ahead!”

With that shout, Leona ran after Jake.

“Let’s move together… Damn it.”

Rigan muttered a low curse as he watched Leona, who had already thrown her body into action before he could stop her.

Rigan used telekinesis to lower the workers hanging on the wall and shouted to the angel.

“Angel! Follow Leona!”

The angel, who had been flustered by its first real combat experience, quickly nodded upon hearing that.

“Uh, okay!”

After confirming the angel had moved toward Leona, Rigan cast another spell.

The earth wall spell Rigan cast blocked the gallery with a wall of dirt.

‘This should be enough to not worry about a rear attack.’

Rigan looked toward the mine entrance where Leona had run off.

His hands, rescuing the civilians, unconsciously moved faster.

By that time, Leona had already reached the mine entrance.

As she chased Jake, she passed by the shrine at the entrance.

“The statue…”

Leona’s eyes fell upon the completely transformed statue.

When they had first entered, the area above the neck was still white, but now it was entirely black.

“The demonic contamination of the entire mine has reached its peak!”

The angel, who only knew theory, grasped the situation and shouted.

“Angel, go up! Fly into the sky and see which direction that bastard is heading!”

The angel, as Leona said, rose high into the air and surveyed the direction Jake was heading.

“Toward the pier!”

“Oh no.”

Feeling a sense of foreboding, Leona increased her speed even more.

“Aaaah!”

The moment she arrived at the pier, what she saw was the captain screaming and flying through the air.

Leona focused all her Aether on her lower body, stepped off the pier building, and leaped into the air.

Catching the captain mid-air, she landed on the ground in a stable posture. Then, she set him down and urged him.

“Please stay far away.”

“Ah, ah…”

The captain stammered and started running away with trembling legs.

Leona immediately ran toward the boat’s controls.

“Jake!”

There was Jake, trying to start the boat. Seeing Leona approaching, he smirked and spoke.

“A brat of Sirpion’s? I guess they’re using young girls these days.”

As expected, it was clear that what had taken over Jake’s body was the magical beast they were chasing, a minion of the Demon Lord.

Leona heightened her concentration to the maximum.

If the magical beast escaped here, it would be much harder to find a magical beast that had gone into hiding on the mainland.

“Angel! How do we fight a magical beast?”

“Magical beasts are a race that produces demonic energy by feeding on humans’ negative emotions! And their behavior patterns and attack methods differ depending on which emotion they primarily consume.”

At the angel’s explanation, Leona nodded as if she understood.

“Ah, you’re actually understanding this, right, Leona?”

“Do you think I’m an idiot too, Angel?!”

It was clear that because Rigan went around calling Leona an idiot, it had rubbed off on the angel too.

But Leona was a talented individual who had secured the top position at the academy.

Especially in combat, she had quicker judgment than anyone else, and the Knight Division professors used to describe her as ‘a beast whose intelligence increases when hunting.’

“S-sorry. Anyway, the standard way to deal with a magical beast is to figure out which emotion it feeds on, block it, and slowly wear it down… at least that’s what I know, but…”

“‘At least that’s what I know,’ you say?”

It was a phrase that felt somewhat unreliable.

As Leona frowned and stared, the angel, who had been hesitating, shouted as if wronged.

“I, I’ve only been an avatar for three years! This is my first time seeing a magical beast!”

“Pfft!”

The magical beast, having overheard Leona and the angel’s conversation, burst out laughing.

“I heard the brainwashing on the guys I sent to the mainland was undone, so I came out, and what do I find? A dimwitted girl and a greenhorn moth.”

“Stop calling me ‘girl,’ you beast!”

“Aah, Leona, negative emotions, negative emotions! Calm down!”

The angel, worried that Leona’s anger might amplify the magical beast’s demonic energy, tried to restrain her.

“Kwaha ha, this is like watching a comedy. This body doesn’t deal with such one-dimensional emotions like anger.”

The magical beast possessing Jake’s body said arrogantly.

At that, the angel retorted loudly.

“Liar! It’s just a low-level beast that can only transform into a pebble, so it can’t absorb big emotions like anger!”

At that, the magical beast was provoked.

“What nonsense! I am the Demon Lord’s faithful henchman, the ‘Magical Beast of Shame,’ who handles the most base and embarrassing emotions of humans!”

“…Wouldn’t the Magical Beast of Anger be better than the ‘Magical Beast of Shame’?”

Hmm, are the standards of magical beasts different from humans? Leona tilted her head.

At that sight, the magical beast’s face flushed red and purple.

“How dare you mock me! I’ll show you just how terrifying shame can be!”

With a loud shout, viscous demonic energy burst from the magical beast’s body as if about to explode.

*Thud*.

At the same time, Jake’s body, which the beast had been controlling, fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Leona quickly caught the falling Jake, and her gaze fell upon the churning sea behind the boat.

“This is bad! It looks like the beast has returned to its true form!”

At the angel’s cry-filled voice, Leona’s nerves sharpened further.

The sea surface churned wildly, and something gigantic began to rise. The boat Leona was on rocked as if it would capsize. Grasping the gunwale to avoid falling, Leona saw the constellations’ messages appear before her eyes.