Julius slamd his foot into the ground, skidding to a halt the mont he saw .
His face was sared with gri, his expression a strange mix of forced confidence and raw, unfiltered terror.
"W-What are you doing here!?" Julius demanded, cutting the air with a sharp wave of his hand.
"I could ask you the sa thing!"
BOOM!
Julius’s head snapped toward the shattered gate as the explosion echoed through the area.
"Get away, now!"
[Light Guardian]
His halo and wings erupted in a rush, forming incompletely as he chose speed over stability. Whatever he sensed, it was lethal.
FIZZLE!
Julius twisted his body aside just as sothing entered the radius of his spell, the searing rays of light burning it away like flesh under a scorching sun.
But whatever was being burned alive... didn’t seem to care.
BOOM!
Another explosion went off, this ti from the tree behind Julius. It was like a massive truck had slamd into it, and the blast hurled him in the opposite direction.
[Dark Step]
I teleported behind him before he could crash into a pile of rocks, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him upright.
"What the hell is going on!?"
"J-Just keep your guard up... we’re dealing with sothing that erases mory..."
His words stopped cold.
Erases mory? How could he possibly know that? I an, I know it does that—but how does Julius know?
"What!? How do you know that!?"
"This isn’t the ti to explain! I’ll tell you later—right now, we need to go!"
He seized my sleeve as a surge of magic flooded through both of us. The instant he did, it felt like the invisible creature hunting us sensed it as well.
BADUMP!
Our instincts scread, but before it could reach us—
[Light Transfer]
ZIP!
We were ripped away and dropped into a narrow alley near the edge of the outer district—the farthest Julius could take us, and rcifully empty of people.
But that still wasn’t enough for him.
THUD!
Julius tightened his grip on my sleeve and slamd against a concrete wall, his [Light Sword] pressed to my throat.
"You knew about that place, didn’t you!?"
His voice was harsh, accusing. He must’ve seen the panic and desperation on my face in that brief mont our eyes t—and that alone was enough for him to think I was involved.
"Fine. I did."
I answered flatly, then grabbed the blade of his sword and drove my foot into his abdon, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.
"Now you’re going to tell what the hell you were doing there."
"That’s beside the point. You clearly knew that place existed—and whatever lived in it," Julius spat. "Why the hell didn’t you tell us!?"
[Black Fla Manipulation]
My flas devoured his sword, and I seized him by the collar with both hands, hauling him off the ground and slamming him even harder against the wall.
Normally, I wouldn’t get this physical if I wanted information. But he was the one who pointed a sword at first. Paying him back felt only fair.
THUD!
I hurled him across the ground. Before he could get up, I pinned him there with my foot.
"Tell . Why were you there?"
I asked again, voice low.
Julius tried to slip free, but my strength held him down. Every ti I felt magic stir in the air, I pressed harder, using pain to break his concentration before he could cast anything.
"L-Lillian asked to investigate, okay!?"
He gasped, clutching at my leg with both hands, trying to ease the pressure.
Lillian sent him to check on the mining company?
Good enough, I guess...
"And then?"
"T-There was a hole... I checked it out with a team and got attacked, but I resisted the mory erasure long enough to teleport away."
I ground my heel in deeper.
"And?"
"A-And I accidentally teleported it with when it grabbed my foot at the last second!"
I lifted my foot as soon as I had my answer.
So that’s what started all of this.
Julius sat up as soon as he could breathe again, one hand pressed to his chest as he healed himself, like he’d just had a mountain dropped on him.
"But... while we were fighting it above ground, it suddenly acted weird, like it sensed a threat or sothing. It got stronger... and took out everyone I brought to investigate..." he muttered.
Weird behavior? Definitely had to do with my spell...
As for his strange confrontational attitude with ... that was likely from watching his comrades die.
So my theory was right. All of this was just a string of unfortunate coincidences.
But now I had another question.
I could block its mory erasure with black flas and the serpent’s amulet. What was Julius’s excuse for being immune to it, just like ?
"You said it erases mory, how can you still rember?"
I asked him, still looming over him but no longer pinning him down. I knew full well I couldn’t take it down myself anyways.
The last thing I needed was to alienate a possible ally. Even if Julius was the last person I wanted help from, he was still the strongest one available at the mont.
I’d already gotten my revenge by kicking him in the abdon and hurling him across the ground—no need to stay aggressive.
Besides... for now, we were probably the only two people who could reasonably match its mory-erasing abilities.
"I can’t tell you that..." Julius muttered, refusing to et my eyes.
Typical.
[Photographic mory]
I searched the novel for possible explanations, but nothing showed up. Or at least... nothing that was directly related to his immunity.
"Look," he said, taking a breath, "I know we got off on the wrong foot. And I still don’t know what you know about that place or... thing, but I want you to help —"
"Oh, shut up. Of course I’m helping you," I cut him off before he could finish.
"H-Huh...?"
He froze for a mont, clearly surprised by how easily I agreed.
"R-Really?"
"Do I look like soone who’d want a mory-erasing invisible beast roaming around?"
I shot back, raising an eyebrow at him.
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