I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

After confirming the room, Akiko sighed in disappointment.

Sentoki Yuma's travel bag, change of clothes, and souvenirs she bought while sightseeing on the island yesterday were all taken away. All she left in this house were her complete mini witch costume for cosplay and her own body.

Jill pondered for a moment, then said, "Magic."

"What?" Everyone's attention was drawn to Jill's statement.

“That old friend from the ancient city—is her name Sentoki Yuuma?” Gil walked to the table and looked at the breakfast on it. “The ancient city, is this breakfast made by Nagisa?”

"Ah, I guess. This is something Nagisa usually makes."

On the table was a giant omelet rice dish made with a mixture of willow leaf fish, natto, roasted seaweed, and white rice. It was a breakfast Nagisa created on a day when she was pressed for time. It's hard to imagine anyone else but her making such an original dish.

Gil nodded. "Nagisa went out on her own; she wasn't kidnapped or taken away."

"That's good..." Xiao Gucheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he didn't initially think that Sendou Yuma would hurt Akatsuki Nagisa.

“Sendouki Yuuma’s goal—is the immense magical power within your body, Akatsuki Kojou.” Gil tilted his head slightly. “And, I must admit, she used an extremely brutal method—”

"what?"

“Under normal circumstances, stealing someone else’s body is not that difficult in terms of magic. As long as you put the other person’s consciousness to sleep, you can operate remotely through telepathy.”

Gil turned around, a smile playing on his lips, and slowly raised his hand. "But, Akatsuki Kojou's body is a vampire's body."

"Humans other than vampires cannot control a vampire's body."

Because in this world, the birth of vampires is due to the curse of "God".

"Because what gave birth to vampires was the curse of the gods. There are almost no people who can overturn the curse set by the gods and perform that kind of magic. Although I am very unwilling, even I cannot do it. Although I know people who may have this technology, they are not in this world."

This kind of magic is almost certainly doomed to fail, and even if it succeeds, the curse flowing backward will cause the caster to be consumed by the vampire's 'blood.' Simply put, it means being devoured and becoming a useless person.

"And that girl used a rather crude method—she simply distorted space. She used spatial connection to swap her own and your five senses, causing the nerve impulses that should have been transmitted to your body to be transferred to her own."

"...So, I mistook what Yuma saw for what I saw, and then thought I was manipulating that guy's body as if I were doing my own thing...is that right?" Akatsuki Kojo touched his face and asked.

Chapter 115 The Intruder

If a vampire's body can't be taken through magic, then let's take it through physical means.

Yuma's wild ideas were realized through the exaggerated technique of spatial distortion.

Humans cannot see their own souls. Even if we were to open a skull to see if such a thing truly exists inside, there is no way to confirm it in reality.

Conversely, even if there's no soul inside, one wouldn't be able to sense it. Akatsuki Kojou's consciousness hasn't entered Yuma's body; it's still within her own. It's just that she's unable to recognize it.

"Is it like swapping the wiring of an appliance? But wouldn't that mean that during the time you've taken over my body, you have to maintain control of the space the whole time? Is that even possible?" Akatsuki asked Gil.

“…Then it can only mean that the girl is a magician of the same level as Nagatsuki,” Gilles said. “Moreover, they are both the same type of magician. No, that’s not quite right.”

"A witch is a woman who gains power by making a pact with a demon. She is someone who sacrifices her soul to fulfill an impossible wish. Yuma Sentoki's true nature is that of a witch—the same type as Nazuki," Gil declared at the end.

……

On Itogami Island, the spatial distortion that had been occurring intermittently for roughly 24 hours has now covered the entire island, causing various kinds of chaos within the city.

The handling of problems, covert operations, investigation of causes, and countermeasures against the potential crises in the "Demon Special Zone," coupled with the fact that the start of the Bolongin Festival coincided with the period when the artificial island management commune was in a state of turmoil, almost like a war zone.

Jill also received the notification, but she simply brushed it off with an excuse like, "I have my own things to do."

It's not really an excuse anymore...

Jill is currently trying to figure out how to break the space distortion.

Unfortunately, he was skilled in rune magic, but completely inept at spatial magic.

Jill slowly raised her hand and drew a rune that meant "break," but it didn't work.

“It’s no use… I’m not good at this, let’s try something else…” Jill slumped on the table, looking utterly hopeless.

The main message from the omniscient and omnipotent star is that they want to break this... It is necessary to make Akatsuki's main body feel enough danger, so that under the stimulation of instinct, his consciousness will return to his main body.

The problem is, who knows where that person named Sentoki Yuuma put Akatsuki Kojou's body!

Gil's appearance made Enkidu smile slightly. "Okay, it's alright..."

“No… now I can confirm something else…” Gil narrowed his eyes, “Sendouki Yuma is definitely related to the intruders from the night before last.”

