4: Chapter 4

This was a Stray Devil, and its strength was already brushing against the threshold of a High-Class Devil. "Clack, clack, clack..."

Footsteps emerged from the swirling dust.

The spider-woman shrank back in fear; though she talked tough, her body trembled violently.

The person who walked out was a young girl.

She wore a black robe, had a pale, clean face, and eyes as cold as blades. She was tall with exceptionally long legs, and her black hair hung down to her ankles.

She carried a long blade in her hand, looking sharp and efficient. "Exorcist, do you really have to drive me to extinction?"

The spider-woman's roar was shrill and grating, like someone scratching glass with their fingernails. "Too much talk."

The young girl lunged with her blade, striking directly at the spider-woman's vitals. "Damn it!"

The spider-woman scrambled to dodge. She wanted to stall for time, waiting for her wounds to heal a bit before fighting back. She knew that if she really forced a confrontation, she was no match for this Exorcist.

While spitting venom to block the girl's attacks, she looked around, searching for an escape route. But to be distracted when you're already outmatched is just suicide. "Pfft!"

The girl twisted her wrist, a flash of the blade striking precisely at the joints of the spider legs. She didn't leave a single one; all eight legs were severed.

Deprived of her legs, the spider-woman screamed as she crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Now, she was completely immobilized. "Ahhh... You can't kill me, I worked so hard to get this far..."

The spider-woman howled and shivered, her eyes filled with terror as she watched the girl walk toward her, blade in hand.

The girl didn't pay any heed to her nonsense.

With a swift swing of her blade, the long sword pierced directly through the spider-woman's body.

Clean and efficient.

...

"Pfft."

The girl pulled the blade from the dead spider-woman, not rushing to sheath it, and pointed the tip to the side. "Come out, Devil."

Sona stepped out from the shadows, pushed up the glasses on the bridge of her nose, and glanced at the corpse on the ground. "You've grown stronger again. You took down a peak Middle-Class Devil using only physical techniques."

"If you used your Boosted Gear, fighting a High-Class Devil shouldn't be a problem."

The girl raised her blade, her eyes as cold as ice. "I told you, stop following me. If you want to die, I don't mind sending you on your way."

The long blade in her hand pointed directly at Sona, showing no intention of being lowered. If the other party dared to move, the blade would strike without hesitation. Even though she knew in her heart that the strength of the Devil before her was not necessarily weaker than her own.

"I am not your enemy, and you know I am not a Stray Devil, so there is no reason to kill me."

"Do Exorcists need a reason to kill Devils?"

The girl replied coldly, her tone devoid of any warmth. "For you, perhaps that is the case."

Sona paused, then shifted the topic. "But for the Shinra Clan behind you, it is different."

"Shut up! Don't mention that family in front of me!"

The girl's wrist snapped, and a fierce blade aura slashed directly toward Sona.

Sona sighed and tapped the air lightly with her hand. A water-like barrier instantly expanded, easily neutralizing the blade aura.

Seeing her attack miss, the girl prepared to strike again.

Sona clearly wasn't here to fight, and suddenly raised her voice. "Tsubaki Shinra, don't you want to know the whereabouts of that person?"

This sentence was like hitting the brakes, instantly stopping the girl in her tracks.

She stared at Sona, her eyes becoming serious. "You know where he is?"

Sona shook her head, her tone frank. "I only know that you are looking for someone. But who that person is, or what his name is, I have no idea. Naturally, I don't know where he is either."

"You dare to toy with me?!"

Tsubaki Shinra's fair face flushed red instantly, her anger reaching its peak. She would not allow anyone to make jokes about him.

She tightened her grip on the hilt, ready to strike at any moment. "Tsubaki Shinra, blind rage will not help you find him. It will only lead you down more detours."

Only when mentioning that person was this woman willing to speak more. "Hmph, I don't need a Devil to teach me how to behave."

Tsubaki Shinra shot Sona a cold look, but ultimately sheathed her blade. "In your eyes, Exorcists and Devils are sworn enemies like water and fire. But you cannot deny that the Devil's intelligence network is much stronger than you imagine."

"Not to mention things further away. Just here in the Far East, if my House Sitri wants to investigate someone and obtain information about them, it would be effortless."

Tsubaki Shinra remained silent, quietly waiting for Sona to continue.

"The intelligence network of House Sitri can be fully utilized to help you find the person you are looking for."

"We can even mobilize a portion of the Underworld's power."

"In exchange, you must agree to become my servant."

"Tsubaki Shinra, think it over clearly."

Sona's gaze was earnest, staring straight at the woman opposite her. "Servant..."

Tsubaki Shinra's ears had grown calluses from hearing these two words recently.

This wasn't the first time the Devil before her had proposed this condition.

But every time, she had refused without hesitation.

She knew better than anyone what a Devil's servant was.

The spider-woman she had just sliced in half had once been someone's servant, only to betray her master and become a wandering traitor.

Furthermore, becoming a servant meant she would also become a Devil.

From then on, she would no longer be human.

She didn't really have any attachment to her human identity.

But her master was human.

She didn't want to lose that status.

"Don't rush to refuse me."

Sona saw her about to open her mouth and quickly interrupted.

