Chapter 40 - The Right Choice

MORPHEUS' POV:-

"The person who killed Hell Creeper...is me," I answer with a serious expression.

To be honest, I was always prepared for the consequences regarding the 'Hell Creeper' case.

I even drew magic circles all around the manor for father's safety.

The fact that it was Aria, who was sent to find us is a bit...underwhelming.

'Shouldn't it be better to send a devil with a high tracking skill...oh!...what am I even thinking, there is no better tracking ability than looking into the future,'

In any case, with that out of the box, I probably won't need to be cautious against someone searching for us.

'It's actually good news that it's Aria, so I don't need to be worried about the consequences anymore.'

I then look at Aria.

She is making a complicated expression.

She is shocked and scared.

'I can guess, what she is thinking. Should I play with her?'

A bitter smile is plastered on her face with slightly wet eyes.

"I...I...didn't know. I-" she tries to speak but I interrupt,

"You are the one who was sent to kill me?" I ask her raising my voice.

"No...it is Ladros. He ordered me to do it. I had no choice but to do it! I didn't know it would be you!" She shouts explaining her point. Her mental stability is crumbling.

'Shouldn't she be mentally more stable than this? Or did I really overdo it?'

'Sigh' I look at her as I shake my head.

"It's okay. Knowing that it was you, who Ladros sent put my heart to ease. At least I won't need to be cautious against every person I meet," I speak some nonsense to make her feel better.

'But...Ladros poked his nose into my brothers' lives...hmmm...what should I do?... Well, maybe I should just warn him as it was the first time. It's not like anybody died from my side,' I think as I recall back the fight with the devils.

Aria starts smiling, a relaxing smile forms on her face.

"Well, Aria. You should keep looking for the murderer of Hell Creeper and the rest of the devils should do their work as intended. If anyone other than Ladros asks what happened here, just tell them that a few high ranked adventurers came. If Ladros asks you anything, tell him everything. That's all."

I then turn to the Pixies and Fairy Queen.

"Let's go back to Eslaine," I speak with a smile on my face.

This journey has been really fruitful.

'Mana eyes and Devil subordinates.'

A smile forms on my face.

We then move outside the cave and Aria(devil) comes with us to see us off.

She is still smiling widely.

"Saviour," she calls me.

"Yeah?" I glance at her.

"Thank you. For the circle I mean," she speaks with a beautiful smile.

"Don't thank me yet. There are a lot of functions in that circle which you may or may not be able to use in the future. It's mostly luck dependent," I answer her nonchalantly.

"Aren't you too naive? To give such a huge gift to a devil you just met?" Leleina jumps into the conversation but she hides behind Leraye as Aria glares at her.

I glance at Leilena with my hands at the back of my head as I walk.

"Not really. There are a few functions that are useful to me as well, which of course I won't tell. Plus, I have applied a function in the circle that will kill her if she goes against me or my family. Just like you, I can't trust her too, you know. But that doesn't mean I think she is deceiving me, at least I can tell that much. So in return for something that will help her get a higher position among her peers and gain as many devils as she can under her, for me to use, it is necessary to at least do this much. All for a bright future, you know." I speak with an 'innocent' smile.

".." Aria(pixie)

".." Leliena.

".." Aria(devil).

"Sigh...I wonder who the real devil is," speaks Leraye as he looks back.

Aria(devil) starts having second thoughts about the circle at her back, but it's too late to do anything now.

"Ah and Aria if Ladros gets to know everything just pass him this message 'Don't fuck with my friends and family or even death would be a luxury to you' Okay?" I 'request' her with a devilish smile.

She shudders and nods vigorously.

Soon we are out of the cave and then...

A female devil appears in front of us.

She looks innocent and is wearing a black dress with a purple scythe in her hand.

For some reason, she looks really happy.

From her behaviour,

'She is here for me,' I mutter in a low voice which is probably heard by everyone due to the silence that has engulfed the area.

