Kidnapped the Saintess of the Hero Party

37 – The Devil Moves Faster Than Dawn

Lucion’s hand reaches out.

In the face of an unbelievable sight, Lucía decides to tightly shut her eyes.

Surely, Lucion…?

As expected, it wasn’t true.

After hearing the sound of fingers snapping, she hears a laughter that seems mocking in some way.

Soon after, her chest tightens. It feels as if a fire has ignited. It’s as if something hot has filled her entire body.

“hahahaha. I’m glad Lucion is so foolish.”

Lucion creates a barrier by snapping his fingers. Without touching her. Lucía opens her eyes after taking a long breath.

Of course, even with deep breaths, the tension doesn’t seem to fade away easily.

“Well, it’s not such a bad feeling, so…”

Should she enjoy it?

In the short break she’s given, her vision clears up.

Thanks to that, Lucion’s handsome face becomes more distinct.

Their eyes meet.

“Ahem.”

Lucía covers her mouth and coughs awkwardly.

After briefly glancing away, when she looks back at Lucion, he seems to have a very expressive expression, as if he has a lot to say.

#

Lucion creates a barrier to protect Lucía. At the same time, he sets up a barrier in the room. He explains the reason for this as follows.

“I thought I was being observed.”

“What? Observed? By whom?”

Lucia, showing an aggressive gaze.

Although it felt no more than a cat throwing a tantrum, she realized that feathers were standing up on her arm.

The future saint has already reached a considerable level of strength. Enough for Lucion to be cautious.

After speaking, Lucia pondered.

“For what reason?”

It was such an infuriating matter that she reacted immediately.

But upon careful consideration, she had seen it directly. The sight of Durahan being observed. Moreover, Blackthorn knew in advance that Lucion and Lucia would come. He had observed it from Matap.

“So… are we also… being observed?”

“Yes.”

Lucia grabbed her arm and trembled. She asked again with a facial expression that seemed to ask, “What should we do?”

“…Is it happening now, by any chance?”

“Fortunately, it seems not.”

A moment of silence passed.

“How do you know that?”

As Lucia, there was no way for her to know.

“You can know by using divine power. It’s also called ‘perception.’ I didn’t plan on telling you yet. It’s just a perfect opportunity.”

Lucion began his explanation as always. Teacher mode. Even though they grew up together, it always ended up like this just because he read a few more books.

“It’s a technique mainly used when dealing with high-dimensional beings like spirits.”

If I were to explain Lucion’s experience in detail, people usually wouldn’t understand. So, I would explain it like this:

“It’s a creepy feeling. That’s how I would describe it.”

“Huh?”

Is it an occult story?

There are quite a few stories like that.

“It’s scary….”

“It’s not that scary. It’s something familiar. Don’t you sometimes feel like someone is watching you?”

“No. It’s scary….”

To think that someone is watching.

I don’t like the thought either, but the truth is, Lucía quite liked scary stories. It wasn’t that she loved them, but she enjoyed a bit of tension. Lucia listened carefully to Lucion’s words, feeling greatly tense.

“If someone is watching, a priest can sense it.”

“How…. How?”

Come to think of it, whenever someone stared at her, she would feel strange.

After coming to Panachia, she felt it even more strongly. If someone was looking at her, she could even tell where that person was.

She thought it was because her senses naturally expanded through training.

Seeing that she could directly feel the sacred power that the other person possessed, it seemed like a privilege of a priest.

“When your sacred power expands, you can feel it naturally.”

Lucion had chosen Lucia as the recipient of his blessings. Just by having that intention, the sacred power moved.

Nodding her head as she saw the sacred power gathering around her in the air, Lucia said,

“…I can feel it, but.”

I’ll give you an example, it seems like they’re looking at me, but staring like that makes me a little uncomfortable.

“So, for now, everything’s fine.”

“Ah.”

Lucia nodded.

There’s no need to worry about their conversation leaking out.

No one is watching.

Just that fact alone comforted Lucia.

She still wasn’t completely relaxed, but maybe a little more at ease.

Lucion, too, seemed to have found tranquility.

“I had to escape from the mansion earlier because we couldn’t talk there. Someone was watching.”

“What? Besides the maid?”

“Yeah. Don’t get scared, okay? Listen well.”

Lucia clenched her fist. ‘Don’t tell me to not be scared. Zion!’ she complained silently in her mind but didn’t say it out loud.

“Don’t trust anyone from now on.”

Don’t trust…

That’s too harsh!

Should she live suspecting everyone? Continuously in the future? Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to live in hiding with Lucion?

