<h4>Chapter 32: Encounter (3)</h4>


    “Fascinating. A demonic beast that talks.”


    Henry was undoubtedly surprised. Such a demonic beast had never been heard of before.


    “What <i>are</i> you? You’re not a doppelganger or somethingme like that, are you?” Henry asked as he held out his left hand.


    <i>Swoooosh!</i>


    A strong gust of wind blew through his outstretched fingertips. Physical attacks did not work on a being with a non-physical form; thus Henry deliberately chose to use magic. ck was also left bewildered.


    “M-magic?” stammered ck.


    “See ya.”


    <i>Pop!</i>


    Thepressed air rapidly expanded, sending a powerful shockwave toward ck. However…


    “You dodged it?”


    ck had managed to dodge Henry’s attack. No, rather than a dodge, it looked more like a section of its body was a cloud that had floated away from the attack.


    “Eeeek!”


    Only when about half of its body had been blown away did ck realize the seriousness of the situation. It immediately chose to run away; it knew better than to retaliate against a foe like Henry. It floated through the air and flew away speedily, a simple escape tactic.


    “Try as you might, you aren’t getting away.”


    Even as ck flew further away, Henry seemed to be in no rush. Instead, he softly cast another spell as he watched ck grow smaller and smaller in his vision.


    <i>“Return to Body.”</i>


    <i>Sssssst.</i>


    As soon as Henry cast the spell, traces of ck’s form, which had scattered into the air, began to take shape again. They slowly began taking the shape of ck’s original body, the one it had left behind long ago.


    “How effective magic is depends on how you use it,” Henrymented.


    Return to Body was originally developed to find the remains of dead soldiers. However, since it was very difficult to cast and consumed a lot of magic power, there were very few people who could use the spell to their benefit. Now though, Henry did not need to worry about tracking ck down.


    He looked up at his toon, who were still engaged inbat. It was a fierce battle, but they were all still alive, while quite a number of Taurusesy dead on the ground.


    <i>‘Looks like they don’t need my help.’</i>


    After briefly checking on his toon, Henry began tracking the remnant of ck’s body. The safety of his toon members was important, but Henry knew they valued revenge for Carter more than their own safety.


    * * *


    ck flew away with all its might, its mind in a state of severe panic.


    <i>‘What’s with that guy? Why does my hypnosis not work on him?’</i>


    ck had only dealt with warriors before. This was the first time it had encountered such an opponent. Not only had the albino Taurus’ lightning strike failed, but ck’s main skill, hypnosis, had failed too. This sent ck into a confused panic, but the reason why its hypnosis hadn’t worked was simple. Henry was a wizard, and one whose skills were far superior to ck’s.


    <i>‘I-I need to find a new host, quickly!’</i>


    ck was too weak as an independent being, so it had to find another host as quickly as possible. After running away for a while, ck managed to discover another demonic beast. This particr demonic beast was called Hollum, a kind of from the Demon Realm that resembled a moon bear.


    <i>Goaaaaaaar!</i>


    ck desperately shoved itself down the Hollum’s throat, without even taking the time to hypnotize its target. For a target of this caliber, it didn’t need to use hypnosis anyway.


    The Hollum immediately copsed. Then, after shaking its body for a while, it got back up on its feet and began to move normally, as if nothing had happened. ck had sessfully taken over.


    The Hollum had just been enjoying a meal after a sessful hunt. ck resumed eating the blood-soaked meat, pretending to behave normally in order to blend in. At that moment, Henry, who had been chasing ck, appeared.


    “Hmm.”


    ck’s separated body had led Henry straight to the Hollum. The piece of ck’s body that Henry now possessed was just a cloud of vapor, so ck had not noticed its absence.


    ck grew nervous as Henry drew nearer. This guy had defeated the albino Taurus. ck knew for sure that a pathetic host like a Hollum could never match up to someone like him.


    <i>‘Please just go.’?</i>ck murmured under its breath as it continued to eat the Hollum’s food. It could not taste a single thing. Cold sweat began to drip down the Hollum''s forehead.


    “Oh, a Hollum?”


    Henry noticed the Hollum and slowly walked over to it. “I thought maybe ck used you to hide from me.”


    <i>Swooosh.</i>


    As soon as Henry finished speaking, he drew his holy sword and wrapped it with magic power.


