Chapter 1
A New Concept Wielder (2)
Incidents like this happened from time to time.
Every so often, a Concept Demon would suddenly appear within the city. They were always newborns—far weaker than the mature Concept Demons lurking beyond the city walls—so they rarely caused significant damage.
More importantly, newborn Concept Demons seldom attacked ordinary civilians. Their first instinct was to hunt Aura Users.
And Ethel happened to be one.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
"Left rear. Full evasion."
The voice in his head shattered his last shred of hope.
He threw himself into a roll to the right just as a massive black shape tore past him.
The creature slammed straight into the digital billboard, reducing the screen to a heap of shattered wreckage.
"Kkh... Ka..."
Supported by beast-like limbs, it struggled to wrench its head free from the twisted remains of the display.
The moment it succeeded, a look of disgust flashed across Ethel's face.
Its head was nothing but a gigantic mouth, crammed with jagged teeth that jutted out in every direction.
"KKAKAKAKAKA!"
Its teeth chattered together with a piercing screech as the monster swung its gaping maw toward him.
"Front. Twelve. Coverage: nine to two. Twenty to two hundred."
A torrent of teeth burst from the demon's mouth.
There were so many that even the voice in Ethel's mind couldn't call out every trajectory in time, managing only a rough warning.
Fortunately, he didn't need more.
Twelve crimson lines were already etched across his vision.
He slipped cleanly between them, avoiding every incoming tooth.
"KAKAKA!"
Frustrated that its attack had failed, the demon ground its teeth together and prepared another volley.
Ethel simply stood there with a quiet sigh.
There was no point trying to outrun it.
He might as well stay where he was and wait for rescue.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long.
Combat Corps personnel in blue uniforms rushed in from several directions, surrounding the newborn Concept Demon in seconds.
A storm of bullets rained down.
Two swordsmen charged through the gunfire.
With a heavy slash, one of the demon's forelimbs was severed and sent flying across the street. Another strike ripped open its chest, black viscous fluid spilling onto the pavement.
The demon twisted its head.
The Combat Corps immediately fell back.
A barrage of razor-sharp teeth exploded outward.
One soldier reached for Ethel, intending to pull him to safety.
Before he could even touch him, however, Ethel had already dodged every single projectile.
"Concept: Teeth."
A man with sharply pointed ears strode calmly into the demon's attack range.
Seeing fresh prey approach, the monster unleashed another volley of teeth before lunging forward to devour him.
Neither attack landed.
The flying teeth...
The demon itself...
Everything was violently repelled just moments before making contact with the man.
Before the creature could comprehend what had happened, the Combat Corps regrouped behind the pointed-eared man and resumed their assault.
Among them, one archer stood out.
Holding a bow glowing with Aura, he continuously loosed radiant arrows into the demon.
The swordsmen seized every opening to carve fresh wounds into its body.
The demon attacked again and again.
Every assault met the same result.
Repelled.
Within barely a minute, the Concept Demon collapsed.
Its body dissolved into dust, scattering into the wind.
Ethel watched the entire battle from the sidelines.
Truthfully, he had planned to leave as soon as reinforcements arrived.
Unfortunately, two shield bearers had stayed glued to his side the whole time, determined to protect him.
Leaving without a word somehow felt impolite.
As soon as the demon vanished, one of the Combat Corps members approached him.
Ethel recognized him immediately.
He was the only archer in the squad.
The young man had short brown hair, fair skin, and the kind of friendly face that naturally put others at ease.
"Hello. I'm Yasin, Vice-Captain of Helios Combat Corps, Second Division."
He offered Ethel a warm smile.
"Are you hurt?"
Ethel shook his head.
All he wanted was to leave before he became any more involved with the Combat Corps.
"I'm glad to hear that."
Yasin smiled with obvious relief.
"You must've been terrified. Most people would panic if a Concept Demon suddenly appeared right in front of them."
"I'm fine."
Ethel answered politely.
"May I go now?"
"...Ah. Of course."
Somewhat surprised by Ethel's composure, Yasin nevertheless stepped aside without hesitation.
Just as Ethel began thinking that perhaps today hadn't turned out to be a complete disaster—
"Hey."
A sharp voice stopped him.
"Stay right there."
Ethel turned around.
The speaker was the pointed-eared man from earlier.
His narrow eyes and calculating expression gave him the unmistakable air of someone both shrewd and difficult to fool.
"Captain Sot?"
Yasin looked at his superior.
"Is something wrong?"
Sot ignored him completely.
Instead, his eyes slowly swept over Ethel from head to toe.
"You're a Concept Wielder."
"I'm just an ordinary Aura User."
"Don't play dumb."
Sot lifted the gun-shaped device in his hand.
"The scanner has already detected your Concept."
"It only detected 'Teeth,' the Concept belonging to the demon you just fought."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Sot's mouth.
"So you know exactly how this device works."
"I used to work in a related field."
"You're full of excuses."
The smile vanished.
"You have two choices."
"You come with me willingly..."
"...or I knock you unconscious and drag you there."
"Captain, you can't—"
"Quiet, Yasin."
Sot cut him off without even looking his way.
"I'm the captain."
Ethel glanced around.
There was no escaping this.
After a brief silence, he gave a small nod.
"...I'll come with you."
"Good."
Sot let out a satisfied smirk.
What a spectacularly awful day.
That was the only thought running through Ethel's mind.
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