[27 April 2023, 02:30 PM]

[Road to San Diego]

After kidnapping Zaiden, I bought a Jeep car and shoved Zaiden inside the passenger seat before taking off to San Diego.

Because the city was close to Los Angeles, I took a car instead of going by public transportation to avoid some suspicion and to be able to avoid some necessary trouble.

I couldn't rent one because I had no Driving License, so I chose to buy one instead. It only cost me less than 200 thousand USD. It was cheap as this car ran on gas instead of using a Mana stone as its energy.

We currently drove on the main road connecting LA and San Diego. According to the GPS, driving from LA to San Diego would take me two hours, and it was enough time for me to reach the city before Zaiden woke up.historical

While driving, I once again thought about the witch that could be the one who told the Demon about Lily and used them for her own benefit.

At this time, only a few Witches had managed to take over their host body after the Witch Factor bloomed.

'But all of them are still in hiding. So who's the most active Witch at the moment?'

The only possibility was that Witch that appeared in the third arc, but was it really her? Anyway, a Witch had made a move at the same time as Demons. The clock was ticking, and this guy was still an F-Rank Awakener.

'I can only hope his eyes will be opened with tomorrow's incident and get him actively involved in it. Or, I can make him move using the city as bait.'

And I must get ready too. I should prepare for the worst.

If a Witch was indeed involved in tomorrow's incident, then the Demon's target must be not only limited to Lily. The reason why they wanted to create a monster outbreak was simple.

'The Witch plans to use this chance to kill a lot of girls and take the ones who had Witch Factor invading their corpses.'

If that was indeed the case, I might have to kill many people. However, I was prepared for this.

'I can kill them. No one will know my involvement except for Zaiden if I shoot my attack from a distance. And that will show him true despair, seeing me killing many 'normal girls' without him being able to stop me.'

For that reason, I couldn't bring Chloe with me. I couldn't let her participate in what happened tomorrow.

If I brought Chloe with me, her Trait would make her storm down the dungeon by herself, and I would lose a clue about someone who contacted the Demons and gave them information about Lily and the chance to make Zaiden stronger.

'She needs to focus on reaching A-Rank first instead of going with me right now.'

***

[03:45 PM]

[San Diego – Lake Hodges]

The Mermen Dungeon in San Diego was located on the shore of a beautiful lake called Lake Hodges. More specifically, near the bridge, often called Lake Hodges Bridge, west of Lake Hodges Bridge.

To get a full view of the dungeon, I went to the Bernando Mountain Peak, located across the lake from the dungeon.

Due to the rocky condition of the path, I couldn't bring my car up and was forced to carry Zaiden on my shoulder once again.

I found a good spot at the mountain top where I could see the building built by the Association near the dungeon.

From here, I could see the Awakeners who flocked the dungeons, pushing monsters that looked like a combination of a fish and a man back to the dungeon located in the Lake.

Unlike normal dungeons, the entrance of Mermen Dungeon was half-submerged in the water.

The Mermen wasn't a monster with fish legs and men's bodies like the one in the female fantasy story. No. Instead, they were disgusting monsters with blue scales covering their whole body and had a literal fish face instead of a human face.

Only their bodies were similar to muscular men, but other than that; they were fish. They had gills around their neck and a fin on their back. They fought using their claws and teeth. Sometimes the stronger one used a trident made from corals and rocks.

As C-Rank Monsters, they were a little bit strong due to the environment they lived in. The Awakeners had a hard time fighting in a half-submerged area where the water reached their waist.

Among the Awakeners, I noticed Frank commanding his subordinates to kill the Mermen that tried to escape to the lake.

"They worked really hard," I muttered, putting my hand above my eyes to make a shade.

The Awakeners from the Association wore armor made from monster's material underneath their black suits, and they did their job wonderfully by not letting the Mermen escape from the dungeon.

"The Mermen started acting strangely after the Demons returned, no? So it has been around three days since that time. They held on pretty well." I praised the Awakeners from the Association.

Although they kept the dungeon by shift, they must always be exhausted from fighting the Mermen, even more so for Frank, who commanded the Awakeners without any rest.

However, among the Awakeners who killed the Mermen who exited the dungeons, a man stood out among the rest. He didn't kill any Mermen before him, and the Mermen didn't attack him.

I became rather suspicious of him and used the Pry effect of [Horus' Sunglasses] and hit the jackpot.

'Got one. Where is the other?'

The reason why I could confidently think of him as a Demon was simple. A demon had no status, so his status wouldn't show up if I used the Pry effect on the Demon.

And, the guy who didn't kill any Mermen had no status. It didn't show up when I used Pry on him. So, he was the Demon.

I tried to look at the other Awakeners' status, even those from the Association, and their statuses showed up before me. That meant only one Demon infiltrated the rank of the Awakeners.

