Aster pointed upwards with his finger.
"She's planning to catch any devils that try to escape."
"...She's determined not to let a single one escape."
"Of course. We don't know what these guys might do if they escape back to the Empire."
Aster and the others held a much stronger animosity towards devils than Frondier did.
Frondier merely intended to use devils for information gathering, but Aster found the very existence of devils difficult to forgive.
The reason they had spared the devils hidden within the Empire they had encountered earlier was because of Frondier's mention, not because they had shown any magnanimous mercy.
"And we probably know far less than Frondier. We need to gather all the information we can from these guys."
But that was all. They didn't know what he was actually doing. Aster and his companions had simply acted to stop the threat against Constel and to rescue Lunia.
"Alright. As expected, we're on the same page."
Lunia clapped her hands together.
She looked around and then said to Aster,
"Then, leave one devil to me."
"The one who kidnapped me."
Lunia's eyes burned with intensity.
"He managed to kidnap me alone, so he must be underestimating me now, right? I can't let him get away with it."
That devil probably doesn't even have time to think like that right now.
Aster thought to himself but didn't voice it.
His judgment in such situations had already reached the level of a master.
"There are quite a few of them. Can you find him?"
"I remember the color of his mana."
Even if she couldn't distinguish between devils and humans, she could remember individuals.
Especially someone of Lunia's level, who could see mana with her own eyes.
"...Alright, I found him."
Amidst the chaotic battle between devils and humans, Lunia spotted the devil she was targeting.
Her clasped hands opened. Within her open palms, mana gathered, connecting each of her thumbs to her little fingers.
Remote Activation, Construct Deployment
'I am the seeker of truth, blacker than lies.'
The rune Lunia had prepared. It was merely a makeshift symbol drawn with water, but Lunia perfectly remembered its location and the complete inscription. 𝐑𝙖₦ОᛒËs
As she channeled her magic power, she filled in the missing lines, completed the symbol, and deployed the formula, bringing forth its intended purpose.
Lunia, the genius of mana manipulation. However, her total mana capacity was average compared to Elodie's.
To compensate for this, she used runes.
In other words, with the rune in place, Lunia displayed a completely different level of skill compared to when she was unprepared and kidnapped.
"...You're going to get punished by the heavens for real, doing that."
Aster said, watching Lunia's actions.
It was a statement that others would find hard to understand, but Lunia, the person in question, immediately grasped its meaning.
Knowing full well, she replied,
"What are you talking about? There aren't many people as devout as me. It's because I love God so much that I can even use magic ."
"You love him, so you use magic that exploits the origin of God?"
"Shut up. Do guys like you who receive God's love even understand how I feel?"
"...I don't receive it anymore. God's love."
Since he had abandoned divine power.
"It's not just about divine power!"
Lunia shook her head as if she didn't want to hear any more.
Then, she raised her index finger high in the air and pointed it down at the targeted devil as if delivering a sentence.
"I shall test your sins!"
A declaration made with mana.
The devil Lunia pointed at floated up. Of course, it wasn't a levitation he could control.
The devil suddenly flew somewhere, smashing through a building wall, and continued flying with unstoppable momentum into the distance. It was as if he was being dragged away by someone.
The place he was dragged to was the house where Lunia had been imprisoned, inside the completed rune.
"Wh, what is this... Ugh...!"
The devil floated above the rune, his arms and legs stretched out in all directions. It was as if invisible chains bound him.
He tried to exert strength but couldn't budge an inch, and instinctively knew that it was a restraint he could never break with his own power.
Meanwhile, Lunia, who had confirmed the devil's flight, said to Aster,
"Alright. I'll be back. I caused some trouble, so I need to do my part too."
Aten, who had been listening nearby, asked,
"Come back? Where are you going?"
Aster answered in her stead,
"She's going to make that devil sing."
However, the expression on Aster's face as he spoke was somewhat subtle. He thought Lunia was doing the right thing, but for some reason, he felt like stopping her.
As if aware of his thoughts, Lunia added a few more words.
"We need information, right? The devils have that information, and we need to extract everything we can."
"...Then I'll go with you. That devil might try something else."
It was dangerous for Lunia to move alone in this chaotic battle.
Selena didn't know what situation the devil was in. So, she felt uneasy about Lunia being alone with him.
To this, Lunia replied,
"It's okay. The rune has been activated, and since I've declared it to him, he can't use 'something else'."
At that moment, someone placed a hand on Selena's shoulder as if to stop her.
Surprisingly, it was Aster.
Selena was surprised by Aster's reaction.
Lunia was more precious to Aster than anyone else. That's why everyone had come this far.
But now he was telling them to leave Lunia alone with a devil?
"You don't have to worry about Lunia in her current state. She'll be safe until the job is done."
"How can you guarantee that?"
"...It's just, that's how it is."