She could tell that Tsubaki's attitude was different today.

At the very least, she was somewhat tempted, otherwise she wouldn't have let her talk to this point.

"If you become my servant, I will not force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"Our contract will be equal."

"Besides, that person you've been looking for must be quite powerful."

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have been searching for so long without finding him."

There are only two types of people in this world who are the hardest to find.

The first are those ordinary, unremarkable people—toss them into a crowd and you can't fish them out. The world is full of such people; it's like finding a needle in a haystack.

The second are true masters.

Those powerhouses who have left legends in the world—unless you exist on the same level, searching for them is a waste of effort; you won't even catch a glimpse of their shadows.

Tsubaki closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her tone had become solemn. "He is my master."

"My physical techniques, and the method of using my Sacred Gear, were all taught by him."

A figure appeared in her mind.

Standing above the heavens, clad in crimson, his pressure was overwhelming.

With a gentle wave of his hand, he blocked the pursuers sent by the Shinra Clan.

From that day on, the Shinra Clan never dared to send anyone to capture her again.

...

Sona had long guessed this answer.

She wasn't surprised at all. "The human body has too little potential."

"The upper limit is insufficient; compared to races like gods and devils, the gap is too large."

"You are currently at the peak of Middle-Class Devil, and with your Sacred Gear, you aren't incapable of fighting a High-Class Devil."

"Although you haven't felt the bottleneck yet."

"But that day will come sooner or later."

Tsubaki didn't speak.

In truth, she was already stuck.

She had been at the peak of Middle-Class Devil for too long.

There was no other way; she could only desperately hone her physical techniques, hoping to rely on that to increase her combat power.

"Only the strong can find the strong."

"Even if you find him for a moment, he will only glance at you and leave."

"By the side of the strong, the weak are destined to be left behind."

Tsubaki's expression shifted abruptly.

This sentence struck exactly at her most painful spot.

Did Master leave her behind back then because she wasn't strong enough?

"This is the Queen from the Evil Pieces. The Evil Pieces were created by Lord Beelzebub based on the chess from the real world, allowing other races to reincarnate as Devils. As an Exorcist, you should understand this."

Sona walked up to Tsubaki Shinra and placed the Queen piece into her hand.

This time, Tsubaki Shinra did not dodge.

In a room on the fourth floor of the villa.

The aura of Light elements was permeating everywhere. If not for the fact that Luo Yu had inscribed an Arcane Magic array in the room beforehand, he would likely have been exposed by now.

Why was there so much Light element aura leaking out?

He could only blame himself for eating "too much"; this was unavoidable. It wasn't obvious in the Heaven, where Light elements were everywhere on the streets, but it was different in the Human World; he was effectively a bright, shining lighthouse. This problem was neither huge nor small, but it had to be managed.

Luo Yu sat on the sofa and inscribed a concealment Arcane Magic array on himself.

The Light element aura on his body was instantly hidden. Without the source, the Light elements in the room slowly dissipated.

"Ddraig, is there any way to temporarily store the water from the Mirror Lake of Light? For instance, storing it in the space created by the Boosted Gear."

Getting his hands on the Mirror Lake of Light meant having a great helper for increasing his strength. Naturally, Luo Yu had to think about how to utilize it safely in the long term.

Running to Heaven every day to mooch off the Mirror Lake of Light for cultivation carried significant risks.

If you walk along the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Getting caught was only a matter of time. It was best to pave the way for a retreat now.

Ddraig heard his host's question and spoke with a bit of helplessness: "You really dare to think... Do you know that the Mirror Lake of Light is one of the core Light sources of Heaven? If the Mirror Lake of Light were so easy to steal, who knows how many people in the Three Realms would have already made a move; it wouldn't be your turn to borrow it for cultivation."

"No possibility at all?"

Luo Yu wouldn't give up. "Heaven has long since made preparations against these Light sources. Before the Main God fell, restrictions were set. As soon as someone steals the Mirror Lake of Light and brings it out of Heaven, the Heaven System left behind by the Main God will immediately display the coordinates. Remember, this mechanism was set by the Main God personally; don't think about using any method to shield it. Unless you can reach the level of the Main God."

"If I really had the abilities of the Main God, why would I even need the Mirror Lake of Light..."

After listening to Ddraig's words, Luo Yu gave up completely. If he tried to steal it by force, he could just wait for Heaven to come and suppress him.

The Main God, the means left behind by the strongest deity in the Three Realms back then...

There were too few people in the Three Realms today who could crack it, and besides, those people weren't ones he could hire.

There was a knock on the door twice.

Butler Izumi, with his full head of white hair, stood outside the door: "Young Master-in-law, dinner is prepared. Will you be eating in your room, or coming downstairs?"

Luo Yu opened the door: "Please bring it up."

"Yes."

Before long, the table was filled with dishes. Luo Yu glanced at them—nearly twenty dishes, all looking, smelling, and tasting perfect.

He couldn't help but laugh.

This treatment really was no different from being a kept man.

Thinking about it carefully, ever since moving in here, everything he ate and used had been arranged by Sona. To put it bluntly, other than providing his presence, he hadn't contributed anything at all.

But that was fine too.