Scene

The door creaked open with audible noise and Alvin entered with caution. It was obvious that Alvin was hesitant when he was talking to the woman over the other side of the phone. It was because he knew what kind of family was this. A single mistake and Alvin might lose his life with a single flick of a finger.

"Fuu..." He sighed in deep caution, repeatedly glancing to his surroundings for potential attacks, and after a while, he was standing in front of the mansion's huge and grand door.

Knock knock!

He knocked at the door softly.

"Coming." A sound of a female, most probably going through her teens, called out from inside.

Creak!

The doorknob turned and the door opened.

A beautiful girl appeared in front of Alvin, her face flawless at first glance.

"Good evening, Lady Elena."

"Good evening, Mr Alvin."

Both of them bowed and exchanged greetings.

"Please follow me. Mother is waiting for you." Elena gently said and turned around.

Alvin walked silently and his eyes followed the grandly dressed girl who was walking in front of him. Though her dress was like a royalty's, it didn't hide the scars and burned marks on her body.

"Mr Alvin." Elena suddenly spoke up and turned towards Alvin.

"Yes?" Alvin kept calm and stared straight into her incredulously apathetic eyes which were practically screaming the desire for revenge. The previously wrinkle-less face turned into full of wrinkles.

'Seems like the beautifying magic wears off when she is mad.'

"Did the association find any leads on the Demon?"

Her voice was stone cold, and lumps of mana were leaking out of her body in rage.

"..." Alvin stayed silent.

"Why are you not saying anything?" Her voice shot threats to Alvin. But he didn't flinch in front of her dead eyes and hatred-filled tone.

"... no. Fortunately, we still don't have any leads on him."

"... fortunately?" Her voice drooped even colder and so did the temperature of their surrounding.

Freezing mana slipped from her body and her eyes showed clear contempt.

"Please calm down, Lady Elena. I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean?" Her rage was still on full volume.

"I meant that he was fortunate that he was still not caught by us, or else he would have to face something that is too much greater than his nightmare, that is, Lady Elena's wraith."

"Oh… is that so?" Her face made a 180 as she recovered her previous demeanour.

The statement was simple, and also stupid to some extent. But Elena was a girl raised like a princess to monopolize and rule over everything. In simple words, if something didn't go her way, then she could turn the Tower upside down, of course, not literally.

And to suppress her raging desire, all it took was flattery. Otherwise, Alvin would not be standing alive at the moment, not because of Elena though. Elena was nowhere near Alvin in terms of combat. If Elena's battle prowess were like a flooding stream, then Alvin's was like a raging sea. But the main problem was her mother, Ash Kleine, who was also known as Duchess for her overpowering acts.

If something happened to Elena- even a single scratch- then she could really turn the Tower upside down if there were no restraints. But fortunately, there were.

They started on their way again, with Elena on the lead and Alvin behind her.

Knock knock!

Elena knocked at a grand door, even grander than the mansion's door. It was obvious that it was the Duchess' room.

Creak…

A butler with old hair and a wrinkled face greeted then beyond the door.

"Madam Duchess is waiting for you, Mr Alvin."

He entered after Elena. A venting figure on a rocking chair entered Alvin's vision as soon as he entered. Her beautiful curves could make densest of the densest men melt. Her enticing pink lips could make anyone- male and female both- for them. Her chest bulging out seducing could force men to act like a dog. And as if that was not enough, her cleavage seemed to attract the irises every time.

His breathing stopped for a moment when the eyes of the person on the chair fell on him. Her piercing gaze seemed to drill a hole in his soul. The royal ambience she gave off seemed to make his existence seem smaller than an ant. The Duchess was in front of Alvin.

But Alvin still kept his calm, just like how he practised before coming here.

"Good evening, Madam Duchess." Alvin bowed politely.

"Mm." The Duchess didn't bother to answer his greeting. That's how insignificant the Second in Command of the Chaser Association was in front of the Duchess.

"Please take a seat, Mr Alvin." The butler said with courtesy and showed Alvin his seat. He walked up to his seat and sat stiffly in a dilemma.

"So…" The Duchess spoke up, staring straight into Alvin's flickering eyes.

"... why have you come here?"

At that moment, Alvin snapped out of his dilemma and recalled his main motive.

"Yes. I am here to ask for some details about the Demon."

"What will the Chaser Association do after knowing the details?"

