"That does sound noble, but I must remind you: if you truly die here, the knowledge you inherited will be lost forever, and your school will have one fewer member."
Shade reminded her. Miss Coens fell silent for a while, only speaking when the elevator returned to the tenth floor amid vibrations:
"If this is the price I must pay, I will accept such a destiny. After all, our Inheritance exists precisely to destroy these things. Evil Spirit Demons no longer run rampant through the Material World, so it is only natural for hunters to gradually leave the stage. Perhaps when all hunters have vanished, the demons will vanish as well."
Rather than opening the door before her, she took out an old-looking scroll and handed it to Shade:
"Though you are not a hunter, I think you can learn this as well. Destroying demons requires more strength, and hunters do not mind sharing our knowledge with others. Take this as a gift. I think it will be very useful to you."
The scroll recorded a Witch Secret Art that had long been lost in the Sixth Epoch. After all, almost no one in the Sixth Epoch used swords to cast spells, and Shade even suspected that this secret art had never been adapted into Thaumaturgy.
Witch Secret Art: Sword Demon Contract. Hunters had drawn inspiration from the contracts demons made with mortals, using secret arts to forge contracts between themselves and their own weapons. Although it was called the "Sword Demon Contract," it could actually be used on many kinds of weapons—just not firearms.
The secret art could only select one weapon at a time. Ordinary weapons, Alchemy Weapons, and relic weapons could all be used. Once the contract was successfully formed, the weapon's abilities would be further enhanced.