Once the staff was grabbed, a wave of energy would be sent through the air. It felt ominous. Eve wasn’t crazy! There was definitely someone there!

As the energy spread and the wind seemed to pick up, the source of it was clearly the staff. While this occurred, Eve seemed to finally notice Kazius and Alice.

“Oh! You’re here! See! I told you! It is God!” Eve exclaimed giddily, pointing at the staff in excitement repeatedly with both hands.

‘That is definitely NOT God!’ Kazius would think to himself in alarm.

“We left her alone for only a few minutes…” Kazius could hear Alice state softly to herself in total disbelief.

"Yes! Perfect! Hahaha! "

An unfamiliar sly and mischievous voice could be heard cheer.

“Finally…”

The voice stated with a menacing chuckle.

“So, did you come to pray too?” Eve asked innocently to the duo as if what they were witnessing was perfectly normal. As she stood by the staff, the ominous wind made her clothes sway rapidly, it was honestly shocking she was not blown away. Kazius tried to get closer to at least move Eve away from the threat, but it seemed a force was preventing them from getting closer.

‘How does she not realize something is wrong!? And the pressure… How is she fine?!’

“Eve! Take back the staff!” Kazius exclaimed, hoping maybe she could undo what she had just done. He wasn’t sure what entity they were dealing with… But… Clearly, whatever it was, was happy to get the staff.

It was too late though.

The staff would spin, as if twirled. Thrown up, only for it to be caught. The moment the staff would make contact with the invisible hands, a blinding flash would spread. The wind would grow stronger, almost blowing them away… And then…

It would just stop…

Everything was eerily quiet and still.

Kazius had been forced to shield his eyes while Alice had been holding onto her hood even tighter. When things stopped, it was almost as if the two were afraid to look. Slowly the two would gaze at where the staff had been.

Eve was surprisingly still there, unscathed. The ditzy Elf could be seen staring in shock and confusion at man standing right in front of her… Not just any man though, a Demon.

The Demon stood at 5 ft 11 (1.8m). His hair was white, adorned by black horns sticking out at either end pointing up. His eyes were a bright red, a wide mischievous grin plastered on his face. He dressed in an elaborate black garb, something you would expect from a noble. In his hands was no longer a staff, but instead… An old looking wooden cane that looked out of place with his elegant robes.

“Eve, what in the actual fuck…” Kazius would state in exasperation and exhaustion. Could he not have one normal day? Just one? It was like ever since The Orc attack he could never have a calm day.

How the Hell did the clumsy Elf woman summon a Demon?! He scraped by plenty of times before, but a Demon was just too much. He didn’t have a power even close to that of Ratier or any of the heroes, not even close! He was terrified. If the vision he saw in his Coming-of-Age Ceremony was even really what would happen, he had nowhere near the strength nor allies that it promised.

‘I am really starting to hate the Oracle… All these events are NOT a coincidence.’

As he tried to assess the situation, Alice too looked weary and shocked… Or at least that is what Kazius could guess from the little of her face that he could see.

"What do you think you're doing, Demon? Your kind is supposed to be sealed away! How are you here!?" Alice demanded; her shock turned surprisingly into anger. Fear, Kazius understood, but anger? She had no issue with Kazius being a Monster, but Demons was not something she seemed to be too eager to accept.

Almost as if you could see the gears spinning inside Eve’s head, Kazius could notice the realization she was tricked dawn on her face.

"W-Wait?! Demon!? You tricked me! You told me you were God!” Eve stated, changing from shocked to pouty.

"That wasn’t very nice of you." She added, waving a finger at him. Clearly, how silly it was that she was scolding a Demon on niceness did not once cross her mind.

The Demon had gone back to absentmindedly twirling around his cane. He very much seemed to be having fun just being free. Though Kazius could swear he was watching Eve out of the corner of his eye the whole time. Maybe he too thought she was being quite silly… Or was thinking about making the one who summoned him into his first victim. Other than that, it seemed like he was ignoring them, thinking about something.

After a while, he would finally feel like responding to them. He'd toss his cane, catching it one last time before leaning on it with one arm, a very toothy grin upon his face.

"My my.... Demon... How rude… I have a name, you know? Referring to me as Demon like that...You should know better... Alice..." He chuckled out, shaking his finger in a tsk.

“I’m Azanor, not ‘Demon’… How would you like it if I just called you ‘Human’, hm?” Azanor stated with a slight scoff, his expression quite smug.

“I also won’t be telling you how I am here… I know very well your kind doesn’t remember how to get rid of us and I intend to keep it that way. Telling you would basically tell you how to get rid of me and I like it here.” Azanor stated, then turning to look at Eve.

"As for you… Oooh my sweet Eve...I never did that...You just thought of me as God... In fact, I even tried to tell you otherwise, multiple times. But no matter what I said, you just swore up and down I was God... It was actually quite cute… Anyway, I’m a Demon....We don't play fair.... But I actually have never once lied to you… Lies are so boring… The tools of a lazy trickster. I am an honest sort of Demon.”

