It was rare for a human of this era to see a demon. Especially a Primordial rank one.

Primordials were ancient beings that existed before the formation of any nation. Before the Five Calamities had even risen to their peak glory.

Any other species would identify them with a single clear look.

Unlike most demons, who had disfigured limbs, distorted faces and were always making low groaning sounds, a Primordial was different.

They looked and spoke like humans. The second most powerful demons after Calamity rank. And unlike ordinary demons who could be killed by conventional weapons, a Primordial could only be killed by light affinity, or by someone of equal or higher standing.

That was the rule set for them. And because of the sheer power they carried, the developers had strictly limited how many of them appeared in the game. Few enough to count on one hand.

Leon could literally name every Primordial ranked demon in this world.

Not a single one of them had grey hair and red eyes.

He kept staring. He even pulled up her status window to cross verify.

It confirmed it without question. He was a Primordial rank.

Just like humans, demons were not born at the top. They refined their core over time, studying techniques, pushing limits, spending entire lifetimes climbing toward something most of their kind never reached. Only a rare few ever made it that far.

And one of them was standing in Irene’s office after being sent on some errands by her.

"Quit staring." The grey haired demon said flatly. "I do not really eat humans."

"Vivy." Irene waved at her. "You returned early?"

The demon named Vivy turned toward her and flashed a smile that felt more unsettling than charming.

"It would have been done faster if Will had not come stalking me."

Her smile sent a shiver down Cyan’s spine. He took a step back, still holding onto his blade.

Irene explained that she was one of the few members of their agency, and their wild card on top of that.

"Oh..." Cyan slowly lowered his blade, still staring at Vivy. "This is my first time seeing a demon up close."

Ethan had also decided to lower his sword. Keeping it raised felt rude at this point. He looked her over carefully.

"Same. Although the horns gave it away immediately." He tilted his head slightly. "Though I have never seen a demon with both a fully human body and a horn before."

Vivy glanced at him with a flat expression.

"That is because I am not fully demon."

"Hm?"

"I am what you could call a half demon, and a half dragon." She said in a completely casual way. "I never met my parents in my life, so I was raised here. I arrived in Evana with another one of my kind back when the city had just been built. Dr. Anise accepted us. There were some protests at first but after her statement nobody questioned it again."

"Oh." Ethan nodded slowly, processing. "That explains a lot actually."

He reached for his status window to check her demon and core rank.

Leon, standing just behind him, spoke first.

"It is impressive that you climbed all the way to Primordial rank."

"...?!"

Vivy’s gaze snapped to him immediately. She narrowed her red eyes at the black haired, golden eyed human standing just behind Ethan.

"Ooo... You noticed." It was not a question. She studied him for a second. "Impressive. Although even at this rank I still lack pure demon senses. Due to my mixed blood."

Leon nodded, looking her over more carefully now that he was paying attention.

Her red eyes had slightly larger pupils than a human’s. And the eyelids, what he had assumed was some kind of makeup, had a faint scale pattern running across them.

He had genuinely thought it was just makeup until this moment.

As they were chatting, Irene turned to look at Will, who was quietly standing behind Vivy.

"Will." Irene shot him a glare, folding her arms. "Did I not warn you many times not to follow her?"

The black haired man scratched his head and looked the other way.

"I just thought she might need it..." Will muttered, just loud enough for Irene to catch it.

Leon noticed Irene’s eyes twitch.

"Speak." Irene said, her voice climbing just enough to make the room go still. "You realize by now that I loathe people who do not do as I tell them."

The shift in her tone was immediate.

Everyone in the room, Will, Xuo, Lillian, even Vivy, had gone quiet. From one look Leon could tell none of them had seen this side of her before.

Irene continued, but her voice slightly fell apart at the last word. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"You really think she needs help? This will get you killed one day—"

"Detective..." It was Lillian who stopped her from saying anything further.

Irene turned to her. For just a second, before the composure came back, her expression was something none of them had a name for.

Only Leon was able to read it.

She was grieving.

It was not hard for Leon to guess who she was grieving for. He looked at Will. Will’s face fell, but rather than looking straight at Irene he kept staring to the side, ruffling his hair with one hand.

"Geez... what is the big fuss about this?" Will said, clicking his tongue. "The mission was finished before your assigned time."

Will turned his head and met her eyes. He immediately wished he had not. The gold in them had not moved. But something behind it had shifted into something he could not name. A darkness that did not feel like anger.

Will’s hand stopped mid ruffle.

He, Xuo, and Vivy were the only three who had stayed after Irene’s father passed. He remembered that day clearly. The kind of clarity that only came with things you wished you could forget.

Irene had worn that same expression then. Standing over her father’s body on the cold floor of this very office.

He had died from cardiac arrest. Not unexpected for a man his age, given how long he had been living with a heart condition. But knowing something is coming and watching it arrive were two entirely different things.

Will had seen that look on her face that day and hoped he would never see it again.

He was seeing it now.

"D-Detective..." Will muttered, gulping before he spoke. Regret crept over his heart, a subtle pain rising to his throat. "...I won’t let it happen again."

He apologized without hesitation. No matter how much Irene scolded him, or told him he was terrible at this from time to time, Will never minded it. None of them ever did.

What none of them could stand was seeing the face she was making right now.

No one spoke for a few seconds.

Ethan and Cyan exchanged a look. They had no interest in being part of whatever this was.

Awkwardly, Ethan glanced toward Leon and gestured at him to do something.

Leon noticed. But honestly, he had no intention of interrupting them. There were not many hours left before the next loop started. For this loop he had gathered enough of what he needed.

The case they were working on was tied to Dreamweaver’s spell. Leon already knew the cause and effect of it well enough.

He glanced at his pocket watch.

Nine in the evening. Three hours left before the day ends and the next loop starts.

Leon could use this time to confront Irene and break through whatever act she was keeping up. But he decided to wait for the next loop.

The main reason was simple. He wanted to study the Astral Matter memories floating around Irene from this morning. And more than that, he wanted to watch with his own eyes how she constructed those impossibly complex memories and released them into the air.

The technique required a specific mathematical formula combined with a precise Astral Matter configuration. Deciphering it was no small thing.

’Still on it, Rumi?’ Leon asked internally.

’Do not disturb me for the next couple of hours,’ Rumi replied. ’I am close to finding the right combination.’

"..."

Even though Leon had told her to leave it, Rumi still had not given up.

Maybe it was pride. That someone out there had managed to construct something complex enough to even give her a run for her brain cells.

Leon left her to it.

Although he was fairly certain she would not crack it before this loop ended.

After everything settled down, Irene sighed.

"Haah... I will be watching you, Will."

"Y-yes ma’am."

Will straightened up immediately.

"Ghaaa~" Lillian winced dramatically, clutching herself as if she had just been stabbed. "You are scarier than Professor Adler when you get like that."

"..." Irene pouted at her.

"Heh." Lillian grinned. "See? That face suits you much better. Keep that one."

Xuo from his cubicle quietly raised his coffee cup in silent agreement.

"So what is the plan?" Lillian asked, resting her hands on her hips.

"Haaah..." Irene sighed, leaning back in her chair and stretching her arms upward before turning to Vivy and the others.

"I have already found the root cause of this incident."

"What?" Lillian and Vivy said at the same time.

Irene grinned. "The Akashic Record. We need to get into the main control centre."

"Wait, wait." Ethan raised his hand. "How exactly did you reach that conclusion again? And when?"

Irene turned to him with a grin.

"It’s elementary."