Possibly, that was the same one as the one who infiltrated the Academy.

I didn't detect any movement from them yet, so it was not the time for me to move. Furthermore, I needed to ensure they did everything correctly and triggered the monster outbreak first.

That way, I could shove Zaiden in the middle of the chaos and kill some Demons that pose a problem while finding the Witch simultaneously.

"Now we wait."

I sat on the rock beside the unconscious Zaiden that laid on the ground and kept observing the situation around the Mermen Dungeon. If I saw the Witch one, I could say it was my victory.

So, my goal was to find the Witch and make Zaiden get stronger than the original.

I didn't need to do anything for my second goal, as he would surely storm the battlefield when he saw the monsters killing civilians. Hence, I could focus on finding the Witch and killing the Demon.

'It will be a long night.' I thought inside my mind as I rested my head on my hand.

***

[07:10 PM]

"Ugh.." Zaiden grunted in pain and confusion as he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that he saw was darkness filled with small glitter as if they were stars.

'No! They are indeed stars!'

After blinking his eyes for a while, he remembered what happened before he lost consciousness. He suddenly raised his body, causing a sharp pain to attack his head.

"Guh!" He held his head. Then he heard a deep voice from his side.

"You have woken up? That's fast."

The familiar deep voice that carried something ominous was something he couldn't forget. His existence was like an enigma for him, a reincarnator who used his knowledge to plan to save his loved one.

He turned to the left, and his eyes met red eyes that looked like they were glowing in the dark. He wore a black coat, blending in the darkness.

"You!" Zaiden jumped away as soon as he saw that person. Landing a few meters away from him, he frowned and shouted. "What did you do to me?! Where is this?!"

As he confronted the man in the black coat before him, he looked around to analyze his situation. He could see artificial light in the distance, which meant he was near a city. In the worst scenario, he could run to the city to get a phone and call the Sacred Relic guild for help.

However, he also wanted to know why Rai suddenly visited his house, kidnapped him, and brought him to the middle of nowhere. No, in the first place, he had one question.

'How did he find my house?' Zaiden asked himself.

"Relax, Zaiden. Just sit still and rest. You will need that energy for something else later." Rai said calmly as he stood up and threw a bag at Zaiden.

Zaiden immediately recognized the bag and caught it with both hands. He looked at his hand and mumbled, "My magic bag?"

He then turned to Rai and narrowed his eyes. "What is your plan?" He asked as he took out his sword from his magic bag.

"Should I tell you? Or should I not tell you?" Rai asked playfully as he spread his arms confidently. "No matter what, you know what will happen, no? You are the one who told me about the incident in San Diego, after all."

"Then! We are in San Diego?!"

Zaiden's eyes widened as he heard the words incident and San Diego. He quickly connected the dot and thought about the second arc of the novel—the Demon Re-Appearance.

However, the timing was too fast. He thought he would have around two weeks or a month left to train before the second arc.

'What's going on?!' He screamed inside his mind.

"Indeed. I thought it would be fun to get you involved in the incident once again. You are fucking too weak that to the point it is laughable. You are weaker than the Zaiden that I know at this point."

Zaiden bit his lips in frustration. What Rai said wasn't wrong. The original Zaiden, in the novel, had a slow start at first, but he certainly was stronger at this point.

But, he was determined to get stronger. To save Lily and the others. So he raised his head, glaring daggers right at Rai's eyes, and said, "I–"

However, before he could finish his sentence, Rai interrupted him.

"That's why I will give you an opportunity."

Zaiden stopped moving, seemingly interested in what Rai said. He focused on him.

"Continue." He said. His gaze was still planted on Rai, observing him carefully.

"Tomorrow, there will be a monster outbreak. A lot of Awakeners will be recruited. And here is the thing, Zaiden." Rai sat on the rock that he sat on before and crossed his legs.

His back hunched a little bit, giving him an intimidating presence.

"I will have you participate in the defense. Kill the monsters, get stronger. Maybe you will lose your life in the process. Who knows? However, if you do follow my instructions and survive tomorrow's monster outbreak.." Rai paused a little.

Even with a mask on his face, Zaiden somehow knew that Rai was grinning. Then, after a second, he continued.

"You will come out stronger than before. How is it? Are you interested in the San Diego city defense game?" He asked.

Zaiden planned to follow the plot. He couldn't turn away from it because he wanted to make sure that he knew what the future had for him.

The city defense tomorrow would be the perfect chance for him to get stronger, as the enemy were C-Rank Monsters. Furthermore, he couldn't stand still when he knew that the city was in danger from the monster outbreak.

So, his answer was clear.

"I will participate," Zaiden said seriously. "Tell me what I have to do."

With those words, his fate was sealed in Rai's hand.

"Good!" Rai exclaimed happily. "Don't worry. I will keep you alive." He continued as he laughed.