In Ortigia's underground system, Oersted screamed in pain when the spell was broken. Her confidence and cold calmness had vanished, and instead the panicky fear appeared on her face. Every part of her ached as if she had been burned with a hot iron. Heliodor hurried over.
"Are you alright, Master Odio?"
"How many times have I told you not to call me by that name?!" She cried back and was about to slap her, but her hand stopped. She was just panting madly.
"I'm sorry, Master Oersted."
"The mind swap was a complete failure. Alto's too strong. If I try again, I could die."
"How much time, what do you recover, Master?"
"In a week, I'll be ready to fight again. How's Kohakumiya doing?"
"One day and she returns successfully. You also get the last pieces to your new body."
"Great. In the meantime, the other Assasins and Platinum Ranks continue their hunt for the gang. If they succeed, we can tie all the strings. You can leave now."
"Yes, Master Oersted."
Heliodor bowed and leave.

Alto was very difficult to get up. He has a canopy over his head and the sounds were very difficult to sneak in his ear. A female head leaned toward him.
"Honey! You're awake."
He recognized her. Vermeil was the one on whose thigh he lay.
"Where am I? How long have I passed out?" He whispered.
"On the cargo. After Farma treated our wounds and gave us medicines, we immediately took off. The answer to your second question is 12 hours ago. You've suffered a lot. Odio devoured a lot of manna in you and you were full of wounds."
That's when something popped into Alto's head. He got up and put Vermeil's shirt up a little. The wound to her abdomen remained as a tiny scarred. He immediately kissed her, she laughed for this.
"That's tickles."
"I'm so sorry..."
"You don't have to be sorry. You have returned the loan, if you know, what I mean." She whispered back and kissed Alto.
"Well, if you ask me, you should go with traditional penetration next time. I think your demon girlfriend prefers it much better." Dan noted, who leaned against the side of the cargo. On his lap was the head of Lilia, who was sleeping silently.
"Considering we survived this tough crisis... I'll overlook your insolence." Vermeil said with a smile. The cargo stopped and Rachel came to the company. She took a closer look at Alto. On his body were countless bandages.
"What the?"
"Odio practically destroyed your body with spells. You had more than one wound, including life-threatening ones. The good news is, thanks to Farma's treatment, most of the wounds have healed completely. The bad thing is that you can use half of your manna for two days, as Odio has been messing with things there too."
"I see. I'm sorry for that mess." He said with a little broke in is tone.
"Don't be silly, honey." Vermeil said and hugged him tightly, thus pulling him to herself. "Unfortunately, it was in the cards when we found out why Obsidian was running and laughing."
"Of course, my answer is that my dick can be smart after the mess." Dan cut it cynically. Vermeil threw a bundle of gauze on his nose.
"I don't need you comments, puppy."
"So what's the plan now? Did we get the document that made Obsidian realize the whole thing?"
"Well, that's a paradox." Neider said, who joined them. "When we dragged you out to the camp, I went back for that stack of papers. By then, I had found nothing."
For some reason, Alto thought that was strange. He didn't know how much time it would take, but he was sure it wasn't that long. Moreover, it was an abandoned building.
"It doesn't matter. It was a huge mistake to come here." He said and looked Dan. "Anyway, you say you're a gay man, meanwhile Lilia lies on your lap like you're a couple with her."
"Very funny, shota boy." Dan answered back. "She's lying on my lap because she fell asleep, while watching you. She was always worried about you."
"Of course, I can believe that." Vermeil said, then Rachel and Alto laughed for that.

