Chapter 351: The Forgotten Rank
—The Tea Party—
In the witch’s splendid garden...
Simon Manus sat, staring with curiosity at the lady before him.
Beatrice’s homunculus sat quietly, her head bowed, her expression utterly void of life.
Simon’s curious gaze turned into a smile the moment the doll moved again. Beatrice returned—exhaling a long, tired sigh.
"Welcome back, my lady sorceress... or should I say, exalted high-rank demon?"
Simon grinned, showing his teeth, while Beatrice casually waved her hand, dismissing the formalities.
"Just say what you came to say."
"Nothing special, my demonic lady. I must admit—I didn’t expect your true body to be a demon. I imagined you to be a hybrid at most. But you’ve surpassed even my wildest expectations!"
Beatrice stared at Simon Manus, who chuckled curiously.
"You know, you’re the first creature on this earth unaffected by the truth of what I am."
"Affected? Why would I be?"
"Aren’t you a Hollow? You’re supposed to be our slave like the rest, aren’t you?"
"Naaaaah."
Simon Manus made a disgusted face and immediately denied it.
"When did I ever say I follow filthy, grotesque creatures like demons?"
"..."
"My passion lies with a completely different species! More beautiful... more perfect!!"
The Puppetmaster, Simon Manus, openly revealed his twisted artistic desires before Beatrice, who grew more intrigued by the madman sitting before her.
"To speak so freely of your loyalty before a high-ranking demon... I didn’t make a mistake inviting you to this tea party, Simon. Kihihihi."
"Don’t get the wrong idea... Rank 17. I’m only interested in your doll—not your cursed real body."
Though his words were nothing short of insulting, Beatrice didn’t seem the least bit offended.
"I hate my real body too. Every time I’m forced to use it, I lose control over all my homunculus ... they freeze completely, just like this poor one did."
Controlling that many bodies simultaneously wasn’t just difficult—it was supposed to be impossible.
Yet Beatrice had done it. Still, if she ever engaged in battle or something similar using her real form, she would inevitably lose control over them all.
"You didn’t do anything weird to my precious body while I was away... did you?"
Beatrice asked suspiciously, and Simon looked away without saying a word.
"..."
"..."
"You filthy bastard."
"Forget that nonsense, Beato. Tell me—do you still wish to continue this little witch’s game of yours?"
"Of course."
Beatrice answered instantly, as if the question didn’t even warrant thought—only deepening the curiosity in Simon’s heart.
"But Beato... you have the strength to crush every intruder currently on this continent. And finding them wouldn’t even be difficult for you.
So I don’t understand .. why not just face them and kill them with your true body, instead of playing this childish game with them?"
Simon had been curious about Beatrice’s motives for some time now.
Why would an awakened being of SS+ rank go to such lengths... for a group of weak children?
At first, Simon assumed that something was preventing Beatrice’s true body from acting—but she shattered that expectation the moment she revealed herself in full power as a high-ranking demon.
And yet, he couldn’t help but question why.
The answer came from Beatrice herself.
"Oh, about that..."
With a sweet smile, the witch replied,
"It’s a secret."
"I figured you’d say that," Simon sighed, shaking his head, regretting even entertaining the idea of getting a straight answer from the trick-loving witch beside him.
"Don’t be like that. I have a goal I need to accomplish—otherwise, I wouldn’t have come all the way to this remote place called Earth."
"I suppose you’re right."
Beatrice nodded.
"Also, if I were to go there with my true body... my intuition tells me something terrible would happen."
Manus raised an eyebrow at her words.
"And how exactly would that happen?"
"I don’t know. But I suspect it has something to do with that strange boy I mentioned last time."
"Ah... something-Starlight, was it? Frey Starlight?"
"Yes. He’s... unique."
With powers that defy logic—things she had only seen among the top 10 upper demons, or perhaps a few of the higher ones—Frey had displayed abilities no human should possess.
Using her sharp intellect, Beatrice came to a troubling realization: nothing she saw could be explained logically.
There was only one conclusion that could make it all make sense.
"There’s a hidden force behind him."
Someone—or perhaps more than one.
Frey Starlight was hiding countless secrets.
And Beatrice, ever greedy, wanted to uncover them all.
"I really look forward to it... the next Witch’s Game."
In that moment and in that place, everything had already been decided—and Frey and his companions were destined to continue stumbling through the hellish game the witch had prepared for them.
...
...
...
—Stormveil District—
A region like a fortress built amidst the desert, Stormveil was constantly struck by storms and sand whirlwinds.
And yet, it stood tall—unyielding—against everything that came crashing into its massive walls.
Stormveil was unlike any of the other Lower Bloodlands.
Its sheer size rivaled that of the Empire’s great cities, and its population was just as vast—the streets were never empty.
Of course, no matter how large a city grew, the nature of the Bloodlands never changed.
Even with its relatively better conditions, Stormveil was plagued by the same horrors:
Cannibalism. Debauchery. Murder. Bloodshed. Public sex in the streets.
If you ventured deeper into the city, you’d find alleys crawling with its most desperate and deranged—people sleeping on the streets, fighting each other daily without pause.
Among them sat a lone, cloaked youth, dressed entirely in black, with only a sliver of white hair peeking out from beneath his hood.
Though he sat alone, none of the Ultras dared come near him—not after he’d beaten a dozen of them senseless the previous days. He even killed a few with his bare hands.
The black-cloaked figure remained still for most of the time, staring into nothingness and mumbling incomprehensible words under his breath.
Then, after a long stillness, he finally moved.
"So... Maekar lost this time."
After using third-person pov for quite a while to monitor his sister, Ada...
Frey stood up from his spot, having learned the outcome of the battle between the Empire and the Ultras in the Bay of Shezclar.
After that defeat, many names had gone missing—besides Frey and his scattered companions.
Frey realized he could no longer expect any backup. But what puzzled him most were the battle’s developments—especially its ending, and the sudden appearance of another high-ranking demon.
"Rank 17... Beatrice."
Frey questioned aloud.
"Was that a coincidence?"
The same witch he had personally killed... and now, this demoness who called herself Witch Beatrice.
"Of course not. There are no such coincidences in this world."
He didn’t know how .. but he was sure there was a connection between them. And that only deepened his fear.
"A wicked witch capable of manipulating an entire empire... and now she’s watching us."
Regret consumed him as he realized he had revealed all his trump cards to her.
He had made a terrible mistake.
"If she comes back... the same tricks won’t work again."
Frey cursed under his breath as he walked away.
’Just who... is the witch named Beatrice?’
The only high-ranking demon that should exist on Earth in this timeline was supposed to be Rank 19—Astaroth.
And yet ... there she was.
Beatrice, destroying everything.
From the very beginning, he hadn’t even known she existed.
Even though he had written the story himself, along with all 72 high-ranking demons, he had only planned to use a handful of them in the actual plot.
Rank 17 wasn’t one of them.
Which meant... he wasn’t even familiar with her name—because he had never created it in the first place.
"I need to find the others... quickly."
Hidden from sight...
Frey Starlight moved once more, searching for his friends, using the third-person player pov as his only guide ... one full week had passed since they’d been separated.
The real game was about to begin.