A knocking, knocking, knocking sound reverberates. The person's appearance can only be described as fine in every respect. His hair is pulled back in an all-black bun, and he is wearing a fine suit with no dust or wrinkles on it. The shoes are all black to match the color of the suit, but they are slightly tinted with brown to accentuate it.


　Her face is suitably neat and tidy. She has a high nose and her eyes are also set like a glass ball. At first glance, she looks like a human. But he's not human. He's not human. You can tell that by looking at those burning eyes, and the amount of magic element that covers him. This.........is a demon.


''It's been........a long time since I've been here.


　His name is Aurir as he mutters that. The Holy Twelve Apostles, fourth in the pecking order. He was walking in a place. A space where there is no light at all. He just walked straight through that space. From the echoing sound, he could tell that it was like a tunnel. However, to Auriel, a place without light or sound is just a trivial matter. This is because all of the Demons of the Holy Twelve Apostles possess the Twilight Eye 《Twilight Sight》.

　Not only him, but also the perception of the magic element is everything to become a true strong man in this world.


''Aurir-sama, our schedule is a bit tight today.
Thank you for everything, Rina.
No. I'm merely a pawn in the service of Auriel-sama.
'Humility. I understand that I have always had your help. Well I guess it's about time.


　The name of the demon next to Auriel was Lina. She also wears a suit with her long hair pulled up in an up-do, just like him, out of respect for him. It was out of respect for him. Lina respects Aurir with all her heart, and it is her supreme pleasure to serve him. It was self-evident that she would dress in a similar way to him.


　Then the two of them exited the passage and came out into an open space.


　A circular space. A streetlight was lit there, allowing them to grasp the situation around them by sight as well as by magic element.


''What........are you........''


　The voice is low to the ground. It's hard to believe that its vocal organs are the same as those of humans and even demons. In the first place, no human, demon and subhuman can produce a voice this low because they have the same base. In other words, what we have in front of us is not any of those three species.


　It has a large physique and huge scissors in both hands. Its tail is also slithering, extending to the heavens. At a cursory glance, its body length was well over 10 meters. That individual with the same reddish-black color as the twilight is not just a scorpion, a scorpion.

　It was the Ancient Scorpion, the Ancient Scorpion. That is the individual name of this demon. It is one of the oldest demons among the demons that have lived for hundreds of years and have experienced the Human Demon War. Such an ancient scorpion, the Ancient Scorpion, the one that comes to the Ancient Scorpion's nest is usually absent. No, it hadn't been there for the past few decades. There is no room for guests. They are nothing more than bait.

　The bones of all sorts of creatures are lying here. I'm sure you'll find a lot of demons, sub-humans, and human bones lying around as well.


''To interrupt me in the middle of a meal you do understand, don't you?


　That kind of ancient scorpion [Ancient Scorpion] in an even lower voice. In the scissors in his right hand, yes........there was a human. It was also a woman. It was the moment when she was stripped naked and about to be preyed upon as it was. The woman is relieved to see Aurir and Lina. Help, the help they had been looking for all along, had finally arrived. Every human who was brought here was preyed upon before her eyes. And she was the last. Of course, she immediately raised her voice to call for help.


''........tha, help!
Oh, you're in the middle of dinner. I beg your pardon.


　Aurir reverently and neatly curtsies so as not to displease the other party. Along with that, Lina also gives a bow.


''It begins and ends with a bow. I will thank the other party. You may talk to them after the meal. Please, please continue.


　He looks up and smiles at her. Aureel brings her eyes to the woman.

　At that moment, the woman realized. Ah.........I'm going to die here.......


''.........I don't hate the smart ones.''


　In those moments, the woman was swallowed up by her head. There was no time to scream. The sound of crushing bone, the sound of biting through flesh, all of them combined.......a few minutes passed. The woman's blood was dripping from the Ancient Scorpion 《Enchemental Scorpion》's mouth. Seeing that, Aurir had no thoughts. Ah, I can finally talk to her. That's just the extent of it. That's the extent of human existence for him.


''May I talk to you?
All right. Demon.
I'll be blunt. Would you be willing to help us?
...I heard that the war of unification was won by demons?
The situation is changing now. Demons and subhumans have joined forces and formed a coalition army. We are in the middle of a battle against the demons.
We will not participate in this united front. No matter who is inviting us.
No, no. This is not a war.
So what is this all about?
Humans. They're launching what I think is called a dusk attack.
"Oh...
I want you to stop the human progress there. No, we could just delay it. We don't have the luxury of dealing with humans at the moment.
What do I get in return?
No, sir.
You are out of it. Do you want to get yourself killed?


　When the Ancient Scorpion, the Ancient Scorpion, gave the signal, the Scorpions came out one after another. Of course, they weren't just any Scorpions. They are the elite guardians of the Ancient Scorpion. They are different from those demons.

　But something is wrong with him. The Ancient Scorpion, Ancient Scorpion, has already given orders to attack the demons. The same goes for interrupting their meals, but they came asking for incomprehensible demands without any reward. They are already angry enough to kill. They have reason, but it's still more of an instinctual part of them.


　Besides, even though the demons are strong, if there are this many of them.......I thought so, but the bodies of the Scorpion 《Scorpion》 and the others were torn apart vertically. Slowly and neatly they opened up and sank down, sprinkling their body fluids as it was. That's also at the same time.


　There are about 30 Scorpions here, but I killed 5 of them as an example. And the other Scorpions understood the opponent's skill, or perhaps the other Scorpions understood the skill of the opponent and moved backward bit by bit. It's pure fear. These demons are stronger than they are. That fact had instilled fear in the Scorpion 《Scorpion》 and the others.


''Well, do you still refuse?''
All right. I'll give you what you want.


　The Ancient Scorpion [Ancient Scorpion] understood. This demon, he said, was the highest of all the demons. He had seen demons before, but he had never thought that they were completely unbeatable. Yes, until this moment. However, Aurir's skill is not only the Ancient Scorpion, Ancient Scorpion [Ancient Scorpion], but also all of the Scorpion [Scorpion] in this place cannot reach him even with all of them. He would be killed in the blink of an eye and that would be the end of it. He immediately understood this and chose to give in.


''I like the smart ones. Me too.
Can we slow down human progress?
Yes, sir.
"...it's okay to kill humans?
Of course. Whether you want to kill them or prey on them, please feel free to do so.
...then we'll use these.
What's that?
....

　Listen to the story. I see, Aureel thought, that seems to be useful. The demons could use it too. That's what he thought. Until now, I thought they were just low intelligence insects, but after all, there are exceptions to everything. He wouldn't have prepared it for this time, but it was just as well. He thought, and ended the conversation there.

''....I see. That's an odd idea. Then we will be excused from this.''


　Aureel left without even wiping the fluid splattered on his own body. Everywhere he went, gracefully and brilliantly, he returned the way he had come.