Chapter 35. Low Grade vs High Grade(1)

"Huh? You are alive, humans?"

With surprise in his condensed red eyes, he looked down on both of us, who dodged that red mana ray headed towards us.

'This power…'

The door, the walls… All of it in the ray's path are obliterated. If I didn't try to use, I doubt I would come out unscathed from it.

'Damn! You monster!'

With a flick, he sent out such an attack. I am jealous all of these cheat characters! 

But still why did I meet him in this place?

'How could he possibly here?'

I couldn't find any reason for him to come here.

"This trash…"

After taking a look at the head, Oliver threw it down with disdain. From noble's expression, it was obvious that he didn't die in peace.

'Don't tell me, he came for the noble?'

And that's when I felt a jolt in my memory, connecting all incidents and finding the most plausible reason for it.

'No wonder my instincts were warning me.'

I felt something was off from the begin. As if I was forgetting something important. And now it comes to surface.

'Oliver Schtrom. I forgot about him.' 

In my time as demon hunter, I wondered how Miria could become a devil? Her parents' death was a trigger, but that wasn't enough for her to be demonized. And the ones who can naturally become devils are magicians with high magic reserves. And Miria is not one of them.

Then, I remembered that she was artificially demonized by Oliver Schtrom, after the success of the experiment which was me – Kurt.

She was artificially demonized, but then how did she come across Oliver and started to follow him as a human? 

And the answer was in front of me. This noble's mansion.

'I am a variable in her life.'

My appearance has changed the flow of her life. If I didn't exist, then without a doubt after her parents' death, she would be captured by that noble's son who died under my hands, and would have been tortured by him.

But Oliver would rescue her during his mission to kill corrupt nobles in this same mansion, and let her live because of her resemblance with his late wife. 

And then, she would fall for him and follow him as his aide.

This is her life without my intervention. But I have changed it. I have obtained her before Oliver could do.

But it doesn't change that Oliver would appear on his mission to kill the corrupt nobles. And it's my bad luck, that I encountered him.

'Damn! Why didn't I think of it before?'

Meeting Oliver Schtrom is the last thing I want. What should I do? Fight? That's the step to my doom. Fighting him head on at this moment is tantamount to death sentence.

Then there is only one option left. 

'I have to escape.'

My magic power has recovered to a point, and if I give my all to escape, it might be possible. I grabbed Miria who was dazed by the sudden death of the noble.

"Let's go, Miria! Now is not the time to be dazed!"

I wish I could give her some time to doze out, but now there is no time for that. A second late and both of us are dead.

"S-Sorry!"

Fortunately, she understood the situation, and both of us started to escape from Oliver. But I seemed to have underestimated Oliver. As soon I grabbed Miria, he already guessed my intentions.

So, he just laughed aloud and praised and disdained me at the same time.

"Good! A good choice, but you won't be able to escape from me, humans!"

"Man, he really is a villain."

That laugh and those dialogues … It felt such a stereotypical villain behaviour. It was stereotypical, but still I was scared by it.

What can I do? I am really at death's door!

"Die!"

And it came. The first attack from Oliver. The same red condensed demonic mana ray which almost took our lives in front of the door.

"Miria, come here!"

"Alright!"

'Now is not a time to hold myself.'

Mana rushed into my head, and my perception of time began to speed up. The world slowed down, and I started to react in a different zone.

"Kurt!"

I carried Miria in my hands, and then released a sudden burst of fire magic from my heels, producing a sudden magic to dodge the demonic ray coming from behind, timing it according to my magic senses.

---

"Huh? How could he?!"

Surprised came in his indifferent eyes, and Oliver found himself intrigued by Kurt. He didn't attack with his all might, but still his attack wasn't like low grade magicians which can dodged by anyone. But the magician in front him did it twice! 

And plus, he tried but couldn't see the magician or his partner's face for some reason which frustrated him.

'A magic tool that disrupts vision…'

"Interesting. It's a first time for me to face such an opponent." 

He felt blood rushing all in his body. He felt excitement. It was something engraved in him as he became a devil. Destruction, that what he wished for, as a formal human and a current devil.

But that was not a sole reason for him to be that proactive in his hunt. It was his instinct. He felt that the person in front of him might be able to rise into a formidable foe, one that could block his ambition.

It was laughable that such a thought came to his mind, but he couldn't ignore it. And in one way or another, he intended to do the same even if his instincts didn't influence him.

After all, the magician in front of him has seen his true form. And that is something he didn't wished to reveal at the moment.

"Magician, I will kill you at any costs!"