The company stopped in the evening near a lake. They saw no one on their journey, which they were exceptionally happy about. After dinner, Rachel and Lilia took the guard. Alto, on the other hand, couldn't sleep. He got up and said he was going to the lake to get some fresh air. Neither of them stopped him, nor did Vermeil two minutes later, who also cited the same reason. He stopped at the lake and thought. He was often wounded, but now this is totally different. He felt weak, vulnerable and mentally unstable. Like, Odio is still his mind. He is currently the weakest member of the team and who knows how long this is war is. It was then that a delicate female hand stroked his back.
"Honey! Don't beat yourself up because you hurt me. That was..."
"You're wrong, my love. It's not the reason I can't sleep. It's more like I'm completely helpless and holding you and my friends back."
"That's nonsense. It's true you're a total wreck right now, but that doesn't mean you're holding anyone back. As a matter of fact, you are the strongest among us."
"How? You're stronger, than me."
"Because of your heart, your perseverance and your loyalty. If you break, everyone will break. Dan was probably on our side because of you and Irit is too."
Alto thought about it more deeply. Indeed, his performance so far is the highest and he cannot claim it out of arrogance. He continued to stand up for Vermeil, was able to change a complete demon village and saved any of his loved ones once. He hugged Vermeil's waist.
"You're right. And I still feel sorry for myself."
"No problem. We are for each other, so that if one of them is in a spiritual quandary, the other may set it up."
"I love you."
"I love you too, my sweet Alto."
"How sentimental. You know, I haven't been this choked up since I got a hunk of moussaka caught in my throat."
The cynical voice, unknown at first, came above them. It was familiar to both of them, but they couldn't see his full figure and face was just covered by some document.
"Sorry to bore you." Vermeil said in taunting voice.
"You don't bore me. I was just noting how romantic the moment was." noted by the familiar but still foreign guy.
"Who are you?"
"Alto! Did you forget so easily? Maybe, my face refreshes your memory."
Then he lifted the document. What they saw made their blood run cold.

It was Iolite! None of them could speak in shock.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I thought you was dead." Alto exclaimed and tried to do some magic, but collapsed with pain. Not one of his wounds still hasn't healed. Vermeil stepped in front of her friend. Interestingly, Iolite did not attack, only watched the events below with a mocking smile.
"You are both right and wrong. I'm sorry to say, but your friends didn't do a perfect job. Moreover, I have taken some precautions myself."
"I could say that I am happy to hear this but I hate to lie."
"You don't have to be so happy, Vermeil. However, let's take out the past now. I came with peace."
"And I will came with my claws, which I will gladly use to strip the skin off your scrawny body. So good luck."
"Then you won't have a hard time. Like Alto, I'm not in perfect condition either."
Iolite jumped in front of them. Then they saw that the hand with the seal of punishment was now waving a baby arm. Moreover, they felt that he had recently been resurrected, for they felt very little manna in him. He handed over the documents he read. That was the document of the Nemesis Project.
"Is that enough initial trust?"
Alto was spinning the wheels in his head. He didn't look like Iolite was lying. So he took the document and held it in his hand.
"How did you survive the seal? All those wearing it died within seconds."
"The answer is simple, I just hate where I belong, so I keep it deep. But since we are three of us, I must ask you to keep what we have just seen."
"It depends."
Then Iolite took off his top and Alto and Vermeil felt that he was about to transform. When they finished, they were surprised for the second time. His wings grew on his back, and a halo lit up above his head.
"You're an angel!"
"That's right. I could say it's a wise insight, but even a toddler knows that." he replied mockingly and reverted back to human form.
"That doesn't that explain why you want to destroy humanity? You are enemies of demons."
"Seriously, Alto? I explain to the five readers, the story of my life, and the fact why humans are untrusted shithole?"
They looked at each other in confusion? What readers are he talking about?

