"A... Aqua...!?"
"Hey...!?"
Megumin and Darkness were both caught completely off guard by the sudden turn of events.
Vanir apparently hadn't expected Aqua to suddenly cast magic either. Struck by the exorcism spell specifically meant to vanquish demons, a sacred Magic Circle appeared beneath his feet. His entire body was burned away by the light rising from it, leaving only a mask behind.
"A magnificent molt!"
At the last possible moment, Vanir, whose mask had been reduced to wreckage, threw it out. It landed on the ground some distance away.
Then, the mask's eyes glowed red, causing the earth beneath it to swell and gradually take the shape of a human body, transforming into Vanir's form.
"Fuhahahahaha!"
Vanir suddenly burst into laughter. One hand pressed against the mask on his face, he fixed his red eyes on Aqua and spoke.
"So that is it, so that is it! Was that irritating light I had been seeing all along the reason why, even when I used my power to see through that joke of a clan's village, I could see nothing at all? Was that why I had no choice but to resort to the troublesome method of making dolls to probe them?"
A stronger, denser aura of evil radiated from Vanir.
Combined with the faint hatred and disgust in his voice, Fang Li knew that this great demon who claimed to see through everything in the world had already seen Aqua's true identity.
Aqua, naturally, was no different. Sensing the evil aura around Vanir, she covered her nose with a look of disgust.
"It stinks! It really stinks! It smells worse than those undead hordes we ran into before! Only lowly demons could possibly have a stench like this! This is awful! Why is something so filthy hanging around this