Reclaiming the Demon’s Curse - Chapter 170

Cyril brought Asta with him to the hotel where he’s staying at. Of course, because of the situation, Asta had to enter without anyone noticing so they took quite some time.

“Are you sure we’re not being followed? I lost my Artifact capable of scanning my surroundings. I also didn’t notice you use one. How can you say I’m safe here?”

Asta finally started doubting this A-Rank Awakened.

She decided to trust this man since he’s a mysterious member of the Awakened Association and had impressive records. Though she’s thinking that this man is hiding some secrets, she had a hunch that he’s not a bad person.

This is what her luck item is trying to tell her.

Aside from that, she had also exhausted her Aura right now and she’s vulnerable. She needed someone to help her until she can regain her full, or even half, of her strength.

“Don’t worry. No one’s following us. Just calm down and take a bath or something.”

Cyril replied as he looked at the lady. She looked quite pitiful with her unkempt hair and specks of dirt clinging on her skin.

Though she doesn’t smell, Cyril could tell that she was quite uncomfortable already.

“Alright…” Asta could only trust this person for now.

Cyril gave her some of his clothes before he finally sat on the sofa. Though he didn’t fight any battle today. He somehow felt exhausted after thinking of ways to ensure that he won’t get caught by the criminals chasing this woman.

Ssshhh~

Cyril then heard the sound of the shower so he decided to speak with the demoness.

“Magenta… Do you have enough energy to corrupt some people? I might be needing your strength a lot faster than I expected.”

“Keke! Of course, Master. Don’t worry! As long as you give me at least half a day or so. I’ll find some criminals who deserve to be converted.”

Amaris the Corruptor answered with delight. This is also why she’s always telling Cyril about her current energy pool.

She wanted him to realize how limited her powers are if she doesn’t have Corrupted Beings working for her.

“Half a day, huh. That’s good.”

“Yes, Master. Do you want me to start now?”

“Go ahead… Just convert 5 or so people so you won’t take long…”

“Understood!”

The snake then slithered out of his arm and went out using the window. Cyril had no choice but to speed up Magenta’s recovery.

After all, he considered her as his trump card and he wanted her to be in the best condition especially now that they might encounter an S-Rank Awakened.

He clearly knows that he can’t kill an S-Rank right now. With his current set of Artifacts, the most he could do is to delay them or even escape from them.

However, if he can properly use Magenta’s ability, then there is a chance for him to defeat an S-Rank Awakened.

Thud!

Asta came out of the shower.

She’s drying her hair with a towel while wearing Cyril’s shirt and pants. She looks a lot better and even more beautiful as long as she tries smiling instead of having frowning.

Aside from that, Cyril could finally see her two Artifacts a lot easier. An ancient necklace and a bracelet. They were previously covered in the darkness of the alley so he didn’t manage to properly see them.

“Did you also lose your gun?”

Cyril asked after seeing that she’s pretty much empty-handed. He thought that she was just hiding her weapons a while ago.

“They were destroyed.”

“Got it. But now, I need to listen to your story. I need to know what kind of criminals are we facing.”

Asta remained silent after hearing the young man.

She’s already 25 years old and the person in front of her is only 18. If she decided to divulge the secrets of the criminals. It would become almost impossible for him to stop being involved. However, Cyril was right. He needed to know her enemies so he could plan effectively about their next move.

Though he’s only an A-Rank Awakened, he seemed to possess various Artifacts with him, and with correct planning, he should be a tricky opponent as well.

‘Especially that mysterious ability. I’m sure those potions didn’t come from his tiny pocket. Is it an ability to make an object extremely small for convenience? I wonder…’

Asta mused as she recalled how Cyril can mysteriously pull something out of his pocket. It feels like a dimensional pocket or something similar.

Anyway, she still deliberated on what to tell to this young man.

“Sigh~ You only have to protect me within 48 hours. I will pay you generously after. Are you sure you want their information?”

She asked with a serious voice. She stared at Cyril trying as if she was trying to read his mind.

“That’s right. I’m not scared of learning them. Whatever it is, I’ll forget everything once I leave this place. I do not have any plans of returning here anyway.” Cyril replied decisively.

If not for his plan to take the Dragon World with him, he wouldn’t even think of going to this place at all.

“Fine. Listen carefully, our small group isn’t just hunting a normal criminal. She is an S-Rank Awakened who came from our country and fled to this city after we learned about her inhumane research… We do not know her real name but she was given a code name. Aeon Flux.”

Asta continued explaining. She didn’t notice Cyril’s grim face as soon as she mentioned the code name.

‘Aeon Flux! So she’s already active this year?! I thought she only started committing crimes around that year after more Super-Class was discovered? No, it now makes sense. As soon as she started committing crimes, she was already quite powerful and has an army of Super Awakened Soldiers.’

Cyril immediately thought as he listened to Asta.

It was the year 2136 when the Super-Class Arcane World was discovered. However, there was only one of them found. A few months after its discovery was the Vampire Outbreak and other outbreaks of Arcane Worlds in various countries. It was the year 2137 when two or three more Super-Class Arcane World are discovered.

In this Super-Class Arcane World, the magical creatures aren’t the scary thing. It was the superhumans inside!

It was speculated during that time that Aeon Flux managed to control these humans but hearing Asta’s explanation, it seems that she has been researching this for quite a long time now!

The failed experiments or gargoyles he encountered on the way here were just her first attempt at her path of body or gene modification!

Perhaps, after many years, she succeeded in her research instead of just controlling the superhumans!

He had many speculations considering how Asta and her group failed to capture her. This means that Aeon Flux would probably have several years of peaceful research allowing her to be successful.

‘Tsk… I thought of dealing with her before she created her army. I guess it will still be difficult, huh.’

“Haa~ By the way, why did you come up with Aeon Flux? Does she look like an old lady or something?”

Cyril asked recalling that the Aeon Flux he had seen online was wearing a mask covering her whole face.

“It was someone from the SATF who came up with that name. I’m not sure why. Anyway, she’s still young. Just around 30 years old.”

“I see… So right now, she has the protection of the Nine Crows Guild and Divine Sword Guild… Two of the three strongest guilds of this nation, huh. No wonder you guys were almost obliterated. You should’ve done more research before attacking them. Ugh.”

“What? We didn’t attack them… After that incident in the Nine Crow’s Headquarters, we were just patrolling the area. However, some groups of masked assassins targeted us. Tsk! We know that they are from the Divine Sword Guild. Even if they tried changing their swordsmanship style, I will recognize their Divine Sword Art!”

Asta then explained how they have been gathering information about the places Aeon Flux has been. They initially thought that she was just trying to find supporters first but in the end, they learned that this woman was actually deeply rooted with the two guilds!”

She did just flee here without any plans!

It was a mistake on their part that caused the deaths of her subordinates.

The night passed peacefully without the enemies targeting them.

***

“We should move…” Cyril said as he readied the Artifacts on his body.

“Where? I haven’t fully recovered my Aura. Do you have any Artifacts I can use for battle? My Necklace consumes too much Aura. It only has top-grade Skills.”

Cyril sighed as he decided to give her 5 Goblin Daggers.

“What? You’re keeping Rank-F Artifacts?”

Asta was dumbfounded as she accepted the daggers. It was also small so she could hide it inside her clothes.

Cyril also lent her his jacket and pants since she doesn’t have anything to wear.

“Don’t complain. Just make do with it.” Cyril said as he didn’t want to give this woman a stronger Artifact.

Soon, they left their room as they are planning to have breakfast. However, they found something odd.

“Hmm? Why is it too quiet?”