I thought I had prepared for every contingency.

I made sure everything went according to plan, and even made sure to manipulate several ends to achieve the results I desired. But…

… I didn’t expect Legris Damien to still be alive.

Even though Magic made the impossible possible, I wasn’t counting on it this time.

At his time of death, Legris couldn’t use Magic. I made sure of that.

Though, with Jane’s Soul Project being known to me, I realized that there could have been other ways he could have used to cheat death. Still, wouldn’t that still require the soul?

I was sure that his soul died alongside his body.

It made no sense that he was currently standing behind me, smiling cheerily.

“Don’t be a sore loser, Jared. You lost this round.” His words pierced my heart.

Why?

Because he was right.

I didn’t want to accept it, but the fact that he was standing right here—holding The Devil Arcana—meant my plan was already in shambles.

I could try to forcefully retrieve it, but there was no way Legris wouldn’t see that coming. Unlike the one I knew and killed, this Legris seemed leagues different.

He had an unexplainable aura around him that I found utterly repulsive… and scary.

I had no prep time, neither did I know the full extent of his capabilities. I was the one with the short end of the stick this time.

I was cornered!

“You impressed me, though. I’ve been watching from the sidelines, and this elaborate scheme of yours is simply superb. If not for my interference, you would have pulled an outstanding victory.”

He said that, but it didn’t change the fact that he could have interfered sooner. If he did so, I would have lost the war too.

‘Legris is very intelligent. Surely, he saw through a great deal of my plans. If he had helped the Demons, things could have gone differently…’

The question was why?

Perhaps it was because I would have noticed something was wrong and changed my plans to a new, subtler one.

He predicted that and decided to stay out of it until it was time to reap the rewards.

He was truly the winner this time around.

“Can you at least tell me one thing? Why does your organization want to get rid of the Demons?”

Legris scratched his head once my question reached him. He looked harmless, truly, but I knew everything was an act.

“Well, my mission is simply to obtain this Arcana. The best way to do that, while also covering our tracks is to create a conflict between the Demon Faction and everyone else.”

I was slowly grasping the situation, but there was still so much I didn’t know.

“Of course, we didn’t expect you to have gone as far as forming an Alliance. I’ll admit, that was genius. We also didn’t expect you to involve the Magic Beasts and achieve such an overwhelming victory. Finally, we didn’t expect you to completely wipe out the Demons… that was overkill.”

I exceeded their expectations, but Legris didn’t seem affected by that at all. In fact, it was like he relished everything I had accomplished.

“Still, we achieved our goals. You see, we would have had to subdue the Demons ourselves if we wanted to obtain the Arcana. Not only would that be a waste of time, but it would also alert everyone else of our existence.” Legris continued.

So, the most efficient way to handle the situation was to make someone else do the work while they reaped the benefit.

I had no idea why Legris was so comfortable sharing so much information with me. Perhaps he was simply trying to misdirect me. There had to be more to everything than what he was telling me.

‘No way! Could it be—!’ I struggled to keep my expression intact, staring at Legris with more caution than earlier.

Even though all that Legris mentioned were valid reasons for pitting the Demons against us, that couldn’t be all there was to it.

If I was correct, then…

‘… Just how many Arcanas do they have in their possession now?’

I wanted to ask Legris, but he would catch on to the fact that I already knew their other objective.

‘They used the War as a distraction. His Organization probably moved more freely during this period and got their hands on more Arcanas.’

It pissed me off that I had ignored that possibility and simply focused on what was in front of me.

I had been short-sighted this whole time—occupied with a game they designed to keep me busy.

The worst part was that I ultimately lost the game.

Sure, our side won the war, but these guys were one step ahead. Once again, I failed to grasp the full extent of their capabilities… as well as the scope of their plans.

‘Asking Legris any more questions will be disadvantageous for me. I should stop now.’

“It seems you’ve gotten what you wanted. You should also realize by now that your Magic or Anti-Magic won’t work on me. I’m fully prepared, so you can’t stop me this time. You’re welcome to try, though.” My opponent goaded me more, but I refused to be moved.

“I see. That’s a shame. By the way…” He raised his index finger and pointed at himself.

“… You put a Tracking Automaton on me, didn’t you? No, not just one… three? That’s impressive!”

‘He noticed!’ My eyes widened as I stared at the smiling man.

“And here I thought you had given up. Jared, you sly boy.”

He figured it out. Legris Damien was a truly frightening individual. I had done the same for Damien Lawcroft, but he didn’t notice anything in the slightest.

It just went to show the difference in their abilities.

“You plan on tracking me back to the Organization… probably listen in to get more Intel as well. Wow, color me impressed.”

No, I was more impressed.

‘Those Automatons are too small to be noticed naturally, and they have the Unknowable effect on them. It’s more surprising that he saw through them.’

Compared to me—compared to all I had done so far…

… Legris Damien was the true monster.