Esio offered his hand towards the frail girl, her form was beaten and bloodied. It was pitiful to say the least and that was probably one of the reasons he came to save her.

The lack of will to live in her eyes... it reminded him of himself before he became a servant of the Overlord.

The girl tried to take his hand with her own, her entire body trembled with pain as the simple action brought tears to her eyes.

"Ah, sorry," Esio said. He quickly reached out for the small leather pouch strapped to his thigh, inside it was a dark void. Sticking his hand inside, he took out a sealed glass tube filled with bright red liquid, it was one of the mass-produced potions of the Shadowspire.

"You need to force yourself to drink this, applying it externally will greatly decrease its effects," he explained as he unsealed the tube and slowly poured it into the girl's mouth, careful to make sure she didn't choke on its contents.

'It was careless of me to not have immediately tended to her injuries, perhaps I've been too accustomed to how many of the denizens of the Shadowspire can get their heads severed, shrug it off and walk away...' Esio thought as he watched the potion drain.

The effect was nearly instant as the wounds of the flesh and even the internal damage the girl held healed in a matter of seconds. There was disbelief in the girl's eyes as she came to her feet, cured of all injuries.

Esio sighed in relief.

= 0 = 0 = 0 =

Ana looked at her bare body in awe, the clothes that once covered her were now destroyed to the point that they couldn't be considered rags, it wasn't inconvenience as her body easily adapted to the current temperature.

Truly, she couldn't help but think that what had just happened was divine intervention, she had never once believed in god after being a slave, but if not god, the who could have saved her from death's jaws?

'The Devil...' Ana thought frightfully as she looked at the man in front of her, his face was red as he quickly looked away.

The power he used, the crimson color of his eyes and hair... the chilling smile he made earlier while he watched her die... who else would be so twisted other than the Devil himself? Did he heal her just so that she could continue to live life as a slave and bear suffering much worse than death? What if---

Her swirling thoughts were cut-off as she saw the devil hand her the red coat he was wearing just a moment ago.

"I-it's dangerous for a girl to be naked with a stranger..." he said, eyes pointed to the side and away from her, he tried to keep a stoic look but the embarrassment on his face was very poorly hidden.

After becoming an expendable weapon for an Empire that had never once treated her as a human, she realized that the man who had accepted her as a girl---a living being---was a person she would follow even if he was the Devil himself.

She took the jacket and covered herself up.

She felt something awaken within her.

Warmth bloomed in her chest as something long dead revived within her...

It suddenly came flooding back to her... the meaning of being alive.

Tears formed on the edges of her eyes.

The man took notice of what was happening and had a worried expression. "Do your wounds still hurt?" He asked.

Ana fell to her knees and cried.

= 0 = 0 = 0 =

Gabriel took a step forward as the portal closed behind him.

The land around him was completely barren and it continued so for a long way.

He activated his [Detect] skill, but there was no sign of Esio, no scent, no trail, he had even cloaked his mana signature perfectly. It was something easy to accomplish as one of the Shadowspire's highest-ranking scouts.

Still, locating his target was not a problem.

On Gabriel's forehead, a third eye opened, the iris was a pitch-black without a pupil. It moved erratically towards all possible directions very quickly, it took only several seconds before the eye closed up once again.

'Northwest, 22 kilometers...' The information on his target's location registered.

As one specializing in mobility, Gabriel could close the distance in an instant if he truly wanted to, but he was still weakened and during these unknown circumstances he needed to preserve his strength as there was no telling to what might happen. He would not risk the chance of failure at upholding his duty during an unexpected circumstance.

Still... he needed to hasten this job as there was no telling when his master would call upon him.

Leaving no time to waste, his body seemed to evaporate into black mist as he surged forward.

= 0 = 0 = 0 =

Xero once again found himself in the ruined temple Seira was once housed in. The single blazing sun in the sky had shifted considerably and in two hours or so would dip back down into the mountains, signaling the beginning of dusk.

Around him, several kilometers away he could feel new mana signatures, two of them being very familiar to him.

"Master..." Silith called his name as she looked at the direction of where the mana signatures were starting to converge.

'It seems like some interesting things have ensued in the few hours I was away...' Xero thought.

While in the middle of deciding on whether he should go and see the situation, one of the rings on his fingers started blinking a bright red light. It was the communication ring that connected directly to the one managing the Shadowspire, Lilith, one of the Twelve and the second being he had ever created.

Accepting the request of communication, the blinking of Xero's ring stopped as a voice entered his head.

"Master I apologize for being so sudden," the sultry yet calm and reserved words of a woman filled his ears.

"No need to apologize, I just wanted to stretch my legs is all. More importantly, has something happened to the Shadowspire?" Xero asked.

There was a moment's pause before Lilith's voice replied, "forgive us master but prisoners of the Endless Crypt have broken out."

A grin unconsciously spread out on Xero's face. He felt a rush as the prospect of a worthy battle appeared before him.

"I understand, make sure everyone is safe and assign Six, Four and Seven to recapture the escapees but make sure they abort if they find their lives in danger. Also, Lilith, make sure to keep everyone away from the lowest level, I shall deal with it myself," he instructed.

"Master how about... One?" Lilith reluctantly asked.

Xero's grin faded away as the image of a small girl sealed within an unbreakable prison entered his mind... One. His excitement quickly turned to regret and guilt as a part of the original Overlord took over for an instant before being washed away, leaving him empty and drained of emotion. He should have felt annoyed but even that wasn't possible.

He sighed and replied, "no, keep her in her room, if she and that one meet if he somehow escaped his prison along with the others..." The characters he created were no longer just data, and Xero could now only guess as to how they would interact with the others around them.

He balled his hands into fists at the sudden and fleeting feeling of exasperation he felt for himself. He had forgotten that his actions now had consequences he might not be able to undo.

Taking his continued silence as an answer Lilith replied with a simple "understood", and cut-off the mental connection.