The Devil's Evolution Catalog

Chapter 140: Split Personality?

Under the wary gaze of Uncle Zarah, I returned to an empty home

Looks like Roscar left the house as well. Walking up to a nearby tree, I reached into the hole on its trunk and withdrew a dusty key that had probably been in there for at least a year and unlocked the door.

A yearthis was the first time I came home in over a year and yet nothing seemed to have changed since the day I left. The only difference was the layer of dust blanketing the entire home. Judging by the looks of it, no one had been in here for over a year. In other words, the both of them left shortly after I ran away from home.

The flower garden in the backyard was one of Nicoles favorite spots and was normally  meticulously tended to by her. Yet it was now overgrown with weeds, with the flowers barely having any space to survive anymore. It was in this garden that Nicole and I played, each time I would tell her this: when I grow up, Ill marry you.

As I stood in this familiar environment, memories of my childhood fleeted across my eyes as if it had just happened yesterdaya young Nicole smiling shyly at me with rose tinted cheeks as she allowed me to drape a red shawl over her; after which we went through the elaborate procedures of a typical Chinese wedding. Putting aside the flowers, insects and the lack of wedding guests, we were basking in the bliss of the moment.

If Roscar wasnt home, that must have meant that he left to find me.

Roscar was a good fatherin order to raise me, he toiled day and night just to save up money to send a talentless child like me who couldnt activate his Fighters Aura to become a mage. For my sake, he even sacrificed his one and only daughters future. Even when she grew to a schooling age, he let her look after me just as beforeall for my sake

In actuality, I understood why he did this. Because I wasnt able to activate my Fighters Aura and yet wasnt satisfied with a normal persons life, he pushed himself even harder in order to save up money for me. He mustve thought that even if I lacked talent for the magical or warrior arts, he could at least save up enough money to purchase an elemental core and activate my aura perception

Day after day, Nicole would selflessly care for me, no matter what she did she always put me firstthe love these two showed me wassimply too heavy. It was because of this crushing weight that finally made me run away; it was simply too much to bear for me.

Honestly, there were a number of reasons for me running away from home. Being jealous of Sares was one of them, the other was that if I left, Roscar only needed to concern himself with sending Nicole to school. That way, Nicole wouldnt need to waste her schooling years away at home. She shouldnt have to waste her precious time looking after a piece of trash like me.

In the end, the main reason was that my departure would be a good thing for themI had never thought about hurting anyone by doing so, I just wanted them to have a better life

I dont know how long it had been since I started sitting in the backyard reminiscing, but suddenly I heard a set of hurried footsteps enter the house making their way through to the backyard within a few moments.

Little Brother, seems like we have visitors.

I know, but I just want to be left alone for a moment.

Then its alright to ignore the enemies?

Mhm, just leave them for now.

Is it really alright to be so willful now After not receiving a response from me for a long while, Fertinier shrugged her shoulders in resignation and turned around, disappearing into the void in an instant. Alright then, its your choice. Her last words echoed in the recesses of my mind.

At this very moment, my back was faced to the intruders as I continued reminiscing about the past. Perhaps it was my bewitching aura at work but none of them spoke up for over a minute until I finally turned around.

The burly silhouette of Uncle Zarah was the first to enter my eyesight, beside him were three black hooded strangers. Perhaps calling them strangers wasnt right seeing as this actually wasnt our first meeting. These three strangers were part of the five man team chasing me in Azure. To think that they ended up catching up to me in the end, I guess they werent called demon hunters for nothing. Just their tracking ability alone was enough to leave me in awe.

How did you guys find out about this place

My dried lips quivered as I muttered those words in a slightly shaky voice. The fact that they were able to catch up to me so fast was completely unexpected to me.

When I stepped into Chaik Village, I had really thought that I had escaped their pursuit. Who wouldve thought that they not only caught up to me but did so with such celerity.

The one who sang in Azure City was you wasnt it. It was a lovely song, so was that unknown language. It made everyone lose themselves in the melody, even more surprising was that your voice didnt cause any malaises. That made me curious about what kind of existence you were.

The hooded figure in the front took off her black hood, revealing a beautiful face framed by long flowing, blue hair that draped over her shoulders. On it was a complex mix of emotions, cold placidness yet tinged with a hint of kindness at the same time.

This girl couldnt have been older than 20 years old. She had a milky white complexion and a gallant disposition that seemed to bring out her beauty even more. Even though her robes covered up her figure, I knew that it must have been equally as beautiful.

