The Girl Who Devoured Demons

After Aibo caught his breath, he returned to the village entrance to rejoin the other two.

Levy seemed to have calmed down as well. She stood quietly to one side, smiling sweetly like an elegant, refined young beauty, with not the slightest sign of anything unusual.

Noticing that Aibo had been staring at her, Levy smiled and tilted her head. A "?" seemed to pop up above her head. Such an adorable girl—who would have thought...

Sigh. Sometimes, knowing too much did not bring happiness...

Still, Levy's thoughts had returned to normal now. It seemed that Ghost Brain could not be activated whenever she wanted.

Aibo breathed a sigh of relief. He was not sure he could withstand that level of demonic sound drilling into his brain a second time. Levy was terrifying.

"This commission was issued in the village's name, so let's find the village chief first."

Aibo spoke as if nothing had happened, offering no further explanation for his sudden departure earlier.

"Mhm! Let's hope this commission goes smoothly!"

The three entered the village, only to find it nearly deserted. Aibo listened carefully, then frowned.

"The villagers have all gathered in the south. Something...

...seems to be going on there."

"Get out—!"

"You demon-possessed freak! How long do you plan to stay in this village?!"

"Demon! Get out of the village!"

When Aibo and the other two reached the southernmost part of the village, they found a crowd of villagers surrounding a house and hurling insults in unison. Some were even throwing stones at the windows. The scene was utterly ugly.

"Huh? The demon in this village is locked in a room? And getting bullied by the villagers? A demon this weak would be useless even if we contracted it, right? Aibo... huh? What's wrong with you?"

Cana looked at Aibo and found his brows tightly furrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line. She knew that was what he looked like when he was angry.

"These ignorant villagers..."

Aibo had just learned the rough course of events from the villagers' thoughts. They were actually collectively bullying several innocent children. Combined with the situation before him, he could already guess most of the truth behind this commission.

Uncivilized humans were truly unenlightened and foolish.

Just then, a little girl suddenly threw open a window and screamed herself hoarse at the villagers.

"Stop it already! Big Sister Mira was the one who destroyed the demon haunting the church! She protected this village, and yet you're treating her like this! Big Sister Mira was possessed by a demon because she defeated one! Big Sister Mira did nothing wrong! Nothing wrong!!"

Intimidated by the girl's forceful presence, the villagers fell silent for a moment. The air grew still.

Then, a brilliant light suddenly burst forth above everyone's heads!

A "Giant of Light" dozens of meters tall abruptly appeared overhead. Its egg-shaped eyes gazed down upon the villagers from above, and the oppressive presence of the colossal being frightened them into complete immobility.

Then, a solemn voice like a sacred chant resounded in everyone's minds.

"I am Shafulin, messenger of light! I have come to destroy demons. Today, I shall deliver all of you and send you to paradise."

With that, it raised a massive foot and prepared to crush the crowd beneath it. The villagers had never seen anything like this before. Their faces turned pale as they collapsed to the ground. Faced with the deathly pressure of the wind, someone finally broke down and screamed.

"Lord Shafulin, you have the wrong people! You have the wrong people! The demon is in that house! We're all ordinary humans, not demons!"

Once the first person cried out, the others quickly came to their senses and dropped to their knees, begging for mercy as they pointed at the house and wailed.

Unexpectedly, the tactic actually worked. The giant halted its step, withdrew its foot, and turned its gaze toward the house. As if sensing something, it paused before saying,

"Deception! This is deception! There is only the lingering aura of a dead demon within that house. The true demons are hiding among you. Their auras are merely too faint to distinguish. It seems I can only treat you all equally and eliminate every last demon worshipper..."

It raised another foot and pressed it toward the crowd.

Demons were hiding among them?! The villagers' vision went dark with panic and despair. Yet some of the sharper ones realized that the Giant of Light could be reasoned with, so they gathered their courage and shouted again.

"Lord Shafulin, wait! We aren't demon worshippers! We have a way to find the real demons! Please give us some time, and we'll find the demons ourselves!"

The enormous foot stopped in midair once more.

"Very well. In that case, I shall give you three days. Find the true demons, or all of you will be executed."

The next second, a gigantic Light Prison descended from the sky, imprisoning all the villagers within and providing them with a private space free from interruption, convenient for ferreting out the traitor among them.

After that, the Giant of Light dispersed, leaving only Aibo and the other two behind.

Cana covered her mouth and snickered.

"Aibo, you were so evil just now! You nearly fooled even me! But well done!"

Levy stepped forward, reached out, and knocked against the glowing wall of the huge hemispherical dome before her, her face filled with astonishment.

"This is... Light Make Magic? It can actually form a nearly solid wall of light. This spell must consume a lot of magic power, right?"

Aibo shook his head repeatedly.

"Wrong. Under sunlight, Light Make Magic consumes very little power. It's even passively absorbing light energy right now. Charging for a full day can barely sustain it through the night. Its strength isn't particularly high, but it's more than enough to trap a bunch of ignorant villagers."

"Whoa, so light can be shaped too? Was that giant also made with shaping magic? Aibo, your magic is always so unexpected."

"It's nothing more than the accumulation of hard work and a little magical understanding. Just a few hardships, nothing worth mentioning... All right, let's go take a look at the 'target' of this commission."

Aibo waved a hand, and the three walked around the massive "house of light" to arrive before the room that had just been surrounded.

By then, the three people hiding inside had also come to the window. They had clearly seen and heard what had happened, and they watched Aibo's group approach with curiosity.

"Was what happened just now... your doing?"

A girl shrouded in a black robe stepped forward and questioned them. Her eyes were full of vigilance as she looked at the three before her.

The pink-haired one should be the leader. Those two girls are about the same age as me, so there's no need to worry about them. What were that giant and the house of light in front of us? Did they come for the demon too?

Cana immediately jumped out.

"That's right! This village submitted a commission to our guild to drive out a demon. That is precisely why we're here."

"Big Sister isn't a demon! The demon was already killed by Big Sister Mira!"

"Lisanna! Elfman, keep an eye on her!"

The girl known as Big Sister Mira, her entire body concealed beneath a black cloak, took a deep breath. She walked to the window, abruptly raised her right hand, and held it out before them as she said in a trembling voice,

"The demon... the demon is on me! If you can truly get rid of it, then please do it!"

"Big Sister Mira!!" x2

"Both of you, shut up! This is my fate! I was prepared for this long ago! Come on! Hurry up and do it!"

"Big Sister, no!"

"..." x3

Watching the three siblings huddled together and crying as if they were about to be separated by death, Cana scratched her head in confusion.

"What's wrong with them? Why are they crying?"

Levy looked thoughtful.

"Maybe they mistakenly believe she's been possessed by a demon? She's prepared to die and perish together with the demon?"

Aibo sighed and explained,

"Don't get so worked up first. Miss, you haven't been possessed by a demon, and you won't become one. If I'm not mistaken, your right hand cannot return to normal because you still cannot properly control the power of your magic. It isn't anything particularly serious."

"Huh? Huh??!"

The three siblings froze. Lisanna was the first to react, asking excitedly,

"You're saying this is magic?! Does that mean Big Sister can be saved?! Do you know what's happening to her?! Can you cure Big Sister?!"

Aibo noticed their excited expressions, then looked at his own group still being kept outside by the window, and said helplessly,

"So, would it be convenient for us to go inside and discuss this in detail?"

"S-Sorry!!" x2