    “You idiot.”


    <i>sh!</i>


    Henry swung his sword, and the Hollum’s body fell to the floor. Henry then snapped his fingers.


    <i>“Ignite.”</i>


    <i>Roaaar!</i>


    Fire ignited the Hollum’s corpse.


    <i>Aaaaaargh!</i>


    It was said that the greatest pain in the world was the pain of being on fire. ck could no longer bear the pain and hurriedly attempted to escape the Hollum’s body.


    “How! How did you find me!” ck screamed.


    Henry raised the corners of his lips as he spoke softly. “Where is Carter?”


    “Carter?”


    “The human knight who disappeared about a month ago.”


    “You think I’ll tell you that?”


    Henry sighed. “Guess I’ll have to make you.”


    Seeing how ck knew of Carter despite not knowing his name, it seemed that Carter was in fact, still alive. ck had decided to be uncooperative, which meant it had decided on the painful route. Henry decided to freeze ck first.


    <i>“Freeze.”</i>


    <i>Crackle!</i>


    “You! What the hell <i>are</i> you!” ck cried out desperately, now trapped in ice.


    “I don’t think I’ve permitted you to ask questions.”


    Henry snapped his fingers again. This time, the ice began topress. The pressure was strong enough to crush the ice together, sending waves of pain through ck’s body.


    “Kaaaaaargh!”


    “Now do you feel like talking?”


    “Fuck! Why the hell are you doing this to me!”


    “Didn’t think so.”


    <i>Snap.</i>


    <i>Roaaar!</i>


    The magic spells continued. Each time Henry snapped his fingers, ck froze, was squashed, or was burnt again. Each time, ck’s screams grew louder.


    “Must feel good to be this resilient.”


    ck’s body, which had been asrge as a cloud, had now been worn down to the size of two fists. It had endured Henry’s torture for a long time, but it was nearing its limit. It fell into a deep despair.


    <i>‘Why, why, why!’</i>


    It had never encountered this kind of danger ever since it had escaped from the Demon Realm.


    Henry froze it again. It had lived for so many years, and yet, it was only now that it learned that it could be frozen.


    Finally, ck dropped to the ground. Henry walked over to it and looked it in the eyes.


    “You. What are you?” he asked.


    If Carter was still alive somewhere, it wouldn’t have been difficult to locate him. Henry could have easily asked Isn for help by using his men to start a search party. He did not necessarily need ck.


    But Henry was curious. ck was a demonic beast, but it could speak the tongue of men. In addition, it was merely a 6th district demonic beast, but it had defeated a top-notch Sword Expert. Something was different about ck.


    “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you, just please spare my life.”


    Henry was prepared to squeeze more information out of ck slowly and painfully, but it appeared that ck was already terrified enough. Henry freed ck from the ice with a single gesture of his hand.


    “Show me the way.”


    There was nothing more to gain from bullying an opponent who had already lost their fighting spirit. At Henry’smand, ck, who was now as small as Henry’s fist, stumbled as it got up and slowly floated ahead.


    * * *


    ck took Henry rather deep inside the 6th district area.


    “H-here it is.”


    They had arrived at the mouth of a cave that Henry did not recognize. The cave grew wider and wider as they ventured further inside. As Henry followed ck into the innermost part of the cave, a figure came into view. It was Carter.


    “Commander Carter?”


    Carter had his eyes closed, as if he was dead. His body looked thin and weak.


    Henry stepped forward to check on Carter’s well-being.


    <i>Wooooosh!</i>


    Suddenly, however, ck suddenly entered Carter’s mouth. Not long after, Carter’s eyes shot open as he jolted upward, now possessed by ck.


    “Did you think that I would be so easily defeated?” ck shouted out boastfully. It had left Carter’s body here for this very sort of situation. However, Henry simply smiled.


    “You really think I’m stupid, huh.”


    Unless ck was an idiot, there was no way it would have missed such an obvious opportunity. Henry had known that ck would go for it, and had let it happen on purpose.


    “What’s so funny?!” ck spat, urately recognizing Henry’s smile as a sneer. It grabbed Carter’s sword that was ced by the wall and pointed it threateningly at Henry.


    <i>Zzzzzzt!</i>


    “Aura?”


