Chapter 5 Angel

Maril, the guildmaster, was a beautiful woman in her twenties with her golden hair tied into a ponytail. Yet the dark bags under her eyes revealed her troubles with insomnia.

The pen suddenly fell out of her hand as soon as Sebastian mentioned the sentient monster.

"What did you just say?" she looked at Sebastian with narrowed eyes, waiting for him to say it was all a joke.

"A new sentient monster has appeared in our kingdom." Sebastian repeated, this time raising his voice and  straightening his back  like a soldier.

"You're joking..." Maril uttered, unable to believe it. Her gaze went to Jarv, who nodded, then to Samantha, who was looking around, not knowing what was going on.

"Jarv? Sebastian? What's going on..?" Samantha asked.  Never had she ever heard of a "sentient monster" before  and the tense atmosphere at the mention of this creature scared her.

Although Sebastian and Jarv were her companions, they weren't sure if they had the right to reveal secret information in front of a newcomer. Samantha was a high-ranking adventurer, sure, but only because of her magical talent. She still didn't have access to classified information, so they remained silent.

Rather than chasing Samantha out of the room, Maril buried her face in her hands and said, "Tired."

"The Sentient Monster is a Demon." Maril stared at Sebastian, still hoping he would say it was just a very bad joke. But when she realized they weren't joking, she cursed.

"D-Demon?" Samantha paled. She'd only heard of demons in legends—creatures from hell who occupied the bodies of people who'd died and already been reincarnated.

"For fuck's sake. How long is this fucking world going to press the self-destruct button?!" Maril slammed her fist on the table in anger.

"Madam Maril..." Jarv held up a hand, not wanting to vent the guild master's anger in this tense moment.

"WHAT?!" Maril bellowed without lifting her exhaustion from the work or her tension. She began to knock on the table with all the strength she could muster without using magic.

"I don't think it's a demon." Jarv said, shrinking slightly at the corner. He had never seen a guild master so tense. She seemed about to burst into tears and start destroying everything.

"What?" She stopped pounding on the table and stared at Jarv, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Suddenly, Sebastian walked over to the guild master's desk and placed his guild card on it. The card glowed, and a hologram appeared above it, describing the composition of the black liquid he had found on Lucas.

"Behold."

Maril covered her lips with her hand as she looked at the various figures and charts on the card.

"This... This..." Maril stuttered, unable to believe what she was seeing.

[Mana's liquid]

-Status-

[Hell's energy, reverse SSS)

Dark energy: reverse SSS)

Water mana, reverse SSS)

Holy Mana (SSS)

Shadow Mana (SSS)

Air Mana: reverse (SSS)

Earth energy (negative)

Lightning energy: reverse (SSS)

Curse: (SSS)

Healing factor: (SSS)]

"Like the demons, it gave off a liquid miasma." "But..." Jarv said worriedly, his eyes darting from corner to corner.

"All the energies were reversed." It's not demon energy. Sebastian interjected, seeing that his friend was panicking.

"Reversed demon?" Samantha, with her eyebrows slightly furrowed, trying to appear serious, interjected into the conversation.

Sebastian, Jarv, and Maril exchanged glances, and although normally such words would sound funny, this time she was right. It wasn't a demon; it was someone whose mana composition worked in the exact opposite way.

"Reversed demon, huh?" Maril said to herself as she pulled out her guild card.

"Ma'am, is there any description of a creature like this in our mythology?" Jarv asked nervously.

Everyone was silent, puzzled, and suddenly Samantha spoke up.

"I've heard something similar." Samantha contributed.

"Tell us." Maril ordered in a stern voice.

"In the village where I come from... there were mythological beings who, unlike demons, felt no attachment to the material world." Suddenly, Samantha fell silent.

Jarv, Sebastian, and Maril stared intently at Samantha, who now stood thoughtful.

"And they are?" Sebastian asked.

"Angels. We used to call them angels. Samantha's face was troubled; her eyes were fixed on one point, and her lips were trembling.

"Are you saying we met an angel?" She asked in a quivering voice.

