The Laughing Swordsman

Lucifer pointed at Maya, who jumped slightly. Maya had been trying to follow along with their conversation from earlier, but honestly didn't understand what they were trying to convey to one another.

The only thing she really gathered was that Serosh seemed to be quite the caring person, while Lucifer was...

Not exactly caring, but cruel was an overstatement in her opinion.

At this time, Serosh lifted his head up from the ground in confusion.

"Sorry, what did you say earlier?"

Lucifer put his fist in front of his mouth and cleared his throat.

"Could you please take a look at Maya?"

Serosh raised an eyebrow before shifting his gaze to a trembling girl.

"Ok?"

For a moment, there was only the faint sound of the wind blowing, rudely hitting the three of them with snowflakes. Maya curled up like she was cold, while Serosh stared at her blankly.

Eventually, Serosh turned back to Lucifer.

"Is that enough?"

Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Do you not have an ability that can see through a living creature's anatomy?"

Serosh's eyes widened.

"You know about that?"

Lucifer waved his hand dismissively.

"Details that don't really matter. Just use that ability."

The corner of Serosh's lip twitched.

"It will cause quite a great burden on my body in this condition."

Lucifer sighed.

"Alright, alright."

He took out a small plant stalk and injected it with mana. In moments, a black fruit formed at the end. After plucking it, he threw it to Serosh, who caught it easily.

Serosh took a closer look at the fruit and hesitated. After all, he wasn't so trustworthy that he would eat anything someone gave him. But at the same time, there was little he could do if Lucifer wanted to force him to take it.

After all, Serosh could hardly even move his body.

And so, with those thoughts in mind, he swallowed the black fruit. The sudden sensation of warmth spreading through his body and the chill in his mind was quite refreshing. Serosh immediately found that his body was injected full of vitality.

He had been poisoned before, but was able to easily force it out now. He could even easily heal the internal injuries he had before.

But that was not what was most shocking to Serosh.

This fruit was able to give him a substantial increase in permanent strength and magical ability, not just the ability to heal. He was able to easily assess his own condition, thus understood the magnitude of the effect of such a tiny fruit was nothing small.

Yet, Serosh was given it so easily.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"You can use it now, right?"

Serosh blinked a few times.

"Ah, yes I can."

He looked over to Maya, but wasn't really into it as he was still astounded by the effects of the black fruit.

However, it took only a second for him to forget about the black fruit entirely.

He furrowed his brows so hard it was like he was trying to dig into his own skull.

"...What is this?"

Lucifer crossed his arms.

"You tell me."

Serosh stood up from the ground, no longer wounded, and got a little closer to Maya, making her flinch. He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"This seems somewhat familiar to a child I examined earlier."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

Serosh took a deep breath.

"It was a kid who said his name was Apollo."

Maya immediately sprung up.

"What!? Did he have yellow hair and a wooden sword?"

Serosh blinked a few times.

"Well, yes?"

Maya grabbed Serosh by the shoulders and began to shake him.

"When did you see him? Was it recent? It had to be recent, right? It was recent!"

Serosh looked at her with a bit of confusion. He resisted the urge to smack Maya off.

"It was not too long ago, perhaps a week or so."

Maya trembled. Her breathing became heavy and her eyes widened considerably.

"R-Really?"

Serosh raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose so? Is it someone that matters to you?"

Maya did not respond, instead, she fell to her knees, as they were unable to keep her up.

"Where did he go?"

Serosh shrugged his shoulders.

"I do not know. Not the direction nor the destination."

Maya looked down.

"O-Oh."

But then clenched her fist.

"He's still out there..."

Lucifer looked at Serosh.

"Anyways, what do you have to say about Maya's anatomy?"

Serosh nodded.

"Ah, right. The child I was talking about earlier had the body of a human, but went through several evolutions like a demon would. As for this girl..."

His eyes narrowed.

"She appears to be some combination of a demon and human."

Lucifer nodded.

"Do you think it is some sort of implantation?"

Serosh remained eerily still for a moment.

"...That was what I initially thought, but it is not the case. This is the first time I've seen a combination of demon and human that is so... natural."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Serosh sucked in a sharp breath.

"I have seen the human race implant demonic features into their body to forcefully enhance their abilities. In their case, the demonic and human aspects are clashing with each other. The most common is when the demonic features essentially feast on the human ones, almost like parasites."

He gently held Maya's hand like she was a delicate sculpture and examined it closely.

"However, in this case, the features are actually not fighting each other, which is the first I've seen. But even more shocking than that, is that they are mutually supporting each other."

Both of Lucifer's eyebrows raised. He had another good look at Maya, like she was a piece of modern art.

"...Interesting."

Maya pulled her hand back from Serosh's grasp and squirmed uncomfortably.

"Um, can I go search for Apollo? I don't want to follow you anymore."

Lucifer laughed.

"I too am planning on searching for this mysterious fellow."

He turned to Serosh.

"Do you wish to come with?"