"By the way, Ms. Tsukikawa, you mentioned that the Demi-human District should be full of human awakened—those 'Exorcists.' But I visited once and didn't see a single human. Instead, I ran into a female humanoid 'Soul' nearly two meters tall. I barely made it back. What was that about?" Alistair asked, carefully choosing his words. He had a hunch that the urban legend of "Lady Eight-Feet" wasn't well-known in this world.
"A female humanoid nearly two meters tall? I've never heard of such a thing. Besides, 'Souls' are only humanoid in shape; they don't truly possess human features. The gap between a Soul and a human is wider than the gap between a human and a gorilla. Only intelligent beings would actively mold themselves into a truly human-like appearance in this world," Eri Tsukikawa replied with a puzzled expression. According to Alistair's description, that wouldn't be a Soul at all, but a member of a specific race.
Just humanoid in shape but not human-like in appearance? Alistair mused. But don't urban legends create images exactly like what Eri described? Could Lady Eight-Feet actually be a race of demi-human?
Alistair fell silent. He realized he might have been biased. In this world, "Demi-human" wasn't a single race but a general term for various creatures with appearances extremely similar to humans—succubi included. So, Lady Eight-Feet was likely a species of demi-human rather than a "ghost story." He noticed that while most people in this world had low-level superpowers, actual paranormal rumors and media were strangely absent.
"By the way, is there a formal ranking system for awakened? Like levels or something?" Alistair gestured with his hands. He had always categorized his strength by his internal percentage progress, but that was his own invention.
"A ranking system? I haven't paid much attention to that. Human strength depends on cultivation, but in this environment, unless one has incredible resources, they can't even walk half the path of awakening. I don't follow their official grades. However," Eri paused, smiling gracefully, "based on the power you just displayed, fighting them would be as easy as bullying children."
Wait, the 'official' guys are that weak? Alistair was surprised. Am I really that much of a cheater?
"Then how do they survive in the Demi-human District? There are plenty of powerful races there, right? And why would those 'Exorcists' go there to kill Souls? Surely it's not out of the goodness of their hearts?" It seemed illogical to Alistair. Demi-humans seemed to crush humans in every category; why would they need humans to handle the Souls?
"It's because of a specific trait of the Souls," Eri explained. "While some demi-humans can see Souls, humans require spells or tools to even perceive them. That's a disadvantage. However, there is one factor that makes humans essential for exterminating them."
"What factor?"
"Souls cannot be destroyed by normal means. Every time a demi-human disperses one, it reforms within seconds. Only humans possess a certain 'tool' that can permanently erase them. That is why the demi-humans allow 'Government Forces'—the Exorcists—to roam the district. Otherwise, anyone else using powers so recklessly in their territory would have been 'dealt with' long ago."
Eri admitted it was strange, but perhaps it was destiny. If humans were outclassed in every single way, they would have ceased to exist. Also, demi-humans could never compete with human technology.
"A certain tool? Sounds unique and powerful," Alistair said, his interest piqued. If it was a potent artifact, he wouldn't mind feeding it to his "Ring."
"It's not a single unique item," Eri corrected. "I mean the 'Human' itself, not the government's equipment."
"What do you mean 'the human itself'?"
"Literally. The tool originates from the human soul. Everyone's tool is different, much like your internal magic sigils. While sigils can be the same, these tools are almost never duplicated. They vary based on the individual. However, the method to awaken and use them is a closely guarded secret of the government."
"Everyone has a different one? This sounds very familiar... is the tool's outward form usually a sword?" Alistair's eyes widened. Between the "Gillian" lookalike and this "soul tool" concept, he was starting to suspect this world had borrowed some homework from Bleach.
"A sword? Some take that form, yes. But others are hammers, daggers, shields, charms—all sorts of shapes," Eri said, projecting mana images to illustrate.
"I see."
Whoosh!
The mana projection in Eri's hand suddenly turned into a flame, wrapping around her entire body. Alistair grew wary. He could easily subdue her, so why would she attack?
"The succubus you let go brought reinforcements. Let's deal with them first," Eri explained quickly. Alistair had already expanded his perception and felt the approaching mana.
"Well, look at that. Succubi are pack animals after all. Perfect time to test the power of the Rabbit. I haven't used it in a real fight yet." Alistair's mana surged. Activating the Rabbit Talisman, his figure vanished from Eri's sight in a literal blink.
"Eh?" Eri blinked, stunned by his speed.
Wait, where did they go? Alistair arrived at the source of the mana but saw no succubi. Instead, he found a telephone pole etched with a glowing rune.
"Is this a node for a barrier? Are they idiots, making it this obvious?" Alistair scoffed, flicking a small ball of Pale Blue Flame at it. The flame hit the rune like a match to gasoline. It incinerated the mark in seconds, but the fire didn't die out—it followed an invisible trail of mana directly into a nearby building.
"I suppose the other nodes I sense are more of these 'runes.' Time to use [The Hunt]." Alistair smiled and activated his tracking ability.
"Hwa, are you sure we need to be this cautious? Setting up barriers and traps... he's just a human. Even an Exorcist with a soul tool is just a human. They have a niche against Souls, but against us? Most of them are trash."
A succubus in the form of a young girl—a loli—complained to the bob-haired succubus Alistair had previously thrashed. She looked down on such caution. As natural supernatural beings, even if they were weakened in the human zone, they were still leagues above humans.
"Huh? My node was destroyed? How did he find it? I hid the trap rune so well... wait, the trap rune is gone too! What kind of monster destroys everything instantly?!" The loli succubus muttered in shock.
"What? Yours are gone too? Mine just got wiped," another succubus, looking like a trendy 'gal,' added with wide eyes.
"Mine too." "Same here."
The remaining succubi grew solemn.
"Are you sure this is just a 'wild' human awakened?" the loli asked the bob-haired leader.
"He has special abilities. He can release a strange fire that burns through clones, and his physical strength is insane. Even with mana reinforcement, I couldn't break his grip. He seemed ignorant of the human organizations, but he knows a lot about magic—probably a family inheritance. But he only showed those few tricks before. This shouldn't be possible. Our nodes were placed quite far apart."
The bob-haired succubus felt a chill. She had used a spell to check—the target was only with one other succubus (Eri). She thought she could trap them both. She was wrong.
Wait, a loli succubus? Alistair observed them from the shadows. Who uses a form like that for 'milking'? That fetish is straight-up criminal. Whose mind is that 'arrestable'?