“Especially be cautious of people wearing black cloaks.”

Lucion is also wearing a black cloak.

Lucia pursed her lips. It’s really scary when the object of fear starts to feel real. It’s no longer a scary story, but an enemy to face.

Moreover, Lucifer’s expression as he described the enemy was quite serious.

“There is a demon named Sekera.”

#

Sekera.

The most dangerous demon that Lucifer, who had slain hundreds of demons in a single day, had ever encountered.

The fact that it could mimic a human appearance alone made it dangerous.

It also possessed considerable intelligence.

It would kill a person and take over their body, imitating them. Once it transformed into a human, it was difficult to find.

Although they shared the common trait of wearing a black cloak, it was not an absolute characteristic. The cloak was optional. Therefore, it was almost impossible to directly find Sekera hidden among people.

In this way, it would blend in with people and devour them one by one.

Fortunately, the mansion was protected.

It had high attack power and speed, but it was weak enough to be immobilized by a poorly thrown stone.

In fact, Lucifer had once vanquished Sekera by throwing a stone enhanced with divine power.

However, what bothered him was that Sekera formed a group and slowly expanded its influence.

Lucifer pondered.

“I have completely exterminated them once before.”

Sekera was a structure where multiple vultures were connected to a single host. When the leader vulture gave an order, the others followed suit. They also had a survival instinct. They would do anything to stay alive.

In a way, they were a species that reproduced in order to survive.

Ironically, that became Sekera’s weakness.

Once the leader Sekera was found, threatening it would be enough.

“But of all things, it had to be Panacea that appeared.”

The number of potential suspects had become too large to pinpoint.

Here, the black cloak was closer to ordinary clothing.

Lucion pondered. Just recalling the number of black cloaks he had encountered so far amounted to dozens. All of them were impossible to live in this town while remaining under suspicion.

“I need to narrow down the suspects.”

That would be the first task.

#

He didn’t think the enemy would be Serkha.

“For now, it’s still within the realm of deduction.”

Considering Durahan’s fear of shadows, it was almost a certainty.

Serkha moved along with the shadows.

Other monsters or demons did not move in such a way. It was a unique characteristic of Serkha.

“From now on, you never know when or how you’ll have to fight. Always be prepared. And, try not to pay too much attention to shadows.”

“Shadows? Okay, got it.”

“Remember, you’re faster than Serkha. And never back down.”

As long as he didn’t get scared, he was strong enough to not lose. Once he grasped the scale of the opponent, he could handle everything.

Lucion drew a picture of Serkha on the paper and showed how to deal with it.

“Cut off its wings.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

#

The person who dominates Sekera prefers to wear a black cloak for the purpose of concealing something underneath. Although they create a balloon-like head using magic, Sekera’s own body is typically located on their back.

To move the entire body, it is necessary to control the central nervous system. Therefore, they control the entire nervous system from the neck bone, along the spine.

They dislike both high and low temperatures, and prefer a damp and dry environment, so they take care of themselves under the cloak.

Of course, they also hide under their clothes without the cloak. Therefore, it’s not easy to see all Sekeras as enemies without the black cloak.

“The larger the scale, the more essential the black cloak becomes.”

While Sekeras stick to one leader, they also compete among themselves. And the cloak becomes a tool to boast about how impressive a host they have.

Regardless of the scale, considering that Durahan has been active for more than three years, it must have increased at least in units of 100.

“I should start organizing the mansion.”

Ensuring Durahan’s safety is the top priority.

And the possibility of Durahan’s mansion being the main base is the highest.

Finding the leader is a mission that can be resolved. They have planned to summon and annihilate all with the help of the leader of Sekera.

Although they don’t know the command structure of the demons, when a superior entity orders a subordinate to ‘die,’ they die on the spot. There has never been a case of disobedience.

As much as the superior entities are strong, the factors that lead to the defeat of the race have almost disappeared.

However,

The only problem is that the war is just beginning.

“Let’s make a surprise attack.”

Lucion’s mind was complicated.

Lucion’s entire past life rewound and replayed in his mind as if being fast-forwarded from the beginning to the end.

From when did things start to feel strange?

It was three years after the departure of the hero party, when Sekera was defined as Sekera.

Eight years from now.

And three years ago, in Panatia, far from the Demon King’s castle, Duraahan witnessed Syceria drifting on a shadow and claimed it wasn’t a human upon seeing them.

In other words,

“Was the Hero’s Party really meant for the extermination of humans?”

It was merely a pretext for the Demon King’s war.

Lucion didn’t have much time left.