Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 495: Never trust a Devil

Chapter 495: Never trust a Devil

"We can’t retreat." Alex calmly intoned as he stood in the snowstorm with Charlotte standing before him and an unknown Clown seeking to end him.

As he donned the guise of Hunter with a simple thought, He could detect a sense of madness within those eyes, and with Mindscape, it was easy to grasp that the other party was being mind-controlled.

But master, you are ill-equipped for combat.

Charlotte pointed out softly, unwilling to bruise her master’s ego.

Alex understood her sentiment and perhaps, a moment ago, that would have been the case.

But now... now things were different.

Alex hadn’t understood the gravity of how badly he’d been weakened following the loss of his previous progress along the Human Wheel, but now, having regained more of his Abilities, he understood it quite clearly.

He glanced at his palm and then... he snapped.

The Clown moved, seemingly attempting to attack Alex with Charlotte moving to intercept her.

But at that moment, yet another Clown appeared, this one with an angry face unlike the first one which was sad.

The angry clown rushed at Alex, closing the distance in a single step but then... Embers

The flames started with Alex as the epicenter, driving outward like a tornado while devouring everything in its path.

There was a cry of anguish so loud, that Alex could tell it was not made by a human.

Whatever was the cause of this storm was not happy about the destruction Embers caused to the storm.

Within seconds, the snowstorm began to clear as Embers ate away at it all with reckless abandon, slowly revealing what had been hidden for so long.

By the time Embers died down, the snowstorm was gone and beyond, Alex found what he’d been looking for for so long.

But what he saw chilled him to the bone as instead of a town, there was an ice castle that reached the sky, threatening to pierce the heavens.

"What in the world?" Alex muttered only to notice movement close by, causing him to shift his attention just in time to watch as the angry clown stirred, having received the full brunt of the flames.

Though unharmed as the flames dealt no real damage to physical beings, instead focused on devouring aether-driven constructs, the clown seemed to have been cleared of whatever had been controlling him.

Gasping for air, the clown took off its mask, revealing its relatively young human appearance marred by two horns and some more eye-catching features.

Alex raised a brow. "Who are you?"

"Finn." The man replied. "Thank you for freeing me."

Alex didn’t immediately respond, instead shifting his attention to Charlotte’s battlefield to find that she had prevailed at her end, now dragging a woman who shared features with the man kneeling before him.

***

Quite certain that Arthur stood no chance should Amase decide to end him, Nadia thought it best to act even as she found it difficult to articulate herself.

Steeling her nerves, she reached out and grabbed Arthur’s wrist, drawing his attention to her.

She shook her head and though he wished to argue, her expression told him that there was no need.

Letting out a sigh, Arthur did as she hoped and stepped back while she stepped forward.

Amase tilted her head at an angle as she watched Nadia stand before her after which she dropped to her knees and paid homage.

You are much more learned than this overgrown dog.

"Forgive my uncle’s actions, he was only looking out for me."

Lift your head.

Taking a deep breath, Nadia did as she was asked, raising her gaze to meet Amase’s.

So it is indeed as I detected. You somehow managed to merge the domains Xistora and Vessina hold control over into one. What’s more, you somehow persist as a half Cryptid. An incredibly unique specimen.

Amase reached out and cradled Nadia’s face, her fingers stroking her cheeks as she proceeded to lick her lips.

Incredible. This would mean...

Just as she raised her head to regard the others, Nadia grabbed her, hoping to keep Amase’s attention on her.

"Please."

Amase grinned wickedly before moving as she originally intended.

Across the mountaintop, she found that each person save for, Arthur, Victoria, and an unconscious Ana, was more unique than the last, especially the Dark Lord.

The emotion the Devil represented surged forth like a storm as she muttered.

Interesting!

Instinctively, she tried to steal Arwen only to be denied.

A look of pleasant surprise painted her visage as she shifted her gaze to Elena who was currently glowing a faint gold radiance.

What did you do?

Elena gave no response, instead addressing the others. "Guys, I can’t face her alone. We need to work together!"

Realizing what she was getting at, Arthur didn’t attack first as he knew more than anyone else the essence of a preemptive strike.

... At least, he tried to but it becomes rather difficult to access an Ability when his voice is stolen from him which is exactly what Amase did as she intoned.

Quiet.

Victoria was the next to make a move.

Open sesame.

As a spirit portal tried to emerge, Amase stole that as well, and before Victoria could do more, her desire to act was stolen from her.

Same with the others, their desire to protect themselves was stolen and all that was left suited Amase’s desires well.

The Devil smiled as she glanced at Elena who for some reason remained unaffected.

Quite unfortunate. How are you doing it?

Elena remained silent, taking in stride the conditions of her colleagues.

She could extend the dimension she was in to just one person and considering Arwen was the closest, she had done so but extending it any further would end up leaving her vulnerable to the whims of the Devil of Greed.

If you do not speak, I shall not hesitate to steal the others.

"... I’m in a different dimension. So technically you’re only seeing an echo of me right now."

I see. Quite an interesting way to deal with my domain. But alas, that only works because I do not understand it. Imagine if I were to for example... steal the dimension you are in?

And just like that, Elena’s dimension was stolen from her, leaving her and Arwen vulnerable to Amase’s whims.

The Devil grinned.

Never trust a Devil.

Elena snorted. "I didn’t trust you from the start."

Pa

Amase looked up just in time to see a white light.

What followed was unparalleled destruction that echoed within the dimension Elena had conjured around the personification of Greed.