After their initial clash, the two quickly disengaged. The Masked Man clutched his side, hissing in pain as he stumbled back, his steps unsteady. "Little girl," he wheezed, "I didn't expect someone so cute to hit so dirty..."
"Uh..." Cipher gave him a deadpan look. She hadn't been taking the fight seriously and hadn't aimed her kick at all; it had simply landed where it landed. "We're thieves, aren't we?" she countered. "Using cheap shots is practically our job description."
"Cheap shots? You just kicked me randomly!" the Masked Man retorted. "Real cheap shots are eye-gouging and groin kicks, not kidney shots!"
Another sharp intake of breath later, he noticed Cipher standing still, showing no intention of pressing her advantage. Realization dawned on him. Lowering his voice, he said, "Listen, you don't seem too keen on fighting either. How about we just... call it a draw?"
In reality, the first exchange of blows often reveals the approximate skill level of both combatants. Cipher's incredibly confident second dodge and casual kidney kick had already convinced the Masked Man that his opponent was formidable.
Hearing the Masked Man's proposal, a question mark formed above Cipher's head. "Huh?"
The Masked Man continued in a hushed tone, "Hey, being one of Baldy's Four Great Lieutenants has its perks—you don't have to work and you get free meals every day. But that's about it. Is risking your life for such meager benefits really worth it?"
As he spoke, the Masked Man glanced at the Owlbear, drenched in blood from Nathaniel's relentless assault; the archer desperately fleeing Nathaniel's pursuit; and the Warrior, utterly humiliated by Aria and Douglas's combined attack. "I'm not like these fools. So, how about we just put on a show? What do you say, lovely Catgirl?"
Admittedly, the offer was tempting. Cipher had already been planning to exploit the chaos for her own ends, so she nodded in agreement.
The next moment, the Masked Man suddenly let out a piercing wail. He ripped off his mask, violently spat out a mouthful of blood, and veins bulged on his forehead. "Damn it!" he roared. "What is this? Magic? Everyone stay back! It's dangerous here!"
This was, after all, the Blazing Fire Gang's camp. Gang members constantly harassed Nathaniel's battlefield, as well as Aria and Douglas's. Only Feidric, being a wizard who didn't need close combat, remained undisturbed in the rear, safely out of reach.
Cipher found herself in a similar situation. Several gang members had already begun to encircle her as she fought the Masked Man. But after his anguished cry, they exchanged bewildered glances, their hesitation evident.
Still spitting blood, the Masked Man rasped, "Leave her to me! Go help the others!"
Hearing this, the surrounding gang members slowly dispersed. Cipher muttered under her breath, "You're practically invincible, brother."
The Masked Man chuckled softly. "Haha, what's so strange about that? Isn't that just how Rogue Class Holders are? Everything they do is for themselves—their own needs are paramount! Little Catgirl, aren't you the same? Otherwise, why would you be here, playing along with my little act?"
"What's this? Did your teammates get on your nerves? Planning to half-ass your performance to spite them? When we were facing off earlier, your attention kept drifting to that blonde girl, Aria. Is she the reason?"
Cipher calmly shook her head. "No, I'm not like you. I'm just taking it easy here to give her a chance to train. If I ended this fight in an instant, she wouldn't gain any combat experience, would she?"
"End this fight in an instant? Little Catgirl, are you joking?" The Masked Man froze, stunned. Any normal person would immediately dismiss such a claim as utterly absurd. It defied all common sense.
Of course, if Aria or Nathaniel had heard this, they might have believed it. After all, they weren't exactly normal people.
Cipher didn't bother explaining. The cat ears on her head suddenly twitched twice, their soft, bouncy texture oddly endearing. Just then, she heard Brother Hawen's curses erupt from nearby. Turning to look, she saw the devil-possessed man casting a spell, summoning a Flame Demon that was immediately intercepted by a minotaur.
"Looks like your boss is in trouble," she observed.
The devil summoned was a Flame Demon—a humanoid creature wreathed in eternally burning flames, its body covered in incredibly hard, crimson crystalline armor. It possessed remarkable physical and magical resistance, and was completely immune to all fire-based damage.
"&¥%(Demonic gibberish)!"
With an unintelligible utterance, the Flame Demon raised its massive, fire-wreathed great axe and brought it crashing down upon the devil-possessed Brother Hawen.
Brother Hawen, possessed by a devil was cursing vehemently, swiftly performed a series of hand gestures. He cast Misty Step, a Second-level Conjuration School spell that teleported him to any visible location within a hundred meters.
This short-range displacement allowed him to reach a relatively safe spot, dodging the Flame Demon's axe.
But immediately afterward, the Flame Demon roared deafeningly and charged toward Brother Hawen, its advance far more terrifying than a Barbarian's reckless charge. Like a colossal, fiery tank, each step landed with a muffled thud, leaving a trail of burning footprints in its wake.
By then, Cipher had reappeared beside Feidric, her gaze fixed on the Flame Demon pursuing Brother Hawen. "What did that giant ball of fire just say?"
Feidric wasn't surprised by Cipher's sudden appearance. "It said... 'Damn demon, you're dead!'"
Cipher's head tilted in confusion. "Wait, weren't you the one commanding it to hunt down Brother Hawen?"
Feidric shook his head. "No, I have absolutely no control over this demon. It's acting entirely on its own volition."
He then explained the situation. After examining Nick Hawen's contract, he discovered it was meticulously crafted. Essentially, the contract stipulated that upon being summoned, the demon was bound to obey the commands of the demon lord XXX (name concealed), not the summoner.
Therefore, even though Feidric had replaced Nick Hawen as the user of the summoning magic, he still couldn't control the Flame Demon.
