Conquering The Novel

Just as Irethiel was about to land a final blow on Meira, Meira's aura suddenly flared up once again, her snake tattoo glowing with intense blue light.

Startled, I watched as Meira seized the opportunity and lunged forward with a powerful strike.

SWAP—

Irethiel tried to counter, but in that split second, I acted on instinct and swapped my location with Irethiel's, causing Meira's body to jolt and stop in her attack from just an inch away from my neck.

I held my breath as her dagger trembled for a moment before she fell unconscious in my arms.

In the end, it appeared that Meira had lost control over her powers, similar to Tania when she lost control at the end of her fight with Mika.

And Meira's attack stopped when it neared me because she couldn't harm me, her master. As she is my servant bound by a contract which prohibits her from harming me.

I turned toward Irethiel, holding Meira in my arms, and saw the trail of destruction caused by Irethiel's last attack.

"...."

"...Were you planning on killing her?" I asked Irethiel with a blank expression.

I had swapped my location with her not because I was afraid of Meira's attack harming Irethiel, but because I had seen the immense strength with which Irethiel had retaliated.

!?

"...What am I doing here?" Irethiel asked abruptly, holding her throbbing head.

"Huh?" I looked at her in confusion.

"And... why the hell am I bruised?" she asked, examining her body, she had a few scratches and bruises from her fight with Meira.

"Are you serious right now?" I asked, perplexed.

'I wonder if the side effects of the potion were affecting her. How many potions did she take anyway? Aegis mentioned that the stronger the demon, the more excessive the side effects, but this seemed to be going too far.' I pondered

"...And what is that Dark Elf doing in your arms?" Irethiel asked suspiciously.

"...."

"It was you who beat her unconscious just now, don't you remember?" I asked as I carried Meira in a princess style and moved toward the mansion.

"What? You mean to say that I just fought that elf?" Irethiel asked as she followed behind me.

"Yes, that's right," I responded.

"That doesn't make sense. Why can't I remember that and also...does that mean I was injured while fighting with her?" Irethiel inquired.

"Yes," I replied as I pushed open the room's door and moved toward the bed before laying Meira on it.

"That's impossible! I don't believe that little assassin can even land a scratch on me," Irethiel exclaimed.

"It's not about what you believe or not, it's what happened," I said, sighing. "But I have a feeling that the potion you took might have affected your memory and perception of the fight."

Irethiel crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Meira with a skeptical expression. "She doesn't look that powerful to me, no way in hell she could even put a scratch on me if I used my demonic form," she said as she noticed that she was now in her demon form rather than her human disguise.

"Yeah, that would have been the case normally, but I ordered you to hold back against her," I replied as I fed Meira the Advanced healing potion.

Irethiel uncrossed her arms and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Hold back? Why would you order me to do that?" she asked, her confusion evident.

"Let's just say that I needed to see what Meira was capable of," I explained and threw a Healing potion toward Irethiel, which she caught reflexively.

"...."

But hearing my explanation, Irethiel was still confused as she didn't know what was going on.

There were times when she would obey my orders, but she would mostly decline them if it meant putting herself in danger. So she didn't understand why she held back and let Meira injure her.

"Never let down your guard, even when facing the weakest foe, for a sword's point can still draw blood." This is what Irethiel believes in.

***

I disregarded Irethiel's confusion and memory loss and proceeded to change my clothes since I was planning on leaving for the academy as soon as Meira woke up.

Given that she was fed an advanced healing potion, it wouldn't take long for her to recover.

While changing, I noticed many changes in my body that I hadn't noticed before since I was wearing a camouflage pendant.

My body had become more toned, and I had grown a few centimeters taller. But the most notable change was in my left eye, whose pupil had turned a chaotic blue, with lightning crackling faintly within it.

My body felt stronger and more attuned to the magical forces of the world.

As I touched my left eye, I felt a strange energy coursing through my body. The vision from it was still somewhat blurry, but the auras around me seemed more vivid than ever as if the world itself had become infused with vibrant energy.

After examining my left eye for a moment, I left it at that and got fully dressed in a casual outfit.

I wore a white t-shirt with a simple design, paired with comfortable black pants and black sneakers. My clothes were loose-fitting and easy to move in.

"Akh!" I heard Meira's voice as she woke up.

I turned towards her and saw that she was trying to sit while groaning in pain and holding her cracked ribs.

Although her ribs were healed now, it seemed that there was still some residual pain.

"Are you okay now?" I asked Meira, seeing her pained expression.

Meira nodded weakly, her breathing still ragged. "I'll be fine," she said through gritted teeth.

I walked over to her and offered her a hand. "Take it easy," I said, helping her to sit comfortably. "You took a pretty hard hit there."

Meira grimaced but managed a small smile. "...Y-Yeah,"

As she caught her breath, I was able to notice the colorful aura that surrounded her with my left eye. It was as if the energy of the healing potion was still working its way through her body, emanating a warm glow.

"So, I lost, huh?" Meira murmured to herself, remembering Irethiel's punch connecting to her ribs, but the rest was a blur to her.

"Don't worry about losing to Irethiel," I said with a reassuring smile. "She's a former demoness with a lot of experience. I was impressed to see that you made her transform into her demon form."

Meira still looked dejected. "But that doesn't change the fact that I lost. If it had been a real battle, I would have been dead."

I nodded in agreement. "Well, The world isn't reasonable. You won't always face opponents who are on an equal power level as you.

Sometimes you'll fight weaker opponents, and other times you'll face someone much stronger. But you can't do anything about that.

All you can do is get as strong as you can so you can tackle any situation." I stated.

Meira gave a small nod of understanding. "I promise that I'll get stronger, so I can be of help to you, Master," she said with determination.

"Good," I replied with a smile as Meira's gaze turned to Irethiel, who was staring at her with a perplexed expression.

'How was this weak dark elf able to injure me and force me to use my demon form?' Irethiel thought as she folded her arms and studied Meira.

"I...will defeat you someday," Meira declared as she locked eyes with Irethiel.

"Huh? In your dreams! I don't know how you were able to land hits on me, but things won't be the same next time. I will make you pay for every drop of my bloodshed," Irethiel responded with a cold tone.

Meira's face turned resolute, and she didn't back down from Irethiel's fierce gaze. I could see the determination in her eyes.

"Very well," I said, cutting through the tension. "You two can get some rest for an hour before we leave for the academy."

"Oh and I heard you were making preparations for my departure to the academy while I was unconscious," I asked Meira.

Meira nodded. "Yes, I had prepared the vehicle for us. It's parked in the garage of the mansion," she said, passing me a key.

As I took the key from her, she spoke again as if she had just realized something. "And Master, this is your wristwatch that I removed from you. It had a tracker, but I was able to remove it," she said, passing me the wristwatch.

"...."

"...You should have just thrown it away," I said as I took the wristwatch.

But after examining it for a moment, I found it was still in good condition.

"I didn't dispose of it as I thought you would need it to claim your rewards," Meira explained.

"Well, I won't be able to claim the rewards anytime soon," I said.

As visiting the adventurer guild would only add to my troubles as Marz was being searched by many influential figures.

Besides, I already had enough money, and the reward money would be just like a drop in the ocean.

I used my adventurer ID to log into my account and check my Quest log.

"Hmm, let's see," I muttered as I checked the list of Quests. But then I noticed something strange.

"Is it broken?" I asked as I saw the unusual numbers written on the watch.

Beep!—

[S-Rank Adventurer Marz

Quest In Progress: Eliminate the Threat at the Border of the Abandoned Kingdom!

Monsters Killed: 99760]