With my mask still on, she had no way of seeing my face, thus we stood there, facing each other in silence.

Seeing that I had no reaction, the girl took the initiative to answer my question: That little girl you followed gave us a hint. She said that her friend knew this language as well, seeing as you were following that girl when we found you, I made a bold guess. You mustve had some relationship to that little girls friend. So we searched for that girl who knew the song and found out about this place from her.

What happened to her, what did you do to her!

They found out about our home from Nicole? Then what about Nicole, what happened to her?

Dont worry, shes fine, we have no reason to attack an innocent person. But I really wonder, whats your relationship with her? After informing me of that fact, she introduced herself. Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself, Im Tilith Adolph, the vice-team leader of the 137th squad of the 17th Demon Hunter Division of the Church of Light.

According to several testimonies, despite being a devil, you havent harmed a single person and instead helped numerous innocents and even distributed your wealth to alleviate their burden. While I dont know what motive you have for doing so, you havent done any evil yet as far as I know.

Thats why I do not wish to use force on you. If youre willing to believe me, please return to our branch with me and well conduct an investigation. If you truly havent done any wrong, I guarantee that we wont trouble you any further.

Do you think Im some kind of three year old or something? Do you truly believe that I will allow myself to be scammed by a few flowery words? What am I going to do if you go back on your words?

Seeing that I was as unresponsive as before, she immediately realized what I was worried about. Without wasting anymore words, she retrieved a sword shaped like a cross and raised it before her body with one hand. In a solemn voice, she declared: I swear by my honor, that if you are innocent, I Tilith Adolph will trouble you no more!

Adolphlooks like shes nobility seeing as she has a last name. A number of nobles place their honor before their lives, yet there were also those who didnt care about it. The girl before me was probably of the former, that was what her eyes told me.

Should I believe her? If I resist, I would have to escape again and theres no guarantee that I will be able to do so either. Just based off her aura alone, Tilith was definitely a four-star warrior.

In that case, should I believe her and follow her to the Demon Hunters branch office? I heard that there are a lot of extremists in there that feel that devils should be put to death. If I enter such a place, will I even be able to leave there alive? But Tilith swore

Just as those confusing thoughts were swimming through my head, another intruder stepped into the scene.

This robed figure took off his hood as well revealing a mans face. He had a muscular build that, coupled with his towering stature, made him look like a two meter tall mountain. His blonde hair had been shaved into a typical military buzz cut.

In his right hand was a 1.5 meter long morningstar while his left hand held a kite shield that covered a little under half his body. As he walked up to us, his eyes stared pointedly at me. His bushy eyebrows quivered as he broke into a grin: Theres no reasoning with a devil.

Team Leader! Tilith and the other two demon hunters called out in unison. So this was their leader

With a ridiculing smirk on his face, the seemingly rash man did something uncharacteristic: Vice Team Leader Tilith, I see youre wasting your time once more.

But Team Leader, I feel that we should give her a chance since she hasnt done anything wrong.

Havent done anything wrong? Hahaha then tell me, whats her gender?

Female. Tilith answered without any hesitation.

See, isnt it obvious already? Without waiting for the girl to respond, he continued explaining himself in an orderly manner:

A certain portion of devils are able to acquire a persons memories by consuming their souls. Its a really unique and terrifying ability. Not only are they able to consume the other partys memories but also their experiences, strengthening themselves in the process. If such a devil were to consume an alchemists memories, that devil might become an alchemist after sorting out these new memories.

Even though there might be some missing memories, the ability to gain such strength without much effort is still an attractive one. Unfortunately, such an ability has a fatal side-effect, after consuming a large number of souls, the devil might develop split personalities and even assume the experiences of the consumed souls

Then she

Thats right, didnt that girl say so herself, the human that taught her that language was a eight to nine year old boy. Just look at the devil before you, is that the stature of a eight to nine year old boy? Plus, shes clearly a female devil and if Im not wrong, shes a lust demon!

Tilith had no counter argument to the Team Leaders words and could only stand there in silence.

With a sinister smile on his face, the Team Leader stated his conclusion: In other words, your current personality is that of Mo Kes isnt it?

Mo Ke! Having not heard my name for a long time, especially from a strangers mouth, my body jerked in reaction. This tiny reaction ended up being turned into the most concrete proof that I had consumed an innocent boys soul

See, theres a reaction to his name. I bet youre wondering how I know of your name. Haha, youve probably forgotten by now, but youre different from the boy you ate, youre a female devil.