Success

"Damn," Roran sighed to himself, "every single damned temple was the exact same."

He had visited all the temples, but they were identical. He had pored himself over all the documents, but they were essentially identical too. He has a headache, and absolutely no idea on what to do. The only correlation between the cases are that the victims were priests to the god Hephaestus and were all above seventy years old.

"This goddamn demonic mission!" Roran exclaimed, frustrated. Then he stopped completely still, the realization dawning on him.

"They were all possessed by a demon, and then killed themselves. There would be no trace, and if the demon was silent enough, the guards outside would never know! The guard that tried to kill me was also possessed!"

Roran immediately went to see Apollonius.

**********

"Makes sense," The Paladin said, stroking his chin, "What should we do, then?"

"The demon must condense a physical body before and after killing the priests. Or else he cannot maintain his presence in our dimension. The only way to expel demons is to project light into the possessed. The light will weaken it, and then we'll kill it. I don't think that the demon is too strong. He only possessed priests of over seventy years old, when their mental strength is waning," Roran answered. In his short stay at the Royal Academy, he had started learning about demons. The knowledge had come quite useful.

"There is only one priest left that fits all of the requirements. We'll go to him, hidden. Demons are the strongest during midnight, so we will wait until then."

"I was thinking along the same lines," The Paladin said, "Who will participate?"

"I'll go," Roran said. He had to. If not, he would fail his mission.

"I'll go with you," The Paladin said. He was very interested in the boy. Although Roran didn't tell him, he already knew about the attempt to kill Roran.

Roran shrugged, signaling that he didn't mind.

The Paladin stood up. Roran followed him. They walked out together, already heading towards the last temple.

**********

Roran checked his Watch Shield. It was a minute to twelve. The inevitable battle was awaiting. Apollonius was beside him, completely silent. The priest was kneeling, offering wine and food to Hephaestus.

The second hand ticked onto twelve, the minute hand and then hour hand too.

Then it came. The demon had entered through a wall, looking around surreptitiously. Then He floated into the priest, a murderous gleam shining in his eyes.

Roran signaled to Apollonius. They both ran out at the same time, and then summoned their light together. The Paladin's was warm and fuzzy, and Roran's had a more deadly edge to it.

They glanced at each other. Then they laid their hand onto the priests back.

Roran could feel the demon. He cowered, desperately running through the priest's arteries, trying to find a way to escape.

A minute passed. Roran was already getting tired. He could feel his own Mana already running dry. The Paladin looked amused.

The demon looked to its left. The light was closing in. He continued to sprint forwards. The light was barricading his way.

He had no choice. He exited the priest, and then tried to run as fast as he could, into the earth. No one would find him there.

However, Roran was already prepared. He held Demon Slayer and swung. The demon's body was sliced straight in half.

The Boreal Crystal hummed happily. It wasn't fed for quite a bit of time.

The demon felt his body getting sucked inside the sword. He clawed at the air, futilely trying to escape.

The Boreal Crystal was hungry enough. It exerted some strength, and with a sickening slurp, the demon was absorbed. The Mana storage inside was instantly restored. Roran, sensing this, took some of the Mana, and restored himself completely. Silence descending on them after the mission was completed.

"Thank you," the priest broke the ice, "Great Paladin, and Lightwielder."

"It was the least we could do," Roran responded courteously.

**********

"I see that you didn't forget my promise," Apollonius said.

"I need to improve my control over my light and also master its many capabilities," Roran said.

"Exactly. I have some of my best techniques here. You can choose any four," Apollonius said. He had set this up on purpose. He was interested in what the boy would choose.

Roran looked at the ten different manuals. He looked over them, and then selected four that he wished to have. Firstly, there was a manual on basic light control, which is on how to manipulate light into different shapes. Secondly, there was a manual on how to use light to heal. Thirdly, how to apply light onto items. Fourthly, how to mix light with other elements.

"Are those your final choice?" The Paladin asked.

Roran nodded.

"Then it is time for you to leave. I hope I'll see you again."

"Goodbye."

When the client had dismissed the mercenary, the mercenary would return back to system space.

Roran saw the world swirl, and then he found himself back to the void of the system.