The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

"Sh-Shien…!?"

"Uwah!"

"W-What is it!?"

"…!"

Shien's sudden shout seriously startled Vivian, Lumia, Melika, and Diere.

Especially Lumia. That dog girl was timid from the start, so she ended up crying out directly as if all the hair on her stood up straight. It was obvious that she got a serious fright.

"Sorry sorry." Shien started laughing a bit like a mischievous kid who just successfully pulled off a prank, "I just wanted the person inside to come out to us. I didn't mean to scare you guys."

He said that, but his expression and tone gave the impression that he didn't mean it at all.

However, what Shien said was the truth.

He really did want the person inside to come out on their own.

"Vring!"

Before them, the scenery of that dilapidated old street before them started warping all of a sudden.

No, it wasn't the scenery, but rather space that was warping.

As if it was responding to Shien's call, the space first started twisting like a whirlpool, and then is started fading in and out like a mirage.

Under such circumstances, that dilapidated street ended up vanishing like fading colors and was replaced by another scenery.

"This is…!?"

Having personally witnessed all that happen before them, everyone in Vivian's party stared with their eyes bulging.

Even Shien raised an eyebrow and showed a moved expression.

That was because the scene before the group had completely transformed.

The originally dilapidated street became a clean and beautiful high grade paved path.

Replacing the originally ruined area was a beautifully maintained garden.

Within the garden, there were perfectly manicured plants. There were also well placed fountains. Finally, there was a beautiful mansion in the middle. Just from the looks of it, it was very like one for high nobility. It was exceptionally beautiful.

Vivian's party was completely stunned.

"Illusion?"

Diere muttered.

"S-So pretty!"

Lumia's eyes begun flashing involuntarily.

"Why is there such a beautiful mansion here?"

Vivian ended up exposing the amazement in her heart.

Only Melika, as if she received an enormous shock, extended a hand to cover her adorable mouth and spoke out with a shaking voice.

"The opponent is a user of space magic, so then, this beautiful mansion and garden, it can't be that it was directly moved here from somewhere else via space magic?"

Melika felt like she managed to see through the truth of things.

But it was exactly because of that that she was the most shocked.

On the side, Shien who heard Melika's words also had a moment of surprise and looked toward the garden and mansion before him with new eyes.

"Moved the entire place from somewhere else via space magic?"

That really was quite something.

That guy looked to be someone even more amazing than he had previously understood.

As everyone was still deep in shock with no signs of recovery, a figure slowly came out from the mansion before them.

She wore a maid outfit, with waist long black hair and a pair of ruby like eyes. Her figure was exceptional, and she gave off a capable and competent aura.

"Welcome everyone, to the Flowersong Mansion."

With a voice lacking in any sign of excitement, the maid greeted the group of Vivian's party.

"You're Leisha?"

Shien seriously doubted his own eyes there, seeing the young lady who whimsically found him now coming to greet him while dressed like a maid. The atmosphere she was giving off had also changed a ton too.

However, this time, Shien was wrong.

"I am Lasha, not milady Leisha. I am merely the maid of this Flowersong Mansion."

The maid self identifying as Lasha had no change in either expression or tone.

"Milady Leisha is awaiting within the Flowersong Mansion. She had me welcome you."

Hearing that, the members of Vivian's party exchanged a look with one another.

Shien just stared intently at the maid calling herself Lasha and observed her without stopping.

It couldn't be helped.

That person, be it in appearance, height, or features, was completely identical to Leisha.

There was a moment where Shien even had the thought of whether or not this person was Leisha disguising herself to play around with him.

However, if it was really that, then that young lady's act might just be too good. Not just the expressions, but even the basic atmosphere was completely different. Compared to her that Shien had met before, the differences were like heaven and earth.

Could it be…

"Twins?"

Shien ended up uttering the setting that would make countless otaku dance with joy.

However, Lasha didn't respond to Shien and instead spoke up without any change in expression.

"Please come with me."

As she said that, Lasha took a pose as if saying [please].

The others didn't move though.

"Big sis Vivian…"

"What do we do?"

Lumia and Melika looked toward Vivian as if relying on her.

"Do we go in?"

Diere also asked evenly. Her petite body seemed to have tensed up into a guarded mode.

"What do you think? Shien?"

Vivian fell silent for a bit without making a decision, and instead she asked for Shien's opinion.

"Let's go in." Shien was still staring at Lasha and let out a breath after a while, "Now, even I've gotten a bit curious about that guy."

With those words, Shien lead the way into the garden and started walking toward the mansion.

Seeing that Vivian and the rest exchanged another glance and followed behind Shien into the garden.

An unexpected turn of event happened then.

"Shit!"

Shien who had the [Magic Detection] skill was the first to discover the problem. His expression changed, suddenly turned about, and charged toward Vivian's group.

"Vring!"

However, at the same moment, following a buzzing sound, space warped once again.

"Shien!"

"Ah!"

"Wai-…!"

"Uugh!"

The surprised gasps of the girls rang out one after another.

With the twisting of space, Vivian, Diere, Lumia, and Melika were all disappeared from where they were as if they were sucked into an invisible black hole.

Shien just managed to charge to where the girls were. His hands passed right through the empty space were Vivian was just a moment ago.

Shien's mood had been successfully provoked into exploding.

"You dare?"

Shien turned his gaze to Lasha standing at the side. Magic power erupted from his body and begun burning violently in the form of shadowy flames.

Thanks to that, the entire garden and mansion begun shaking. The air itself churned, giving off a constant buzz.

Under such an aura, even an elite combatant of level 80 would probably have found it hard to breath.

And yet, Lasha's still acted completely normally.

"Worry not, they have merely been returned to the adventurer's guild, that is all." Lasha spoke without any change in expression, "Milady only wishes to see you. She does not wish to see anyone else."

Shien instantly narrowed his eyes.