"The intruders from the night before last?" Himeragi Yukina asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Yes.” Jill nodded. “I ran into him the night before last when I went for a walk.”

"They must be from LCO."

When talking about LCO, we must mention the grimoire—

Books known as grimoires do exist.

Jill herself possessed a large number of such grimoires; the Gate of Babylon alone contained hundreds of them.

They were once practical books that recorded incantations, the steps of magical rituals, and methods for controlling the existence of spirits.

However, in the process of accumulating vast amounts of knowledge, it began to transform itself into a book imbued with a powerful, almost demonic, quality, ultimately becoming something that could grant readers power beyond human comprehension and summon immense calamity.

This is a magic book, a book that possesses power.

Those who seek the path of magic all hope to obtain the magic book.

However, in reality, only a few people are able to understand its contents and control the immense magical power accumulated within it.

Countless researchers have failed to control grimoires to this day, resulting in their destruction. The calamities that flowed from them destroyed several cities and corrupted the souls of tens of thousands. In the process, a vast number of grimoires were lost.

The mages and witches who were worried about this situation established LCO—an organization known as the "Library".

They collected grimoires from all over the world, meticulously categorized them according to their uses, and sealed them away.

Then only the chosen one can lend it out. It's not for the development of magic, nor for protecting the peace of the world, but simply to satisfy one's own curiosity and desires—

The "Library" is a group of extremely casual and self-righteous magical researchers, and also retains the characteristics of a criminal organization that was left over from its inception.

Jill's confident statement left everyone else somewhat puzzled.

"What is LCO?" Akatsuki asked.

Jill explained the concepts of grimoires and libraries, and then said, "Ten years ago, a case of a rather serious nature occurred in this world."

He picked up his phone—

"That incident was the oath incident—"

……

Above the roof of the Foundation Gate.

On the roof of the massive, inverted pyramid-shaped building, a huge crimson magic circle is depicted. This is the barrier protecting the grimoire.

The material used to depict the magic circle was the blood of the special district security guards who guarded this place. They were severely wounded while guarding the central stone gate, and their blood was used to construct the stage for this ritual magic. The wounded guards, groaning in pain, were carelessly tossed aside like broken paint tubes.

And the cause of all this is—the Crimson Witch and the Dark Witch.

It was those two witches who were bombed by Jill that night; they had managed to escape using spatial manipulation magic that night, all for their own purpose—

At this very moment, they are about to create a massive, earth-shattering chaos.

……

Gilles and Enkidu have always had very keen senses.

"what happened?!"

The two of them stood up at the same time.

"Which direction leads to the Foundation Gate!" Jill's tone became serious.

Another point is——

Following behind Gil and the others, Akatsuki and his group also came out—

Outside, the crowd on the street all stared in astonishment, widening their eyes and looking up.

In the center of Hyunshin Island, atop the roof of the tallest building, shaped like an inverted pyramid, something was stirring. It was a disgusting, spotted tentacle stretching dozens of meters long.

“A demon’s familiar! A witch’s ‘guardian’!” Yukina Himeragi recognized the true form of the tentacles.

Chapter 316 Dividing the Army into Two Groups

"But that magic...!?"

The oppressive feeling I sensed from the central stone gate was not released by the witch's "guardian".

In that place, there exists a being that unleashes even more powerful magic than the giant familiar.

"My body is in that position!" Kojou Akatsuki said with absolute certainty. "I'm sure of it!"

“…” Gil glanced at Akatsuki Kojou and nodded. “Then come with me. Let’s go.”

At this moment, a group of unfamiliar people stood there as if trying to block Xiaogucheng's way.

They were men completely shrouded in deathly black cloaks. There were more than a dozen of them, just by looking at them. They showed no hostility, nor did they carry any weapons. Yet, they clearly gave the impression of intending to prevent Akatsuki from approaching the Foundation Gate.

"What's going on with these guys...!?"

"I don't know. But I think their goal is to hold us back."

"Yuma's companion... has been spying on us all along, hasn't she?"

Kojou Akatsuki gritted her teeth in frustration at her own foolishness. Thinking it over calmly, it was to be expected that Yuma was monitoring Kojou Akatsuki's actions. Kojou Akatsuki, wanting to reclaim her body, would naturally hinder her plans, so it was only natural that she was on guard.

"Astarothie, I'm begging you, Yese!"

"Order accepted."

In order to protect Natsune, who was standing there unsuspecting, Kojo gave instructions to the artificial life form girl.

Astarothie nodded, then summoned her familiars. The wings that appeared from her back transformed into two enormous wrists, one on each side.

“…Xiaogu City, I'll take care of them.” Gil took a step forward. “Your affairs are ultimately your responsibility to handle, aren’t they?”

“Teacher…?” Akatsuki was stunned.

“Enkidu, take them to the Keystone Gate.” Jill’s eyes gleamed. “I need to speak with these guys here in person.”