Before I could move forward Aria(devil) jumps in between us and Kaneto moves for a forward slash.

Even Leraye has moved behind the devil.

The Pixie Queen and Leilena are horrified.

Before Kaneto could hit her.

'[Mana chain circuit: The One]'

-Time slows-

I move in between them and create a minuscule space portal on my fingers.[1]

[Reflect]

-Time starts-

Kaneto's blade stops at my fingers.

"Hey Old man! What got you excited all of a sudden?" I ask him as I stop his blade.

"Unia, what are you doing here?" Asks Aria(Devil) with a serious expression.

"Saviour get away from her, she is Ladros' strongest underdog," Aria speaks with a lot of hatred in her voice.

"You are?" I ask Unia with an observing her.

"No," she shakes her head vigorously as she denies.

"She says no," I tell Aria.

"Saviour, this isn't the time fo-" she is speaking but Unia speaks interrupting her.

"Aether-" I cover her mouth immediately.

My expression changes from nonchalant to serious.

I look at her for a few seconds.

She is terrified.

"Everyone leave. It's an order," I command everyone in a stern voice.

Everyone left except Kaneto.

"Kaneto-"

"I won't leave you with such a dangerous devil. You are strong but I don't know whether you can defeat her alone or not. Even if we die together it's fine. But I am not leaving," he speaks in a serious tone.

'Sigh...[Mana chain circuit: The One]'

- Time stops -

I knock him unconscious.

- Time starts -

"That does that. So Unia," I look at her with a smile on my face, but she shudders and takes a step back, "continue speaking," I tell her to continue.

Then...

She tells me everything that had happened to everything that will happen.

My expression must have changed a lot cause she gulped many times while she was speaking.

By the end of it, my anger almost takes over me.

'Seriously, what kind of chain reaction is this?'

'Where was the mistake?'

"The fact that I didn't take into account that an enemy of your level could appear, is the mistake?" I think out loud

She takes a step back.

It is getting irritating

"Do I f**king need to prepare for every minuscule scenario to protect my brothers," I shout loudly.

The only reason my brothers are alive right now is because of a miraculous skill that the enemy had.

"That f***ing Ladros has crossed the line this time."

Then I recall something important

'Time rewind,' a smile forms on my face as I look at her.

Unia takes a few steps back.

'So the power does exist in this world.'

I look at her and my smile turns into a grin.

Unia falls on her butt and starts trembling.

'I can't lose a potential ally like this. She may have overdone it but, based on how much my otherselves have tortured her and the scenario that is playing out right now. She could be staged as clean. I mean my brothers are still alive. I can't really punish her for something she is going to do, can I? But...' I glance at her.

"Unia turn around and remove your clothes from your back," I command her as I stare at her.

"Huh?" She gets confused at my commands.

"Shall I repeat my sentence?" I ask acting serious.

"But you promised to let me go," she speaks in a pleading voice.

"I will but there are some precautions that I need to take. Don't worry it won't harm you, that is if you won't harm me or my allies," I speak to her

"Well...I.."

"Do I need to force you? Cause this is important for me," I ask her tilting my head slightly.

"No...I will do it," she speaks with her head down. Her eyes are slightly wet.

'Do all Supreme Devils cry this easily?'

Then I make the same circle as that of Aria's with a few small changes.

After it's completed,

"Huh?" She looks completely shocked by the sudden change in the energy nature.

"Mana?" She controls some amount of mana in her hand.

'She looks mesmerized,'

'Is there really that much difference between mana and devil energy?'

Then I move around and get in front of her.

"There are a few more questions I need to ask you," I speak to her with an expressionless face.

..................

Author's note:

1. Think of it as hitting a mirror. (Of course, you can pass through the mirror in this case) which will hit you with equal force from the other side cancelling the effect.

Also, Morpheus has a space attribute.[Mentioned in the 5th chapter]