Mystic's ultimate skill.

Ciel, though too preoccupied with Valtus's condition, still noticed Mystic's strange actions.

Then, a glimmer of hope lit up in her heart as her eyes landed on Devon.

"Use your beast as a diversion!" It was like an order she was giving to her minion.

Normally, Mystic wouldn't have taken her tone to heart, but hearing her say to use Devon as a diversion enraged her.

"What are you saying!?" Her voice, aura, not to mention her expression, all seemed to have changed from usual as she coldly asked Ciel.

"What's so strange about what I'm saying? Even if he's a Nightwalker, isn't the life of one of your companions more precious than that of a beast?"

'That bitch! Is she faking it!?' Even Devon who had originally proposed himself as a cannonball was no longer keen upon hearing Ciel's insane justifications.

However, unlike Mystic who seemed to be about to lose her temper, he was quite calm.

Aware that apart from Mystic, no one else knew his secret, somehow helped him to eventually calm down.

'At first, I just wanted to take advantage of the situation to gain levels and evolution points. But if she keeps this up, she'll just ruin everything.

"[Don't take her seriously. Besides, I'm not doing this out of the goodness, but to--

Before he could finish explaining the situation to Mystic, the latter retorted.

"Stop yapping, you're not going anywhere!"

"[...Are you going to stop me?]" 

Devon sneered as he asked. Since time was against him, he knew that the time to convince Mystic was very minimal. 

Therefore, considering that Mystic couldn't force him to do anything against his will, he didn't beat around the bush. 

However, he underestimated Mystic's determination. He only realized it after seeing her insane actions.

"Yes, if necessary!" Mystic growled as she drew her sword from its sheath and pointed it at Devon's core! 

She then glares at him with crazed eyes. "You can't go fight if you're missing two legs, right?" She added.

Devon confusedly stared at her actions and the strange determination in her eyes, unable to tell if she was worried or just too possessive.

Either way, this obsession was something new to him.

As he thinks, he briefly glances at Ciel behind her before focusing on Mystic. 

"[If you do that, don't count on me to be the keen person I've always been with you.]" 

At these words, Mystic frowns, unable to remain unmoved by his warning. 

'Why is he so stubborn when I'm just trying to keep him from dying? Even if he's my soul beast, there's no proof that he'll come back alive if he dies before my grimoire evolves to gold rank. 

The Sixth and Fourth Elders both warned me about this phenomenon.' She mumbles to herself, unable to make up her mind. 

However, what she couldn't get used to was the fact that Devon often had access to her thoughts. 

Therefore, by understanding the intentions behind her weird behavior, Devon understood her anxiety. 

'So far, she's the only one who cares about my life. Even if I doubt she's doing this just for me, it's still comforting, I must say.' 

Once he's calmed down enough, he finally speaks, but in a calm and convincing tone. 

"[If you're so willing to protect me, stay alive, stay alive for as long as you can. No matter the danger, survive, as long as you're alive, I'll be alive.]" 

At first, Mystic was confused to hear him abruptly change his tone and subject. 

But the next moment, she groans as anxiety paints her face.'That weird ability again that allows him to read my mind.' She thought afterward.

"So, even though you know the stakes, you still want to rush to certain death?" She whispered after organizing her thoughts.

"[I won't die. I'm not stupid enough to put my life in danger for someone else.]"

"So why do you insist on going to help a stranger you just met despite all these risks?"

"[I don't have to explain anything to you, you did the same earlier.]"

"..."

Seeing her fall silent, Devon took three steps forward towards the horde of beasts.

But before passing Mystic, he stopped to warn her.

"[In case you forgot, I'm not your little doggie who has to obey you to the letter. I do what I want when I want! Don't try to act like that anymore if you want us to stay on good terms.

Whether you believe me or not, I can break our master-servant pact at any time, so watch out if you don't want that to happen.]"

At these words, he keeps walking ahead without caring about the torrents that these words have created in Mystic's mind.

He briefly stares at Ciel who shivers with fear as she meets his enraged gaze.

By instinct, the latter steps back to the side when she sees Devon approaching her.

But Devon didn't care about her.

However, before he gets too far away from Mystic, the latter mutters in a deep tone. "If you go, don't count on me to save your ass."

"[...Do as you please, I don't care.]" He retorts without sparing her a glance.

After creating a distance of ten meters between them, he stops abruptly.

'System, show my evolution points.'

[EP: 305.]

'This is the amount I received after absorbing the grimoire. As expected, divine artifacts yield more than all others.' He mumbles, confident.

