Chapter 215: It Got Out…!?

Evelina cooked. What was it, exactly? Even she didn’t know. It was hard to make food when she had to burn it on purpose; almost none of her family’s chefs had ever taught her how to make anything like that.

Still, she was adaptable. She could always come up with something on the spot.

And she did: bacon. Burnt bacon, done in her own style.

And to be honest… she was right. After finally getting a taste of good food, going back to something burnt really didn’t sit right with me.

Once again, she was right.

As always.

“See? I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

Evelina laughed and draped her arms over my shoulders as she leaned over me, studying my completely unsatisfied expression.

I might not have liked it, but it was still something she’d cooked, which meant I was going to finish every last bite.

“Doesn’t matter. You cooked it.”

As I ate, Evelina let out a soft yawn and stretched, and I felt her chest press gently against my back.

“Today was fun…” she murmured, her voice sleepy.

“Go to sleep first if you want. I’ll clean up here.”

“I can’t possibly…”

“Just go. After what happened, you definitely need some sleep.”

I guess even her [Vital Rinse] magic wasn’t enough to fully refresh her. So succubus magic did have limits… even if those limits were hard to pin down.

“Thanks, Cael…”

She kissed me on the cheek, pulled me into a tight hug, then walked off. I could hear her yawning in the other room as she left.

“That was definitely enlightening,” I said with a small smile to myself. I hadn’t realized just how much I still didn’t know about her personal life.

I guess she wasn’t the only one with regrets.

But…

It’s a good thing the two of us aren’t idiots.

Relationships are manageable as long as both people actually talk to each other. And… hearing myself think that out loud feels a little stupid.

I mean, I’m the last person I ever expected to be talking about healthy relationship habits.

“Guess I should clean up…”

*** Mansion’s Courtyard – Minutes After

[Evolution Information Transplanted]

[New Spells]

– [Search] –

– [Capture] –

I stepped outside for a moment, letting the rain and moonlight wash over me. As a training spot, it was honestly terrible, but it still beat having to teleport all the way back to the academy.

Without the Profaned Eye, teleporting somewhere that far would be way too mentally draining.

So for now, I just had to grit my teeth and train in the cold, rainy night.

“Not being able to teleport wherever I want, whenever I want…”

I let out a loud sigh. Even now, it barely felt real—going from absurdly powerful to just… powerful.

If I fought Corvus right now, I’d probably just get wiped out instantly—either overwhelmed before I could even react, or taken out by a single one of his spells.

For Evelina’s sake—and my own—I had to get my strength back.

But this time… I’m done relying on Beelzebub for power.

Why did I ever think making a deal with a demon prince was a good idea in the first place?

Next time—if I’m really forced into it—I’m definitely going to do everything I can to rip him off.

[Black Flame Manipulation]

As usual, I coated my palms in black flames, warming up with a few simple movements before trying out the new spells I’d gotten.

Two.

Not a lot—but considering how rare cursed energy was, even just two more spells with that same attunement was a huge blessing.

“Let’s see…”

[Search]

BADUMP!

A massive, invisible shockwave burst out from where I stood. It rippled across the ground like water, disturbing the dirt and the falling rain as if a strong gust of wind had swept through.

W–Was that it…?

Judging by the name, that clearly wasn’t everything it could do.

“What about the second one? Hopefully it’s something better…”

[Capture]

[Searching Across Searched Area…]

[Captured Spirit]

Oh…? So these two spells are supposed to be used together, huh? But what did it mean by captured spirit?

“Don’t tell me I just grabbed some poor dead idiot…”

[-Error-]

Well, looks like I was wrong.

[Foreign Entity Interfering with Capture]

Dead wrong.

[Failed…]

CRACK!

“Agh!”

Agony exploded through my entire body the instant the failure notification appeared. I stumbled forward, my foot slipping on a rock, and crashed down onto my hands and knees. My eyes screwed shut as I clenched my teeth against the pain.

“Fuck… foreign entity? The hell does that—”

[The Serpent’s Amulet Resisted Memory Erasure]

My heart started racing the moment I saw that notification.

What…?

It got out!?

[Dark Recovery]

I forced myself upright through the pain, but it didn’t matter; if the system notification was right, pain wasn’t really a problem anymore.

Whatever that thing was…

It got out, and it definitely had something to do with me.

I didn’t need another second to figure out what I had to do: get that thing away from here as fast as possible—or at the very least, make sure it didn’t come anywhere near the mansion.

[Dark Step]

The shadows beneath me rose up and swallowed me whole, then peeled away as I reappeared somewhere else.

The abandoned mining company. Just as I expected, the gates had been blown wide open.

But how…!?

Even if it had sensed my presence through the spell, how the hell did it climb out of that steep pit? There was no way my spell alone suddenly convinced it to escape.

If it could do that this whole time, it should’ve already done it the first time I messed with it.

[Lightning Speed]

FWOOSH!

Something from inside the opened gate blurred past the edge of my vision.

And—

Julius!?

“C–Cael…!?” he shouted, our eyes locking for a brief second.

“Y–You…!?”

My brain immediately kicked into overdrive the moment I saw Julius. Theories started piecing themselves together, and before long, I had my answer.

I wasn’t completely sure… but it was the closest thing I had to a reasonable explanation.

All of this was probably the result of some very, very unfortunate timing between Julius and me.

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