Chapter 22 – Team

Ed’s heart dropped when Arin smashed the frozen Tencram’s left upper body. Because Ed would get experience level only if he killed the intermediate demon himself. So he quickly fired a cold arrow out of Tencram’s forehead. Fortunately, he got an experience because he made the final blow. However, he could still see a gap in the Tencram that should be dead. There was no way that there could be a gap if the demon is dead. But Arin didn’t step away from the fallen Tencram. Ed had a 300 percent chance of success, but was raised to 600 percent during archery training. But Ed couldn’t waste more time on Arin, a holy knight. The arrow passed Arin’s cheek, and cut the Tencram’s belly, and hit the shoulder of the Tencram’s baby. Does an intermediate demon baby give as much experience as an adult intermediate demon? Or will it give the same amount of experience as a lower-grade demon? The agony was not long. There was no need for the help of a holy knight to deal with a baby demon. While Arin was turning around, Ed kicked the floor and stepped on the wall, pulled out an arrow, and injected mana. He used quite a lot of mana to kill the Tencram, but he still had the power to fire an arrow at it. The moment the baby Tencram was coming out of the stomach, it got hit by Ed’s arrow, and ice exploded.

Zzznnng!

When the Tencram’s baby, which had never even come out of his stomach, froze, Ed leaped from the wall and fired arrows one after another. Four arrows were placed in the baby Tencram’s forehead and eyeballs.

“Kyyyyaaaa!”

The baby Tencram died before leaving the mother’s tummy. The experience level it gave was higher than low-grade demons and less than intermediate demons, but Ed was satisfied. As Ed was gathering his breath, Arin approached.

“I’m sorry. I thought it was dead.”

Ed replied with a bow hanging over his shoulder.

“You’ve experienced it once, so I don’t want you to make this mistake next time.”

Ed told her this mistake is a life-threatening one. Arin nodded and approached the Tencram’s body and said.

“Can I examine the body?” “Of course.”

Arin approached and put her hand in Tencram’s broken left upper body and pulled out its frozen heart. Then she crushed it with both hands, and a little bead came out of it. Ed has killed plenty of demons so far, but he has never crushed a heart like that, so it was his first time seeing someone do that. The red beads were exuding a very ominous aura. Arin held the red bead in her hand, closed her eyes, and prayed. The red bead screamed in her hands. And the red bead disappeared. When he saw Arin open her eyes, Ed asked.

“What the hell was that?”

Arin thought about it for a while and soon replied.

“I saw it in the prophecy that the church made. There is a prophecy that a new great demon will appear and rally the demons. That’s why we are tracking them down. I didn’t get much out of the lower grade demons, but there was a Blood Stone in Deborah’s body too.”

Blood Stone? It’s a concept that wasn’t in demon’s Age 1. And the advent of the new Great demon. He was going to kill the remaining great demons, but now that another great demon has appeared, it feels like the difficulty of the quest was increasing.

“Does it appear in intermediate demons?” “I don’t know, but I can vaguely read the location of Blood Stones with sacred force. When I killed Deborah and burned the Blood Stone, I called Father Frank immediately.” “So you’re not just dealing with demons.”

Arin smiled bitterly at Ed’s words.

“This is what all the holy knights, including me, are tracking it down. But he said I was the only person to find a Blood Stone.”

As expected, the main character is different. The fact that she had a clue to chase the Great demon revealed that she was holding a thread of the main quest.

“Then where is the next location?”

Arin stared at Ed.

“Why are you asking me that?”

Ed spoke casually.

“I’m going to hunt the demon anyway, but I thought it would be good to help if it’s related to the church.”

Arin’s expression brightened up.

“Will you join us?” “It would be better if I follow the prophecy rather than searching for demons without a destination.” “Thank you. You will be a great help!”

The Great demon had been killed, but it was more helpful for Ed to find a reliable potential. Now, he has found the clue to the main quest.

The demon’s body can be turned into money depending on how it is processed. But the demon’s body is something that needs to be burned down by a holy knight. Arin asked Ed to excuse her and sprinkled oil to burn the Tencram’s body with a blue torch. The Tencram’s body burned without a single smoke. Arin was still praying at the place where the Tencram’s body disappeared in an instant. Then she came up from the basement and headed to the church with Ed when the prayer was over. On her way back to church, Arin went to visit the women Glenn used to poison and prostitute. Arin carried the woman on her back who was treated with holy spells, and the rest of the drugged women were carried by Ed. When they returned to the church, Father Frank and Thane were angry.

“What kind of bastard did this?”

