Conquering The Novel

"That's pretty horrifying to hear," I said as I leaned back on the bed after hearing about the destruction that Pazuzu's Death had brought from Irethiel.

In the novel, there was no mention of the Abandoned Kingdom being eradicated when Pazuzu died.

Instead, they were supposed to be a huge demon lord's army emerging from the Abandoned Kingdom during the War Arc in the story.

'Well, I've already gotten to the point where I can't imagine everything I read in the novel happening exactly the same way. For instance, Ivica's twin sister was never mentioned in the novel,' I reflected.

As I pondered about Ivica, I was immediately reminded of the Strengthening Fruits that the mysterious figure had given me.

I checked my inventory and took out the storage ring that the figure had given me.

"...She was searching for one of these fruits for who knows how many decades, and now I have an abundant amount of fruits with me," I muttered as I shook my head, observing the dozens of Strengthening Fruits laying in the storage ring.

"A-Argg, what is that ring?" Irethiel asked, covering her eyes with one of her hands.

"!?"

"It's a storage ring. Why, what's wrong?" I asked, confused by her exaggerated reaction.

"Storage ring? Why is it emitting such a Divine Aura?" Irethiel questioned.

"...."

"...Divine Aura?" I muttered.

'...Of course, it wouldn't be a normal storage ring. It was given to me by that unknown figure who is capable of giving out terrifying skills,' I thought as I put the ring back in my inventory.

"...Where did you get that storage ring from?" Irethiel inquired.

"From Pazuzu's Dungeon," I replied half-heartedly.

"Did you find anything good in it?" She asked, interested.

"...Yeah, it has many Strengthening Fruits. Do you want one?" I offered.

"!?"

"Strengthening fruits?" She exclaimed, surprised.

"Yes," I nodded.

"...I don't think it will work on demons though," Irethiel replied. "However, with that fruit, you can save that half-dragon, right? So what are your plans? Are you going to give it to her?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I am planning to," I replied. "But you don't seem happy about that."

"...."

"Why should I be happy about that? I don't really care if she lives or dies, anyway," Irethiel responded nonchalantly.

"...That makes sense. Why would a dragon slayer like Irethiel care about some half-dragon?" I remarked as I took out my phone from my inventory to call Lia and check if my other shurikens are ready.

However, to my surprise, I found a fucking long list of unread messages.

I scrolled through the notifications on my phone and decided to start with Aegis's message, which I noticed was a voice message.
"Ares, you jerk! I'm going to smack you when we meet next time for making me go through such a scary thing!" She shouted in the voice message.

"...."

"Hmm, that's not a good start," I mumbled.

And I think her anger was most likely about the kiss incident with Mika, but I didn't know what Mika's reaction was.

Nevertheless, based on Aegis's shouting, it sounded like it was quite intense.

There was another voice message from Aegis, but I hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding to listen to it.

"Ahem, anyway I just wanted to let you know that I tested out the disguise potion you gave me, and it's got some pretty wild effects.

First of all, it can suppress emotions, but only temporarily. All those pent-up feelings will come flooding back all at once, which isn't great.

And it's addictive too, so demons who use it too much can become mindless beasts.

But don't worry, I've got an antidote in the works. I can't make it right now because I'm heading into that S-Rank dungeon with Mika and Helena, but as soon as I'm back, I'll get to work on it.

Just make sure Irethiel doesn't get her hands on any of that stuff. The stronger the demon, the worse the addiction and side effects.

Anyway, that's all for now. Catch you later!"

Tic—

With that Aegis's voice message ended.

"...You heard her, right?" I asked as I turned towards Irethiel.

"D-Don't compare me with those lowly demons. Do you think just a single potion will affect me?" Irethiel scoffed.

"...I see. It's good to hear that you're fine even after using that potion," I said and focused back on reading the messages.

!?

I then noticed that there were several messages from Livia, which left me surprised by the sheer number. Curiosity getting the better of me, I clicked on them to see what was happening.

Message 1: "Hey, just wanted to check in and make sure everything's okay. I've been trying to call you but your phone's not connecting.

...

Message 9: "It's been 3 days now and I still haven't heard from you. Please let me know that you're safe, I'm getting worried."

...

Message 13: "Why aren't you answering my calls or texts? Did something happen? Please just let me know you're okay, I'm starting to panic."

...

Message 26: "I can't stop thinking about what could have happened to you. Please just send me a message or call me back, anything to let me know that you're safe."

...

Message 35: "It's been a week now and I still haven't heard from you. Please just give me some kind of sign that you're okay. I miss you so much."

...

Message 56: "I'm sorry if I'm being too overbearing, I just miss you so much and I'm so worried about you. Please, please let me know that you're okay."

...

Message 87: "It's been 10 days now and I still haven't heard from you. Please just let me know that you're alive, I'm begging you."

...

...

"...."

"...What's going on with her? Why is she so worried about my safety all of a sudden? It's like she's becoming some kind of possessive girlfriend," I muttered to myself, feeling slightly uneasy about the situation.

As I read through her messages, I couldn't help but feel like Livia's obsession with me was growing stronger with each passing day.

I quickly typed out a message in response to Livia's flood of messages.

"Hey, Livia! Sorry, my phone was broken and I couldn't get it fixed for a while. I'm okay, don't worry. How are you doing?" I came up with a lie and hit send.

She immediately responded within seconds.

"Oh my god, you're finally back! Are you okay? I was so worried about you. I tried to call you so many times, but your phone was unreachable. Where are you?"

"...."

"I'm on my way to the academy now, so I should be reachable soon. I appreciate your concern, but no need to worry too much. I'm doing well and looking forward to seeing you soon.

See you later!" I texted back and scroll through other messages.


"Okay, thank you for letting me know," Livia responded. "I've been worried sick about you. Please call me as soon as you arrive, I just need to hear your voice to know you're okay."

As I scrolled through my messages, Livia's message popped up on the screen.

"Ok," I gave a short reply.

Then I clicked to check Lia's message, as I also wanted to send her the bow for repair and make some adjustments to the lightning blade.

"Hey, Ares! It's Lia. I've completed your other shurikens as well. Text me when you're free, so I can send them to you immediately."

That was Lia's text message.

"I appreciate it, Lia. Please send them over when you have a chance. Also, I have a few weapons that need repairing. Let me know when you're available to help out. Thank you!" I texted Lia.

Till I get a response from her I went to check Erina's message.

"My Friend Ares! The tournament is just around the corner and everyone is excited to see you represent us. If you're done with your training, please come back as soon as possible so we can plan our strategies together.

Let's make sure we win this thing! Looking forward to seeing you soon."

With that Erina's text ended.

"Hey, Erina! Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear that everyone's excited about the tournament. I just finished up my training and I'm actually on my way back to the academy now. Keep me posted on anything else that comes up." I replied and scrolled down to see if I am missing any other important messages.

"Why are there so many messages from only women?" Irethiel asked as she tried to peek at my phone, noticing the frequent notifications from female contacts.

"Didn't Rose teach you that it's bad manners to peek at someone's phone?" I asked, pushing her away with my palm on her face.

"What are you trying to hide from me? It's not like I don't know what your personality is," Irethiel said, trying to move my hand away.

"...."

'Well she is not wrong,' I thought. However, I suddenly had an incoming video call from Lia.

"Move away, I have to take this call. And don't let her see you or it will be bothersome to explain things to her," I said to Irethiel as I removed my camouflage pendant, which was surprisingly still intact even after everything it had gone through.

"Eh?"