All eyes were on Elian, while Elian himself was fully focused on the status screen floating before him.
Name: Elian Arcadia
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Sequence: 8
Magic Power: 22.000
Personality: Kind
Trait: Analytical, Arrogant, Noble Superiority, Soft Heart
Sequence 10: Storyteller
Sequence 9: Hypnotist
Sequence 8: Dreamweaver (0%)
Rank: B
Strength: 300 (E)
Dexterity: 332 (E)
Agility: 367 (D)
Constitution: 528 (C)
Intelligence: 2200 (S)
Wisdom: 2200 (S)
Charisma: Divine
Elian was fairly satisfied with his status. Maybe the other stats were rather pathetic, but he had two S-rank attributes.even though his Wisdom wasn't particularly useful right now.
In an instant, something cracked in the air.
The transparent black cage separating them trembled violently. The restraints began to bend, slowly opening a path for Elian.
"—?!"
Before anyone could react, Elian had already stepped forward and lifted Amelia into his arms.
"I choose Amelia," Elian said calmly, his voice filled with certainty.
The words fell like a thunderbolt.
No one spoke right away.
Reinhard froze. His eyes widened, the sword in his hand trembling.Liana stood motionless, her breath caught in her throat, her arrow nearly slipping free.Amelia herself was too shocked to move—her arms instinctively clutching Elian's clothes.
"E-Elian…?" Her voice trembled.
The demon's eight red eyes widened.
"Why?""Why…?""WHY?!"
The demon suddenly screamed hysterically. Its voice shook the dream world, making the air ripple like boiling water. Its massive spider body trembled uncontrollably.
It began muttering rapidly in a language no one recognized—words that felt disturbing, stabbing at the ears and making heads ache.
In the distance, Reinhard finally moved.
"Elian… what did you just do?" His voice was low, filled with caution.
Liana swallowed. "That wasn't ordinary magic," she said slowly. "It's… like this world itself allowed it."
Elian ignored them and immediately focused his power to eject the three of them from the dream world.
Reinhard and Liana suddenly vanished. Yet somehow, Amelia remained with him.
"Is that your choice, Elian?" the demon's voice echoed ominously."I should never have let you stay in the human world for so long."
A dreadful sensation wrapped around Elian's body. He realized the demon before him was truly angry, and a bad premonition crept into his mind.
Before he could react, a spider web appeared in front of them, shooting out to capture them.
Elian instantly imagined opening a phone tab and selecting one. In the blink of an eye, the scene changed into a beautiful beach.
But before he could even catch his breath, the spider demon emerged from nothingness and fired another web.
This time, Elian was ready. He imagined the web splitting apart—but nothing happened.
He immediately imagined opening another tab. Instantly, they were transported to a vast, dark ocean.
The demon appeared again from the void. This time, it didn't attack immediately.
"I don't know how you can move between dreams," it said coldly. "But you won't escape me."
Elian realized he hadn't fully mastered his new power. The demon in front of him might be far stronger than he had imagined. Still, somehow, Amelia couldn't leave this dream world—if she could, she would've escaped the moment she obtained her new fate.
"Elian… maybe if you hand me over, you can leave," Amelia said softly while gripping Elian's hand.
"You already know my answer," Elian replied shortly. "So be quiet."
As someone from the 20th century, Elian knew full well that this demon was suffering from yandere syndrome. Even though he didn't know the exact reason, he was certain of one thing—if he handed Amelia over, the demon wouldn't let either of them go.
Even though he wanted to flee as far away as possible, Elian couldn't abandon Amelia after witnessing her sincerity. At the very least, he would stall for time until the teachers arrived. And if the worst came to pass… he might have to leave Amelia behind, no matter how painful it was.
The spider wiped its eyes, as if brushing away tears."I'm really touched. Seriously, why isn't the female lead in this story me?"
"Stop pretending," Elian said flatly. "Tell me why you're so obsessed with dragging me into the demon world."
"According to the contract, I'm supposed to take you to the demon world if anyone discovers our pact. That's how it should be," it said. "But who would've thought you'd split your soul in two. Do you really hate me that much?"
Elian thought for a moment. Even though the demon said his soul was split in two, he felt nothing unusual—neither in his soul nor on his status screen. Most likely, the soul being referred to belonged to the original Elian.
"Of course I don't hate you," Elian replied with a regretful expression."But I still have something I need in the human world. That's why I split my soul—so you wouldn't be lonely in the demon world. Can't you understand?"
"Why are you lying to me?!" the demon screamed angrily and immediately attacked.
This time, it wasn't a web—it fired its threads straight at Amelia, intent on killing her.
Elian instantly imagined layered shields in front of them. Eight shields appeared at once, blocking the attack.
Unfortunately, all eight were pierced with ease.
Elian had no choice but to change locations again.
This time, the spider demon moved at the same moment, leaving Elian no time to breathe before he had to relocate once more.
"Elian… maybe if—" Amelia tried to say something, but was cut off.
"Be quiet."
The chase continued for about ten minutes. This time, the demon's attacks began to slow.
"Now I get it," the demon said. "You really like that woman, don't you? Look—I can become her."
It transformed into Amelia.
Elian was honestly somewhat interested in its attitude. But imagining a life with a spider was too horrifying. If only it were a genuine spider woman instead of an illusion—and maybe with a ratio of 90% human and 10% spider—he might've considered it. But anything less than that, especially 50:50, was absolutely out of the question.
Suddenly, a spatial rift opened.
Reinhard descended from the sky and landed on a sandy hill. Their eyes met briefly, and Reinhard's gaze burned with fury.
"Commoner, help me save Amelia!" the spider demon shouted, now transformed into Elian.
Though slightly irritated at being called a commoner, Reinhard ignored it and focused on Amelia.
"You damn demon! If you lay a finger on Amelia, I'll cut off all eight of your legs!" Reinhard charged toward Elian, drawing his sword.
Elian swung his hand. In an instant, Reinhard vanished from the spot.
Could time be flowing faster in the dream world? Elian wondered as he saw Reinhard appear again in front of him.
"Well? Do you like how I look now?"The demon had transformed into a female version of Elian.
A frown formed on Elian's forehead. Seeing himself as a woman felt deeply unsettling—this demon really couldn't be left unchecked.
"Pretty…" Amelia murmured.
The demon's appearance irritated Elian. The thought of himself as a woman made him feel sick.
"If you use that appearance again," Elian said irritably, "I'll never go to the demon world to see you."
The demon returned to its spider form. "Elian, we don't have much time. Come with me to the demon world. That way, I can protect you there."
Elian considered the offer. He didn't know this demon at all, and for some reason, the goddess he had met before had told him to kill the spider demon instead.
He didn't know which side he could trust. But one thing was certain—for now, he could still remain in the human world, and he knew absolutely nothing about the demon world.
As he was thinking, the world began to crack and collapse.
The demon looked annoyed and rushed toward Elian.
Swiftly, Elian leaped backward, creating distance between them.
"ELIAN!"
The world completely crumbled, and the last thing he heard was the demon's scream.