To be fair, Kazius had not known Eve for long, but as much as he shouldn’t believe the words of a Demon… That did sound exactly like something Eve would do.

“If what you say is true… You are free, you are aware we aren’t a threat… Why don’t you just leave?” Kazius stated. Of course, the idea of a Demon running around like he owned the continent was far from ideal, but what the Hell was he supposed to do? Stop him? How? To stop Demons, it would take some time before he had such power. As a former Holy Knight, such thinking was almost painful, but he didn’t have the luxury to be an all-evil destroying hero. To some extent, he was an evil of sort himself… At least according to The Church.

“Not an option, Kazius.” The Demon would respond, indeed knowing all their names it seemed.

“Eve over there made a deal with me… What was her exact wording? Oh yes, ‘make me good at magic so that the other Priestesses will like me. If you do that, I will devote my soul to you.’ which means… Her soul is mine, and I am not leaving without what is mine.” He explained, much to Kazius’ shock.

"I-I didn't realize." Eve admitted, clearly struggling to process everything.

"You really never lied to me... I-I'm sorry for accusing you of being mean, let's be friends." Eve stated gleefully with a smile despite The Demon announcing her soul was his.

"Eve, You can't be friends with a Demon! You're a Priestess! You even made a contract with him, so if you don't kill him, he will take your soul." Alice scolded.

Eve would then frown, looking down while fidgeting. She was making that kicked puppy expression she always made,

"I-I can't? I know Demons are supposed to be bad, but what if he is a nice one? He even helped me lots while I was struggling with my work." She tried to defend.

"In exchange for your SOUL, Eve." Alice sighed out, groaning a bit.

"He isn't your friend. He is a Demon; you can't be friends with a Demon" She tried to explained to her.

“Why not?"

‘This is getting us nowhere…’

“Look, I am sure we can come into an understanding that doesn’t involve fighting… Or taking any souls… Come with us.” Kazius would finally speak up. He had been quiet for most of the bickering for a reason. He was studying the Demon… Trying to understand what he was after.

After all, it wasn’t like he had the power to vanquish him… And the Demon knew that… Yet he wasn’t just outright taking Eve’s soul and leaving. He must be after something else… But what? It was a long shot but inviting him along was the best Kazius could come up with. At least not without just offering Eve up to him.

As scarred by the event with his former friends as he was… Kazius already found himself caring about Eve and Alice. Not to mention, he wasn’t heartless, he used to be a Holy Knight… And while he despised The Church, the Holy Knights, and their teachings… The sense of justice that guided his original dream did not just disappear.

Alice saved him and Eve would get herself killed without supervision; he couldn’t abandon them…

Of course, by trying to make peace with a Demon... He also showed such a sense of justice was now skewed and unlike that of a Holy Knight. Then again, he never did see eye to eye with them… So maybe it had never changed. Maybe he always was like this.

“And why would I do that?” Azanor questioned in amusement with a raised brow.

“If you wanted Eve’s soul, you didn’t need to tell us anything… You also could have taken it this whole time. Yet you entertained us with answers instead… I don’t know what the Demon World is like… But for you to be so desperate to get away means you were either very bored over there or it is terrible… Judging from your personality… Boredom is what probably drives you… As you can see, things around us are far from boring… I also know if you wanted to, you would have killed us all already. You clearly want something else.” Kazius explained his reasoning, not sounding so certain of his answer towards the end.

He was a good leader for his squad for a reason. He understood those around him well and made good judgements based on it… Even if at times he refused to see the writing on the wall when it came to his past friends. Of course, it was still a gamble, he read people well… Yet… A Demon? Now that he wasn’t so sure…

Azanor would stare at him, studying him closely before he would shrug, “Hm… 25 points… Most of that was wrong, but I suppose I will tag along… I haven’t been able to experience this world in 1,000 years… You bunch also look like a group of fun enough fools. So… I won’t take Eve’s soul and stay around a little.”

“Yay! Friends!” Eve cheered happily.

“I hate this.” Alice stated, clearly unhappy.

“But I suppose I will tolerate it… I don’t want Eve losing her soul. At least this way we can also keep an eye on him too, so he doesn’t cause too much trouble…” Alice sighed out.

“Keep an eye on him? Most would want a Demon as far away as possible…” Kazius admitted, surprised at Alice’s words. Then again, the fact she was accompanying him meant she was surely an odd one. He very much thought she would be against his idea though.

“D-Don’t dwell too much on it” Alice huffed out.

“Anyway, we wasted enough time… It is late… I’m tired… And now one of us has to stay up to keep an eye on our uninvited guest.” Alice stated with a sigh.

“Let’s go back to camp. I can do first watch… I don't need much sleep… As for you, Eve… You’re not allowed to leave our sight either.” Kazius warned.

“Yay! Bigger Slumber Party!” Eve cheered. At least someone was happy.