5.8

As the woman's gaze locked onto us, the pressure Mary felt intensified even more. I hesitated for a moment to help her alleviate the pressure, but in the end decided to let her experience this on her own.

I did have some questions about this Council however, and their identity. Adding their strength to their knowledge of God's Game, only one possibility stood out to me.

Those were all past participants of God's Game, and not just any of them, but possibly ones who had managed to buy the Return to Origin.

The Return to Origin itself wasn't that hard to achieve, as although 50000 Points sounded like a lot to a beginner, it would take me at most two more missions to achieve this. Actually, if I do well in this Bloodborne mission, if it hasn't broken the game, then I might reach those 50000 Points.

However, if they really are past players, how come they had no power, and were so sure it was impossible to keep their power on Earth?

It might be nothing but coincidental, simply that none of them ever expended on their powers, and thus lost everything upon returning to Earth, but I didn't feel like what I had done was that much of a thing.

Besides, anyone capable enough to make their own techniques out of the power they bought and truly turned it into theirs, should be able to reach the necessary Points for Return to the Origin.

That's why I didn't feel like this could be explained so easily. But then, what was the difference between them and me?

The fact that my connection to God hadn't been erased yet as I was still a player? Or the way I had come back to Earth?

But even those did not feel right. After all, I had felt the barrier around Earth, and how it had suppressed me. It didn't feel like God was allowing me to have more power than anyone else.

So, what was it?

Meanwhile, Mary remained silent, her face pale as she did her best to endure the pressure, so I asked aloud, "Have any of you ever faced gods?"

The heavy air in the room was broken easily as all seven heads turned to look at me, their expression cryptic.

One of them nodded, "Some of us have. Why would you ask such a question out of the blue? Testing our limits, perhaps?"

I snorted in amusement, "No, of course not. I don't need that to know I would crush you."

They all froze for a moment, before they frowned, and I felt the combined strength of their auras. Yet, despite having all opened several Genetic Constraints, their combined aura did not feel threatening enough, confirming to me they really were normal humans, or close to that.

Suddenly, someone walked out of the shadows. It was a man with a pair of daggers sheathed to his hips, and who looked like he had been merged with the shadows themselves.

However, just like everyone else, he didn't really have any power. Instead, it was the pair of daggers that granted him said power.

He looked at me with frigid eyes full of killing intent as he addressed the Council, "This Devil is obviously not going to work peacefully with us. Please allow me to purge him out of world before he becomes a hindrance. It is my duty as a Sacred Knight."

So Sacred Knights are normal humans? Does that mean Council members are all people who came back from God's Game, and the rest of the organization is made of potential candidates?

Holding out my hand towards the Sacred Knight, I made him float half a meter up, which was starting to become my favorite way to deal with people without resorting to violence.

People with no ability to direct themselves in the air were shockingly defenseless once forced in mid air.

This Sacred Knight was not so defenseless however as he took out his daggers, and shadow tendrils came out from his back, dragging him back towards the ground as he launched himself at me.

Funnily enough, I was familiar with the way he approached me as he seemed to be using the same technique Helena had once used to try to attack me, back at the start of the mission in The Boys.

Clenching my fist this time, the Sacred Knight was suddenly smashed into the ground. It wasn't strong enough to kill him, but he was now stuck against the ground as I walked over him, addressing the Council, "While it has been fun having you all believe I was Satan, there is something I feel like I need to clear out."

I smiled, and revealed, "I'm also a player in God's Game."

The big reaction I expected for them did not arrive as the red haired woman merely raised an eyebrow, "Lucifer knows enough about our world to know no human can do what you just did. I think you are a newborn devil who doesn't understand the rules of the world."

She swept her hand to the side, and added, "But fine, if you wish to play games, let's."

Despite her not specifying what she wanted, the others seemed to already know what she wanted as someone quickly placed something in her hand. A book.

Telepathy, perhaps?

The red haired woman opened the book, and said, "Perhaps you recognize this?"

Since I didn't show any response, she explained, "This is the Edit of Justice. It has many uses, one of which is to detect lies. All I want from you is for you to give us your true name. If you truly are a human, then you have nothing to fear."

So fiction wasn't all that wrong about devils and their true names? In most horror movies, knowing a demon's name grants some form of power over it.

Showing a cheeky smile, I said, "My name is Alexander Venator, and I am the Team Leader of Team Western Europe."

All seven of their expressions changed as they looked at the book, waiting for something to happen, but after a couple of seconds, the book remained still.

Finally, the woman muttered, "How is this possible?"

Hammering down the nail, Mary added, "To answer your earlier question Councilwoman, my information mostly comes from God, as we are here on a mission."

They didn't look like they were in the right state to listen to her as the red haired woman asked me with strong emotions, "Have you opened the Fifth Genetic Constraint?"

I dashed her hopes however by shaking my head, "I haven't. And I am not at full power, mind you. Everything given to me by God has been erased. All I have left is what I got myself."

The Council members looked at each other, communicating with their eyes, or their minds if my theory on the telepathy was true. If it was, they were quite good at it, as I couldn't feel anything.

Finally, they said, "That changes things quite a lot. But to start off, where is the rest of your team?"