Lobelia frowned as she grabbed the “Kars Background Investigation Report” from the crystal table nearby.
She had already looked at it countless times, but the sections that should have been filled with information were mostly vast stretches of white space.
Origin: Unknown; Experience: Stood trial in Lothric City after becoming an E-rank Adventurer, other history unknown; Age: Estimated to be sixteen…
This resume was as clean as the girl’s face, and just as deceptive.
“Ha, an E-rank Priest who fell from the sky. Not even the Church’s intelligence network can find a single trace of her…”
She sneered, and a vibrant pink flame ignited in her palm, instantly turning the report in her hand to ash.
“The cleaner it is, the more suspicious it becomes.”
The young woman looked up, a confident smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Even though the clues she could get her hands on were still muddled and confusing, she had already completely locked onto Kars’s true identity.
An unknown origin, a deliberate attempt to get close to Gray, the way she showed off her “miracles” in public to make Gray and Eimi lower their guard, and that exaggerated combat power…
‘Ha, you can fool Gray, Eimi, and even Ingram, but you can’t fool me, Lobelia!’
“Did the Military Department think everyone in the Church was a dove like the Archbishop or Eimi?”
Lobelia snorted coldly.
In her mind, she had already tightly linked the label of “Senior Spy Sent by the Military Department” to Kars.
She did not know where those madmen at the Military Department had found a little wench who could actually make the Goddess shed tears, but as long as she could expose her true identity and capture her, nothing would stand in the way of her becoming the youngest Cardinal in history!
***
While Lobelia was plotting, Kars herself did not care at all that two former members of the Dawn Blade were curious about her.
She was still immersed in the satisfaction of being able to stretch her muscles and fight a major battle for the first time since entering the Human Realm.
“That light ball of mine just now—poof—it blinded that Twilight Beast so badly it couldn’t even open its eyes!”
A few minutes ago, after the Black Crow Squad had resolved the third wave of the monster horde, they had found a second campfire where they could rest.
The girl sat in a standard “duck sit” pose, cross-legged on the laid-out fur blanket without any regard for her image, excitedly recounting the recent battle while gesturing with her hands.
Beside her, Gray was counting the supplies and checking the status of their injuries.
“We have four bottles of high-level Healing Potion left, one bottle of Leaping Potion, and one bottle of Calcium Potion. We also have two bottles each of Ironskin, Haste, Vitality, Mana, Rage, and Regeneration potions.”
Gray closed the backpack and asked with some concern, “Miss Kars, are you sure you aren’t injured? You were surrounded by several Twilight Beasts at the very end.”
“I should be the one asking you that, Mr. Gray.”
Kars cleared her throat, switching from her excited combat mode back into the gentle and considerate little Priest.
“Mr. Gray handled most of the Gygoyles and Twilight Beasts. Do you have any wounds that need deep treatment?”
As she spoke, the girl braced her hands on the ground and slowly crawled toward Gray like a little kitten.
“If you need it, I can help you check—mgh!?”
Before he could react, the young man subconsciously turned his gaze toward her.
His eyes passed straight through the collar of the nun habit, which was slightly too large for Kars.
A mountain needn’t be high to be divine, and a valley needn’t be deep to have…
A crimson blush rapidly climbed onto Gray’s cheeks.
He quickly turned his head away, feeling his heart rate nearly match the speed of his Breathing Technique during battle.
‘As such a cute girl, Miss Kars is a bit too defenseless, isn’t she? Has she never been taught about this before?’
“M-Miss Kars, your dress…”
“Huh?”
The girl followed Gray’s blushing finger and looked down, only to realize that a large portion of her snowy white skin was exposed due to her bent-over posture.
Her initial reaction was also one of embarrassment, but she immediately realized this was a great opportunity to tease Gray.
Seeing how cool this guy had acted earlier made her hands itch.
Since she couldn’t go all out in combat without risking her identity, she could only settle the score in ways like this.
“Does Mr. Gray mean that your spirit has been wounded, so you need me to take off some clothes to heal you? I’ve seen that kind of treatment in certain black-and-white manga…”
As Kars spoke, she began to unbutton her top.
Gray quickly reached out to grab her hand to stop her, then let go as if he had been electrocuted.
“That’s not what I meant! From my angle, that posture would reveal Miss Kars’s—”
“Reveal my what?”
She looked like she truly understood nothing, tapping her finger against her lip as she tilted her head, watching Gray struggle to find the word.
“Y-Your body…”
The girl blinked, then showed an expression of sudden realization.
“So Mr. Gray is shy because you don’t want my body to be exposed. You’re such a good teammate. Good boy! Then, as the Captain, I definitely have to give you a reward.”