    To Henry’s surprise, an Aura radiated from the de.


    <i>‘Can it use its host’s abilities at will?’</i>


    Giving ck onest chance had turned out to be worthwhile. Thanks to this, Henry had learned something new.


    “You’ll pay for weakening me. And…”


    ck raised Carter’s sword in the air.


    “Your body will be mine.”


    <i>‘As to be expected of a parasite.’</i>


    Henry finally understood why ck had kept Carter alive. Its main power was its parasitism, and it was only natural for parasites to covet a strong host.


    “Die!”


    ck made the first move. It clutched Carter’s glowing blue sword and rushed toward Henry, swinging menacingly.


    <i>‘But that’s all there is to your ability.’</i>


    <i>Whoosh!</i>


    <i>Thud!</i>


    Henry lightly dodged each heavy strike. Without even drawing his sword, he struck Carter in the neck with his scabbard. Carter’s body copsed to the ground in an instant.


    “H…how!”


    “That’s why you’re only a demonic beast.”


    “W-what?”


    “You may be able to speak and imitate swordsmanship, but that’s all there is to you.”


    ck was able to speak the humannguage and use its host’s abilities. These were astounding powers, but that was all there was to them. No matter how well ck knew how to imitate swordsmanship, it was not a true swordsman. The main skills, footwork and sword techniques, had to be honed for years or even decades. The true strength of the Aura only shone when both of these were mastered properly.


    ck wanted to move Carter’s body, but it had be stiff as a log. Henry had struck a vital point. No matter how much it tried to force some kind of movement, its host was still a human. The limits of a human body were on clear disy.


    “Let go! Let me go!”


    Even though its host’s body waspletely paralyzed, ck continued to struggle. It was a miserable, ugly sight.


    <i>“Paralyze.”</i>


    Henry paralyzed Carter’s body once more, this time with magic. Eventually, the struggles ceased, and ck fell into despair again.


    “Do you finally understand the difference between you and me?”


    Henry had given a glimmer of hope to a desperate opponent. Then, he had brutally shattered any sense of that hope. No one could have recovered from that. ck had truly been totally defeated.


    “S…save me.”


    Just as Henry had expected, ck started to beg for its life,pletely hopeless. Of course, Henry was not concerned about ck’s life. He ignored its pleas and decided to address some of his curiosities.


    “I’ll decide on thatter. First, what the hell are you?”


    “If I tell you, will you spare my life…?”


    “That depends on your answer.”


    “M-my name is Klever! I’m a pure demonic beast from the Demon Realm, and one of thest survivors of my n!”


    “n?”


    “Yes!”


    ck’s real name was Klever, apparently. Klever answered all of Henry’s questions, desperate to ensure its survival.


    “What n?”


    “I have yet to find an appropriate word to describe it in the humannguage yet, so I can’t tell you…”


    “I can speak the Demon tongue. So, answer me.”


    “I-is that so? Our n’s name is lr!”


    <i>‘lr?’</i>


    Henry quickly tranted it back into the humannguage.


    “Mimik?”


    “What… is that?”


    “It’s what we call you in the humannguage. Tsk, to think that a Mimik could have such abilities…”


    Mimiks were one of the lower-tier monsters. They parasitized boxes in order to attack humans who opened them. Henry felt an immense sense of disappointment upon learning that the fearsome ck had just been a Mimik the whole time.


    “The questioning ends here. Now, die.”


    “P-please wait! You said you’d let me live, you are breaking your promise!”


    “I said I’ll consider it. I never promised. <i>Igni</i>…”


    “W-wait!” Clever shouted just as Henry was about to cast <i>Ignite</i>.


    “What?”


    “I-if you let me live, I’ll give <i>it</i> to you.”


    “What do you mean, <i>it</i>?”


    “You’ll definitely like it. Please, release me for a moment.”


    “You’d best think twice about pulling any sort of trick.”


    Henry wasn’t concerned, even if Klever did try to escape again. Even without <i>Return to Body</i>, there were plenty of other ways to track it down.


    Henry released Klever from his magic restraints. ck gas erupted from Carter’s body, merging together. It grew into Klever, in its original form.


    “Mm?” Henry uttered as Klever revealed a massive pile of treasure.