'He owes me for saving the Exorcist.'

That alone explained his presence. But it wasn't the whole picture.

'If I survive this, the Japanese Exorcist branch's image will take a massive hit. And Exorcist Union will have to worry about a dangerous enemy coming back in the future—me.'

It was a profitable outcome for him.

Still, true to his reckless nature, Math had no intention of saving me completely.

That much was obvious from the way he had left Musashi reach me.

'Now that I know who's blocking the Gods and the Exorcists…'

A slow, arrogant smile crept onto my face.

'We can escape.'

I looked up at the swords, then back at Musashi.

"See that? That's Math from New Order. You really think you can afford to fight us right now?"

Musashi's gaze was fixed on the sky.

Even Valen was looking up.

As Rank 5 Exorcists, their senses were sharp enough to feel the pressure radiating from those swords.

The power behind those attacks were overwhelming.

And since Math had appeared so suddenly in the center of headquarters, their defenses were woefully unprepared.

Vampire Prince Valen's eyes shined for a split second.

He understood that I was lying through my teeth. Whatever Math's objective was, I wasn't his ally, and he likely wouldn't save us.

But Musashi didn't know that.

And Valen chose to play along.

"Well, your confidence seems to have vanished rather quickly. You were quite determined to kill Caelum and the rest of us earlier. Are you still so certain now?" Valen said mildly, turning his attention back to Musashi.

Musashi's brows drew together.

A deep, booming laugh echoed across the sky.

It belonged to Math, who must've heard our words, by manipulating the sounds to reach his ears.

He didn't confirm our words, but he didn't deny them either.

Musashi's hand drifted toward the hilt of his sword.

"Nuh-uh." I shook my finger slowly. "With Math up there and Valen standing here, we could turn this entire Japanese branch into rubble if we felt like it."

I maintained my smirk.

"The only reason we haven't is because we're kind people. We don't bully those weaker than us. But if you attack first…"

I didn't finish the sentence.

I didn't need to.

My smile did the rest.

Of course, everything I said was a bluff.

Math wasn't going to start a massacre.

Cursed Spirits from New Order—especially those in the upper echelons with high sentience—understood the value of humans.

The more people knew of a Cursed Spirit, the stronger it became.

Widespread slaughter only reduced their "livestock".

That kind of slaughter was only done by their "children", who had yet to gain proper sentience.

But right now, Math had been attacked.

Not only that, he had been attacked during a meeting where violence was forbidden, by a Cursed Spirit possessing a representative of the Japanese branch.

Math had the justification to let loose.

Or so Musashi must be thinking.

"It's good that you know your place now. I hope you won't stop us anymore, and invite trouble for yourself."

I turned away from Musashi and bent down to help the inn girl to her feet.

She was staring at me with a shocked gaze.

Or was she?

It was hard to tell with an eldritch octopus horror where a human head should be.

I straightened and looked at the rest of the crew, who were still kneeling stiffly, their bodies trembling.

"What are you waiting for? Your nannies to come pick you up? Stand up!"

They scrambled to their feet, though their legs were shaking badly, like the inn girl's.

They let out a rough laugh.

"Ha! Captain, ye've got nerves forged from iron. Talking back to a monster like that and not even blinking!"

"That's why he's the captain! Always been cracked in the head, and somehow still breathing!"

"So ye help the lass up all gentle-like, then turn round and start growling at us? Hah! Aye, now I see how it is!"

I rolled my eyes at their attempt to shake off the pressure of Musashi.

Then my gaze shifted to Dante.

He was in bad shape.

Valen flicked a finger.

Two blood golems rose from the floor.

One carefully lifted Dante, supporting the form of him that remained intact.

The other picked up Saint Maverick and Judy.

"Let's move," Valen said calmly.

We started toward the door.

'I need Valen to open the door to the Bermuda Triangle.'

Everyone who had ever entered the Bermuda Triangle possessed a key. Insert it into a door, state your intent, and the passage would open.

But there was a problem.

You always exited from the same location you entered.

If I used my key here, I would come back here.

That would strand me deep in enemy territory and cut off my route back to Europe, where my home was.

There was no way I could make it back by morning if that happened.

That was why I had sent Saint Maverick earlier instead of going myself.

Now, only Valen and I could open the door.

The rest couldn't.

They were inhabitants of the Bermuda Triangle and didn't possess keys.

I slowed my pace slightly, letting Valen move ahead.

To avoid raising suspicion, I turned around and waved at Musashi, who was staring at me like he wanted to carve my name into the floor.

"Well then, see you around. Hope you enjoyed the meeting as much as I did."

His killing intent spiked.

But he didn't move.

Math's presence weighed too heavily on him.

I turned back just in time to see Valen opening the door. Space twisted, folding inward, revealing the familiar threshold.

One by one, everyone stepped through.

As I followed, Musashi spoke.

"Rune Sage."

His voice was cold, heavy, and filled with hatred.

I stopped, but I didn't turn around.

"I will kill you."

I raised a hand in response and gave a lazy wave.

Then I stepped through the door.

Valen entered last and closed it behind us.

The pressure vanished instantly.

The sky, the swords, Musashi's presence. All gone.

I finally let out a long breath.

We had survived.

As for the Cursed Spirits from New Order?

They could find their own way back.

Just as relief settled into my chest, a hand landed on my shoulder.

I turned around and saw it belonged to the Vampire Prince.

He was smiling.

"Now that we're back, how about we continue our conversation? As I mentioned before, I'm here to recruit you."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.