'Display my stats.' He then orders.

--STATS--

[Host: Devon Cradle (1st order).]

[Lifespan: --.]

[Race: Undead skeleton]

[Classe: none.]

[Spiritual energy: 860.]

[Body strength: 590.]

[Combat power: 1,450.]

[Xps: 87%] - [EP: 305] 

--

[INNER ABILITIES(1)]

[Death's blessing (Lvl02).]

1- Herald of death.

2- Grim Reaper.

3- Appraisal eyes.

4- Telepathy.

[Skills]

-Dark energy (Lvl06).

--

Seeing this information, a feeling of self-loathing towards himself filled him.

'What is the cost to evolve my skill to the next level?'

[You will need 435 evolution points for this operation.]

'...'

[Do you want to use this amount to evolve your...

'No, instead, spend them to increase my body strength. I'll need more than guts to decimate an entire horde.'

[...request accepted, the 304 EP will be...

'Wait.' Devon interrupted his system for the very first time.

The reason for this was because of Mystic who was approaching him from behind.

Seeing her coming towards him with her sword in hand, Devon became perplexed.

'What does she want now?'

However, he didn't speak up until he heard what she wanted from him.

Once next to him, Mystic sighs before speaking. "One person is more than enough to rescue Valtus."

"[...What do you mean?]"

"I'll create a diversion with you while--

"[Cut the crap, do I need to remind you that--

Mystic smiles nonchalantly before interrupting him as well. "I have no plans to die either. Besides, you're the one who just told me to let you do what you want—so what right do you have to lecture me?"

"[...]"

'That reckless idiot!' Devon curses in his mind. 

Mystic's arguments were so insane that Devon lost his nerve in front of her.

All he could do was stare at her blissfully, unsure of what to do.

"[Sigh, what am I going to do with such a narrow-minded master?]"

In the end, he gave up.

Mystic smiled triumphantly as if the previous discord had never occurred.

"It's me to complain about that, not the other way around. As a tamer, I'm the laughing stock of all my kin if I can't even dissuade my beast from recklessly acting."

"[Forget what I just said.]"

With that, Devon rephrased his instructions to his system.

'System, can you split my evolution points equally between the two of us.'

[...Understood.]

The next moment, both of them felt the same adrenaline rush through their bodies.

[Host body strength: 590->665.]

[Mystic's spiritual energy: 345->420.]

[Remaining EP: 05]

Once all the preparations were done and misunderstandings were gone, Devon and Mystic rushed towards the horde without even caring about Ciel who was watching them from the back with disbelief.

"[Make sure you don't die.]"

"I can't promise you anything," Mystic said dryly.

In just half a second, the two were noticed by the wild boars furthest from the others after they had cleared the thirty-meter distance.

-Gruuukh!!!

Devon was the first to take the lead.

Taking advantage of their numbers, he showed his dark energy and carefully wielded it to produce as many black needles as he could!

'All of you, go to hell!' He yelled as he swung his hand fiercely at the horde of beasts. 

Following his gesture, torrential rain of black needles, no less fast than machine gun bullets fired at the five boars which rushed at them!

Due to their low advance-tier levels, none of them succeed in dodging his shoot.

Their bodies were pierced from all sides, leaving their thick and red blood flowing onto the leaves of the plants.

Faced with Devon's prowess, Mystic only showed a smile filled with satisfaction.

"Good performance. But I have better than that!" While replying, she jumped into the air before landing on Devon's shoulder which she used to perform a second jump!

Once sufficiently in the air, she put her blade back in its sheath before closing her eyes.

Even though she hadn't done anything spectacular yet, Devon could feel her energy getting more chaotic and devastating.

'What is she up to now? A skill I've not seen yet, perhaps?" He whispered while he also prepared his next attack.

'The best way is to reduce their numbers to half before engaging in close combat with them.' He mumbles before looking ahead.

The sinister cries of the first five boars that gave up the ghost alerted almost the entire pack.

However, aside from the small fries, none of the most powerful ones have yet given up the fight against the two-headed serpent.

Speaking of it, despite the hardness of its scales, the two-headed sneak's body was covered in stab wounds and scratches.

Just like it, its opponent, the Emperor Boar was also in very bad shape.

It was only thanks to the help of its minions that it was able to stand up to its enemy for so long.

-B00MMM!!!

The next moment, all the monsters, including the two bosses, were alarmed by a loud bang right behind them.

"…" As the earthquake gradually subsided, Devon's eyes widened with amazement as he witnessed Mystic display a power far beyond his wildest imagination.