(Demon Continent Arc Starts)

With a groan, Arata stood up. He was in the middle of a forest and laying down beside him was Natsumi. She slowly raised her body and rubbed her temple a bit.

"Arata...? Where are we?"

"...I'm guessing, the Demon Continent."

They couldn't sense Kai or anyone else's presence. Either the teleportation failed or... it was purposely set up this way. Kai did say that it was through a contract with a demon.

Arata groaned just imagining what happened to the others. Ever since he was a kid, he was typically treated as the elder brother of his peers. When someone got into a fight, it would be up to him to reconcile them. If they needed scolding, he would be the one to talk to them. At some point, it all became natural to him.

With Memento Mori, however, he didn't feel like the big brother to any of them. Kai, despite being one of the youngest, was that figure. Even he followed Kai's words closely.

Still, the feeling didn't disappear and he was wracked with anxiety over what was happening to the others. He wasn't worried about Kai, Yoko, or Erina who were the strongest of their group. And, Angie who had also come along with them. The others, however, he wasn't so calm.

Natsumi was one of the people he worried about the most, along with Umi and Date. They were the three who could be called the group's weakest mental link, if he was being frank. Still, that didn't mean he looked down on them when it came to combat, they were just as competent as the rest.

"Date might manage somehow with his new Innate Ability awakening soon... But, I can only hope Umi's with either Kai or Erina."

Natsumi stood up and dusted off her clothes. She tapped the bracelet on her left arm and her skin color changed to a bluish tint. Horns also grew on top of her and they were at least twice the size of her head. Demons had five states to go through during their lives.

A regular demon would have a varying skin tone, close to that of a human's. They also had small horns that would grow to a certain point as they age. If they reach the human's D-class, their skin would turn to a dark brownish tint—but it was unlike anything a human could have. Their horns also grew longer.

At B-class, the demon's skin would turn to a shade of blue and their horns would grow twice the size of their head. At A-class, the demons would lose their physical body and turn into a smoke-like entity. These demon's horns grow from the front and bend to their sides.

At S-class, the demons' appearances would change according to their will. They could retain a previous form or create a completely new one. Their horns, however, couldn't be changed. Their horns were circular in nature with males having their horns stretch from the front, then the back, until it finally ends right above eye-level and females having the opposite, horns from back to front and the ends pointing below eye-level.

(A/N: The description was first shown in Chapter 69 but it was too messy.)

After seeing Natsumi change into her form, he did so as well. Like Natsumi, his skin also turned blue and he had horns taller than his head. While it's true that they were S-class, it wasn't good for them to impersonate such strong people.

"Then, do we meet up with the others first?" Natsumi asked.

Arata contemplated for a second.

"I think we should prioritize finding a town for now. Kai did provide all of us with food and water but it won't last for very long."

They were humans, unlike Kai and Amelia who didn't need sustenance from daily intake of food. While it's true that they could survive for a lot longer than a regular human, they couldn't deal with everything on an empty stomach, they'd end up wearing themselves out quicker.

"Okay."

Natsumi decided to listen to Arata. She channeled some of her mana to create wind and fly up, she closed her eyes then used her wind to scour the forest for anything that could lead them to a village or a town, a road would be best but just a source of food and water would do.

With her new S-class abilities, Natsumi could do many more things that she couldn't do before. If it was her in the past, to send a blast of wind through a portion of the city would be difficult, she could most likely send one throughout Alteria's entire capital.

Before long, Natsumi finally found a road. She opened her eyes and slowly descended.

"There was a road in that direction, it'll take us at least a few hours by walking."

"Your Highness—"

"You can't call me that in this form..."

Arata and Natsumi groaned as they realized that they didn't know what kind of names demons had.

"Well... let's think of one when we get to a town."

"Agreed..."

And so, the two began walking. The distance they had to cover was more than what a normal person could cover in a day but as S-class and ones trained by Kai, they could do it fairly easily.

In the end, they managed to arrive by night, though it did arrive way sooner than they expected, considering that it was the other side of the world, the sun's position was different.

"..."

Erina looked at Kei with eyes that were as if she was looking at a strange animal.

"Paschalis, I need some help over here too!"

"Right away, sir!"

Paschalis—Kei, was helping a bunch of construction workers lift some heavy logs and stones. The two of them had been transported to a remote demon village two days ago and decided to stay for a bit. After gaining some information, the two of them decided on the names: Paschalis, and Viviana.

Their story was that they were fallen nobles, Viviana was the daughter of a duchess and because of a false crime, she was exiled. Many had chosen to come with her but in the end, only her guard, Paschalis managed to survive. Her parents and the rest of her subjects weren't as lucky.

Kei had the same form as Arata and Natsumi, a third-class demon, but Erina took on the form of a fifth-class demon because there was just no hiding her mana that was already at the peak of S-class.

Who knew how strong Kei's social skills were to be able to make friends with the villagers in just two days? Seeing them like that, however, made Erina think that they weren't actually that different from humans. At the very least, these villagers didn't seem to hold any ill intent.

