'A cardinal, and the vice leader of Alistar… are you fucking kidding!? They should be at the capital! Why are they in the Crimson Empire anyways!?' Johan took a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart.
"What's wrong, Johan? There is no shop that sells disguises in the Alleyway, you know…" Kirin stared suspiciously at Johan, glancing around to make sense of the situation.
Sebastian raised his hand toward Kirin, his sharp eyes scanning the space, sensing something wrong with the air.
"Yes… there's a strange magic that's making atoms in the gravity invisible… like they never even existed, but they're still 'alive.' Someone's ability?" Sebastian lifted his old arms, trying to sense the area.
Johan patted him on the shoulder. "No, there's no need. It's Raventa and Beatrice…"
Both of their eyes widened. They immediately tried to suppress every bit of Aether seeping from their bodies—but it was probably already too late.
It was common knowledge, especially at their level. Beatrice was called Beautiful Death. Every person who had died by her hands had been completely broken in their minds—like they experienced thousands of good things, only for them to be torn away.
She was dangerous because when a Divine General once engaged her, they didn't even fight—she just glanced at him, and he started worshiping her—eating the sand she stepped on.
Raventa was known for similar terror, defeating entire armies without raising a single finger. No one knew what powers she had or what she did—only that she had never lost a single battle she fought.
"Don't worry, I already cast a gravitational bubble…" Johan sighed. Taking on the two of them was probably possible now—but it would be equal to suicide—
Radhaan and Leor would instantly rush here. Even worse, Leor might suspect that Johan also had something strange going on… like a system.
Suddenly, Johan grinned, startling both Sebastian and Kirin.
"You two—how do you want to look? Like your dream appearance?" Johan spoke each word slowly, like he was speaking to a science experiment.
"Uhh…" Kirin leaned in, whispering into Johan's ear.
Sebastian still looked confused. "I guess… young?" he spoke softly.
He leaned in to Kirin, his hands grabbing her warm cheeks. He inhaled sharply and whispered, "Maskless Sin."
A searing warmth bloomed in Kirin's entire body, spreading like wildfire through every organ down to each cell.
Kirin's cheekbones collapsed inward, then regrew at sharper angles. Fingers elongated, joints cracking like branches bent backward. Hair bleached from root to tip, strand by agonizing strand.
When the pain dulled, Kirin's eyes slowly opened, her mouth frowning. It felt like her entire body had been hammered thousands of times—like a statue molded under duress.
Sebastian's eyes widened. 'What is… this!?' He stole a mirror from a local shop, raising it toward Kirin.
Kirin's pupils dilated, making Johan grin even harder.
She looked young—barely twenty—but a lot taller than before. Her hair bright red, matching Melodis. Her body, though… it had become even more curvy, almost to an unnatural degree. Her pupils had turned dark red, her skin paler.
She kept staring at her reflection for a while, then mumbled, "How did you even do that?"
"Just another boon of being the vessel of the God Tree!" Johan grinned, placing his hand on the wrinkled face of Sebastian.
Swirl!
The skin contorted and melted like wax, his body's appearance changing rapidly.
Brown hair, emerald green eyes, the body of a man in his 30s with a ton of lean muscle mass—he looked like a supermodel.
Sebastian touched his skin fanatically, no wrinkles under his fingertips. His breath grew ragged with excitement—this was exactly how he'd looked in his thirties…
Just as he was about to say a heartfelt thank you, his lungs clotted.
Cough! Cough!
He covered his mouth with his hand—dark red blood filling his palm.
Both Johan and Kirin immediately rushed toward him. Kirin rubbed his back with her now longer hands while Johan touched his lungs with a bright golden hand, hastily clearing the blood clots.
Haa!
Johan sighed.
After a while, Sebastian panted hard on the ground, finally able to breathe clearly.
'...Doomsday Trial. I don't think we can push it further. We'll have to both save Acier and the others from the dungeon, and also enter the Doomsday Trial the same night…' His heart trembled. Pushing the problem to the back of his mind, he grabbed his face.
His entire body trembled, vibrating in rhythm. Blood seeped from his eyes and mouth, deepening Kirin's frown.
A few moments passed. His appearance still hadn't changed, and his breathing grew ragged. Then suddenly, his skin contorted, his hair fell, and his overgrown nails cracked and broke—then regrew.
All his flesh withered away, revealing parts of his skull. His eyeballs sat grotesquely in place without flesh, just dark red sinew, soaked in blood.
The process was slow, excruciating—but the skin regenerated.
Kirin raised a mirror to him—
Dark purple hair, purple irises, pale white skin. His body stood around 6'6", extremely muscular with less than 3% body fat, and a chiseled, diamond-shaped jawline.
The black slime suit manifested—but this time not as a full-body robe-like armor, but as a sleek business suit like people wore in his previous life. Over it, a long white coat stretched to his knees.
He put his hands in the pockets of the coat, taking a deep breath.
"Let's go…" Johan spoke softly.
Kirin and Sebastian were too distracted by Johan's new look to speak, following him with dreamy expressions.
The two girls were still standing there—Beatrice Ashmond and Raventa.
Raventa wore a deep red witch outfit with a wide, pointed hat tilted to one side, a gold band wrapped around it.
The tight bodice showed a lot of skin, especially around her massive chest, and was shaped to hug her body perfectly.
A short black cape hung over her shoulders—more for style than warmth. She wore thigh-high boots and matching gloves, with black straps holding up her stockings.
Beatrice wore a long, plain black dress, patterned with a simple white floral texture.
She looked barely in her twenties. Her blonde hair and golden eyes made her appear angelic, drawing the attention of every passerby.
Her body was… unusual. More than six feet tall, each of her breasts was double the size of Johan's head. The dress tightened below her slim waist, highlighting the round shape and thickness of her hips.
'Wait! That blonde-haired chick is a devil contractor!!' Melodis' parrot-like voice rang out after slumbering for a while inside Kirin's body.
This time, even Kirin could hear Melodis' voice. Her eyes widened after hearing what he just said, looking to Johan for the word.
A.N.= Subaru or Waguri? I need serious answers only