Similarly, while the contract stated that the demon must obey the demon lord's orders, since Feidric was now the contractor, even the demon lord had no power over it. In other words, once summoned, the Flame Demon was completely free to act as it pleased!
Normally, arriving on the Material Plane without any constraints would be a demon's wildest dream—a chance to slaughter indiscriminately and indulge in every whim. However, upon encountering the demon lord, the Flame Demon was consumed by rage. Abandoning all interest in the humans around it, it relentlessly pursued the demon lord, hacking at it with its fiery axe.
The animosity between demons and devils stems from their fundamental differences. As mentioned earlier, devils are like con artists, scheming and swindling their way to power, and demons are their favorite marks.
Demons are about as intelligent as barbarians—some are even dumber. Yet, despite their lack of wit, they possess glaringly obvious desires.
For instance, a devil might approach a demon and promise to send it to the Material Plane for a decade of slaughter in exchange for ten years of servitude. The demon would likely jump at the offer.
After a decade of dutiful service, when the time comes for the devil to fulfill its promise, it leads the demon to a remote corner of the Nine Hells. There, a sign reads: "Material Plane."
"Here you go," the devil says. "Go ahead."
The demon stares blankly, utterly bewildered.
Such scams are rampant. This Flame Demon, for example, has already fallen for devilish schemes over a dozen times, which explains its immediate rage and attack upon seeing the devil.
As for how it's been tricked so many times... well, let's not dwell on that.
Although the demon remained uncontrollable, the situation was currently advantageous to Feidric. He chose not to terminate the contract and banish it.
"Damn it!" Brother Hawen (devil-possessed) cursed as he retreated, surveying the battlefield. He watched helplessly as Nathaniel brutally hacked the Owlbear to death, and the archer Big White was surrounded by Barbarians pouring into the fray, his death imminent.
One of his four trusted lieutenants, a warrior, had already fallen under the combined assault of Aria and Douglas, leaving only the Thief Captain—the masked man battling Cipher. The Thief Captain was covered in wounds, his right arm twisted at an unnatural angle, clearly broken. He limped back toward Brother Hawen.
The masked man coughed up blood, his face pale. "Brother Hawen, that Catgirl played dirty! I fell for her trap... Sorry!"
Meanwhile, the remaining henchmen were gradually routed by the Barbarian charge, the battle turning into a one-sided slaughter.
"Damn it! Damn it all! Useless trash!" Brother Hawen (devil-possessed) roared, raising his hands in a futile gesture.
Boom! A deafening roar shook the Blazing Fire Gang's headquarters as the ground beneath their feet began to crack. A dense network of fissures spread across the earth, each glowing with a malevolent crimson light.
"Even if it's only half complete, it's enough," the devil-possessed Brother Hawen sneered. "You foolish humans, prepare to face the wrath of the Demon Legion!"
From above, the radiating crimson cracks formed a colossal circular Magic Circle. Or rather, this was merely its central node. The fissures, centered on the Blazing Fire Gang's headquarters, were rapidly expanding outward, precisely following the paths where Brother Hawen had ordered his men to scatter Red Earth earlier.
Brother Hawen—or rather, the devil controlling him—had orchestrated this entire scheme to create a massive Magic Circle. The possessed Hawen grinned widely. "Seventh-level Conjuration School, descend..."
Thunk!
Unexpectedly, a dagger plunged into Brother Hawen's back. The assailant? The heavily wounded masked man who had been standing beside him moments before.
The masked man's eyes were now cold and ruthless, and his right hand had completely healed, showing no signs of fracture.
Witnessing this, Brother Hawen coughed up blood and turned his head slightly, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Y-you..." he stammered.
Without hesitation, the masked man swiftly and mercilessly plunged a second blade into Brother Hawen's throat, cutting off his words. "I'm no saint," he said coldly, "but I despise human traitors like you even more—those who sell out humanity to serve devils!"
"Appointing four trusted lieutenants the moment you became Boss, huh? Seems I left quite the impression on you."
As he spoke, the masked man's form began to shift and grow taller, transforming into another person entirely. Cipher immediately recognized him: This man... was Black Hand?!
Yes, Black Hand wasn't dead. During his battle with Castorice, Pollux had unleashed two blasts of her breath. The first had shattered Black Hand's painstakingly charged lightning attack, and the second had swept through the clouds, seemingly obliterating him.
In reality, the moment Black Hand saw his hours-long charge crumble in an instant under the first blast, he knew he couldn't win. From that moment on, his only thought was escape.
Of course, a direct escape was impossible. Just as Castorice unleashed her second breath attack, Black Hand seized a blind spot in her vision. He retrieved a charred corpse from his Storage Ring, placed the Sorcerer Divine Artifact in its hand, and hurled the body downward.
This was meant to create the illusion that he had been incinerated. Castorice even briefly wondered how a body could remain intact after being struck by Pollux's breath.
In reality, the attack had completely missed. Black Hand had pulled off a perfect getaway, vanishing into hiding while the world thought he was dead.
It might sound like a smooth escape, but Black Hand had truly stared death in the face twice. He had barely dodged the two breath attacks, relying entirely on the flight and acceleration granted by the Sorcerer Divine Artifact after it surged lightning through his body.
Moreover, Castorice's attention was primarily focused on retrieving the Divine Artifact, as her fundamental objective was to acquire it, not to kill him. This distraction gave Black Hand the sliver of opportunity he needed to escape.
Later, the Blazing Fire Gang emerged under Brother Hawen's leadership. Black Hand joined their ranks, demonstrated his abilities, and quickly secured a position as one of the Four Great Lieutenants.
Naturally, Black Hand resented losing his Divine Artifact. But he knew he stood no chance against the purple-haired Death Holy Maiden. As he bided his time within the gang, he discovered that his former subordinate was secretly plotting something.