From the beginning, William knew the provocation was just an act. Louis knew it, too.
Even though they both knew the game wasn't real, the Sentinel nobleman snorted in annoyance. To him, pretending in the middle of a battle, especially with an outsider like William, was a stain on the Order's discipline. However... William wasn't just any outsider.
The teenager wasn't a Sentinel, a nobleman, or a member of the Order. But the mana flowing through his body...
It felt too powerful. Too well-trained. Too much like them.
The hooded demoness stood still before them, like a statue. But just as Louis's sword nearly touched her, a delicate hand wrapped in tattered lace shot out and stopped the powerful slash with a light grip.
William narrowed his eyes.
A wave of dark mana surged from the woman's body like a black storm that had erupted without warning. The aura stabbed into his chest with suffocating pressure.
Louis moved quickly. With a slight gesture, he summoned a blue, circular shield in front of him—the signature protective magic symbol of an Upper Sentinel. The dark aura crashed against the shield like ocean waves against a reef. However, the blue shield began to crack as if the demon's presence were slowly eroding the magic's boundaries.
William grinned and took a step forward.
"Jealous, obsessed, and consumed by hatred..." he said sarcastically. His voice was calm yet sharp as a knife. "There's no mistaking it. The one who summoned you must have lost his mind over cheap desires."
A small laugh escaped his lips. Not one of pleasure, but of profound disgust.
On the other side of the hall, Elizabeth blasted the head off one of the male demons with a blast of fire from her palm. The body parts burned and turned to dust. She glanced at William, then spoke loudly.
"Of course. Lady Anastasia and Earl Reinhard were married for love, although Reinhard had previously been betrothed to the eldest daughter of Earl Roselle. But he chose Anastasia, the youngest. That made the other daughter lose her mind."
Elizabeth turned to the hooded woman, her eyes filled with determination.
"Love rejected, obsession festering...then summoning a demon to exact revenge for something that was never hers."
William nodded slowly, his mind racing.
This woman was no ordinary demon. Her dark aura was powerful, lingering like the thick fog he had felt at the gates of Hell.
He knew it was Caroline Roselle.
The name flashed through his mind like a dagger drawn from its sheath.
"Caroline, you're so good at hiding." William's voice dropped, flat yet powerful. "Even when your evil intentions were exposed, you still used Sister Margaret as a hostage. She was the only witness who could expose your crimes."
The hooded woman began to move. But this time, she was not fighting. To flee.
She ran out of the church and into the foggy night. A demon like her knew when to kill and when to spread horror.
William clenched his fists. His mind prioritized: find Caroline, save Sister Margaret, and finally, find the hooded demon.
He glanced at Louis, who was still holding his sword with one hand, caught between the demon woman's slender fingers as if in a steel trap lined with velvet.
William knew that Louis was no ordinary Sentinel. He could withstand the attack—for a while, at least. For a while, at least.
Suddenly, the demon woman's left hand rose.
From within the dark mist that hovered like a cloak, a long staff emerged. It was black and purple, thick and glistening like frozen blood in the night. At the tip was a cracked violet crystal that slowly glowed, resembling an ancient spear.
The demoness still hid her face behind her tattered gray bridal veil. However, her movements were far from graceful.
With a single swing, she launched her staff-spear at Louis—a purplish-black weapon that pulsed like the veins of a living creature.
William watched calmly.
The spear spewed a ball of dark, deep purple energy that hurtled toward the Sentinel noble like a miniature meteor. Louis leaped aside, and the dark energy struck the pew behind him, exploding the old wood and incinerating two bride demons who had stood too close.
"She doesn't care about her subordinates," William thought, narrowing his eyes.
"Even worse than humans."
Louis was still able to dodge, but the rhythm of the fight was changing. His steps were heavy. His breathing was labored. Even someone as strong as Louis was beginning to feel overwhelmed.
William moved silently. Each time a claw or scream approached, he twirled lightly, as if dancing.
Between these movements, he released silver butterflies—his own creatures. They landed gently on the demon brides, looking like harmless decorations.
Seconds later, the demons' bodies tore apart like old rags.
Chunks of flesh, bone, and organs fell to the stone floor. A terrifying silence followed, one that not even the demons could ignore.
One of them landed on the demoness.
William saw gaping cuts forming on her arms, hips, and ribs as if she were being peeled from the inside. But the woman only looked up slightly, and the wounds stopped tearing any further.
"Interesting," he muttered to himself. "She's no ordinary demon. She's on the level of a Wrath-Level Demon."
If a Wrath-Level Demon was here, that meant...
"Lady Caroline is in the church," William hissed softly. "And she didn't come alone."
Sister Margaret? The only witness.
She was the only one who could expose Caroline's false aristocracy.
Amidst the chaos, Elizabeth's voice rang out, slightly breathless yet loud.
"That demon is too strong! This is insane! Even Louis—"
He didn't finish his sentence. William already knew the rest.
Louis, a noble Sentinel of the Highest Rank, was in a tight spot.
Each strike from the woman's spear was like a deep ocean wave—deadly, massive, and constant. The purple orbs were no longer targeting William or Elizabeth. They were all aimed at Louis.
"She's a distraction. Something's going to happen."
And it did.
"Dodge!" Louis's voice echoed through the hall like a whip.
A mana aura exploded from the demoness's body, curling like a dense storm. A scream came from within—not a war cry, but a cry of agony, a death wail. The sound pierced his ears like a hot nail.
Elizabeth covered her ears. Louis was pushed halfway to his knees, his hands shielding the sides of his head.
But William remained silent.
He was already on the move.
His steps were steady and light as he walked through the churchyard. A misty shadow greeted him. The large door behind him was still open when, suddenly, a transparent shield appeared.
It glowed faintly, a pale purple like the reflection of moonlight on poisoned water. The shield separated him from the others.
Elizabeth and Louis were trapped inside, along with the bride demons.
Along with the bride demons.
Perhaps Lady Caroline is still hiding in the church.
William stood alone in the courtyard outside, facing something that made the ground beneath him feel frozen.
stood alone in the courtyard, facing something that made the ground beneath him feel frozen.
The aura wasn't just oppressive.
The Wrath-Level Demon's form erased the boundary between life and emptiness.
A shadowy figure emerged from the mist. Slowly, step by step, it approached.