Demon's Virtue
chapter-553-30041322

Eiro watched the movement of the arrow that was being shot, since it was rather unique. It didn't directly move in a straight line, it was as if it was seeking out the weakest spot of the target itself. Sure, it only changed its course to a minuscule degree, but it was certainly enough.

At the same time, the arrow was twisting around its axis, increasing the penetrative power an incredible degree. This was done through a mixture of subtle movements of her fingers, as well as direct control over the arrow as if through magic.

At this point, it was clear to Eiro who had summoned this girl. It was the god of the hunt, the greatest archer amongst all deities. He doubted that every single deity could summon them, so he tried to restrict his analysis on the greater deities for now, until he was shown otherwise. Who exactly summoned them didn't change all that much anyway, after all.

After she used a normal arrow to destroy that pillar of rock, she lightly tapped one of the magic stones on her special belt. She pinched part of it, and simply pulled her hand away. Immediately, a mass of magic had been pulled out of the magic stone. In this case, it was a chunk of lightning magic that took the shape of an arrow, albeit just roughly. Now, a number of smaller, weaker monsters had been prepared, all of the same kind. They were bug-type monsters, which were rather numerous around these parts, so it clearly wasn't hard to procure these at such numbers.

The girl shot the arrow of lightning at the monsters, and the moment that it hit the first of the group, it pierced through and changed direction at the next. And then the next, and the next. This was the most useful aspect of lightning magic, the fact that it easily carried over to other, nearby enemies. It was also what made it dangerous to use, since it was hard to control it in a way where you could make sure it didn't strike you or your companions back. Either way, with just this one arrow of concentrated lightning magic, the girl was able to take out this whole group of monsters. It was certainly impressive. She displayed her ability to take out a single, tough, and large target, as well as a large number of smaller targets. To Eiro it seemed like this was going to be the end of it, since this was already as impressive, if not far more so, compared to what the others had shown off. But clearly, this was not the end of it after all.

The girl held the bow in her hands, as if she was about to nock an arrow, but instead, she simply did it without holding any phyiscal or magical arrow. But then, when she pulled the string of her arrow back, Eiro was able to sense it. He was able to practically see it. An arrow of mana had formed in her bow, and soon, she let go of the string.

The hissing of the air could be heard as this invisible arrow moved through it, tightly over the ground. The rock of the large circle shifted around it, as if a vortex was trying to pull it in, and tunnel, large enough to fit a decently sized carriage, formed from it. This girl had the ability to manipulate the world around her magically from a distance, through the use of an arrow.

If Eiro was correct, this girl should be able to turn even complex spells into arrows, just to shoot them at her target. Certainly, this was a useful ability to have. It was easier to deal with than that 'negativity' from that boy before as well. Once Eiro stole the Key from the Devil, then maybe he would be able to steal this ability from the girl. And maybe the abilities of the other transmigrators as well.

Technically, the boy from before was dead already, but with Koperia's help, Eiro had trapped his soul in a special container. Similar to what it was like to create a Lich, simply altered to be a prison instead of a tool for the soul in question. He didn't know what would happen if he let the soul just escape, after all, so he kept it, and was thinking about turning it into an undead servant for himself sooner or later, but if he was able to steal that ability that was given to him through the blessing... then maybe that was worth it. He would have to wait and see until he got the key though. Either way, it didn't seem like this girl was going to die anytime soon, and if she became more powerful and matured this ability further, it would help Eiro out quite a bit as well.

At this moment, this girl was clearly the one that showed the greatest amount of raw ability. The goliath from earlier close behind her, though, but that was just because of his raw physical capabilities. Such things couldn't be taught, so he was a lot more useless as a teacher than this girl, who impressed through technique, the sort of thing that the hero was able to acquire sooner or later.

The next two champions were impressive, but unimportant as well. What Eiro was really interested in was the next transmigrator, who got his turn.

It was a young, fit man with a well-trained body. He wasn't using any sort of weapon, so it seemed like he was a martial artist that used his fist. Interesting.

And then, Eiro saw what this transmigrator requested in order to show off his capabilities. It was a large beast. A feline it seemed. Similar to a tiger in some senses, to the extent where it seemed to be interested in Biril quite a bit. It was currently being restrained with numerous thick chains, and was hauled onto the circle with a large cart. This beast was quite large, after all.

And then, the young man stepped forward with a broad grin on his face, hitting his fists together excitedly. Right now, it seemed like this man might have been summoned and blessed by the goddess of combat.

However, soon, he was proven wrong. The moment that the beast was released, the young transmigrator rushed at the beast. He did seem to be using a combat skill to enhance his footwork, but he was capable of controlling said skill surprisingly well. It didn't seem to be that high-power a skill either, as if he had acquired and trained it himself. If that was the case, it couldn't have been the goddess of combat, despite the man's demeanor, behaviour, and appearance.

Soon, the beast and the man finally met, and instead of attacking it, the man grappled the beast's snout. With the raw physical power given to him by whatever god summoned him, he was able to lift the beast into the air, although even that seemed to be close to this man's limit. With a twist of his body, he threw the beast onto its back with a loud yell, and then proceeded to scream out, "Submit to me!"

The moment that he did, Eiro noticed both mana and life force leaving the man's body, together with his voice. As if he was using a charisma-based ability.

The beast's body started convulsing, and its eyes became bloodshot. It was clearly in pain for a while, but not due to the impact onto the ground, but due to the man's voice.

And then, Eiro saw a notification appear in the man's eyes.

[The beast has successfully been tamed]

Eiro opened his eyes wide, as he realized what deity had summoned him. The god of beasts. And he had given this man the ability to tame such beasts. The Demon hoped that it was really restricted to beast-type creatures, and that he had no sort of influence over other types. He wasn't worried for himself, but rather for Bavet. Sure, he had quite some resistance against this sort of thing, having broken free from a sort of control in the past, but this was clearly a powerful ability. With just three words, he had tamed a creature of that power.

Eiro couldn't help himself but grin wrily and excitedly. Once more, this was a powerful ability, but he wasn't sure if it was the kind that he wanted. It was useful, sure, but this was no true subservience. It was nothing but simple slavery and mind-washing done in an instant.

Slowly, the tiger-like beast stood back up, and laid on the ground next to the man, rubbing its head against his palm that he had stretched out.

This was, again, an incredibly valuable ability, although Eiro wasn't sure if it could be taught. But even then, this man showed his bravery and physical prowess with the fact that he had been able to subdue this being with raw strength in the first place, so this was quite effective as far as he was concerned. Surely it wasn't the only ability given to this man either.

The next person to show their power was the last of the transmigrators, luckily. And Eiro couldn't help but be curious about what this one would show him. It was another man, a few years younger than the last. About 15 or 16, most likely, although he did look a bit younger than that in some aspects. He didn't seem to have a particular physical prowess, but instead, the amount of mana that his body held was incredible. Not to the extent where he had reached mana crystalization, but still incredible. He seemed to have amazing mana generation as well, from what Eiro could tell, observing this boy's core.

The boy slowly raised his hand in front of him, and in an instant... a magic circle appeared there. And nowhere on his body did this boy have any sort of wand. This immediately told Eiro which deity summoned him.

It was the god of magic. And Eiro was the most curious about this boy in just an instant.