Iolite sighed.
"All right, I'll tell you cause I'm really here to negotiate. When you didn't even exist as a wandering, naughty thought, there was a war between the two sides. Humans teamed up with angels versus the demons. You probably know this, because it has been marched through history like the War of the Gods. But what they don't mentioning is the reason we're here in this destroyed system. Because as much as humans hated demons, they wanted to exterminate us. So they came up with a plan. They invade the two major cities of the demons, Sodom and Gonora, alongside the angels. What the angels didn't know was that humans were planning to wipe out Atlantis, the city of angels."
"But... all of cities are gone."
"That's right, Vermeil. The human's plan worked. Before we knew it, the two cities of Demons were gone. The battered but victorious army returns to find their beloved city engulfed in the Deep Blue Ocean. Then there was the first and last time the demons and angels put their disagreements aside and crushed Babylonia with force. An eye for an eye, they was completely erased so that it took a hundred years for humans to rebuild it. However, angels and demons had been forced to share a roof with those who had cruelly stabbed them in the chest from behind. But they did not learn their lesson and even named us as the cause of all trouble. though, you could tell me more about that... Vermeil."
Alto was completely shocked by the information. Would the vision of people be so overwhelmed by darkness?
"So you live only for revenge, too?" he asked seriously, but Iolite laughed.
"Wrong. It simply seems to me that humans have long deserved to be destroyed. All they can do is fight, kill, trample and slave each other."
"That's why you join Odio side?"
"Yes. After running away from my father and mother, whose pacifism made me puke, she found me. She said he was driven by similar goals, but it was a heavy bullshit. She is no better than humans if you ask me."
"Did you survive the poison because it became ineffective because of your angelic nature?"
"Well... no quite. Under normal circumstances, yes, but thanks to your surprising attack, I had to play around with the seal a little. When I gave you all that information, I used a whole series of special spells to weaken the poison flowing into me. So I was just almost dead state. It was there that Belial made the big mistake of burying only five meters deep. If he'd put me in a normal coffin and put me ten feet deep, I'd be dead."
"And what was your plan for Vermeil? I mean, it's really yours."
"By combining her power with mine, I create an explosion that destroys humans, but demons and angels survive. Then, we make eternal peace and create the perfect world."
"Which is biggest bullshit I ever heard." Alto said. "Then you will be no different than the humans you despise, because you want to respond to violence with violence."
"That's right. Because of this I did not start any further mass massacre." Vermeil agreed. "Think of this: With my strength I could have wiped entire armies, villages, cities off the face of the earth."
"I say that if you have already got rid of Odio, then join our side." My goal is now peace between races and only if I have stronger allies who achieve their goal with diplomacy. Believe it, only this is the logical way. This is my Golden Wind!"

Alto's statement was first followed by a mocking smile and then even more mocking laughter.
"Golden wind? What's that fucking name? Using a JoJo reference as a political movement? Seriously? do you have no creativity?"
Alto and Vermeil just waited for the end of laughter and then received a real answer.
"You want world peace? This is not a shounen or a fanficction. I can't even think of following this shit, just because protagonists blood is running through your veins. The reality is that humans cannot be converted to peace. You can tell them anything, the result is the same..."
"Where do you get it from? Did they try it at all?" Alto ask quickly.
"No, because why would anyone try bullshit?"
"You say it is. What I have experienced around Alto is... more than possible the world peace."
"You are inexcusably stupid. Only your death can be the cure for this."
"Then why are you so informative to us?" Vermeil asked with a little anger.
"The answer is simple. In my current situation Odio is an obstacle to the realization of my plan. It is a human proverb that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That's why I help you."
"You will not join us!" Alto exclaimed. "I don't need your help either."
"There's no such disgusting thing in my mind. I'm unaffected the spell called: I say the sermon until my enemy is on the good side. I will only help you when all the hopes are lost. Until then, I'll watch you from a distance."
"How can you help me? True, the first time you win, but the second time you almost died."
Iolite laughed and turned his back.
"Who said, that you saw me fight with full power?"
None of them responded to this, only prepared for an immediate attack.
"You answered my question. Bye!"
Then he disappeared from their eyes. Alto and Vermeil just looked confused at the cooled position of him.

Returning to the camp, everyone was waiting for them awake. Because they had heard the whole conversation on a telepathic way, it was first discussed. No one could start with the whole. Neider confirmed the miniature history lesson. Alto has read the dossier until then, but no other than disgust and contempt have been found. They were right to feel like a complete dead end. They eventually came to the conclusion that they would later burn it all, ending the most disgusting experiment of the human race. By the time they were done, dawn had come. Their nearest destination is Myria, the city with the strongest agriculture in the area, as they have run out of supplies.

Neither side felt like a winner or a loser. Alto's side were glad that the incident at Farma did not have a fatal outcome, and Odio could only get stronger on the slower route. In addition, she was afraid to find her weak spot.