“Kakakakakak,” the laugh resonated in David’s ear the moment he opened the door.

Hearing that, David frowned. Although he knew that the clown demon, Emmet Wayne Gacy was within the room, there was a part of his mind that desperately wished it to be a lie. When the demon had took Helaine, he was determined to face it and take her back, but now that the demon was right in front of him, his heart begun to waver.

“We meet again, David Ng. It is a pleasure as always. The same can be extended to you, exorcist” said the clown demon as he stood up to take a deep bow. “We did not have the chance to speak last time, but I’m sure you’re full of questions. Let me answer the simplest of them all before I state my purpose.”

“Who are you?” HIkari blurted out from the side.

Emmet looked towards David as if asking to see if he should answer Hikari’s question.

“The first time we met, you said you were Emmet Wayne Gacy, nothing else. Are you going to say things more clearly from now on?” David returned his look with a fierce gaze.

“Kakaka. To be honest, everything will become clear in the next few hours. But if you insist,” Emmet laughed, and sat back down. “Have a seat.”

Seeing that neither David nor Hikari did as he said, and instead became more vigilant, meet shrugged, Then do as you please.

I suppose I will redo my introduction. My name is Emmet Wayne Gacy, widely known as the Purple Viscount. I have been retainer of Lord Mephistopheles, before that I worked as the head of the now eliminated mercenary group “Expressions”.”

“Emotions…” Lucifer muttered the name.

“Do you know something?” David immediately asked him surprisingly in his head. Thankfully, he remembered the situation he was in and managed to retain his normal expression a split second later.

“Expressions was a mercenary group renown for their war potential. Instead of having a lot of people, Expressions was a group made up of six members core members, and a seventh that was said to be a legend. As opposed to being a mercenary group consisting of only demons, they were one of the few that were made up of mostly demi-humans. If I recall correctly, 5 out of the seven were demi-humans. The two other members were a dragon and an undead. The mercenary group was finally hunted down by the Phoenix tribe, and was never heard from again.

If the clown speaks the truth, then it would mean that they weren’t all killed, and he was turned into a demon after the incident. That… sounds too suspicious. The Phoenix tribe isn’t known for their mercy, nor are they ruthless. To them, criminals will wash aways their sins with the fire of life. That is their way of doing things.

Alas, things may have changed, I don’t exactly put much effort into keeping watch over the Phoenix tribe,” Lucifer explained quickly.

Hearing that, David nodded and glared at Emmet once more “Then one more question. Where is Helaine? She’s the girl you took.”

Emmet matched David’s gaze for a while, before finally breaking away from it, “Then I suppose I’ll tell you my purpose.”

“Answer the question first!”

“I came here on behalf of my Lord, Lord Mephistopheles. He has invited you, David Ng, to the fortress. That invitation is extended towards you, not as a mere human, but as the host of His Supremacy Lord Lucifer. Additionally I have been authorised to use force if you were to resist.”

David’s expression immediately darkened. How did he know about me being Lucifer’s host? I definitely covered my tracks well enough. These questions popped into David’s mind.

He looked towards HIkari to see her reaction. She looked back at him with a look that seems to say ‘I demand some explanation’.

He conjured up both black blades.

“I have said it already, I am authorised to use force.”

With that, the surroundings seemed to darken, and became more threatening.

“You didn’t answer my question yet,” the intimidation didn’t seem to make David back down, instead it was as if it was unaffected by it at all.

Hearing that, the corner of Emmet’s mouth turned up, he could tell that David didn’t refuse him, “The girl is in the castle. If you wish to see her, then accept Lord Mephistopheles’s invitation now. I can assure you, my Lord will certainly answer all your questions during the meeting.”

David pondered for a moment and looked towards Hikari to see what her opinion would be. She merely looked back at him as if awaiting his decision.

“Allow me to consult it with my companion,” David finally said.

“That would be fine. Lord Mephistopheles has foresaw this, and merely asks for your attendance tomorrow at dawn. That is all for now,” with that, Emmet took a bow and begun to walk out of the room. “We shall await your presence.”

