For Wisteria, it was undoubtedly the worst night of her life.

Being possessed by a demon spirit was already a nightmare, yet she was cut, struck, kicked, and pierced by something that overpowered even that demon, so much so that there was not a part of her that wasn’t in pain.

Having fought countless monsters and spirits as a chief swordsman, Wisteria had a tolerance for physical pain. However, her opponent’s attacks, for some reason, hurt not only her body but her spirit as well. Every time she was cut, it felt as if something precious inside her was being chipped away, a sensation that was beyond description.

Moreover, suffering more than Wisteria was the demon spirit possessing her.

Half-fused with the demon spirit, Wisteria could directly feel its astonishment, torment, and rage. Rather than just feeling it, she was swallowed by the boiling emotions of the demon.

Tossed about by emotions that were not her own, stirred up, and washed over, Wisteria had to endure fiercely to keep her identity from being wiped out.

Losing consciousness would have been easier, but with her body in tune with the demon, she didn’t even have the freedom to lose consciousness. As long as the demon resisted, Wisteria had no choice but to resist too.

The demon’s resistance continued until dawn.

At the end of a night-long battle, the demon had its four wings torn apart, its two tails ripped off, its claws smashed into pieces, and its limbs bent in unnatural directions. The horrific appearance, in a way, showed the demon’s tenacity – it wouldn’t stop resisting until it was pushed this far.

The demon’s life force was terrifying, but the one who pushed it into this state was even more horrifying. The black-haired human, without a single visible wound, was looking down at the defeated demon-possessed Wisteria with a proud look.

At this point, the consciousness of the demon, torn into countless pieces, was on the brink of extinction. If Wisteria had had any strength left, she could have undoubtedly reclaimed her body.

However, there was no way Wisteria could have any strength left. She had been expelled from Andra, keeping down the demon spirit that was growing stronger day by day, searching for divine beasts in the unfamiliar desert, exhausting her spirit dealing with humans, and in the end, she had been utterly beaten along with the demon spirit.

The human was pointing his black sword at Wisteria. Feeling a clear sense of impending death from the tip of the sword, Wisteria suddenly thought.

Could this young man be the incarnation of a divine beast?

If she thought so, she could understand his extraordinary power. It would also explain why she couldn’t find a divine beast in the desert no matter how much she searched.

Even if this speculation was wrong, there was no doubt that this human had the power to defeat the demon spirit. If so, then ultimately, she could fulfill her goal – to eradicate the demon spirit that had infested her.

Thinking such thoughts, Wisteria’s consciousness plunged into darkness, feeling the demon’s groan so close by…

How much time has passed since then?

From somewhere, the chirping of birds could be heard. As if in harmony with it, the faint sound of rustling leaves shook her eardrums.

The wind blowing through the gaps in the trees was gentle and passed over her cheek like a caress.

It reminded Wisteria of her hometown, the forest of Andra. Since being banished to the desert, she felt a peace that she hadn’t experienced for so long, filling her heart.

This was a location in the mountains east of Berka. It used to be a place used by a certain dragon slayer to hide wyverns from human sight. Of course, Wisteria had no way of knowing this.

The silver-haired elf failed to grasp her situation instantly. She felt as if she had a terrible nightmare, but she couldn’t remember what it was, or rather, she didn’t want to. She wanted to bask in this peace for as long as possible.

However, such a modest wish was shattered in the next moment.

“If you’re awake, you should at least check your surroundings.”

“――!”

The moment she heard that voice, Wisteria sprang up like a spring-loaded puppet. As soon as she recognized the black-haired young man in her line of sight, the events of last night raced through her mind like a flash.

Recalling her situation in an instant, Wisteria tried to create some distance between her and him.

But that movement triggered the robe covering Wisteria’s body to fall lightly to the ground.

The clothes Wisteria had been wearing were all lost when she transformed grotesquely last night. The robe that fell to the ground belonged to someone other than Wisteria. Regardless of whom it belonged to, once the robe fell to the ground, there was nothing to cover Wisteria’s body.

What was left was just an elf exposed in her natural form.

“――!?”

Wisteria’s face instantly turned beet red. She knew it wasn’t the time for that, but she couldn’t suppress her feelings of embarrassment.

However, that embarrassment did not last long. Because Wisteria was struck by astonishment that surpassed her embarrassment.

Wisteria looked down at her body again. Not a single scratch on her skin. There were no traces left, even though she was cut so many times last night.

No, above all else, the body that reflected in her field of vision was her elf body. No beast hair was growing on her arm. There were no scales on her legs. The claws that had extended from her hands and feet were also back to their original shape.

Wisteria was taken aback and touched her face. Then, with both hands, she hurriedly touched her cheeks, lips, nose, forehead, in order.

All of these were her original face. There was no trace of the hideous beast face.

“……….ah……ah”

A sob leaked from her well-shaped lips. In front of the unexpected good news, she was about to collapse on the spot, forgetting the situation.

Then, the young man spoke. Looking at him, he was awkwardly averting his eyes from Wisteria.

“Pick up your robe. Your appearance is offensive to the eyes.”

“Eh……..ah!?”

At the young man’s words, Wisteria came to her senses and hastily picked up the robe that had fallen to the ground. As one might expect, the young man did not take advantage of this situation to attack.

Afterwards, Wisteria, who had covered her nakedness with the robe, once again faced off against the young man.

Her brow was furrowed because she didn’t know what kind of expression she should have.

Apparently, the young man had no intention of hurting her. Wisteria thought so. If he did, there would be no reason to miss the opportunity now, and he could have acted as much as he wanted while she was asleep.

On the other hand, she couldn’t think that he had helped her out of pure kindness. It’s natural. In what world would there be someone so charitable as to help someone who has turned into a horrifying demon?

Lost as to what action she should take, Wisteria hesitated.

However, regardless of the other party’s intentions, the fact that her body, which had been possessed by a demon, had returned to its original form was undoubtedly thanks to the young man. She must express her gratitude for that. Just as Wisteria was about to speak…

“Do you know the term ‘Anima,’?”

Before Wisteria could say anything, the young man asked her a question.

Hearing this, Wisteria hesitated for a moment, but quickly decided to respond.

“…No, I’m afraid I’ve never heard of it.”

“Hmm. Then what do you call that thing from last night?”

“…A demon, that’s what we call it.”

After responding to the second question, Wisteria decided to throw a question back at him.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you as well. May I?”

“Go ahead. I can’t say whether I’ll be able to answer it though.”

“That’s fine.”

Here, Wisteria placed her right fist over her left chest and slowly lowered her head. It was a salute of the Andra Sword Squad.

“My name is Wisteria. I would like to know the name of the one who defeated the demon that was nested within me.”

The young man blinked in surprise at her question, probably because the content of the question was different from what he expected.

After a while, the young man shrugged lightly and replied.

“Sora.”

“Sora… I will call you that then.”

Once, as if rolling the other party’s name around in her mouth, Wisteria again stared at the young man—Sora.

Wisteria was belatedly recalling the events of last night. It was before the demon had appeared, when she had spotted something inhuman in the crowd.

That aura was still strongly enveloping Sora.

A sense of intimidation that made her body tremble just by looking at it. And even that intimidation was much smaller compared to when she was fighting the demon.

Without letting the other party notice, Wisteria clenched both fists tightly. Then, making sure her voice didn’t tremble, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Sora. I express my deepest gratitude for liberating me from the demon. And now I ask you, what is your purpose? With your power, it would have been easy to slay both the demon and me. I can’t think there was a reason to help me, who was showing hostility towards you. Nevertheless, you provided an opportunity for us to talk like this. Is there a reason for this?”