"Lady Viviana, are you doing alright?"

An old woman walked up to Erina. Though she did look old, she neither held a cane to support her or faltered in her steps. In this sense, Erina could see the difference between a demon and a human.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just been so long since I've had days like these, filled with comfort and I ended up being absentminded."

"Our home is your home now, Your Ladyship is welcome to stay as long as you like."

"Thank you, elder, that means a lot to me. However, we will have to depart before long, I don't want the village to befall any harm because of us."

The elder hmph'd and turned her nose up.

"I'd like to see who dares try to kick you out! I'll give them a beating myself!"

Erina raised a fist up to her mouth to cover it and then chuckled a few times.

"They'll definitely regret it."

A week later, at a large city's bustling marketplace.

"Come get fresh fruits here! Alpes, gerps, onegas, we have a lot of everything!"

Umi was yelling out while holding a signboard. On it were pictures of fruits that looked a bit different from normal. A few feet behind her was a stand where a demon was selling fruits. A little bit further away from them was Yoko, also holding a sign, but she was advertising vegetables instead.

Being devoid of a source of funds and lack of credibility, Yoko and Umi could only find jobs with meager pay such as helping street stalls. Kazuki was also sent with them and he managed to land a job as a miner. It would've been easy if they were normal minerals in a normal mine, but it took him quite a bit of time to just mine a single ore and the place was infested with monsters too.

The pay was more than a regular job, but it also carried quite the risk. Yoko had tried applying for it as well but they only had a single slot open and Kazuki had gotten there first. In the end, she had to take a job like Umi's.

Once the day was over and they received their pay, Yoko began mapping something out.

"We have enough money, don't we?"

"If His Highness were to bring his pay without any other complications, we have about enough..."

Umi was calculating their funds and writing them down.

They could've gotten better jobs but most of the ones they could work at were permanent jobs that couldn't be left so easily. It took them a week to earn enough money to travel to the next town in hopes of meeting up with the others. The place they landed in was a pretty poor town. The town next to this was well-off and they could get even better jobs there.

Even the inn they were staying in was run-down. The food they ate was stale and the walls were so thin they could even hear their neighbors' whispers.

If it wasn't for the tax at the next town's gate, they could've gotten there without a single coin. Luckily, in a town like this, there were many without identification. Though, to get to the next town, they had to secure some and that was also part of the reason they needed money.

Just as they were calculating their gains, the door opened and Kazuki stepped in. He looked worse for wear but he didn't seem like he'd collapse. He dropped a bag of coins on the table and dived into his bed without minding the other two.

"Makes you wonder what kind of monsters and ores there are in the mine..."

Kazuki was S-class, even if he wasn't used to his level of power, his body should still be enough to do mostly everything. Yoko turned away from him and after finishing the map, she stood up and stretched.

"It's about time for my next job."

"Okay, take care."

Umi saw her off and rested as well. She looked out the window and to the sky. There was a mysterious shadow that flew past her vision for an instant but upon looking again, there wasn't anything there. She just shrugged it off and decided to sleep.

Two weeks since arrival, in an underground arena.

"Huff..."

Date breathed out as he wiped his sword from his opponent's blood.

"And that's another win for Galfridus!"

The crowd cheered.

Roughly a week ago, Angie and Date managed to get to a remote town after being in the forest for an entire week. Unfortunately, it was a town that put more focus into fighting and blood than anything. They couldn't find any normal work and had to resort to the underground jobs.

Date and Angie were warriors who were paid for each fighter they defeated. They could also place bets and currently, they were swimming in coins. They decided to stay in the town in the meantime instead of leaving for another peaceful town.

As luck would have it, they were sent to one of the very edges of the Demon Continent. The next towns were mostly the same as the one they were in right now, and the only decent city would take two months of travel to get to. However, their goal was the center of the Demon Continent, which would take them even longer.

In the end, they settled for sending a message and hoping it would reach Kai. And, if that didn't work, they would find a way to transport themselves. There was no way they could take several months traveling, they had no time to do so. Kai had originally planned for them to stay a month or two at most.

"By the time we get to the center of the continent, Master would probably be done..."

Angie groaned.

Their goal in the Demon Continent is to gain the cooperation of the demons, or at the very least, stop their hostility against humanity. To do that, Kai needed to meet with the higher-ups of the demons which were in the continent's biggest city, Goetia.

She was worried, extremely so. While her Master was stronger than all of them, he wasn't the strongest, especially not on the Demon Continent were there were quite a few people of his caliber. And, it wasn't as if he could split himself into mulltiple copies, he needed other people to do tasks as well.

As she wracked her brain thinking of a way to get to Goetia, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a demon walked in. Currently, they were at her private waiting room in the arena. With her strength, she gained prestige in no time and was considered the best newcomer in the field.

"Someone's here to talk to you."

Angie turned around and looked at the man, and then the one beside him.

"You are..."