Sabrina, who had received the mask, had a dazed look on her face, as if she were half out of it.

    She looked like a devout believer who had just come face-to-face with a UFO flying in the sky.

    “Th-That’s a lie... This makes no sense....”

    “...?”

    Her reaction made me tilt my head in confusion.

    Sure, I knew my face was objectively pretty, but was it really worth reacting that dramatically?

    I waved my hand back and forth in front of her frozen face.

    Only then did Sabrina snap out of it, jumping in place with a shout.

    “...Ha?! I-I’ll be going ahead then! Don’t you dare get hurt! I-I’ll be mad if you do!”

    Hugging the mask tightly to her chest like it was some kind of treasure, Sabrina hurriedly left the scene.

    She moved so quickly that, before I knew it, all I could see was the small silhouette of her back in the distance.

    Well... I guess she just needs some time to process things.

    Feeling a bit puzzled, I scratched my cheek before calming my excitement.

    ‘I’ll think about Sabrina’s reaction later... For now, I need to focus on the matter with Anser.’

    I covered my face — one I hadn’t revealed in public for a long time — with a pure white tablecloth, and drew out telekinetic power from deep within myself.

    ‘Decoy.’

    Bzzzzzt.

    The air under the control of my telekinesis subtly vibrated.

    It was a telekinetic application that shook the air around me, scattering the light to make my body’s outline appear hazy.

    A smile crept onto my face. It had been ages since I last used this technique — not since I stopped pretending to be a ghost.

    Memories of prowling through back alleys flashed vividly through my mind.

    Of course, not all of those memories were pleasant.

    Living in those dirty, grimy alleys, and sometimes in run-down abandoned buildings with no heating or air conditioning... If you asked me to go back to that lifestyle now, I’d probably hesitate.

    But at least I could swing my telekinetic power around freely back then without anyone watching.

    For me, handling this power was like a form of exercise. And now, with my telekinesis being unleashed after so long, I felt a liberating sense of release, like a breath of fresh air blowing through my chest. r??NO?bЕS

    “...!”

    Whooosh!

    I launched myself from below, propelling my body upward with pure telekinetic force. In an instant, I sprinted up the side of the building, shooting straight to the rooftop.

    My once-narrow view opened up all at once, revealing the snow-covered landscape of Nighthaven.

    With all this snow falling, it looked like I’d be able to avoid being seen, at least for a while.

    I glanced at the snowflakes that scattered before they could even touch me, thanks to my Decoy.

    Then, I let myself fully savor the feeling of doing a bungee jump without a cord from the center of the city.

    Flying through the sky was incredibly fun.@@@@

    It felt like every single cell in my body was coming alive, and I found myself wanting to keep soaring for as long as I could.

    Of course, bounding around in the middle of a city like this was pretty dangerous.

    Even if the snow helped me stay hidden, this place had far too many watchful eyes. If I acted too carelessly, I’d definitely be caught sooner or later.

    But I wasn’t throwing myself around just to have fun.

    This was a calculated risk — a gamble where I was betting on a worthwhile return.

    And my bold gamble ended up leading me to success.

    ‘Found it!’

    Leaping gracefully between the outer walls of high-rise buildings as I crossed through Nighthaven, I finally spotted the target I had been searching for so desperately.

    It was hard to believe. Mist might look like a delinquent elf, but she was also a highly skilled sorceress with considerable recognition.

    Her combat abilities were probably on par with Alice wielding a sword. She was effectively a high-ranking officer within her team.

    And yet, despite preparing for a full-scale entry, she had been forced to halt.

    What on earth was going on inside?

    My curiosity only deepened.

    Carefully avoiding the area where the collapsed officers were groaning, I rolled my body sideways like a tumbleweed and slipped into the path they had been attempting to enter.

    ‘This is it. From the outside, it looks like there’s nothing here, but....’

    After confirming once more that the police had not noticed me, I focused my gaze on the bloodstained tracks.

    They said the officers passed out and coughed up blood just from trying to walk past here, right?

    Considering the fact that Anser was beyond this point... maybe the officers had been caught by some sort of contract.

    ‘But is there even a contract like that? One that forces people to have headaches and cough up blood? No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t add up....’

    Demon contracts were supposed to be mutually binding. At the very least, they were structured so that demons would bear the cost or the consequences would be shared.

    That’s why demons were always so desperate to trick their targets.

    But if you could forcibly impose a contract on someone, inflict harm on them, and not need their consent, then... What would be the point of trickery?

    ‘For now, I’ll use the Contract Eye. This isn’t the time to hesitate.’

    If the damage spread any further, it’d be difficult to recover from it. Time was of the essence here.

    Resolving myself, I pulled out the napkin that Anser had given me earlier and, without a second thought, tore it cleanly down the middle.

    Thankfully, the contract was still valid, and I felt a distinct presence settle into my right eye.

    At that moment, countless words began to fill the empty space of the underground tracks.

    I covered my unaffected left eye with one hand, focusing on the letters that had suddenly materialized before me.

    When I finished reading them, my jaw dropped in shock.

    ‘Th-This is...!’

    The inscriptions carved into the underground tracks, walls, and ceiling were nothing short of horrifying.

    [ “Causes headaches in anyone who touches the letters. In return, the contractor loses an eye.” ]

    [ “Makes anyone standing in the direction the letters point vomit blood. In return, the contractor loses one lung.” ]

    [ “Knocks unconscious anyone who passes below the letters on the wall. In return, the contractor dies.” ]

    [ “If the letters are forcibly erased using magic, they revert to their original state. In return, the contractor’s internal organs rot away.” ]

    Every single one of the densely packed letters demanded an extreme, almost unreasonable price.

    Obviously, the contractor behind this had to be the demon Anser, since they were the one who had etched these words here.

    But using such a reckless method to block the path would mean one thing — Anser would soon cease to exist.

    Yet, despite all of this, the contract was still fully active.

    That meant Anser had paid those extreme prices and... was still alive.

    Paying the cost of death and still being alive?

    As far as I knew, there was only one group capable of such a thing in this world.

    ‘The Invaders... It’s them, isn’t it?’

    Grind...

    The realization sent a surge of rage through me, and I clenched my teeth so hard I thought they might break.

    The Invaders still hadn’t given up on this world. They were still extending their grasp.

    And one of their methods... was to brainwash people and force them to become pawns on their board.

    What do they even see people as?

    My blood boiled. Anger surged up from the depths of my heart, flooding every corner of my being.