"I once hunted a Devil."
Sifa said this with a smile, implicitly telling Cattleya that he knew enough about Beyonders of the Devil pathway.
He continued, "Devils can always sense malice directed at them. They can always detect danger in advance, but there's a condition: that malice and danger must come from a single target."
"I've always wondered what would happen if the malice and danger directed at them came from multiple sources."
"If they knew beforehand that entering a certain area would expose them to all kinds of malice, could they carefully distinguish who each instance belonged to?"
Cattleya had extensive experience in the mystical world, and as a Mystery Pryer, she possessed a wealth of mystical knowledge herself. She understood Sifa's meaning immediately.
"You mean the natural malice that the various evil entities in the Sea of Ruins harbor toward outsiders?"
Without waiting for Sifa to answer, she nodded. "Indeed, this sea is filled with all kinds of dangers. In the darkness of those ruins, all manner of ancient, evil things are always watching outsiders, deliberately or inadvertently radiating malice."
"Even if Kircheis has never been to this sea, Agalito would have warned him. He would know beforehand that he'd be targeted by a great deal of malice here."
"I also believe he would be unable to distinguish exactly where each instance of malice came from. He might not even bother trying. So, for Devils, when there's enough malice spread over a sufficiently wide area, their proudest ability-the ability to foresee danger-would instead become useless."
Sifa raised a fist to his mouth and gave a dry cough. "This is only my conjecture. I can't be certain, so if we detect danger, we'll abort the operation. Even if we can't obtain the Fountain of Youth, we need to withdraw