Kars used a Headpat Kill on Gray.
It was super effective against the single viewers in the live-stream.
[I seriously need to know how to join this squad.]
[Mommy, mommy, mommy, pet me too, pet me too!]
[Wait, isn’t this ‘Small Child Driving a Large Car’? I want to be driven by a five-foot-three blonde loli too!]
Watching Gray turn his back to try and calm down, and seeing the screen of the live-stream drone flooded with comments, Kars felt a sense of accomplishment.
‘If those former comrades of mine could see me now, they would definitely be shocked. I’m not just dealing physical damage; I’m using my own way to weaken the Hero’s fighting spirit!’
Using a cute face to confuse Humans and making people green with envy—these “evil deeds” were perfectly fitting for her status as a member of the Demon Race!
On second thought, this line of thinking seemed more like the specialty of the Succubus department.
And the Blood Demons… didn’t she tease them before?
‘Since one drop of essence is worth ten drops of blood, does that make a Succubus a high-rank Blood Demon?’
She had been wanted by those blood-sucking guys for a while after that, hadn’t she?
Cough, she was getting sidetracked.
Kars tucked away her smile, and her gaze became a bit more serious.
Since they had already come this deep, she should focus on the task at hand.
On that old schemer Mammon’s territory, how was she supposed to kill him?
The girl’s azure eyes darted around.
In the shadows where no one was looking, her pupils briefly reverted to the vertical slits of the Demon Race for a single moment.
Although the Church and Eimi had not revealed to Gray how they planned to kill Mammon, Kars, being a fellow Calamity Pillar, could more or less guess.
Low-level members of the Demon Race and Magical Beasts like Goblins and Slimes maintained their lives in much the same way as Humans.
If their hearts or brains were destroyed, they would die.
But Great Demons were different.
Great Demons were often entrusted with heavy responsibilities within the Labyrinths.
They were the elite mobs and bosses that Heroes farmed repeatedly, and the speed of natural birth could never keep up with the rate at which Humans cleared dungeons.
Therefore, after paying a certain price, Great Demons possessed a relative form of immortality.
As a demon’s power grew, the circulating Mana in their bodies gradually formed a gemstone, which Humans called a “Magic Stone” or a “Mana Crystal.”
Great Demons would bury this Phylactery—which was tied to their very existence—deep within the most secret corner of the Labyrinth.
No one but themselves knew its location.
As long as that Mana Crystal was not destroyed, the Great Demon would never truly die.
Even if their physical body was annihilated ten thousand times, they could reshape themselves within the Labyrinth’s Magic Tide.
Of course, low-level demons could not enjoy this infinite resurrection because their soul strength was insufficient to withstand the tearing sensation of the Mana Crystal leaving their bodies.
Unfortunately, this meant Noctiluca had to painstakingly prepare disability benefits for her Labyrinth employees in the past.
Perhaps as a cruel joke by the Creator, what was contained within the Mana Crystal was not the Mana that was nearly impossible for Humans to use, but pure, high-density energy.
Because of this, the substance held immense value in the fields of magical research and energy.
A complete, ball-sized high-rank Mana Crystal could be sold for an astronomical price—enough to buy an entire street.
And the price of the primal Mana Crystal hidden within a Calamity Pillar was an unimaginable figure.
The problem was that, so far, no Hero had ever truly killed a Calamity Pillar.
This was because no Human knew the ultimate secret that “Great Demons hide their Mana Crystals in Phylacteries.”
They didn’t know that as long as the Mana Crystal wasn’t found, all kills were in vain.
Even Ingram, a member of the Dawn Blade, could not truly kill a Calamity Pillar.
However, according to Gray, the Church was unusually confident about hunting Mammon in the Third Labyrinth this time.
‘Could it be that some clever little ghost among the Humans actually discovered the most important secret of the Demon Race?’
The girl’s now-normal blue eyes looked toward the live-streaming drone hovering nearby.
A flicker of curiosity and deep thought flashed through her gaze.
If Humans really had mastered the method to truly kill Great Demons, then her situation as a Calamity Pillar who was still slacking off… no, who was performing an important mission in the Human world, would become a bit precarious.
Kars’s concern lasted for exactly one second before she tossed it to the back of her mind.
‘Whatever. At least for now, I’m the happy little Priest Kars. I should figure out how to kill Mammon first!’
Death is a cool summer night, offering the Demon Race a peaceful sleep.
And as the one in charge of the Demon Race’s finances, Mammon was constantly swamped with work.
Naturally, he hadn’t slept much.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.