Thane shouted angrily, but Father Frank was busy as he took care of them with his entourage. He didn’t speak a word, but everyone could see how angry he was. Well, maybe it’s natural to be angry because Astron Church banned this form of action. Ed had to explain the situation to calm their anger.

“Those who did this to the women are all dead.” “Well done, those people were useless anyway. They’re trash that’s not worth keeping alive.”

Ed agreed with that. It is human duty to pick up and throw away any noticeable trash. Thane was amazed to see Arin waking them up from the drug with divine spells.

“That’s great, having such a sacred power at such a young age.”

Ed stood next to him and nodded together. Arin’s divine power was great. When he first saw Aaron, he thought that the young priest had great divine powers. But compared to Arin, his powers were like a firefly’s light under a bright moonlight. He doesn’t know if it was because of her sacred artifacts, but he knew that she’s the real deal. Said Thane, looking at Father Frankie.

“I think there are people who distribute Lapla leaves. You can report them to the lord.” “I guess so.”

As it is prohibited not only by the church but also by kingdom law, landlords that grew Lapla leaves had to remove its roots from their land. That would be enough to end the situation. Thane looked back at Ed and asked.

“So the demon was a Tencram?”

Ed nodded, recalling that Thane can read the number of demons he killed.

“Yes, it was a Tencram that was just about to give birth.” “I see. That’s why you killed the baby too.” “Yes.”

Thane approached Father Frank as he smiled. When all the women woke up from the drugs, they screamed. Perhaps they were so confused and shocked. Despite using nearly ten sacred spells, Arin approached them with a straight face.

“There’s nothing wrong with what brother Aaron said. On behalf of all the brothers in the city, I thank you.”

Arin praised Ed in front of Father Frank.

“I wouldn’t have caught him without Ed. Ed’s skills were unbelievable. He saved my life, too.”

Thane smiled proudly as if he had heard a compliment, and the way Father Frank looked at Ed changed. He must have thought Ed helped Arin’s demon hunt. Ed was thinking of following Arin for the time being, so he decided to score a few points from them.

“Honestly, Arin drew all the attention, so the attack worked.”

Ed actually meant what he said. First, the holy knight had divine power and attracted considerable attention to the demon. In addition, the artifacts Arin had were great. Her hammer had a throw-and-return function. The shield didn’t have that function, but the power of the blow was not comparable to that of the hammer. He didn’t see the performance of the sword, but he could tell that it’s not an ordinary item either. The demon couldn’t take his eyes off such artifacts when she rushed with them. She was a holy knight who played her part well. And she was the only one who could get a Blood Stone. So, Ed decided that he had to be with her. Arin looked at Father Frank and said,

“Please contact the church. Ed has agreed to join me.”

Father Frank was slightly surprised by Arin’s words and soon nodded.

“Don’t worry about that. Are you leaving soon?” “Yes, We’re thinking of leaving tomorrow.”

Arin’s eyes turned to Ed. It doesn’t take long to follow the traces of the Blood Stone to catch the demon. Ed nodded at her gaze.

“Let’s get going tomorrow.”

Thane was listening to their conversation and asked them out of curiosity.

“Did you find any new traces of a demon?” “Yes.”

When Ed looked back at Arin, she nodded and talked about the prophecy. Perhaps Thane is well-known as a demon researcher as well as a person that shared a deep relationship with the Astron Church.

“There was a prophecy. A new great demon will be born. But the Great demon is rallying the demons. And there’s a thing called Blood Stone. The Blood Stone from Deborah pointed me to this place, and I was able to figure out the next approximate location of the Tencram.”

Thane’s complexion hardened.

“The new great demon?” “Yes.” “Why didn’t you let me know about this earlier? The pendrigan would’ve been a big help.” “Because the demon is a member of the royal family.”

Thane sighed at her words. Ed recalled the ending of the free knight Pendrigan in the demon’s Age 1. Did he really marry a princess?

“Even so, he is sincere in dealing with demons.” “That’s right, but you can’t just call him because he’s sincere. And this is the work of the Church.” “Well, why don’t we put that kind of political story behind us when it comes to dealing with demons?” “This is what Master Paladin wants.” “Anyway, you really are stubborn.”

Thane sighed and looked at Ed and Arin. Then he stood up and said,

“Can I come with you?”

Arin stared at him.

“It would be a great help if you could help us. But don’t you have to go back to the palace?”

Thane smiled while holding on to his cane.

“The Pendrigan will understand me.”

Thane’s hatred of the demon was the kind that Pendrigan had to understand. Arin looked back at Ed. Ed said with a smile at the look at him.

“Let’s go together.”

Arin the holy knight, and Thane the demon researcher. A team has been formed.