On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Upon putting on the mask Valeria has given me, it immediately perfectly fits my face. There isn't even a strap on the mask, but despite that it still sticks to my face as if it is glued to it.

I wanted to ask Valeria how to take it off at first, but I soon figure out the way to take it off: stop the Mana supply to the mask. Other than the strapless feature though, there is another cool feature that attracts my attention.

"This thing I am seeing... Mana?"

It allows me to see Mana that I can only feel for all this time. Being able to see Mana might not seem much—it doesn't increase my power or anything—but with this, I can see the flow of Mana of my opponent, which I can't absolutely feel.

What is the advantage of being able to see my opponent's Mana flow? I can predict my opponent's next attack or figure out their habit, which in turn will make defeating them a piece of cake.

In battles, information is power after all.

"I wonder—"

"No one has ever seen it before, so no one knows its true Rank. You can rest assured."

I slowly blink my eyes at Valeria's quick response. I haven't even asked anything but she has still managed to predict that I am going to ask her if it is really okay to give me such an amazing Mask, which she has confirmed herself is a Relic.

Quickly moving on, so I look at Millonia and Valeria alternatingly—I want to know the Mask's Rank. I wonder whether I should just ask directly or whisper it to her so Millonia will not hear me.

"It's an Indigo Rank Relic." Much to my surprise, valeria answers it even before I ask.

"Holy shit... Is it really okay to give me this?"

"It is bound to be yours anyway." Valeria waves her hand nonchalantly. "I am just giving you what will be yours in the future in advance—it's not against the rules."

"You are really sure about my success in becoming a Demon King, aren't you?"

"Of course, I am. I won't let someone I have guided suffer a defeat. It will be a disgrace—the highest form of humiliation I will ever get."

I put up my hands. "Sheesh. You can just say you will kill me if I do something that embarrasses you." I smirk under my mask. "That will never happen though—me embarrassing you."

"Alright, alright, we get it." Millonia grumpily comments. "Can you stop speaking though? The cheeky way you speak and the way you sound don't match at all."

"What happens to my voice?" I frown.

"Gosh! Have you turned deaf? You sound like how I imagine a bull would sound like, if it spoke like a human."

I am still confused what Millonia is actually on about, so I speak a random thing to hear what I sound. It is weird that I have only noticed it now, but I kind of agree with Millonia: my voice does sound horrifying.

My current vocal pitch is no longer as high as it was when I was on Earth. It is slightly below the tenor range, but not enough to enter the baritone range yet.

My voice has absolutely turned heavier, but nowhere near as heavy when I speak while wearing the mask. I sound like a criminal in an interview who uses voice changer to hide his identity.

"Well... No wonder you are uncomfortable." I shrug nonchalantly as I look at Millonia. "Anyway, this feature is intended to hide my identity, isn't it? Is there really a need to hide my identity?"

"No. You can turn it off, if you don't like it."

As expected, Valeria's sole reason to give me the mask is to only aid me in every fight I will face in the future.

The mask may hide my identity, but that is not its real function—there isn't even a need to do it. Therefore, knowing that I can turn the voice changer feature off...

"I will keep it the way it is."

I, off course, won't turn it off.

If it means to irk Millonia whenever I speak, I will always have the feature on. After all, annoying her is the same as making her suffer—it is my payback for whatever she has done to me.

Besides, sounding like this gives me a certain "aura" that will make me look more badass than I already am. I mean, my outfit already makes me look edgy, so might as well not holding back in how I sound.

"Now that everything is settled, what should I do now?"

"I think it's better to shut up," Millonia quips.

"Since the army will arrive in another half an hour, you will have to wait until that time comes," Valeria says as she wears her blind mask. "You can spend that half an hour with me, if you want to."

As she has already put her blind mask on, Valeria's aura has completely changed—it is darker and heavier than usual. Despite so, I don't feel uncomfortable around her; I know she is still the same person I know.

"I would like to do that, but I think I just am going to meet those bastards in the stable. As irritating as they may be, I won't be here for a quite long time, so there will come a time when I will miss them."

"Very well." Valeria nods her head. "You shall go to the Barrack 5 minutes before the army arrives. Don't be late!"

Valeria vanishes into thin air after saying that, leaving me alone with Millonia. She turns to me and gives me an incomprehensible look, but I merely shrug at that then walk toward the door.

"Wait! Let me come with you too." Millonia holds my hand. "I want to see your interaction with the Wyverns."

"Alright, let's moving."

"Not now."

I quirk my eyebrow under my mask. "Are you going to waste my time? You know that I only have 25 minutes to spend with those bastards."

"I know, but you have to take responsibility!" Millonia snaps at me. "I need to choose a new armor to replace the one that you have broken!"

"O-Oh... Kuhum!" I clear my throat to get rid of the awkwardness. "Very well. I will wait for you, so make it quick."

"You don't have to force yourself to sound that dignified—it doesn't suit you."

"Do you prefer me cussing at you in every second instead?"

"It's not my thing, but I won't protest if you are into it."

"This bitch..."

Millonia laughs, then walks toward a particular glass case on the north side of the room. She inspects the armor in the case for a couple of seconds before taking it out to put it on.

I don't know what is the Rank of the armor she chose, but from the way it looks, it should be, at least, a Yellow Rank Relic.

She walks to me after she has fully equipped her armor, then together, we leave the vicinity.

...

I have spent my 25 minutes with the Wyverns I have trained, so I am now at the Barrack standing beside Valeria, waiting for the army to arrive.

Millonia was so baffled by the way I interacted with the Wyverns, and she couldn't help looking at me weirdly the whole time I spoke with them. She couldn't believe I could really understand them.

Although it was the shortest time I have ever spent with the Wyverns, it was just as fun as usual.

I told them that I would go to the battlefield so I wouldn't be able to meet them for a quite long time, and they took it quite emotionally, much to my surprise.

I had expected Genelos would do something like that, but contrary to my expectation, Tsun-Tsun reacted more emotional than Genelos, who took it rather calmly.

I have honestly thought that my bond with the Wyverns was just something like those between online friends—I didn't expect it to be much closer—so I am slightly moved when they show that they care about me.

"Did you spend a good time with the Wyverns," Ilschevar asks.

"It was fun."

"I can't still believe that a Demon could bond with Wyverns that well. Demons are naturally repulsive after all." He muses, "Maybe, it's because you are formerly a human."

"It doesn't really matter honestly." I shake my head faintly. "What you are doesn't define how close a relationship can be. It is the act of wanting to understand the others that eliminate the distance between two hearts."

"I didn't expect you to ever say something like that." Ilschevar smiles.

"Many thing have happened ever since I got my Origin."

"I can see it."

Rumble.

We immediately stop our conversation the moment we notice the ground is faintly shaking. I can also hear the footsteps of many people approaching, and immediately figure it is the army I have been waiting for.

Looking ahead, I can see a 10 feet tall heavily armored Demon leading thousands of Demons behind him. There are another 15 Demons like that, and all of them are exuding an overwhelming Mana pressure that can be felt even from where I am standing.

"Layland, this is the Demon King's Army." Ilschevar gestures at the army. "This is my army, and the people whose loyalty you have to gain someday."