Jarv and Sebastian were worried, and Samantha's face showed that she was terrified. But she couldn't understand how anything could be scarier than a demon.

"Samantha, what are angels?" Maril asked, standing up from her chair and resting her hands on the table.

"According to mythology, angels are beings who are constantly at war with demons."

"If demons were evil, then angels were good." In Samantha's mind, angels have always punished sinners and those who associate with demons.

"Understood. "You can stop." Maril said as she walked away from her desk. She walked over to the window and took a good look at the starry sky.

"If what you say is true—that angels behave the opposite of demons—then..."

"That means we are in danger." Sebastian added, nervously digging at his forehead with his fingernails.

Maril and Jarv nodded their heads. They knew that if it was an angel, the entire elemental kingdom was doomed. At best, the king would defeat the angel; at worst, there would be no Elemental Kingdom.

"Samantha, we have to pray that the being we met isn't an angel."

"I mean, angels are the good guys, right?" Samantha tried to push the bad thoughts away. She knew she hadn't wronged anyone; maybe there was no need to be afraid.

"In fact, the angel might protect us from harm." "It's a good thing!" Samantha burst out laughing, believing all her worry was for nothing.

"The leader of our kingdom... is a demon." Suddenly Maril spoke, and she followed those words with a hard bite on her lower lip in hopes that this was all a dream.

"What?" Samantha's smile disappeared and her face darkened after she heard about the elemental king.

"Tom is a demon," Marie replied while still biting her lip.

Blood began to flow from Maril's lip. But she did not wake up. She had not fallen asleep on the job, and the situation was not a bad dream. A new creature had appeared, threatening the elemental kingdom.

Sebastian, Jarv, and Marie focused on the hologram showing Lucas's status.

"Almost all of its energies are SSS-rank." Sebastian said, looking at the hologram.

At first, the demons "Now, the angels." "What's next, Gods?" Maril kicked the table with all her might, this time using magic. The impact of the kick not only destroyed the table but also the wall behind it.

"Madame, it is night." Sebastian said with a sigh.

"This fucking planet keeps finding monster after monster and summoning them. Why?" Maril leaned against the wall, almost in tears.

"We're lucky that King Tom and Demon King Drake have been good-natured."

"They are self-centered... but harmless to us."

But now their problem wasn't King Tom marrying the princess. The problem wasn't Drake, the demon king who had lost his memory and learned to live among humans. Their problem was Lucas, a creature who doesn't even know he is an angel.

"We must start preparing for the worst." "Call it together first thing in the morning," Maril said, but was interrupted by Samantha, who put her adventurer's card on the table.

"Madame Maril... Jarv... Sebastian... I want to leave this kingdom." Samantha gritted her teeth. This decision was hard for her, but she valued her life and her beliefs much more than the kingdom ruled by a demon.

"Are you serious?" Sebastian blinked a few times and stared at Samantha, unable to believe his ears.

Maril, on the other hand, understood and took the card. In her hands, Samantha's card caught fire and quickly turned to ash.

"Madame Maril, what are you doing?!" Jarv shouted, unable to believe that Maril had just fired the S-rank adventurer.

Samantha bowed and turned to leave, but was stopped by Sebastian's hand on her shoulder. Tears appeared in his eyes.

"Just answer me... why?" He asked, unable to believe that the girl he had had so many adventures with and who had recently managed to become an S-rank adventurer would give up her post.

"Because I'm not stupid." Samantha replied.

"You really think I'm going to stay in a kingdom that has been targeted by an angel?"

"But that's your job! Our job!" Sebastian shouted.

"You swore to me that together we would defend the world from rifts and monsters!" Sebastian couldn't control his tears, and his armored fingers wouldn't let him wipe them away.

"Right. From monsters. However, angels and demons are not monsters."

"They are conquerors."

Samantha shut up, opened the door, and prepared to leave. But, before she left, she turned around, tears in her eyes, and said.

"Jarv... Sebastian... If you're wise, you'll stop being adventurers as well."