Healing System

[Amanda's POV]

"He finally left... He sure is an idiot, huh?" Amanda chuckled and stopped arguing with Rebecca.

The two had already talked it out inside their minds before Amanda had even arrived. The only reason they acted as they did was to get Michael to leave.

There were a couple of reasons why, but the most important was the fact that if he stayed, she would not be able to find out certain bits of information.

It was great that Rebecca had decided to cooperate. Amanda had been thinking of killing her on the spot despite her being related to Michael.

"He tends to get that stubbornness from me, probably."

'Two idiots then,' Amanda thought but kept it to herself. If she wanted Rebecca's full cooperation, she had to at least provide some courtesy, even if she was an Evangelist.

"Let's move elsewhere, shall we?" she gestured as several helicopters began circling all around them. It was not going to be in their best interests to have an important conversation on top of the rooftop.

Rebecca nodded back and suddenly, raising her hands, sent what remained of the building straight at Amanda while actively surrounding them both with the debris.

"You couldn't, you know... throw a rock instead?" Amanda complained. However, there was not a single scratch on her body. There would need to be at least a couple hundred more buildings made out of the highest-quality material to even pierce her skin.

The play fight was not dangerous to either of them, but on the outside, it seemed like chaos was being unleashed.

From time to time, a massive wave of mana escaped, sending most of the helicopters down to the ground.

'She's really good at controlling her mana, though... for a Tier 3 at least,' Amanda could not help but acknowledge upon witnessing the sight.

Just before the helicopters crashed, Rebecca took the people out of them and moved them to a safe, isolated place in just a mere moment, giving off the impression that there were casualties, which in turn caused people to panic.

And she was right. As soon as that happened, many of the people on the ground began scattering, heading further and further from their little fight. Only those who had a fair amount of strength—enough to dodge the incoming rubble—decided to stay.

But nonetheless, that got rid of most of the people present, and the ones left did not have enough power to spy on a Tier 6 and a Tier 3.

"Speak," Amanda decided to start the conversation first. There were quite a few interesting things she'd heard about the Evangelists earlier.

"Sure, I said I would cooperate." Rebecca dusted herself off and continued:

"I have not been told much, but from what I can tell, their objective is simply to cause as much chaos as possible. It sounds stupid, but it has been working. Most worlds out there are wary of them all. And you know what's funny? The strongest of the Evangelists have never moved before because if they did, entire worlds would fall from their presence alone."

'It's pretty obvious they would be strong, and I highly doubt they only do this for chaos. There has to be some greater end goal...'

"Continue."

"The Evangelists usually occupy government positions. I would not be surprised if your own city had an issue with them," Rebecca explained.

Upon hearing those words, a question arose in Amanda's mind. 'Are the demons related to the Evangelists in some way?'

There had been a few indications that proved her point. However, due to insufficient evidence, she could never find out 100%.

Another thing was, Amanda already knew who the traitor was. She monitored her main government personnel, meaning that no matter what they did or when they did it, she would find out about it eventually.

"Hmm... Honestly? There is a connection. However, it's more like contractees. Some even befriend a demon to get a contract with it in order to use its strength. I am not so sure if there is anything else besides that."

'That adds up... kind of.'

Amanda was aware of how their power structure worked—or at least vaguely.

They borrowed power from the demons in exchange for their sanity. However, with a bit of strength, that gets taken care of, and their contract no longer affects the psyche of the Evangelist.

"What is the point in borrowing their power in the first place? A quick increase in strength does not sound very appealing to most. Well, unless you are a cultist, I suppose."

Rebecca thought for a moment before replying, "It's not power, but their essence. Demons, by default, reject the world, and the world rejects them; they don't belong." She paused before continuing:

"The effects of those rejections are what the Evangelists are aiming for. Once you get a contract with a demon, you can use its essence. That means you essentially ignore the laws of the world for a moment."

As she said that, she suddenly stretched out her arm and summoned a black layer of skin, which radiated a faint amount of mana.

However, it was not normal mana. It seemed much denser and stronger, as well as more ominous.

"Is that the demon's essence you were talking about?" Amanda asked with a raised brow.

"Exactly. Shoot an attack at me... and do hold back, please."

"Sure."

With those words, Amanda sent a powerful wind blade, directed right at Rebecca's arm, which was covered in that ominous-looking black layer of skin.

Despite the strength behind the attack, which was roughly the same level as Rebecca's strength, she managed to fend it off with a punch.

It seemed like her spell began dissipating upon touching that black layer of skin. And with the extra force behind the punch, her attack was completely nullified.

'Interesting... I have never seen something like that, even after how long I've been in this world... Trouble seems to orbit Michael all the time, though,' she thought as she sighed inwardly.

"Yeah, this takes a bit of time to recharge, but it is very effective at turning the tides of battle. It doesn't work on skills stronger than the user as well, kind of the only limitation it has besides a cooldown," Rebecca added as the black layer of skin began cracking until finally, it vanished completely.

"It seems so. That is good enough for now. You said that you had no plans of staying in Verdusk, correct?" Amanda asked. She had a place in mind where she could watch over her without worry.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

There was also her father, Fafnir, who could find out any other details she might have missed. After all, he was mostly sleeping these days, meaning he had a lot of spare time.

"I was planning to head to a low-level world and hide for a while. Why?"

"That's perfect then. What do you say about entering Asterisk? It is a world back in the city I rule over. I have a portal, and I could let you inside. All I ask of you in exchange is to watch over the sky island residents. What do you say?"

Amanda did not sound very convincing, but nonetheless, Rebecca steadily accepted; it was not like she had any safer alternatives.

"Hmm... Alright, but I expect not to be monitored constantly. I do like to have some privacy as well, you know. After all, I don't remember the last time I was freely walking around instead of being forced to kill random people."

"That's a deal then. Change your appearance for now; we will be doing a little covert operation. We just need to go fetch Michael, and we can start," Amanda declared with a small smile and turned in the direction where he currently was.

However, upon noticing what he was doing, her expression cracked.

Michael was leisurely walking around the streets and entering all sorts of restaurants, ones that were incredibly expensive, some of which she would not dare waste money on.

Yet each time he went in and out of the restaurants, he looked fuller and fuller.

'...Is he really an idiot?'