"Of course, we will give our all to catch the Demon. Madam Duchess was the last on our list. And after this, we would have plenty of information about the Demon."

Tak!

The Duchess tapped the table in front of her with her index finger with seemingly little force, but the result of that tap was overwhelming. The table split in two with just a light tap. Alvin was forced to remember again the unreachable lump of pure strength sitting in front of him.

"How can I believe you lot?" Her cold voice seemed to ring out throughout the whole mansion.

Alvin's soul shook but he still forced himself to put up a reassuring smile.

"Please don't worry. We will surely catch him."

The Duchess made a worried face.

"Oh, is that so?" The pressure seemed to lower down a bit.

"Yes. So if we could start..."

"Haa…" She let out a tired sigh and called her daughter.

Elena trotted towards her and took a seat next to her mother.

"Okay, let's start then."

Alvin took out a notebook and flicked his finger, and from out of nowhere, a pen appeared in his hands.

"First, please tell me everything you know about the Demon, Ken."

Elena's face contorted when she heard the name for a moment, but she quickly regained her previous look.

"Yes. Ken was my classmate. We were always in the same class but he always stayed quiet and never tried to approach anyone…"

She kept on telling the tale and Alvin kept on noting the things.

***

"Whenever we tried to speak with him, he avoided us and sometimes made vulgar signs…"

"Wow… What a blatant lie…"

I was genuinely surprised at how the princess lied. It was so natural and fluid that if I didn't know her true nature, then I would have believed every single word she spat.

<How are you doing?>

"Barely holding myself from barging in. I don't want to die an early death."

<So how are you going to kill her?>

"Since I am not a fan of torture, I will give her a typical death. I am just going to take off her hands and legs and gouge out her eyes."

<... and you say you are not a fan of torture.>

"Does that count as torture?"

I don't think so.

<Haa…>

Lan let out an exasperated sigh and went silent.

I continued to eavesdrop on them.

For the record, I was not found out until now because of my mana. My mana was different from the mana the fuckin' bitch bestowed on humans who entered the Tower. My mana was Arte or demonic power, in my case. The Potential-bearers could only sense the mana they possess, that is, the normal mana that surrounded us, and they could only use that mana. But since I was exposed to the normal mana for far too long, my body adapted to the normal mana, and now I could use that mana too by converting it into Arte. In simple words, I could use both manas and sense both manas, while they could not.

And that was how I sneaked into this heavily guarded mansion.

"I see…"

The guy, whose name I believed was Alvin spoke up with a satisfied face. But the years of honed senses and experiences dealing with people's emotions and my own made me see through his facade. He was faking satisfaction.

"Is that it, Mr Alvin?"

The Duchess asked in an imposing tone. To be honest, I was taken aback by her. Her beauty was mesmerizing, I admit, but that didn't stimulate my senses in any way. But it was her strength that rubbed inside me. She was like a giant peak. The sense of defeat and fear began to sink in me when I observed her more keenly. Of course, this feeling was temporary, but that feeling again opened my eyes. I saw it again. I saw it again that I was just a speck of dust in this vast universe of powerful beings, and above them were the transcendental beings, also known as the Divine beings.

… I had to catch up and surpass them if I want to exact my revenge.

"Yes, Madam Duchess. That is all we need."

Alvin got up and bowed before walking towards the door, and he left, leaving Elena and the Duchess alone.

"Good. Now we can catch that Demon or whatever who hurt my daughter. I still can't understand why he did that… there is no way my daughter would have done anything!" The Duchess grumbled loudly in annoyance and I listened to her words with clenching teeth. It was obvious that she was speaking loudly on purpose to clear off any suspicion Alvin had on her until his footsteps grew fader and fader before disappearing.

...

A silent wave of mana swept past me. She was probably checking if Alvin was out of the mansion or not.

Then she spoke up.

"That trash should have accepted his fate. He was going to die anyway, why did he even bother to take the hard route?"

… I was spot on. She knew what her daughter had done at that time.

She looked at her apathetic daughter.

"Just wait Demon. We will make you lick our feet and make you our slave."

Elena's lips curled and formed a disgusting grin.

"Yes, mother. We WILL make him our slave… hehe…"

My blood boiled at their remarks. But I soon calmed down. The time of her death was near and I could not waste the golden opportunity which was going to show itself in a bit.

Both of them chuckled and Elena got up to go out of her room.

"Heh."

The opportunity was right before my eyes now.

'Duchess, you are going to despair now.'

***