Hikari watched as the clown demon walked out of the room. That was the demon which they caught a glimpse of back at David’s friend’s house. The one that abducted his friend. The intimidation that the presence of the demon gave off was far more than anything she has hunted. That was to be expected though, since the strongest thing she has hunted was the Grand Strip. However, this meant that the demon was at least a middle class demon, and retainer of Mephistopheles…? That implied a lot more. Mephistopheles could be said as one of the strongest demons there ever was, they were taught to not fight against him, and merely try to escape. As a retainer of such a powerful demon, that was a clear display of the clown demon’s strength.

She looked towards David. What did this young man get himself into? They had assumed the girl David had chased after had summoned a demon either accidentally or on purpose, then was kidnapped du to the inability to fully secure the demon. Now it seemed like something else. Mephistopheles awaits his presence? Lucifer’s host?

Wait… Lucifer’s host. He can’t be talking about the demon of pride, Lucifer, can he?

“David, can you tell me about what’s going on?” Hikari asked. She could tell that David didn’t want to talk about it, but she wasn’t going to let him keep it a secret. This was something way beyond the head of a single person. And now that she has been dragged into it somewhat, she deserved answers.

David looks down to the floor, and stowed away his weapons somewhere. Was that weapon merely a manifestation of magic? Or was a some sort of spatial magic?

“If you don’t want to talk about it right now… Then listen to me first. Tell me everything afterwards,” Hikari said. She knew that forcing him wouldn’t exactly work. She had to convince him to tell her willingly. “Sit down first. It’ll take a while.”

“You know that we are exorcists on a mission. The truth is when we went to Hong Kong, our mission was to kill off a lich that was becoming more and more powerful. It was supposed to be a simple mission despite how powerful the lich was supposed to be. But we failed. We didn’t kill the lich, it wasn’t that we had mercy on it or anything, it was because we couldn’t. When we arrived at the scene, what we saw was disaster, all that was left was evidence of a fierce battle that had taken place there.

After that, we looked for clues as to who did it all over the city. The only things that could be called as clues were the irregular number of situations where powerful demonic magic was sense. One of these situations involved a hill behind a school. It was on our way there that we first met you, at the time you were with your friend that has been kidnapped.

At the scene, we were able to find residue of magic that pointed us to two different demons. One of the demons was the clown demon. I guessed so when we got to your friend’s house the other day. Now after hearing what the clown had said… The other one was you right? You’re the one that faced off against that clown demon on the hill behind that school. If I’m not wrong then you’re also the one who killed the lich.”

She paused for a bit and waited for David to reply. After a minute or so, seeing that he wasn’t going to reply at all, she continued, “Well what happened after that was essentially the three of us going around the city to look for clues that might point us towards whoever killed the lich. That was all in the name of ensuring the people’s safety.

However, the truth wasn’t isn’t like this. I may not be the smartest person alive, but even I could tell that the higher-ups were scared of an unknown threat. The lich was a powerful enough being that led to Lux onee-sama being dispatched alongside Guang and I to eliminated it. That along tells me how strong the lich was. Hence, the higher-ups were scared.

Guang followed the orders like he always did, he thinks of the orders of the higher-ups as absolute, even if he disagrees with their judgement at times. That’s why he complied.

Lux onee-sama complied because she truly hoped to wish the best for others. What we did only in name, she acted on it.

As for me… I looked because I had a wish. We were almost certain that whoever killed the lich wasn’t belonging to any organisation that we knew off, if they were then we would have already found out. Organisations like ours don’t tend to withhold information about finishing off prey, especially such a menacing one. That meant that the person or people that did it were alone and un-affiliated to any society. That meant that they were able to experience normal life and even live a normal life most of the time. That’s why I wanted to find them. I want to ask them what it is like. Like I said earlier today, ‘normal’ has always been distant from m. But living in this world of bloodshed, I wish for it, I desire it, and I want to touch it no matter what. Now that I finally have, even for a tiny bit… I don’t want to let it go.

So please, David. Allow me to help you, please let me understand what is going on. The only intention I have is to help you, and that is purely for my own sake. If you were to die, then my only thread to normality would disappear into thin air. I don’t want that!”

When she finished, tears flowed from her eyes. She saw David finally look up at her, but she couldn’t stop herself from crying. A normal life was all she desired. Even if she wasn’t able to live one, she wanted to know about it, and now that the only person that was able to talk to her about it was in deep trouble, she wasn’t going to stand idle while he gets lost. If not for his sake, then for her own, she was determined to help him.